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Tracking every step
The first step is the hardest, they say. It takes a human infant a whole year to quit its quadruped days and attempt that first tottering step under the adoring gaze of its parents. There is no respite thereafter. Life becomes a series of steps and missteps, with a watchful, (and not always adoring) eye…
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Birds are Us
Early morning. Unhurried and peaceful. A time to sit out in the balcony with my cup of coffee, feel the freshness of the cool breeze and listen to the trill of bird song. As I watch them chatter, squabble, mate, and play, I am struck by their resemblance to humans. They are not just like…
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Blow hot blow cold
An Indian summer is here again. As temperatures soar and tempers rise; and the scramble for the AC remote begins, a deeply mystifying question raises its head again. Why are we humans not satisfied at one universal temperature? Why do some like it at a frosty 20 degrees celsius while others like it at a…
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Good morning!
A message doing the rounds of social media is that good morning messages will attract exorbitant taxes. It was circulated widely by many who hoped it was true. Many more were unbelievers, common sense dictating that it was too good to be true. Others rooted for it silently. Some supported it as a patriotic cause,…
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A jar of face cream
All I wanted was a jar of face cream. I went down to the local pharmacy downstairs for what I thought would be a five-minute chore. The store had changed hands and had had a makeover. Rows on rows of glass shelves, filled with an endless supply of bottles and jars. Shampoos and conditioners. Body…
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A Dressmaker in the Making
I’m trying hard to be self-reliant. Being my own cook, baker, dishwasher, gardener, and now a dressmaker-in-the-making! All this atma-nirbharta is partly in response to our dear leader’s call, but mostly because tyrannical tailors have left me with little choice. Years have I spent, and miles have I wandered to find a tailor who would…
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My Two Maids
Its ten minutes past seven, and I’ve glanced at the kitchen clock for the twentieth time. The doorbell chimes. The relief is unimaginable. For the doorbell announces the arrival of the first of my two maids. The maid in the kitchen Manisha is the senior of my two maids, and the kitchen is her…
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My new glasses
Its that time of the year again. The time to restore my steadily diminishing vision to its once-youthful acuity. Its time for my annual eye check-up and, as night follows day, time to order my new glasses. The computerised eye check-up throws up a new set of numbers every year; and though I linger, hesitate,…
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A pinch of salt
salt acts in mysterious ways, enhancing and enriching other flavours quite content to play a supporting role..