“You always speak in Hindi, while your husband converses with you in Punjabi.” I looked at my friend in disbelief when she pointed out . Months into my marriage, I was blissfully unaware of the anomaly that we were conversing in two different languages, speaking with each other in our own comfort language, a lingo that the other person was conversant with. Continue reading “Conversing in comfort”
Flirtations with online shopping
I was baffled. Every now and then, the doorbell would ring. There would be a delivery boy at the door, either to deliver something or to pick up a return. From daily-use items to fancy products, perishables like milk and vegetables to durables like upholstery to even odd pieces of furniture, almost everything was being ordered online and delivered at the door step. I couldn’t even buy tomatoes or potatoes without scrutinizing each piece; I wondered how anyone could make big purchases without actually seeing, touching and having the feel of the product. That was the time when online shopping was an alien concept for me, difficult to digest.
Let’s not press the hate button
Thankfully, this year Nuh Shobha Yatra concluded peacefully amid an internet ban and tight security. Last year, when communal clashes took place during the procession, I was in Gurugram with my son. Tension spread through several districts of South Haryana, including Gurugram, impacting the life of everyone, rich and poor, belonging to all the communities. Living in an upscale gated residential society, we were under no threat, but fear of another kind gripped us. As the tension spread, shops closed down, home delivery was suspended. Educational institutions were shut and most office goers worked from home. The residents stayed within the safe environs of the society, nevertheless there was upheaval in their life as maids and domestic help belonging to both the communities, living in shanties nearby, remained absent.
Reflections triggered by an outrageous outburst over dress
Sometime back, a video of a middle-aged woman shaming and rebuking young girls for wearing short dresses in a restaurant went viral on social media. As I watched the video, memory of an old incident, almost forgotten, that took place more than two decades ago flashed across my mind.
Continue reading “Reflections triggered by an outrageous outburst over dress”
The three Rs that we practised unawares
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are buzz words today. However, growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s, we were unaware of the three Rs of environment conservation yet would practise these earnestly. Unlike the present-day ‘use and throw’ culture, we would tend to use everything to the fullest. Almost nothing was discarded in our middle-class households, even to the extent that when a thing lost its functional utility, it was retained in the hope that someday, somehow it would be put to some use.
