My father and Gandhi

My father always carried a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi in his wallet. It was a cut-out from a newspaper article, the size of a small square stamp. My father believed that Gandhi's life and his message helped him to be a better doctor and human being.

Experiencing the Culture Night in Dublin

Walking tours, taster dance classes, musical performances, literary readings, immersive cinema, open air concerts - the Culture Night in Dublin had so many things on offer and everything was free. And if you were lucky like us, the night had many other unintended surprises, like a grinning young man, randomly approaching you and asking if you had any weed please?

What’s Onam? What’s happening in this part of Dublin?

There's something about a feast that is served on a banana leaf, with as much as 26 different varieties of food, all vegetarian and to have people serving you with a lot of love and affection. It is for this feast of Onam sadya, that we took a bus, wearing our traditional Indian outfits with husbands and children in tow, and head to the North of Dublin. Because how can one possibly resist a feast so divine?

Ginger – the cat who adopted us

This is a nostalgia post celebrating Ginger - a beautiful, British tomcat that had adopted us while we lived in Reading, Berkshire. He was a stray and he came to us, seemingly out of the blue and decided we were his people and that he would come to us every day.

‘Neighbouring’ – In Ireland, in United Kingdom and in India

Do we only see our neighbours when we are taking out the trash or while in the lift? Or do we, visit each other, sharing food and evenings and conversations and becoming like my parents say 'first families' to each other? I hope we do, because there's so much to gain from being a good neighbour and from having one yourself.

A September Saturday visit to Dalkey and Killiney Hill

It was a warm Saturday in the first week of September - not cold, not windy, and no rain. Which in Ireland is akin to winning the lottery and so we decided to take a day trip to Dalkey and Killiney Hill and beach. We were rewarded with such beautiful views that we felt guilty for not coming here before - such incredible natural beauty at just an arm's length away from where we live.

A squirrel gets a home of its own – thanks to a fruit seller and his wife

Some really simple things can so easily be overlooked. I went to buy some mangoes whilst I was in Baroda, India, this year. And what do I see? A squirrel who had a home of its own. Made me love my hometown just a little more.

The Lake District – a slice of heaven served on a plate

We had just moved to the UK from India and we had a car. We decided to go to the Lake District. And suddenly it was as if a curtain had been lifted - the poetry of William Wordsworth, taught to me during my BA in English Literature came alive. The daffodils came alive. It seemed like a slice of heaven was served on a plate and I could ask for more slices.

The four o’ clock flowers in Istanbul

When my maternal grandmother came to live with my parents, she brought with her seeds and saplings of the four o'clock flower plant or gulbaas as it is known in her native Gujarati. Every evening, she would spend about half and hour with her gulbaas plants talking to them, holding a conversation of sorts.

Cappadocia – a forever place for finding magic

There's a 1992 Bollywood movie called Khel, in which the lead pair sing to each other in a dreamy sequence, floating as they are in a surreal landscape. The song goes, roughly translated - 'this is neither the earth or the sky - where have you brought me?' I felt like in Cappadocia. A landscape so surreal, so other-worldly that all my senses burst into a song.