Wordsmith at work

A popular newspaper supplement carried an international study report on “A woman’s 20 most common criticisms about herself”. I was hardly surprised to see “I am too fat/overweight topping the list. It was something that is of great concern to me, and I often worried about the  excess flab that I carry around. At 51 your weight determines the state of your mind and body. Needless to say that I was fat, and have been so for many years.  Motherhood was a turning point in my life. They say a child gives birth to a mother and in my case a ‘fat mother’. Post my first delivery I was huge; I jumped a couple of dress sizes. I wasn’t too perturbed and hoped to get back in shape by Christmas. (I had delivered in September) Aha! No such Christmas present for me. I was heartbroken. I was never going to get back into my old clothes. Nevertheless I decided to work on the flab. I tried a variety of diets, but was always cautioned by the elders to go easy on the diets. New mums must feed...

He's a bogeyman He's loved and adored By the mathematician and  the nerd. Not me. I shiver and quiver At the mention of his name He's also caused me To hang my head in shame.  Mother tells me to make friends with him But that is just so terrible a thing I'm never able to figure him out. Numbers, equations and problems Give me a headache That no Aspirin or Crocin can take away I wish I could be rid of him run away to a land Where he does not exist Then how happy I'd be Living life bogeyman free.

I hit fifty in July last year. I am now a golden girl with streaks of silver in her hair and a few pounds heavier everywhere. At fifty you enter a whole new phase in life. You discover yourself. You are more cautious about your diet and are advised to have regular medical checkups, exercise is now a way of life and you are  expected to wear ‘ age  appropriate ’ clothes. Fashion at 50 takes on a whole new meaning and who says you can ’ t be fifty and fashionable? Iconic French designer Coco Chanel rightly says, “ You can be gorgeous at 20, charming at 40 and irresistible for the rest of your life. ” Oh yes! At fifty what should my style statement be?  How should I dress, what should I wear? A wardrobe full of clothes but nothing to wear is every woman ’ s nightmare and with age may turn to the queen of all nightmares. I may be fifty , but I do not have to lose myself in baggy, ill- fitting, dowdy garments. I do not have to give up being fashionable altogeth...

Mama's little hearts began to beat within two years of each other. Two little boys, as different as chalk from cheese, ironically share the same date of birth. Needless to say they turned Mama's world upside down. She changed not just dress sizes, but her entire way of dressing. The little black dress made way for the more comfortable, salwar kameezes. Easier to run behind children! She promised herself she would get back into shape one day. Mama stayed awake devouring not her favourite author, but changing nappies and rocking babies to sleep. Telephone conversations were punctuated with a "Hold on" while she attended to a piercing scream or ended abruptly, with "I will call you back" or "Talk to you later". She watched with bated breath and relief as the loves of her life said their first words and took their first shaky steps. Running noses, spotty skin, trips to the doctor, she learned to take it all in her stride, to take one day at a time....

The quintessential Mumbai local is not for the faint-hearted but is the cheapest and fastest means of transport in the linear city. The Mumbai suburban railway comprises a network of trains referred to as local trains. The local trains serve almost 7.5 million commuters daily. The network is an extension of the railway system built by the British in India and is the oldest in Asia. Overcrowded and claustrophobic the Mumbai commuter stalks life and limb when he boards a coach of the Mumbai local. Yet he must take a particular train to work every single working day. He scrambles jostles, cusses and fusses as he strives to find a seat. In spite of trains running at intervals of 3 minutes the crush and rush at peak hours is simply unimaginable and bust be seen and experienced!(put it on your bucket list, if you as yet  have not  experienced the bitter-sweet ride on a local).Very often your day is doomed if you miss your ‘regular’- A fast or slow to  your destinat...

1. A maid is an integral part of any self-respecting Indian household. There are the full-time maids who reside with the family and there are the ‘top-women’ or part time maids who flounce in and out of our house at what we term as Indian stretchable time. The top women generally do the dishes, mop the floor and wash utensils at a speed that may even defy the speed of lightning. Yes, you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. My pet peeve is that my maid neglects to inform me of her impending absence. She owns a cell phone; I own a cell phone. I have requested her to at least give me a missed call. I can return the call and hear her a familiar,”I will not come to work today.” So after a lot of ranting and raving she deigns to agree to give me that missed call. I must add that still the missed call is as often missed as she is from work. One Thursday, as the clock ticks on,on my maid my eyes don’t set upon. Thursday gives way to Friday and then Saturday it is. No si...