First Person Archives - Page 3 of 5

My literature teacher: my fondest memory of school

Literature teachers are heavily romanticised in cinema, and for good reason. It takes a poetic perspective on life to escape the specificities of science and mathematics. Literature teachers help us find ourselves through stories and poetry when we’re growing up, and that’s what makes them so special.

Tanvi Khemani May 17, 2016

First Person

Waiting for the End: How Do You Prepare to Let Go of a Beloved Grandparent?

Watching your grandparents age is like processing the end of time, the folding of a document that is now so far back in history that even the possibility of its survival becomes a joke. It is an eventual loss that you can anticipate – but can you ever be prepared for it?

Manik Sharma May 14, 2016

First Person

“Chhee, Harry Potter!” When I Met the Mean Girls of a Book Club in Mumbai

When I moved to Mumbai, I joined a book club to find my tribe. Instead, I encountered a bunch of privileged men and women who scoffed at everyone’s reading choices. I realised in time that this collective was not about books at all, but about parading one’s wit, sharpening one’s sarcasm, and showing off one’s superior literary tastes.

Yashodhara Sirur May 8, 2016

First Person

Not A Daddy’s Girl: My Father is Gone, the Trauma He Caused Me Has Not

The most vivid memory of my childhood is my father smashing a cup against the wall. I was only nine then. Little did I know that his angry outbursts would go on to define my childhood.

Akanksha April 29, 2016

First Person

Radically Honest Confessions: What a Month of Constantly Telling the Truth Taught Me

The concept of Radical Honesty isn’t just about telling the truth – you have to commit to voicing every stupid, bitchy, relationship-ending, career-destroying thought that tumbles through your head. I started my experiment with absolute truth-telling and landed in my own private hell.

Sonali Kokra April 23, 2016

First Person

Only the Lunatics Watch the Moon in Mumbai

Inboxes flooded with images of the super moon from across the globe as it traversed one time zone to another, bewitching everyone with its triple magic. A city had managed to remember that there’s a moon in the urban sky.

Aparna joshi April 20, 2016

First Person

Confessions of a Half-Mother: Why I Had an Abortion Even Though I Wanted to Keep the Baby

My mother and father have no idea about my out-of-wedlock pregnancy and abortion. My baby was the final price I have paid in the lifelong war between living life on my terms and allowing my parents’ need to maintain a facade of being the “adarsh” family.

Anonymous April 20, 2016

First Person

In Auroville, My Search for Spirituality Ended at a Forest Rave Party

Following a rough patch, I went to Auroville to connect more closely with nature. Three days later, surrounded by raving firangs and vegan pizza, I realised this brand of spirituality was not for me.

Nihal Bambulkar April 8, 2016

First Person

Love Aaj Curl: The Beautiful Bond Between Curly-Haired Girls

Curly-haired girls are a curly-haired girl’s best friend. Human beings are social animals after all. We are meant to form relationships based on commonality, and nothing gets curly-haired people vibin’ like their curls.

Mavis D'Silva April 5, 2016

First Person

What the Shutting Down of a Company Taught Me About Indian Top Management

When our salary was delayed in May, it was brushed away as a temporary inconvenience. There was no official word from the management, but there were secret meetings and the big bosses paraded their lack of empathy. In August, we got a midnight mail which said this is the end.

Palladin Raider April 4, 2016