Author

Vidya Hariharan

Vidya (B.Tech. MEMS '97 H10) is a software engineer by profession. She loves to daydream, write down her musings, watch documentaries and short movies. A very slow reader, Vidya claims to have a pathetic memory and enjoys cooking and eating good food.

Caged

by Vidya Hariharan July 30, 2021

by Vidya Hariharan

Illustration by Harshita Bandodkar

As a child in a small town, visits to the only zoo in town were really exciting. If you were lucky, the lion might roar during your visit and then you would speak about it for the next few days and even later whenever you would get a chance. As I grew and moved places and saw larger wildlife sanctuaries, any life in a cage looked sad, depressed, angry, helpless. I don’t enjoy the visits anymore. If there are kids along, I just pretend to be excited. Deep down, it feels criminal, and just like the roar of the lion stayed in my mind for days, now the questioning looks of the caged creatures stay on for days.

July 30, 2021 1 comment

2021 The Tribe of Hope Whisperers

The Bytes We Snack On

by Vidya Hariharan April 7, 2021

by Vidya Hariharan

Illustration by the author

In India, the late 90s saw the arrival of Ready to Eat food products across the country. They were amazing, high on taste, available easily and the best part was there was something for everyone from poorest to the richest. Prior to that, biscuits and candies and a few chocolates were all that was available. Anything fancier would have to be made at home. But the packaged food took the ‘fanciness’ to very different levels. People went high on snacks, some even skipped meals as the snacks would satiate them. Snacks had the answer for everything — lack of time, feeling stressed, feeling ecstatic, feeling depressed, feeling angry…bite a snack, sip a drink and you will be in heaven.

April 7, 2021 0 comment