Pic credit: Anirban Bagui “Taratari hato, Reema (Walk faster, Reema). The 11:20 local won’t wait for you.” Baba didn’t look back. He never did. Missing a train was almost a moral failure in the Banerjee household. I followed him toward Konnagar station. The overbridge rose ahead- tall, grey, and mostly ignored. Konnagar is a small …
Makar Sankranti: A Festival Of Light, Harvest, And Hope
The new year ushers in festivities, and for many of us across India, the year truly begins with the comforting warmth of Makar Sankranti. When I was little, Sankranti meant just one thing—food. Tasty, sweet, soul-soothing food. Being a Bengali, I associated the festival with Puli Pithe more than anything else. Those soft rice dumplings …
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Educating a Girl, Educating Generations
I don’t remember how many forms I have filled out over the years.School admissions, exam registrations, scholarship portals, and college applications. Uploading documents, checking details twice, and clicking submit. For me, these were routine tasks squeezed between everyday responsibilities. For her, each form was a step closer to a life she was determined to build. …
Who Moved My Cheese? By Dr Spencer Johnson
When I was in college, my father once brought home a book from his management training. It was a thin little book titled Who Moved My Cheese? The title intrigued me instantly, and I read it in one sitting. I realised the story was a metaphor—one that spoke about our lives, our desires, and the …
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The Unexpected Twists That Shaped My 2025
Every year carries its own surprises, but 2025 gave me two plot twists I never saw coming. Each one nudged me gently, yet powerfully, into a new version of myself. They were disguised as new opportunities and endless possibilities that I didn’t fully understand at first. But as the year draws to an end, reflection …
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Book Discussion: Before the Coffee Gets Cold — A Tender Brew of Time, Regret, and Hope
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 …
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