I woke up sweating, and heard incessant rain beating down on the windows of our humble hostel room. I realised there was no electricity! Once a norm in my life as a child in Uttar Pradesh, and a college student in New Delhi, my city slicker existence in Mumbai has spoilt me. I simply couldn’t believe a capital in Eurasia would have no electricity. In a state of slumber, I walked downstairs to the reception to find out more. It was 630 AM, and the part time student/ receptionist told me most apologetically, that heavy rains & snowfall had ensured Tbilisi loses power! Repairs were on. All around me, as dawn broke, well-endowed babushkas, the commonest tourist in Georgia, were sitting outside their hostels, shaking their heads & muttering. Curious, I asked the worried receptionist what were they saying. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, they debate if life was better before or after the Soviet Union, their favorite subject for all weathers. Only a month before...
Stories of our lives, lived realities, urban motherhood and unmet ambition. Hope to connect to more people like me who can never find someone like themselves in mainstream discourses. Born cynic with a touch of optimism.