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Allergic to fresh air?

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Allergic to fresh air? It was 3:45 a.m.— that magical hour the spiritually inclined refer to as Brahma Muhurat , when the soul is supposed to awaken and connect with higher realms. I have no idea where my soul was although my body had awoken not for enlightenment, but because of a dry, blocked nose, itchy throat and headache. My whole being felt like what clothes might feel after going through the spin cycle in the washing machine. I stumbled out of bed, trying to recall what I had done to anger the gods the previous day, but nothing came to mind. I passed the day trying to stay distracted. I took whatever I could to relieve me of the pain and discomfort and stayed busy, thinking it was a cold and would be gone within a week or maximum, seven days. But it persisted and when after a couple of days, a friend uttered the word ‘anti-allergic’ in passing, it hit me! Do you remember those pictures in our Hindi books of class 2 and 3, of a sunrise? There would be a couple of birds wi...
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The Great Holi Spuddle

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The Great Holi Spuddle It was Holi, the grand festival of colours, yesterday. Being a proud member of the exclusive (and unofficial) no-colour-no-water club, I spent the morning avoiding the efforts of the over-enthusiastic well-wishers armed with powders, water guns and balloons to cajole or drag me into their super-noisy colour party. I had ample time on my hands. Safely ensconced inside, I started with a list of jobs to finish alone quietly. What did I actually do? Nothing! Well, not exactly nothing. I was seriously occupied in this and that. You know, those critically important, life-altering tasks like rearranging books on the shelf, contemplating the future with my fourth cup of chai , and scrolling through ‘happy Holi’ messages that added immense value to my day (or so I convinced myself). Around dinner time, I counted my achievements, and there was this grand total -zero. An intense brain-racking exercise followed and finally, my one achievement for the day was findi...
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International Women’s Day: Celebrating the Unseen, the Unheard

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International Women’s Day: Celebrating the Unseen, the Unheard I am an ordinary woman who has spent a few decades on this planet- yet I am acutely aware that there is so much, rather infinite amount, to learn. When I first watched Hidden Figures, a film based on the true story of three African American mathematicians who played key roles in NACA (later NASA), what struck me was how little I knew about women trailblazers in different fields. On International Women’s Day today, people in every country and city would organize events to sing the praises of the fairer sex, clap for their contributions, declare on microphones how they plan to fight for their rights etc., my humble effort is to bring to light just about a dozen women who were groundbreakers in fields known to be dom inated by men. Shouldn’t we be telling their and similar stories every day? Abbye Stockton (weightlifter) lifting 135 lbs. sometime in the 1940s.  Doesn’t she make it seem so easy? Dr Anandibai Joshi (lef...
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Mahakumbh- Will it be rinse-and-repeat?

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Mahakumbh: Will it be rinse-and-repeat? Some celebrities during the Kumbh You know how I have taken my habit and skill of worrying to such a level that whenever an award for worrying is instituted, my claim as the first and unanimous recipient stays uncontested. The latest reason – a Kumbh returnee, soaked in piety, in a sharp voice not bothering to hide his disdain, questioned me how I qualify as a practicing Hindu even though I did not take the proverbial ‘holy dip’ in the Sangam in spite of living just a few hours from the sacred site.   No, somehow, it did not trigger worry about my being a Hindu because all of us have our own system of belief. Bathing or dubki (taking a dip) too, is a matter of belief and thus, does not give anyone the right to question. The good thing is that followers of every religion have some such notion so nobody should be stupid enough to raise eyebrows at anyone else. My stomach is in knots- the official numbers say nearly 56 crore visitors no...
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Coat it with sugar!

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Coat it with sugar! “No wonder you have so few friends,” my friend said in a voice that was amused, annoyed or plain impatient, I could not decide. “What did I say? Is it wrong to say things as they are?” I asked. “No, you speak too bluntly, they do not sound good. You should cover your words in feathers and then throw them. Try using softer words.” That set me thinking. I have always spoken about everything as it is. There have been repercussions, I must admit, but I thought my life was going fine. But maybe it isn’t. Is it time I change my style of speaking? That would mean I have to start using words which convey what I want to say but sound soft or sweet. Instead of calling somebody ‘stupid’, I should say, airhead, dim bulb, lost his/her marbles, a few peas short of a casserole, not the sharpest pencil in the box. We know that these words are called euphemisms in English. Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines ‘euphemism’ as an indirect word or phrase that people often us...
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Who is on your 'friends' list?

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Who is on your friends' list? One morning this week, an email caught me by surprise. It was a Facebook (FB) friend recommendation - Draupadi Murmu’s mugshot stared back at me. Now, we know who she is. I was confused. How on earth would she know who I am. Why would she want to be friends with me? And the next thoughts were- are the FB algorithm developers napping? How silly of someone to open a fake account in the name of the President of India! Welcome to the unregulated, unreal realm of Facebook, where presidents, professionals, promoters, pals, pretenders, pests, anyone can be a friend, or at least send in a friend request. According to dataportal.com, India and United States are the leading Facebook users. I am not surprised. Most of the people I know keep track of others and peer into what is going on in their lives, through Facebook. They claim that it is an important tool to find long-lost friends, old classmates and alumni associations or cousins so distant they can be ...
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