Raja
Jay Jagannath , It is raja. Let’s talk about periods. Raja is pronounced as “Raw-Jaw” derived from the Sanskrit word “Rajaswala” which means menstruator. This is an important festival of Odisha celebrating feminity. In Odisha we celebrate womanhood in different forms every month(13 festivals in a year (Lunar calendar)). This is a very special festival […]
Broken Watch
My watch stopped working. Shopkeepers said- it’s cheaper to get a new watch than to repair it. What will happen to this now ? It has been 12 years of wearing this. I saved up and bought this in class 9th. It has seen me in various phases of life. Board exam stress, impatience of waiting for results […]
D Mart
It was a normal evening after a long workday – the kind when everything feels heavier. My phone’s battery was low and my mind was tangled with deadlines when I found myself in DMart standing under the bright lights and a shopping basket. It felt like I stepped into this role without enough rehearsal. I […]
Letter to Jagannath Ji
When I first saw the movie My friend Ganesha , I tried calling Ganesha in school when I was bullied and abused. “Om Gan Ganpataye Namah” But he never came. After I read Geography in school my 9 year old brain concluded that Ganesha lives only in Mumbai. He only listens to Mumbai kids. That […]
Borrowed escape from pages to pixels
I woke up to the loud ringing of my phone. It was a call from the Amazon delivery guy. All I felt was dread. Scared that I need to face another bad day. It was already 1pm. The good news was that only half of the day was left. I walked to the broken elevator […]
Who am I ?
When someone asks what do you do ? I say that I am an engineer. But why only one word. I am more than that. What I mean is that- as a kid I wanted to sell ice creams. Then I discovered the concept of money and wanted to work in a bank, I thought […]
Bulawa
For a long time I carried my father’s grief of not having a son. I grew up feeling unwanted, worked hard to justify my presence but it was never enough. It was like my hands were always wrapped around an invisible suitcase, heavy one and if I disappoint I will be abandoned. I believed hustle was […]
Human health
Mental health and haircuts
Got a haircut recently- In a local barbershop near my home. I prefer barber shops rather than beauty parlors because I have had contrasting experience. In salons the conversation always started with how my skin, eyebrows or lips looks bad and i need to do some more procedures to be beautiful whereas the barbers have […]
My music to Vecna
It was a rainy day of 2010 July, when the earth looked extra colorful and green due to the rains, and the air smelled like petrichor, I met a sweet girl who asked me to join them in handball practice. That was my first week in boarding school and I was still figuring out all […]
