After four years of marriage and a seven-month-old baby together. I came to know that he’s a smoker four years after we were married. Till today, twenty two years into our marriage, I still haven’t seen him smoke. He won’t smoke in front of his parents, his kids, me, or his patients. He used to smoke when we were dating…

Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, you’d love this! — I just found this amusing loaf of bread which is the best thing since sliced bread! It is a loaf of sliced bread with the corners already cut off. I hope the people cutting off those corners also use the crusts in cooking and baking. Maybe they make croutons out…

My washing machine and clothesline! — Some stories on Medium are so funny and make me want to write such a long response, it might be a story of its own — so here’s mine. John Whye’s The Laundromat — America’s Dirty Little Secret — It All Comes Out In The Wash — paints a picture…

An India-Pakistan Tamil Brahmin wedding story from 1939 — My uncle, aged 72, is here in my city Jamshedpur, India, for some dental work at the expert hands of my husband and myself. His dental treatment’s doing very well, well enough for him to spill some stories…

Good Morning, Merry Sunshine! — The quote I am using is from memory. It may not be in the author’s exact words. In “Good Morning, Merry Sunshine!” the author, Bob Greene, a Chicago Tribune journalist, is documenting his daughter’s first year. My wife and I pored over pages and pages of Dr. Spock, even as…

A mid-day story from the dentist who inspires smiles — Today, I met Shahanwaz and Aslam, two entrepreneurs who have converted a Chota Hathi, a small truck made by the Tatas, into the pretty buggy above. I live in the house right behind where they have parked, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked out my window.

…and a dunce who marries a princess — We got a tree trimmed today in our garden. It was growing onto the walls of our home. We had to be practical and get it hacked off.

Most middle class Indian households have a maid for what we call jhadu-pocha-bartan. This means “sweep, mop and wash the dishes.” This question, about my sacking my maids and doing their job myself, isn’t about the maid of mine who sweeps and mops. I couldn’t possibly sack her. I would…