Once upon a generation, when the word “naughty” was allowed on children, there lived two mischievous little girls who behaved very badly. They went to an all-girls school and disrupted almost every class; they talked incessantly during morning prayers, and even invented a hand signal code only they could understand…

Being happy will not make you depressed, but feel good factors can sometimes keep you depressed for even longer. (What I’m about to propose is one method that worked, and may I stress on this, for me. …

Three mad people walk into a bar. There is no punchline because they are the joke. “What’s the worst part about being mad?” People don’t actually ask, but they probably want to. Well, honestly, it’s not just the symptoms. Sure, they are rough, but what’s left after they subside is…

Chocolate My mother, born in the 1950’s, grew up in a scenic village, tucked in the hill country of Sri Lanka. She lived through a strange paradox of having a life of abundance but also experiencing specific lacks. Being one of ten children meant that though my grandparents were considerably well-off…

I got a C- for a paper I wrote on nicknames in my third year at University over ten years ago — I’m still mad about it. The paper was an investigation into gender and social norms, as seen through the coinage/usage of nicknames. Are you asleep yet? …

My parents and brothers, who have known me long enough, know when I say, “well, I like my brownies a little burnt,” or that, “the juice is better when it’s watery,” that I’m so wholly and completely faking it. Busted. There’s a fancy term to describe this sort of feigning…