MY HEART WIDE OPEN

There are some days you remember in pieces. A room. A face. A sound. A number on a screen. And then there are some you remember almost minute by minute. When my father became very ill in Guwahati, we decided to fly him to Chennai for treatment. We took an air ambulance. There were doctors and nurses on board. And there was me. No one else was allowed to come. I remember sitting there looking at my father and wondering if he would survive the flight. This was the man who had t

No one tells you how much it will hurt! How watching your once-strong parents grow weak will shatter something deep inside you. How their...

When I think of Manab Bhindew, I see his face with that slight smile. Always calm. I have been trying to remember if I ever saw him angry. Even when we were growing up and being mischievous, doing things we shouldn’t have, I don’t think I did. He was one of those people you just knew would be there. You didn’t question it. You grew up feeling safe because he was around, and then you grew older, had children of your own, and his presence still gave you that same comfort. So so

Sometimes I wonder who exactly I am trying to prove myself to. I think of what everyone else likes when I cook. What my daughter will eat. What my husband likes. What my son loves when he is home. I can plan an entire meal around everybody sitting at that table and somehow not once ask myself - what do I feel like eating today? And I don't think I am unusual. I see this so much in women. I’ve watched men do it too, but among women it seems to be the rule rather than the excep

I Have Never Felt More Like Myself. And Never Felt This Alone. I know who I am now. I trust my decisions. I trust my instincts. I do not look outside myself to feel steady anymore. I do not wait to be chosen. I do not stay where something feels off. I do not spend time explaining myself in the hope of being understood. There is a certainty I did not have before. Of what I bring. Of what I deserve. Of what I will walk away from, even if it costs me. I am not trying to

(A note before I begin: this isn’t about blame, or about one relationship. It’s about a quiet shift many women feel (I can only talk about a woman’s perspective), and many couples probably live, but don’t always say out loud.) There was a time when women needed men for survival. Financially. Socially. Practically. That time is changing. Today, many women run full lives on their own. We work. We earn. We parent. We remember everything - the laundry cycles, the groceries runnin

For a long time I thought being good at what I do meant learning how to feel less. Less affected. Less attached. Less open. I thought professionalism meant control. Composure. Distance. Be rational. Be clear. Be efficient. Be strong. And I tried. I learned how to sit in rooms where decisions were being made that would change things for the people sitting across the table. And I learned how to keep my face steady. Keep my voice calm. Keep the conversation moving. And then step