‘There’s a thief in the village,’ my mum sighs into the phone, ‘Steals coconuts, chickens and he even stole Dhooma’s prize milking cow it seems.’ ‘What about the noise?’ I say. ‘Did nobody hear anything?’ ‘Well, they must have heard the chickens squawking and thought a frog got in the hen house. And the cow, well, you know how deaf Dhooma is-he would sleep through a hurricane. And his wife ... Read More »

Once every week, I speak to my grandmother and our conversations go something like this, give or take a few words, every single time: Me: How are you, Gran? Gran: Not well, aches and pains everywhere, that balm you got last time is finished. It worked wonders. Me: I will get it next… Gran: Never mind that, have you eaten? Me: Not yet. Gran: Why not? Me: It’s nine o’clock ... Read More »

Once upon a time, there was an albino frog, who, tired of being teased by his counterparts for being different, took refuge in my mother’s warm, dark kitchen. However, the poor frog had not reckoned with my mother, who, bleary eyed with sleep staggered into the kitchen in search of a tumbler of tea and almost stumbled over a white blob sitting right by the doorway. She squinted at it, ... Read More »

Let’s talk about the weather. So, it’s officially spring, the clocks are going forward, but the question on everyone’s lips is, where is the milder weather? People are posting pictures of daffodils poking out from under a deluge of snow, a sliver of yellow flashing from beneath all that dazzling white. Avid gardeners mope with nothing to do.  Normally they would be flitting between garden centres, getting the best offers ... Read More »

Picture this. You are walking down the dusty road to your childhood home, your mother by your side, laden with bags of food pressed into your hands by the friends you have just visited- their way of showing their love. The relentless sun beats down on your back, soaking your clothes; and your hair sticks to your head and neck in wet clumps. The lake shimmers velvet blue and the ... Read More »