In Gratitude, by Harini

 It’s nearly four years since our lives took that big swerve into the pandemic. Has yours gone back to the same as before? Or are there new normals? Any silver linings?

By Harini Nagendra

My first post for Criminal Minds! So thrilled to be here - a huge thank you to Jim, Susan, Catriona, Brenda, Gabriel, Terry, Dietrich and Josh for inviting me - and hello to Eric too. 

The pandemic and the seclusion changed many things for us - especially since India had a series of extended lockdowns. My mom, now in her mid-80s, moved in with us in early 2020 for what she planned to be a temporary visit, but then had a series of health crises that led to her living with us permanently. And that's really where my first point of gratitude comes from. The lockdowns hit us without warning, and I am so very glad that, purely by accident, Amma was with us at the time - so we could hunker down and take care of each other. 

India had one of the longest periods of school closure because of the pandemic - my daughter took classes online for 22 months, and that was so hard on her. But - we got the gift of time together, crocheting our way through granny squares, skirts and hats; working on jigsaw puzzles; going on walks; and binge-watching our way through MasterChef Australia. Of course one can't just watch cakes being baked without making and eating them - so, over the pandemic, she took to baking in a huge way. She now makes her own birthday cakes (and ours) - serving up what my dad would have called 'fancy' cakes that are absolutely delicious. Of course this also means I put on far too much weight during the pandemic, and am still walking that off, pound by pound, but hey! Still silver lining. 

                                        Cupcakes for a friend's birthday

The pandemic years were hard, and scary, often terrifying, and I don't mean to minimize any of that. I teach in a university, and we lost far too many young people. But gratitude is what kept me going, and I want to hold on to that thought for a while longer.

My writing life changed during the pandemic - I turned 50 in 2022, and my best birthday gift was my first fiction book, The Bangalore Detectives Club. Living across the oceans in Bangalore India - and being a complete novice to the world of fiction publishing - I didn't begin with high expectations. I enjoyed writing the book, and loved researching the historical period of the 1920s, in which it's set - if a few hundred people read the book, I would have felt pretty good about it. But thanks to Sisters in Crime, I e-met wonderful fellow-authors like Catriona, who not only offered to write blurbs for the book but also introduced me to many other lovely writers who did the same. The Bangalore Detectives Club was nominated for an Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Historical Dagger, and was a New York Times Notable Book of 2022 - and I'm now writing book 4 in the series, and planning books 5 and 6, so I'm having a party. To discover a second career after 50 which I love so much is a gift - I keep telling my husband that this is a good mid-life crisis to have, and I'm holding to that line!

        The Bangalore Detectives Club advertised at Champaca, one of my         

                        favourite independent local bookstores in Bangalore  

Onto the last - anticipated - silver lining. I used to travel a lot for work. Post-pandemic, because of my mom's health, I've had to cut down on travel - and I have to say, I don't really miss the long airport lines - but I do miss meeting people, face to face. Nothing can quite replace that, can it? I absolutely loved my first mystery writers conference experience, speaking at MOTIVE in Toronto in 2023. I'm really hoping I can make it to one of the mystery conferences this year in the US, hang out with my 7 Criminal Minds co-writers in person, and buy them a round of drinks! That would be the silver icing on the cake...  

 

            At the Harbourfront in Toronto, in front of a ginormous Motive poster  

--Harini Nagendra     

Website: www.harininagendra.com

Twitter: @harininagendra

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harini.nagendra/