“In English, the term memoir comes directly from the French for memory, mémoire, and yet more deeply rooted in the word memoir…is the ancient Greek, mermeros, an offshoot of the Avestic Persian memara, itself a derivative of the Indo-European for that which we think about but cannot grasp: mermer, ‘to…

The years have mostly been kind to me. I have a decent job in Boston, a place to call home, a woman who literally saved my life, two beautiful kids, and a couple of decent people to that I can relate, acquaintances- I still have no one I call a…

One evening, many years later, as I revisit my old apartment in Andheri, a place where I grew up before I moved to the US, an old man approaches me outside my house as I’m about to lock the door. He looks at me with such warmth and love. Startled…

During rush-hour traffic driving through downtown Portsmouth, I see an advertisement on a local flyer for something called letsmakeaplan.org. An anxious-sounding caption asks the reader: Are you prepared for major life events? Have you considered your retirement goals? Alone in the car, I contemplate my answer. When I arrive back…

It’s a Saturday night, and my friend Crystal and I are out at a bar in Portland, Maine — a plush, dimly lit place dotted with maroon sofas and mirrored cocktail tables. We’re in the dead center of the 2000s, and clubs like these are thriving. At the table next…

The night after Hetali’s funeral, the skies open up. Prakash and I take the 8-hour bus ride out of the city in the pouring rain. We are listening to the sound of drums beating — A religious procession passing by, a loud song that I don’t recognize. She and I…

On the campus of B.V.P college, I keep my head down and carry my notebook clutched closely in my palm. It’s near the end of the second semester, and even though I’ll be coming back in July, I still expect someone to tell me I have no right to be…

I waded through recruiter emails and job listings like constellations, skimming down to the perks: A better salary, vision, and dental, 401(k), year-end bonuses, catered lunch, off-sites to Hawaii, summits in Vegas, Open Bar Fridays, chef on-site, pool table, Ping-Pong table. …

So I just got back from interviewing for a job whose new job title is half of what my current designation is. The hiring manager took one look at my resume and told me that he was apprehensive about hiring me because the job I was interviewing for really didn’t…