We were finalising a post about love, but hate got in the way. So for this week, we will stay silent in memory of the CRPF jawans who laid down their lives so we may be safe.
About love
Mamta: selfless love or love for the self?
Nandita Chaudhary and Pooja Bhargava In the year 2006, we published a journal article in Contributions to Indian Sociology with the title: Mamta: The transformation of meaning in everyday usage. Here is the link to the original article https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/006996670604000303. In this Kadak Chai Essay, we provide excerpts from the interviews we conducted around the topic.... Continue Reading →
Cupboards, Refrigerators and a Baby’s Love
“The Master and his Emissary”, The Hedgehog, the Fox and the Magister’s Pox”, “The Turning Point”, “The Emperor of All Maladies”, “When Breath Becomes Air”, “The Old Ways”, “The Mind’s Eye”, “The Past as Present” and also, my most favourite title ever, “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat”. These is just a... Continue Reading →
A smile that broke my heart
Looking straight at me with this wide, glorious and happy smile was this little baby, she was attempting to engage with me in a visual exchange! Her face had erupted into this beatific smile, characteristic of a baby who had not yet developed any fear of strange faces, 'stranger anxiety' as I knew it was called. A developmental stage where an infant is open and friendly with anything resembling an animated human face, but in this instance, I was unable to smile back, I felt heartbroken by this unexpected encounter, not knowing whether to fulfill the expectation of a friendly smile or burst into tears at the tragedy of her innocence. I resigned to my own inadequacy and impotence at dealing with the situation and withdrew, deeply humbled. I knew I could neither understand, nor intervene, nor assist seriously enough to find a solution here. The smile had broken our conversation, and my heart, and I couldn’t bear anymore.
Cutting Chai: Before Sunrise
A lot can happen before sunrise. For those who wake up early, there is a range of special experiences that seem specially created. The earth is in the process of taking its turn towards the day, a karvat, as it would be called in Hindi. The word is packed with meaning and is used widely... Continue Reading →
Kadak chai: Wild West(ern) Ideas
Wild West(ern) Ideas: Understanding differences in upbringing practices A commentary By David Carré This article/keynote (link: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/masalachaimusings.com/1506) is bold—‘kadak’ if you prefer to say so. It is bold but, more importantly, it is accurate to hit the mark it aims at. Thus, it is only logical that it goes straight to the (contentious) point it... Continue Reading →
I love my mother, but I don’t want to be like her
Prologue There is so much in the literature about how childhood experiences shape what we become as we get older and in particular, how we become like our parents. We are delighted with evidence of enduring resemblances between fathers and sons and mothers and daughters, attending mostly to these rather than the differences. Yet every... Continue Reading →
Cutting chai: “My sister is strong and she fights off bullies”
On Cutting chai today, we bring you a brief extract of an essay (for English class) by seven-year-old Trishita who writes about her little (three-year-old) sister, Kaashvi. I am sure you will agree that this is worth sharing! See image below for original essay. Thanks to Shashi Shukla for sharing this with us. We have... Continue Reading →
Flavourful start to 2019!
Team Masala Chai is busy brewing different flavours for our readers. We will resume our posts soon! Till then we wish you all a lovely start to 2019!!
