“Hin sa Sindhi mein gaalayo,” my grandmother’s feeble but decisive voice travels to San Francisco via my old laptop. She’s instructing my cousin and sister-in-law to constantly speak in our mother tongue around my nearly eight month old niece.

Like most cosmopolitan Sindhi families today, insistence on speaking the language extensively - and consciously - is a dinner table talking point in mine too. To an outsider this conversation might sound normal, albeit peculiar. I mean, why would anyone have to remind people to talk in their own mother tongue? What many might miss out on is the butter paper thin sense of alarm in the voices.

Sindhi is in deep trouble.

Sure, it’s not on a UNESCO list of dying languages, and won’t be on it any time soon. Some may say the above statement is just me jumping the gun, but anyone who comes from a Sindhi family will tell you the rather unusual problem...

It pays to be a cricket-loving girl during the World Cup. Not only do you get to see some close matches – between “minnows” these days – but you can ogle at them hot-bod cricketers without your parents or partner looking at you like you’re ready to be committed to the crazy house.

Unfortunately, since the World Cup is being held in Australia and New Zealand, one needs to choose between gawking at aforementioned hot-bods and gawking at the pile of your untouched work. Of course, watching highlights is not an option either because your mom needs to watch next-gen Balika Vadhu.

Fret not, for I’ve taken the trouble of sifting through the hottest playing XI, substitutes, staff, et al of the teams in the current tournament. Here’s a comprehensive list of all the smoky goodness in the gentleman’s game this time round, in no particular order:

Mitchell Starc:
Way too many Mitches in this...

Some people claim that listicles are the lazy writer’s way out of doing things. By listicles I do not mean the ones Cracked and lite versions of the site write up but listicles that make you go “OMG that’s SOOOO me!” or “ooo my best friend and I do the same thing!” For convenience, I’m just going to call this coterie “Buzzfeed and co.”

Let’s face it, Buzzfeed’s pieces have made it easy for copycat websites to have localised, GIF-meme based articles that take the most generalised human responses to any situation and make a list out of it.

10 things a BFF does at hen parties
10 ways you know you’ve found the love of your life
10 things every mom does
10 ways you can wipe your bum after you’ve gone poo-poo

What’s more hilarious is that Buzzfeed itself put a blog post out that said something to the effect of “honey, let’s face it, clickbait is soooo 2009!”

Unfortunately, this piece was...

As a journalist, you’re asked to steer clear of the cliché “end of an era” as much as you can. On social networking websites, though, it’s used by anyone and everyone to describe anything and everything, regardless of whether they really feel the words. I’m going to stick my neck out and say today really is the end of an era. For me, at least.

Orkut’s dead.

Well, almost dead. Google’s sounded the death knell for what was pretty much its first social networking website, started as a 20 percent project by the company. As Orkut shuts down, my teenage years are officially coming to an end. I’ve grown up.

For the past few years, Orkut was just a website I’d visit maybe once a month on a boring weekday afternoon at work, to read old posts and smile to myself. Somehow everything was okay on Orkut, all my friends were on Orkut, I was still a scrawny teen on Orkut.

The truth is, I wouldn’t...

DISCLAIMER: This might ruffle a few feathers and people who genuinely care about me might find it pretty infuriating. Rest assured, I knew what I was doing and made sure I had shit under control. During the Ask FM experiment, I blocked a few people and deleted questions that pissed me off. Now, for the actual experience:

Give the power of anonymity to people and watch how their innermost asshole bursts out. No hiding behind masks of propriety and the rectitude associated with them normally. I will think of my Ask FM experiment as a reminder of why I stopped using it in the first place, months ago.

Inherently, everyone is a dick. We’re selfish, basic species who besides wanting the best things for themselves is interested in what’s going on in other people’s lives. Sometimes the ability to see what’s going on in someone’s life isn’t enough. You want to know the most personal, the...

There’s no grace in reflexes. When they kick in, you don’t bow out like a ballet dancer. You squirm, you flail your hands, and you scream.

And you scream some more when the will to live against all odds overpowers all your senses and there’s no one to help you. There’s also no grace in fighting for your life when you’re all alone.

Somehow, his own screams felt like they came echoing from a place far away. His voice traveled across cities, cutting through trees and rivers, the concrete jungle and all the honking and blaring of the traffic.

But that could also be because he could not hear or say a thing while he was underwater. His brain was roaring, fighting to keep itself alive but his body seemed to have revolted against all sense, singing its own tune.

They say that when you’re dying, you see your whole life flash before your eyes. Truth is, when you’re dying - especially when...

“Good for you, man,” her narrowed eyes.

He winces.

An eyebrow cocks up and she judges.

He looks helpless.

“You had a choice.”

“I chose heartbreak.”

Good for you, man.

“No fear,” he thought and exhaled loudly before deciding that he would do it.

He had spent too long mulling over decisions and it was time he was going to live life spontaneously. He wanted to see all that there is to see in the world and touch everything.

Adventure was something that was up on his lists of things to do to rid himself from the fear of living life in the moment.

Bungee jumping it was, he said to himself. No more wondering how it feels like to leap off a cliff, he would experience the thrill in the air and his heart beating against his chest.

Before he had time to second think his Bungee jump, he leapt. The cool wind on his face and the pit falling off his stomach felt exhilarating. He then felt horror smack his face as he realised he did not have the cord attached.