Thank you, Amma, for buying me a mortar and pestle when we went shopping one day, soon after my marriage. Among my vivid childhood memories are watching you pound that mixture of rice and skinned black gram, soaked overnight, on a large granite mortar placed on the floor of our house in Calcutta. Continue reading “Mortar and pestle”
Monthly Archives: April 2020
Pottery lesson
The first lesson in making pottery Is: be willing to get your hands dirty. ‘Cos when you place that clay mound At the centre of the spinning-wheel, Then wet your palms to wrap them around, The slurry splatters on you. And at times, with fingers placed gently, As you drag and pull inwardly, The moundContinue reading “Pottery lesson”
Positano
Four feet, Two His, two mine, Stretched out facing the emerald sea, Against the winter sun. We were in Positano, By this breath-taking corniche, Where the shore stretched free, But for four, happy feet. Can you hear the silence of the sea? No one heard the silence of the sea. TheContinue reading “Positano”
Monotony
There are several ways to kill time during this quarantine.Like, doing dishes, and cooking meals, and taking care of the laundry.Are you disappointed with my suggestion?Then kindly consider this:That is how half of mankind every day lives.Yes, I mean the women. Take my mother, for instance.She was a tender ten when she started doing choresContinue reading “Monotony”
April
April is the cruellest month, indeed. The laburnum’s bloomed, flashing its golden inflorescence, And the cerulean sky breaks into waves of silken clouds. Flocks of sunbirds, iridescent in shades of green and yellow, collude, While the wasps and the bees buzz about aimlessly from tree to tree. And all I can do is loungeContinue reading “April”
An anthropologist among the journalists 