Also: what about your stepney? — I drop my kid at school at an ungodly hour. Around 6:45 am. After she hops out of the car and goes through the school gates, I have the perfect window of time to fill up the petrol tank in my car and check the air pressure in the car…

Overcompensating is heavy work — I wasn’t particularly nice to my mum, OK? I was needy and wanting. Even when I could have been nice to her, I wasn’t. All in aid of my husband’s family, which I felt always came first. In December 2014, I had two seats to my daughter’s school Nativity play and I chose to go with my mum-in-law instead of with my mom.

Getting mistaken for my own maid, and then for a beautician — Is that an insult or a compliment? —

Spoiler Alert: the most important exercise was reading. — I’ve been losing a pound a week since 21 May, the day I was allowed to start a regular diet and workout routine after my hysterectomy. How do I do it? Calorie…

A photo story from India — We got a surprise visitor today: my hubby’s big brother dropped in — all the way from New Delhi! He took the Rajdhani Express, a simply lovely and reliable train that takes just seventeen hours to get here from India’s capital. When my hubby’s big bro walked into our home…

I’ve avoided festivals. I never had the energy to decorate, cook and commemorate India’s million-and-one festivals a year. Then, my elder daughter left for college. The younger one has four more years of school. In four years, the school circuit will be closed to me for ever. My perspective has changed…

What did the teacher say, was she angry with you? — I’d never have guessed what the teacher would have said! — Busy week playing and working hard My fourteen-year-old, Sivakami, has had a busy week of school. Apart from regular school, she’s stayed back in school for an hour for activities like English Crossword, Treasure Hunt and Dumb Charades. This Monday, Sivakami has a Maths test coming up. She’s been scribbling…

This morning, I requested my daughter to take a picture of kids going to school from the car window. She didn’t get a very clear picture, but I hope the two pictures she took make it clear how different the school run is in every country, and yet how similar.