Believe it or not, growing up, I didn’t have any acne. I joined the clan much later. Looking back, it was like winning the lottery, because every other friend of mine suffered deeply. When I say suffered, I mean it. There’s something that is not only viewed ghastly in appearance but also extremely painful growing on your face. I call…
Tata, my last name, is a link to my ancestral history (I’m sort of related to the “Tata” family, (cool, I know) but it also holds the history of my life—every step, turn , pause and bump, marked under my name. As a kid, I was nicknamed “Tatu” by my classmates on the playground and with numerous other relationships throughout…
Ah the goosebump-inducing magic of two mouths meeting. A body buzzing phenomenon… When lover’s lips unite, a series of physical, mental and cosmic reactions occur simultaneously. Some would argue, it is one of a very few universally experienced magical moments. I would have to say, I agree. Unsurprisingly, there is some actual research on this tongue-dance through desire and there’s…
Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I wore the title of “city girl” with pride. Infact, the brief period of time when I lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (a small Amish town, saturated with farmland, on the east coast of America), was almost embarrassing for me to mention as it didn’t fit the image I had of me. Living and identifying with…
While we navigate through the first couple of years of marriage, my husband and I have been making an active effort to communicate more. I’ve learned that you can’t expect someone to read your mind just because they love you, and it takes effort from both partners, especially in areas of communication, to make a relationship work. With that very…
The research for this piece was the best part of writing it. That’s the power of an orgasm. By definition, an orgasm is “…widely regarded as the peak of sexual excitement. It is a powerful feeling of physical pleasure and sensation, which includes a discharge of accumulated erotic tension.” However, while medical professionals utilize the physical changes during the occurrence…
“I had to stop seeing my first therapist because we both reached a point where we knew that she couldn’t help me with my dysphoria, so I started looking for therapists who were Queer affirming,” says Durga Gawde as they explained to me what went into finding a good therapist to help them with trauma related to their body. “Then…
The anti-bra revolution seems to have really found its boom during the last couple of years, especially while we sat at home during lockdowns. I remember the part of my chest between my breasts hurting one day, my anxiety told me that I had COVID before I realised it was because I hadn’t worn a bra for the whole month.…
“Farokh’s feet were so swollen, he could barely wear his shoes. Those were the first signs. We were on a trip to India when we were finally able to convince him to get the first tests done. He has been dealing with diabetes for a huge chunk of his life, but besides that, we’d never really seen him sick. Even…
We all know that India’s not exactly the safest nor the most open-minded when it comes to the LGBTQIA+ community. We’re trying—some of us do what we can to push the needle just a little every Pride, every protest, every conversation. Every year, the system shakes just a little more, every tremor shedding particles of encrusted dirt from it until…
