In the search of

Growing up I watched a lot of Shoujo Anime. And those anime greatly shaped my fantasies regarding romantic love. I began to romanticize the childhood sweetheart kind of love. I also used to watch a lot of Disney sitcoms and listen to English love songs. You look so beautiful (to me) As most of the Indian households, I did not get to see the PDA kind of love. Have you ever loved somebody so much that it makes you cry I am leaving random song lyrics here and there not knowing if they are even correct or just misheard lyrics.  Anyway, so the last decade was a happening decade in the sphere of love in my life, as it should be(18-28). I’ve had friends catch feelings for me, I’ve witnessed friends falling in love with each other, I’ve fallen in love, many kinds of love. And this love makes me feel so many different, difficult, unreal, lively feelings.   Now, the safest love for me will be familial in general and maternal in specific. It may not be so for many. And then there is...

On one weekend of September, 2022, Roger Federer, my role model since I was a teen, retired from professional tennis. He gave us fans the best farewell we could ever ask for. He and Nadal, playing together, the crowd cheering them on from the stands and from countless living rooms, from social media feeds. All of us knew that a big, beautiful part of our lives was coming to a close. And as my mind was giving me the flashback of the times in this amazing, so-close-to-my-heart journey, I knew that many others were going through the same. Growing up, I used to read the sports section of the newspaper and that’s how I came to know about Feddy. I remember that he was THE guy at the top, the one everyone wanted to beat. The first match I watched was the Australian Open Final against Nadal, I remember seeing him cry for being so close to equalising Pete Sampras' count of 14 GS titles and not making it. And the way Nadal comforted him and told him that he’s going to break that record soon ...