Trinetra Haldar

The only devil one should be selling their soul to is a doll. That’s all. Wearing @ekayabanaras x @beezsharma HMU @makeupbyamijethwa Photos @abeemanyousee Jewels @bhavyarameshjewelry Bag @prada Eyewear @gucci Styled by me, hehe. Eat.

Paint ‘em red, dolls. In and for @amitaggarwalofficial AM:IT Runway (@i.am.it ) @lakmefashionwk @fdciofficial ♥️ So beautiful! Jewels @tribebyamrapali Photos @pranjalasha Makeup @makeupbyamijethwa Hair @hairbyprekshaanandu

For the @elleindia Fashion Soirée, celebrating 30 years of Elle India! Thanks for having me, @aineenizamiahmedi ❤️ Felt colourful, as per usual. What a beautiful Patola saree this was! This year, I’m wondering who I am outside of womanhood - I’m asking, who are you? What is your creative voice? How would you like that to show up in your day-to-day, in your wardrobe, in your friend and work circles? What does that mean for the art you’d like to make, cut off from 5-second long trends? What is the kind of legacy you’d like to create? What fun these photos were to shoot! (Thanks, Madhavi!) saree @kankatala_ jewellery @tribebyamrapali shoes @gucci hair @hairby_shivanik styling @who_wore_what_when photographer @pranjalasha

2015, papers leaked. Results cancelled. We didn’t have NEET in 2015 yet, but had AIPMT instead. Years of studying, busting our behinds at coaching institutions and high school, ruthless competition - all of the work’s value gone overnight. Thankfully, there were several other exams then, and I attempted about 8 or 9. It was through Karnataka CET that I’d secured admission at KMC, Manipal, and therefore didn’t attempt AIPMT 2. Cut to 2026, there are no alternative routes for lakhs of students. Just NEET. Papers leaked. Results cancelled. A centralised medical entrance exam being nullified in entirety, after lakhs of students were treated like literal criminals at entry gates, and in a society where criminals roam free and are garlanded - are we happy now? Doctors were never accorded the respect they deserved in the last decade, but to treat /aspiring/ doctors - literal high school students this way - we should hang our heads in collective shame. Giant medical entities reap benefits, while the average doctor, the average student suffers - left to absorb the full extent of public blowback when broken systems inevitably fail. That’s the medical education system for you. When does change come? Does it ever?

Happy Mothers’ Day, Ma. Over the last two years, I’ve had moments of panic at the realisation that in so many ways, I am becoming you, or a version of you. I ran with all my might from the idea of that for years, but ‘tis a tale as old as time. My rage is you, my vulnerability is you, my independence is you, my inner critic is you, my obstinacy is you. I am the best and the worst parts of you. At 28, I can’t fathom how you were pregnant at 27, how you managed to put your career on hold for 8 years, how you returned, raising and rising with us. Every man (or woman) that crossed you surely regrets it. You’ve been kind and you’ve been cruel, but womanhood is stardust with a sprinkle of everything, I believe. Imperfect, brilliant, psychedelic, psychotic. We’ve had our trauma and our laughter, your 50th birthday at DeeTee, drunken nights in Paris, raging feuds, but my god, we’ve overcome galaxies of pain. For the first time in a long time, the discovery of you in me, in the way I dress and wear my hair, in the way I conduct myself, in the way I deal with the world, is pleasant. I don’t know if I’ll ever be as good a daughter as I was a son (no apologies there), but I’m glad we’ve ended the cycle here, together. Come meet your feline grandchildren soon. Love, Shonu.

Tinted SPF as your base for the summer. Write that down! Good skincare means good makeup, and what better than something that does both, especially homegrown? @mywishcare ’s Daily Tinted Fluid Sunscreen in 12 diverse shades gives me all I need: SPF50 PA++++ sun protection, hybrid UV filters (physical and chemical), fabulous coverage, a matte finish with no white cast. Niacinamide, also a personal favourite ingredient, addresses hyperpigmentation and excess oil. I’m using shade L102. Disclaimer: make sure to patch test before use and consult your dermatologist to figure out how to address your unique skin concerns, like I do regularly. ♥️ [wishcare, new launch, shade match, perfect shade, tinted sunscreen, 12 shades, fyp, explore]

Isn’t a mookuthi/nose-pin one of the most elegant pieces of jewellery? It’s sad that my piercing closed when I underwent FFS, but the pieces remain. I’ll never miss a clip-on if it works with the fit. I will never forget what being asked to leave a classroom of 250 felt like - because the smallest diamond nose stud was breaking dress-code rules. It was bizarre for a “man” to be wearing a nose-pin in a medical college in 2015, strangely radical. It was however the thing that required no medical certificates or boards for proof, no legal documents, no paperwork. The mookuthi, the saree - these things don’t demand proof of chromosomes. The humiliation of working so hard to prove academic mettle only to be reduced to a classroom’s joke breaks the spirit - over and over. It shows you that doctors are terribly human and biased too, that you may spend 30 years seeing humanity inside and out, and still bear prejudice. These small details then become rebellion - because they’re proof of what you’ve survived, that you were torn to shreds in classrooms and textbooks, that you’ve survived asylums most wouldn’t dream of. They cultivate the quiet muscle of resilience, and for that, to these little pieces of jewellery, I will always be grateful. #transisbeautiful photos 2&3 @abeemanyousee photo 4 @knotmeera

Three messy years.🩸🩺🎥 To many more. 🥂

শুভ নববর্ষ ! Shubho Noboborsho!

💔

My sun, moon, and stars. #Cat @catcafestudio is a gift.

💃🏻♥️👠 So glad to have been part of this important conversation with Jamini, Zoya, and Zainab. Thanks to all who came! (Also, wore this saree a few transition steps ago in 2023, seemed fitting to re-wear now!)