The Monkey Dilemma is a space intended to calm my monkey mind that is always jumping from one thought to another, one idea to the next. Those crazies need a home, and this is it. The blog serves as an online personal journal, a self-curated magazine, a romantic escape, and mostly an ode to life and its various complexities. I write about books, quotes, poems, products, introspections, nonsense, and more. Hope you enjoy reading the pieces as much as I loved writing them.
— Kalpana Iyer
Here are the latest posts to get you started:
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay: Moon Gang-tae Has Officially Ruined Men for Women Everywhere
I kept delaying watching It’s Okay to Not Be Okay because I have a bit of an aversion to hospital dramas. Several friends had recommended this popular Korean drama to me, but I kept putting it off. I was judging the series by its title, and honestly, I wasn’t in the mood for what I…
Anupama Parameswaran’s Narcissistic Abuse Interview Made Me Revisit My Own Story
Anupama Parameswaran’s interview on narcissistic abuse has created quite a stir in the one day since it aired on Dhanya Varma’s YouTube channel. One thing she made very clear in the interview was why she chose to talk about her experience. She wanted people to recognize the signs of abuse. As someone who got divorced…
Breaking Taboos, One Bindi at a Time
The other day, a neighbour came over for a chat. She’s a Muslim and a communist. I mention both because it helps explain the situation. Despite coming from a deeply religious and conservative family, she’s personally quite liberal. She told me how her daughter landed in trouble for posting a photo on social media wearing…
When Did Millennials Get So Serious?
So I’m in my 40s now, and one thing I’ve noticed lately is just how serious many of my peers have become. Of course, the reason is obvious – life happened. Careers happened. Marriage, kids, ageing parents, bills, responsibilities… they all have a way of changing you. It’s not like our 20s when many of…
Musafir Cafe: For The Ones We Loved and Lost
If you’ve ever loved and lost, you’ll probably relate to Musafir Cafe. The yearning, confusion, helplessness, and desperate search for closure all felt incredibly real. It is one of those rare romance dramas that understands that moving on isn’t as simple as people make it seem. Love is rarely a straight road, yet many Bollywood…
The Best Part of Project Hail Mary Wasn’t The Space Adventure
The most impressive part of Project Hail Mary isn’t the science, the space adventure, or the mission. It’s the friendship between two complete opposites. Two beings who don’t share the same language, appearance, history, or culture, yet somehow come together to create something beautiful. When you think about it, we’re all aliens to someone from…
Mollywood Times: Can You Really Write Your Own Destiny?
How many times have we been told to “write our own destiny”? It sounds great in motivational speeches, LinkedIn posts, and social media captions. But I’m someone who has always believed that no matter how hard you try to shape your own future, life doesn’t always turn out the way you imagined. There is another…
I Almost Missed This Indonesian Horror Gem
I had this Indonesian horror movie on my watchlist for the longest time after seeing people on Reddit recommend it. Like many movie lovers, I often browse popular social media platforms for movie recommendations because that’s how I end up discovering hidden gems that I would probably never come across otherwise. Wanita Ahli Neraka is…
When People Forget You
Memory is such a weird thing. Some people remember the tiniest details about me from years ago, while others can’t recall spending time with me ever. They have forgotten entire moments. A day out, the day we talked, the laughs we shared. I mean, how is that even possible? How can people erase entire days?…
This Netflix Romance Took Me Back to the 90s
As a fan of 90s romance movies, I often feel that many modern love stories just don’t have the same warmth. They tend to focus more on physical attraction and glamour, while the emotional connection takes a back seat. After watching many newer English romantic movies, I usually find myself switching back to a Korean…
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