What’s in a word? Plenty, when some get tossed around with more frequency than others. Words – our framework of meaning – are every child’s first open windows to the world. Watching my kids and their friends grow up, my 

Overwhelmed and harried, we watch a band of professional movers pack away 50 years of family life into crates and cases. My husband’s parents have enjoyed this apartment for exactly half a century now – the last 25 years with 

For weeks, he’d storm into the house, his face a picture of misery. Our teen son was hurting from his first break-up (a savage rejection as it turned out), only, we had no idea. Strange; a communicative kid who usually 

“I want to be tall like you but without the stoop please,” my daughter said. “Or that nose bump. Or those varicose veins! But… otherwise… how do you not look 50 when you are?” I knew that was an afterthought 

I knew it was being unfair. And yet there I was, unstoppable as I described to my children, in unnecessarily depressing detail, the thoughts swirling in my tense mind about their 90-year-old grandfather who lives alone across the city. From 

Once a month, Meher Marfatia recounts stories from the preteen book club she runs with Rupal Patel. Part review, part reaction, she discusses plots and themes as much as the minds of their 11- to 14-year-old readers.   “To the 

I thought my mum was something she wasn’t really – a much older mother than most. That was half a century back. Having children at 32 and 36 was, then, ‘late’ motherhood. As I sit writing this on a sun-kissed 

Once a month, Meher Marfatia recounts stories from the preteen book club she runs with Rupal Patel. Part review, part reaction, she discusses plots and themes as much as the minds of their 11- to 14-year-old readers.   Take a 

It was as bad as forgetting to bring the ring to a wedding. At my sacred thread ceremony, the Navjote, the family discovered we’d left behind the lamb’s wool kusti cord that would circle my waist to initiate me into 

Once a month, Meher Marfatia recounts stories from the preteen book club she runs with Rupal Patel. Part review, part reaction, she discusses plots and themes as much as the minds of their 11- to 14-year-old readers.   They live 

“Don’t be shy” is the dreaded refrain many reserved kids must hear. I did, years ago. But I was also luckier than most, blessed with parents wise enough to figure it was harmless for me to enjoy standing in the 

Once a month, Meher Marfatia recounts stories from the preteen book club she runs with Rupal Patel. Part review, part reaction, she discusses plots and themes as much as the minds of their 11- to 14-year-old readers.   Small is 

The other night, my husband and I were counting the ways we’d changed, thanks to the kids, especially when it came to realigning some long-held beliefs. Mea culpa, we may have fallen plonk into parenting gaffes aplenty. Yet, something we are 

Once a month, Meher Marfatia recounts stories from the preteen book club she runs with Rupal Patel. Part review, part reaction, she discusses plots and themes as much as the minds of their 11- to 14-year-old readers.   Imagine a 

It happens every single time: The Rajabai Clock Tower makes me smile as I pass it. Not only because of its fine, recent facelift. Mumbai’s answer to Big Ben brings back a motherhood memory I’m still surprised by. Remember that 

Once a month, Meher Marfatia recounts stories from the preteen book club she runs with Rupal Patel. Part review, part reaction, she discusses plots and themes as much as the minds of their 11- to 14-year-old readers.   What does 

Let’s face it: How many of us can honestly say we didn’t choose neutral yellow or peach for rompers and cots, not knowing if what kicked beneath that tummy bump was a girl or boy? I was simply forced to 

Once a month, Meher Marfatia recounts stories from the preteen book club she runs with Rupal Patel. Part review, part reaction, she discusses plots and themes as much as the minds of their 11- to 14-year-old readers.   I chickened