/   I remember my first stint at being a part of a book- club was back when I had freshly stepped into college and I had never been a part of one when in school. It was also because I was extremely quiet with a stammer and a thousand thoughts going on in my mind that curtailed my ability to vocalise what I truly wanted to say or convey. I wanted to major in English Literature simply because I was brilliant at interpreting what authors wrote and with what context owing to my need to know more than what was put on paper (I researched everything about them-- how many flings they had, how many children they birthed and if there were controversies surrounding them when they were in their prime) sometimes even going to the extent of pretending to have a conversation with them as if I were interviewing them. My dreams of pursuing the aforementioned course were crushed by extremely high cut- offs in the admission lists and when I had the chance of opting for an English paper as a part of m...

  I think it​ was a particular show on Netflix or Amazon Prime a few months back that made me nostalgic about the fact that life back in 2009 was nothing like what life looks like at the current moment. I mean, Instagram does have these amazing edits and pictures put together for reels and tagged posts, carousel posts and 24- hour stories that reek of memories that had just begun to sprung up with a certain 2016 trend in 2026. Of course, social media back then was still at war between Facebook and Orkut, the fans of the latter were still struggling to come to terms with Facebook features like pokes and hugs on each other's 'walls'.  There was absolutely no reason for mindless hate back then, something that the current social media platforms would never be able to replicate. As we proceeded into the next decade of the 2000s, we had been privy to the kind of 'trolling' that might happen if someone were to post something that did not sit well with the rest of the popul...

It is not uncommon for me to feel something eerie when passing through the popular 'haunted' places because we all agree, at least my demographic does, that Delhi in many ways has been host to he supernatural. Blame it on our childhood that had us watching the scariest horror shows in the remaining of the 90s, but the horror culture has an audience of its own. Some people I know tag the chill in the air or random noises or whisperings to be coincidences but not all seem to agree these are 'mere coincidences' rather something sinister or evil hovering above their shoulders. I come from the hills and to hear ghost stories was common and extremely repetitive at times because we all knew who the headless kid was and which nun did what, stuff like that. Over the years, the panic surrounding the paranormal sidelined as I read more on dimensions and inter- dimensional entities. Not exaggerating, but if you really should see how nonchalant I actually am, you should watch me sta...