Preeti Singh's Blog, page 3

My Rockstar

I never thought it was the last time I was seeing her. Had I known that, I would have gathered her frail, small body in a hug and breathed her in one last time.   I would have held on to her - tight. I would have told her how much I loved her.



Instead, the last memory I have of my granny is her clutching on to the warm socks I had taken for her, as her chair was lifted to take her down the

Letting It Go

It was an absolutely strange feeling to wake up one morning and feel a vacuum. I felt light and at peace. It took me sometime to figure what was different that morning.  I had finally let go. Let go of anger, hurt and bitterness that had been part of my life for some time. I am fundamentally an optimistic person, so these emotions were uncomfortably alien to me. I felt  relieved because I

Of Bonds and Belonging

This August , it will be an year since we moved to the US. The move happened so quick and the events went by at such an alarming pace, that I did not get time to breathe. Among other things, it was a time of farewell parties...and thoughtful gifts that my lovely friends gave me. 



As I moved into my new home in Scarsdale this weekend,  I re-discovered some of the gifts I had received, and

Forgetting Friends

Praneet found a CD full of pictures of my birthday in 2008. Most were horrendous pictures really- of a plumper me with a shorter haircut ( killer ones that no blackmailer should ever get his/her hands on) .As I flipped through the pictures I saw many faces - of friends, and not friends anymore. There were a handful of people who, six years hence, are not in my life . Some that I threw out of my

An 'Alone ' Holiday

Praneet is a  loving indulgent husband, but there are two things he is not happy gifting me - flowers and diamonds. So I negotiated that on my birthday he could gift me a holiday - all by myself- at a destination of my choice.  Prague it was this year , with the added incentive of running the Prague Half Marathon with my friend stationed in the city. 



The run was a nightmare-with a knee that

When dirty politics came home….

What if Odisha was Delhi? What if it was not a far flung state that only sends 21 MPs to the Lok Sabha? Then, like Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP, PM Mohapatra and his OJM would also make headlines. 



I don’t know PM Mohaptra all that well, though is daughter is my best friend. Is he corrupt? I can’t say that, but what I have seen of the family over decades makes me think he is not. His kids got

House hunting

I find house hunting tedious. Weekends get wasted as we trudge from one house to another , figuring what house suits our needs the best.I would much rather stay in bed for longer, have a cup of tea and laze around! Or be out in the fabulous weather walking and running. Or shopping! 



But there is vicarious pleasure in being a  peeping Tom . I get a ringside view of the way people live in

Kim Jong-un- the new role model for Indian politicians

Dear Indian leaders,



My heart bleeds for you. You have been shortchanged. In India’s recent past, first came the Mughals who controlled the sun-continent and then the British. When India got ‘freedom’, Indians chose to become a democracy. And you lost you freedom. And your power. You are accountable to a billion people who could vote you out for the merest infarction.  Now, it is becoming

What's In A Name?

The lady at the visa counter for The Czeck Republic was quite chatty as she processed my papers. When she was done, she remarked, “You know , you are one of the few Indian women I know who has taken her husband’s surname.’ I smiled at her and said,‘Well, he is a great guy, so I don’t mind at all’.



Call it cheap thrills, but I felt immensely happy for my Indian sisters. Perhaps it is a sign

Meeting an Ex

My friend told me she was sending me a picture of her ex with his cow. My sleep addled brain processed that literally - that Mr M was milking his cow and wiping his sweaty brow with a towel. I didn’t know he owned a dairy! 



When she sent me the picture, it was of a shirtless man with a towel wrapped around his ample waistline, and his weighty wife. And his ‘cow’ had her arm around