The Pressure Cooker

I was 17 when I moved out of the house for my undergrad. The first year of college I got lucky because I was staying with my lovely and super cool aunt, Reeta, who also happens to cook the best food. So in year one, I never had to go into the kitchen. Year two...

POP goes my Heart!

"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible!" -Audrey Hepburn A few months back (February 15th to be exact), I was on my usual evening walking on our roof, listening to The Mind Valley podcast. That particular episode was featuring Matthew Mcconaughey and he was talking about attaining The Unbelievable. The very same week,...

Listen to your Gut

2020 was a big realization: Our Gut is really our second brain. In my case, the Gut has always been the first to get impacted depending on the emotions I am going through. When I was in first grade, I feared my class teacher, and this somehow channeled into a major stomach ache the entire...

Version 2.0: Finding the light

Powerful things happen when you start putting in the work to achieve your goals. You become addicted to the progress and fall in love with the process. - Pinterest Mood Board Would it be legal to get straight to optimistic and hopeful things without giving 2020 it's due credit? Who would have thought that the...

Holiday Homes Unlimited

To feel at home, stay at home! -Clifton Fadiman Opening a Bed & Breakfast has been one of the most special experiences of my life. Through Holiday Homes Unlimited, I wish to extend and share this joy with others! Recently, while endlessly skimming through Netflix, I came across a show called 'World's Most Extraordinary Homes'....

The Quarantone Way!

Source: POP Army, Instagram Also, I didn't have much choice, considering we have been in lockdown since I moved back to India. I wonder how the dating world will be once we return to post pandemic life. How do you hug and kiss with masks and 6 feet distance? Will you go out for dinner...

Five Years. Five Lives.

April 8th, 2015: Hyderabad, India The Day Dreamer "Doctor, is that the magic potion that is going to put me to sleep, while you operate?" Waking up five hours later, from a life changing surgery, all I could think of was the woman crying next to me in the observation ward. I say life changing...

Recipes for Love – The Perfect Dabba

"A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal" -Pat Conroy  While attending primary school in Pune, I used to have two breaks - 'Short Break' and 'Lunch Break'. The highlight of my day would be asking my mom what food she was going to pack (fondly known as dabba) me for both...

The Girl Who Kept Moving

Chapter 1: The Trench Coat  Walking past the Chrysler and occasionally checking herself out in the massive glass buildings, Rachna could not help but think of the night she landed in her favourite city. It was like she had dreamt about this all her life. Looking back it had unfolded so magically as she was...

Bitting into the Big Apple – Part II

“One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.”  ― Tom Wolfe Just over a year ago, I was perpetually the person who would get excited over a book where the protagonist had just moved to New York, or a TV show based in the city...

Bitting into the Big Apple – Part I

"I Smile because New York City Happened to Me" -Anonymous In his Netflix special, Trevor Noah starts by saying "New York! New York! New York!" I often find tend to mimic this randomly on the street, either to myself or to the people next to me. Having completed quarter of a year in the city,...

Mantri to Manhattan

Believe in love. Believe in magic. Hell, believe in Santa Claus. Believe in others. Believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. If you don't, who will? - Jon Bon Jovi  I remember the first time I watched Bon Jovi's song 'It's my life' on the television. I was about 6 years old, and I had...