Melbourne Mystique: Australia Diary

17/01/2026

Yesterday, the precious gift sent me by the team at Orange Publishers arrived home. It was my seventh book, titled 'The Goddess in Us.'
I sat for some time staring at it, not knowing how to react. The Publishers had packed each book with so much love and respect that I felt my eyes well with tears. They had taken as much care with the consignment, as they had taken with the production and publication of the book.
The team at Orange Publishers had been working with me, editing, proof reading, sending me the drafts for approval, over and over again, for the past eight months. Every detail was meticulously attended to. Every spelling, phrase, punctuation was reviewed and revised, until it was perfect. Pratyasha and Joyita, my friendly, professional, competent editors, and Rita, who communicated with me did, not rest until the whole book was as superlative as humanly possible.
Two wonderful authors Suja Sukumar, Writer, and Bijetri Roy have reviewed my book, and I am lost in admiration of their words, and the affirmation in them. My multi-talented, versatile student, Hitarthi Pandya is the creator of the cover page, which I find so entrancing that I can't stop gazing at it. I recommend her whole heartedly for any project anyone might need help with. Thank you, Hitarthi.
The font, the pages, the inside cover design, the attention paid to every physical detail of the book, makes it a work of art, by Orange Publishers.
And most importantly, I thank the owner of Orange Publishers, my first editor, whom I am privileged to call my friend, Biswapriyo Bandhopadhyay. He reached out to me, when I was floundering about trying to decide if my book should be published, or deleted completely. 'I can,' he said, 'we can.' I trusted him: he was my 'lender of the last reserve.'
And how richly he has repaid that trust!
Thank you, Biswa. You are the salt of the earth, in every sense of the words.
I am filled with gratitude for every process that came together to create this book.
Thank you, Rosemary Hinde, for seeing promise and possibility in the book. You sowed the first seeds of hope in my heart, about 'The Goddess in Us.'
If there are writers among you who are looking for publishers, I recommend Orange Publishers. You will not regret handing in your precious words into the capable hands of the team at Orange Publishers.
Thank you.
Have a blessed day.

16/01/2026

Good evening!
The copies of my seventh book, 'The Goddess in Us' have been sent to me by my publishers, 'Orange Publishers', and I am over the moon!
Thank you to all the people who have made this book reality.
Thank you, particularly, to my friend Rosemary Hinde, who saw both possibility and promise in it.
Have a lovely day!

24/08/2025

30/01/2025

Good morning.
It was exactly five years ago that the pandemic swept through the world, creating chaos, confusion and complete carnage. 2020 seems at once far away, and very close.
I don't think there's a single person who has not lost someone they loved during that terrifying ordeal. If you haven't, you are one of the very lucky few.
We have lost people: we have lived through those difficult times. But have we learned anything?
Every year, we make a lot of resolutions, to do this, that and the other. Have we ever made a resolution to stay in touch with people?
Is it any wonder, then, that young people and children seem to have lost the art of communication? The telephone, and social media was once hailed as an instrument that would bring people closer together. But they depend on how they are used, don't they?
How many times have people called us, and we have looked at the screen, made a face...and then decide not to take the call? How many times have our children watched us do that, and felt that that was the right way of behaviour?
Sometimes there are jokes written about it, about how we would rather NOT talk to people. We tell ourselves that we prefer being alone. We are happy that we spend the entire day without ANY communication. We proudly say that we are 'reclusive', 'antisocial', and wear it as a badge of honour.
Isn't that because we have other things to do, other ways to 'monitor' relations and other people?
But what happens when the young people who learn from us decide that we are not worth communicating with, and close up all means of communication with us?
Things work both ways: we can't have one without the other.
We live in a community. Most of us are lucky to have family and friends. But so many of us have allowed indifference to colour this communal relationship. Politics, distance, or priorities are not to blame for this deliberate distancing.
Can't we see, that when we feel we are enough, and we don't NEED anyone else, we are not only hurting ourselves, but the family we belong to?
When we begin handing out indifference, we will also be treated with indifference ourselves. Then, there will be no one to run to, no one to blame, no one who can help.
Stay in touch, therefore. There is no shame in relying on another human being for strength and support, or offering strength and support to a human being who requires it.
If you are reading this, let me know, in the comments who you have lost touch with...and would like to communicate with again.
Have a blessed day.

26/09/2024

Good evening.
Two decades ago, when the Commerce students of Mithibai College had a building all to themselves, there was a batch of crazy, happy-go-lucky students in a particular class, who were always laughing and would stand up and argue with the teacher for no other reason than that they loved argument and wanted to see whether the teacher would lose her cool or play along. Among them, the most hare-brained person was this gentleman called Carlyle Thomas. One of the ladies in the class, Shahista Merchant, decided that he was worth reforming and had some substance after all. But all that’s another story altogether.
We ordered takeaway today, from the start up that Carlyle started, called the Food Window. Simple fare: Chicken Biriyani and chicken cutlets. The food was packed so well in their separate containers, that the aroma was sealed completely. The raita came in a separate pouch and was not dribbling from the side and leaking all over the place, like I have seen many take-away raitas do. The rice was cooked just right and was in a separate container. There was a thin line of thinly sliced, crisply fried onions marching in single file over the top of the light, fragrant rice. In another container reposed succulent pieces of marinated, cooked chicken, with a light sprinkling of rice so that they wouldn’t feel lonely all by themselves.
And what do I say about the cutlets? They were filled with real chicken meat and spices and herbs: they were not deep fried flour, or ‘besan’ oozing oil, to which a few strips of chicken were added as an afterthought. They were so flavourful that dousing them in ketchup or chutney would have been sacrilegious.
I had taken the trouble of cooking separately for the man who lives with me, since he had decided to give up non vegetarian food and other beautiful things, like ghee-laden sweets, and ice creams, that I live for. But he quietly devoured the food and pretended that he did not know what he was eating.
The Food Window (9224111419) is based in Orlem, but delivers all the way to Santa Cruz and Khar Road. You might have to order in advance, though. They specialise in food by the kilo, but have now started creating small meals of the kind I bought today.
The food is not like homemade food: it IS homemade food. Less oil, adequately spiced, fresh ingredients, and cooked with love and without cutting corners. And the English teacher in me revels in the thought that he has used the definite article ‘the’ before ‘food window.’
Now wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before a queen?
Have a safe night with people you love.

24/09/2024

Good evening.
So there was this ex student who I had taught in Junior College 12 years ago who came to meet me. She is a happy, contented child, and is always ready with a laugh, a chuckle, a joke; and as usual she went chattering merrily on. But from time to time, there was a cloud which crossed her face, almost without her knowledge or volition.
When she had run out of steam, she paused. I waited. She looked at me; and I don't know what she saw in my face,but it all poured out of her, like an abscess that had been punctured. All the fear and the anxiety and the doubts, hopes and fears. I let her talk. On and on.She told me many things about herself that were troubling her. But what she found most worrisome, was her belief that she would turn out to be like her parent, because she resembled him so much. And she found that terrifying, because of his negativity and his constant whining. And other things.
I have brought this up here, on a public forum, because this is not the first time a student has come to me with this fearful question about heredity and character traits.
I know, from both my own example, and those of others, that when we know that a certain kind of behaviour, that we are inclined to, because of heredity, is wrong, we can ourselves change that behaviour. I cannot reveal more about this without revealing family secrets, so I cannot elaborate on this. But believe me, when I tell you, that just because your father, or your mother subscribe to certain kinds of behaviour, it doesn't meant that you need to go the same way, too.
You are, ultimately, responsible for the way you behave, or the way you look at life. However negative a seed you are born out of, you can change... if you want to. If you found, in your parent's case, that the negativity hurts both them and the people around them, what is stopping you from changing your behaviour, thoughts and associated feelings?
Take self pity, for instance. Or constantly trying to make other people feel guilty. Or playing the victim card. When you have lived with someone who makes use of these and other ploys, you will make sure that you don't adopt these tricks too, won't you? Going out of one's way to make other people feel miserable, is a conscious choice. Which means, that going out of one's way to make people feel accepted, and good about themselves, is also a conscious choice.
Most times, your parents have done the best they knew how to, while taking care of you, so stop blaming them, if you are inclined to.
Biological and physiological similarities are inherited, but behaviour, thoughts, feelings can be changed and recreated, or tweaked. So please don't worry about inclinations and tendencies. I have completely re invented myself. I think you can, too.Don't take the easy way out and blame other people for things.Be responsible for your own behaviour.
It can be done. If you want to.
Have a safe night, with people who love you.

17/07/2024

Good afternoon.
So we went for our walk one day on the clean, clear, straight road that runs behind Inorbit and Hypercity, which borders the long, narrow, sometimes-foul-smelling creek.
This man I live with was talking about something very important and complicated. My contribution to the conversation was interspersing an 'Uh huh'. or 'Oh?'. from time to time, in varying pitch, intonation and voice modulation. After some time, I looked around in desperation, "There" I said, excitedly, pointing to the opposite side of the road, where the receding tide had revealed mudflats on which flocks of egrets, herons and other water birds were enthusiastically turning over the moist mud,and snapping up wriggling food. I nearly took off his nose when I pointed. It is a fine nose he has: which can smell fishy things a mile off, an ability that he has passed on to both his sons. Unfortunately, I am trusting and gullible and do not have that talent.
'Hmmm," he said, moving his nose out of range of any more pointing fingers. He deplores the way I go into raptures over everything, or give in to strange, alarming and illogical impulses. He has been trying to cure me of that, for some time, but well...
" The tide has gone down, " I began.
"The tide," he said, "is a twelve-hour cycle which depends on the movement of the moon."
"Ah, the moon was almost full last night. I could see her from the window and..."
"So if we have a low tide at 10 am, we have the same thing occurring at ..."
"Do you know that we have storks, cranes, herons and egrets around here and if we look carefully...
"The tides have to be taken into account even in my transport business when we move large cargo....
"I am sure I heard the water fowl..." and to the utter astonishment of a cyclist passing by, and the disapproval of the man I live with, I made the noise a water fowl supposedly makes. The cycle wobbled, the cyclist almost fell, but then escaped with his life, after giving me a couple of anxious backward looks .
"When I was in Bihar for that cargo coming by sea, I told my colleague to watch out for the high tide...
He was carrying the umbrella and I couldn't very well sn**ch it from him without arousing avoidable suspicion, so I relapsed into simmering silence, punctuated by the usual monosyllables, "Oh?" "Oh!" '"Oh" while my mind was racing with thoughts and adjectives that would be censored in polite conversation, among decent folk.
Have you seen the Sun today?
Have a blessed day.

27/05/2024

Good evening.
All of us have phases in our life when we go to bed feeling desperately wretched, desolate and depressed. These feelings arise out of events and adversity in some form or the other.
But on all other days, when life is on an even keel, without too many 'alarrums and excursions', think of something, anything, pleasant before you go to sleep. Keep some memories ready, some sensations, some words, some miracles which have happened in your life. We keep money in the bank, in our account, to use when we need it...keep some memories of joy in your life, to remember when your eyes close and you drift into slumber.
For those of you who are too overwrought, or too exhausted to sleep, listen, if you can, to the sound of rain on a tin roof, or in a forest, on leaves, or the drip of rain water feeding into streams and racing rivulets. You tube has got plenty of this kind of music.
Think of someone who loves you, a holiday you loved, a prize you have worked for, a prayer and a hope that was fulfilled, vacations around the corner, the sound of festivals and celebration...or the sound of silence.
Smile into slumber.
Smile when you wake.
Life is beautiful. Really.
Have a safe night with people you love.

15/04/2024

Good morning.
Vishu, the Kerala Festival of Spring and Agricultural Prosperity fell on 14th April.
We celebrated it in my son's house at Strathmore Heights, with family and friends, with the traditional Malayali feast, or Sadya.
I cooked Sambaar, Avial, Potato Ishtu, Pumpkin Elissherri, Kaalan, and Inji curry. Dessert was two kinds of payasam, semia and the parippu payasam. Pappadam and rice completed the tableau.
My daughter in law , Vrisha, had invited five couples, and their children for lunch: in addition, there were both my sons, their children and my husband and I. That was about twenty people.
And nine kids, five of who are babies.
I love feeding people. And I love people.
The icing on the cake was that I had my entire family around me. The food was appreciated and gratefully and loudly appreciated. The kids were running around happily. In the evening, Vrisha arranged an Easter egg hunt and the kids ran around the garden and on the deck, discovering the hidden eggs with loud cries of excitement and appreciation.
Winter is coming, but that day the weather decided to be not as cold as usual.
There were the usual spills and sobbing and throwing things around, by the children
It was a joyous day of celebration.
As the day wound down and guests began leaving, I said a silent prayer of gratitude, for the beauty of the day, the presence of my family and their friends, and for the precious gift of food shared with people I love and care for.
Have a blessed day.

03/04/2024

Good evening.
Let us remember, and never, ever forget, that depression touches everyone at some point in their life. That it could be triggered by more things than are written up in textbooks about it. That it is ok to ask for help. That some of us are affected more than others. That different things trigger it.That it affects each of us differently.
Back when I was studying Thomas Gray and literary criticism for my Masters, there was a term for it. It used to be called leuchocholia, or black melancholy.
One of the worst things about depression is the self hate and loathing that accompanies it, the bouts of crying, followed by lethargy, and the manic desire to hurt oneself.

It is the end of the academic year. Many of you have just wound up courses. Several of you have have just been hit by the realisation that you won't be seeing each other every day like you had been for three years. Distances, real and imaginary have begun to develop between supposed 'friends'. The thought that you are going out into 'real life' finally, hits hard. Perhaps, too, some of you haven't done as well as you thought you would, at the exams. Perhaps someone who you have always considered a 'dunce' has come out in flying colours. That hurts a lot of supposedly blase people.
I have seen kids sitting in the washroom, or on the landing looking lost and lonely, or crying as if their hearts were breaking There was this girl who I had never seen, crying her heart out in the 4th floor annex and I was so upset that I went to the staff room, got her a blank card, wrote out a letter in it and gave it to her. I don't know whether it made any difference to her. I hope it did.
Why am I telling you all this?

Because we need to know that it is alright. That all of us go through Depression at one point or the the other, in life. No one is exempt.

Because we need to know that happier times WILL come.I promise you that. Back when I was young and in constant despair because of all the things life was throwing at me, I would never have believed that there would come a time when I would be happier. Never, ever. But it has, and I am grateful for that. Remember, please, that the sun WILL come out from behind the clouds. Trust me on that.

Because we need to reach out to help people who are going through depression. Don't ask questions, unless you feel they will be welcome. Don't pass judgement. You are NOT God. Just let the person know that you are there for them with a helping hand, a look, a touch, a word. Above all, give them your TIME.
Ask them, "Can I help?"
Can I help?
Have a blessed evening.