I was waiting for her across the road from where the terminal gate was visible. In the sea of people, I saw a frame of a person who looked familiar but I could not identify her at first. She looked leaner, older and much grayer than I had expected. The gray I had been informed over the phone suits her better now.
“I am done with that coloring nonsense.”
Strings of tiny lights shone around the three-story house in the dim evening light. A large canopy decorated with garlands of marigolds and jasmines stood next to it. Inside the canopy, other than the hustle –bustle that a wedding usually witnesses, there was the whispering sounds that a tussar kurta makes every time it rubs on the crisp dhuti, the vases of blooming rajnigandha, the brightness from the yards and yards of silk and dhakai draped by the guests and the sounds of the shehnai in the backdrop.
Where is home?
I have always struggled in my mind and searched my heart for the right answer whenever confronted with that question.
“Home is here,” I tell the lady at Starbucks who has picked up a conversation with me because the barista is brewing a fresh batch.
“No, I meant where did you grow up? ” she asks after she has told me about her recent trip to New Delhi and her upcoming trip to Bangalore.
“Many different places, I have never been at a place for long. This is home now.”
“How many (places)? ”
It always seems very interesting to people when you tell them you have been through 8 schools from elementary to high, you have lived in few different places in the course of it.
The academic year is wrapping up and it is the time for the graduation ceremonies and the report card. What is more important in life? The grades or the experience called Life itself. Ranjana Gupta wrote this beautiful letter on her daughter’s graduation day (which she has very graciously shared with us). Life is not about the grades we earn, it is about the experiences it offers. Read books, meet people, travel and dance she mentions in the letter.
Ranjana and her daughter, Shalini have both contributed to this blog before. Shalini currently manages the blog -https://eklachal0.wordpress.com/ where in she chronicles the solo journeys of women from all walks of life.
Continue reading “Graduation Letter : From Mother To Daughter”
In my room I sit, staring around
Looking at how many things my dad found
He brought them for me to help me forget
To not feel like the world itself is a threat
One always leaves a part of themselves in the city that they have once lived in. The part that you get to re-visit along with all other wonderful memories on trips back to the city. Boston is one such place of memories for me.
Spring break took us across the coast, west to east of the US and the travel started on a bit chaotic note. After a delayed flight, missed connection, forced night halt at SFO, we finally landed at Boston’s Logan airport almost 10 hours late, but happy we had finally made it!
Continue reading “Spring of 2016 – Part I … Quincy Market, Boston”
Two stories, both about mothers from two different situations. You get to pick which one lingers in your heart for longer.
Story –1
It was an unusually sunny morning in the city of San Francisco. It was cold with a chill in the wind yet the sun shining strong above us. We were on a hill by the Golden Gate bridge, devoid of any tourists, just a few photographers. I sat on a small rock with my two children enjoying the beautiful sight around us. The bridge looked absolutely gorgeous and the water beneath it glistened and shone. Continue reading “A Mother And The Motherhood Dare”
Picture Credit : Wikipedia – https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cake_pop
Story Credit : Aarushi Jain, the youngest regular contributor at the Chatoveracuppa blog. Storytelling comes to her naturally. This story was originally written for the children’s writing festival where the prompt was to write a story about a no school day spent without any electronics.
“Haley! Haley,” wake up my mom said this morning as I yawned.
“You don’t have school today because it’s raining cats and dogs outside.”
“Yes!” I screamed in joy as I wiggled my feet out of the covers.
“But no iPhone, smartphone, laptop or TV,” my mom added as she numbered each device on her fingers. Then she walked out of the room. I grunted.
“Mmmm,” I said. “Your bear chocolate chip cookies are so delicious.” I added to please my mom.
After two years of bringing over hundreds of stories through a couple dozen storytellers, we took a mini hiatus this year. Sometimes a little break is a good thing. Even though we missed being able to tell a story or to share one, to be able to walk up to a new storyteller, ask for a new story and make a new friend.
But it also allowed us to read stories elsewhere. It gave us the time to ask people reading us, what they liked on our blog. What we learnt was nothing new. Everyone loves stories. Continue reading “To A New Beginning”
