Inks and Reels

Your growth is real even if it doesn’t look like what you see online. Don’t compare your journey to somebody else’s - you don’t know where they started, which resources they had, how long they’ve been doing it, how many times they failed, etc. So, keep going!!! In your own way♥️

I chose literature as my degree, masters, and for profession. People often ask me what is the use of literature, when I read people ask why you are wasting time. When I write, people ask me who is going to read this crap? When I analyse a film, people ask why this is important? We need to know we are not alone.  - William Nicholson Before I learned to write my name, I learned how to feel through stories. The bedtime tales my father told were not just distractions - they were windows into worlds I hadn't seen, but somehow knew. Even now, long after I have grown up and moved through different cities, roles, and realities, literature continues to be the one constant that listens, speaks and says. In a world that moves fast, where screens flicker endlessly and news changes by the minute, it's tempting to ask: Is literature still relevant? The answer is: more than ever. Literature is not just about reading novels, poetry or even watching a movie. It is the a...

The room was dark and silent. It barely looked like two people were living in it. There were no windows to open—not because they chose to keep them closed, but because none existed. The air conditioning was faulty, yet somehow they could still breathe. It was a jail. The rich preferred to call it a prison, but inside those concrete walls, wealth and status didn’t matter. Everyone there had been punished for something they did. In this room lived two thieves. One was Emerald—tall, dark, and strong. His silence made him intimidating, and his chiselled build betrayed a lifetime of hardship. He rarely spoke, but when he did, he often stared into the emerald ring he wore—perhaps as a reminder of his crime. He had stolen a priceless emerald from a museum, only to be caught soon after. The other was Harry, who had a gentler face. He was tall and handsome, with lips that were unnaturally red and light brown eyes that glinted even in the dim light. His crime was poetic in its own way—he had sto...

Hello beautiful people😍... First and foremost, thank you to each one who takes time and energy to read my little words. Some of your comments feel like warm hugs, and that means the world to me. In a world that cheers louder for vlogs than blogs, you give me the freedom and courage to keep writing❤️.  Ever since I restarted my blogging, I have been choosing topics that come straight from my heart. I have always felt this deep urge to express what I think, feel, create.  Today I had planned to write a short story (I have the idea tucked safely in my head - just waiting for the right words to find me). But something else bubbled up- something honest and personal. A thought that came randomly, but felt important: Me Time. There are days I feel like a background character in my own life. From packing lunch at dawn to winding up chores at dusk, life keeps happening around me. Somewhere in between, I began to wonder - where am I in all this? That's when the idea of...

Can we read cinema? Is it just watching images on screen? Is it only about visuals???? In this blog, I want to share my thoughts on this. You may not know, I am currently working as an assistant professor. For my first-semester students, I teach a paper titled READING CINEMA. I am quite new to this paper, but what I truly enjoy is my love for cinema. In my recent class, I asked my students a simple question: Why is the paper titled ‘Reading Cinema’ and not ‘Watching Cinema’? Their eyes sparkled with curiosity. When we say “reading” cinema, we are not just talking about watching the story unfold on screen. Reading involves the story unfolding on screen. Reading involves interpretation - just like how we read between the lines in a poem or notice subtle emotions in a novel, films too are full of layers. A close-up shot may reveal a character’s inner struggle. The background music might tell us something that words don’t. The lighting, costume, silence, and even pauses - ever...

Hello readers, For a long time, I stopped reading. Life got busy, days felt short, and books quietly moved to the back of the shelf. But recently, something changed (which I mentioned in my last blog https://inksandreels.blogspot.com/2025/07/my-return-to-reading-after-long-break.html). One day, I picked up a book — and it felt like coming back to an old friend. In the past month, I’ve slowly started reading again. It hasn’t been perfect or planned, but it’s been beautiful. Each book reminded me how calming, inspiring, and exciting reading can be. Today, I’m sharing the first five (okay, six!) books that helped me fall back in love with reading — and maybe, they’ll inspire you too. THINK STRAIGHT by Darius Foroux I’m not really into motivational books, but this one surprised me. It’s short, clear, and honestly, gave me a fresh way of thinking. The best part? It helped me understand the power of saying NO (both to people and to my mind) when something doesn’t feel...

Hello, readers… Welcome to Inks and Reels ❤️ When I first started blogging, many people asked me,“Why blogging? Why not vlogging?” “Who even reads these days?” Honestly, I had those doubts too. But slowly, I began to discover a quiet community — people who still love to read. The comments on my last blog were proof of that. They weren’t just numbers; they were real words from real people who read, felt, and responded. —https://inksandreels.blogspot.com/2025/07/meena-and-me-lesson-in-kindness.html  (you can see for yourself if I’m making this up!) And that’s why I write. That’s why I’m here, once again — sharing something from the heart. In this blog, I want to take you through: • What made me want to read again • The books I chose • How reading changed me • And whether I want to keep reading What made me want to read again? I was stuck in a reading slump. I hadn’t read a book since 2021 — quite a long break, wasn’t it? In April, I took a vacation. Travelling, exploring ...