Michelle Obama, in her autobiography, refers to herself as a box checker, someone who thrived to do everything they are supposed to do in life, planning every detail. It would be scornful to compare myself to her, but I think I turned into one somewhere along the way too, diligently carrying out all that …
Call it nostalgia, call it homesickness, but I am still drawn towards India every chance I get. I have consistently made a trip home every year since I came to the USA, lasting about a month each time. I headed home this time too, with bags mostly filled with chocolates and other things I …
Continue reading “Everything that could go wrong with a trip home”
I always think that it is the little things that make us happy. I am trying to remember few such little things that made me incredibly happy in the last few days. I made some carrot halwa the last weekend, with a lot of hard work which included grating seven carrots all by myself, …
There is a trail by a river right behind our apartments which I had explored in part on my numerous attempts to make it a habit to jog regularly. It is called the Guadalupe river. One fine Saturday morning, I and my roommate decided to cross over to the other side and follow the …
Inspired by all that I read and see, I dream of going on a backpacking trip all by myself across countries, across continents. While I waited to start my job, I made a small promise to myself that once I receive a few paychecks and have enough money to spend for myself, I would …
I wish everything came to us naturally, like walking, which I learnt with a little bit of help from my mother. I went skiing at a resort in Lake Tahoe for the first time ever, hoping to be able to glide on snow with my poles flailing in the air, like how I had …
Every time we take a taxi or book an Uber ride, I think we are setting certain expectations which I most definitely do not meet. I discovered that my rating on Uber is just 4.78, far less than a perfect 5. Though I console myself that what others think of me does not matter …
I smiled when the driver asked me if I had a cold. Both of us knew I was crying on board the shuttle to the Los Angeles International Airport from the place that was home for two years. I am not sure if I could not hold my tears back because I was leaving …
When I finally have a reason to be happy, I seem to be indecisive. One fine day I cannot stop crying over an interview reject and the next day, I have a job. It feels like all that happiness that I felt cancelled out the extra sadness, but I still have some of it …
When nothing seems to go our way and an opportunity strikes, catching us unawares, we eye it with cynicism, not letting ourselves believe that we do have a shot. This is how I greeted the news of my invitation for an onsite interview with Amazon. I knew what I had to do was to …