Brown Academia - Blog Posts

Desi Dark Academia

Wears Chicken embroidery Kurtas with pants to give the perfect combination of modern and traditional

Long, long haired women who always wear a braid to keep it out of their way

Glasses. Simple glasses. Removing them makes you look like a different person. Fuck contact lenses, you say

Have read The Mahabharata, The Bhagvad Gita, The Ramayana multiple times and analysed it to the point you know it better than your grandmother.

The stories of Akbar Birbal are a vivid part of your childhood

STEM students with an intense knowledge of history

Historical monuments splayed in ALL cities with their own history and stories

Havelis with squatters living in them

Villages.

Being Bilingual since birth, sometimes even knowing three languages before you enter primary school.

Your mother sitting you down, oiling your hair on Saturdays and braiding it for you

Your mother's gold bangles, which she got from her mother and will eventually be yours.

Mehndi. Weddings and Festivals which leave but intricate Mehndi designs that linger on women's hands for a while. Or your mother putting Mehndi in her hair because fuck chemical colors.

Haldi. Haldi is everything.

Your family cures and recipes.

KADAAS. Bitter Kaadas with herbs and spices that your maa, amma/daadi or nani forces you to drink because they're good for your health

Chai is the first thing in the morning. Or the last one at night. The calm that washes over you when you're in the midst of a late night study session as you make yourself a cup of chai in the middle of the night. Quietly, because everyone else is asleep.

If you felt a sudden lump throbbing in your chest when your narcissistic mother yelled your name; if your tears were so vivid but they chose to ignore it; if you sat naked in front of a mirror, with legs parted and felt disgusted by your own moans; if your texts to them exceeded the limit; trust me I feel you! Please don't give up, the spring is coming!

Her Schrödinger's Cat, Sixth Insight

South asian Dark Academia

• Reading poems and stories of Rumi, Hafez, Iqbal, Ghani khan and Manto.

• Wanting to learn how to speak Arabic, Persian, Hindi, and Urdu.

• Being bilingual or multilingual by birth.

• STEM students with an interest in Art and rich knowledge in History.

• You know exactly what to do with 6 yards of fabric; look fabulous in a Saree.

• Wearing your hair in braids to keep it out of your face.

• Always looking forward to eating your mother's homemade Biryani. Nothing tastes spicy enough.

• The shelves of your kitchen are filled with colourfull jars of Masalas (spices).

• Haldi is literaly the cure for everything.

• Chai is your addiction. It calms you down and you get a headache when you miss your daily dose of chai.

• The smell of Mehendi / Henna when women are applying it in ardous designs on their hands and feet at weddings and festivals.