The Drama Queen

This famous quote is penned, apparently while in deep emotional pain, by Stephen Colbert. Coming to think of it…. it is true to quite an extent. This warning, however, tops all the other red flags that we have been receiving throughout our lives.   Going back to the days when we were happy people, basically, when we were not parents. And while we were not parents back then, well… we were still the best parents…. for all the other children. Judging them, mocking them secretly, giving them unsolicited advice, giving them looks while they were dealing with a meltdown…. Hah!! Such lovely days!!  I used to be the only one throwing a tantrum around the house.   And then, having gained all the knowledge of how to be ‘good’ parents (sorry, make that ‘great’ parents), our own coveted moment of pride arrived. Our moment to shine. Our moment to show all ‘those’ parents on how it is done!! Ahann!! Look no further, amateurs…. the experts arrive!! To bring you out of your mi...

The swing rocked to and fro. To and fro. To and fro. And happily so. I could hear the giggles of my toddler while my younger baby was getting dirty in the sand. A while later, they both wanted to swing together. Luckily the swing had space enough for two. And now we had two sets of giggles. Well, make that three! To and fro. To and fro. To and fro. And happily so. It took me back to my childhood days. The swing was my favourite equipment in the park. The slide and the merry-go-round came nowhere close to the competition. The swing gave me a rhythm. A rhythm of thoughts. A rhythm of balance. A rhythm of calm. The occasional kick on the dusty ground to keep the momentum going gave me such a high. The wind on my face with my hair going all over the place, was the happiest feeling ever. This trance would, almost always, get jolted out by the staring eyes of the other eager children. Giving me looks. Or tugging at their Mum’s  palla . And Mums in turn giving me looks. Well, even this wa...

Recently, when me and my daughter were scrolling through the holy Instagram, we came across a meme. My daughter asked me to respond to it as, ‘You are such a Karen!’ Honestly, I did not understand what she meant by it. But being the cool mom that I would like to believe I am, (my children don’t think so... well, we all have a right to our own opinions!).... well, anyway.... so, I decided to probe into it further. Voila!! ‘Karen’ was quite a species! Rampant, if I may add! We all know a few Karens in our life, I am sure. May be not by that name, though! Don’t worry!! You have me to rescue you here. Let me explain. So, apparently, Karen has been generalised as, though not restricted to, that Face book Mom who is living in the imaginary, long-lost 3rd decade of her life. She is ready to take on the world to task... for no apparent reason other than, well, coz the other, unimportant worldly people exist. She is that fidgety one in the queue. She is that fussy one at the billing counter. S...

Come 1st April and our young-ish yet matured crowd, who are enjoying their midlife years, will be thronging the medical centres, with masks on their faces, hope in their eyes, arms outstretched and a longing for the antibodies. After all, this is almost the final step towards defeating the nasty virus that has held the whole humanity at ransom! It has been over a year that we have been struggling with the tussle between lipsticks and masks. High time, I say!  All sounds hunky dory, right??? Nope. Not at all. Hands down. How could they? How could they have put an age criteria to something as unavoidable as this. How dare they? The whole wide world will now know what has been under-wraps for ages. My age!! How rude!! I know, I barely look a day over 29! I can only imagine the smirks behind their designer masks. Ohhh, hopefully now they will religiously hold on to their masks. Hiding their condescending smiles!! May be, just may be.... Modiji is trying to play an April Fools’ joke on ...

25th March, 2020. Wednesday. The fateful morning. When nobody rang our melodious doorbell... absolutely nobody! We slept in till late. Undisturbed. Only to get up at noon. Coz paapi paet ka sawaal tha.   And then the truth dawned over me. I was the designated cook of the house. I wondered what my cook was doing at her home. Happily enjoying her meals? Was she even thinking about my struggle? Well, I had two small pairs of eyes looking up to me with admiration while the bigger pair of eyes with anticipation. Ohkay! The first meal was easy. Tea and Bournvita and bread-butter. With the fancy garnishing of eyes and nose and smile made with jam. All were happy. For the next two hours. Till I sensed that it was time for the next meal. Already?!   Ohkay!! I had not cooked in ages. But the patriarchal norms dictate that a woman has to be Sarvagun-Sampann.... simple!! Duh!! Well, not that I had not cooked ever. But an over-pampering, low-maintenance husband had made sure that I enter t...

Come 8th March, every year. And we are bamboozled by the free gifts at the shopping malls and discount vouchers at the spa and hell yeah, the lucrative deals at the hospitals, too. Not to forget the in-your-face online commercial brigade. While it is always nice to be offered these discounts, this one day is where it really makes me feel cringey. It undermines the entire purpose of the International Women’s Day. Women’s Day is not a celebration. It is an acknowledgement. Of accomplishment. Of the long way that women all over the world have come and the long way that we still have to go! However, whenever we pause to enjoy these ‘privileges’, we are sent back to where we began from. We need to be included. Exclusivity is not the agenda. We must, definitely, acknowledge, cherish, laud and honour those women and their allies who have challenged the patriarchal version of the female stereotypes and withstood the challenges that were thrown at them. These could be your family members, your ...

I don’t boycott them for the sake of it. I don’t boycott them just because they are trending. I don’t boycott them because it is the ‘in-thing’.  Didn’t we all get emotional, similarly, for Nirbhaya, Pulwama, India losing in the Cricket World Cup Finals, some Sharmaji-ka-beta during results time, the elephant in Kerala, the #blacklivesmatter movement in the US, farmers’ suicides, cyclones’ and floods’ and droughts’ victims, the Greta Thunberg’s How Dare You, the Vegan Movement, and the list goes on! It is just a hashtag for us to stay mentally occupied for a few days. Till the next ‘trending today’ shows up!  How many petitions have you signed till now? How many have you signed before somebody was actually harmed? I do get affected by all of this. Don’t get me wrong. I am not a die-hard TikTok fan! But, getting random signatures from anybody and everybody....? These are just people like you and me, who will jump from one hot topic to another...! It is just too ...