Before The Noise Begins

Some stories don’t begin with sound. They begin in stillness, a quiet moment before the noise begins, where you finally stand face-to-face with your reflection. A moment that no matter how hard you try, you can't hide from. You try and try until you can't. And then you realize, it's not the moment. It's you.

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Welcome to Rooh Sheesha, a space that gently holds both image and word, the fusion between what is seen and what is felt. Here, we reflect the many layers of the self: emotion, identity, contradiction, and belonging.

Rooh Sheesha is the mirror of my soul — delicate, reflective, and sometimes a little fogged by time, silence, or shame. But this is more than just my mirror. This is a lens of softness, truth, and shared humanity. My photography reflects how I see the world, but also how I wish others would see it too. 

A place to love, to grow, to cherish. 

Our thoughts frame our understanding of the world around us. And I hope these reflections, visual and written, arrive to you with care.

I’ve carried many stories with me for years. Some have lived in long conversations I’ve had with friends and family, for hours on end—during a roadtrip with my father, watching the storm pass by with my Nana Ji, or in a passing moment with a random woman having a garage sale in my neighborhood.

Meaningful stories can come from anywhere. 

Buried beneath this idea that I need to keep my stories to myself, is a version of me who wishes I had said more. Stories are a form of sharing love. They carry on traditions, visions, knowledge.

Silence isn’t always sacred, as I've come to realize. Silence is sometimes suffocating.

So I write, to honor the version of me that believes this world needs better responses to:

How have you been?

Good.

Just busy.

Nothing new.

Is that all we are? 

People with programmed answers? 

This space is my response to that emptiness—a space that gives language to the messier truths we carry. I want to write about what it means to live in-between cultures, to perform and ache in silence, to feel not quite enough and yet feel like you're too much. 

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Rooh Sheesha is an invitation to be real. 

Some thoughts here will be soft. Others sharp. 

You’ll find ways to embrace your identity, to belong where you never felt you would.

This space is a mirror. 

Not always perfect. Not always shining. 

It bends and blurs, but it always reflects the truth. 

If you carry stories in your chest, ideas that never had a place to land… this place is for you. 

Welcome to Rooh Sheesha, a place where I will bring photography and the art of pondering to you. 

From the millions of mirrors in this world, find the one that reflects your soul.

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Unless stated otherwise, everything shared — from words to visuals — is original. Please do not copy, repost, or reuse without permission.