Category life and politics
2015 Faves
‘All the light we cannot see’ by Anthony Doerr. Luminous. ‘The Orphan Master’s son’ by Adam Johnson. Gutting. Cycling the Cotswolds with my beloved. Breaks for tea and cake. So civilized. Visiting Lucerne, Montreux and Geneva with my son. Adventure. Learning to swim again. Splish splash. Mild fall and winter. Guilty pleasure. Roaming Copenhagen, Bruges […]
This is water
As the new year begins and I resolve to be more mindful, more present in the moment, I consider a portion of David Foster Wallace’s 2005 Commencement address at Kenyon College: There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and […]
The New Raj
You visit Britain, travel through the country, spend some time in London. And when you go home (to wherever home is) you find yourself talking and thinking about the country with great affection. You want their openness to the world, their embrace of ethnic diversity and marvellous food and fabulous museums and amazing public transit and universal […]
How dare they?
“How dare they?” the woman said to me at a writer’s conference. “How dare they wave a flag of Pakistan in Old Delhi when Pakistan won the cricket match? They can’t insult Indians like that.” “Who’s this they?” “Muslims,” she said. “Muslims living in Old Delhi. They aren’t Indians?” A shake of the head. “In Toronto during […]
The legacy of slavery
In “Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery,” Eric Foner, a Columbia University historian and the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning writes, If the Germans built a museum dedicated to American slavery before one about their own Holocaust, you’d think they were trying to hide something. As Americans, we haven’t yet figured out how to […]
Inadvertent Feminists
Here’s to parents, schools, employers, colleagues, mentors who set no limits on girls and women, who support their ambitions, who applaud their achievements. Because equality in income, education, opportunities and decision-making helps all of us. If you believe in equal pay for equal work, in equal opportunities in education, employment, and sports, in individual women’s right […]
Things I am grateful for – 2014
1. The wonders that were Robin Williams, Maya Angelou, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. 2. An American Thanksgiving family reunion with loved ones from near and far. 3. My firstborn’s continued excellent adventures at college. 4. My second born’s culinary skills. 5. My spouse’s humour and compassion. 6. My amazing parents whose continuing generosity changes lives every […]
Agents of agony
Several months ago, I started sending out query letters for my story collection, “Bee Stings.” Many letters seem to go into an abyss. Some receive politely worded rejections: “It’s not a good match for our list at this time,” “Given the extremely competitive collection market…” or “We love your writing – just not passionately enough to represent […]
After everything we do for them
After all the sacrifices we make for our children, after everything we do to nurture them, love them, encourage them, and after we teach them to be self-sufficient, think for themselves, encourage them to speak truth to power (yes, even our power), what does it take for parents to abandon their children? Two of three homeless immigrant […]
My Inner Memsahib
Growing up in India has a huge impact on your psyche. A friend invited me to lunch last week at her very fancy club here in Toronto. It was all so swish: the decor, the food, and yes, even the washrooms. I LOVED it. And spent the rest of the week reining in my inner memsahib.
