Sonali Kokra, Author at Arré

One Mic Stand: Shashi Tharoor Pulls a Kunal Kamra, Just in Better English

Amazon Prime Video’s One Mic Stand shows us Shashi Tharoor’s likeable, charming side. Look, he’s the guy you can hang out with. But we don’t need Tharoor to be relatable. We needed him to be cutting and crisp, to shame us out of the political coma most of us seem to have slipped into as we wait to hear on our Canadian PR application status.

Sonali Kokra June 5, 2016

Love and Sex

How Do You Know He’s Mr Right? He Accepts Your Romantic Past

When you’re in the throes of a new love, it’s easier to pretend that your past never existed than to risk retracing its thorny, sometimes painful trajectory with a new partner. But our pasts aren’t cautionary tales for our older selves — they are tomes that chronicle our rich emotional histories.

Sonali Kokra June 5, 2016

POV

How I Have Shamefully Benefitted from Patriarchy

Patriarchy benefits me in the tiny ways that it can benefit only upper-class, upper-caste Hindu women in India. I hate that most workplaces won’t treat me as equal, but I have to admit that it’s a relief to have the freedom to fail professionally, or even choose to have a career at all.

Sonali Kokra June 2, 2016

Bollywood

Manikarnika Review: An Effective Revision of Your School History Book Chapter

As someone rooting for the success of Manikarnika, I was hungry for the movie to delve into the story behind the story. Did the exemplary Queen of Jhansi make mistakes? Did she have regrets? But the film only offers us Kangana Ranaut’s glaring dialogue-baazi and jaw clenching, and hammy plot devices.

Sonali Kokra May 25, 2016

Pop Culture

Why I Keep Going Back to My Young Adult Novels… Even at 32

There’s great pleasure in consuming literature that is cerebral and challenging. But I also really, really love the literature that has no greater purpose than to entertain in the moment and spark instant joy. The Princess Diaries, Sweet Valley High, The Fault In Our Stars remind me of who I was before I became who I’ve become.

Sonali Kokra May 25, 2016

POV

Does December Make You Blue? Or Is It Just Me?

Decembers and I just don’t get along. While you’re giving thanks for all the silver linings of the year, I’m hypnotised by the dark clouds. Like a show reel of the lowest points of my year — an almost debilitating heartbreak, every missed opportunity, and my most acute failures — that’re playing on loop in my mind.

Sonali Kokra May 25, 2016

Gender

Fair & Lovely Will Drop “Fair” From its Brand Name. Why Dark-skinned Girls Like Me Are Cheering

After years of criticism, the fairness cream Fair & Lovely will drop the word "fair" from its brand name. That's a great step forward, but you can’t keep people from equating fair with lovely. Still, it matters that dark-skinned girls like me no longer have to transform into a “more acceptable” version of ourselves.

Sonali Kokra May 14, 2016

POV

Dear Sabyasachi, I’m Overdressed, Not Wounded. Stick to Designer Lehengas & Don’t Play Therapist

Dear Team Sabya, this cultural romance with repairing “broken” people is getting to be tiresome and trope-y now. You know what’s worse than having your heart split open? Unwelcome company rubbing manufactured empathy in your wounds.

Sonali Kokra May 14, 2016

Gender

Oscars 2019: Will Films Like Period. End of Sentence. Rid Us of Taboos Around Menstruation?

Periods are used as convenient tools to dismiss and overpower women. This experience is so common to patriarchal societies that frankly, I was baffled that a documentary as simplistic as Period. End Of Sentence. was considered insightful enough to earn an Oscar. Perhaps that’s what makes it relevant.

Sonali Kokra May 12, 2016