The cat sat royally in a stroller, wearing round spectacles, and looked at everyone with disdain, the way cats usually do. A human was pushing the stroller slowly, while being fully aware that her cat was getting all the attention. She liked it, but maybe the cat didn’t, but he still obliged fully aware that the human pushing the stroller loved him and adored him.
This was the Bakeneko, or the Cat Festival in Tokyo’s Kagurazaka district, which is held every year around Halloween. And on that day, the street belonged entirely to cats.
I learnt a new phrase –The Safety Tax– which of course only women pay
The other day when I was scrolling on Instagram, I came across a post by Shaili Chopra where she spoke about one thing that she had written in her book Sisterhood Economy and had called it the safety tax.
And no, it’s not a tax that you pay to the government. It’s a tax that you pay consciously to keep yourself safe as a woman in India but not with money.
How a monsoon trip to Ratnagiri turned into a history lesson
The train journey from Mumbai to Ratnagiri during the monsoon is a treat to the eyes. As the rain falls, everything feels like a watercolour painting. Smudged greenest of green grass, a mix shade of grey in the skies, splashes of deep-red tiled houses happily standing out in the middle of it all, the occasional river overfull with rainwater bouncing away and everything washed clean. Simply my kind of landscape.
Is Courage the Absence of Fear—or Something More?
Rhiya Ahir, the girl from Mumbai who dared to stop a police van with one hand, while it was raining, has become one of the defining images of the CJP protest.
The first time I saw this photo, I said to myself that I could never do that; I don’t have that level of courage to stand up in front of a police van to try and stop it.
The Day I Lost My Way in the Forest
I have always been naively adventurous, with a nothing-wrong-can-happen-to-me kind of confidence. I have no idea how this confidence got instilled in me, but it has always been there as far as I can remember. Perhaps it’s simply my innate nature.
The Trip before the Trip
This happens to most of us.
We want to go somewhere; we shortlist a place based on time, budget and convenience. Then we do research, we read up about the place; we watch reels about the place; we talk our friends who have visited that place and make a list of all the things we want to do and all the places we want to see.
How Two Solo Trips Changed My Understanding of Home Forever
Home. A word that can feel both familiar and elusive at the same time. A shelter and a longing. A necessity and a dream.
Where is home? It’s a question I’ve asked myself at different points in my life. Is it the place where I grew up? Is it the place that gave me wings to fly high? Or is it in the mountains, where I feel strangely calm?
Eating Vegan in Sikkim: One Plate, Many Cultures
When I was planning my trip to Sikkim, I had only two things on my agenda – eating momos and getting a good view of the Kanchenjunga. Yes, pretty much the simple stuff. This was one of those trips where I wanted to do slow travelling, eat heartily, stay put in one place and immerse in knowing that place well. And that’s exactly what I did.
The choice to stay single – a rebellion of sorts?
When I announced to my family that I had decided to stay single, there was an emotional uproar for a long time. They couldn’t understand my decision because they didn’t think such a decision existed.
Darjeeling, This Is Not How I Wanted to Visit You
As we stepped out of Bagdogra airport, the cold breeze reminded me that the mountains were close by. This would usually excite me, but this time there was a strange knot lurking in my chest. I had decided to be here, but suddenly I was unsure about this decision.
This was my first visit to Darjeeling, but this was not how I wanted it to be.