Ratna writes

Every year, I throw a birthday tantrum. When I was turning 4 in India I started crying when my friends wouldn't call me "Dum-Dum" when they sang me the birthday song because my grandfather used to call me Dum-Dum and so that's what I wanted. When I turned 13 and my friends didn't decorate my locker at school the way I wanted it on the day I wanted it (my birthday fell on the weekend that year), I wrote an angsty piece about it and published it in the high school's literary magazine because the episode made me lose my faith in humanity a little bit. Not all years are this dramatic; sometimes I would just curl up in my closet and cry on a birth-morning because there was no way the evening could live up to my expectations. This year's annual hissy fit wasn't that different. I think what freaks me out every year is that I feel like a celebration that is supposed to be for one's entire existence can never be as magical, spontaneous, surprising, and u...

When I sometimes lie shoulders tensed and wrists wrapped under chin in my bed because  the future can't find me here and hear the defeated end-of-day trudging up the stairs my heart falls upon the rattle of the key because I wish the trudging was for me.

This summer has been hands-down the best one I can remember, and I don't say that every year. It serendipitously contained the best balance of home and school, family and friends, play and work, food and fitness, and music and silence I could have designed, had I tried. Resisting the ever-present seduction of travel for a more familiar experience wasn't a simple decision to make, but I couldn't be more glad I decided to look at the people and places I'm used to through a new set of lenses as the days grew longer this time around. I started June off at home, working remotely on a research project for the Environmental Defense Fund, which really meant following Priya to work on Capitol Hill a couple times a week to ogle at my tenacious sister from any sketchy Starbucks I could find with wifi to sustain me as long as my attention span decided to last on a given day. We gymmed together daily, which I didn't realize would become one of my favorite memories un...

Good moooooooorning, Preeti! Today is a very special day! I hope it's a magical one, and you enjoy it immensely with your inspiring siblings in uplifting Glastonbury! I also hope all your wishes come true and you get to consume lots of colorful cupcakes. I know one of your wishes was always to make an appearance on my ecstatic blog, so I thought I'd make that one come true at least. I hope your trip to Peru was mesmerizing and today is fantastic , and I can't wait to see you back up here where we receive our wonderful education. Love you, little sis!

This school year was a toughie! At times it felt like one big "sophomore slump," between hard classes and cold weather and dreary moments. But now that I've vanquished (okay, completed) my last exam of the semester, I wanted to take a second to look back on some of the silver linings of this sophomore year. Here are some of the things I'm proudest of from 2013-2014: 6. I took a philosophy class. Who would have thought I would take philosophy in college before ever taking a college English class? I knew as soon as I shopped Professor Sean Kelly's Existentialism class this spring and added it to my schedule in place of the Shakespeare course I'd been planning on. It was most refreshing to be taught "heavy" stuff by a professor who was at once so brilliant and so down-to-earth, a trait it's been hard at times to find here. To have a class full of engaging "aha!" moments and many a lecture that eventually proved something simple like ...

As many of you know, I've been lucky enough these past two years to get to know the family of one of my role models, Marina Keegan, and have been working with them on a literary tour for her first book, which was just released this April. Marina is an incredible poet, playwright, author, activist, and human who was killed in a car crash four days after graduating from Yale in 2012. Hundreds of people have flocked to book readings of The Opposite of Loneliness  along the East Coast to get, just for a moment, a glimpse of what hearing Marina's words read aloud can be like. I was honored last Friday to be invited to be a reader at one of these events, and to read Keegan's essay  The Opposite of Loneliness , which she originally composed as a commencement speech, and after which her book is named. I was thankful to have a number of friends attend the event, and each and every one was struck by the power and pertinence of Marina's expression, which can be described by no ...

We spent today wandering in and out of markets and winding through subway stations and green spaces. After a hearty breakfast, we patronized Insa-dong, a large market for Korean handicrafts and artwork. Our group took its time finding souvenirs for those we love and admiring the colors, sounds, and tastes of the city. When we had run our wallets' supply low and went to the bank to withdraw more, we stumbled upon a Buddhist temple called Jogyesa, which is the chief temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddism. With Buddha's birthday coming up on May 6th, we took some time to celebrate, looking up at the colorful lanterns covering the place and sitting down for a brief meditation. At the grand Seoul Subway Station, we stopped for refreshment at a lovely spot called Beans & Berries, where the gang stocked up on smoothies and pastries. It was back to the bustle of the city then, with a visit to Namdaemun Market, the oldest and largest market in Korea. We so...