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Who Gets to Take Up Space? Women, Desire and the Ordinary in All We Imagine as Light
This essay is adapted from the introduction I presented at Rialto/Griffioen for a screening of Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light. I had the privilege of introducing the film and wanted to offer the audience a few ideas to carry with them into the screening: about women and the city, migration and home, intimacy,…
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Exception, By Another Name: answering some frequently asked questions about my identity
Today the state writes my name with a borrowed pen. Not the pen kept in velvet for lost inheritance certificates, but a pen found in the bottom of a drawer: a little cracked, ink clotted around the nib, the kind you warm with your breath to make it move. They call it citizenship by an…
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London, in the Heat of Memory and Change
The city arrived first as a smell—Hot brick dust and the faint iron taste of the Underground, mingling with the ghost of diesel and rain. The kind of smell that makes you feel you’ve lived here before. London in July and August—it pretends to be gentle with you, lets the sun linger longer on your…
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The Secret Lives of Second-Hand Books
There’s a particular kind of magic that lives in second-hand books—a sort of hush, like the soft turning of pages in a dream. They arrive in your hands like messengers from another life, carrying the scent of time, the weight of old hearts, and the whisper of a reader who once fell in love at…
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My Ghazals are Broken: Wabi Sabi
On completing two years with this PhD! Faith bobs in disco lights, delicious Turkish drivers in Uber rides Veiled morning on the Rajpath bride, but what of fat-bikers’ prides By Amstel’s banks I park my shamiana outside,Days spent garam masala-ing PowerPoint slides Arre Wah! See Rembrandt’s light draping Shergill’s sideWhat of the partition, and the…
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Rediscovering Forgotten Tales: A Glimpse into Abandoned Villages
I’ve always been drawn to the stories lingering in the forgotten corners of our world. Today, I stumbled upon a digital treasure trove that left me captivated and contemplative: Stefan Irvine Photography’s collection of “Abandoned Villages.” I found myself entranced by each photograph in this collection. Through Irvine’s lens, these abandoned villages come to life…
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Aachen, Radhadesh, Dusseldorf for the 44th
For my 44th my only wish was to pray. To thank God for the blessings. To let go and trust the cosmos. It was a sweet little road trip. It’s almost May, and I still carry with me: the smell of incense, the sound of bells, and a sense of calm.
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An Ode to the Stylish Cafes of Copenhagen
The aroma of coffee fills the air,As I sit in this cozy little square. A cafe is more than just a place to sit,It’s a haven for the creative, the dreamers, the misfits. Wherever life takes us, wherever we roam,A cafe will always feel like an adopted home.
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10 Postcards from Copenhagen
The keyring at the 7 Eleven informs me that hygge is about taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about – or even by yourself – to relax and enjoy life’s quieter pleasures. It costs 50 kroner.
