“On my morning walk today, it occurred to me how difficult it was to walk and run on the red dirt of Western Australia. Nature trails here in the Perth hills are slightly treacherous: hard and dry and uncompromising. Covered in tiny little slippery round pea-sized bits of rock. You need good shoes, and you need to pay attention. It’s …
Through a Different Lens
It’s Father’s Day in Australia. I wrote this to honour my larger-than-life dad, Chellie J. Sundram. He passed away twenty-seven years ago. My father loved gadgets. His home office had every gizmo and gadget he could lay his hands on – in duplicate. Two personal computers (when they were still relatively unusual in anyone’s office, home or otherwise), two photocopiers …
Diamonds, Buckets and Tears.
When the sun comes out, drops of rain hanging off the eucalyptus leaves sparkle like diamonds. I look out my window and feel the forest around me twinkling and smiling. It’s winter Down Under and the dry earth of Perth, Western Australia is being pelted with seemingly unending amounts of water. The days are cold and wet. Our climate can …
My Mother’s Laughter
My beautiful mother, Shantha Mary, has been the strongest creative and spiritual influence in my life. She passed away three years ago. Remembering Mum on Mother’s Day… ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ When I was growing up, one of my clearest memories of Mum is of her regularly bursting triumphantly into my bedroom, interrupting some Very Important Book I was reading, claiming, “Malini, I …
The Scent of Peace and Possibility
I remember that first day. I had left what I thought was my ‘new life’ in Fiji, to start my ‘new life’ in Australia. It was my third Big Move in as many years. But when you’re eighteen you don’t think about the gravity of it, you don’t think of the uncertainties ahead. It was just what was happening in …
Why I Hope Ruby Will Stop Painting Soon.
I didn’t know whether to yell at her or weep at the chaos she was causing. Paint was flying in all directions, all over my dropsheets, all over the uncovered bits of Persian rugs that I hadn’t bothered to protect cos they weren’t in ‘the danger zone’. Ruby was standing right on my wet painting – a large canvas, covered …