19 was a really great year for me. I still feel like it was my best year, the year that I was the happiest. 20 was a big come down. 20 was really, really hard for me, it took so many turns that I just did not expect. And towards the end of the year, it sort of turned out great. Like I ended up working on a TV show (called NSFW) and I felt really happy. But you know, after talking with a lot of my friends, that year specifically, I think 2025 was a tough year for a lot of people. Maybe there was something in the air, things weren’t lining up well for a lot of my friends as well.

And so, walking into 21, I don’t have very many expectations. I don’t do New Year’s resolutions, but my resolution of sorts this year is to take accountability for the things that I have in my control. My goal is to move my body intentionally a few times a week, three to four times a week; to volunteer or to help out someone in my community a few times a week; and to do something that tangibly advances me to my goal a few times a week.

Being a woman of color and being in a marginalized community in this industry means you have to be proactive about your career and be proactive about the things you want to accomplish. Like you cannot just sit back and someone’s going to hand it to you on a platter. This year I would like to take advantage of the fact that my next two projects, NSFW and Ballerina Overdrive, are two massive platforms with incredible actresses and actors. I would love to get more into producing this year and really pick a story that I feel strongly about and take it to market. I would also potentially like to dive more into my Indian film industry career in this year. I’ve reached a point age-wise where it’s sort of the precipice for where you should be entering into your leading Indian actress phase.

As cheesy as it sounds, putting myself out there and putting love and empathy out there for people has always benefited me. And granted, a lesson that I’ve also learned over the past few years is: you can’t really love people into loving you back, and it doesn’t always necessarily help to be crying out for someone’s validation or for someone’s love. That being said, this feels like my year where it’s really benefited me for loving people and caring about them despite whatever they’re going through. I think we really need a lot of that in the world right now, to be loving our community and loving our neighbors unconditionally. That’s what I’m taking into 2026.

My actual birthday was the 24th of January. I celebrated by creating my ideal day, and any of my friends could join for any part of the day that they wanted to. So I woke up in the morning at 7:00 AM and went to Othership, and I did a sauna and cold plunge—a good way to start the day. Then I went to a conditioning class, and then I came home and cooked a bit and drank some tea and danced around to “A Place in the Sun” by Stevie Wonder, and then I went to my best friend’s house and we had Thai food, my favorite, and played games. I went out in the night, to the really classic New York college-age spots Hair of the Dog and Little Sister, because it’s my 21st birthday. We really didn’t stay out for very long. I was actually super tired, and I was like, “Oh, maybe I’m retiring now that I turn 21.”