HeyJaredFrom Megha's leather notebook
Hi, I am Megha. This is a place where my inside thoughts come out to breathe.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 4
- Latest publication
- Sep 24, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 22, 2026
Latest issues
The deferred life of desi daughters (opens the original)
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I was home at my parents’, wearing PJ shorts, when my mum rushed over to me, all huffy and puffy, urging me to change into full-length pants. Me wearing shorts, she explained, made my dad sad. I was around 29 then and I swiftly went and changed into a more “respectable” outfit just to keep the peace.That’s the level of policing desi parents do within their own four walls, on behalf of a society that isn’t even in the room.If you grew up as a daughter in a typical desi household, you’ve probably
A home office and a nervous system under construction (opens the original)
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How does one transition seamlessly from a life of moving parts to something more stable? That’s a question I’ve been pondering about in the last few weeks. It might also explain why I’ve been feeling weird in the recent past. What is “seamless” to me, and does it even exist?You see, I recently took over the lease of the apartment that I’ve already been living in for two years. I also finished setting up my home office at the apartment after living like a feral cat for over two years where a desk
The figs I let fall (opens the original)
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I was recently introduced to the “fig tree” analogy by Sylvia Plath.<img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="1308" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p0o8!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubst
On the illusion of "choice" as a desi woman (opens the original)
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Recently, someone I know got married. She was around 25 and was an undergrad in a STEM field. It was an arranged marriage, which means the match was picked, evaluated, and approved by both sets of parents based on a list of criteria that includes but is not limited to caste, religion, social strata, social status. Things that my culture broadly calls “background”. The couple, after parental approval, were allowed to talk to each other and perhaps even meet in person in public spaces a few times
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