Indian Dark Academia - Blog Posts

//What happens when fire makes love to the earth?//

saanjh ab bhayi nahi aaye / tum bin mora jiya ghabaraye.

desi dark academia mood board

eldest child. artistic, botany student. hiding behind saccharin smiles and soft frowns. voice tingling until it stops serenading. will the expectations ever stop?

sing to me to me, Aaranya. the forest you grew around yourself, is humming, with the vibrations of your music.

✨ANCIENT INDIA AESTHETIC MOODBOARD✨

For @suvarnarekha

Some people who might like this one: @the-stars-love-us @nacho08 @seekerbrave @ambivertedfrog @psycho-mocha @kajukatliontop @wowyoufeelorphic @edeneko @jugn00 @smr-the-tired-crackhead @metalvenomludens7 @cipher-dorito @i-wanna-b-yours @elentiyathemoonelf @bookishmuggleborn @hecalledmebeloved @tonicaballos @curious-fruitcake @shirothestrangewolf @naimittika @justalonelywriter @chaoticaindica @asitarakta @nikkixravenclaw @whimsicalamities @book-dragon-not-worm @adoginthemanger

Man Kyun Behka Re Behka Aadhi Raat Ko

She lay on the bed with the man dancing away to the rhythms of his own pleasure. Yes, he was just a man....She couldn't remember his name. It didn't even matter. She didn't care anymore. Her mind had danced away into the humble room filled with the scent of the jasmines adorning her hair. Is this how Krishna's flute sounded to Radha?....The way her quiet giggles sound to her?......The way she has stolen her sleep just like Krishna stole Radha's heart. The entire day seemed like a dream. But the night was ethereal. Their hearts spoke after years. She felt like she was not alone after so long. Their joy was drunk in moonlight and their laughter heralded the moonrise.

Why did her heart feel so restless that midnight?

She wanted to keep hearing the sounds of her anklets. For one night that music was only for her. She had said that her anklets were singing differently that night. They had laughed and then she had looked at her...Into her eyes, her soul...Not just her body. She had smiled and looked away. Is that the shyness her mother used to tell her about? The one which was supposed to come swooping down like a veil whenever her husband looked at her but never did? Why did the sindoor feel so different when she put it on her forehead? It hadn't felt like that in the ten years of her marriage. They had talked that night....Talked of life, of sorrows that had so long been confined within the four walls of their hearts. Nights had always been quiet....But that night rang with the words that had been buried under the shadows of loneliness.

Why did her heart feel so restless that midnight?

Desi dark academia 🍂

'i don't believe in magic' the young boy said . 'you will when you see her' the old man replied smiling .

~atticus

desi dark academia set in south india

"girlhood was as ephemeral as a drop of water on a lily pad." // chitra banerjee divakaruni, the forest of enchantments

dark academia moodboard set in uttar pradesh, india

"in the softened light i too am able to look at the taj without screwing up my eyes. as the boy said, it does not change. therein lies beauty." // ruskin bond, footloose in agra

Arre jhumka gira re Bareily ke bazaar me in jhumka gira re

तू जहाँ जहाँ चलेगा मेरा साया साथ होगा मेरा साया साथ होगा…

कभी मुझको याद करके, जो बहेंगे तेरे आँसू तो वहीं पे रोक लेंगे, उन्हें आ के मेरे आँसू

मैं अगर बिछड़ भी जाऊँ, कभी मेरा ग़म न करना मेरा प्यार याद करके, कभी आँख नम न करना

तू कोई जनम भी लेगा मेरा साया साथ होगा…

I would have opened this letter with a ‘dear’, however I wondered for a long time if it would indeed be a correct way for me to address you, after all this time. A lifetime seems to have passed between that evening of 1952 and now, sometimes even making me feel that I have slept through the last 30 years. I would often look at faces of my children and grandchildren, wondering if I am stuck in some never ending dream from which I might wake up any minute now. My hair has greyed in the fringes of my temple and forehead, my smile is showing signs of wrinkle and my fingers feel heavy. It’s not a terrible feeling, I enjoy my experiences most of the time, but sometimes my body feels like it is living the life of someone else. And that in a different timeline I am still there playing with you behind that tree.  Is it still there? I was so sure I will forget everything, you, those lanes, that house and all else. Are you also there? Do you also, like me, go to sleep in the expectation of reliving our lives till 16 years of age again and again, like listening to a record on loop or going to see one particular cinema multiple times? If you are coming back from there, can you accompany me back to myself as well please?

This night seems to be taking all away from me again. The moon is cruel.

The Recognition of Śakuntalā, Kālidāsa/Sappho and Phao, John Lyle/Raja Ravi Varma

Deewangi ki had maine nochi, o parvardigara

- Yeh Fitoor Mera, Arijit Singh

Dark academia moodboard set in Mumbai

//That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.//

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Some people who might like this one:@suvarnarekha @the-stars-love-us @seekerbrave @strawberryphrogg @psycho-mocha @kajukatliontop @wowyoufeelorphic @edeneko @jugn00 @smr-the-tired-crackhead @metalvenomludens7 @cipher-dorito @anyataylurjoy @bookishmuggleborn @tonicaballos @curious-fruitcake @shirodumbclownwolf @justalonelywriter @chaoticaindica @sr1nika @book-dragon-not-worm @adoginthemanger @shilabalika @elentiyathemoonelf @ya-boi-leto @paadhee @silky-moon @rainbowsnowflake @leenkiyakepapahihihi @chandanbala @rasikata @one-happy-silent-geek-girl @wylanvanhendricks @himasikta @gulab-ja-moon @bookavert @balladofableedinggod2112 @allegoriesinmediasres

non Eurocentric cottagecore moodboard [3/? ] for:@ya-boi-leto

Some people who might like this one:@suvarnarekha @the-stars-love-us @seekerbrave @strawberryphrogg @psycho-mocha @kajukatliontop @wowyoufeelorphic @edeneko @hoziestgf @smr-the-tired-crackhead @metalvenomludens7 @cipher-dorito @sukiwaterhousegf @bookishmuggleborn @tonicaballos @curious-fruitcake @shirodumbclownwolf @justalonelywriter @chaoticaindica @nikkixravenclaw @book-dragon-not-worm @adoginthemanger @crazy-beautiful @shilabalika @elentiyathemoonelf @ya-boi-leto @paadhee @silky-moon @balladofableedingpoet @rainbowsnowflake @leenkiyakepapahihihi @chandanbala @rasikata @one-happy-silent-geek-girl @fuckthepatriarchytv @yathamanasam @gulab-ja-moon

Meera

Rana vish ro pyala bheja

Piya magan hoya

Meera ri lagan lagya

Kodh ho jo gaya....

Kahaniyaaañ khti haiñ kalakariyañ

Desi Dark Academia

Wears Chicken embroidery Kurtas with pants to give the perfect combination of modern and traditional

Long, long haired women who always wear a braid to keep it out of their way

Glasses. Simple glasses. Removing them makes you look like a different person. Fuck contact lenses, you say

Have read The Mahabharata, The Bhagvad Gita, The Ramayana multiple times and analysed it to the point you know it better than your grandmother.

The stories of Akbar Birbal are a vivid part of your childhood

STEM students with an intense knowledge of history

Historical monuments splayed in ALL cities with their own history and stories

Havelis with squatters living in them

Villages.

Being Bilingual since birth, sometimes even knowing three languages before you enter primary school.

Your mother sitting you down, oiling your hair on Saturdays and braiding it for you

Your mother's gold bangles, which she got from her mother and will eventually be yours.

Mehndi. Weddings and Festivals which leave but intricate Mehndi designs that linger on women's hands for a while. Or your mother putting Mehndi in her hair because fuck chemical colors.

Haldi. Haldi is everything.

Your family cures and recipes.

KADAAS. Bitter Kaadas with herbs and spices that your maa, amma/daadi or nani forces you to drink because they're good for your health

Chai is the first thing in the morning. Or the last one at night. The calm that washes over you when you're in the midst of a late night study session as you make yourself a cup of chai in the middle of the night. Quietly, because everyone else is asleep.

Indian Dark Academia>>>>

(photos belong to me, do not repost without credits!)

concept: two indian high school girls fall in love, desi dark academia style. imagine them carefully braiding each other’s hair in the school restroom while discussing mughal history. sneaking an old ipod to school and listening to sufi and carnatic music together on the weary bus ride back home. doing everything together, they’re as inseparable as two girl best friends can get. going to book stores or libraries on weekends and spending hours reading sitting next to each other, and then having an intense discussion over chai and vada pav at a small stand. coming back from coaching classes in the evenings, holding hands as their jhumkas twinkle under the streetlights. texting each other at 5 in the morning while stuck on homework. holding hands, hugging ten times a day and cheek kisses are normal, and they never realize their feelings for each other until an accidental forehead touch in a doorway, glancing at each other’s lips and breathing heavily. not choosing to date for fear of ruining their academic careers and remaining best friends. finally getting together when by a stroke of good luck, they both make it to their common dream college and have a celebratory kiss when one goes to the others house to break the good news in person. just, two desi girls falling in love; enamored by the world around them, its knowledge and each other.

Indian Dark Academia - Delhi (mystery academia)

You spend most of your summer afternoons roaming around the monuments, marveling over the minds of people long gone. you find an old vendor outside Qutub Minar, seated with large stacks of books in front of her. Secrets Of Delhi, the cover of the one hidden beneath the rest says. The vendor mumbles its price and you ignore the chill you feel crawling down your spine when you catch her smiling at you.

The dim light of your candle flickers as you flip through the pages of the book the vendor sold to you. The moon hangs low in the sky, as if intent to see what mysteries you'll unveil. What the Sultans tried to hide, stories buried by time, dangerous lores that might be true; you feel the words sear into your eyes. You brush them off as fictional gibberish as you get ready for bed but you couldn't shake off the feeling that you're being watched. The shadows in the corner of your room shift as if in confirmation.

You vaguely remember your history professor mentioning a mad astrologer who claimed there was a "disastrous" planetary alignment during 1757. Exactly a century before the First War of Independence. You cannot help but think of him now as you run your hand over the walls of Jantar Mantar.

You're strolling through the Red Fort and you find undecipherable inscriptions on a pillar of the Diwan-i-khas. You let your fingers trace the letters as you realize that something strange happened here.

The voices of a hundred sufi saints ring in your ears and your dreams are haunted with memories that aren't yours. You catch glimpses of harems and princesses dancing. A sword dripping with blood and a body buried in the hush of the night. Ruins of deserted mughal palaces where you could still hear the voice of a wailing woman. Delhi's beautiful but she's got her secrets.

" Ik my love should be celebrated,but you tolerate it "

- Taylor Swift ( Tolerate it )

" तू मेरी पहली ज़िद थी , जो पूरी न हो सकी "

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

" कोई पुछ रहा हे मुजसे मेरी जीन्दगी की कीमंत मुझे याद आ रहा है तेरा हल्के से मुस्कुराना "

- गुलजार साहब

.

.

.

.

.

#

Our ways parted but our souls didn't-)RB

Picture source: Pinterest

A true classic never goes out of style - Chucky

Picture source: Pinterest

Ravenclaw girl (desi) moodboard

Picture source: Pinterest

POV : When Jhumka is your soulmate

Picture source : Pinterest

Slytherin girl (desi)moodboard

Picture source : Pinterest

Face claim: Mrina Menon

Harry Potter Character Imagine:

Mrina Menon as Andromeda Tonks

Picture source: Pinterest