Hi Mossies & Mosquitoes,
It’s Sagittarius szn and I have to ask - did they forget to press the off switch on 2025?
If this time loop of a December has been getting to you too, if you too are being smothered by the weight of EVERY DAMN THING that happened this year, let us commiserate together. (Worry not if you’re someone for whom this month has been just perfect. No shame in some schadenfreude).
I think of December as a time of returns. I would like to have followed that up with a cheery ‘returning to my self’ or ‘return home for the holidays’. But the truth is for me it has meant returning late from parties to find my watchman asleep and unwilling to let me into my own home. Re-filing my tax returns because my accountant made an error. Returning to the doctor’s office because I fell sick twice in one week. Trying to return a pair of leather pants that were definitely a mistake and realising they are un-returnable. Returning a loan. Having to return a great secret santa gift that turned out to have been for my neighbour (a tiramisu cake that didn’t have my name on it). All in all a great December.
We’re a sucker for great endings, aren’t we? If it didn’t end well, does it even matter?
The truth is I had a great 2025. I completed a master’s degree, a script, lots of fun projects and tons of work I’m proud of. I was there for my friends and my family. I lifted weights. I ate my proteins & my greens. I went to three new countries and only got lost twice in one of them. December was supposed to be a bright red cherry on top of this 12-month cake. But someone pulled out the wrong jenga block and I got caught in a sneak-attack from nazar demons.
What I'm trying to say is, it does matter.
The ending alone doesn’t a story make. It’s the bits and pieces. Your parents flying internationally for the first time just to see you graduate in March, that time your long-distance best friend showed up to surprise you back in May, that long weekend that gave you time to finish a book in July, or that badminton match you won in September (11-1). None of it goes away because of a day or a week or a month that slumps.
Granted, a bad ending leaves a sour taste in your mouth, but that’s why there’s tiramisu cake (even if you have to steal it from your neighbour).
Anyway, the real treasure was the podcasts we listened to along the way.
signing off w love n light,
aashna.
MOS TEAM MASTI: What the girlies are up to
Sakshi’s watching: The Housemaid Movie
Naina’s flipping through: She's a lamb by Meredith Hambrock
Amruta’s bingeing: Stranger Things & Emily in Paris
Natascha’s listening to: joy crookes, julia wolf, saoirse dream, & olivia dean
Aashna’s watching: Love, Actually.
Rhea’s rereading: Love and Misadventure by Lang Leav
Priyanka’s watching: Saving Face
Parthvi recommends: Pretty Woman
Hiral’s loving: My Oxford Year
And one thing we all DON’T recommend: Working on New Year’s Eve. Slam that laptop shut babe.
MOS CHAKNA: THINGS THAT DIDN’T MAKE IT TO THE POD
Emotional tears contain more protein: They carry stress-related proteins and hormones that aren’t in other types of tears
Marrying off son becoming difficult: Maharashtra family cancels wedding due to groom's low credit score. Dudes be needing to start including their credit score in their biodatas.
In case you want to go down a rabbithole: r/RaisedByIndianParents is a subreddit for anyone who feels guilty for living a double life.
WORD ON THE MIC IS
A couple everyone thinks is an endgame, is actually broken up behind the scenes. Fully together only for brand events. Haven’t had a real conversation in months. Communicate exclusively through shared calendars and PR managers. Love is alive but only on Instagram.
We’re quoting: Toni Morrison, who said:
" She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind."
MOS Recap: Previously on MOS…
Ep. 107 A Moment of Silence for Healing from Indian Parents: We got into how a lot of Indian parents reeeeally don’t want their kids to grow up. They want you educated and successful… but emotionally dependent forever. This episode is all about how to heal from this way of growing up.
Ep. 108 A Moment of Silence for the Things That Broke Us: There’s nothing a good cry can’t solve. So we cry - a lot. Over unordered noodles more than spilled milk. Over bullies and breakups. Over math problems and men. Over not hitting 100k (help us out man). Bonus: Crying over khichdi is on the menu too.
Ep. 109 A Moment of Silence for Embarrassing Relatives: Property kalesh is the great equaliser of the Indian joint family. An ode the chachus, buas, mamus, and maasis who turn every family gathering into psychological warfare.
Ep. 110 Black Friday Hauls, Cosmetic Treatments & UPI Fails: Why is everyone in Bandra either in pilates, in a cold plunge, swimming in matcha, or all three together? An episode calling out the ‘Living Bombay, Talking LA’ girl in all of us. Plus, confessing our worst impulse buys, unpacking the insane logistics of looking hot, and sharing stories of UPI failures.
Ep. 111 Wrong decisions, Life Lessons & Failure: “I thought my life was over” spirals, marrying the wrong man as a horror genre, internet drama, December madness, peak vulnerability, and zero life clarity. The point is, and rock bottom rocks sometimes. And you can make a comeback from absolutely anything.
