The Venue: The library room at our home. A large mat is laid on the floor, and sitting on it is the humble 64 square checkered board. The father sits on one side, hopeful of teaching the eager mind on the other side his favourite game. The daughter sits opposite him, curious about the new game she’s about to learn.

The opening gambit - King’s Pawn ( Read more... )

Can you guess what’s common amongst the following scenarios ( Read more... )

Ms. Morning Star calls up Mr. Red Planet, with barely concealed excitement in her voice. She tells him about this amazing little restaurant that her colleagues have been raving about, situated at the opposite end of town. “Do you know, they have amazing hors d’oeuvres which are made up entirely of organic vegetables that come from their farm? They ( Read more... )

There has been a lot of brouhaha in office the last few days around a fitness programme that was going to be launched for the employees. Inspirational quotes and sweaty pictures that would motivate even the biggest couch potato adorned our walls. Employees started betting on what forms of exercise regimens they’d design for us. Everyone waited with ( Read more... )

The Trivandrum landing strip has got to be one of the prettiest strips in India. I was fast asleep in my seat when my daughter started prodding me continuously. “Amma, please pull the life jacket from under my seat. I can’t seem to pull it out”, she said. Exasperated at being woken up from my deep slumber for what I thought was a silly request, I ( Read more... )

“And the Oscar for best actress goes to….Shruthi Harikrishna”. I’d walk up to stage, dressed in a gorgeous Elie Saab gown, looking like Cinderella herself, and make an acceptance speech which was so funny it would make Billy Crystal seem drab and boring.

I cannot count the number of times the abovementioned scene played itself out during my ( Read more... )

As a sane, rational, educated woman, I always make decisions based on data and scientifically proven facts. A few years ago, I got an interview call from a premier management institute. I don’t think I’d ever wanted something as badly as I wanted a seat in that college. So I did the first thing a woman does when placed at such important crossroads ( Read more... )

After the initial euphoria of knowing we were going to have a baby dulled a bit, my husband and I were struck by the same thought- What values did we hold dear? What were we hoping to teach our child? We pushed the discussion for a few months until it was time for me to push the little one out.  While I was groaning in pain at the labour table, my ( Read more... )

In a twist to the standard Turing test, a man faces 2 curtains. Behind one is a child, and behind the other is another person. The man is tasked with finding out which curtain houses the child and who the other person is. He is allowed 5 questions, at the end of which he needs to make his decision.

Man: “How would you feel if someone thought you ( Read more... )

I was telling my husband the other day that our life had gotten monotonous, and that we could definitely do with some excitement. Had I known that God chose those exact fifteen seconds to grant me my wish, I would’ve asked for something shinier ( Read more... )