Before any performance, my dance teacher encourages us not to talk about anything unrelated to dance and the programme ahead of us. She asks us to be silent, thinking about […]
Southern Adventures
Travelling with two friends in the south of India was the experience of a lifetime! Our plan was essentially to go to Pondicherry, but friends convinced us to go to […]
Trains in India
I remember when two friends of ours were coming to India from France, and wanted to travel across the north. We warned them that reserving tickets on trains here is […]
After the Burggarten
I wrote, some time ago, about how we hunted for, and eventually found the city garden – https://varshaseshan.com/blog/burggarten-bitte/. In English, somehow, people we spoke to called it the ‘Rose Garden’ rather […]
Power Cut
I remember going to a creperie in Grenoble a few years ago – an important part of my French experience. I was in a large group of Indians for once, […]
The Golden Rule
During our exchange programme with a school in France, my sister formulated for me The Golden Rule. If you don’t know a word in French, pronounce the English word that […]
A Train to Vienna
Why do people like us? Why do random people whom we will probably never meet again come up to us and do things for us? I wonder if we look […]
Experiences on Stage II
I remember the first time I performed with the Senior Girls – the Big Girls at Satara. We were doing a dance drama to recorded music. That’s always a challenge […]
Dress Rehearsal?
Last evening was the first show of our cultural programme at Sanskriti. Everyone in charge treated it as a kind of exalted dress rehearsal. Everything was practised – giving gifts […]
The Circus Boy
I did two more book-readings yesterday – The Circus Boy and The Old Yellow Scooter. The reactions were completely different! Children never stop surprising me. The first reading (The Dictionary) was […]
Performing tomorrow and on Saturday!
I teach dance at a school run by the Army Wives’ Welfare Association (AWWA) – and they have their annual cultural programme tomorrow. Beginning with a Ganesh Vandana, there are […]
Why I Write for Children
My first reading at St. Mary’s school yesterday told me, yet again, why I love writing for children. The number of questions they asked me and the way they interacted […]
Book-Reading in MY School!
Once upon a time (in 1995, to tell the truth), my wonderful school-librarian encouraged us to write and illustrate books of our own. A friend and I sat and wrote […]
Treasure Hunt
All my friends ask me where The Story-Catcher is available, all the time. I know how easily it’s available online, and I tell everyone to buy it online. But I’ve wanted […]
Cyber Café
I remember the year we created email accounts (which, of course, we used more often than not to send forwards). There was a cyber café at the gate, and we […]
The Mice who Turned into Fairies
I think I’m finally old enough to read stories I wrote when I was seven years old without cringing in embarrassment. Some still make me cringe; this isn’t one of […]
Getting back from Olympia
We managed, somehow, to get to Olympia, thoroughly unprepared. (How do we go to Olympia, please?) We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly there – how could we not? Yet, the whole day […]
Experiences on Stage
I’m sure every performer could write a book about things that go wrong on stage. The most wonderful part about performing on stage is the fact that nothing is predictable. […]
Local Trains
I have a distinct memory of a ride in a local train when I was two years old. I remember crazy traffic on Mumbai roads – the reason why my […]
On Being Outdated
The other day, I saw that the window of a friend’s car had not been raised. She had just parked, and was using the remote to lock the car. Helpfully, […]