family
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Listening for the Ciiii
On effort, expertise, and why invisible work goes unrewarded My mother could cook an eight-course meal for twelve people and the kitchen would look like she’d merely walked through it on her way to somewhere else. No splatter on the stovetop, no tower of tasting spoons in the sink, no panic-Googling “is dal supposed to… Continue reading
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The One in Which Rachel Green Lied to Me
A personal essay on how Friends, a Louis Vuitton tote bag, and two decades of middle-class aspiration shaped a life in India. From navigating the Dadar fast local with a backpack to buying ‘dupes’ on Meesho, a look at the performance of adulthood and the gap between who we are and who we want to… 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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Episode 11: The Girl I Brought Home
The one who writes love stories to children who will never exist The girl I brought home, with her collection of becoming. I don’t have a lot of wealth, but I have a lot of crap. Earrings that I bought during various phases of optimism. Books that I’ve accumulated like some people collect frequent flyer… Continue reading
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Episode 10: The One Who Was Always There (Until He Wasn’t)
The recurring character who was almost the main character, until he wasn’t. Some loves don’t take center stage. They light it. Image Credit Some people enter your story as guest stars. Others are series regulars from the pilot episode. The Regular was cast before I even knew there was a show. Our mothers practiced Rabindra… Continue reading
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Without Her
Five years ago, fifty-five days after my mother passed away, I made a video I never planned to share. This is what I understand now, watching it again. Grief doesn’t announce itself. It brews tea. Lights incense. Scrolls Instagram. Five years ago, fifty-five days after I lost my mother, I made a short film. It… Continue reading
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DIY Goddesses and YouTube Devotion
How long-form kitchen videos taught me care, confidence, and the appeal of a ₹3200 brass kadhai. The first time I heard Nisha Madhulika’s voice, I was in my very tiny kitchen in my Bombay home, armed with misplaced confidence and one too many unripe tomatoes. My mother was out of town. The cook was on… 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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