Negotiating the city traffic on the eve of India’s 75 th Independence Day, I tune in the car radio to the local FM station and am bombarded by umpteen commercials each with the message of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav exhorting me to buy a product or exchange a product for a wonderful offer to celebrateContinue reading “Random thoughts as we celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence”
Author Archives: Urmila
No time like the present
Over the past three decades, she would give me a call when she passed through my city and I would make it a point to go meet her wherever she was staying. We would spend a few hours catching up, speaking heart to heart so that even though the meetings were infrequent, the bond remainedContinue reading “No time like the present”
I Left a Piece of Myself in Yogyakarta
On this day, exactly a year ago, I was living one of the most magical days of my life. Wrapping up a short but thoroughly enjoyable and memorable trip to Bali, my friend Anju and I had decided to take a detour to Yogyakarta in Central Java. Taking a morning flight to Yogyakarta, the firstContinue reading “I Left a Piece of Myself in Yogyakarta”
Of Mothers and Daughters – Part 2
When my daughter was younger and we lived in a small industrial town where almost all the adults worked in the same company and all the children went to the same school, a weekly feature was a film show at the club every Thursday. Not being a film buff myself and also because going forContinue reading “Of Mothers and Daughters – Part 2”
Of Mothers and Daughters
As a child I was quite a tomboy, always happy to be running or playing or jumping. But somehow it was the creative pursuits of my mother that inspired me to explore my own creativity. Whatever she did, she would do with great passion and an eye for perfection. As a very small child, IContinue reading “Of Mothers and Daughters”
A note of gratitude to all who I thought had wronged me
At the time I was angry. I felt let down, resentful, betrayed…because I felt that you had wronged me. I felt that you had placed obstacles on my path to progress… success… happiness. But now when I look back, I realise that you actually helped me on my path. Had you not done what youContinue reading “A note of gratitude to all who I thought had wronged me”
My trusty kitchen team
I have always enjoyed cooking but in these lockdown days, cooking has become almost therepautic. With all the usual pleasures and stimuli being out of reach, the joy of cooking, serving and eating meals has taken over as the chief delight in my life these days. But while meals have become the highlight of theContinue reading “My trusty kitchen team”
When Magic Happens
When I was around eight, my father came back from a work trip bearing a precious gift for me – a bundle of books by Enid Blyton. Those books were my first introduction to the amazing world of reading. Though later I went on to read many other authors, my childhood was mostly spent inContinue reading “When Magic Happens”
The true elixir of life- friendships
Recently, my friend Babita had put up this tongue in cheek post jokingly suggesting that the transformation was due to the face masks we had applied. But really, looking at the photographs, I was amazed to see how relaxed, glowing and glamorous we all looked in the second photograph! This photograph was clicked on theContinue reading “The true elixir of life- friendships”
Rhythm of life
Some years back, on a weekend getaway, we had decided that for one day we would completely forget time. We would completely let go of our conditioning of the right time to do things and only surrender to the flow. The morning started as planned, we were in no hurry to get up and getContinue reading “Rhythm of life”
Magically Mental 