Unsent Love Letters
This morning, I wrote you another letter. (All the things that should’ve been said) Though I told myself I wouldn’t, racing thoughts fill my head. Perhaps, I should just go back to bed. (All the things that should’ve been said) And forever you are my addressee, for who else do I really care to […]
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More than a fairytale
My nine-year-old nephew recently performed in the Cape Town Opera’s production of Cinderella/Cendrillon at the Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town in the July school holidays. I am very proud of this young boy who has wanted to be on the stage since he was about two years old and pinched his grandmothers’ scarves to […]
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A Lost Button
Off a cotton shirt, the shiny, lone button popped, stray threads frayed in place, reaching around the vacant space with wispy arms and fingers, palms lost and blending on fabric. Soulful bonds, whorled and weft from dyed thread, from soulless creatures of fabric, tied by their shared brotherhood—the taut, red string. And their invisible mouths […]
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Basking in the glow of The Silk Glow
We’ve had many inspirational small business stories in our series so far, and Parul Ganatra’s journey is no different. Her story should come with a warning label on it: Will make you want to drop everything and get creating now! In 2015, Parul was a mum to two kids while working a stressful full-time job. […]
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asa Beauty, a pioneer of India’s sustainable beauty movement
On the eve of asa Beauty’s re-launch, I sat down with Sukriti Jindal Khaitan, one of the co-founders of asa Beauty (the other being Asha Khaitan) to understand why. Having worked in Brand myself, I knew two things. One, a re-launch could make or break customer trust and two, it’s an extremely difficult thing to […]
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Banning Books, Silencing Voices
Featured Illustration: Jane Mount I have been watching the escalating trend of banning books in the USA with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. It’s a bit like reliving a nightmare, since the banning of books was an apartheid staple. Having travelled through the south of the United States of America […]
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Alchemy of Solitude director Viktoria I.V. King on the plurality of justice
“Do you want to ask questions or do you want to live?” International-award-winning film director, screenwriter, and producer Viktoria I.V. King poses this question throughout her newest upcoming film, Alchemy of Solitude, which she describes as an “autopsy of an activist”. Set in an alternate reality, where activists-turned-assassins are trying to end a race war, […]
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To Fill a Paper
My teenage years often feel some sort of sick competition, as I watch college applications and academic success swallow so many students like myself. Though it may not actually be the case, the feeling of having your future determined by the actions you make as a seventeen-year-old is terrifying. In addition to that, being surrounded […]
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Thank you, Ramadan Tent Project, for my first Iftar
I’ve never been to an Iftar before. I’ve never really celebrated Ramadan before. Growing up in India, Ramadan was a cause of celebration simply because it was a holiday from school but with very few Muslims in my school, biryani never made its way into my home. And I know that Ramadan is more than […]
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