The Life and Times of a Porn Theatre Usher
Posted inPeople

The Life and Times of a Porn Theatre Usher

For the last 20 years, Shrivastav has been ushering folks who want to pleasure themselves to a humid, musty room in Mumbai’s Imperial Cinema. His job was simple: Fetching doctored reels, checking tickets, and sanitising the theatre with phenyl after the show.
What If Gaitonde’s Prophecy Turns True and Mumbai Gets Nuked
Posted inPOV

What If Gaitonde’s Prophecy Turns True and Mumbai Gets Nuked

Ever since Sacred Games’ terrifying cliffhanger, I’ve been trying to imagine what would happen if Mumbai did actually get nuked? Over 7,00,000 people will be dead within the first 24 hours of impact. A communications blackout, disrupted railway lines and roads will result in widespread panic and riots, leading to more deaths.
My Bai, the Cleaner of My Conscience
Posted inPeople

My Bai, the Cleaner of My Conscience

Even though it’s been years since I sat for an exam, the moment my maid rings the doorbell at 8 am, I break into the kind of cold sweat I’d experience before entering an examination hall. Each time she empties the ashtray into the bin, she gives me a judgey glance and every beer bottle elicits a standard response, “Itni daaru!”
Mumbai Meri Jaan: Kabhi Cushy, Kabhie Kaam
Posted inCulture

Mumbai Meri Jaan: Kabhi Cushy, Kabhie Kaam

The first time I met Mumbai, I was looking at the city through keyholes that were actually the glassed domes of its fabled high-rises, tinted with expensive weekends. My second encounter with Mumbai was when I was between jobs. It was harsh and overwhelming – an eye-opening reality check into my privileges.
Posted inLove and Sex

Beyond People and Relationships: This is my Modern Love Story about Mumbai

Convention dictates that love manifests in terms of the people we choose to be with but for somebody like me, it is the freedom of not having or wanting to make that choice that has felt the more liberating. Like Prime Video’s ‘Raat Raani’ (part of Modern Love Mumbai) I have found love in moments, inanimate objects and the many ways Mumbai both challenges and supports you. For it is perhaps the only city where you can feel loved without being defined by it.