Naperville Diary

ParentsMatterToo: free 6-week Parent Conversation Circles in Naperville starting April 4 — trained facilitators, practical strategies for resilient kids.

Why a friend's Facebook update stays with you longer than a hundred scholarly articles — a Naperville writer on raw, unedited emotion and the case for

Four tips for families shifting from summer mode to the school routine: reset the body clock, build study habits early, set screen rules, and stick to the plan.

Naperville's Happy Feet Walker's Club helps members build daily walking habits — and friendships — with group walks and new routes. Here's how to join.

WotNow, the local Naperville social-calendar app, was hiring summer interns for 2015 — info desks at Naperville libraries, five hours a week minimum.

On June 18, 2015, the Eye on India festival hosted actor Anupam Kher in conversation with journalist Victoria Lautman at Film Row Cinema in Chicago.

PASHA Orthodontics in Naperville invited high school seniors to apply for its 2015 college scholarship — $450, $350, and $250 awards for patients entering

In 2015, Chicago-area theater group Ekjut staged Yoni ki Baat at Naperville's North Central College — a look back at this community theater notice.

Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet dazzles with jazz, art deco and grandeur, but the storytelling falls flat. Our 2015 review of the Ranbir Kapoor starrer.

Niketa Jhaveri, a Naperville mom and UX designer, turned her five-year-old's endless questions into Brave Champs, an educational board game.

Arup Raha reviews Shoojit Sircar's Piku — a father-daughter road trip built on great performances by Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Irrfan.

WotNow — a social local calendar app built by Naperville residents Deepa Salem, Anand Sivaraman, and Vidhya Iyer — launched in 2015.

A March 2015 Naperville crash at 75th Street and Modaff Road injured a bicyclist — a reminder to share the road as riding season returns.

Arup Raha's Bolly Volley column reviews PK and picks the Top 10 Bollywood films of 2014 — from Queen and Haider to Dedh Ishqiya and Filmistaan.

Guest critic Lopamudra Banerjee Dhar on Vishal Bhardwaj's Haider — Hamlet in Kashmir, the Army portrayal, and why revenge can't buy freedom.

A 2014 Diwali dance party at Saffron Restaurant in Westmont, IL — a slice of Chicago-area desi community life, from the TI archives.

From the 2014 Naperville Diary: Ribfest, the Ale Fest, municipal band concerts, and more — a snapshot of one summer in the western suburbs of Chicago.

From the 2014 Naperville Diary: a free introductory Art of Living talk on the Happiness Program, breathwork, and meditation, held in Willowbrook, Illinois.

In 2014, the Washington Post named Metea Valley (No. 21), Neuqua Valley (No. 36), and Waubonsie Valley (No. 58) among Illinois's most challenging high schools.

Bolly Volley Vol. 15: Imtiaz Ali's Highway has great moments and scenery but too many subplots — plus previews of Shaadi Ke Side Effects, Queen, Gulaab Gang.

ThinkGlobal Arts Foundation's 2014 family theatre production 'Around the World in 8 Folk Tales' brought folk stories from eight countries to Naperville.

Stability balls are great fitness tools — but used wrongly with heavy weights, they can explode. A trainer explains the Garcia injury and safe ball use.

School of Rock Naperville's 'Old Skool' program had parents and kids rocking out together — a look back at the 2013 feature.

The 'Chai, Chat with Books' club reviews Gone Girl: Gillian Flynn's devilish thriller of a marriage gone bad, deceit, and two narrators you can't trust.

Part 2 of a three-part interview with Amish Tripathi: rejection by every publisher, self-publishing The Immortals of Meluha, and the free-chapter marketing

Part 1 of a three-part interview with best-selling author Amish Tripathi: the philosophy of evil that sparked the Shiva trilogy and his instinctive writing

Our Naperville book club took on Paula McLain's 'The Paris Wife' — Hemingway's first marriage, the burden of genius, and whether Hadley's voice should have

Char Desmond's Cambridge Closets offered Chicago-area custom closets at about 25% below the big franchises — a local business profile from Naperville.

Chicago's Silk Road Rising staged a reading of Farid ud-Din Attar's twelfth-century Sufi poem Conference of the Birds — an essay on the birds' journey.

Amish Tripathi, author of the bestselling Shiva Trilogy, appeared at Wentz Hall, North Central College, Naperville on June 30, 2013 — archived event.

Assisted Transition of Naperville is a free senior-care concierge — helping families find assisted living, independent living, nursing homes and home care.

Eye on India's 2013 festival ran June 7-July 14 across Chicago — Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Shubha Mudgal, Amish Tripathi and 25+ events.

Suchitra Sharma's 2013 review of Rajiv Joseph's 'The Lake Effect' at Silk Road Rising — a family drama about an Indian American brother and sister, in Chicago.

Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi opened Chicago's Eye on India Festival 2013 at Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace — on cinema's lost depth, Urdu, and art as

Chicago's Silk Road Rising staged the world premiere of Rajiv Joseph's 'The Lake Effect,' a family drama about an Indian American brother and sister.

Chicago's fifth three-day veena conference and festival (April 26-28, 2013), curated by SAPNA, opened with Chitravina Ravikiran's inaugural concert.

WDSRA recruited runners and walkers for the 2nd Annual DuPage Human Race 5K in Downers Grove, backing programs for people with disabilities.

A community appeal from March 2013, when Vasavi Chakka ran for the Indian Prairie District 204 Board of Education in the April 9 election.

A Christmas story written by eight-year-old Nyssa Aftab: when Santa runs out of time, he's replaced by the villainous Mr.

A Naperville parent's review: how Bear Paddle swim school's patient instructors and small classes turned a terrified beginner into an eager swimmer.

Romance author Sonali Dev shares seven rules for keeping the love alive when you're losing your mind — from holding hands to yelling it out.

WDSRA has served western DuPage County residents with special needs since 1976, running 1,500+ recreation programs a year for 4,500 participants.

Sreepathy's Retro Reel on Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men (1957): a single jury room, twelve men, and a masterclass in power, prejudice, and reasonable doubt.

A Naperville book club takes on Aravind Adiga's Booker-winning 'The White Tiger' — and splits three ways over its brutal portrait of class and caste.

Naperville's 'Chai, Chat with Books' club brings eight women together over chai and chaat to talk books. A diary note on why book clubs endure.

Back in 2012, a 99-cent Android app promised to rescue Thanksgiving with tandoori turkey, kalakand, and five more fusion recipes. The idea outlived the app.

In October 2012, Elzbieta Plackowska killed her 7-year-old son and the 5-year-old girl she was babysitting in a Naperville townhome.

This book column looks at Lawrence Anthony's The Elephant Whisperer: a rogue elephant herd, a Zululand reserve, and a bond that crossed species.

Chai, Chat With Books is a small suburban book club of eight women who share a love of reading over tea, chaat, and lively conversation.

The 3rd annual Chicago South Asian Film Festival opens with the North American premiere of Heroine and a world-premiere lineup, Sept 20–23, 2012.

Master Stephen Co — personal student of Pranic Healing founder Grandmaster Choa Kok Sui and bestselling co-author — brought his teaching to Aurora, Illinois.

The One of a Kind artisan exhibition in Naperville brought together dozens of Midwestern makers — ceramics, jewelry, textiles — with a growing South Asian

MONEY magazine named Naperville one of America’s best places to live in 2012 — top schools, Ribfest, Centennial Beach, and the famous Riverwalk.

An introductory pranic healing workshop with Chandan Parameswara was held in Oswego on August 29, 2012 — a look at the no-touch energy healing practice.

An evening of Indian classical music comes to Naperville on Sunday, August 5 — a rare chance for Chicagoland listeners to hear a living tradition up close.

The 2012 Summer Writing Program in Naperville wraps up on July 26 — with the possibility of year-round lessons, and student work to be published.

Chicago earned its meat-city reputation — but by 2012 its best kitchens were quietly serving plant-based dishes worth ordering on their own terms.

A Mother's Day poem by fifth-grader Shlok Sharma of Naperville: Mom, you are an eagle... a rose... the great ocean — a child's tribute in verse.

Naperville students brought science experiments to the Late Show with David Letterman in 2012 — a small win for the idea that the lab can be a path to prime

Bookwallah, a Naperville-area children's book nonprofit, held a fundraiser on May 25, 2012 at the White Eagle Clubhouse to build orphanage libraries.

A no-touch energy therapy from Choa Kok Sui working with prana and chakras; crystal healing adds gemstones. Not medical advice.

Volume 8: spring calls for restraint — vivid-green palak paneer, cold cucumber-mint raita, simple basmati, and thin roomali roti.

A rainy-spring Friday menu: lamb keema with browned onions and peas, hand chapati, a carrot raita — and a glass of something cold.

A grade-5 story by Shlok Sharma of Naperville: Joe's mom is disappointed in his writing scores and buys him a diary. What happens when he starts his journal?

Friday menu, vol. 6: bright tomato-coriander chicken curry, charred spring asparagus, and golden turmeric rice — ease that looks like effort.

Naperville parents Paul and Amy Miller, who lost 18-year-old daughter Megan to heroin, began educating other families about the drug's reach into suburbia.

This week's Friday table took us to Le Siam in Naperville for Tom Kha soup, crazy noodles, and Massaman curry — plus a home-style Tom Kha recipe to try

Holi, the festival of colors, falls on March 8 this year (Holika Dahan on March 7). A practical guide to the bonfire, the color play, and the food.

The Friday cooking column continues with Mrinalini Sen's Easy Breezy Bhindi, a Bengali Sorshe-Posto style okra preparation with mustard-poppy paste.

This Friday: slow-simmered black lentil dal with a buttery tadka, roasted cauliflower with a spiced yogurt marinade, and a fresh kachumber on the side.

Arup Raha monthly Bollywood column: previews, reviews and unsolicited views on upcoming releases — February 2012 edition.

Shaun Wild, 24, a Spring Brook Elementary second-grade teacher, was fatally stabbed at Frankie's Blue Room in Naperville on Feb 4, 2012, breaking up a fight.

Maitreyee Das launches her Friday food column — a Bengali fish lover's quest for an easy recipe inspired by a restaurant spinach-and-cod dish.

The winter of 2011–12 barely showed up across the Northern Hemisphere: Chicagoans wore light jackets in January as NOAA confirmed the fourth-warmest winter.

A Naperville family of four — Iqbal Habib, Zeenat, and their children Fareeza and Ashaz — lost their lives in a road accident in India while on vacation.

A look at Mama Poppins, the drop-in childcare service at Fox Valley Mall — and what mall-based babysitting says about how suburban families live now.

By the early 2010s, business leaders and educators agreed the US was falling dangerously behind in STEM — an explainer on the state of science education.

A Thanksgiving reflection on a child's gratitude list by Shlok Sharma — family, friends, school, and the specific things that make the days good.

Retro Reel Volume 4: the golden-age Hollywood musical — the genre that made joy look effortless and was secretly the hardest thing MGM ever did.

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi (1922-2011), the Bharat Ratna vocalist of the Kirana gharana, ran away at 11 to find his guru. A tribute to his life and music.

Diwali is October 26th — here are three easy, no-fail sweets to make at home: Sandesh, Kesar Shrikhand, and Coconut Ladoo.

A poem by Shlok Sharma, then a fifth-grader in Naperville, on the mistakes he made — from punching Justin Bieber to falling into a tributary. Childhood humor.

Hit a fitness plateau? Progressive overload, cross-training, and real recovery — not more of the same — are what restart progress and redefine exercise.

An archive of our September 2011 Naperville Diary Chicago events listing for October–November. Only one entry survives in full; the rest was lost to migration.

An honest essay on stepping back from work to raise kids: the joy, the lost identity, the judgment from both sides — and why every mother is a working mother.

Gottman's 'Four Horsemen' — contempt, criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling — predict divorce. Why marriages fail, and what actually prevents it.

CrossFit inspires devotion and fierce skepticism in equal measure. Guest contributor Nick Perri examines the method, the results, and the injury question.

A Miami-Dade teacher was dismissed after his past in adult entertainment surfaced. Where does a legal past end and fitness to teach begin?

Guest contributor Rajeev on why modern life still needs the ancient Indian institution of the guru — someone who has walked the path before you.

How a Naperville car dealership became an unlikely social hub for the area's South Asian community — and what it says about how luxury really sells.

A poem by fifth-grader Shlok Sharma of Naperville — kung-fu dogs, heroes, and a monkey that sings. Kids' writing from the Thoughtful India archive.

Naperville's Simply Vedic hosted a singing talent hunt celebrating Indian classical music — giving young diaspora performers a stage and a community.

Meghana Athreye on the lifelong human search for God — and why every borrowed description, however beautiful, falls short of the thing itself.

Five Star Tennis in Plainfield runs a summer camp for junior players of all levels — our find of the week for Naperville-area tennis families.

Arup Raha's monthly Bollywood column: the new wave of debutant directors, plus Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Delhi Belly, Ready — and a music quiz.

This week's local find: Bobbie Lee's Scrap & Craft Workshop in Chicago's western suburbs — small, hands-on craft classes for kids ages 7 to 12.

The 'twilight years' aren't all decline. What aging research actually says about happiness, emotional steadiness, and the quiet upsides of getting older.

Naperville's 2011 Festival of Colors brought Holi to Chicago's western suburbs — giving diaspora kids the one thing explanations can't: the real thing.

An overview of Pranic Healing, the energy-healing system formalized by Master Choa Kok Sui — a 20th-century synthesis of ancient energetic traditions.

April is National Sexual Abuse Awareness Month. On why honest sex education is one of the most powerful tools for abuse prevention.

Little Village Academy in Chicago banned packed lunches — students must eat the cafeteria food. A 2011 flashpoint in the debate over who controls what kids eat.

A conversation with Rajeev, founder of Naperville's PR3 Systems, on whether honesty and integrity still have a place in the cut-throat corporate world.

Karen Fakroddin M.Ed, RYT — a Naperville special-needs yoga instructor teaching kids and adults with autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. This week's find.

This week's pick: Gary L. Anderson, CPA, a Chicago-area tax preparer our editors turned to for cross-border tax questions.

Alka Tyle’s 2011 run for the District 204 school board was part of a bigger story: Indian Americans stepping into the local civic institutions that shape

Amy Chua's 'Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother' detonated a parenting debate in 2011. What the research on authoritarian vs authoritative parenting says.

Don't bank calories, savor what's special, and build in movement: practical, non-guilt-laden guidance for navigating the season's abundance.

In 2010 the internet's best promise was unglamorous: skilled amateurs finding audiences that print's gatekeepers never anticipated.

New Year's Eve in the Chicago suburbs: family-friendly early celebrations, hotel packages, restaurant planning tips, and First Night options for young kids.

Beyond the generic: thoughtful holiday gift ideas for readers, cooks, travelers, kids, and the person who has everything.

Skip the before-and-after hype. The most useful fitness wisdom of 2010 was boring: gradual change, behavioral honesty, and moderation over willpower.

Diwali, Thanksgiving, Christmas: how desi families in America negotiate two cultural calendars and end up creating a third one.

Rangsutra, founded by Sumita Ghose, turned 2,000 rural artisans into shareholders. The craft social enterprise shows fair trade can be good business.

The crisis is over; the harder work begins. On resisting the rush to restore, and asking after the storm not where we were, but where we want to go.

Trends expire before the credit card bill arrives. Why personal style — not fashion — is the only thing that never goes out of season.

Rather than complain or rather than complaining? A close look at one of English's most quietly misused phrases — and how to use it with precision.

A December 2010 reflection on a year of WikiLeaks cables, a wobbling euro, and New Delhi scandals — and the stubborn insistence of joy and peace amid it all.

Growing up in India, she was told fair skin was everything. Moving to America taught her otherwise. A personal essay on colorism — and unlearning it.