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I’ve never really liked cockroaches. I mean, who does? They’re hard to kill. They seem to spawn out of nowhere. They’re quick. Smart. They’re ready for battle. But for the first time, I wish I was there, with the cockroaches. The Cockroaches of India. The Indian Youth. The Cockroach Janta Party, formed satirically in response to the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, referring to the Indian…

It was 3:30AM. My gal pals and I were chatting tiredly as we were on our way back home after spending nearly 6 hours out and about in NY celebrating one of our friend’s birthday. We’re walking down the street wearing jeans and fancy tops. Everyone is sober and waiting to just hit the bed. We’re the only ones on the street. As we turned a corner, a man in his big black SUV rolls down his window…

tw: death, cancer • cancer is a fucking shit-show. i’ve begun to personify cancer – i see it as this big, powerful, monster that wreaks havoc on not just the patient, but every single person that that patient knows. it rips everything apart. it doesn’t rest even after you’ve given it boatloads of tears and prayers. and the worst of its kind is when they return after they’ve let the person feel…

There’s a familiar lump in my throat and weird squiggles in my stomach as I am writing this post. The content in this post has been largely unspoken about or said to any of my friends or family. Thus, knowing that once I finish, I’ll hit the “Publish” button is absolutely terrifying. This post is about a colored person’s insecurities. The insecurities that arise when you’re in a public place,…

My impending move to Rochester, NY has stirred a great deal of feelings, mainly in relation to answering the question, “Can I build a life somewhere new?” I realize that life rarely presents itself with guarantees, but boy would I love a guaranteed yes before making the move. It is in such times that I recall the very many people I’ve had the ability to meet during my gap years. I wanted to…

In 2023, I had the privilege of visiting Bal Ashram, a long-term rehabilitation center for survivors of child labor and trafficking. Working alongside the staff and educators there reaffirmed my commitment to supporting and advocating for children. The children of Bal Ashram impacted me in countless ways. They taught me about joy, resilience, community, and so much more. Read about my experience…

I turned 24 today. Oof. Inspired by Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love, I decided to outline everything I’ve learned about life as a 24-year-old, so here it goes. When all else fails, chocolate devotion at Cold Stone Creamery, specifically the one in Franklin Park Township, will solve all your problems. I’m telling you, you’ll see heaven. Be spontaneous. Just do things without…

This House of Grief by Helen Garner is a true story that chronicles the murder trial of Robert Farquharson, who is eventually charged for driving into a dam and drowning his three sons – Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2. The minute I read the first few words of this book, I knew it was game over for me. I began this book with 0 empathy for Farquharson. I figured the book would just amplify and…

Now that I’ve gotten into medical school, I’m unsettled by the amount of time I suddenly have on my hands. It feels like a fast-moving train has come to an abrupt halt. It’s this abrupt halt that forced some revelations. I’ve been seeing my caretakers with softer eyes. As one recently told me, “now that you’re at the end of this long journey, you’re able to think more clearly and let go of…

Suddenly hit with a desperate urge to move my body and take a walk in the scorching Jersey heat, I was in search of some revitalization. In such times, I resort to my usual set of speeches and podcast episodes, so today’s lucky winner was this one. In this speech, Simon Sinek, a bestselling author and motivational speaker, shares five life rules. The last rule revolved around the following…

I was never the bookworm kid. Even when all the children were obsessed with books, I was never one of them. I was the movie/TV show buff. I’d love coming home just in time for my Disney and CW channel shows. I’d rush to pee during the commercial breaks (yes, remember those?) and aspired to be the Disney channel kids using their magic wands. I was still a creative, obsessed with playing…

Ordinary love is the best kind of love ❣️ “May our home be a place where people can accept themselves.” “We don’t hide behind each other. That we have our own identity and are at one with ourselves. That we’re not hiding behind another person or expecting them to fulfill what is important to us.” “Ordinary is extraordinary. If you think of your life, it’s the little things–the ordinary little…

As someone who has never been in love, I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently. What is it? How do you know when you feel it? What is it supposed to feel like? What are you supposed to do with it? So many questions, very few answers. This video popped up on my feed today. The person states that in a romantic relationship these three things are what we should be looking for: You have to be…

This was taken nearly a decade ago. Clearly, the Kode siblings were not fans of the camera back in the day, but hey, at least you can see my very youthful looking granny in the back. I was raised largely by my paternal grandmother (aka Nani), a woman whose presence defined my childhood in many ways. With both my parents working demanding IT jobs, leaving early in the morning and coming home just…

Why do we do it? Why do we expect ourselves to work like a goddamn horse every single day? Why are we taught to work all day every day? Some say, “Because discipline is a necessary skill to have.” Discipline. What a word. ‘Discipline’ is used as a form to control. It’s used to gaslight ourselves into thinking that if we kill our bodies and minds by “pushing ourselves,” we will attain some…

PC: Detroit Free Press Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie is a beautiful, timeless, ever-relevant book in my opinion. The book chronicles the weekly (every Tuesday, hence the title) conversations that Mitch Albom had with his professor, Morrie Schwartz, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Morrie taught me a lot about death and how to approach life after having accepted death. In Morrie’s…