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My tryst with an ovarian cyst – discovery & diagnosis
(This is the first part of a three-part series about my experience from the discovery of the dermoid cyst, to my harrowing experience in the various hospitals of Bangalore, to the final laparoscopic removal by Dr. Deepak Rao of Rashmi Hospital). I look forward to Christmas holidays more than the…
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French Jobs For Me
As a French teacher in the Alliance française network in India since 2011, I’m often faced with one of these questions: “What can I do after I finish the B2 course?” “How can I use French in my professional life ?” “Ok, so I’m now fluent in French. What can…
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For The Love Of Ciders
“Cider? That’s a girl’s drink.” “You need to grow up and discover adult drinks.” “It’s just fruit juice.” “I guess you can’t handle alcohol?” “Oh, that sweet, fruity drink?” Just some of the reactions I’ve received when I tell people about my new found love for ciders. I usually just…
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The Nightingale, a tale of unsung heroines.
“Men tell stories,” I say. It is the truest, simplest answer to his question. “Women get on with it. For us it was a shadow war. There were no parades for us when it was over, no medals or mentions in history books. We did what we had to during…
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Postcards from 2006
I’ve read so many anecdotes of people receiving parcels, that were lost in the post, years after they were sent. But not even in my remotest fantasies did I ever think that I’d be one of those people. Sure, I’ve fantasised a lot (and I mean A LOT) about getting…
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Making A Chatbot For Students Of French
As a teacher, I’ve been struggling for years to find a way for students to stay in touch with the language once they are done with their courses. Sure, they can (should) read, listen to the French radio channels, watch films, yada yada…the ways to stay in touch with the…
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Pet Peeves #3 Abbreviations
I excelled at acronyms in school. During a creative writing workshop, organised by my school in 4th grade, one of the activities was imagining the full form of acronyms. I was the unbeaten champion in the exercise, coming up with ingenious versions. My penchant for the long and winding has,…
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Goodbye Christopher Robin
My in-flight movie viewing tends to include at least one tear-jerker, so it had to be the case even this time. After a few relatively light views on the way out and in (should I reveal here that I shed a tear or two while watching “Murder on the Orient…
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Pet Peeves #2 Badly Composed Tweets
As a language teacher, I’m used to dealing with all kinds of badly framed sentences: incorrect tenses, missing articles, wrong prepositions and invisible (I really mean absent) punctuation marks. I know it infuriates my colleagues, but not me. I understand that my students ‘ work is just that – students’…
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FranceSay: The Chatbot
There are several ways to learn a language – the old-school method of joining a class, using text books and other traditional study material, through immersion and speaking to locals exclusively in their language, or the more modern method of apps, like DuoLingo. But how do you go beyond the…
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My Students And Other Animals
The urban animal population seems to have an affinity to me, invading my home and even classrooms with little regard for my feelings. We’ve always had a dog at home, and briefly welcomed turtles, fishes and even birds – all adopted by my brother. But we’ve also played host to…
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Pet Peeves #1: The Usage of “Would” In Indian English
Once a student of English Literature, I tend to be a bit of a stickler for correct usage of grammar. As a language teacher, I have learnt to turn a blind eye to some common mistakes my students make. But there are some things that bother me too much to…
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