Lakshmi Iyer's Blog, page 23
November 10, 2020
Unsettled
On Saturday, I danced. I never do. This election has had me on edge as nothing has before. In 2016, I was rooting for our first woman President. Trump was a figure in the periphery. Someone whom I did not like based on what I saw. A person who mocked disabled people, eyed women purely […]
November 6, 2020
Truth Permits Us Space To Hold Duality
Earlier in October, Carrie Goldman who runs the Portrait of an adoption series on Chicago Now reached out asking if I would like to submit a piece for their 10th anniversary run. I agreed and thought about what I wanted to write given this is National Adoption Awareness Month. The liminal space in adoption is […]
November 4, 2020
Sitting With The Pain
My eyes are glued to my phone, the screen that is being shared too tiny for me to follow. The voice in my ears is talking about some test strategy. I am there mentally but physically I am in the morning sun, walking home after waving bye to my youngest as she boards her morning […]
November 3, 2020
Election Day 2020
It hits me in waves through the day, this notion that we are living through History. This year, this election, this place that America has in the world, it all comes to what happens today and in the weeks following. Four years ago, I was buoyant. I was hopefully that THE glass ceiling will be […]
October 30, 2020
NAAM: All About The Awareness
Imagine the feeling of finding you are pregnant, only that it is terror. Terror because you are not sure if you can support the pregnancy. Perhaps, you have no familial support. Perhaps, you do not have that financial safety net that is imperative to bring a child into the world and then see it through […]
October 26, 2020
COVID-19 Diaries: Dilemma
I lace up Laddu’s new hi-top shoes. She tests them out tentatively. I force a fleece jacket on top of her already cozy top. Her school bag is heavy. Her literature anthologies, fundations journals, composition books, iPad, charger, water bottle and lunch box weigh her down. She is ready though, masked, eyes twinkling and raring […]
October 14, 2020
COVID-19 Diaries: Pandemic Pets
I watch as my middle child sneaks furtively into the kitchen and scamper out with a disposable plastic container. I call out to her and she freezes. She hands over the container and refuses to answer my questions on what it was for. I am miffed and curious but not suspicious yet. A little while […]
October 9, 2020
COVID-19 Diaries: Battle Weary
It’s Friday. My oldest is sitting next to me, her earbuds plugged in, her school iPad screen reflected on her glasses. I am amused. She is supposed to working on a diagnostic. I watch her swap screens to youtube and call her out. At this point, I am just weary of trying to keep tabs, […]
September 29, 2020
Essay: On Loss and, Love
I talk as I walk to the voice on the other end which is a tad weakened as it traverses the eight thousand miles from India to make its way to me. I strain to listen, filling in missed syllables knowing the words she would have used from our years of association. By the time […]
September 28, 2020
Personal Politics
I step out in the predawn light ready for my walk when I spy the sign by the garage entrance. My walk timer is already on. I pause it while I consider where to put the sign up. I skip the lawn or the strip by the pavement even though it would be more visible […]
