The other Rafa

May 22, 2016

For the bulk of my avid tennis-following (and occasionally playing) years, Rafa was the Roland Garros favourite for miles. No one else even came close. A few years back, things suddenly started to get a little iffy, as he got more and more injury-ridden. The clay court wins were no longer as resounding, the destruction of his opponent no longer as complete. Roland Garros started today, and while Nadal has recovered some of his previous clay court prowess, he isn’t quite the tournament favourite he used to be. For a die-hard fan like myself, watching his slow decline has been painful, to say the least. But seeing his perseverance, his dogged spirit, his sheer dedication to and respect for the sport through his losses has shown me the other, equally inspiring, side to him.

Today takes me back to another time I saw that side of him, a side that wasn’t easy to watch – his 2014 Australian Open Final against Stan Wawrinka. This seems like a good time to post something I wrote after that Final. more “The other Rafa” …

Graduation

May 21, 2016

Facebook tells me that, four years ago today, I graduated from Vassar. To commemorate that, here’s pretty much the first thing I ever wrote, when I first discovered my love for writing (outside of the multitude of papers written at Vassar). Written around a year after I graduated, this, too, was inspired by something I saw on Facebook.

The schedule for Senior Week 2013 at Vassar has just been released, and Facebook is flooded with statuses lamenting that graduation is nearly here. It is only when I read these that it hits me – it has been nearly a year since I graduated. I got so caught up in moving back home, getting a job, adjusting to life after college that time flew. I lived without realizing it, without noticing how much time has gone by, without it clicking in my head that I have been at this for a year. I can no longer say that I just graduated from Vassar; I lost the right to say that a few months back. Soon, I will no longer even be able to say that I recently graduated from Vassar; in a few weeks’ time, that right will belong to another set of students. more “Graduation” …

The Great Indian Chai Culture

April 26, 2016

We, as Indians, thrive in a society built on chai. It’s a staple, whether to start, end, or simply get through the day; present to visitors; drink at a roadside dhaba or railway station; or offer in the deadly ‘chai paani’ combination. Masala, green, black, oolong, or the redundantly named Starbucks creation ‘chai tea latte’ – there’s a chai for everyone.

The offer of a cup of chai embodies the very notion of Indian community and hospitality. Having spent the past several months working in the public health space, I have become accustomed to the endless cups of overly milky, sweet chai that are offered by government officials. From the North East to the South, the dialect, dress, and diet may differ, but the offer of a steaming hot cup of chai remains the same.  more “The Great Indian Chai Culture” …

Delhi

February 6, 2016

Written this past summer

My brother leaves Delhi to return to college tonight, and this evening, my very talkative, carefree, chilled out brother sat quietly in the living room with the rest of us. He wouldn’t tell us what was bothering him, or even that anything was, but seeing him like that took me back to the four years that I spent shuttling back and forth between Delhi and America. I still remember the feeling I would get in the pit of stomach for those few hours leading up to my departure. It wasn’t an indicator of disliking college, but merely an indicator of how much I liked Delhi, and how much I disliked the upheaval of leaving it. And today, for the first time, I saw it in my brother. more “Delhi” …

The Brain Drain

November 2, 2015

This past summer, after his freshman year, my brother interned at one of India’s most esteemed corporate houses. Within the first ten days of the internship, he had fought to get a computer, gone through each text message on his phone, and taken several naps in the library. He was asked the same question daily “you’re an MBA student, right”. To which he had the same response “no, first year undergrad”. He was also told daily “the real work starts tomorrow. Your computer will be here any day now”.

Two weeks into a six week internship, he finally got his computer. He was yet to receive work. more “The Brain Drain” …

October Breeze

October 29, 2015

The nicest time of year to be in Delhi is finally upon us. With that in mind, here’s something I wrote around the same time last year.

I got my first taste of this year’s festive season walking out of Vasant Vihar’s Basant Lok market a few weeks back, right around Dussehra time. The market, despite being well past its glory days of TGIF and Priya Cinema, was adorned with strings of brightly coloured lights, waiting to be lit up as soon as evening fell.

There’s something about October and November in Delhi. There’s excitement and festivities and lights in the air (and on people’s houses). It’s not just the weeks of card parties and colourful, new clothes leading up to Diwali, but also the start of the wedding season. It’s not just one Diwali mela after another, full of chaat, jalebi and shopping, but also the sudden turn of weather, when Delhi’s relentless heat becomes more forgiving after all those months, and people want to be outdoors again. It’s the time of year when my brother, in small town North Carolina, and countless other Delhiites in various parts of the world, miss Delhi the most.  more “October Breeze” …

Writer’s Block

October 28, 2015

Ever had writer’s block from too much writing? I’ve felt like that the past few months. Through grad school applications, I must have written 90 odd essays since July. As a result, I haven’t had the mind space or inspiration for non-career goals related writing. Ironic, though, isn’t it? I didn’t know too much writing could be a source of writer’s block.

As I take a much needed break from applications, I’ve decided to get back to writing. I’ve always written when the urge hit me, when inspiration struck, using it as means to express my thoughts when I couldn’t perhaps do it any other way. Having spent the past few months forcing myself to write something every day, though – a lot of which I enjoyed, some of which was a chore – I realised that I don’t necessarily need to wait for inspiration to strike. Anything can be written about. With that happy realisation, my inability to write outside of application essays over the past few months has prompted my first blog post, a suggestion I must give my father due credit for.

On that note, I’ve finally taken the (brave, in my opinion) plunge into the blogging world, with this, my inaugural post.