by Lavanya
So I have some news to share… Just before the birth of my daughter. I decided I would take a break from work after she was born. The fellowship I had then was ending and I decided not to look for a new job till I was ready. I was feeling a bit jaded and out of sorts at the time. The thought of two babies under two years old was overwhelming. I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to achieve […]
Categories: Uncategorized
by Lavanya
I smelled the Ormonde Jayne line first in 2011, relatively late in my perfume-sniffing journey. The problem with this was smelling them for the first time came with five years of baggage. Which included years of longing to smell the line and a boatload of expectations. The beautifully presented discovery set was my birthday present. ‘From’ my husband. And yes, like in the case of most ‘perfumistas’, the hand that pressed the ORDER button was mine, not his. That was […]
Categories: Perfume Review, Scent, Uncategorized, writing • Tags: Ormonde Jayne, perfume, Perfume Review, Woman
by Lavanya
My grandfather loved the scent of roses. ‘”Ah, beautiful!”, he said, when he smelled a drop of Bulgarian rose concrete dissolved in jojoba oil. And so I made him his own bottle of Bulgarian rose concrete in jojoba oil. That he kept by his bedside and guarded as his ‘rose perfume’. My grandfather loved it when I wore kumkum on my forehead. “Ah, beautiful”, he would say, whenever I’d appear with an accidentally large stain of kumkum on my forehead. […]
Categories: Uncategorized
by Lavanya
Somebody loved slipped through my fingers It feels strange, and sometimes Not as strange as I expect. I think that is the purpose of grief To pour into this strange vacuum of loss And make it seem familiar.
Categories: Uncategorized
by Lavanya
There was a curtain dividing the corridor near the kitchen, and the dining room. Sometimes it was tied in the middle, and then anybody passing through the corridor could see anybody walking by the dining table. But, most of the time it just hung loose, like a lazy yawn. I loved to pass through the space covered by the curtain, letting the curtain sweep on and over me. Often there were bells tied to it, making it an effort to furtively pass by. I don’t […]
Categories: Uncategorized, writing • Tags: curtain, memories
Purple paper planes