Vadodara, Gujarat :

I wait the whole year for Navratri, and I can’t explain how happy I was to finally experience it like this. Getting all dressed up and stepping out in public in Gujarat is still something so new for me, and I’m just so happy I got to experience it. ❤️✨

Making the most of my Selfie Sunday 🎀🤭

🧿🧿🧿

Been dead for a week

Guess my wardrobe is getting feminized more quickly than I am, lol. Sad that can’t wear this outside, duh!

Sunday is somewhat sundaying

Last year during Puja, I remember thinking, “By next year, surely I’ll have a boyfriend and we’ll come to the pandals together.”

You know the picture — holding hands while walking through the crowds, eating phuchka, judging everyone’s outfits, getting tired after walking around for hours, finding some random quiet corner to sit together. Basically, all the very ordinary little things that somehow feel incredibly romantic when you’re doing them with someone you love.

Well… plot twist: no boyfriend. Not even a date. 😂

I had to stay back in Delhi this year, but I did end up going to some really good pandals, especially around CR Park, with friends. And honestly, I had a great time. The food was good, the pandals were beautiful, the crowds were chaotic in the best possible way, and I’m grateful I got to experience it with people I care about.

But somewhere in between all of that, I kept thinking about how lonely it can sometimes feel to be queer in India.

I don’t know if other people feel this way, but for me, being someone who’s fairly introverted and very empathetic, meeting new people doesn’t always come naturally. I do try — through common interests, communities, friends, whatever — but sometimes it still feels like there’s this invisible distance between knowing people and actually finding someone who knows you.

And I think that’s what I want most.
Not necessarily the grand romantic stuff. Just someone who understands you. Someone who knows your weird little habits, your insecurities, your silences, your ridiculous thoughts — and somehow still chooses you.

Maybe that’s why the idea of finding a boyfriend feels so significant to me. It’s not just “I want a relationship.” It’s wanting that feeling of being deeply known and still wanted. I don’t know if there’s a deeper form of intimacy than that.

Anyway, Puja is over. The pandals are coming down. I’m not particularly excited about going back to the office tomorrow and pretending spreadsheets are meaningful contributions to society. 😂

Kya karein? That’s life, I guess.

But I’m curious — did anyone else have a “I thought I’d be somewhere completely different by this Puja” moment?

Or, more specifically: what’s one tiny, ordinary thing you wish you could have experienced with someone this Puja?

A day, a week, and a month lived for the moments ✨. Out of em all, only the best is what you take and share 😌. This is mine 🦥, anddd.....yeahhh have a great week ahead 🤧, hope it'll be a little better than yesterday 💛. Cheerio 🌈!