Author: SREELEKHA MAITRA
SREELEKHA MAITRA
Sreelekha Maitra is an experienced creative director, copywriter and writer. She writes on unusual sides of everyday life with a sense of humour
There is a moment in every Indian school assembly when patriotism mysteriously runs out of battery. It begins magnificently. Vande Mataram, Sujalam Suphalam. Four hundred children suddenly find their voices, their posture and, occasionally, their patriotism. Chins go up. Chests come out. The collective expression suggests that the country may need them to defend the border immediately after assembly. And then, somewhere around the third line, something happens. The volume drops. The words become approximate. The mouths keep moving, but nobody is entirely sure what they are saying. It is no longer singing. It is participation by lip movement. And…
Every Indian family has a WhatsApp group. Correction. Every Indian family has at least three. One for the immediate family, one for the extended family and one that nobody remembers joining but is somehow discussing a second cousin’s engagement in Kolkata. Mine probably began with the best of intentions. Share photographs. Stay connected. Wish everyone on birthdays. Check in on grandparents. Within months, it had evolved into a digital joint family where nobody agreed on anything except that every sunrise deserved a “Good Morning” message featuring roses, waterfalls and enough glitter to embarrass a disco ball. My grandmother never said…
