Atal Bihari Vajpayee kept humour and poetry and all those softer emotions that keep our politics humane, alive – all the emotions that have so thoroughly vanished from our public life. His tenure is a reminder that political ideology notwithstanding, there is a world of difference between being a statesman and playing one.

Parsi baugs are little ecosystems, the epitome of what it means to maintain a sense of community. To a non-Parsi, sauntering through these little oases in the middle of a hectic metropolis, can appear like the perfect encapsulation of the Parsi mantra of “majja ni life”.

As a twenty-something educated adult with a good track record of jobs and salary accounts, banks love me and I have come to make the most of that. I chose to live the best version of my life in EMIs – a lifestyle that has 14 per cent interest, but that’s ok.

Independence is a tough thing to achieve – but freedom is risky. Freedom gives me the autonomy to express views in public places even against authority. Independence means I thank authority. Independence is my right to be heard. Freedom is my right to speak.

In the India of the distant future, will caste still matter? Will democracy as we know it persist, or be replaced by a newer form of government? Predicting the future is hard, even more so for a country like India.

We might have complained endlessly about school Independence Day celebrations back then. But it was the only phase in our lives where we truly understood what it meant to be a patriot, without the layers of nationalism and political stances that colour that notion as adults.

Mumbai, with its crumbling infrastructure and open gutters, has been ranked the third most liveable city in India. The truth is that Indian cities can be so infuriating at times that we’ve created our own special way of dealing with them – we pretend the problems don’t exist.

While my friends moved abroad to study at 18, I’m leaving only at 26. Uprooting my life at 26 makes me feel like a cross between two kinds of people: a child that’s practising cutting vegetables, and an entry-level yuppie sage.

The jolly Catholic drunk is a fun stereotype, a trope for your entertainment, the life of the party. What you almost never see is the hangover, the accompanying headache of which is shared by the entire family. I grew up in one such family.

“Media line mein paisa hai kya?” That’s a question I often get asked. In India, picking a career and sticking to it is important. Because changing professions is a sign of fickleness and instability. But more than that, it sends your parents into a tizzy.