17 Comments

Re-read it today - I guess for the third time. And each new meanings stir up. Naseem it is indeed … your writing of hope in the midst of despair, and courage in the midst of communal divide. Naseem - May your daughter be the morning breeze in all lives she touches, most importantly her own life.

You amaze & insource dear Natasha

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Loved it then, and love it on rereading

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Uff Natasha. I don’t know the date of the first publication of this one but i have been in love with your writing since the very early Mint Lounge days❤️ was it 2011 /12 ish or …?

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Thank you, Khyati! We were always destined to meet and write together.

It was 2011, I think. This was published in 2023 in The Tribune.

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❤️❤️❤️if anyone would have told me i’d be writing with you, I would have laughed them out of the room. It’s an honour and a great joy 🤗❤️.

Back then or before that or after, a friend, Prakriti Pushp had also been in touch with you. Do you remember him? We were all “bloggers” back then, #youremember?

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You make me believe in Naseem, too!❤️❤️ So easily you have traversed this long path - from Neeru in Ranchi to Natasha to Naseem to a country in dire need of new mornings with a fresh, change-bringing breeze.

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wow! I always believe in having a name with a meaning, a meaning that resonates and I am so glad you stuck to your guns along with your convictions.

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Thank you, Harry

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What a beautiful, beautiful read, Natasha! Thank you for sharing this :)

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Shukriya <3

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A name with true meaning, not just one in a herd of rootless identities. 🙏

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Every name has a story, Nishant. We must claim our story. ♥️

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This certainly is the most beautiful and soul-healing piece I've read in a long time. I was smiling, getting teary-eyed, thinking of all the Naseem phuphis and khalas, and rejoicing that this story shall stay with me forever to nourish me in more ways than one. Thank you, Natasha. <3

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Naseem is such a beautiful name! Thank you for writing this - I find myself going back to your posts again and again :)

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Naseem will grow up and love you for giving her such a deeply meaningful, resonant name. Someday perhaps, years later, in a moment of doubt she will read these words full of sunlit belief and feel a permanent sense of special within her.

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I am so glad you believed in yourself and continue to do so and encourage and inspire so many of us through your writing!

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Thank you, Rajni. I'll be honest, I summon courage from those who read and validate my words. Thank you.

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