Naperville Diary

A Thanksgiving poem by Shlok Sharma, who is thankful for homework, scrawny nerds and boring Mondays, because each one comes with a funny upside.

November 24, 2011 · 1 min read

I can see those quizzical eyebrows furrowing, trying to mentally connect the dots between God’s word, poetic texts, and crime-thrillers…So, here you go…

November 13, 2011 · 5 min read

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.

October 23, 2011 · 1 min read

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

October 20, 2011 · 1 min read

I went to the doctor because I had a fever, I made a mistake and punched Justin Beiber

October 12, 2011 · 1 min read

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

October 4, 2011 · 1 min read

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.

September 27, 2011 · 1 min read

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.

September 15, 2011 · 8 min read

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

August 30, 2011 · 1 min read

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.

August 26, 2011 · 1 min read

A poem by Shlok Sharma about everything he'd like to do, from teaching his dog Kung Fu and turning the bullies blue to being a frozen ninja in space.

July 19, 2011 · 1 min read

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

July 11, 2011 · 1 min read

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

May 24, 2011 · 1 min read

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.

May 24, 2011 · 1 min read

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

May 17, 2011 · 4 min read

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.

May 11, 2011 · 1 min read

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

May 6, 2011 · 1 min read

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.

May 5, 2011 · 1 min read

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

April 19, 2011 · 1 min read

One beautiful summer day, when I was in 10th grade, we walked into our classroom for our regular biology lesson and found that something strange was going…

April 12, 2011 · 7 min read