This is such a gentle, beautiful story of love and loss. You bring Aaji to life through your narration of her lunchbox, a treasure trove indeed, of her life's belongings. Your story is a powerful reminder of lives that we don't witness, but must.
Such complex contexts wrought with circles of silence of pain and trauma. Such dignified resilience. The stories Manisha Ghule tells are each a testimony to human capacity for infinite resilience. Theirs with so much grace.
Kudos and gratitude dear Manisha Gupta for your important work with Manisha Ghule and all like her.
And your writing ... wow ... such ease, such elegance, such flow :)
Thank you, Tanya, for your spirited response. Denotified, nomadic, or semi-nomadic tribes are among the most excluded, missed-out and invisible communities. I have had the honour of working with leaders who have emerged from these groups. Their stories of grit and resilience read like movie scripts.
Manisha, we remain in awe of your raw, powerful talent to tell a story. The reader is both hypnotised as well as empowered in the process of reading an essay like this one.
Manisha Ghule's stories never fail to inspire. I have already taken the "the night in the well" as a metaphor to be used over and over again.
And now comes the Lunchbox. Like a pitaara of stories of a life most of us would have never believed existed. But for this beautiful piece of writing. ✨
What a tribute to Aaji’s life. I wish she had lived to know her story was worth telling. Aren’t they always. In many ways, this reminds me of the PARI stories that are retold by Karadi Tales. I wonder if you have read them?
Manisha, this is just stunning. The way you weave each bit with every other bit is a masterclass in craft. Not unlike a lunchbox where box upon box of memories stay connected to the soul of it. This is the writing I aspire to write.
This is such a gentle, beautiful story of love and loss. You bring Aaji to life through your narration of her lunchbox, a treasure trove indeed, of her life's belongings. Your story is a powerful reminder of lives that we don't witness, but must.
Thank you Samira. You have been such an amazing design partner for organization's run by leaders such as Manisha Ghule.
This is a stunning piece Manisha. A life story retold through a lunchbox!
Savvy, working with writers like you in the @Ochre Sky Circle, enabled me to write this one. Thanks for the encouragement.
Such complex contexts wrought with circles of silence of pain and trauma. Such dignified resilience. The stories Manisha Ghule tells are each a testimony to human capacity for infinite resilience. Theirs with so much grace.
Kudos and gratitude dear Manisha Gupta for your important work with Manisha Ghule and all like her.
And your writing ... wow ... such ease, such elegance, such flow :)
Thank you Neena! You know Manisha's story so well
Indeed
All thanks to you dear Manisha
Your writing is so gentle & un-melodramatic, and so evocative.
Manisha, thank you for showing me more. This is important, important work. What are denotified tribes?
Thank you, Tanya, for your spirited response. Denotified, nomadic, or semi-nomadic tribes are among the most excluded, missed-out and invisible communities. I have had the honour of working with leaders who have emerged from these groups. Their stories of grit and resilience read like movie scripts.
Manisha, we remain in awe of your raw, powerful talent to tell a story. The reader is both hypnotised as well as empowered in the process of reading an essay like this one.
Natasha, this means a lot. Thank you! None of this would have been possible without Ochre Sky Stories!
❤️💛
Manisha, thank you for sharing Aaji's story with us. Reading it for the nth time and it still gives me the goosebumps! Such powerful storytelling!
We are all here because our Aajis preserved their heirlooms only so that they could give them to us.
Thank you Karthik. I vividly remember your encouraging comments on the essay.
Same Karthik! Everytime I read this essay I experience the same powerful emotions. Beautiful, Manisha!
Thank you Sanobar
What a beautiful touching story. Imagining a lunchbox as a medal, as a keeper of memories of lives lived differently and full of hope!
Beautiful story. The lunchbox served so many purposes, and was full of memories.
This is such a glorious essay✨ Thank you for your words, Manisha 💛
This is so stunning
Thank you
Manisha Ghule's stories never fail to inspire. I have already taken the "the night in the well" as a metaphor to be used over and over again.
And now comes the Lunchbox. Like a pitaara of stories of a life most of us would have never believed existed. But for this beautiful piece of writing. ✨
Thank you Paramita! Night in the Well is another essay that I hope to write soon with Ochre Sky Stories
What a tribute to Aaji’s life. I wish she had lived to know her story was worth telling. Aren’t they always. In many ways, this reminds me of the PARI stories that are retold by Karadi Tales. I wonder if you have read them?
Manisha, this is just stunning. The way you weave each bit with every other bit is a masterclass in craft. Not unlike a lunchbox where box upon box of memories stay connected to the soul of it. This is the writing I aspire to write.