Why Do Indians Love Giving Free Advice?
Posted inPOV

Why Do Indians Love Giving Free Advice?

We are born completely useless and need to be taught everything. Unless you’re Indian. Then the art of giving free advice is one of those skills that comes naturally to you. But why do Indians love giving advice so much? And how many really follow their own?
Why Good Indian Boys Never Become Good Indian Men
Posted inGender

Why Good Indian Boys Never Become Good Indian Men

The metrics for being a good child are different for Indian boys and girls. There is a soft bigotry of low expectations for boys, and a very high degree of expectations from a girl. By 10 years of age, my sister was equipped to survive a season on LOST – but I was the good boy who didn’t need to do anything more than tuck his legs in.
Why Don’t Indian Families Say “I Love You”?
Posted inModern Family

Why Don’t Indian Families Say “I Love You”?

Indian families are diverse in every way, especially in how they choose to express affection. There are the boisterous, pappi-jhappi ones – and then there are the quiet, awkward-hug kind of families who pass on a strained emotional inheritance to their confused millennial children.
I’ll See You at Happy Hours, Mum and Dad
Posted inPOV

I’ll See You at Happy Hours, Mum and Dad

Our parents have come a long way: They can accept live-in relationships and unconventional career choices. But for Indian children, especially daughters, drinking with our parents remains the last taboo, the last frontier to be breached.
Darna Mana Hai: What Lies Beneath Our Ghost Stories
Posted inCulture

Darna Mana Hai: What Lies Beneath Our Ghost Stories

Ghosts don’t exist in a vacuum. They are a culmination of numerous things – actual historical events, social oppressions, and injustice. They surround us; breathing, living entities, that are hoping we might inhale them and keep their legacy alive. Or occasionally, just offer them a piece of fish.
Moving Out of Your Childhood Home Feels a Lot Like Heartbreak
Posted inPOV

Moving Out of Your Childhood Home Feels a Lot Like Heartbreak

In a world obsessed with the new and uncharted, with moving on and around, I’m the kind who likes the idea of home and history. And now when it’s time to leave my childhood home behind, I wonder... How do I pack in all my memories? How do I take all this history with me to a new house?