Recap of 2019 post a total lack of writing for over a year

There have been cultural barriers around me most of my conscious life, more punctuated some times than others. Many feel that children of immigrants overplay their narrative of fragmented identities and wavering connections to culture. However, this narrative is my truth and that of many others, and I argue it cannot be played enough. Until I took a class on Gender and Sexuality in the South Asian Diaspora in University, I had never had the vocabulary to express many of the p

Senior year of college is defined by lasts and impending nostalgia. The last first day of classes, the last Thanksgiving break, the last time stepping into a godforsaken academic building. Each of these moments fills me with nostalgia for something that has yet to come to an end. Nostalgia-inducing fall weather driving through Chapel Hill But nothing quite carries that feeling of impending nostalgia like the joy of a belly-aching, dry-heaving laugh with best friends in our te

Photo by Sundus Alfe for Coulture Magazine. Designs on my nose are reminiscent of medhni/henna designs, representing my journey to self love and acceptance. My physicality is a distinct symbol of my heritage. Growing up, it was easy to feel different. A poem I wrote my sophomore year of college on the topic below: This piece captures it pretty succinctly. Self love was/is no easy task. When I was a child, I was surrounded by young women I felt were more beautiful than I, whos

To be honest, this first post has taken me a long time to get out. I've always wanted to start writing somewhere public, sharing photography, style, travel, and general ramblings about my passions, but it felt almost too cliche to begin. However, if there is anything I have learned in college, it is that nothing happens unless you just go for it. It's the most terrifying thing - going for it - but once you do, whether the results are good or "bad," there will be personal grow