Inspired Sweets

I've only been to Dubai and it felt enough. I got the distinct sense that I was far from the target demographic for that place but as it was good to have my curiosity satisfied and I still have the wonderful floral teas and oud I got from the souk. Now that there is an immersive chocolate experience to look forward as well, a layover may well be in order. The idea of integrating exotic Middle Eastern flavors like Baklava and Knafeh into chocolates sounds ingenious, the best of both worlds. Multi-sensory experience with chocolate involved can only be a wonderful thing. 

While the knafeh and Baklava chocolate trend started and remains deeply rooted in the Middle East, it is part of a larger global trend of exotic, culturally inspired chocolate flavors gaining popularity across continents. Consumers worldwide are increasingly seeking out adventurous, premium chocolates that incorporate regional and heritage flavors, making this trend truly global rather than limited to the Middle East. There are a lot of great options from India too. Wasabi and black sesame chocolate might resonate with folks who are know those tastes in many forms in their cooking, the same is true for a Thandai themed chocolate for someone from India. I tried it with some hesitation not knowing what to expect but was very glad that I did. 

Bridging Gap

I have had the misfortune of dealing with overzealous yet inexperienced UX teams that insist on being in the driver's seat in every situation where a customer is involved. The tension between UX-led discovery and product managers’ broader strategic goals becomes an unsurmountable challenge where roles aren’t clearly aligned (which is an astonishingly common problem). When UX teams drive discovery without balancing user needs with core functionality, business viability, or technical feasibility, products often fail to address critical customer jobs-to-be-done (JTBD), leading to poor adoption. 

Misalignment unfolds at a terrific clip and so collaboration is key. But that is easier said than done. There are UX leaders who believe only their teams are qualified to run discovery with customers, others can participate but that's about all. I have had entire engineering teams storm out of such misguided sessions with customers who had no idea why they had been invited, never to return. Trust is irreparably broken and the front end engineer will proceed to ignore any and all ideas from UX as impractical and not engineering ready. A 2025 study found that 70% of product failures stem from poor UX and misaligned functionality. Example: A fintech app with sleek UI but missing bulk payment processing (a core JTBD for business users) will fail despite its design.

I love this author's perspective on transforming UX research from raw data and isolated findings into strategic insights that explain why issues occur and what should be done to improve outcomes. Applying this approach can help resolve the problem where UX teams focus myopically on experience without addressing core functionality and JTBD. By fostering insight-driven collaboration and linking UX work directly to business impact, companies can build products that are both usable and indispensable, improving adoption and overall success.

Seeking Repair

I own a pair of  beautiful silk tunics I got from India several years ago and did not have enough time to get altered so they fit me. Once I got back, they went to the far end of my wardrobe waiting for inspiration to strike. In theory, I could do the job myself, it would take time and a lot of patience because this is not something I have much practice with. I made a couple of abortive attempts at the alterations but gave up in frustration. 

This is a great time of year to wear them and I mentioned it to my friend B who lives in London. She told me about M&S Fixed by SOJO. It is apparently a dedicated clothing repair and alterations service launched by Marks & Spencer  in partnership with SOJO, a UK-based, Black woman-owned repair platform. It allows M&S customers to book a range of clothing repairs, such as zip replacements and invisible knitwear mending, through an online hub. Customers can send their M&S garments for repair either via collection (in London) or by post, and receive their restored items back within seven to ten days with prices starting at £5. 

A service like that but not limited to any singular store brand would be so amazing to have in the US. I long believed that JonAnn's should get into this line of work, offer customer affordable tailoring and repair services. They experienced a surge in sales during the early pandemic as consumers took up DIY projects, but this demand faded as life normalized, leaving the company with excess inventory and declining sales, leading to bankruptcy. Too bad they did not harness that burst of energy and enthusiasm from customers while it lasted. 

Pet Parent

 According to this article, dog ownership is increasingly seen as a way to satisfy the human urge to nurture and form close bonds, potentially contributing to lower birth rates in some societies. Both rising dog ownership and declining birth rates (which some research show can be related) are symptoms of changing social networks. As traditional forms of community and partnership become less stable or harder to establish, people increasingly turn to pets to fulfill needs for companionship and nurturing.

Furry children allow their owners to achieve emotional outcomes similar to those of traditional parents, including positive emotions, social support, and a sense of purpose. By fulfilling this need for dependence and costing less time and money than human children, parenting dogs is a win-win situation. 

There was a woman I worked with once who referred to her dogs by name only, never as dogs, When I first got to know her, I just assumed they were her two kids and did not even bother to confirm. It was almost as if she made a deliberate effort to not give away (at least immediately) that they were dogs not children. I remember feeling surprised to learn of their canine identity but realized that she had not been trying to hide that to begin with. It's just that her degree of attachment and love for them was akin for a mother's love for her kids. That was the source of confusion but it probably should not have been. 

Smelling Death

Even simple organisms like worms are sensitive to the presence of death in their environment, and this awareness can alter their behavior, reproduction, and longevity. Reading this got me thinking about a smell that was an integral part of my childhood. I had an ailing grandfather who lived with my uncle's family in Kolkata. When we visited, I remember hesitating to walk into the room where he lived. There was a smell of sadness and decay there that I did not like. Time did not move there like it did in the rest of the world. It seemed to swirl around in a dankness, ever so slowly. He lived in that state for a long time, granted at that age my entire lifetime was shorter than the number of years that he had been ill. 

It was better to go into his room during the day when all the windows were opened, the smell dissipated a bit but it was never fully gone. There was real division between the threshold of that room and the rest of the house. You stepped in feeling one way and stepped out feeling another. He was remarkably cheerful considering his bed-ridden condition and tried to be part of our lives the best he could. I never felt that the smell was a representation of his mental state, it was a reflection of where he was on his passage to the end of his life. After his demise, the room felt integral to the rest of the house. It took a while for the remnants of that smell to die out. 

Digital Nomads

For a while, being a digital nomad was the ultimate escape and the pinnacle of worklife balance and on budget. This article talks about things that have since changed. Living expenses in traditional nomad hubs like Bali, Barcelona, and Lisbon have surged, eroding the financial advantages of “geoarbitrage.” Accommodation, food, and everyday costs are up, and even less popular destinations are becoming pricier as demand grows. 

Navigating visas is a major headache, especially for those with “weaker” passports. New digital nomad visas often have high income requirements and confusing rules, and frequent visa runs are costly and stressful. Bureaucracy and ever-changing regulations deter many from pursuing or sustaining the lifestyle. Notwithstanding all the challenges, this way of life is attractive to many and might be the best option for some given their alternatives: 

With 60 million digital nomads predicted to have joined the ranks by 2030, the lifestyle — despite, or even because of its challenges — remains alluring. For the knowledge workers who are forcibly displaced due to war, climate disaster, or fears of persecution, digital nomadism offers the chance to earn, even when on the move.

For today’s remote workers, change is the only constant, and roaming patterns will continue to shift, as people adapt and find ways to thrive amid global change.

Minimal Outrage

A lifelong fan on Kholapuri sandals of which I have owned several over the years, I was very disappointed that the design was used by Prada without proper attribution. Yet, this would hardly be the first time, the art and artistry of India has been misappropriated by the West. I love wearing my cotton and silk kurtis, made in India by local artisans, uninfluenced by what the western eye would find "chic".

I am just happy to wear the clothes that are familiar and comfortable to me, there is novelty just being myself while far away from home. I find it both amusing and frustrating to see Indian inspired designs in the local department stores. Nothing about it  feels warm, open and accepting. They had to emasculate what is bold and bright about the spirit of India until it turned bland enough for local levels of tolerance. This is a form of misappropriation and has been going on forever. Prada decided to take things several steps further and hence the outrage.

..designer Aprajita Toor succinctly puts it, “Fashion isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about ancestry. What’s often missing on global platforms is context, credit, and collaboration. If our heritage adorns international ramps, let it do so with its head held high, its story intact, and its people acknowledged.”

The same reaction is warranted every time, fashion is "borrowed" from India and taken through a full western sanitization process to make it acceptable to the world. But we never express such outrage and take the death by thousand cuts as destiny. To add insult to injury, many of these western adaptations find their way back to India and turn into local staples to the great detriment of what is traditional to India. Then comes the LV Kanjeevaram sarees, following a long line of western logos plastered on random articles of clothing made in India. I wish we'd do better than just copy and paste, add a side of phulkari to the Burberry plaid.