Lakshmi Iyer's Blog, page 51

#ShaluNalShaadi #Delhi #PaneerMasalaOnBananaLeaf

I am at my desk flipping through pictures from the wedding on my phone. In what can only be termed whirlwind, we flew to Delhi last week to attend a cousins wedding. We returned late Saturday night after 34 hours of travel with three exhausted and sick kids. Ammu on waking Sunday morning declared “I […]

Gratitude List

In a couple of days, all of the social media will be abuzz with recipes, food pictures, and gratitude lists. In what has become an annual tradition of sorts, despite the murky origins of this holiday, this week will kick-start our holiday season. I look back on the year that has gone by and linger […]

It Will Be Okay

I feel the familiar band of stress tighten around my head. My ears are taut. I feel like a loaded spring, ready to jump in and rescue Ammu as she sits doing Math with her dad. They are working on two-digit multiplication. “What is 7 times 8?” asks Saathi his voice even, a controlled impatience […]

Can’t Stop This Feeling

Justin Timberlake croons on the radio and I really can’t stop the feeling coursing through my body. I am happy. Happy in the way a child is. I smile as I fold clothes. The sun is out. My children are in school. My kitchen is clean. I even dance like nobody is watching. Late last […]

A Big Fat Multicultural Cauldron

I am on my way back home, slowing to a stop before a turn when the flash of blue startles me. The bird is tiny, a violent blue against the sea of dull greens, browns, and yellows that greet me these days. I track the bird as it disappears into a tree and makes my […]

Free To Be Me

My Odyssey hugs the curves, gliding along the road as if on muscle memory. I relish this feeling of controlled power, of being able to direct the vehicle with an expertise I have no recollection of acquiring. Laddu is chatting merrily in the backseat. I am in the moment, experiencing exhilaration in the very ordinary […]

On Fears And Expanding Horizons

I park and zip my rather loose fleece jacket as I step out the driver’s seat. I open the passenger door and Ammu and Pattu clamber out. I remind Ammu she needs her light jacket. She pauses as if to challenge me and reaches for her old faded grey fleece. I remember to lock the […]

And That Other Shoe Will Drop

I walk out of Laddu’s daycare with literally a spring in my step. My mind is actively exploring if the way I walk can be termed jaunty. I pause and peer through the window of Laddu’s class. She is chatting with a little boy. They smile, hold hands and run off to play. I smile […]

Trip Report: Adoption Retreat AKA Lessons Learned

I returned yesterday after three days of intellectual high from being amid amazing people. This afternoon after I finally managed to get an hour to myself I realized while I have been sharing snippets from the trip on my various social media sites, I haven’t really sat down to process the many things that the […]

Human After All

I feel connected, my arms waving with the music, my voice joining in with the chorus of voices that emanates, amplifies and fills the theater. I was at a rehearsal at the Lincoln theater where the Harmony Project choir was preparing for their December finale. I watched David Brown orchestrate a beautiful crowd of people […]