Recommendations
Poetry & Books
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
"There will be time, there will be time / to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet." I read this at the wrong age and it never left.
Films
Rockstar
"We think we know life… but life always manages to surprise us." I've watched it more times than I'm willing to confess. Ranbir at his most undone.
Wake Up Sid
The Bombay rain, the rooftop, Iktara playing somewhere in the background — this is the film I keep coming back to when I feel a little lost.
Tamasha
For anyone who has ever felt like the wrong character in their own story.
Music — Indie Hindi
cold/mess
The break-up ballad that somehow ended up on Obama's playlist. Every Indian romantic I know has cried to this one at least once.
Barishein
Four chords, a guitar, and the exact feeling of wanting someone who isn't there yet. Play it on the first monsoon evening.
Aaoge Tum Kabhi
Rock meets ghazal meets longing. The song I'd mail to anyone who asked what Hindi indie sounds like.
Husn
An ode dressed as a lullaby. I don't trust anyone who can listen to it once and stop there.
Music — Old Soul Bollywood
Iktara
From Wake Up Sid. There is no Bombay sunset that this song does not improve.
Aye Khuda
The kind of song you put on when words have run out.
Tum Ho
Irshad Kamil + Imtiaz Ali + A.R. Rahman. Whatever magic formula you believe in, this is it.
Agar Tum Saath Ho
The song I'd want playing if I ever had to walk away from someone in the rain.
Music — For The Late Nights
Drown
The umbrella-tattoo of a song. I keep saving it to my stories and pretending I won't again.
Heavy (feat. Kiiara)
For the nights when everything feels a little too much, and you need someone to admit it first.
my tears ricochet
"Every night I'm dancing with your ghost." I have nothing else to add.
Places
The seashore at sunset
Where the sky touches the sea. Go an hour before sunset and don't look at your phone.
Misc.
A tiny wristwatch
The first thing I ever owned and was proud of. I think everyone should have one of these stories.
Two chocolates on a friend's birthday
A small gesture of friendship. Try it for a year and see what happens to you.
Maggi in a school lunchbox
You only get a few years of finding this on a Wednesday afternoon. Make them count.