A Year in Review

My daughter does not realize that I enjoy looking different wherever I go. I just plain believe that I can blend in while standing out.
By Kalpana Mohan, The Churidar Gets a Nod, August 2015

The story goes, Mrs. Jinnah wore a low-cut dress. While they were seated at the dining table, Lady Willingdon, Marie Freeman-Thomas, Marchioness of Willingdon asked an aide-de-camp (ADC) to bring a wrap for Mrs. Jinnah, in case she felt cold. Jinnah rose from the table, and declared, “When Mrs. Jinnah feels cold, she will say so, and ask for a wrap herself.” Then he led his wife from the dining-room; and from that time on refused to go to Government House again.
By Ritu Marwah, Jinnah’s Daughter, November 2015

And this is true for nearly every Indian American author-some portion of their novels returns readers to India. It is an infinite return.
By Anita Felicelli, The Stories We Tell, August 2015

Why would a Hindu monk speak out against anti-Black racism? Why would a gay African American civil rights leader repeatedly face arrest fighting for India’s independence? South Asians and African Americans have been standing up for each other for over a century. Our histories are deeply intertwined, even if our communities don’t always know it.
By Anirvan Chatterjee, Black and Desi: A Shared History, June 2015

For most new parents, cutting the umbilical cord is just the first of many acts of severing ties with a child whose destiny is to become his or her own individuated self.
By Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan, Fault Lines, June 2015

I suspect that almost every woman who has looked at her life in the wake of the Delhi rape of 2012 has realized that she has not lived up to her potential; that either she has made less money than a man or been denied promotions or, if she is more successful than her husband, been abandoned for a younger model.
By Sarita Sarvate, I Am India’s Daughter Too, April 2015

I’ve encountered the same black and white polarization to news of the world very often. No matter how fallacious and heinous I think an argument is there are always going to be some people who will adopt it as their truth.
By Jaya Padmanabhan, To Kill a Finch, August 2015

So, on Mother’s Day, call your mother. Send her flowers and chocolates. Make her a special breakfast. But, unless she specifically asks for this, feel free not to save her.
By Geetika Pathania Jain, Thumbs Up, Ekalavya, July 2015

Life was easy. We got bored once a month. When we got bored, we went to the movies. When we went to the movies, we ate out. When we ate out, we ordered either a plate of idly or a dosa. When we ordered either an idly or a dosa, we spent a little more moolah. When we spent a little more moolah, we couldn’t afford boredom for a whole month.
By Usha Rao, House #152, November 2015

Perhaps I am naive and uninformed, but I have not found any institution not to be self-serving-and that goes double for The Economist when it comes to reporting about India.
By Atanu Dey, India, Poverty and the Economist, August 2015

In a world seemingly dedicated to prolonging life, and a profession somewhat in denial around the diminished value of delaying imminent death, conversation about being mortal is truly novel.
Rajesh C. Oza, This Day Has Ended, October 2015

Now you should know that in my house, the food ranges from sambhar to bratwurst (sometimes on the same day, if the two countries reach an impasse!).

By Gayatri Subramaniam, Hello 911? Someone’s Using 09! November 2015

From the Cloud

Priyanka Chopra, actress
Went straight to set from my flight.. Think I said my lines in my normal accent!! Sheesh!! Hope I [sic] dialect coach wasn’t listening!! lol but..