Life through a glass of wine!

It was the third day of college. The ragging sessions were in full swing. Ragging in our college was mostly a fun affair, and a wonderful ice-breaking experience for me. All kinds of silly pranks were being played. During one such session, one of my seniors asked me to go and propose to her male friend sitting some distance away. Unwillingly, I went up to the guy pretending to hold a flower and blurted an 'I love you'. In return, this guy shouted back, 'Arre yaar kisse bhej diya? Size dekh kar toh bhejna tha!' I was mortified, angry and heartbroken. In that moment, it didn't matter if I scored above 90% in CBSE exams. It didn't matter that I was multi-talented. It didn't matter that I was kind and generous. All that mattered was that I was fat... Hello adult life - you sure are harsh! Now let me clarify. I've been chubby since the time I turned a year old, give or take a few months. Partly genetics and partly an insatiable sweet tooth. Add to it the ...

कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी, नम थी आँखें , हम रो भी ना पाए। कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी, हमने दुआ करी किसी अपने को मौत आए। कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी, लफ़्ज़ तो थे पर कुछ कह ना पाए। कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी, दूर हुए इतने कि कंधा ना दे पाए। कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी, दर्द हुआ पर महसूस ना कर पाए। कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी, जागे ना थे और सो भी ना पाए। कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी, हम चल ना सके पर ठहर भी ना पाए। कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी, पंख तो थे पर उड़ ना पाए। कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी , सब गँवा के भी उनसे कुछ हासिल ना कर पाए। कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी, माफ़ ना किया और भुला भी ना पाए। कुछ तो क़र्ज़ चुकाने थे ऐ ज़िंदगी, छलकी पलकें और लफ़्ज़ बह आए।

I was fourteen when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was the first time in my life I had seen my iron man father break down and cry like a baby. Thankfully, it was an early stage and the prognosis looked good. I saw my mother go through surgery and grueling sessions of chemotherapy. There was not one side effect that she did not have. She would cry with pain piercing her bones due to the death and subsequent growth of white blood cells in her bone marrow. Her hair fell off. She was unable to eat anything. All her veins collapsed. Heparin was not much help. She received a chemo-port which got infected and gave her a blood infection. She survived the ordeal but never completely recovered from it. Sometimes I wonder if the treatment for cancer took away more of her health than the cancer itself. In my best friend's mother's case, it actually did. Her mother was diagnosed with a brain tumour by accident. She had fallen and injured her head. The pain refused to go. ...

So I turned thirty this January and honestly, I wasn't exactly enthralled - age is catching up. Sigh. Nonetheless, I had reason to be happy, with my super awesome family and friends around me. For me, my thirtieth has been a huge milestone and I feel a lot wiser than what I was just a couple of years ago. Here's a gist of what I've learnt so far. Surely, this list will get updated as I grow older, but so far so good. 1. Academic intelligence does not guarantee real world success Well of course, I'd expect most people to have had this revelation by now. I was a very proud- almost arrogant- A grader for much of my life. Until real life happened. I realised that my pedantic knowledge was absolutely no match for the things that life throws at us. At the most, good grades will get you to a good college. But they will not keep you there, nor will they teach you how to tackle adult life. It's way more important to learn all kinds of life skills than to be immersed in b...

I'm sure most of you have, at some point of time, heard this song. I'm also sure you have uncomfortably changed channels when it came on TV. Why do we treat sex as such a taboo? Why can't we talk freely about an essential human need which is the basis of all procreation and sustenance of life? Like most of the people I know, I am a person who treats sex as something deeply intimate and personal. I'm also aware that many women discuss their romps with their friends, but I refrain from ever talking about my own sexual experiences out of respect for myself and my partner. But I have no qualms about it. And I really feel that by treating sex as taboo, we encourage our youngsters to engage in sexually dangerous behaviours, and it is about time we all started talking in a matter of fact manner about it. What prompted me to write this piece is the fact that children as young as fourteen are becoming sexually active, and if we don't educate them early, we might be puttin...

Do you know what is a 'menu' called in Hindi? Can you name the three greatest Punjabi writers? Will you be able to make sense of Faiz's poetry without a translator? Unfortunately and shamefully so, neither will I... Like many of you, I was born to educated middle class parents whose sole ambition in life was to see their children do well. And one of the pre-requisites for doing well was your command on the English language. So, having worked tooth and nail on their toddlers, they were overjoyed when my twin sister and I got admitted to a reputed school run by Christian missionaries. Now, if you have been to a Christian missionary school you will know how it is. You pray in English, you curse in English, you think in English, you speak in English and you even dream in English. Class monitors are often asked to 'fine' the students for speaking in any language other than English. You will, of course, learn Hindi formally because it is compulsory, but it will not be ...

In our society, and in most cultures around the world, women have been the primary caregivers. They toil day and night to make sure that everyone around them is looked after. Women, unfortunately, are also twice as likely as men to suffer from depression and stress related diseases. Their biological makeup and the monotonous and thankless nature of their work are probably the main contributing factors. I too am among those women who put family before themselves, and get stressed easily about everything. From my own experience, I wish to share a few self care tips that have kept me together when everything around me seemed to be falling apart.  You have to understand - it's important to take care of yourself in order to be able to take care of those around you. A moping, unhappy and unhealthy woman cannot bring cheer to others. You need to recharge your own batteries so that you can fill in everyone else's. It's not being selfish. And don't let anyone hav...