The Hope Train

Dear hopeful reader I know our days are a bit gloomy and times are grey. And world is different than it used to be. But it is the only time we hope, wait and pray. This is me Devangana, your new friend, sprinkling some words of hope for you, in these times of grey. I know outdoors is a fun place to be, and indoors only means you have nowhere to go. And home can get boring on some days. Let me tell you—‘you’, my friend are so brave to accept this challenge and stay at home. Times are strange and new for all of us. I know, that not knowing too, is scary. I was scared too, when I was told to not step out of my house. At that time, a wise friend told me that probably this is the time when the Earth is in repair. It’s been my favorite story in the last 4 weeks, and I have stayed at home with these few words of hope. You know how repair work at home is, right? Your house becomes a mess, mom doesn’t like it, dad doesn’t love it either, and you need to stop ...

My dear friends, It is Day 54 of the lockdown in India. That’s 54 days of your having lived through an unprecedented situation in human history. Every generation has stories to tell but yours will be a generation with exceptional stories to tell – stories that link people across the world and at the same time also point out how we can all experience the storm differently. Time is a storm in which we are lost, wrote the poet William Carlos William. This pandemic has been like a storm – for some of us, it is a storm that we have watched sheltered in our homes, for others it is a storm that has ripped away their shelters. But for all of us, one of the things it has forced upon us is a new way of experiencing time. While you have probably still had school through online classes during the lockdown, the shape of your everyday must have changed. When you get ready for school and when you eat your meals, how you play and whom you play with, how much time you spend on screens – have...

  Dearest readers, dreamers, wailers, gigglers, living-room-footballers and born-again bakers, I’ve been thinking. And I hope you’ve been thinking too. Admittedly, thinking is something we’ve done before. Even when the world was not in lockdown, when the doorbell rang 20 times a day and the skies were filled with aeroplanes and particulate pollution And admittedly, thinking is something we’ll continue to do, even when the roads are alive with cars and squealing college girls, rather than just furtive people looking like highway robbers. Still, there is a difference. In busier, bustlier times we tend to think busier, bustlier thoughts. We tend to think of errands that need running, birthday gifts that need buying and classes that need attending in the next three minutes and 32 seconds. While in these uneventful days, it is possible to ponder over a single question for minutes, hours, even days. As I have been doing. What question, you might well wonder, is worth...

April 10, 2020 Dear Friend, You’re finding me in my office today, a refinished attic office with creaky wood floors and slanted ceilings. Near a window is my writing desk which is made out of old barn siding. I bought it at a flea market many years ago and I plan to use it as my writing desk for the rest of my life. I can ’t explain why I love it so much. It’s the color of caramel and has lots of nicks and scratches and tree knots in the wood that make it perfectly imperfect. It’s like an old friend. At the desk, I can look through the window and see the tops of the trees when I write, and in the winter, a slice of the Hudson river. It’s kind of like being in a tree house. My cat will often come over and sit on my lap and I always have a mug of coffee or tea next to me while I work. I’m painting a cozy, peaceful picture, I know. Sadly though, as comforting as this space usually is for me, I’m not finding much peace in it right now during the Covid-19 pandemic we’re...

Dear Everyone, My name is Frances Hardinge, and I’m a writer of very strange books. Right now I’m in lockdown in my house in west London. Since authors spend a lot of time at home writing, this shouldn’t really be a big change for me. But it is. When I wasn’t working at home, I was usually rushing from one place to the next. I was always travelling to schools and book festivals, or meeting with friends. I love exploring new places and meeting new people. I’m the sort of person who chats to strangers on planes and trains, and goes for ten mile walks. I never usually stay still. And now, all of a sudden, I need to stay still. I’m not used to it at all. To tell the truth, I’ve been bouncing around in my house like a moth in a lampshade. There’s a strange quiet outside. We’re not far from Heathrow airport, so usually there would be planes overhead. I’m used to the faint, muffled roar of them, like a big animal breathing in its sleep. Some locals complain about the no...

My Lockdown To-do List Home is where the heart is and these days, it’s literally at home; Not just the heart—but the mind, the body, the soul! Hmmmmm … So much time! Thought I, To do evvvverything I like! How about a lockdown to-do list? This time won’t come again; can’t miss! What a break from the hustle and grind! Oooooh! What bliss! I thinked and I thunked, I hopped and I jumped, And came up with a list of things that just had to be done. 1. Learn how to bake          breads, cookies, and of course, cake! 2. The headstand! Yesssss!THE headstand!         Turn upside down and learn to stand on my hands 3. Make another list of things for the kids to do         this precious time, they can’t afford to lose! 4. Write the story I’ve always wanted to,         ‘I don’t have the time’ can’t be an excuse! 5. Learn new techniques of art,   ...

Dear readers,             Hello from the fullest, largest and fastest city in India - Mumbai. It feels anything but this at the moment though. The streets are bare so it certainly doesn’t look the ‘fullest’. I never leave my building that I live in, so the city doesn’t feel like the largest and no one is going anywhere for it to be called the ‘fastest’! My home is my world now. When I thought of this phrase the other day, I decided to hold onto this thought because it made me feel a warm and fuzzy sort of happy. It’s full of family and while there are times when we might not want to see each other for a bit, I’ve never had my children here to hug, anytime I feel like it. (I’ve even sneaked into their room and given them a mid-morning online class hug.) This is particularly important when the children are now teenagers towering over me and I have fewer opportunities to do this in their regular day. I’ve never cooked so...