The Bollywood Explanation Project
Flame Tree Fiction
Shilpa Varma
Recent Posts
Topics: Between Worlds, Writer in Residence, lifeinlondon
The Weather Conversation Conspiracy
Or: How I Became That Person Who Photographs Clouds
I knew something had changed when I found myself in a deep conversation about clouds — with the postman. Neither of us had a meteorology degree. But there we were, earnestly dissecting the sky like it had just made a controversial political statement. That’s when I realised: I’ve been fully inducted into Britain’s unofficial national pastime — talking about the weather like it owes us rent.
Just last week, I caught myself saying — with actual emotion — “Shame about the grey rolling in after such a lovely morning.”I was talking to my husband, who looked up from stirring a pot of curry like I’d just delivered bad news from the bank. The skies had turned. And so, apparently, had I.
Topics: Between Worlds, Writer in Residence, lifeinlondon
The Day My London Bus Had an Emotional Breakdown
(And Other Transport Tales)
Let me tell you a London truth: you haven’t really lived here until a bus you were on has suddenly decided it doesn’t want to be a bus anymore.
The sign lights up: ‘This bus terminates here’
No warning, no explanation. Just a very British act of quiet resignation. Like the bus had an emotional breakdown mid-route, whispered “I can’t anymore” to itself, and checked out of the system.
Cue twelve confused passengers standing in the drizzle, collectively staring at a vehicle that’s just retired early — probably to pursue watercolour painting or therapy. I look at the sky (grey, obviously), then at my phone, which optimistically suggests there is another bus ‘in 4 minutes.’ Of course, it's lying. Again.
Welcome to London’s transport system: a marvel of design, obsessed with punctuality, easily bruised by a single drop of rain.
Topics: Between Worlds, Writer in Residence, lifeinlondon
Growing Up At 18 VS Growing Up At 18
Let me tell you about the day my son turned 18 in London and I realised I had successfully raised what my mother would diplomatically call ‘a coconut’ - brown on the outside, white on the inside, and completely alien to the concept that adulthood is a community project requiring minimum fifteen opinions from relatives you see twice a year.
Topics: Between Worlds, Writer in Residence, Birthday Celebration, 18th Birthday, First Generation Immigrant, lifeinlondon
When The Husband Becomes The House Husband
Let me tell you about the day I realised I had become something that would make my grandmother perform emergency prayers for my soul: a wife whose husband stays home while she brings home the bacon (Roti in my case).
Topics: Between Worlds, Writer in Residence, lifeinlondon, Immigrant couple, Migration
Confessions of a Reformed Queue-Jumper
Let me tell you about the day I discovered I had become a monster. Not the kind that lurks under beds or haunts Victorian mansions, but something far more sinister: a person who actually enjoys queuing. Yes, you read that right. I now derive genuine satisfaction from standing in perfectly spaced lines, and frankly, I'm not sure if this is personal growth or a complete personality breakdown.
Topics: Between Worlds, Writer in Residence
When I stepped into Flame Tree Publishing's London office as their new writer-in-residence, I couldn't help but smile at the turn life had taken. Two and a half years ago, I traded Mumbai's relentless pulse for London's literary and artistic heartbeat - a journey that has been more than geographical. It's been a migration of perspective, pace, and creative purpose.
Topics: Between Worlds, Writer in Residence