3 lessons from 2024
Before setting intentions for 2025, I wanted to be sure I engaged in some adequate reflection of 2024.
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The sides when no one wins
S. Mitra Kalita's remarks upon receiving a NYC Council proclamation at its Diwali celebration
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RIP, Gautom Da
What a week for our chosen family. Our dear friend Gautom Thakuria died on Monday at the way-too-young-age of 59. I debated posting this because this account is so much death lately. But as I have written, the tradeoff for having loads of love in your life is the inevitability of loss.
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The Bengali Band of Brothers
Amal Bhattacharjee, among the many of my father's roommates in America upon arrival in 1971 and one of the most beloved, died yesterday. His daughter texted me and then I called my parents to tell them. This is becoming the inevitable among their generation and yet it hurts so much every time, as though I am losing a part of myself and this unexplainable, unconditional love from friends who were never family but somehow even more. Awash in this grief and memory, I type this to make it real and to remind my children and myself who we are and who made us that way.
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Kiran Mukul, 1946-2022
Kiran Mukul, a wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, friend and longtime employee of MassMutual, died peacefully on Tuesday evening. She would have turned 76 in two weeks.
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Caring for a teen with COVID
Our 17-year-old tested positive for Covid in mid-December (rapid test negative; PCR results next day positive). I dashed this quick advice off to a friend days later when his daughter tested positive. Since then, we've sent it to about 20 more families and so now I am just sharing it here! Good luck, world. Hi, Sorry to hear about X. Sending you all love and good vibes. Some thoughts:
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We somehow blamed nazar for my daughter's Covid
Each fist filled with salt, I circled my 17-year-old three times, trying to hold my breath under the mask. She had just tested positive for Covid-19 and I prioritized this ceremony somehow before the fetching of ginger ale, chicken soup, coconut water and more at-home tests. To conclude the ritual, she was supposed to spit on my hands.
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Men about Manhattan, 1971
S. Mitra Kalita
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A long weekend in Houston
By S. Mitra Kalita
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RIP, cousin-sister
For the last few months of her life, my cousin Riku would WhatsApp me from India regularly. The first few messages were heavy, about where time went and how she didn't want hers to be so short. Then in recent days, she started asking what I ate for lunch or dinner. She wondered if my kids were in school or at home and how long their commute was. She wanted to know where I physically was in the house and if I had drank tea that day at all.
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3 days, 2 nights in the Berkshires: An itinerary that won't let you down
A version of this post ran in the URL Media newsletter. Subscribe here.
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For Followers
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex support URL Media and others fighting for systemic change
By URL Media
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The outsider and the Assamese language, from Baptist missionaries to baseball bats
By S. Mitra Kalita
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How to get into an elite college when there's a pandemic and everything keeps changing
We launched our pandemic schooling newsletter, called The Unmuted, during uncertainty over what day schools in New York City would start last fall. It felt like maybe we could help our neighbors make sense of it all.
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And now we get to work
We introduce ourselves today at a pivotal time in U.S. and global history. We don’t want the next 4 years to look like the last 4 -- or 400.
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A story without a nut graf -- and how to get away with it as a journalist
In order to break the rules, you gotta know the rules. Like really, really well.
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