The T-Rex syndrome

For anyone who has followed my Instagram or Facebook feed, they probably know by now that The Old Monks won the 50 km Oxfam Trailwalker. It was fabulous and fun. We were not exceptionally fast or strategically strong. We were, however, committed and not ready to give up. At the 23 km mark, when we…

Introducing: The (Not so) Old Monks

I have always been an active child. Active in trying to pull the chair from under the uncle who is about to sit down for dinner, active in dismantling the telephone ( those old things which actually had a dialer) because I was confused whether I should play doctor or engineer today, active in hiding…

Why is trying something new shit scary?

Why is trying something new shit scary? It has taken 26 years for me to muster enough courage to learn how to ride a cycle. Of these, I guess, the last 20 were spent mostly trying to convince myself that I am ‘too-old-for-that-sort-of-thing’. I mean, who wants to fall on her bum when she is…

The answer to abuse

I do not have a bone to pick. I am generally a calm person, and so even when I read about the most recent rape case in Delhi, I did not lose my temper. Maybe it is a sign of the society having spiraled out of control, maybe it is materialism, maybe it is whatever…

Odissi – one of the oldest Indian dance forms

This is part of my recent dance show. I am putting it up here because I feel any sort of classical dance deserves as much viewership as a Hip-hop or ballet routine does. Music and dance are wonderful things, and they should not hold one back. Also, because I like the colours on stage. This…

Little cozy cursives

It has been raining incessantly. And that makes me want to write something warm and nice. Something which I could write while looking at the raindrops outside my open window, from where our houseguest, Mr Cat keeps a watch on the neighbourhood. something I could read and feel snug, with maybe a cup of hot…

Robert Fogarty’s Boston captures

In the recent years, India has sadly enough, seen too many bombings and terror attacks – one worse than the other. And yet the horror of it all never really leave us. We have been left speechless and shocked each time it has happened and we have hoped and prayed that our future doesn’t see…

Letter to myself

Day before yesterday, as I sat chatting with childhood friends on whatsapp, I updated them on my Half Marathon timings for SCMM ’14. While most of them congratulated me, one friend did say something that made complete sense. Old friend who speaks the truth: “You ran the whole thing?” I, also speaking the truth: “Yes….

Date a girl/ guy who runs

Everyone who likes to run knows about the perks of running. Stronger muscles, better stamina, blah and blah and blah and blah. There are probably millions of articles and blogs on that topic. But this, my friend, is not about running. This is about falling for someone who runs. And falling for someone while running….

The voice in her head

The voice in her head would tell her to take things slow. To enjoy the day without the deadlines that she was used to. Stop at the corner of the road where the breeze hit her the most – and her hair flew in zigzag patterns across her face. It told her to eat a…

Travel Diary: Masinagudi and a missed Tiger sighting

Roads winding down and up, twisting and turning through hills and jungles. A steady buzzing grows in your head – as if to keep company with the chirping of birds – magnified by the silence around you, You look through the trees, half afraid of the jungle beast lurking around somewhere just out of your…

Sunlight in a bottle

For the last six-odd months, Akilesh Subramanian and Priyanka Bhosale, both in their 20s, have been lighting up lives in Mumbai through a global movement called ‘Liter of Lights’. Based on an idea that took off in the Philippines, Liter of Lights aims to provide an ecologically and economically sustainable source of light to underprivileged…