What I do for fun
Cooking & Baking
Cooking found me during COVID, when I started digging through New York Times recipes just to have something to do. It turned into a bit of an obsession — I spent months chasing the perfect chocolate chip cookie, moved on to macarons because they're notoriously hard to get right, and kept going with bread and meringues until my parents finally asked me to put a lid on the baking and cook some actual dinners. What keeps me hooked is the creativity — no two attempts turn out quite the same. Cooking Indian food is also one of the ways I stay connected to my heritage, and sharing what I make with friends and family is honestly half the fun.
Skiing
I've been skiing since I was four, and it's one of the few things I've never gotten tired of. There's something about being out on the mountain — just you, the snow, and the trees — that feels like being one with nature in a way nothing else quite matches. It's also a sport that rewards you for showing up without ever demanding it: I keep getting a little better every season, at my own pace. Some of my best memories with family and friends have happened on the slopes, chasing new runs and new mountains together.
Traveling
As a kid, traveling just meant a fun outing — a new playground to explore, wherever we landed. I've come to appreciate it a lot more as I've gotten older. Whether it's visiting my grandparents in India or exploring Japan with my classmates and teachers junior year, traveling has opened my eyes to how differently the world can see the same idea. I'm endlessly fascinated by how a concept can show up in a totally different form once you look at it through another culture's lens.
Movies
I'm a through-and-through movie buff — animated classics like The Lego Movie, Kung Fu Panda, and Inside Out, the entire run of superhero movies, Star Wars, Harry Potter, sci-fi like Interstellar, historical epics like The Odyssey — if it's a good story, I'm in. What fascinates me most is the craft behind it: how a director can make you feel an entire emotion through nothing but a scene, a piece of music, an actor's expression, or even just the angle of the light.
