‘Ahare Mon’: Review
The wondrous alchemy of compassionate bonds 'Ahare Mon' could roughly translate as 'poor heart!', but it would be a poor translation! Because 'mon' stands for both mind and heart, for mind-states as well as feeling. [...]
Back to Presidency
I started teaching as Guest Faculty in the English Department of Presidency University a day after I relocated back to Kolkata last summer. In the initial weeks I was racked with nostalgia on the one [...]
Where are the other fathers in BAGHBAN?
A poignant tale: Raj Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan) is a happy man. Close to retirement, he is fit and fine, jogs every morning, enjoys his work at ICICI bank, is respected by his colleagues and cherished [...]
A Grief Observed
August 2016 marks a watershed in my life. My primordial bond was snapped that month. For as long as I live, I know, I’ll divide my life into two phases - with and without Ma, [...]
Safe at 11 pm
A late return home I was at Leiden University yesterday evening. A friend of mine had organized a 3-day Film Festival this week, focussing on Neo-Realist Classics from India, and had invited me to speak [...]
Srishti’s first encounter with snow
Today was Srishti’s first encounter with snow, on her way to school. She didn’t like it! We had been warned of the snow in weather reports earlier in the week. The Dutch welcome it, of course, [...]
Kunal Basu Interview, Intro
Teaser: INTRODUCTION - Kunal Basu Interview, "The Byword" #3. Would you like to be transported to other places and times? Romance the strange? Embark on perilous journeys of the self? Explore big questions and ideas? [...]
To the ‘bahus’ of the world
TO THE ‘BAHUS’ OF THE WORLD Please don’t believe what they show on the ‘saas-bahu’ serials in India – the relationship between the ‘bahus’ (sisters-in-laws) of a joint household need not be all jealousy, hatred, [...]
Rituporno & My Past
When Rituporno Ghosh died suddenly on 30 May 2013, I felt a deep sense of personal loss. I had never known him, never met him, he was not related to me in any way - [...]
My Srishti, My Sunshine
My bond with Srishti predates the womb. She had been a spectral presence in my life long before she was born – through all my years of waiting to be a mother. I’d always wanted [...]
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