Category Archives: Uncategorized

November 2020 Been trying to write on how I’ve been feeling/coping/breathing/stressing since the presidential election results came in on November 7, 2020. Thankfully, Black and Brown folks (majority women, of course) have illustrated the array of experiences running through my body. So I present here 10 screenshots, in this curated order, that represent some piecesContinue reading “unprecedented.”

July 2020 I looked back on my last texts with Avis and fell into deep regret. One of the last things she said to me, in early May, was “hit me up when you slow down.” I never slowed down. I called my mom. They met once. I am so grateful they met that once.Continue reading “loss.”

Published in Baltimore Asian Resistance in Solidarity’s 5-Year Anniversary Zine, February 28, 2020. (Originally written December 3, 2018) November 1834— Fetishized and feminized body brought to this land for exhibition consumption degradation White Gaze Capitalizing Manufacturing The Exotic Asian Woman Placed and displaced body brought to this land for resilience resonance resistance Say her nameContinue reading “Asian Woman.”

Published in the Baltimore Asian Resistance in Solidarity 5-Year Anniversary Zine, February 28, 2020. The round almond curves of my eyes outlined by long black lashes are brightened by the gold in my pupils. The warm walnut brown shade of my skin tone lightens to a cashew pale at my palms and darkens to anContinue reading “Asian.”

October 4, 2016 No, I don’t celebrate Christmas. No, I have never eaten meat. No, Hindi is the language, Hindu is the religion. No, I am not arranged for marriage. No, I can’t name all the Hindu gods. No, Shiva is not a “chick,” but also gender is not actually fixed in Hinduism or inContinue reading “Untangling Hinduism: I am Atheist”

Published in A Side of Rice: Volume 1, Issue 00 on September 12, 2016 (originally written May 2016). Sitting alone on the white pleather couch of the Uncle’s home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, I am eating a plate of mind-warming charu, chole, and lemon rice. The three children also sit silently in their individual single-seaterContinue reading “Telugu Hospitality in Addis Ababa”

July 2014. She was an 11 year-old. “Fucking hell.” She was an 11 year-old who sneaks into her living room at night to watch Showtime and HBO after her parents go to bed. “Goddamn fucking shit hell.” She was an 11 year-old who just got her period. “Fuck. This. Nasty. Ass. Shit.”  Well, she thought, I guessContinue reading “Flow Auntie Visits for the Holiday”

June 2014 “Sudanese?” *smiles* “Um, no. Guess again.” *booming laughter* “Ah, a game! Kenyan?” “I’ll give you a hint. I’m not African.” “We are all African!” “Good point. My family is from India. I was born and raised in the States.” “Ah an Indian from America! Do you work for the CIA? Because you should!Continue reading “Got nothing else planned”

March 2011 Hands clasped tight, he struggles to pull apart the intricately tangled knots in his mind. He is in desperate search of a sign, a talisman to prove that he exists. Deep breaths. Eyes closed. He is in there somewhere. His mind ferociously fights against his attempts to de-tangle years of twists and turns. Continue reading “Hands clasped tight”