The Sweet Spot

I held my breath as Prince Smokey bent his head tentatively for a cold drink from the pond. Had he dipped a few inches closer, he may have literally kissed the little froggie, perched comfortably on the lilypad, and I may have witnessed the rising of a majestic dog princess. Alas! That was not meant to be, as the frog elegantly took a leap away from the danger that it sensed through its impeccable peripheral vision, and ducked behind a sanctuary of rocks. On the hot, lazy summer day, this scene was a welcome addition to the monotony of the calming sound of the water meandering through the rocks and falling into the small pond in our backyard. This past summer was especially dry and I had always wanted a backyard water feature. The dry weather in addition to the loose rocks left over due to some backyard work were the major motivation for us to attempt to build a small waterfall in our backyard. After watching dozens of YouTube videos about building water features, I felt our project wo...

I wasn’t there to witness this amazing feat. But when I close my eyes, it is clear like it is happening right in front of my eyes! I have seen this happen before, however this time it is more exciting for him. His small frame hunched over the keyboard with keys so worn-out that the letters have disappeared, his glasses that need correction that sometimes he can see better without them when his face is up close to the monitor and keyboard, patiently typing with two fingers as he has no typing skills; but his memories are crystal clear and larger than life, pouring out and filling the empty pages of the document to bring the stories of legendary cricketers, whom he hero-worshipped in his youth, to life. My Dad, (whom I call Baba) at age 82, just finished writing and publishing a book of his dreams. While he wrote about the legends, in my eyes he himself has become a legend! In March 2020, when I wrote about Baba in my post “ The Undeniable Roots ” that “When I read motivational quotes ab...

“It is a love-cum-arranged marriage”, Renu had informed her small, close-knit community in the outskirts of Rajkot, Gujarat. Her nephew was marrying a Punjabi girl, in an inter-cultural marriage, in the US. For those unaware of this Indian parlance, it is called a “love marriage” when the couple meet, get to know each other, fall in love and then decide to marry – before the family is involved. It is “arranged” when the family is the matchmaker and gets the couple together with an intention of getting them married. In India the latter is still a common practice. In the eyes of conservative folks in India, a marriage is a union between two families, and ensuring the couple has the blessings from both families, which culminates in a traditional wedding, is very important. So “love-cum-arranged” softens the jagged edges of the love (read as “youthful foolishness” through the orthodox tinted glasses) with the cloak of family acceptance and blessing! A few years ago, their community in Guj...

Last summer during the covid lockdown, while on one of my bollywood movie binges, I came across the movie Vivah. It seemed like a harmless, stress free, Suraj Badjatya goodie-goodie movie - even edging a bit towards calmly boring - and a perfect one to drown out covid anxiety. I hadn’t the faintest clue that within minutes the movie would turn irksome as the actor Seema Biswas playing “Chachi” coats her sweet little daughter’s face with layers of powder to make her look as fair as her cousin. Throughout its first part, the movie portrays Chachi’s jealousy and insecurity due to her daughter’s dark skin and how she is unable to see the bubbly and kind girl’s true beauty. To begin with I felt the movie was at best cringe-worthy, but it was interesting that the one scene left such a lasting impression in my mind that I am willing to give the movie some credit for subtly touching on Colourism. Anyone who has grown up in South Asia knows how deep Colourism runs in the region. Colourism is d...

Every morning when I see our dog Smokey roll on his back in a morning ritual, with his belly up, looking for a gentle rub, I can’t help but be reminded of Snoopy from Peanuts thinking “I must admit that I have a pretty good life”! All Smokey’s basic needs, however simple, are taken care of - be it his food, shelter and walks. We have tried getting fancier with him, like dressing him in snazzy jackets to protect him from the cold, but he hates them and gets rid of them by aggressively tearing them up. The walks are the most exciting part of his day where he can socialize with other dogs, and snag heavenly treats from some generous dog owners and generally meander in the wilderness. The rest of the day he naps for long periods of time, mostly finding a cozy place next to humans going about their daily business. The part about Snoopy’s, and Smokey’s “pretty good life” feels even more relatable when I read about overachiever working dogs. There are sniffer dogs busy training to be the next...

The school year 2016-17 in our town started with a dark fall season ending in a darker winter. The school community was mourning, grieving and learning to cope with the deaths of two current students and two past students who took their own lives. Then on a cold, dark winter evening in January when I entered my daughter’s room, she was in shock and unconsolable. “It’s a fifth grader....he is so young...only ten!” That evening is etched in my mind. If it took so much for our family to come to terms with this incident, I wondered what the boy’s family would have gone through. It has been more than four years since this incident, when quite coincidentally I noticed a page set up by a mother in the memory of her radiant boy. I was drawn to this duo and as I looked deeper caught sight of innumerable posts - some touching, some heartbreaking, but mostly inspiring, and tremendously positive in the face of an unthinkable tragedy. My throat tightened as I read “Sometimes it feels like he is jus...

On the weekend of April 30th-May 3rd 2021, if you are out and about - in your garden or yard, on a walk, or walking your pet, chatting with a neighbor or hanging outside in the playground in Acton or Boxborough - and you happen to see an interesting plant, or animal, a bug, bee or a bird - or any local biodiversity, you can earn the title of a Citizen Scientist ! This weekend is when Acton-Boxborough participates in a public collaboration effort in contributing to scientific research through crowdsourcing . And for crowdsourcing, more the merrier! “I followed the steps [ during the kickoff meeting for the project] and in just a couple of minutes I am all set to start observing biodiversity, and uploading the pictures to the site”, says Liliana Rao, a recent member of the AB BioBlitz initiative. The steps include downloading the iNaturalist app ( iPhone or Android ), creating an account and under “More” in the menu, click “Projects'' and search “Acton Boxborough” to find and j...