Dreaming in Powai

In between I picture myself in the middle of a normal day in my apartment in Powai, Bombay, and it feels like I’ve stepped into a slightly magical version of my own life. Sunlight coming  through the balcony doors, my coffee steaming on the side table, golden retriever lying across the floor like he owns the place (because, honestly, he does). Old books stacked in messy piles, some open, some hiding secrets, a soft couch that’s become my thinking corner, a big mirror where I take way too many mirror selfies, and plants that somehow survive my chaotic care ... all of it blending into this little universe that’s mine.

Music is always playing.Sometimes loud enough for me to forget the world outside. I dance sometimes, just like I used to in hostel rooms, jumping, spinning, laughing at myself like no one’s watching. The dog barks once, judgmental but loving, and it somehow makes it feel real. I sip coffee while staring out at the city, letting thoughts drift: about people, mistakes, chaos, tiny heartbreaks that taught me more than anything else.

I imagine conversations I’ll have, stories I’ll tell, the days I’ll spend curled on the balcony with my journal, writing half truths and half dreams. Sometimes I think about the ones who left little marks on me ...friends, crushes, fleeting moments .... and how those scars make me feel alive, not broken. Other times I think about the present, the small routines, the laughter, the messiness of being me, overthinking and dreaming in the same heartbeat.

Evenings are the best. The city hums below, a soft, endless soundtrack, and I watch the lights blink like tiny secrets. My coffee is now cold, the dog snores beside me, and the world somehow feels still. My couch, my balcony, my books, my music, my chaos ....it’s all here. It’s everything I didn’t know I needed and everything I can hold onto.

And I stay there, somewhere between dreaming and living, messy and calm.... Spinning in my own little world, letting my thoughts tumble over each other, letting my heart do what it wants while the golden retriever snores, my plants grow, and the city continues....... ig this is what it means to feel alive. ...