Personal Essays
The Reluctant Patriot, written for the Los Angeles Times after 9/11
My Fictional Children, written for Salon.com while working on The Vine of Desire, the sequel to Sister of My Heart
Uncertain Objects of Desire, an essay on the new arranged marriage, written for The Atlantic Monthly
Born in the USA, written for Salon.com
Dissolving Boundaries, written for Bold Type, discussing life events that led her to write The Mistress of Spices
What Women Share, written for Bold Type in 1998. Discussing childhood experiences that led her to write Sister of My Heart. In this essay she mentions her love for the heroine of the Mahabharat, Draupadi. At this point she has no idea that ten years later, in 2008, she will publish the novel Palace of Illusions, her retelling of the Mahabharat from the point of view of Draupadi, also known as Panchaali.
