Tinker Toes

Why did i choose this cheesy SRK song, you ask? Skip to the last picture ☺️

Saree #21 of my — this gorgeous vibrant saree was part of my wedding trousseau, which I wore for a friend's wedding for the very first time, just last week in Patna. Coupled with an old blouse that my super talented Bambai tailor crafted.

Absolutely chuffed to tell the world that i am among the poets who contributed to this one of a kind anthology on Indian cities! My poem on Patna found a home in this book, edited by .

Oh the singular joy of looking at your name in print! 💌

Happy Father’s Day my paglu paapu 😚

Having spent the last few days in my hometown, some truths i have always believed in have been cemented further — the most achingly beautiful one being a song my father used to sing for me as a child (which i had no idea until a few years ago, was romantic song) — Humne tujhko pyaar kiya hai jitna, kaun karega utna, teri adaa ke bholepan pe mit’te rahe hum jitna, kaun mitega utna...

(Koi nahi, absolutely koi nahi paapu 😭)

PS: Iss aadmi ko itna cool hone ki toh koi zaroorat thi nahi waise!

🌙✨🏙️

A 5-course Sulaimani Feast: the simple fact that the dinner kicked off with a dessert won me over. Reminded me of the Bohra community who follow the kharas-mithas concept in food. Our host family also informed us that the Bohras and the Sulaimanis do share their histories. They shared interesting and beautiful nuggets of their food as well as culture, followed by absolute gluttony.

Course 1: Chobe — a sweet dish consisting of white rice mixed with dessicated coconut, powdered sugar, slivered almond, pomegranate and raisins + curd

Course 2: Dal Chawal (toor dal cooked along with rice, almost like a light pulao — definitely my fav course from the lot) with K*t and Keema (with turai)

Course 3: Pasinde Chicken with Paratha

Course 4: Nuqti Pulao — close to a mutton biryani cooked with vegetables, served with a luscious raita

Course 5: Rawe ka meetha

+ endless glasses of maththa served throughout the meal

PS: Sulaimani chai has no connection to the Sulaimani community 😅

Surreal.

A fiery Bir sunset with the view of the Chokling Monastery and the Dhauladhar range in the horizon 🤍

I have been grappling with the idea of losing you since the day I got you. This is not an age thing. But you are a 9 yo pupper now, so yes, the fear has become way more pronounced and an everyday feeling in the recent past. I guess we are wired like that — to fear the loss of some things especially when they are too dear, too perfect to be true. I know all I can do in the moment is to love you and to make that known. You are the most special relationship I have had the privilege to have, absolutely by chance. But once you made your way into our lives, we chose you. And I will keep choosing you, over and over again, over all other seemingly important things in life. You have made my life richer, happier, and sassier merely by existing. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, bbgirl. Wish you many more happy and healthy years, cuterush 🥹

I love you so so much! Happy homecoming, Michiko 😘

Happiest birthday to my favourite woman in the whole wide world. You make growing up growing and old look badass 😘

Our past must have a future.

As humans, it is our foremost duty to take care of the world that we live in — our monuments that tell stories of our ancestors, our land and rivers that nourish us, our places of worship that speak of our plurality, our fellow living beings, the birds and animals that inhabit this beautiful planet along with us.

शाम-ए-दिल्ली 🌸