मिन्नी के घर का बगीचा बहुत बड़ा था| न जाने कितनी सारी क्यारियाँ, न जाने कित्ते सारे फूल थे वहां| मोगरा, गुलाब, कनेर, जूही, चंपा, डहेलिया… गिनने लगो तो सुबह से दोपहर हो जाए| क्या पता शाम ही हो जाए! बगीचे के बीच में एक बड़े से गोल घेरे में घास लगी थी, एकदम गदबदी सी हरी घास जिसको मिन्नी के पापा कभी कभी मशीन चला कर काट देते थे| …

Sometimes I drape myself in Lucknow when chikankaari takes over! At times metaphorically and at others … literally … but that is how I like it! Lucknow is not a place that you need to belong to feel a sense of belongingness. It welcomes you with all its heart and makes you its own. Be it the narrow by-lanes of Chowk or the vast expanse …

अगर सच में कुछ लिखना चाहते हो कागज़ पर अपना वजूद ढूंढ़ना चाहते हो तो अपने भीतर लाओ ऐसी शुष्कता ताकि हँस सको मरुस्थल पर कालाहरी, गोबी, सहारा विश्व का अथाह सूखापन भी लगने लगे सूक्ष्म तुम्हें अगर सच में कुछ लिखना चाहते हो हृदय लबालब होना चाहिए अंधकार से ताकि उजड़ी सारी सभ्यताएं सिंधु घाटी, रोम, माया, इंका वीरानेपन पर इनके मुस्कुराए तुम्हारा सूनापन …

The day had finally arrived. There had been talk about it for the last two months. When I reached Peth on Saturday, I discovered that this road, too, had become a one-way street. There was a new, gleaming, completely outlandish white building where Joshi Kaka ‘s house used to be. I parked my scooter next to the Hanuman Temple. When I turned at the end …

It was the twelfth day of my self-imposed home quarantine with eight more days of vanvaas to go. I had recently started field reporting on the coronavirus disease pandemic from the slums and koliwadas (fishing villages) of Mumbai, a hotspot for the virus. Since I have two young kids at home, whom I didn’t want to risk infecting, I packed them and my husband off …

Diary of a Hill Garden ‘And the empty pages? Should they ever be filled Let it be with observed Celestial recurrences, The day the flowers come. And when the birds go.’ Philip Larkin 13th & 14th April A whole flock of noisy Spot Winged Starlings, Dark above with a wing patch and reddish below – against the sun, so I only saw dark and reddish, …