Observations
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120 Under 120
On Living Forever With Nothing To Do An AI-generated reconstruction of a lunch that had already ended. At a recent family lunch, three generations agreed on exactly one thing: none of us cared for AI. This consensus lasted approximately fourteen minutes, at which point we realised nobody had photographed the food. We had committed the Continue reading
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The Lives I Didn’t Live (But Asked AI To Render Anyway)
AI-generated image: my mother and me at the Taj Mahal, a trip we never took. Forgive me, for I have mid-journeyed. I asked the machine to bring my grandmother back, not as she was when she died.. frail, sharp, and opinionated, but as a young woman standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, a place Continue reading
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Fall, Pico, Alteration: The Tailors Who Don’t Make Clothes
Unsung, unseen, but always on time.. almost Somewhere in Mylapore, Chennai They don’t design, cut, or create. They don’t have Pinterest boards or boutique signage. But they are the ones who make sure your clothes live, long after you’ve outgrown them, shrunk away from them, or simply changed your mind. These are not the tailors of Continue reading
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Dressed for Silence
On disappearing, dressing down, and choosing clothes that don’t speak for you A dress is just a kurta that went to therapy.A personal essay on what I wore, what I refused, and the quiet power of dressing for no one. In my twenties, I wore clothes that let me disappear, loose kurtas that blended into Continue reading
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How to Not Write a Novel: The Impostor Chapter
Or, how I quit my job to write a novel I hadn’t started, then quietly returned to that same job three months later [Representative Image generated using AI] In 2012, I did what any delusional person with a vague idea for a novel might do. I walked into my boss’s office and quit my job. Continue reading
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How to Not Write a Novel: The Epigraph Obsession
Or, how I found the perfect quote to open my novel, without actually writing the novel [Representative Image generated using AI] At some point in the last few years, somewhere between revising Chapter One for the fifth time and deleting Chapter Two altogether, I decided what my novel really needed was not more plot, or Continue reading
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How to Not Write a Novel: The Author Photo Obsession
Or, how I spent three months curating a literary identity for a book that doesn’t exist [Representative Image generated using AI] You know what’s really important when writing a novel? No, not plot.Not character arcs.Not even finishing the draft. It’s the author photo. Because at some point during your fifth writing spiral and fourth abandoned Continue reading
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How to Not Write a Novel: Structure Is a Scam
Or, how I confused a literary quote for a plot outline and never recovered [Representative Image generated using AI] When I first started writing the novel (note: it was still called The Novel back then), I did what any self-respecting, under-confident writer does: I collected quotes. Not just any quotes, writer quotes.The kind that sound like truth.The kind Continue reading
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How to Not Write a Novel: The Short Story Spiral
Or, how I wrote 2,000 words, submitted to 18 journals, and got rejected by 17 (the 18th ghosted me) [Representative Image generated using AI] When you’re not writing your novel but still need to prove to yourself (and a few persistent relatives) that you’re a real writer, there’s one thing left to do: submit a Continue reading
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Dress Swapping
[Representative Image generated using AI] I’d been traveling to Bombay for work and a string of errands over the past few weeks. With all the back-to-back trips, my suitcase was bursting with dirty clothes. Getting laundry done at the hotel didn’t make sense unless I wanted to part with half my salary. Luckily, I can Continue reading
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