Preeti Shenoy's blog.

Hello dear dear person!

Happy world book day!

Today I went LIVE on Instagram, and you can see the SEVERAL books that I recommended which even adults can read!


The entire live session is available on my profile till tomorrow around 12.00 noon, after which it will disappear. So if you want to have  some good children's book recommendations, please go and check it out on my Instagram.
(please look up how to view instagram stories and live if you are new to Insta)'

Also, today completes 30 days of my blogging for every single day. I started on 24th March, when the lockdown was announced. Today is the last post in this series.

Now, I know many of you wait for my posts----but this wasn't easy for me at all. While I have immensely enjoyed it, it also leaves me drained because no matter what I had to come here and blog.  All of you who left me comments--your comments were what kept me going, as it felt like a conversation. So thank you!

I will try to blog every now and then, but …

Hi there,

How are you today? I think my yesterday's postsent everyone who was calling me M'am, in a tizzy. If you want to call me M'am, please do 😃. I realised after reading all the comments, how uncomfortable I made many  of you.  I think everyone is still stuck on 'age'.
(If you have't read yesterday's post, I have linked it; Highlighted word is a link)

Most people in India have been taught to respect age. So if someone is older, it feels very disrespectful to call them by their name. I get it.

I had lived in India for over 30 years, post which I moved to UK. It was in UK, that I was immersed in a completely alien world.  I was so used to my  children's friends calling me aunty. I still like it when my children's friends call me aunty. In UK, they would address me by name. There were kids who were anywhere  between 5 and 18 ! It was amusing  to be addressed by name that way, as I wasn't used to it. Then I realised how much it bridges the gap…

Hi there!

How are you doing? Hope your day was good and peaceful today.

Sometime back I had read a brilliant article Please don't call me Aunty by Shobha  Tharoor Srinivasan which I share from time to time on my social media. Do read it. (highlighted is the link)

I quote her opening lines
When you meet an adult woman, who is perhaps your mother’s age, what do you call her? Mrs.? Ms.? If she is between 10 and 20 years older than you, do you address her by her first name or last name? Or, do you pause to ask how she would like to be addressed? If you’re an Indian American, you’ll probably just call her “aunty.” “Aunty” and “Uncle” have become easy fallbacks when addressing people including distant associates, neighbors, acquaintances, and even total strangers who are older than oneself. I’ve watched the attractive shopkeeper in our neighborhood Indian store cringe and straighten her kurti when a jean-clad matron has the gall to address her as “aunty.” And I identify with her indigna…

Hi there,

How are you doing today? Today apart from being20/4/20 , also happens to be Hitler's birthday. Holocaust is something that disturbs me a great deal, to the extent that if I think about it, I have physical symptoms like breathlessness and a churning in the gut. It affects me deeply.  I have no words for the most despicable, heinous and shameful incident history ever witnessed.
The visit  in January by the suriviors to  Auschwitz-Birkenaumoved me to tears.

(coloured words are links..Please click  on it  if you wish to know more)

Apart from Diary of Anne Frank (which most people know of) , here are four books I highly recommend that have Holocaust as their theme. I am not reviewing them nor am I elaborating about what they are about, as there are tonnes of reviews already of these books, and you can look them up with a simple google search.

I am just giving you the names.


1. Man's search for meaning by Viktore Frankl: This is a life changing book which creates a paradig…

Birthdays are special for some For others it is just another day If you like the  birthday person, Then it is an opportunity to say
All the things you usually don’t For we have been conditioned so We don’t express our emotions always But on birthdays you can let that go
Tell the person you are there for them Only if you mean it though! Send wishes that are genuine Don’t hold back, let the words flow

For life is so unpredictable All your plans it could block
So celebrate every occasion Create memories you can lock

For memories are treasures And lest you forget To make each day count Using every chance you get.

© 2020 Preeti Shenoy kindly do not reproduce without permission.







Happy Lockdown birthday Neel!
It sure is a unique memory.


Edited to add:  This poem can be for anyone who has a birthday during this lockdown. It can also be for anyone who has a birthday. Period.
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Photo by

Hello again!

As promised I am back. What day of lockdown is this? I have forgotten. Guessing it is day 25 of lockdown.

I was looking back at all the posts I have written, and reading them. I was just thinking that while I write so much, I hardly get to  know YOU. I am of course familiar with all of you who leave me daily comments.
However, I would love to see a picture of you! So if you have an Instagram account, do give me your handle in my comment box, and in case it's a public account, I will tryand leave you a comment on one of your photos. Same for Facebook. If it's not a public account, it's fine. Do not fret about it! We will continue to e-meet here, on my blog :)

Today, I want you guys to write for me.

Like I mentioned, I would love to get to know you better.  I also want to gently nudge you, (and I include myself in  that nudge) to think about your day from the time you woke up till now, and tell me the three happiest moments in your day today. It needn't be …

Hello  Lovely person!

Since yesterday's post was a big hit (judging by the number of comments I got but perhaps that was because I said I am watching you with that crazy Goblin/elf pic!) I thought I would continue the series and share with you my five top podcasts .

I listen to a lot of podcasts when I walk my dog. I find them engrossing, fun and  I don't feel the time pass. I love listening to podcasts.

Here are five podcasts I love:



1. Modern Love : I love this one; All episodes are less than 20 minutes. They are deep, moving, thought provoking, heart warming and well written essays.



2. Invisibilia: Here's what it is about




3.  Kind World: All episodes are under 10 minutes. Love this one too.





4.  On being : Krista Tippet : These are long  ones, and need very deep thinking.


5. New Yorker Fiction: Deborah Treisman





Apart from the above five which are my current favourites, in the past I have also listened to Serial.


I think from this list you might have gleaned what my taste is …