Mai Bhago has held my thoughts for many years, though I cannot say when she first entered them. I have often wondered about her. Maybe it began as I listened to accounts of her life, or while looking at photographs of the weapons she once carried. I only know that, […]
Source Note Diary Entry: #1Date: 1–2 April 1944Source: Diary of Sardar Surjit Singh Khera (1911–2008), Gurmukhi manuscript, 1944–1945. The following excerpt comes from the first entry in the diary of Sardar Surjit Singh Khera, preserved in Gurmukhi and written between 1944 and 1945. The diary records conversations, reflections, and personal […]
The platinum in my hair has settled now. When I look back at the girl I was, I remember the way things were. I grew up in a traditional family. The women were loved and cared for. Nothing they needed was denied. But decisions were made elsewhere. I watched my […]
Holi is not a festival I grew up celebrating.And yet, the language of color has always stayed with me. In Rag Basant, Guru Arjan Sahib says, Aaj hamarai ghar basant. Today, in my home, it is spring. Full sabad and meaning That line has followed me for years. Not because […]
I was listening to a discourse the other day. Most of it moved along as expected.We work for food, clothing, shelter.Roti. Kapra. Makan. We call it dhanda, our business, because it brings dhan, wealth. There is nothing unusual in that. It is how we build a life. But then came […]
As a child, I first encountered the Ramayana through illustrated pages. One scene, in particular, has remained with me. It is the moment when Ram and Sita return to Ayodhya after fourteen years. A washerman questions Sita’s purity, suggesting that after her time in Ravana’s captivity, how could anyone be certain she […]
I was asked, “Sometimes I still feel hopeless; I must be honest…what does one do then?” The question hung in the air, raw and unguarded, stirring something deep within me. I paused, sensing the weight of the words—a cry from a place so familiar yet often left unspoken. What could […]