Category: Autism and Joy

The other day, someone spoke about offline friends and online friends—how she connects more deeply with offline ones. Yesterday, I made a brand new online friend. We spoke for the very first time, for more than an hour, something I realised only when it was time for me to pick my son up from therapy.…

“Baby name?” “Krishnan Srinivasan.” “You’re the mother, Ma’am?” “Yes.” “Your name?” “Gayatri Vathsan.” Pause. Whether the pause was because my surname is different from my son’s, or just unfamiliar, I don’t know. “Vasanthan,” wrote the nurse taking down my son’s case history. “Not Vasanthan, Vath-san,” I pronounced. “Watson,” she wrote. I gently took the pen…

March has begun in all its dry, baking heat in Bangalore, the kind that settles early in the day and lingers, pressing gently but persistently against skin and stone alike. Dry leaves drift down in no particular hurry, spinning lazily through the warm air before settling over roads and narrow lanes, forming a soft, uneven…

Today marks the sun’s northward movement after the winter solstice. Makara Sankranti, celebrated all over India—a time that marks fresh harvests, new beginnings, and a quiet turning inward towards spiritual awakening. At home, it is the one day in the entire year when milk boiling over is not a mistake. It is welcome. Instead of:…

For 20 years, I believed H hated me. I had never met her. Had never spoken to her. And yet, because of circumstances, I believed this completely. And then, in the last week of 2024, I somehow found the courage to visit her. We drove from Bangalore to Chennai, bumping along a highway that seemed…

“Is Manjamma’s work good?” my new neighbour asked me. This lovely young family had just relocated to India, and the lady was rediscovering the luxury of having domestic help. “Manjamma’s work is excellent,” I answered honestly. “When she comes.” The lady didn’t think to ask what I meant by that little addendum. We went on…