For anyone wondering, the miliscape Instagram account is: https://www.instagram.com/miliscape_09?igsh=eW5tOTFia2JtbGQ1
Again, apologies for the delays:( I’ve been swamped by everything Y11 and couldn’t find the inspiration to write after hours worth of studying…
Continue readingLyrics- ‘Heather’, by Conan Gray
I still remember, third of December…
You had a habit of keeping things. A keyring, a lock of hair, a stray red ribbon. You held them up to the light like they were treasure. I never understood why, not even when you explained they reminded you of life, so that fifty years later, when you were old and gray, you would look back on these memories with joy. Those memories weren’t even yours, yet you held them close.
Continue readingThe dinner table was set for four. Most chairs were never used, though. Mum still wiped every placemat down. Dad still buttered his eggs and fried his toast in front of the television. I gasped. The air pressed down.
No one smiled or shouted. Words became kindling.
When I dropped my spoon, Dad looked up. Mum raised her eyebrow.
A match was struck.
The start of something real again.
But then, they looked away again. The house fell silent.
Sometimes, I think we’ve burned, and all that’s left is the ache of ash learning to breathe.
Signing off…
When I was younger, I really wanted to be the best at everything. I did ballet, dabbled in sports, creative arts here and there, and of course, academics were seated front and center. But the one thing that I really loved playing was badminton. Mind you, back then, I didn’t even go to training, hadn’t done even a single class. The rush of adrenaline when the shuttle struck the strings with a sharp ‘ping’, the realisation that I was one of the ‘sporty girls’ who now played ‘comps’ on the weekend with their oversized jerseys, knee pads and spandex shorts was enough to have me hooked. Obviously, I ignored the fact that badminton didn’t use any of that gear, like the delusional nine-year old I was.
Continue readingWe worship the neem tree on the first day of Chaitra, after Amavasya, when the moon is absent and darkness blankets every city in its comforting embrace. It is a time of honouring ancestors, performing rituals and connecting to our spiritual traditions. In West Bengal, where I am from, it is considered a manifestation of Goddess Durga, and the abode of Sitala, the protector against all sickness. For that reason, we eat its leaves, mixed with pepper and sugar, to ward off fever, and we burn the neem, to protect the living and the dead from evil spirits. In the same way, the tulsi is considered a manifestation of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Krishna, and its presence is believed to increase purity and attract prosperity and protection.
Continue readingYou know, I’ve always thought of fame like a mirror- clean, polished, ever-so-perfect- a perfect reflection of joy and wealth and all you could ever want. But anyone who has ever watched Citizen Kane or Strictly Ballroom may just think that it’s a hall of mirrors- distorted, maybe a little dazzling, perhaps pretentious and sometimes incredibly ridiculous. And yet, for those reasons we rarely admit, we keep wandering into that hall, hoping that one of those mirrors will one day, show us the version of ourselves we secretly want
to be.
The other day, I was sitting there, staring at the screen. You’ve seen the number of blogs I’ve written about writer’s block, and I was genuinely in an incredibly horrible creative…funk. The screen remained blank, to say the least, and I tucked my urges to write away in the corner of my head where they would forever reside in all their diminished glory. I walked away feeling more frustrated, with a creeping sense of guilt and dread as I thought I was “losing my creativity”.
Continue readingShe wakes at five, in linen white,
To a window kissed with glowing morning light,
Her life is soft, her steps are small,
She drinks her matcha, journals it all.
Continue readingLately, there’s been an onslaught of news about plane crashes. Not just an isolated incident- a strange pattern. Different countries, different airlines, different reasons, but the same quiet fear that rises every time.
Continue readingFueled by dangerous winds, changing directions and incredibly dry conditions, wildfires were kickstarted across various parts of Los Angeles last week. The Eaton and Palisades fires are still actively raging through greater Los Angeles, and a new onslaught of Santa Ana winds is expected to bring extreme wildfire danger to Southern California.
Santa Ana refers to a strong hot dry foehn wind from the north, northeast, or east in southern California(Merriam-Webster).
Continue reading