The best vaccine is the one in your arm.
I’m a cancer graduate, so my immunity isn’t as strong as most. But I refuse to stop living my life to the fullest, which includes running after my twin toddlers, taking walks with my 88 year old daddy, dreaming without limit and making big plans for the future with my hubs. (Also relish long road trips singing Yun hi Chala Chal and whipping my hair in the breeze 😂)
Science (and faith) saved my life a few times already. As a Multiple Myeloma patient I’m grateful for my second (and third) shot at living a vibrant life. I don’t intend to waste it.
That’s why I got my shot. Did you get yours?
@thisisourshotca #zerohesitancyzone
A.F.T.E.R.M.A.T.H.
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I feel it’s essential, every now and then, to zoom out and gain perspective on my so called healing journey. When I was in the weeds of my cancer treatment, I experienced a strange phenomenon. Presence. It was like all the whirling thoughts couldn’t disturb my pure appreciation of say, the piano concert in the atrium of my cancer hospital, or the bending of the light on slow walks by the lake in late afternoon, or the fatty taste of a particularly plump polish sausage on my tongue. I was so alert to the world and it’s gifts.
When you are in recovery, which in my case was a long, arduous road, you hold onto these epiphanies of how much grace there is in a simple and elegantly led life. You bargain and negotiate. You tell yourself you will never sweat the small stuff again. You throw off layers of old beliefs and relationships that stifle or don’t serve who you are becoming. You give away your expensive heels and only regret it for a week. You give your time and energy to projects that are meaningful until your heart is just a little sprained and you need insoles. It all feels like you have touched some sort of an awakening that will make life sweeter than you ever thought possible.
it’s a delusion.
Has my life been transformed for the better, hell yes. But I still stumble, I forget to express gratitude, I forget I am an apprentice of second chances and I should be conducting myself with celestial integrity.
Because I don’t.
That’s the truth. I can be cranky, unreasonable, petty, and selfish. Should I go on, or do you get the gist?
So I post this image, not to identify with that version of me – I am of course more than my disease- but to find a way to abide through the Aftermath.
Aren’t we all living in the aftermath of something? (COVID will be in our rear view mirror) And how wonderful that it gives us the chance to embrace the entire spectrum of messy humanness. The aftermath edges us in the direction of living without self judgment and without remorse to accept a life of uncharted dissonance. Which can be very very interesting, to say the least.
Healing begins where you are.
Even while taking nothing for granted, we can walk the earth guarding our individual secrets. We are a family, yes, but also individuals holding onto dreams that don’t resemble each other’s.
I’m not going to lie- motherhood is not easy for me. I’m not naturally maternal and I’m not about to conform to society’s template. I need long periods of solitude for instance, and I’m never going to join the ensemble cast of moms (to borrow a friend’s phrase) comparing offspring over lunch in lululemons. I hate cooking. I dislike picking up after the girls. I don’t believe being a mother defines me. I’m still not one to coo over other kids, I am not enchanted by toddler speak and I want to talk about books, art and politics, not preschool time tables. Having twin toddlers takes a toll on my mental health at times. But in this little family of mine, we make room for each of our eccentricities and craziness. We love hard. And I guess, that’s what makes it work for us.
Image @barbarichphoto
Nerve, charisma, uniqueness and talent (thanks mama Ru), I got it all from MY mama…along with my chunky arms and restless feet. Without her watching me from the eternity of trillions of years of stars I would just be another misunderstood eccentric. My purpose is rooted in carrying forward her fine legacy of breaking rules, her emotional resourcefulness crossed with a fiery spirit. Thank you Mama. I miss you.
Even while taking nothing for granted, we can walk the earth guarding our own secrets. We are a family, yes, but also individuals holding onto dreams that don’t resemble each other’s.
I’m not going to lie- motherhood is not easy for me. I’m not naturally maternal and I’m not about to conform to society’s template. I need long periods of solitude for instance, and I’m never going to join the ensemble cast (to borrow a friend’s phrase) of moms comparing offspring over lunch in lululemons (I’ve seen it happen everywhere from Hong Kong to Singapore to Toronto) I hate cooking. I dislike picking up after the girls. I don’t believe being a mother defines me. I’m still not one to coo over other kids, I am not enchanted by toddler speak and I want to talk about books, art and politics, not preschool time tables. Having twin toddlers takes a toll on my mental health at times. But in this little family of mine, we make room for each of our eccentricities and craziness. We love hard. And I guess, that’s what makes it work for us.
Image @barbarichphoto
Look at me
says the world with a harlequin grin.
A man is carrying his shards on tv
for the giant maws
that open wider
while someone changes the batteries of the remote.
On another screen
Mara resurrects in calligraphic roars
a primal cauldron of savagery and pelting chants,
as a river of tongues-
all pink, plum and un-iridescent hued-
bay for the Dream House.
We watch the covenant collapsing under its awnings
like cardboard dreams
in the thousands.
And here,
another bonfire of grief
cheap plastic sandals falling away in rhythm as he walks,
bearing the bodies
on thin brown ankles
while the keywords
of the nation
are laid like elephant bones
across the burning sky.
Ducking, dodging, mourning, adapting
whatever comes next-
What’s after ‘safe distancing’?
And how to hear the careless whispers of our palms
when the kindness of monsters
has reached the other shore
when there’s just not enough oars.
~
You think you know this world
Asks the crow
Who appears quietly
As paint drying
And speaks like an ancestor.
You watch the fibre of your fate
Disappear down his throat
Nibble by nibble
He will not be overlooked.
Gulps
And then what does he say?
Stop projecting
Unhappy endings
When wild jasmine blooms
On battlefields
And the songs we need
smoulder in ditches of mustard gases
There are ancient forests in your eyes
That have seen more
Much more
You call this an ending
Only if you are looking for one
When the smoke is stored
in shadows and memory cabinets
You will cry like me at the frayed edge of every morning
For there is no safety from beginnings
The trick, he offers as he swallows
The last branch of my lifeline
Is not to see it as betrayal
But an eviction
From the mad tyrant’s court
And a return to the wetlands
of pilgrim hope and stubborn human hearts
– Lisaraniray @protestpoet
Image @barbarichphoto
This made me tear up. THIS is my India 🙏🏼 These are the selfless acts that define true bravery and humanity.
Posted @withregram • @indiaculturalhub #ICHLoves: They deserve all the applaud and more 🙏🙌
@indigo.6e staff at Mangalore airport applaud a nursing team as they leave for Delhi, that is currently under going one of the worst Covid crisis in the world.
🎥 Source: Twitter/RohithBhat
#Covid19India #Frontlinewarriors #cheer #support #nurses #nursesofindia #indigoairlines #warrior #covidwarrior
Weekends are for exploring #Kelowna and getting accosted by strangers who think mothers of twins have super hero powers and deserve an extra special padded seat in the afterlife, and I’m all here for it ✌️
Facing life is cushioned by the simple joys. Look at this joy smeared face.
Middle aged woman with a quick fuse best approached camouflaged in foliage, and with extreme caution.
Photographer @barbarichphoto
Not a day passes when I’m not touched by a message from a reader. #ParulNPatel sent me a note today, and I want to say, each and every one of you is important to me, that I hope a connection is forged. As I steady on in writing the next and next and next, I am fuelled by your support on this twisty, lonely road 🙏🏼
Repost: I say, the journey from The Yellow Diaries cumulated into #closetothebone. I’ve supported all your causes from back then & will continue supporting. Keep Fighting & teaching us @Lisaraniray. 📖 is finally here❤️
@doubledayca @harpercollinsin
‘Bookstores are certainly part of my need. They are countries of intimacies. They are ruins, resistances, neighbourhoods and mythologies long gone yet unforgotten. They are friends, enemies, affairs and scandals. They are mysterious havens even endangered alephs in our imaginations.’
– @rachelelizagriffiths
Image: @lastbookstorela
Pick up Rachel’s wonderful collection of poetry #SeeingtheBody
This. Please read and take its message to your heart ❤️ this is not my story, but shared by my friend @amutedstory and as such, brings a poignantly personal, human element to the tragedy unfolding in India on our screens for those of us who are not in India right now 🙏🏼
Posted @withregram • @amutedstory Eight years ago, while I was still living in Paris, I caught infectious mononucleosis. Those who have had experience with the dreaded virus will attest to how much and how long-lasting the fatigue is. In my case, the early throat and gland symptoms lasted for close to two months, but the lack of energy and tiredness stayed with me for a whole 6 months.
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At the time I had a full-time job and no partner, which meant that I lived alone and cooked all my meals myself. Anyone who has grown up in an Indian family setup is of course not used to being sick alone, and I predictably struggled with getting my energy back. As all Indian mothers do, mine went into overdrive worrying, and frantically called up friends to see if there was anyone who could check in on me (all except one of my non-Indian friends refused to visit, for fear of catching it themselves).
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One day the doorbell rang and a petite young girl with twinkling eyes stood at my door with a box full of khichdi made in ghee. She held it out to me, introduced herself as a relation of a family friend, chatted with me a bit and left. It was a small gesture, but I had been feeling so alone that I cried with gratitude at her kindness after she left. We kept in touch sporadically but then she moved back to India to start a family and we drifted apart.
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Today I learned that the same girl passed away after giving birth to her second child due to Covid-related complications. There is no measure to my sorrow at the moment, but I hope wherever she is, she finds peace. To all on social media who are reaching out and helping each other, remember that even the smallest of gestures can go a long way. Be that memory for someone. The kindness of friends is one thing, but of strangers is something else.
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#covidindia #rip #kindnessmatters
Instant reminders of evanescence:
– a drive through dark, lapping forest
– waxing crescent in the air above
– clouds tenanting the sky- a spill of breath, or a djinn’s mattress
– the warm blue prickle of a lover’s gaze
Via @missionoxygenindia
For those using oxygen concentrators without proper medical supervision, here’s some essential information to note 🙏🏼
#uniteindia
Until the end of this month, dm me a photo of your copy of Close to the Bone (or an order receipt) for a personalised thank you gift for supporting our stories.
Posted @withregram • @doubledayca May is Asian Heritage Month here in Canada, and to celebrate that, we want to highlight the incredible work by some of our lovely authors. Especially in light of the events of the last year, there is no time like the present to engage with stories and perspectives that differ from our lived experiences. To our API authors, friends, and followers, we’d like to say – we see you, and we celebrate you!
#closetothebone
512 of 850 oxygen concentrators have been allocated to the hospitals mentioned in this post by @missionoxygenindia
More updates tomorrow. Please consider donating during this crucial moment of crisis in our India to @missionoxygenindia @give_india @hemkunt_foundation @khalsaaid_india and any other grassroots fund raisers that are accountable and speak to you 💜 via @devsanyal
.
Artwork @titbits_of_art
#unitedindia
I downloaded this after an endorsement from @amitav_ghosh1
These stories are delicious, sharply observed and subversive. @mira.sethi beckons the reader into private spaces in Pakistan. Exploring sexuality and class is not novel, but I was taken with Mira’s spin on it. Her characters are quirky and deeply human and informed by their Pakistani setting but, like all good writing, they transcend their very particular milieu. A ripe read.
Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
Incredible initiative. Go to @findabed_in to learn more. Resilience and hope- this is the promise in the eyes of the kids of India today and compassionate, innovative adults of tomorrow #India
Posted @withregram • @findabed_in An intitative by the world’s largest youth run organisation @iimunofficial to build bed capacity and quarantine facilities for covid patients who are asymptotic and show mild symptoms.
A website where all available beds for those who don’t need hospitalisation are updated in real time. This will be done using the 20,000+ students volunteers we have in 160 cities.
Our student volunteers will supply COVID resource guide and food guides to these quarantine centres.
#covid_19 #covidindia #covidinindia #quarantine #quarantinefacility #covidcenter #pandemic #quarantineguide #covidguidelines #covidresources #covidresourcesindia #covidrelief #covidreliefindia #findabed #quarantinehome #quarantinehouse #covidvolunteers #covidvolunteersindia #covidwarriors #homequarantine #homequarantineindia #quarantineresources #covidhelp #covidhelpline #covidhelpindia #covidindiainfo #covidindiaupdate #pandemichelp
Thank you @theboxwalla for all the moments of happiness and solace you’ve given me over the past two months.
Thoughtfully curated boxes of literary discoveries (for me) like Norwegian writer Kell Askildensen who ‘gets to the essence of things in just a few pages’ arrived in the April box along with a newly released Clarice Lispector translation, one of the ‘hidden geniuses of the twentieth century’. To complement, a lovely bijou notebook by @obviousstate. (I almost wrote ‘envious state’) Their arrival gives me a focal point away from despair and the toxic news cycle.
The beauty box, well, swipe through to see some of the standout discoveries (hello @twelvebeauty, hello @africanbotanics) that I’ve incorporated into my daily regime. And the film box made me gasp : it not only contained the Apu trilogy but also my favourite surrealist, Bunuel. Seeing ‘The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise’ tossed me to a time when I grasped at the greats, read and watched to enrich my soul. I lost some of that hunger along the way, but now thanks to @theboxwalla I’m time-travelling back to my parents’ sofa, where I spent long hours reading and measuring my delight not in achievement but through the level of immersion in stories and ideas – which formed the foundation for my personal path.
Perhaps our lives should not be measured in fixed years but in the time we spend in exploration and wonder, in the discovery of words to express our grief, our fear and our love. I have found refuge in small pleasures that ponder the unsolvable, such as when Clarice asks in ‘An apprenticeship’ or ‘The Book of Pleasure’ ‘how does one even try to bridge the gap between people?’
You can subscribe to your own boxes of enriching prose and bewitching beauty products by jumping on @theboxwalla
#boxwalla @theboxwalla @archipelagobooks @ndpublishing
Verified by a good friend. Even a small amount will make a significant impact in the right hands 🙏🏼
Posted @withregram • @sewanfoods To support the fight against COVID-19, we at Sewan Foods pledge to serve over 10,000 affordable thalis to COVID warriors (families of patients, ambulance and rickshaw drivers, and medical staff).
Help us by donating an affordable thali meal for a COVID warriors for any amount between Rs. 10 to 30 rupees. You can Paytm/BHIM/Google payus directly at 8920092480.
We are also offering to set up Sewan food camps. Reach out to us if you need our assistance. #covidmealsforindia #covidmeals #covidindia #covid_19 #covid #donateforcovidindia #covıd19relief #covid19relief #covidー19 #covidmealsupport #covidmealsdelhi #covidmealplan #covidindiaseva #instacovid19 #instadaily #instafood #foodforchange #foodforpatients #foodforlife #foodforcovidwarrior #covidwarriors #covidwarrior #covidwarriors_india #staysafe #stayhomestaysafe #lockdown #lockdown2021 #donate #donatenow #donatefood
Posted @withregram • @barodesignindia In 1977, Kesarbai Kerkar’s thumri ‘Jaat Kahan Ho, Akele’ (‘where do you go alone?’) was immortalised alongside the greatness of Mozart and Bach as it bolt into interstellar space, loaded onto the ‘Golden Record’ on NASA’s Voyager 1. The fascinating record hosts sounds and images from Earth, sent out with the ambitious aim of communicating our existence to extraterrestrials (aliens, if you will).
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44 years of space travel and 19 billion celestial miles later, just the thought of Kerkar’s rendition in raga Bhairavi hurtling through infinite space is mind boggling, let alone the infinitesimally minuscule chance of it being found someday, somewhere, by someone.
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‘Jaat Kahan Ho, Akele’, a euphemism that suited the fate of Voyager 1, and our own fragile human existence…
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Come, take a seat… Let’s celebrate the regenerative forces that nature, words, music and art are.
#barodesign #artculture
Art lovers, presenting @dag.world Hope For Humanity Fundraiser Sale – a call to raise urgent funds to support Sood Charity Foundation, Hemkunt Foundation and Khalsa Aid India in their COVID-19 relief initiatives with 100% proceeds (INR 1 CRORE) from 51 works from the gallery collection. I have personal experience with the good work @dag.world has been engaged in.
Posting the link to the catalogue in my bio or go to @dag.world page for more information on how to bid and support :
https://dagworld.com/catalogue/DAG_Fundraiser_Hope_for_Humanity.pdf
