Sankranti, 2010.  I'm in Kolkata for my mother's birthday.  She's always been extremely popular, both as a writer and as a human being, and every year on this day the house is mobbed by her friends and fans.  After much cajoling, my Didi and I convince her to wear the burnt-red and black Kantha s.... more

Ok, I have a confession to make.  I'm no poet.But today's blog includes something I scribbled about my poet Dimma, a child-widow who remarried for love and earned a living all her life through writing poetry.  The Queen Mother of our family, she raised my mother, sister, and me with a love as tend.... more

I spent last evening with nine of the most dynamic people I've ever met in the world. They were awarded the Navjyoti Awards by UNICEF, for their outstanding contribution toward empowering women in Maharashtra. I learnt about these girls a while ago, through my involvement with UNICEF, but I hadn’t.... more

Lata is late again. I scramble around in panic, throwing towels over books, dragging buckets and pans under ever-multiplying leaks in the ceiling. Rain hammers down with the roar of ten thousand drums. Where is she? I can't be late on set… Plus it’s Visarjan! Lata breezes in fragrantly, three be.... more