A number of close friends including my wife got me started on writing a weekly blog almost three years ago and have continued to offer support and encouragement. Some readers have requested that I write about music, Sufi poetry and ghazals etc., providing a loose translation if possible, as they do not know Hindi/Punjabi/Urdu well …
Let there be light
Close to a billion people of Indian origin around the globe were praying – among other things, for “Lakshmi” (wealth) and prosperity – over the past week leading up to the big celebration of Diwali. It is not unusual for religious beliefs and populist rituals to dominate personal and public behaviour on such occasions and …
Homing in
Homing pigeons must provide a cue to us immigrants. These birds have an innate ability to find their way back home over long distances. Or, perhaps just like salmon – that, having migrated to the ocean, travel back to the riverbed where they were spawned – we immigrants retain a latent urge (in Hindi we …
Squirrelling around
Out for a walk on a crisp Fall morning this week, my attention was drawn to the large number of squirrels that have taken over the neighborhood streets. I see plump black ones suddenly stopping to stand erect on their hind legs, clutching and ravenously nibbling on a tidbit tightly clasped in their front paws, …
