More than a generation of women owe something of their lives, their choices, and their freedom to this woman.
Thank you, Gloria, for being the voice when so many of us were still learning to find our own. For being the strength when standing up came with a cost. For being the role model who showed generations of women that we could question, choose, speak, lead, create, and live on our own terms.
Your words gave language to things we had felt but couldn't always articulate. Your courage made it a little easier for others to find theirs.
And for me, you were one of those women whose very existence made the world feel a little larger and the possibilities for women a little wider.
Thank you for the voice! Thank you for the courage! Thank you for the example!
Rest in peace, Gloria! You will remain in my heart forever. ❤️
There are some songs that never become irrelevant. In a few weeks, on 1 October 2026, it will be exactly 30 years since Hariharan and Leslee Lewisreleased their iconic album Colonial Cousins. I love every song in it, but Krishna has forever stayed closest to my heart.
Every time I listen to it, I'm reminded of an idea of India that has always inspired me. An India that has, for centuries, been home to people of different faiths, languages, traditions, and ways of life. It has never been a perfect story. Like every civilization, ours has seen moments of harmony alongside moments of conflict and triumph alongside mistakes. But the aspiration to coexist has always been one of the most beautiful parts of our shared heritage. That is exactly what makes this song timeless.
As we celebrate this Independence Day, I'd like to dedicate it especially to the younger generation. Yours is the first generation to grow up in a world shaped so completely by globalization and digital connectivity that you have opportunities, influences, and responsibilities unlike any generation before you.
As you help shape India's future, I hope you also carry forward one of its greatest strengths, the ability to see humanity, curiosity, and respect before anything else. May this song remind us that being secular is not simply a constitutional principle. It is also a way of living with openness, dignity, and compassion towards one another. And perhaps that's why, there couldn't be a better song to celebrate the many colours of India.
When I was building my yoga practice, especially working towards poses that once felt completely out of reach, her videos felt like a gift sent straight out of alignment and into my practice.
What I particularly appreciate about Kino is the way she approaches the body. She understands that anatomy matters, that the same pose may need to be approached differently by different bodies, and that women’s anatomy can sometimes require its own considerations. She also brings an understanding of where these practices come from, which makes the learning feel much richer to me.
Yoga is so deeply woven into Indian history, philosophy and culture. Yet the way it is understood around the world today is a fascinating story in itself. I might write about that someday. The myths around yoga. What the world thinks yoga is. What it has meant within the traditions it came from. And also what gets lost when something travels far beyond its cultural roots.
But for today, on International Day of Yoga, I wanted to share something much simpler. This is the drill from Kino MacGregor that helped me build my Śīrṣāsana, or headstand, in my own practice. For anyone working towards it, I hope it gives you something useful to explore. And for me, it is also a small reminder of what I love about yoga: the pose may be the thing we are trying to achieve, but the practice is what teaches us how to get there.
Happy International Day of Yoga. 🧘🏽♀️
And thank you, Kino, for making the journey a little more accessible.
Today is the World Bee Day, and while looking up some fascinating facts about bees, I came across this beautiful old tradition called “Telling the Bees.”
Apparently, in parts of Britain and Europe, families would tell their bees about important events in their lives: births, marriages, deaths, departures and other changes within the household. In some traditions, the bees were treated almost like members of the family, and people believed they needed to be included in the news of the household.
There is something about this that stayed with me. Perhaps because I have often felt that somewhere along the way, human beings have lost a certain kind of relationship with the natural world. And even more strangely, we seem to be losing the art of being connected to one another too.
We live surrounded by people, information and technology, yet so much of our lives can feel disconnected from the living world around us. So I found myself wondering whether these old traditions represent something we once understood instinctively.
The bees were not simply creatures that produced honey. They belonged to the household. They were part of the rhythm of life. And when something important happened, someone went to tell them. I don't know whether people genuinely believed that the bees understood their words. I don't know how much of the tradition was ritual, belief, symbolism or folklore. The historical evidence tells us that the custom really was practiced, particularly in Britain and Ireland, but its deeper origins are less certain.
And maybe that uncertainty is part of what makes it fascinating. Because whether or not the bees understood, the people were remembering that they were not separate from the world around them. They were living within it. That feels strangely profound to me today. What we are losing isn't something that evolution took away from us. It is something that our increasingly manufactured lives have simply made easier to forget.
The relationships. The sense that the natural world is not merely a backdrop to human life.
So, if you know more about the history of “Telling the Bees”, especially from reliable historical or folkloric sources, I would genuinely love to hear from you. I'd be happy to learn more and share what I discover here.
For now, I am simply leaving this little piece of old wisdom here. Happy World Bee Day. 🐝
Hoping that today, we can notice the bees and everything else around us that we have quietly stopped noticing.
I just got back from London, and I still think nothing captures the city's spirit quite like the Sherlock theme. One of the highlights of my trip was visiting almost every location featured in it. And thanks to playing the popular game, Scotland Yard, I also decided to experience every mode of transport the city had to offer.
The Tube. The trains. The iconic black cabs. The Uber boats. And, of course, the classic red double decker buses. It felt less like sightseeing and more like stepping into a city I had already explored countless times through music, television, and board games.
Some places surprise you because they're new. Others because they somehow already feel familiar.
Few conversations have stayed with me the way this one has. Thank you, Elizabeth Gilbert, for putting into words something I've been reflecting on for a long time. It reminded me that perhaps the question isn't "Why are so many educated, accomplished, and financially independent women choosing not to marry or have children?"
The better question is, "What has society done to make these choices feel less safe, less equal, or less fulfilling than they could be?" Marriage itself isn't the problem. Patriarchal expectations within marriage are.
Until our relationships evolve into genuine partnerships built on mutual respect, shared responsibility, and emotional equality, many women will continue questioning whether the institution, as it exists today, aligns with the life they want to build.
A prayer I first heard at the experimental school that inspired the book I co authored has stayed with me ever since. Few prayers ask us to become better human beings instead of merely asking God to make our lives better. This is one of them.
तू बुद्धि दे तू तेज दे नवचेतना विश्वास दे जे सत्य सुंदर सर्वथा आजन्म त्याचा ध्यास दे
हरवले आभाळ ज्यांचे हो तयांचा सोबती सापडेना वाट ज्यांना हो तयांचा सारथी साधना करिती तुझी जे नित्य तव सहवास दे
जाणवाया दुर्बलांचे दुःख आणि वेदना तेवत्या राहो सदा रंध्रातुनी संवेदना धमन्यातल्या रुधिरास या खल भेदण्याची आस दे सामर्थ्य या शब्दांस आणि अर्थ या जगण्यास दे
सन्मार्ग आणि सन्मती लाभो सदा सत्संगती नीती ना ही भ्रष्ट हो जरी संकटे आली किती पंखास या बळ दे नवे झेपावण्या आकाश दे
There are songs you enjoy, songs you remember, and then there are songs that become a part of who you are. Today,Mile Sur Mera Tumharahas been on loop.
For me, no other song has come even remotely close to capturing the diversity, heritage, cultures, languages, music, folk traditions, landscapes, and spirit of India the way this one does. It reminds me that our differences were never meant to divide us. They were meant to come together, just as countless rivers eventually find the same ocean.
I've also shared the lyrics below in case you'd like to follow along or even sing it yourself. Trust me, if you've never done it before, give it a try. I have been doing it since morning. Especially, the finale... the song gently flows into the tune ofJana Gana Mana, I still get goosebumps. Every! Single! Time!
My hope for the generations that will shape India's future is that they inherit not just our progress, but also the values that have held this country together for centuries. Respect for diversity, openness to different cultures, and the understanding that unity doesn't require uniformity.
Happy Republic Day! 🇮🇳
Hindi
Mile sur mera tumharaa, to sur bane hamaraa....
Sur kee nadhiyaan har disha se behke saagar mein milee...
Baadalon ka roop lekar barsen halke halke...
Mile sur mera tumharaa.. toh... sur bane hamaara..
Mile sur mera tumhara...
Kashmiri
Chaain taraj tahin nyay taraj
Ek but baniye saayen taraj
Punjabi
Tera sur mile mere sur de naal
Milke bane ek nava surtaal
Hindi
Mile sur mera tumharaa....
To sur bane hamaara..
Sindhi
Mohnja sur tohi desa pyara mile jadein
Geet ashaanjo madhur tarano bane tadein
Urdu
Sur ka dariya behke saagar me mile
Punjabi
Badlaan da roop leike barasan hole hole
Tamil
Isaindhal namm iruvarin suramum namadhakum..
Dhisai veru aanalum aariser aarugal
Mugilai mazaiyai pozivadu pol isai
...Namm isssaiiii....
Padhant
Thik thakida thathikakida....thaka thimi thaka junu
I can't help but quote my favourite dialogues from GoT! As a fan who's fallen in love with the books and TV series I am listing below my top 10 dialogues from this series!
"Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armour, and it can never be used to hurt you." - Tyrion Lannister
"A lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of the sheep." - Tywin Lannister
"It's easy to confuse 'what is' with 'what ought to be', especially when 'what is' has worked out in your favour." - Tyrion Lannister
"I think mothers and fathers made up the Gods because they wanted their children to sleep through the night." - Davos Seaworth
"A very small man can cast a very large shadow" - Tyrion Lannister
Bran thought about it, "can a man be brave if he is afraid?" "That is the only time a man can be brave!" - Ned Stark
"The more people you love, the weaker you are." - Cersei Lannister
"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who doesn't read lives only one." Jojen Reed
"Remember what father used to say? Everything before 'but' is horse shit." Jon Snow
A person who's known life beyond beliefs and faith is capable of penning down such a brilliant song. Sahir Ludhianvi is without a doubt one of my favorite lyricist. My admiration and love for his writings grows with reading every thing he's ever written. Music director and Singer's combination of Roshan and Lata Mangeshkar was a hit for obvious reasons. This song is no exception to that golden pair. And last but not the least, Meena Kumari shows her caliber as an actress in a way that proves there's no one like her and there won't be anyone like her, in every sense of the term!
