I Blog For The Girls Who Cry On Their Birthdays And Lose A Little Bit Of Themselves During The Summer

THE FOUNDING FATHERS

hOly sHit

being an older sibling is like. you've never known a life without me. mom yelled at me and it taught her she never wanted to yell at you. I painted my room purple and grey and then you did too. we live in the same house but I haven't spoken to you in months. I don't know your favorite color. I saw it was going to rain so I picked you up from school on my way home so your books wouldn't get wet. i was so worried when you woke up sick when you were three. you don't remember being sick. mom and dad made their worst mistakes with me and I'm glad they didn't make them with you. I'm doing everything for the first time so you won't be in the dark. I don't know any of your friend's names anymore. I used to know them all. if something happens to mom and dad you won't have to worry because everything will fall to me. you don't like to be home alone but even if you don't see me just knowing I'm there makes you feel better. at least that's what mom told me. you still give me jars to open for you because you can't quite get them. I only see you during dinner. i'd never even think about missing one of your concerts. I stand at the counter when I eat and now you do, too. when offered a selection of books you picked the same one I did when i was your age. I'm terrified you compare yourself to me. I love you. I don't know if you like me. I want you to. mom says dinner's ready

very un-desi of me to assume that id be able to live my life without being told once to pursue a career in medicine by a relative

A Guide to Desi Dark Academia

since the dark academia aesthetic is awfully eurocentric, here is a little post about desi dark academia :) writing this made me romanticize my culture so much...i fell in love with it all over again!

Literature:

A few classic literary works include:

The Mahabharat by Vyasa

Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chottopadhay

Parineeta by Sarat Chandra Chottopadhay

Amost everything by Rabindranath Tagore( e.g Kabuliwala , Gitanjali, Shesher Kobita, Chokher Bali, Charulata etc)

Toba Tek Singh by Saadat Hasan Manto

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Film:

Satyajit Ray's works like Charulata, The Apu Trilogy, Shonar Kella etc

Dipu Number Two, based on Mohammad Zafar Iqbal's novel

Haider , an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet

Padmavat

Kai Po Che

Rang De Basanti

Masaan

Lootera

3 Idiots

Music:

Oldies by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi

Sufi music like Qawwali and Kafi, by Kazi Nazrul Islam, A.R Rahman, the Pakistani sufi-rock band Junoon etc.

Ghazals (a form of poetry)by Pankaj Udhas, Jagjit Singh, Ghalib and Ghulam Ali

Flutist Hariprasad Chaurasiya

Sitarist Ravi Shankar

Fashion:

Jamdani sarees made of dhakai muslin (a delicate ancient fabric made by the Mughals that were given names like "baft-hawa", meaning "woven air")

Chikankari kurtas!!

Wearing gajras (flower garland made of jasmine) in your hair

Colourful bindis and bangles (the larger your collection of bangles the cooler you are, its the south asian dream)

Payals and jhumkas <3

Old silk shawls and dupattas during winter >>

Using attars(alcohol-free perfume)

Wearing mehendi on your hands

Styling almost anything with gorgeous nagras

Classical Dance: a few forms

Bharatnatyam

Kathak

Odissi

Manipuri

Kathakali

Activities:

Roaming around historical sites and grand havelis

Visiting old zamindar baris and mosques and temples then being enchanted by the architecture

Watching jatras ( folk-theatre performances)

Growing up listening to your grandparents read folktales to you ( e.g Thakumar Jhuli, meaning grandma's bag of tales)

Trying to learn ancient languages like Sanskrit and Persian

Learning classical dance since you were like 4 and bragging about how many different forms you know (look me in the eye and tell me madhuri dixit was not your childhood idol)

Boat trips on the Padma river, pretending to be Tagore

Waking up to the azaan at the break of dawn

Having steaming hot tea at a small tea stall on a rainy day

hope y'all enjoyed this :)

Zodiac Series- Capricorn ♑︎

Sonali Bendre ~ Deepika Padukone ~ Vidya Balan

Sarfarosh (1999)  Diljale (1996) Duplicate (1998) Bajirao Mastani (2015) Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) Cocktail (2012) Kahaani (2012) Parineeta (2005) Hamari Adhuri Kahani (2015)

Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpio | Sagittarius | Aquarius | Pisces

ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS

DOESN'T REALLY MATTER TO MEE

TO ME

Who wants to sing Bohemian Rhapsody with me?

I start:

IS THIS THE REAL LIFE?

IS THIS JUST FANTASY

CAUGH IN A LANDSIDE

NO SCAPE FROM REALITY

what's your audio aura in 2021?

Jhumkas...

We're all aware of Desi Academia's obsession with Jhumkas, but let's take a look at some other types of earrings from the subcontinent that deserve the same amount of love and appreciation.

Note: Some people might use the term Jhumka to refer to any and all styles of earrings, but in actuality, only the bell-shaped earrings are qualified to be called Jhumkas!

Bali

Balis or hoop earrings come in a wide variety of sizes and embellishments which can be appropriate for anything from daily wear to festive wear.

Punjabi Peepal Patti Balis

Chandbali

Chandbalis are the jeweled interpretation of the crescent moon. Worn by Mughal and Rajput women in the medieval period.

Pearl-embellished enamel Chandbalis

Dhungri

Traditional Nepalese earrings worn in the centre of the ear, usually circle or square-shaped. A rare kind of Dhungri is the Kan ("ear") Dhungri, which replicates the shape of the ear.

Dhungri (L) Kan Dhungri (R)

Bugadi

Earrings worn on the upper rim of the ear by people along the Western coast of India, specifically Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Imitation gold Bugadi with peacock motif

Passa

Passa (or Jhumar) is a head ornament that has its origin in the Mughal period and is pinned to one side of the head. The Passa-style earring is basically the same, but in earring form.

The Passa (R) Passa-style earrings (L)

Thuriya

Thuriya is a form of Assamese jewellery worn by aged women. The design symbolises a lotus with a heavy stem adorned with gemstones and exquisite meenakari.

Floral Thuriya with meenakari work

Bonus: Sahara Chain

Sahara ("support") chain or ear chain is a type of ornament which is worn by attaching it to an earring on one end, and to the hair of the wearer on the other. It provides support to the earring, thereby lifting some of the weight off the ears.

Three-strand gold sahara chain with peacock motif Jhumkas

Feel free to expand this list!

All images belong to their respective owners.

Derry Girls really said that life is not a linier series of events and the worst parts of your life can and will co-exist with the best parts and there is no telling if and when those will be. So you just have to try and make the best of every situation as it comes to you.

And they were right.