New Versions of Old Love

Smriti M.

• Artist Statement

  This essay grew from a moment in my kitchen when I realized I was tired of treating my father's diabetes like an enemy to defeat. I wanted to write about the small, sticky ways we adapt to illness, not with grand gestures, but with burnt oat bars and jaggery jars that sit unopened on counters. The beeping glucose monitor became a metronome for the piece. At first, it represented everything frightening about chronic illness. By the end, it's just rhythm, proof that we're still here, still trying. This is about reclaiming sweetness without sugar, and finding new versions of old love when the recipes we knew no longer work.

• Creative Statement

  Creativity is refusing to let loss have the final word. It's taking what breaks, a recipe, a routine, a body, and finding new forms that still hold love. It's proof that adaptation isn't surrender. It's how we stay whole when the world insists we're broken.