When I started reading Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold, the element of magical realism kept me hooked. I wanted to understand its significance—its origin, its purpose, the whys and the hows behind it. But once I finished reading, I did not get direct answers to my curiosity. Instead, it gently revealed what that …
Welcome, December: A Month That Feels Like a Warm Hug
December brings a soft chill to the air, one that wraps the world in a quiet stillness. I have never been a big fan of winters, I feel too cold and look like an Eskimo, but still, there’s something about this month that gently warms my heart. Maybe it’s the way the temperature drops just …
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Ageing Through Frames: A Gradual Shift in Perspective
Recently, Google Photos reminded me of pictures from my marriage seven years ago—right on cue as our anniversary approaches. I smiled at the screen, I remembered how I had posed in all possible styles, switching outfits, adjusting my dupatta, asking the photographer if the lighting was right. I had two albums made—one traditional and one …
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Where It All Began: The Inspiration Behind The Song of Our Bond
Khurda Road — the name reminds me of summer holidays, nani ghar, and the warmth of simpler times. It’s a small town in Odisha where my maternal grandmother lived. Being part of a coastal region, its air carries a gentle saltiness, the palm trees sway lazily, and the red soil glows under the sun — …
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Taking the Wheel: Overcoming an Old Fear
Last August (2024), I was in Kolkata visiting my parents with my young one, who was 7 months old then. Being home with them gave me the perfect window to try something new, to learn a new skill, and I decided to learn to drive because, like Maths, driving scared me. So, I thought, it …
Netflix Find: Erin Brockovich — A True Story of Grit, Grace, and Justice
I love movies adapted from real-life incidents or people. Such movies uncover brilliance and bring forgotten truths to light — stories that might have been erased by the tide of time. They make the person and their journey immortal in the hearts of those who watch. One such movie that sheds light on a woman …
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Netflix Find: Old Money- The Unspoken Chemistry that Stayed With Me.
I recently watched a Turkish Drama series, Old Money, on Netflix, and I can’t stop thinking about it. On the surface, the story explores the clash between the generational wealth (old money) and the newly emerged rich (new money). At its heart, though, lies a love story between two people from opposite sides of the …
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The Five-Year Wish
Shantivan was a place where stories seemed to grow on trees, quite literally like the leaves on the ancient banyan tree in the town square. The town, famous for its “Festival of Stories”, attracted book lovers, dreamers, and wanderers who found themselves lost in its charm. A vibrant market thrived at the heart of the …
The Storm Within
Noor was walking through the storm, or was she the storm? The sky was getting darker, and the wind picked up pace, howling like a hungry monster. It was April, and Rishra, a small town in West Bengal, was not new to these fierce storms, locally called Kal Boishakhi. Noor didn’t know how far she …
The Secret Ritual of Letting Go
“Let go, let go,” they saybut how can I?The pain, the ache…Is it so easy to forgive? “Let go, let go, it’s Diwali,” they say.I may let go of old clothes,broken vases,wilted flowers,cracked photo frames,unfulfilled promisesunread letters,but resentment—How do I let go of those? I ask…But no reply comes,Nobody knows.“Let go, let go,” they just …
Cerebration 