From isolation to belonging: The psychology of real connection
By Avnee Taneja There are moments when you are sitting across from someone, laughter curling at the edges of the table, and yet a thin, invisible distance rises between you like mist on glass. Their words reach your ears but not your heart. You nod, you know your lines, you keep pace with the conversation […]
Loneliness in a hyperconnected world
By Aditya Pundir It feels strange to write about loneliness in an age when we have over eight billion people on the planet, and India alone is home to more than 1.4 billion. We live in a hyperconnected world powered by digital technologies – yet, paradoxically, people feel more isolated than ever before. This raises […]
Men’s mental health: The crushing weight of provider pressure
Syed Hammad Ali For generations, the Indian family household has been governed by strict gender roles, where the men bear the responsibility of being the financial providers and protectors, while the women manage the household realms of child-rearing, cooking, and household maintenance. This division became so ingrained in our cultural identity that male self-worth […]
When the wild speaks
This year’s monsoon brought devastation to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with cloudbursts, landslides, and floods leaving no doubt that climate change is intensifying. It is making life dangerous for mountain communities and risky for tourists, while turning weather patterns increasingly unpredictable. We may soon need to redraw our weather charts and learn entirely new ways […]
The rise of ‘situationships’ and what they’re doing to our mental health
Bhavya Jain “So what are we?” Honey, they don’t know that and neither do you. That is why your relationship would be classified as, what we call nowadays, a situationship. There’s a connection, certainly, but there is no commitment. One day you’re just friends and the next night maybe something more. Therefore, we define situationships […]
Breaking up with perfection
A love letter to my flawed, real self. Because flawless is exhausting, and freedom looks better on me by Anandmai Kumar A long-overdue breakup Perfection and I go way back. She was the invisible roommate, the unrelenting voice in my head, the imaginary gold star I kept chasing. She arrived quietly – through school […]
Your food mirrors your inner world
Bhavya Jain Have you ever judged a person, even in a small way, for how they eat? You may have a friend who devours their meals like a race, or an acquaintance who opts for the green sushi roll with the green stuff that is inherently questionable. There is actually psychology behind behaviours regarding food […]
What are we really hungry for?
Avnee Taneja “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin There’s a quiet intimacy in the rituals of eating. A warm bowl after a long day, the familiar scent of something homemade, the calm that settles in after the first bite – these are moments […]
Connection between mind and food
Snehanky Chattopadhyay Imagine, you are five years old, attending a birthday party. You enter your friend’s house, play the games like passing the parcel, musical chairs and Simon says. You eagerly wait for the cream laced pineapple cake, potato wafers and samosa. Close your eyes and observe how you feel. Does it make you feel […]
Food for thought: Are we really learning, or just consuming?
Anandmai Kumar I grew up in a family of scholars – people who believed that true education wasn’t confined to textbooks or classrooms. My family’s approach was holistic. Sure, we were encouraged to study our school books, but we were also nudged to learn things that were, as they called it, essential to life. Farming, […]