growing up | Asha Rajan

The Very Bad Thing and the Chasm-Exoskeleton

Posted on September 20, 2018 4 Comments

When I was eight, A Very Bad Thing happened.

Alma Mater

Posted on March 2, 2018 2 Comments

This week Godzilla, my eldest child, began at university. The same university that my husband and I went to. The same university my brothers and my brother-in-law went to.

On 17th birthdays and glimpses of the adult

Posted on August 17, 2016 6 Comments

So, here I am very early on Godzilla’s 17th birthday, resting on the corner of Testosterone Lane and Horsepower Road. Having two teen boys in the house means a lot of muscle flexing, boundary pushing, and territory marking. They wake with teasing exchanges that rapidly morph into the rat-tat-tat of suddenly flared tempers. And before long, like […]

No More Streamers

Posted on September 1, 2015 6 Comments

No more streamers littering the floor. No more shining cachous skittering across counters. The fairies have packed up their bread and departed. Saggy, flaccid balloons leer lecherously at disemboweled party poppers, as football and pirate cupcake wrappers tango in mismatched pairs.

Who’s The Boss: On being a mother in the house when your mother is visiting

Posted on July 13, 2015 14 Comments

It’s summer holidays, and my mother recently flew from Australia to spend two months with us. It’s disconcerting to be the adult child in my house when my parent comes to stay.

Running Behind Elephants

Posted on October 23, 2014 14 Comments

When you have got an elephant by the hind legs and he is trying to run away, it’s best to let him run. ~ Abraham Lincoln A strange thing happens between mothers and sons in the teen years. The chubby fingers of childhood loose their grip, the adoring eyes fall less often on you, the […]

Welcome to the club

Posted on October 3, 2014

“Oh god. Ohgod-ohgod-ohgod-ohgod.” A thick ooze of rich scarlet stained her knickers. Sunita sat on the toilet with her head in her hands, knickers around her knees, nose dripping, tears streaming down her cheeks, not knowing what to do, and terrified of telling Mummy. She winced and clenched her fists as another cramp ripped through […]