It takes a village to raise a child. Not just because extra hands can relieve some burden off parents’ shoulders, but because social engagement has a significant influence in the making of an adult. Urban children more specifically have limited avenues for interaction, often confining themselves to...

Just 3 days ago, I was at the park, and a 6-year-old boy repeatedly punched a 4-year-old boy in his butt, his fists clenched tight. This is not something new for us. This boy has been this way for a long time. Over the years, many kids had been roughly shoved, toys snatched away and rammed into. Str...

Wawasan 2020 – Ceritaku, Ceritamu

Wawasan 2020 – masa tu tahun 1991, aku baru Form 3. Berita, surat khabar, teks ulangkaji, petikan-petikan majalah penuh dengan idea Wawasan 2020. Wawasan 2020 ni merupakan brainchild Tun Mahathir. Tapi masa tu kita tak panggil Tun, kita panggil Dr. Mahathir. Meman...

So why get married? For love? For love, two persons can just spend lots of time together, so why bother throwing an expensive wedding, sharing a 20 year home mortgage and putting oneself through the complications of bearing and raising a family?

Because while love is good, division of wealth and...

I have seen many a downfall of families. We know of many reasons for this but here's a less discussed one - the vindictive son-in-law.

Marrying into any family means that one is marrying into a belief system, a way of life, a conviction. It also means marrying into a distinct culture, religious af...

Preface: Pineapples are native to Malaysia. Malaysian manufacturers make juices, canned desserts, jams and cookies with them, mostly for the export market. Malaysian mums and wives on the other hand make pineapple jam tarts with them, mostly for festive seasons (we have like 6 or 7 festives in here)...

Believe: an acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof.

Conviction: the quality of showing that one is firmly convinced of what one believes or says.

I was 19 when I stumbled upon an article about the confession of an elderly white man about old age and about dying...

We have come to a point where human knowhow and skills have expanded in depth and breadth - and for us to participate in an economy dictated by these, we have to pursue a high degree of specialization.

So what does this mean to parents? Amidst all the talk and attention given to exams and grades,...

Seemantham is often known as the traditional baby shower. In truth though, Seemantham and baby shower are two very different events – not because one is traditional and the other is Western, but because the focus of each celebration is very different. For Seemantham, the focus is on the mum-to-be wh...

For those soon-to-be mums and their mummies and all the busybody girls/ladies like me, here’s a special post about the traditional baby shower event (Indians know this as ‘Seemantham’/‘Valaikappu’).

A few weeks back we had the opportunity to be part of a really nice traditional baby shower thanks...

At a random car sale event, there are two cars for sale and the salesman tells you that both cars boast the same technology, material, design, features, look and feel. One has the BMW mark, the other with its brand missing. Which one would you buy? If the BMW cost RM350K, how much would you pay for...

When I was younger, I used to pray fervently to the Gods of Important Things. Gods of Important Things, in my view, are the big guys who take care of things like birth and death, family, health, exam grades and careers. I remember very well my moments of deep prayer - standing in front of the altar...

What’s the best age gap for marriage? Actually, there is no best age gap. Everyone has their own way of thinking, and maturity levels and different make in terms of the soul, so what fits will fit and what doesn’t will not. But having had a fair share of experience (my own and that of my close ones)...

For Indians in Malaysia, as minorities and as a community with a significant share in the economically-challenged portion of the society, the choice facing our households and individuals is often between working hard for what we want OR fighting hard for what we want.

My personal experience point...

What are your expectations of the person that you want to get married to?

Over these decades, I am seeing a certain trend among our young people. In the 40s through 70s, young people had little expectations of the people they were going to marry. As long as it is a person of the opposite gender a...

Large parts of my childhood and early teenage years were influenced by the ideals depicted in one of the most significant Hindu epics of all time, the Ramayana, which forms the foundation of many a guiding principles across various aspects of Hindu culture and practices. Ramayana holds to the idea o...

I had an opportunity recently to learn more about the first year commemoration prayers for the passing of our elders, having conducted the prayers recently at home. I thought that penning this down will help the likes of myself who have always relegated ourselves to the status of apprentices or pass...

17 or 18 years of age is a crucial time in life for young people today. Think of it, until that point, almost everyone is DEBT FREE because frankly speaking, we spend very little for our education up to Form 5 or Form 6. Even those who are graduating from private and international schools have no de...

A month ago, I was invited to speak about Digital Entrepreneurship at the International Telugu Women's Day event organized by the Telugu Association of Malaysia (TAM) in conjunction with the celebration of the International Women's day. TAM is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation for peopl...

An end note for 2018.

Hypocrisy and racism are but the different sides of the same coin. No no, I am so not going to talk about being Indian or Hindu, as it comes with the ready privilege of sharing your genetics, beliefs and resources with another 1.7 billion people on this planet. I am going to...