Vaishali was getting impatient. They had been stuck in a traffic jam for 20 minutes, on a Sunday afternoon. Insane! What could be the problem?

Papa and I have been together for a little over 16 years and today is our 9th wedding anniversary, and we spent over an hour, locked together in a room. Aren't you curious about what we did? I'll tell you in a moment. But here is some back story first.

The other day, when my two daughters were on the swings in the society play area, a lady came up to me and asked if they are twins. “No!” I exclaimed surprised. Why would anyone think that? “They are sisters.” I explained. “This one is 2 and a half and the other is 5.”

When we were kids, we were badgered by grown ups to read the news or watch the news in order to educate our selves and shed our ignorance of the world we lived in. In our times, news was quite boring and I wonder how many parents succeeded in getting their kids to actually read or listen to the news.

I just read The Gory Story Of Genghis Khan, and it has been far more enjoyable, than I could have imagined. Nayanika's cheeky writing style and endless supply of puns make this book as entertaining, as it is informative. And as for exciting, well it is about a blood thirsty conqueror ...

A blogger friend of mine has blogged several times, about a couple of issues that bother her. One is, the strange emotionally charged attitude we have to the English language and the other is the discrimination, dark skinned people in India face. After some thought, I have come to believe, it is possible, that these two seemingly disconnected issues, could indeed be linked.

Two adults may be given the same information, but how they receive or interpret it will be coloured by their, interests, past experiences and knowledge. Now think about how different kids interpret the same collective experiences they share in a Kindergarten class. This is a fun read.

Rules and laws are the foundation of civilized society. Yet it is not easy to make rules. A system that involves a large number of people, like a school, or a housing society, or a community is quite complex, let alone a city or a country. Rules are necessary for smooth functioning of groups. But no matter what rule is made, there will always be a few people who are reasonably inconvenienced by it.

and the deep wide chasm that separates them.

Sapna had her fingers crossed. She closed her eyes and prayed hard. She was getting impatient too. She wished Miss Khanna would count faster.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I was intrigued. A political thriller entangled with midlife crisis sounded promising. I wasn't disappointed.

White Mughals by Dalrymple explores an interesting period in British Indian history, when the daily lives of the British officials and Indian people were often tightly entwined. This period has been, later, suppressed by both cultures as a result of hostilities, that developed soon after. Dalrymple's account is well researched, referring to, and quoting from, official documents as well as personal correspondences, to obtain a complete picture on both microscopic and macroscopic scales.

Sometimes, in our enthusiasm to to extinguish patriarchy and gender bias, we lose sight of he important stuff and follow formulas and mantras. Do we forget, that is what got us here in the first place?

An early reader can read most of this one one on their own with a little help from a grown up. The PDF is available for dowmload at the botom of the page. You can prin it out for personal use.

An, easy to make, dessert, with delicous fresh strawberries and the goodness of dark chocolate, for you to enjoy with your little ones. Yum, yum yum ...

The best recipes I have come up with, have always been under strange circumstances of necessity. This one is no exception. My daughter has a fixed menu given by the school and on Fridays I have to send her whatever the school has asked me to.

This story has all the elements of a great children's book. Funny, lively, written in rhyme, an excellent rhythm when read out loud, and with lovely illustrations the book is thoroughly enjoyable. But there is something else about it, that makes it really special to me as a writer and a mother.

The ocean of feminism gives its word

We all know that pregnancy radically affects a woman's body and hormones. But, until recently, very little was known of the effects of pregnancy on a woman's brain.

A short poem about one aspect of wisdom

The journey of a river is the journey of life

Of the versatility of words

Criminalizing marital rape would send the clear message that: We as a nation do not condone marital rape.

Who doesn't like chocolate cake? This is an easy to read rhyming recipe for chocolate cake perfect for early readers.

Bigotry is on the rise in some parts of the world. Be it in the form of racism, sexism, religious intolerance or something else. People are becoming more comfortable with publicly expressing harsh hostile opinions directed against certain groups. So what can we do about it?