Tag: creative nonfiction
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Growing Up – The Delhi Years
“Yes, Daddy, yes! That’s the book the teacher read in class.” Daddy is turning pages of a children’s book entitled Fix it, Please. We are in a children’s bookstore. My teacher, Miss Beri, had read that book to the class this morning at school. She displayed it to the kids so they could see ... -
Skateboards and Paper Jams
Another darn problem! Nothing is going right today, simply nothing! The smallest of tasks has me beating my head against the wall. Now it’s the darn printer with a jammed piece of paper! Calm yourself, Sunita. It’s not the first time. Besides, it’s a straightforward fix. Pull the sheet out slowly and gently, and reset ... -
Love You More Fifteen Years Later
February is the month of gray and the month of love all wrapped up into one. Did someone plan this phenomenon? I believe it is all a plan to get us through the last cold, gray month of winter before the promise of spring lies before us. Some may call it a capitalist ploy to ... -
Glimpses of Small Town India of Yore
I was ten when Daddy put me on a train to Ambala. Alone and unsupervised for the first time, feeling quite grown up, I hope I am hiding my fears. Daddy sent a telegram to his older brother, Har Narain saying, “Sunita is coming–please receive.” An immediate response comes back, “Who is Sunita?” I am ... -
Encore! Encore!
A Night Out! I love attending live concerts. As the crowd sings along, getting every word right, I am struck by an intense, warm-hearted affection towards my fellow fans. All of us share an unspoken union. I feel like anyone in the stands could turn to the stranger next to them and say something like, ... -
Magical Convergences
Is there a reading version of a double take? I suppose instead of a turn of the head, it’s a flick of one’s eyes back over what they just read. It’s a jolt of familiarity, a sense of déjà vu. In that moment, you feel all your synapses light up, forming new connections of understanding. ... -
All the Books
When I tell someone that I want to read all the books, they often respond with a polite chuckle followed by a good-natured remark about knowing I am a nerd. If they are avid readers, they may nod in understanding and companionable agreement. I could leave it at that. I would have communicated that I ... -
The Thing About Football
I hate football. The fans lose their minds and endure crowded stadiums to watch their teams run back and forth on a field. My first experience with the sport was in the high school marching band. Being forced to perform at halftime shows for my small town was not what I enjoyed doing on a ... -
The Calm After the Storm
It took only a few hours to obliterate the country. Then the skies cleared, and we crawled out of our houses on shaky limbs, fearful of what awaited us. The year was 2004, and our tiny island had been safe from catastrophe for over fifty years. One of the most destructive storms to cross the ... -
From Across the Void
Once again, the eight-year-old me is standing under the mantle staring up at that serious, soft-eyed person in the picture. Sometimes, when passing through this room, I glance up and smile. Other times, I fear he is watching me as if he is judging. When no one is around, I return his gaze and try ...