Ila ✨

Come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed 🩵

It’s April and the frogs are singing 🐸

Shocking and disappointing @Garmin ! I wasn’t informed there’s no repair service available in India during purchase and the solution offered is so ridiculous. Why would I pay more for a product that hasn’t even lasted two years??

I’m asking you to open so wide you can hold all the ways I come apart 🥰

@Airtel_Presence @airtelindia Please look into this @DoT_India @ArunachalCMO - is Arunachal not a part of India that we have to pay international roaming charges to @airtelindia @Airtel_Presence without even leaving the country?! Can’t imagine what locals have to put up with!

Icing on the cake, according to Airtel I was in “China” while in Arunachal Pradesh. So so problematic at every level @Airtel_Presence @airtelindia

Still chasing @Airtel_Presence for wrongfully charging international roaming while I was traveling in Arunachal. Such bad customer service!! And every executive I speak to tells me something different. Not sure why this is a matter of debate when I never stepped out of India!!

@Airtel_Presence This is still not resolved. I was charged 3240 roaming when I didn’t even leave the country!!!

@ilareddy Apologies for the hassle. We would request you to kindly share us the respective Airtel number via DM so that we can assist you further. Thanks, Deepankar twitter.com/messages/compo…

Hey @Airtel_Presence I have been charged international roaming while traveling within India in Arunachal Pradesh. I am unable to get through the customer care number and the app only gives me AI responses. Kindly get a human to speak to me please!

The Indian system doesn't allow values above 500 while the US system allows values above 500. But this doesn't explain why Siri Fort was showing 272 in CPCB when IQAir was showing 2449. Imagine the level to which official AQI data is being subdued.

Archives | Why is the Indian middle class, venting furiously about inefficient governance a decade ago, largely silent on the air crisis? The answer lies in their deep ideological adherence to Hindutva. What we are seeing is a significant shift within the middle class in the Modi years: cultural boosterism and ethnonationalism have taken precedence over physical and economic well-being. The pervasive sense of resignation over Delhi’s poisonous air is a marker of how far their civic grievances have come to be anaesthetised by the opiate of Hindu nationalism. Read the entire essay: caravanmagazine.in/politics/delhi…

Today as Delhi city coughs due to terrible AQI, we await for Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to own up and take responsibility. Before Diwali, she was urging the Supreme Court to permit firecrackers. Here, as many have already pointed out, "green firecrackers" are an oxymoron and the Delhi Police rarely enforced the time window of 8-10 PM. While civic apathy has its share of blame, it does not excuse the role of the Delhi Government. The Chief Minister has over the past few months shielded accountability by taking shelter behind the cult of the Prime Minister, religious bombast and blaming the opposition or past Chief Minister. When will the time start for the Delhi Government to be accountable? It has been in office now for 243 days. Responsibility, first and last, rests with those we elected, specially those who took active steps to encourage air pollution. They must answer.

“…and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.” — Mary Oliver

The singular and cheerful life of any flower in anyone’s garden or any still unowned field— if there are any— catches me by the heart, by its color by its obedience to the holiest of laws: be alive until you are not. - Mary Oliver 🌼

While Tashkent buzzed with modern life, and Samarkand and Bukhara offered rich layers of culture, Khiva felt like stepping into a time capsule. Read more in my newsletter 🌸

Bukhara is a place best experienced on foot through unhurried walks, whispered prayers in centuries-old mosques, and saffron tea shared in shaded courtyards. It doesn’t shout for attention but lingers in the details, and if you’re willing to slow down, it quietly stays with you.

What a lovely book this is! ❤️

@chaturap Thank you! ☺️

@ilareddy Loved both pieces!

From Empire to Astronomy, #Samarkand has a lot worth unravelling. Part II of my #Uzbekistan newsletter series is out now! Link in bio.