Its a family

Being in a family where you are loved by one parent but disliked by your siblings can be a deeply emotional experience. On one hand, the love and support from your mother can feel like a beacon of hope and a safe haven in an otherwise tumultuous situation. It can be a source of strength and comfort that helps you navigate the difficult relationships with your siblings.

But at the same time, the pain of being rejected or disliked by your siblings can be almost unbearable. It can feel like you’re constantly walking on eggshells, never quite sure what will set them off or why they seem to hold such animosity towards you. It’s a lonely feeling, knowing that you don’t have the support of the people who should be closest to you.

It’s easy to internalize this rejection, to wonder what you did wrong or why your siblings can’t see the person you truly are. You might feel like an outsider, like you don’t quite belong in your own family. It’s a feeling that can be hard to shake, even as you grow older and start to build your own life and relationships.

But it’s important to remember that you are not defined by the opinions or actions of others, even your siblings. You are worthy of love and respect, no matter what anyone else thinks. It may take time, but it’s possible to find a sense of peace and acceptance within yourself, even if your family dynamic remains complicated.

And while it’s painful to be at odds with your siblings, it’s also important to remember that relationships can change and evolve over time. It may be worth seeking out therapy or mediation to try and work through any underlying issues that are contributing to the tension between you and your siblings. With time, effort, and patience, it’s possible to build stronger, healthier relationships with the people you love.

The 2022 International Booker Prize winning book has been announced!

The winner of the 2022 International Booker Prize is Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree and translated by Daisy Rockwell. 

Tomb of Sand is Geetanjali’s first novel to be published in the UK. It is also the first book originally written in any Indian language to win the prize, and the first novel translated from Hindi to be recognised by the Booker Prizes.

The novel is published by Tilted Axis Press, which was founded by Deborah Smith with her prize money from when she won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize for her translation of The Vegetarian by Korean author Han Kang.

Captivated by the power, the poignancy and the playfulness of ‘Tomb of Sand’, Geetanjali Shree’s polyphonic novel of identity and belonging, in Daisy Rockwell’s exuberant, coruscating translation. This is a luminous novel of India and partition, but one whose spellbinding brio and fierce compassion weaves youth and age, male and female, family and nation into a kaleidoscopic whole.

Geetanjali Shree is the author of three novels and several story collections, and her work has been translated into English, French, German, Serbian and Korean.

Shree was born in Mainpuri, India, in 1957. Tomb of Sand is the first of her books to be published in the UK. She has received and been shortlisted for a number of awards and fellowships, and currently lives in New Delhi.

TOMB OF SAND

Written by Geetanjali Shree and translated by Daisy Rockwell from Hindi. In northern India, an 80-year-old woman slips into a deep depression at the death of her husband, then resurfaces to gain a new, highly unconventional, lease of life. Original, engaging and funny, Tomb of Sand is also an urgent and timely protest against the destructive impact of borders.

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Show Me Your Way Out

Like a silkworm weaving
her house with love
from her marrow,
and dying
in her body's threads
winding tight, round
and round,
I burn
desiring what the heart desires.

Cut through, O Lord,
my heart's greed,
and show me
your way out,

O Lord white as jasmine

- Akka Mahadevi

Akka Mahadevi ಅಕ್ಕ ಮಹಾದೇವಿ (c.1130–1160) was one of the early female poets of the Kannada literature and a prominent person in the Lingayat dharma in the 12th century.

Inner Peace

 “We laugh at the efforts of the musk deer to find the source of the scent which comes from itself and despair at our efforts to find the peace which is our essence.”

— Ramakrishna Paramahans


BORN as GADADHAR CHATTOPADHYAYA, (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886), was an Indian Hindu mystic and religious leader in 19th-century Bengal.

सच कहूँ तो : An Autobiography

Beautifully penned if you read it without being judgemental

In Sach Kahun Toh, actor Neena Gupta chronicles her extraordinary personal and professional journey-from her childhood days in Delhi’s Karol Bagh, through her time at the National School of Drama, to moving to Bombay in the 1980s and dealing with the struggles to find work. It details the big milestones in her life, her unconventional pregnancy and single parenthood, and a successful second innings in Bollywood. A candid, self-deprecating portrait of the person behind the persona, it talks about her life’s many choices, battling stereotypes, then and now, and how she may not be as unconventional as people think her to be.

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