Letter from India

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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Transatlantic Journeys

Its been four years and five months since I took a transatlantic journey - in 2002 I flew to San Francisco to speak on women and HIV/AIDS at a March 8 event. Here I am in 2006, at a much larger event, the XVI International HIV/AIDS Conference, being held in Toronto, Canada. There are 25,000 people... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, August 5, 2006

A tribute to Sheela

Yesterday I spoke to and met Sheela. We agreed to meet at 7 pm, after she had finished work and taken her daily walk in Lodhi Garden, and I had finished my daylong meeting. I had one hour to meet her and decided to sit outside the India Habitat Centre, where I was inside in the Willow room all day.... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, August 3, 2006

The Strength of a Group

Today I was in an all-day meeting of a Think Tank that I am a member of. Most of us have worked together for the last decade. When I first joined the group I wasn't sure how it would work. I was heading a news-feature agency at that time, and most of them were grassroots activists, except for two,... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Heaven on Earth

If there is heaven on earth, I experience it in two ways - swimming and getting a massage. I am lucky enough to avail of both, at my health club. The swimming pool is on the fifth floor, open to sky. A year ago, creepers in planters appeared overnight. This year, we are swimming surrounded by blue... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Bad News from Kabul

On Thursday, as I logged into my Kabul email address there was a post to all staff (at the NGO I was based at) that the weekly staff meeting would not be held as there was a problem in Mujeeb 's family. Mujeeb is the Executive Director of the NGO. I wondered what it was. Yesterday I got an email... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, July 28, 2006

A Serendipitous LIfe

I returned to India and Delhi from Kabul 10 days ago. Since then my life has been very full, catching up with work colleagues, family and friends. It is 6 AM and I am sitting in my nieces' room. She is in Boston, waiting to leave for New York to look for work as an architect. My sister (Saroj) has... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Raising Kabir

I look at him and think, how did he get so big? He's my seventeen-year old son, and time seems to have flown. When I look at the photograph of him in the bathtub in Rome, only a year old, I wonder where the time went. I think about how he was a gift to me, unplanned, out of the blue, and as my... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Loving and Hurting

As I was getting ready to leave Kabul, two friends in Delhi had their sick parent move in with them. Ragini’s mother, who lives in the northern hill town of Dehra Doon, had a stroke, which left the right side of her body paralysed. Ragini and her brother rushed up in an ambulance over a five-hour... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, July 24, 2006

It's Monsoon Time

The skies are overcast; the clouds take on many shades of grey. It’s lush and green all around. Its monsoon time, or the rainy season. In the front and side of our house, there are two very large pools of water; actually they are mini lakes, with white birds. The frogs croak, day and night. And,... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, July 21, 2006

From one life to another

Its amazing how we can slip from one life into another. I returned to Delhi after being in Afghanistan for four months, with a brief 10 day break, during this time. Last week, Kabul was very dry, dusty, and had begun to cool off at night. Delhi is in the midst of monsoons, humid and overcast. My... Sign in to see full entry.

About this Blog

I started this blog in mid-March 2006 when I moved to Kabul, Afghanistan, for a four-month assignment. In mid-July I moved back to India, and am continuing the blog.

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