The backlist: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
For fans of the Saint of Bright Doors and The Kite Runner, Exit West is an exquisitely told story that propels us into a future in which changing countries is as easy as opening a door.
Welcome to New York
Taylor Swift’s anthem to New York blares in my ears as the train enters the North River tunnels.
8 years since I traveled to the city for fun. Memories cascade across my feed …
A few of my favorite blogs
I have been blogging since 2012, so there’s a lot of content you may have missed. As a welcome note, I want to share some of my faves. If you have favorite blogs that aren’t on here, please comment on this post, and I will add them to the list.
Taking time to be creative
In 1991, John Cleese gave a talk on Creativity in Management in which he listed 5 way essential elements that help us get into what he called open mode. Open mode is the environment that allows you to be creative and receptive to new ideas.
Grief is the metabolization of change
I read Inciting Joy at the end of last year because I wanted to read a book about joy. In its pages and hours of audio, I found much joy (in flower beds and trips to Sabrina’s) but also many lessons about joy that come from darker moments (death and grief).
Complete/Convenient explores expatriate life for India’s diaspora
This blog was originally published in 2013. Ketan’s book launch was my first in India. Britain has its Bronte sisters; now, India has its Bhagat brothers. With his debut novel, Complete/Convenient, Ketan Bhagat proves that great writing is now the family business. Complete/Convenient tells the story of two NRIs: Kabir and Myra Kapoor. They relocate […]
How to stop using ableist language
If you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be? Hi! It’s your friendly neighborhood, disabled editor here! 👋🏻 Removing ableist language from your vocabulary is one of the most loving things that you can do to honor disabled people. A lot more of our language is ableist than […]
The mouse in my house
What does your ideal home look like? I’ve written before about the question “where are you from?” and what it means to belong to a place. This prompt from Jetpack felt like a familiar attempt to get writers to talk about housing, interior design, and fabulous locations. For me, this prompt comes at a time […]
Why do I blog?
Why do you blog? It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged on this website. This prompt from my WordPress app seems as good a reason to restart as any other. When I first started blogging back in 2012, I was documenting my journey in India. I moved on to writing about Indian books, Indian […]
Audiobook review: The Past As Present by Romila Thapar
At first glance, a book on Indian historiography might not seem easily accessible to a general audience.
Yet, Thapar’s prose is lucid, and her tone remains conversational without losing its scholarly authority. Thapar connects arguments about the past to our present quite beautifully.