Karina Pandya

One of the most powerful bonds we share in life is the one we have with our fathers. Whether we are sons or daughters, a father is often seen as the provider of the family, a hero in our lives, and a role model who helps shape who we become. Before going on a hiatus from comedy that could potentially last until 2030, Indian comedian Zakir Khan performed in Mumbai as part of a limited residency at the NSCI Dome on June 13, 2026. The show, titled Papa Yaar, was on its final lap—a closing chapter that has resonated with audiences across the world, from Madison Square Garden in New York to the IG Stadium in Delhi. Unlike other stand-up shows, this one really tugged at the heartstrings, highlighting the importance of a father's role in our lives. Of course, there were jokes and punchlines scattered throughout the performance, but what really stood out was how it reminded us of the memories we share with our fathers. There was a great deal of nostalgia, remarkable storytelling, and, o...

Founded in 2000, Akvarious Productions is known for producing over 90 plays, including comedies, children's theatre, and intimate dramas. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to watch the much-talked-about play External Affairs at Rangshila Theatre in Andheri. What really caught my attention when I booked my ticket was that it revolved around common relationship problems. As someone who enjoys stories that reflect contemporary realities, I was eager to watch a play centred on modern relationships and the emotional complexities that come with them. The play revolves around Arjun (Chaitanya Sharma), a young man struggling to cope with a painful heartbreak. In the midst of his emotional turmoil, he crosses paths with Insia (Shweta Tripathi), who is also dealing with the aftermath of a failed relationship. Their unexpected meeting forms the heart of the story and takes the audience on a journey of emotions, self-discovery, and the challenges of navigating relationships in today's worl...

Are you someone who constantly turns to ChatGPT whenever you have a question, a problem to solve, or just need advice? If yes, trust me — you’re not alone. Over the last few years, ChatGPT and other AI tools have quietly become a part of people’s everyday lives. The biggest reason? They’re always available. They don’t judge, get tired, or lose patience. Unlike people around us who may sometimes criticize, misunderstand, or simply be too busy, AI gives instant responses in a calm and conversational way. That’s why so many people are becoming attached to it — not just for information, but for support, productivity, and even comfort. In many ways, AI is giving ordinary people abilities that once seemed impossible. Tasks that used to take hours can now be done in minutes. Difficult topics can be explained in simple words. Students use AI to study better, professionals use it to write emails and reports, and creators use it to brainstorm ideas when they feel stuck. It has slowly become ...

Publishing a book is a very big deal, especially in this overpopulated, internet-savvy world that we live in today. As writers, we want our books to be read by many people, whether they are hardcover or paperback editions. We want our stories to exist out there in the world. One thing about publishing with a traditional publisher is that writers often have to wait for their manuscripts to be approved by literary agents or publishing houses. Only after acceptance can the process of editing, design, printing, and distribution begin. But self-publishing is different. When you self-publish your own book, you have far more creative control. Not only do you get to see your work transformed into a physical book, but you also gain access to platforms such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon UK and USA, Flipkart, Notion Press Store, Apple Books, Kobo Books, and Google Play Books. Isn’t that incredible? A book you sat at home and wrote can suddenly become available to readers acros...

When we hear the word author, we often subconsciously imagine the writer to be male. Genres such as science fiction, classic literature, and non-fiction have historically been associated with men, while romance and young adult fiction are frequently attributed to women. Yet, some of the world’s most extraordinary literary works have been written by women — many of whom challenged traditional expectations surrounding marriage, identity, and womanhood. These trailblazing female voices include contemporary storytellers, Booker Prize laureates, poets, and novelists who have shaped both regional and global literature. Among the most celebrated women authors are Jane Austen, Emily Brontë, Ayn Rand, Toni Morrison, and J. K. Rowling. Their writing not only entertained generations of readers, but also reshaped conversations around women’s emotional, intellectual, and creative independence. One of my personal favourites is Danielle Steel, a globally influential bestselling author known for...

Honouring your own needs is not selfish — it is necessary. In many ways, learning to protect your peace, your energy, and your emotional well-being is one of the greatest lessons life teaches us. We often grow up believing that constantly sacrificing ourselves for others is what makes us “good” people, but the truth is far more complicated than that. Prioritising self-care means respecting your own boundaries and acknowledging your limits. There is a significant difference between being cruel and being healthily selfish. Cruelty is often rooted in insecurity, ego, or the desire to control others. Healthy selfishness, on the other hand, comes from self-preservation. It is about recognising that your needs matter too. People often treat selfishness as though it is automatically a negative trait. But not all selfishness is toxic. Sometimes, being “selfish” simply means saying no when something drains you. It means walking away from situations where your boundaries are constantly ig...

Living with epilepsy is strange because most of the time, nobody can actually see it. To everyone else, you look normal. Functional. Fine. And then one day your brain suddenly misfires, your body betrays you, and people around you panic while you’re left trying to piece together what just happened. People think the seizures are the hardest part. Sometimes they are. But honestly, the harder part is living in the uncertainty of it all. Explaining what it is. Not knowing when your own brain might decide to stop cooperating. Explaining epilepsy is exhausting too. The moment you mention it, everyone suddenly becomes an expert. Someone tells you to sleep more. Someone else suggests yoga, turmeric, herbal tea, positive thinking. As if generations of neurologists somehow forgot to try drinking enough water. People mean well, mostly. But after a while, it becomes lonely trying to explain that epilepsy is not just “stress” or “being tired.” It’s a condition you carry every single day, eve...

Rohit George is a Mumbai-based content writer, editor, and stand-up comedian with over six and a half years of experience in digital publishing, editorial writing, and long-form content creation. Currently working as a freelance writer and editor, he creates thoughtful, research-driven content across subjects such as artificial intelligence, sustainability, education, wellness, tourism, remote work culture, psychology, and social behaviour trends. Living with Cerebral Palsy — a neurological condition that affects movement, muscle tone, and balance — Rohit has built a career rooted in resilience, authenticity, and storytelling. His work combines editorial depth with modern digital sensibilities, balancing analytical insight with accessibility and emotional honesty. In this candid conversation with Karina Pandya, he opens up about storytelling, creativity, AI, and finding one’s voice in an increasingly automated world. 1. Walk me through your content creation process — from idea gener...

Also known as the trial version of modern adulthood, millennials — the generation I proudly belong to — genuinely feel like the best generation by far. We were raised in the chaos of the early internet, where there was zero supervision, one family computer shared between siblings, pop-up ads attacking us every four seconds, and an unshakable confidence that everything we did online was absolutely correct. It was a strange, beautiful time. The internet back then was wildly different from what it is today. If we missed one episode of our favourite TV show, that was it — gone forever unless someone miraculously recorded it on a CD or knew a cousin with cable. There were no streaming platforms, no “watch later” options, and definitely no rewinding emotional scenes to post screenshots online. Today’s Gen Z generation can stream entire seasons overnight, fast-forward boring parts, rewind dramatic moments, and curate their feeds so perfectly that even their breakdowns look cinematic. Aren...

A golden era of power ballads, the 1980s left an unforgettable mark on the world of love songs. Dramatic, slow-building, and overflowing with emotion, these tracks somehow felt instantly familiar the moment they came on the radio. They wore their hearts openly on their sleeves — grand, vulnerable, and unapologetically sincere. Unlike much of today’s emotionally detached music, these songs never pretended not to care. They embraced heartbreak, devotion, loneliness, hope, regret, and longing with complete honesty. Every generation inherits songs that feel strangely personal, even if they belong to another era. Without permission, they become part of our own stories. Whether heard during late-night drives, family gatherings, rainy evenings, or unforgettable movie scenes, these songs attach themselves to versions of ourselves we can never fully let go of. Over time, they stop becoming just songs and instead become memories, emotions, and pieces of identity. When I Want to Know What Love ...

Writing is perhaps the most liberating thing I engage in — whether I’m reviewing movies, plays, or books. Yet one question always lingers in my mind: who truly deserves the credit for a story? Is it the writer of the play, the author of the book, the filmmaker behind the movie, or can any of us claim a part of it as our own? A playwright writes a script, a director transforms it into a film, an audience interprets it through their own experiences, and sometimes a son or daughter inherits the legacy of the creator. A studio may even own the rights to a film adaptation. So, who can really claim ownership of the writing? And what about the critic who dissects every plot and uncovers layers of meaning? A writer may spend years drafting a book, a screenplay, or a play. Logically, the answer appears simple: the work belongs to its creator. However, once a story is released into the world, it no longer belongs to just one individual. A play may have meant something entirely different to its...

Helly Shah is an Indian spoken-word artist who has been making ears perk up and heads turn with her crisp, relatable, and soul-soothing content. Her poetry revolves around modern relationships, friendships, growing up in your twenties, gender expectations, loneliness, nostalgia, and identity. She gained immense popularity through her collaborations with Unerase Poetry and has now become a widely recognised voice in the spoken-word scene. Some of her most loved pieces include Dosti Ki Breakup, What Society Says No to Men, Mujhe Abhi Shaadi Nahi Karni, 25 & Single, and Marriage Material. She has shared the stage with artists such as Priya Malik, Yahya Bootwala, Amandeep Singh, and Nidhi Narwal. Calling herself an “accidental writer,” Helly draws inspiration from books, conversations, and her observations of people and everyday life. She has also performed at events such as YouTube FanFest and NH7 Weekender. Her performances, usually delivered in Hinglish or English, feel natural, ...

One of the most recognisable names in the Indian stand-up circuit today, Azeem Banatwalla has quietly built a reputation as one of India’s smartest and most distinctive comedians. Over the past decade, he has created a space for himself through intelligent observational humour, political satire, and an unmatched ability to turn everyday urban frustration into comedy gold. With two stand-up specials to his name — Out of My System (2017) and Problems (2019), both Amazon Prime Video exclusives — Azeem has performed across the globe, including at prestigious platforms such as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He is also an integral part of the comedy collective East India Comedy, whose sketches and videos have collectively crossed over 100 million views on YouTube. But what truly makes Azeem Banatwalla stand out is not just what he jokes about — it is how he approaches comedy itself. We are currently living in a stand-up ecosystem dominated by...

In a world where we all seem so familiar with one another, do we really know each other? Exploring human connection through a moving musical play starring Anupam Kher and Swaroop Sampat, Jaane Pehchaane Anjaane poses a question to us all: how well do we truly know the people we call our own? Through relationships spanning different generations and stages of life, the play explores an unsettling reality that while people may appear familiar on the surface of it all, many carry an unspoken loneliness within them. Navigating companionship, emotional distance, separation, friendship, and silence, the play reminds us that even the closest relationships can sometimes feel strangely distant and perhaps even lonely. What makes the experience even more powerful is the sincerity of the performances. Anupam Kher, returning to the stage after nearly fifteen years, brings warmth, vulnerability, and emotional depth to his character, making every pause and expression feel deeply personal. Swaroop ...

Have you ever heard of book hopping — the art of wandering from one book to another, letting different stories find you instead of you finding them? Very similar to channel surfing, it’s easy: you simply pick up one book, read a few lines or maybe a few pages, and then move on to another that catches your eye. One moment, you could be reading a self-help book, and the next, you might switch to a romance novel just to transport your mind somewhere else entirely. We have to admit that we live in a fast-paced world obsessed with finishing things quickly. So here you are, book — or rather, books — in hand, acting rebellious with that smirk on your lips. You’re not going to finish the book immediately, and you know it. You’re not even going to stick to one genre. Instead, you’ll read as much as your mind can grasp in the moment before switching to another book, moving back and forth until they are eventually read. Reading doesn’t really need structure; it just needs a curious mind. You h...

Some performances are loud and demand applause, and then there are performances that quietly pull you in — soulful, immersive, and almost magical. That is exactly what happens when Priya Malik and Tanmay Maheshwari perform together. Always accompanying Priya’s live poetry performances, Tanmay’s music feels deeply harmonious with her words. Their collaboration often feels like poetry being sung and music being spoken. Priya’s poetry explores heartbreak, longing, love, old Bollywood nostalgia, and emotional storytelling — themes that blend seamlessly with Tanmay’s soft, melodic compositions. What makes Priya Malik’s performances stand apart is that, instead of creating conventional singles or stage acts, she and Tanmay create emotional live experiences where poetry and music flow effortlessly into one another. I experienced this first hand during Dard-E-Dil – A Trial Show at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, where I witnessed both Priya Malik’s poetry and Tanmay Maheshwari...

Founded by spoken-word poet Simar Singh, UneRase Poetry emerged during a time when spoken-word poetry in India was still niche and largely underground. Inspired by global slam poetry movements yet deeply rooted in Indian emotion and multilingual storytelling, the platform created a space where vulnerability was not seen as weakness, but as an art form. Blending Urdu, Hindi, English, and conversational storytelling, UneRase Poetry gave young audiences a language for emotions they often struggled to express. The collective focused on relatable emotional truths — failed relationships, parental pressure, mental health, self-worth, gender expectations, nostalgia, and urban loneliness. Their performances did not feel like rehearsed stage acts; instead, they resembled deeply personal confessions spoken aloud. Over the years, UneRase Poetry became home to some of the most recognised voices in contemporary Indian spoken word, including Yahya Bootwala, Aranya Johar, and Priya Malik. Each poet...

One of the most emotional and misunderstood conflicts in modern history is the Israel–Palestine conflict. Discussions surrounding it often lead not only to anger, slogans, and misinformation but also reflect deeply unresolved tensions connected to history, politics, identity, and human experience. Every few months, the conflict returns to global headlines. Social media becomes flooded with arguments, emotional videos, political slogans, and simplified narratives. Yet behind these reactions lies a long and complex history that many people around the world are still trying to understand. At the centre of the conflict is a piece of land claimed by both Jewish Israelis and Palestinians. For Jewish Israelis, the story is deeply connected to survival, historical persecution, and the desire for a secure homeland after centuries of antisemitism and the horrors of the Holocaust. For Palestinians, the story is connected to displacement, military occupation, restricted movement, loss of land, ...

In a world overflowing with noise, poet Jasmine Babbar creates moments of silence that make people pause, reflect, and feel deeply. A storyteller, poet, and spoken-word performer, she has steadily etched her mark on the landscape of contemporary Indian poetry. Her work is marked by honesty, emotional depth, and striking vulnerability. Writing primarily in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, and English, Jasmine explores themes of love, loss, heartbreak, healing, identity, mental health, and human connection. Her poetry is not merely meant to be read—it is meant to be experienced. Every performance carries an intimacy that leaves audiences deeply moved. What distinguishes Jasmine Babbar is her ability to transform deeply personal experiences into emotions that feel universally relatable. Her poems often explore loneliness, emotional conflict, self-discovery, and the quiet ache that lingers within relationships. Her poetry carries the rhythm of lived experience: “Some wounds don’t ask for healing. ...

Spread across 180 acres in Karjat, Oleander Farms is a luxury farmhouse retreat and resort that offers the perfect escape from the chaos of city life. Combining nature, comfort, and indulgence, the property is packed with premium experiences — from the popular Saltt Restaurant and a vintage car museum to a bowling alley, gaming arcade, kids’ play area, multiple swimming pools, and a sprawling 3,000 sq. ft. fitness centre. The resort’s neutral-toned, spacious, and contemporary rooms are designed for complete relaxation, featuring private lawns, lake-facing views, or scenic balconies. Whether you’re planning a romantic getaway, a family vacation, a destination wedding, or a corporate retreat, Oleander Farms offers a picturesque setting against the lush Karjat hills. Managed by the Ahuja family, the property has evolved from a farm into a luxury hospitality destination, with young entrepreneur Aaliya Ahuja playing a significant role in shaping its modern identity. With expansion plans al...