Akshay constantly in our thoughts notwithstanding, days approaching the end of every month are particularly difficult to cope with. Ten months since Akshay, people across our beautiful country are all set to celebrate Maha Navami and Vijay Dashami. Both days represent the victory of good over evil. Growing up with my mother’s stories, it is … Continue reading CONNECTED BY AKSHAY: THE TIGHT ROPE WALK

Raksha Bandhan is around the corner and for the first time ever, Neha will not be able to do what she has always done. Long before this time, she would have asked me ‘when is Rakhi mom? I have to buy and post it in time so it reaches Akshay’. Neha started tying Rakhi to … Continue reading CONNECTED BY AKSHAY: BONDS AND BEYOND

Eighteen years since Kargil. Eight months since Akshay. Emotionally, I think we are feeling a little more stable, maybe because it feels like Akshay is somehow with us. We talk a lot about him, thinking of how he would have reacted to Naina’s chatter and naughtiness, Bingo’s gobbling up of chicken-rice (and even dahi-chawal!) and … Continue reading CONNECTED BY AKSHAY: GRATITUDE FIRST

WHAT REALLY DEFINES ‘A SUCCESSFUL LIFE’? Six months since Akshay. Time continues to be slotted into ‘with Akshay’ and ‘after Akshay’. Terrorism continues as well and even as we feel extreme sadness at losing more bravehearts after Akshay, there have been some major successes in eliminating terrorists like Burhan Wani's successor. The really good news … Continue reading CONNECTED BY AKSHAY: COMPREHENDING SUCCESS

What Qualities Define a Leader? Today, for the first time ever, Naina went to nursery school in uniform. She looked adorable in her bright blue pinafore over a  white and blue pinstripe shirt, socks and black school shoes. Last night Sangeeta was talking about how excited Akshay would have been, and how we would all … Continue reading Connected By Loss: Some Thoughts on Leadership

Rights, responsibilities and more.... Four months Akshay…... we have coped raja…without a single ‘real’ channel of communication with you. If constant thoughts, dreams and silent conversations are considered ‘acceptable means of communication’, then of course, our channels have been hyperactive- haven’t they?! Know you will be proud of how we have managed so far. Takes … Continue reading Connected by Loss: Can We Live Better?

100 days without Akshay in the physical realm. Feels like….. I don’t know what…….unable to find the ‘right’ words to express emotions that overwhelm me when I think about our loss…..  despair and emptiness…. heartache and torment…... Driving into the city and alone in a cab, I try to focus at what I can see … Continue reading Connected by Loss: Akshay’s Thoughts and a Mother’s Musings

Even as I sit down to pen the final part of this true life story on our martyred son Akshay, we are pained that every other day, our precious soldiers are having to continue laying down their lives, protecting us. The terrible truth is that some local separatist mobs in certain districts of Kashmir have … Continue reading Major Akshay Girish: Son, Hero, Martyr

We made the most significant trip of our lives this week. Before starting and on our way to Akshay’s 'Karma Bhoomi', our minds and hearts were filled with a hundred different thoughts, questions and emotions. What we experienced there is so hard to put into words. For Sangeeta, it was Akshay’s divine presence, long conversations … Continue reading Major Akshay Girish: Son, Hero, Martyr

The past week has been an introspective one- coming to terms with ‘we will never see Akshay again in this lifetime’ is not easy, despite trying to use logic, wisdom and spirituality. Naina, our little one, is becoming much more vocal in her demands for ‘I want my papa....mere papa.’ Not wanting to tell her … Continue reading Major Akshay Girish: Son, Hero, Martyr