The Sweet Spot

I was running late for a conference call with my favorite canine. I had learned that not every dog is comfortable with FaceTime or video calls, but this particular one made eye contact, picked up visual cues and reacted to sounds of interest from the other side of a smartphone. Leia is a shiny black dachshund-chihuahua mix, and at less than 10 lbs, she carries a lot of weight whether present physically or virtually.  She was our house guest for the month of December, while our son was away traveling. True to her name (she is named after Princess Leia from Star Wars), she acted every bit a princess during her whole stay with us. And now an important part of calls to our son include a meaningful conversation with Her Highness!  Leia responding to a Wolf call A typical call with Leia starts with saying her name in a tone she recognizes and saying her special words like "Dawai" (medicine in Hindi). Yes, "dawai" is her favorite word due to her interest in the t

I was starting to become very impatient, with the never-ending grown-up conversation over tea and savory snacks. I was probably six or seven years old and had accompanied my grandmother to visit my Aunty’s parents. In the house full of senior citizens my attraction was the chessmen I had seen Anna (pronounced u-nna) , my Aunt's father, play with the last time we had briefly stopped by at their place. So this time when my grandmother asked me if I would like to join her, I jumped at the idea. The beautifully moulded coins - the king, horses, castles, soldiers - were so fascinating, that it did not matter I would not have any human playmates. Once there, I had looked around the room we were in, and sneaked to other rooms looking for the box of chess coins, but could not find them anywhere. Finally I mustered enough courage to ask, but did not know what they were called. Eventually the description of the tiny horses and castles led me to that day’s prized possession! I

A few days before Mother’s Day, a friend shared an enthralling picture and some videos of New Life. First there was a fascinating picture, from a nest cam, of the deep blue eggs, in a perfectly constructed Robin’s nest in my friend’s rhododendron bush. Then the chicks hatched and came the videos from her nest cam. The cam captured all without disturbing the chicks’ feeding rituals. How the chicks opened their beaks wide and how the parents fed them perfectly! Everyday we were clamoring for more on this new life, excited that it was happening right where we lived. The best was the day before Mother’s Day, when there were some snow flurries at night and the mother Robin created a shield with her wings to protect her little ones! In these uncertain times, in the middle of the lockdown, with news about devastation and destruction coming in from everywhere, I really needed this breath of fresh air. It was a reminder of new life. Of Mother Nature continuing to do its th

“Little Women” movie was out in theaters! It was a very special moment for me for multiple reasons. The novel “Little Women”, by Louisa May Alcott, on which the movie is based, was the first novel I ever read. I was in fifth grade then, and very impressionable, and had found the book, written almost a hundred years before my birth, to be quite progressive. It was inspiring to see that the girls in the book all had dreams and interests and talents that they followed passionately.  I recollected a lot of that novel despite having read the book so long ago. I was excited to see how they picturized it, and wasn’t disappointed. Another reason the movie was special was  because it was filmed in the area that we have lived for the past several years, in Concord, Massachusetts, where it was kind of based in the novel to begin with. While watching the movie as an adult, I reconnected with my reflections as a child, filling in the blanks of questions left unanswered or “aha!” mom

While walking my dog around the neighborhood, an unusual looking object caught my eye. It could have been an Easter egg considering it was around that time. Though the shape wasn’t exactly right for an egg. Curiosity got the better of me, and I knew the neighbor well, so I stepped closer into their yard to examine the intriguing object. It was a smooth flat rock covered with some fun art and an uplifting message. “Paint your worries with Happiness”. It instantly brought a smile to my face. I remembered a conversation on our community chat group about how a group of girls, let me call them the Rocking Fairies, were painting these rocks and leaving them in yards for people to find them. They call the rocks the kindness rocks. In a world full of gloom and doom and worry, what a beautiful way to make someone’s day! A small rock brought a big smile on my face, wiped my worries for a little while, and changed my mood. It relaxed the muscles on my face and brought warmth to my heart.

Every time I returned from visiting my family in Toronto, Canada or Indore, India, I was all pumped up about doing more for the environment. In both these places I am reminded of the importance of separating wet and dry, recyclable waste. Rotting of food or organic wet waste in landfills is the third largest source of methane emissions in the United States. Half of the landfill gas is methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that causes way more harm to the environment than carbon dioxide. And there is a simple way each of us can contribute - by composting our food waste, so it doesn’t end up in landfills, generating tons of methane. I had experienced the Canadian system tens of years ago. Though Indore is a recent star. Only five-six years ago one could see heaps of trash at road sides all over the city. There was no trash collection system from homes, let alone recycling or composting plants. In the past few years there has been consistent, exponential growth in building

The crabapple trees in my yard are awake after being dormant all winter; now covered with bursting buds and fresh young green leaves, where only recently their bare branches were adorned by white powdery snow. I bought this pair of saplings in a sale, some ten years ago, after the associate at the store narrated how the berries on these kind of trees attract birds, among many more of its virtues. The trees haven’t disappointed, starting to flower in spring with pink buds, blossoming into fragrant white flowers. The flowers are a magnet for bees. The leaves fill up into a lush, darker green into summer, as the flowers peep through, slowly turning into clusters of pink mini apples. Towards the end of summer the berries turn red and become glossier and shinier through early fall. True to the associate’s story, it attracted all sorts of local birds. The first few years of having the fruit, I assumed the berries were ornamental, and at best food for the birds. With every passing year, t

With each of our visits to India, we bring a little piece of the culture back - favorite sweets and savory delights, an ethnic outfit or two, a saree in a classical weave, a stylish piece of jewelry , terracotta toys or bell metal figurines, tribal art and paintings, hard to find CDs or records. Indians living in the US, more traditional in some ways than Indians in India, holding on to the India from decades ago, can find almost anything Indian they need, right here in the US. There are enough businesses and stores catering to every Indian need. Moreover, these days all airlines have weight and size restrictions on luggage, so traveling light has become more of a requirement. But nostalgia sweeps in while walking your favorite streets, pulling you towards your favorite shop, towards that one thing you can’t resist. Before you know it that special thing ends up in your luggage back to the US.  A few years ago, wandering the markets in Lucknow, my daughter spotted the ideal Indi

Anyone who has ever wanted to make a good time on a long distance road trip must have encountered the “Pacesetter Companion”. This is that one car which speeds up behind you when you are in the fastest lane, possibly tail-gates you, and if you maintain speed, accompanies you until your next rest stop. You make way for them, but you keep pace behind them. And as you both maneuver the highway traffic, sometimes you stay ahead, sometimes they catch-up and overtake. Both have the same goal, possibly the same destination. Total strangers, they keep you company and help you set pace until you part ways. This past February, I was faced with a challenge. In the middle of winter, I was to drive my daughter’s car 1200 miles, from Iowa to Boston. There would be two of us driving, but I was looking at myself as the primary driver, as my daughter was a reasonably new driver. For many people it is like “meh”. For me it was a challenge! We had done many road trips before, but I had never b

I recently read a post by a doctor which said the best help from all us non-essential workers would be to stay home and follow precautions as best as we can, and try our best to stay healthy for as long as we can. Our goal is to not overwhelm the healthcare infrastructure, and inundate the frontline heroes, who are already working on a war-footing. The idea is to flatten the curve, by self-isolation, quarantine and social distancing. We all have read or heard this message hundreds, if not thousands, of time in the past several weeks. I am writing about it again.  I am a proud Indori (for those who don’t know, Indori refers to a person of Indore origin; Indore is a city in central India). When I see the work done progressively by Indorians to retain the title of “The Cleanest City in India”, not once, but four years in a row, it makes me proud! Today it was disappointing to see Indore in the news again - a footage of some miscreants, or maybe some misled people, pelting stone

I was a little concerned to hear that my son routinely orders takeout during the stay-in-place order in California, sometimes using doordash, sometimes the restaurants deliver. He convinced me it was safe. Moreover, thanks to the technology industry workers’ ability to work from home and continue to be productive during the pandemic, he said it made sense to support local restaurants by ordering takeout and supporting the economy. So far, I had been apprehensive in ordering restaurant food during the virus outbreak. On his insistence, I looked up safety precautions connected with takeouts, such as ordering hot food, requesting the delivery people to leave the package outside, using gloves to bring the food indoors, wiping clean the containers with clorox, removing the food into personal containers, discarding the takeout containers and finally microwave/heat the food before consuming it. These days the longer the list of precautions, the more comfortable I felt. Takeout seemed like an

The grocery store was out of ginger root today. Usually ginger is a grocery item I can safely find in abundance, always filling up its designated area to capacity. On regular days, it seems like I am the only one stuffing my produce bag with four or five large roots. Ginger is an essential ingredient in Indian cooking. And those fond of the real Indian chai (tea) won't have it without a generous helping of ginger; it is known to fight colds and coughs and is supposed to bring warmth. I wasn’t surprised that today, with everyone guarding against COVID-19, the produce aisle which normally carries ginger was full of artichokes. If stores could be out of toilet paper, being out of ginger made way more sense. The sudden popularity of this root, which is such an integral part of my Indian roots, started me thinking of my roots. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I sit here, about 7500 miles away, across most of the Atlantic ocean, Europe and the middle-east, concerned abou