Bureaucrat to Baby Steps

Category: Culture and Identity

  • Remembering Guinea Khala: The Many Ways to Be a Mother

    Remembering Guinea Khala: The Many Ways to Be a Mother

    On loss, love, and the quiet power of being someone’s constant My aunt, Guinea Khala—“khala” meaning maternal aunt in Bangla, my mother’s sister—was more than family. She was a constant in my childhood, a quiet force of love and guidance. She never had children of her own, yet she showed me and my brother what…

  • Part 2: The Net of Community That Carried Me

    Part 2: The Net of Community That Carried Me

    In my first post, Part 1: Birth — The Six Week Postpartum Journey, I wrote about the intensity of those first weeks after giving birth — the physical recovery, the emotional shifts, and the reality that postpartum doesn’t magically resolve at six weeks. What I didn’t fully talk about then was this:I didn’t go through…

  • Balancing Two Worlds: Bengali Roots, American Choices

    Balancing Two Worlds: Bengali Roots, American Choices

    Holding Space for Myself in Family and Culture From a young age, my father had me living in two different worlds that often contradicted each other. At home, I was encouraged to be empowered, independent, and ambitious — a girl who could think for herself and chart her own path. Yet, when his extended family…