NIDHI PARALIKAR

Confused. Angry. Sensitive in a way nobody had language for. I was the worst version of myself at 13, and it took years to understand why. This piece is about what Indian teenagers are carrying right now: the data, the pressure, the social media they didn't ask to grow up inside, and the world that got harder to trust. And about why a room where none of that has to be performed might be the most important thing we build.

A shared language for their own experiences is developed. Peer support structures are built between them, independently of any hierarchy. And crucially, they understand from the inside what experiential learning actually feels like.

On returning to theatre and filmmaking after years away. A personal essay about saying yes again, facing past trauma, and finally taking that leap of faith.