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Age is merely a number. A small leap of faith can often be exhilarating and make one realize that life begins at forty.
Mommies become girls when they decide to throw caution to winds, get rid of their imaginary fears and leave their inhibitions. I have moved to a new place and found a new bunch of 40 something friends who felt it’s time to reclaim my lost girlhood in true, “Jaa Simran jee le apni zindagi” spirit.
After a long session of ‘chai’ and gossip we moved out on the terrace. We saw a little parapet covering a part of the terrace and a ladder resting against it challenging us. The height would have been a cakewalk about two decades back. This time, however the ascend was shaky. The feet lacked ease and the mind- the devil may care attitude of youth. The nagging worry was, “What if I break one of my ‘boodhi haddies”– my old, brittle bones. Slowly each one of us took charge of ourselves and climbed up. The 8 metre ascend gave us the joy similar to what a mountaineer would experience after having climbed 8,848 metres( The Mt. Everest). The view from the top was amazing.
Finally, we could brush aside years of unfounded fears, cynicism and the lack of initiative. Besides I could check the condition of my water tank without the help of the reluctant, gutkha chewing ‘bhaiya’ from the water supplies department.
We wanted to open a bottle of champagne to celebrate our achievement but none of us dared to go down and then come up with the bottle. So we have left the champagne for next time.
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Born a brought up in Delhi, a PG in English literature and a B.Ed degree I set out to conquer the world. Married to an army officer, had to move several places. Taught in read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
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