Mumbai’s Jeeves
Mumbai -- a curtain of rain flutters and falls. It’s nice watching the rain from the shelter of a 12th floor flat. Not in the jhopudputti, the slum where my f
Roopa Ramamoorthi
Much Ado About A Mango
Much about a Mango My friend bought a giant mango from Berkeley Bowl and gave it to me. I squeezed it to see if it was ripe; the way I saw my mother test them
Seeing Differently
A few weeks back I was strolling the cosmetic aisle at Longs drugstore looking for eye makeup remover. As my eyes searched the shelves, I saw Revlon hypoallerge
Remembering India’s First Woman Photojournalist
In today’s world with selfies and instagrams, where everyone is snapping pictures on their iPhones, it was illuminating to see the black and white photos of H
Statue Man
My mother is dead and my father and I are in Madras. We are staying in my father’s brother’s house, trying to recuperate, if one can ever recuperate from th
Street Seasonings
As a kid of three or four, going to Casa Montessori in Bombay (now Mumbai), I would come home in the afternoon and wait eagerly for my lunch, which had to inclu
Black Windows
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I must have been between three and four years old, because my fa
Driving Lessons
You’ve come to America to get a masters or Ph.D. You’ve been in the Los Angeles area for a year now. How long can you survive on some Indian guy giving you
Instructions from My Mother
Look right and left, and then right again before crossing the road. Make sure you have your jattibeneath your school uniform. Eat your full davraof dal. You nee
The Banker and the Beggar
Mehnaz had an early morning meeting that Wednesday. Normally she caught the 8 a.m. FS bus going to San Francisco and by that hour the sun’s rays were embracin
Travel Tale
I am at the Berkeley Public Library, looking for a cheap bargain in the biography section of the Friends’ Library Bookstore. The woman behind the counter has
