From Twinkle, with Love

by Sandhya Menon

Put the words of your heart in the pages as you put the images of your heart in your movies.”

When people love something so much it fuses with what they wear, I feel this instant connection to them. The melding of passion and fashion is the song of my people.

You have the ability to make people bare their real selves when you’re holding a camera, and not many people can do that.

Here was someone who was so passionate about his art, he refused to let small things like obscurity hold him back. He just leaped into it, somehow knowing he’d make it all work.

I should not be allowed to talk to boys. There should be a federal law. The Twinkle-Versus-Cute-Boy-Communication Act.

Sahil is like gentle sun on a winter’s day. You automatically want to turn your face to it and soak it up.

When she looks into my eyes, I can tell she’s just as captivated by me as I am by her. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this, but when we’re working together, I feel alive, like I’m me in a way I’ve never been before.

“We humans think we exist like this.” Dadi gestured to the powders in their individual bowls. “Apart. Single. Beautiful and vivid, but alone.”

“Then,” Dadi continued, “with each interaction with another soul, we begin to change.”

“We take pieces of them, and they take pieces of us. It’s not bad. It’s not good. It just is.”

“Our best friends, the ones we love the most, are the ones who can hurt us the most. Because look.” She pointed down to the powders. “We have had so many interactions with them, deep, meaningful interactions, that we cannot separate their pieces from ours. And if we try, we would only be getting rid of some of the best parts of ourselves.”