IN THE ’90S, being a gamer girl was either a flex (“Ooh, you’re hanging with the boys”) or a faux pas (“Ew, why are you hanging with the boys?”). Any interest I expressed in playing Need for Speed or Mortal Kombat was regarded with suspicion. Did I really want to play or was I secretly harbouring a crush? At 14, my curiosity about gaming wasn’t serious enough to earn me a Nintendo or a PlayStation, and if I somehow managed to get my hands on a console, finding narratives and characters that were representative of me as a female player was nearly impossible. I did not identify with a heavy-chested Lara Croft nor did I want my only choices on Mortal Kombat to be a barely clad Kitana or Sonya Blade up against the high-tier Sub-Zero. The only games that were welcoming to women involved cooking, like in Diner Dash, or playing dress-up, like in Barbie Fashion Designer.
During the pandemic, after a long break from my joystick, I beta-tested a game for a friend. The plot was simple: collect coins as you rush through a busy bazaar dodging lamp posts, vehicles and police barricades. After months of bed rotting, my screen opened a portal to the outside world that I felt thankful for. Cycling past the colourful clothes in shop windows and a cart piled high with packets of Bombay Puri while swerving away from vehicles, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia I didn’t expect to find in a simulation. Although the outdoors were closed off to me, in the open terrain of the virtual realm, I was free to go where I pleased.
Denne historien er fra March - April 2024-utgaven av VOGUE India.
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Denne historien er fra March - April 2024-utgaven av VOGUE India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Breathe In, Breathe Out
A powerful tool to help you master your nervous system or another biohacking buzzword? SIMONE DHONDY explores the inhalations and exhalations of breathwork
Red Pill, Blue Pill
India's nutraceutical industry is booming thanks to advanced technology, distrust of the medical system and rising vanity. With multivitamins becoming purer and more effective, NIDHI GUPTA finds out if supplements have become the new serum
Sign of the times
No longer do you need to have an answer to, \"What is the significance of this?\" when people point to your new tattoo. ARMAN KHAN discovers that everything is on the table when you get inked temporarily
Return to form
Watching the world's most elite athletes deliver the best performances of their careers rekindled SONAKSHI SHARMA's own love for sports
Dimple, All Day
YOU MAY HAVE WATCHED HER ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR OVER FIVE DECADES, BUT DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT YOU KNOW DIMPLE KAPADIA.
MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL
As someone who had always sought safety in numbers, ALIZA FATMA often wondered what her own company would feel like. The answer arrived unexpectedly when she attended her first-ever music festival, one of the largest in the world, all alone
Let it grow
When we think of hardworking farmers toiling in India's scorching heat, we often think of men, the sweat on their brow, the sinews in their arms. JYOTI KUMARI speaks to four women who are championing the invisible female labour that keeps these fields running
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE
When armless archer Sheetal Devi set her sights on the Paralympic Games this year, she knew she had a tough journey ahead of her. Luckily, her mother was with her every step of the way.
Beauty and the feast
The appeal of Indian weddings has always been in a sprawling spread. For additional bragging rights, Aditi Dugar recommends going beyond designer tablecloths and monogrammed napkins.
Sweet serendipity
From a scavenger hunt-inspired proposal to a Moroccan-themed baraat, Malvika Raj and Armaan Rai's love story prioritised playfulness throughout their blended celebrations.
