Oblivion

That bulb needs changing. Yes, that is correct. And I think this one line is going to sum up my experiences as an adult. This bulb could be a metaphor, or in fact, it could be a real bulb. What I am trying to indicate is that being an adult means that something, somewhere in life, is broken and needs fixing. Always. All the time. I don’t think this is a phase, I think this is a requirement for adult life. As soon as you enter your late twenties and early thirties, all the appliances in your house conspire together to never let you be at peace. They talk and collude. They create a problem small enough to be annoying, but not big enough to warrant immediate action. It exists in that perfect sweet spot of constant background annoyance. It has been an okay-ish day. My "micro-manager" gave me feedback on how I failed to peer into his brain, picking the exact words he would have used in an email to the client. Yes, that is an actual expectation. (Sam Altman? Elon Musk? Can we get m...

I have always had a problem with crop tops. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a problem with people wearing them. You do you. I was just never able to comprehend them. For me clothes are mostly functional and comfortable. They can be trendy and fashionable, but comfortable at all costs. I hardly wear anything that makes me feel physically or mentally uncomfortable. This is why I don’t get crop tops. And I know I sound conservative and judgmental, but I’m honestly just coming from a place of trying to understand what about them makes me uncomfortable. So my husband and I are finally watching The Bastards of Bollywood. Great show. And I vocalize this thought to him. We try to figure out why. Both of us being consultants, we started to break the problem down. What I realized is that I don’t mind crop tops, but I cannot understand what beyond the male gaze is the value of this. I am sure people who wear them find them incredibly comfortable. But this begs a bigger question.  To what e...

You think non-fiction books are dry?  You think there’s no story, no suspense?  Just a bunch of facts or perspectives with nothing to keep you hooked?  Then you are very wrong, my friend! Non-fiction books can be incredibly addictive. Once you step out of the fictional world and into the reality of non-fiction, you’ll see the scales tip. Every decision carries weight. Every move has to be calculated, because unlike in fiction, when someone messes up in real life, the consequences are real. Watching people factor in risks, make tricky, bold, or even borderline insane decisions will leave you anxious for them. It doesn’t matter that it happened years ago—you’re right there with them in that moment of panic and uncertainty. Non-fiction also teaches you empathy in a way fiction can’t always achieve. You live through the triumphs and failures of real people, understanding the weight of their choices, the courage in their risks, and the humanity in their flaws. You begin to se...

I am very much a family person. I love my family. I love my immediate family to death, but I also love parts of my extended family. Not that all of us are great, or characters straight out of the movie Hum Saath Saath Hain. We bitch, we gossip, we do panchayat, we take offence, we give offence — the whole nine yards. But somehow, we still manage to be nice to each other. We still manage to love each other through all the lies and backstabbing. We fight over petty things, but we also forgive easily — well, most of us. And we’ve had big fights. Fights where it felt impossible to come back from, and guess what? We came back. We might bitch about each other, but we fiercely protect each other from the world. Yeah, I can bitch about them. Geetika, you keep your trap shut. Think of it as a bunch of us being held together by clay. Sometimes, someone comes loose, but with just a tad bit of water, it’s an easy fix. But of late, I think the clay is starting to harden and become brittle. Guess g...

In my 20s, I was blessed, Whiskey nights and zero rest. Functioning with no sleep Sleep deprived, but perfect knees I track my protein like buried gold, Count my steps like I’m told Gone are they days of stale fries Holding her back *aru cries* By 9pm my body is drained Oh another muscle is sprained. Did I get enough fiber this week?  Going to cult is my only streak! Once I lived on Maggi and junk A quarter of whiskey also drunk Ohh flaxseeds, chia, nuts too, Honestly, who even are you? So here’s to aging, pain and grace, Tracking health like it’s a race. But deep inside, I’m still that vibe— Just now with heat packs by my side. 

For many of us women, the imposition of pink in our childhood felt unwelcome. It wasn’t just that pink was the color assigned to girls or that we looked undeniably cute in it—it was what the color stood for. It marked us as different from the boys, a quiet but constant reminder that we were expected to be softer, gentler—or maybe, weaker. The words “you throw like a girl” or “stop crying like a girl” reinforced this narrative, reducing our identity to something lesser, something to be corrected. People treated us differently. Everyone treated us differently. Boys were allowed to be just that—boys. But we, the girls, had limits. No one expected the boys to help with ghar ka kaam , but we were encouraged—no, expected —to absorb these values from an early age. We weren’t supposed to be rowdy, loud, or “boisterous.” We were taught to be quiet, calm, and graceful. Pretty. Pretty in pink. Over time, I started to detach from pink, pushing away everything it symbolized—everything associa...

Traditions make us feel closer to those who came before us, keeping their presence alive in small, familiar ways. They remind us that we’re part of something bigger—a history, a community, a shared experience. They give us a sense of belonging, grounding us in who we are and where we come from. I recently got a tattoo on my wrist. A Marathi word written in Malayalam. Since then, every time I look at it, I think of my grandmother—my father’s mother. She passed away when I was 12. Next year, it’ll be two decades since she left. We weren’t particularly close, just the usual grandmother-granddaughter relationship. She’d ask me to save sweets for my dad, and I’d tease her by eating them right in front of her. Just to annoy her. When she was paralyzed on her left side, I was a little scared. She invented a game—letting me pinch her left arm as hard as I wanted because she couldn’t feel it, but on the right, she’d react dramatically. I remember her in her little granny bed, sometimes scold...

Spending a couple of hours in an Apple Store, waiting for my dad's new iPhone to update, turned into an unexpectedly introspective moment. This sleek, glass-walled environment morphs into a stage for human stories, each purchase unfolding its own tale. For some, it's just a routine swap from one model to the next. But for others, it's a milestone—a symbol of ambition, success, and even celebration. I find myself noticing the curious details around me: a steel balti oddly placed on the table, an unexpected relic in this minimalist setting. Nearby, two men with a young child hold onto their new iPhone, looking slightly out of place. For them, it seems like a defining moment—perhaps a reward for their hard work. In another corner, a group of girls gathers around a shiny new pink iPhone, giggling, snapping selfies, and enjoying their new purchase. A newlywed couple sits nearby, their smiles suggesting that the phone in their hands might be a wedding gift, a token for the new ch...

Is happiness the end goal?? You chase happiness. You look for peace. By definition, chasing means you’re trying to catch up to something. There’s urgency, intensity, and often a sense of over-attachment to an outcome. On the other hand, looking feels more observational, deliberate, and calm. These two words alone capture the difference between the concepts they represent. Happiness is fleeting. It’s a moment in time—a spark at night. Beautiful, yes, but always gone too quickly. Peace, though, is enduring. It’s not a quick flicker; it’s a slow, steady burn that keeps you warm through the night. When you’re chasing happiness, it’s often tied to an external event or achievement: landing that promotion, finally taking that dream vacation, or experiencing a perfect moment. And while those things bring bursts of joy, they don’t last. You hit the milestone, and then what? You’re back on the treadmill, chasing again. Peace, though, is different. It doesn’t hinge on what’s happening around you....