Personal
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Episode 4: The Boy Who Wanted To Save The World
And I was just trying to survive Wednesdays Worn into the neighbourhood like memory We lived in the same neighbourhood, but I’d never met him. Our fathers, however, were walking buddies, united by a shared fondness for early mornings, rising cholesterol, and spirited complaints about inflation and their adult children.Their daily route was short, but… 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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Episode 3: How I Met His Brother (and It’s Not What You Think)
The one who let his brother do the talking A quiet, sunlit apartment. A not-so-quiet surprise inside. Image Credit This one was hard to avoid. The boy was introduced to me by my favourite uncle, the kind of man who called me “child” well into my thirties, and always slipped an extra note into my… Continue reading
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Episode 2: The Boy Who Objected to My Nose Pin
The one who said ‘Oh. Your nose. The arch, the traffic, the twilight. A fork in the road I didn’t take. Image Credit For the longest time, I believed the only thing standing between me and hotness was a nose pin.Not confidence. Not better lighting. Not therapy. Just a little stud on my right nostril.… Continue reading
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Episode 1: The Boy Who Sang
The one who found me emotionally underqualified Dadar station, behind the grill. Like every near-miss, framed but unfinished. Image Credit Yes, he aspired to be a singer.Yes, which was a strange choice of profession for a good Indian boy. But the real surprise was this: my parents were the ones who set me up with him. I’d… Continue reading
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How I Did Not Meet Your Father
A Preface Some stories are love stories.Some are almosts.These are the other kind. This is a recurring series about the people I didn’t end up with, not just because they weren’t right for me, but sometimes because I wasn’t right for them. Too talkative. Too quiet. Too opinionated. Not opinionated enough. Not religious enough. Not thin… 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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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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Nights in White Satin
[Representative Image generated using AI] Why does one feel friendlier and more social when visiting another city? Maybe it’s the thought of yet another room service dinner of rice and yellow dal, or perhaps it’s the loneliness of hotel rooms creeping in, making everything feel a little unsafe. You start longing for familiarity—who better to… Continue reading
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Cupcakes are for the weak
[Representative Image generated using AI] The day I got my diagnosis, was a Tuesday mid-morningish. At this point, having spent so much time mastering the fine art of procrastinating my bath-time, I was sitting in my filth on the giant sofa. Amma was making valiant attempts to guilt-trip me into having a bath, but I… Continue reading
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