Are you an honorable person? Or do you cheat on tests? This conversation happened with my students recently. I have been a teacher for nearly three decades, and I have witnessed a lot. I remember the old days of blue books (my American readers will know what I mean), when…

And it is over. One would think so. I remember October 2020. A dark time in the life of the World. I was preparing for a voyage. The medicines were piling up. Untested ways to stay safe. Flea medicine for dogs from the local pet supply store. Zinc as a…

It was not fog. The messages began to come in late in the night. In my typical way, I was here and there. I was in a conversation with a bondhu there when the words “evacuation” and “fire” came in together in multiple messages here. The immediate visit to some…

I was waiting. To hear from you. This is a condition that we have all found ourselves in. Back in the days when we operated with postcards and aerogrammes the wait was expected and anticipated. There was no point in me getting impatient to hear from a bondhu or a…

I love you. According to some research 73% of Americans want to hear those words from their partner every day. I got thinking about it sitting at an airport waiting for my son to arrive. …

“I am jealous.” I have heard many people say, “I am jealous.” Indeed, I say it as well and if you think about it, I am sure you have felt it at times, if not actually said. A bondhu recently asked me, “why are you jealous?” Because I am. But…

Shue poro — go to bed. Simple words. Often said. But in these words there is embedded a deep affection that few other words embody. I am told this often, by many people, given that I have the weirdest sleep cycle I know among my bondhus. I have chosen to…

Who is a bondhu? I ran into a bondhu today and the person expressed some confusion about the word. And that got me thinking. Indeed, I use the word frequently in my writing, and way back I had tried to clarify what it means. But perhaps it is time to…

This is a journal of a person experiencing the reality of COVID-19 as a new wave hit Kolkata, India in the early part of the summer of 2021, while the author was at his home in the suburb of Salt Lake. An associated video can be viewed here. You can…