In Varanasi, the Ganges pulls the world into the rhythms of its waters, slowing time. There is an ancient energy vibrating with devotion, longing, and...

Learning hope. On 15th August that year, Binodini was asked to sing bhajans at the Independence Day function of the town. The chief guest at the...

Dusk descended early on a quaint village, as it was enveloped by dark, wet clouds. A loud crack of thunder gave way to the soothing...

Rays from the setting sun streamed through banyan trees, blessing the jungle with an amber glow. Soon, nightfall would cloak the jungle in utter darkness....

Social norms are evolving at an unprecedented rate, and women are at the forefront of these changes. Divorce is no longer a taboo in society....

Photo by cristinaponciano on Unsplash The idea of a man and a woman being just friends still raises eyebrows. Our discomfort around people of the opposite gender shows...

After my sojourn in Uttarakhand, it was jarring to return to the bustle of city life. The incessant traffic, the smog-laden air, the relentless pace...

He almost missed the hut. Navigating the capricious turns of hill roads, it is easy to miss those dust tracks that skulk away from the...

The sun was hovering over the horizon. A herd of zebras was grazing their last meal of the day. However, one little zebra was distracted...

First Flights A little bird wobbled to the edge of her nest. It was a European stonechat. Numerous other birds peeped at her through tree...

A Message from Maa The Sound of Silence While Mohona started her journey back home on a boat, Anupam boarded a rickshaw to return to...

A Message from Maa Resonance Mohona was taken aback by Anupam’s call. She heard him out patiently, but could say little herself, offering only some...

Off-Pitch The celebrations for Shalini’s business were short-lived. Within a month of its launch, Indian media denounced her baby food for containing chemicals that were...

A Message from Maa Echoes Continue Sagorika was on the last page of the diary. Now she knew many things that her mother had never...

A Message from Maa New Harmonies Even as Mohona was suffering the pangs of separation in India, Shalini’s business in America was growing by leaps...

A Message from Maa The Beat Changes Life wasn’t the same for neither Mohona nor Anupam. Mohona missed him a lot. It wasn’t easy to...

A Message from Maa Out of Tune Sagorika kept the diary aside and heaved a sigh of relief. Her heart was in her mouth while...

A Message from Maa Music or Noise? Sagorika found herself identifying more and more with her mother. Estranged from her husband, in a stranger’s land,...

A Message from Maa The Accidental Note Sagorika imagined her mother in a flight to Jaipur: a 30-something Mohona looking radiant despite jitters about a...

A Message from Maa Solo or Duet? Half the globe away in New York, in a plush apartment on McDonald Avenue, Sagorika opened a courier...

The First Note The sun peeped out shyly from the eastern horizon, spraying its orange hue onto the deep purple sky. Roosters began crowing, and...

Finale: The story continues… Some years have passed. Gokul Ashram has grown. It now occupies a new building. As Binodini enters the ashram compound in...

March 2015, again and beyond. Eventually, the determination of the widows of Vrindavan prevailed. Rigid codes of conduct cracked under public pressure. It is Holi...

Against all odds.  Binodini’s prayers were answered. A few weeks later, a woman named Durga came to meet Binodini all the way from Mathura. She...

Red colour, redder blood.  Religious leaders & temple priests were enraged by Binodini’s insolence in supporting Meera and Madhav’s wedding. As a result, Binodini was...

What is love? Despite threats and warnings, Binodini was determined to fight. It was an uphill battle against agelong traditions, and she was just an...

Little playing, much fighting.  Months flew by in setting up the training centre, and before they knew it, Holi arrived in Vrindavan with the vim...

Fresh beginnings.  As Binodini began her life in Vrindavan, she realized that life was not easy for the widows there. The city housed more than...

A bride and a widow. Binodini’s life changed after marriage. She was now a daughter-in-law. She could no longer be the Binu that she had...

A girl and her grandmother. A traditional villa in rural Bengal flashes across Binodini’s memory. It is a large, expansive double-storey mansion with high ceilings...

Prelude: March 2015. The air is filled with colour, thick with aabir or gulaal. Rose and marigold petals waft in this coloured powder. Swaying like these delicate petals is a...

Saras cranes fly low, gliding gracefully over the Dhanauri grasslands. Vivid rays of sunshine come down on their salmon-pink bodies. From afar, I see them flapping their wings, enjoying...

The gradient of the glowing sunshine intertwined with the dusky blue skies, as the sun waved away for the day. The lucid lines of the...

Well, there he goes again, leaving his lioness and his own cubs behind. Where does he go? I won’t know. But still after abandoning us for hours in the...

The sky was sea blue and the sun was bright and warm. Lakshmi and Gajodhar decided to go for a walk with their children, along...

The “King” of the jungle – the only title I’ve ever harnessed to bring beside my name. The dark silhouette nature of my mane brings...