Attacked.

A little thought I picked up from a conversation with a friend.

Do demons really deserve our hate? Every-time, I talk about things that make my soul bleed, I label them as demons. But aren’t those very demons the most beautiful creation in my head?

They are unapologetic, the most vulnerable part of my personality, the part that I want to conceal because the people around me are not ready to deal with the rawness of it all. So why label them and weigh them down with so much hatred, they do trouble you, but only because you don’t let them speak to you.

A little kid constantly crying, constantly interrupting your conversations, clinging on to your arm, just so you look at them for a second, crouch down to their eye level and offer a them consoling smile.

Academia Aesthetic But Make It Indian

Pulling an all - nighter fueled by a herbal concoction that is one of your family recipe.

Discussing literature with your friends on zoom call over a cup of masala chai and Parle - G.

Having an enviable collection of jumkas.

Visiting the libraries (with appropriate precautions), museums, art galleries, ancient buildings and temples.

Studying in the temples/gurudwaras (if permitted, with due respect and measures). The dhoop-batti infused tranquility transporting you to the ancient times.

Lightening up an agar-batti or a dhoop-batti because scented candles are a bit too expensive and you're broke from buying that recent stack of books.

Draping a shawl that you borrowed from your parent's/grandparent's collection on cool winter months. Feeling like a royalty everytime it flutters with the wind.

Learning a classical language out of sheer fascination.

Reading your notes pretentiously to anyone who's willing to listen.... even if they're your plants/pets.

Getting up super early in the morning to study and feeling like a scholar from ancient times.

Coming up with your own concoction for your favourite beverage but secretly loving the way your mum makes it.

Pairing your Punjabi/Rajasthani Juttis with your every fancy outfit and Kolhapuri Chhappals with your every casual outfits.

Reading The Ramayana, The Bhagwat Geeta, The Vedas, The Mahabharata for the fascination of it or just because you want to!

Mumbling a mantra or a shloka that you used to listen from people around you as a kid, under your breath.

Quoting Ambedkar in your conversations.

Discussing about the ancient Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian or Pagan beliefs with your friends or your cousins or anybody who's interested.

Reading about all the scientists and mathematicians from ancient India and thinking about the apparatuses they used to counduct their respective researches.

Putting up the posters of your favourite personalities from the past and sticking tiny notes stating the attributes you find fascinating.

Looking upon the local women who broke the traditional roles and appreciating their valor.

Drinking nimbu-paani/Glucon-D out of the cups reserved for guests and feeling like a royalty.

Sticking up calligraphically written derivations on the walls and desks and the doors of cupboards..... basically any available surface, displaying them like your trophies.

Ditching ridiculously expensive eyeliner for your dadi's homemade kajal.

Swinging your chunni pretentiously everytime you make a valid point in a friendly debate with your "enemy" on whom you've a crush, feeling like a Harry Potter character.

Having a signature attar that announces your presence before you enter.

Downloading banned books and reading them secretly in family functions.

Tucking wild flowers behind your best friends' ear as you braid each other's hair in the school's loo.

Getting into arguments into public transport, in the classroom, on the tea stall and citing relevant points with sources.

Being the "pleasure to have in class" but also "should listen more and involve less into arguments with teachers."

Discussing mantras with your friends and learning new ones together.

Arching one eyebrow and smirking as you listen to an excellent piece of music.

Sharing playlist as you and your love sits under a tree reciting poetries to each other.

Going on a "street food discovery spree" with your friends all the while discussing about the deadly chemical medleys you read about in your chemistry class.

Practicing meditation and yoga as the first rays of sun hit the ground. (taking care of your mental health is a part of aesthetic too)

Borrowing your family heirlooms for special occasions and treating them as your most prized possessions.

Practicing classical dance/music (for people like me, who haven't practiced any and would require to train for a long time for the aforementioned arts, Shankh/conch shell is one musical instrument that is probably the easiest to play and doesn't require any prior training.)

Wrapping yourself in your grandfather's coats and feeling his warmth seep in through that piece of clothing...... also, a slight smell of Vicks.

Visiting the local fair and buying more jhumkas because you can never have enough, tbh.

Listening to Agamani-Vijaya songs as you stroll through the College Street, browsing the books.

Addressing your beloved after the names of uncharted scientists and philosophers.

Dhoti pants and khadi tops are go to summer apparels.

Leaving your crush's favourite flowers in their notes with sweet poetries you wrote for them in the candle light.

Sending magniloquent letters to your best friends and pretending to be pen-pals.

Vibing to Bhatiyali as you walk through the Howrah Bridge, imagining yourself as the protagonist of one of Taslima Nasrin's books.

Please feel free to add more!

Danez Smith, from "summer, somewhere"

Hanif Abdurraqib interviewed by Ruth Awad: Joy Is Not Promised to You

Yeah literally just put a ring on me the first time itself, I'll say yes🖐️🙄

I’d like to wish all tall lanky boys with messy hair a very I love you please marry me evening.

To my future wife,

We're gonna have so much fun together.

Maybe we'll be shoving each other when we're brushing our teeth.

Maybe we'll be chasing each other through the backyard.

And then you trip and fall and we're both laughing together and then you look up and the sun's shining right behind my head.

You kiss me.

Because you're grateful.

And no, I don't look forward to it for the sex and the physicality of it.

I look forward to it so I can brush the hair off your eyes every morning when we wake up.

I look forward to it so I can bring you coffee and burnt toast in bed and you pretending like it's a gourmet meal.

I look forward to it so I can say "I love you" every single night because there's no one else I'd rather share the moon and the stars with.

Jung’s architecture of the psyche

Eugene Taylor, The Mystery of Personality

Tumblr Code.

Temporariness of human existence

Charles Bukowski, "white dog," from What Matters Most is How Well You Walk through the Fire

Look at your wrist, see the blueish veins? The blood flowing through them contains hemoglobin, a protein that has four iron atoms incorporated into its structure. Iron is only naturally produced in one place, it can only be forged in the core of dying stars.

Every time you look at your veins, remember that you are built from, and kept alive by, pieces of stardust.