From Scratch Podcast

I committed the ultimate travel sin in California: trying to get around without a car. A (mostly) solo adventure through Los Angeles, public transit, Waymos, and my ongoing belief that taking an Uber is a personal failure. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sanjanafromscratch.substack.com

A reflection on cooking motivation, food garnishes, and the small luxuries that make everyday meals joyful. From fresh coriander and curry leaves to homemade sourdough, canned chickpeas, and rice and dal — an essay on cooking for yourself, imperfectly. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sanjanafromscratch.substa...

A mixtape for people who once wanted Peyton Sawyer’s red bedroom, burned CDs in their heads, and still believe playlists should mean something. This is a collection of songs tied to memory, longing, home, late-night drives, winter rewatches of One Tree Hill, and the strange intimacy of sharing music with someone else. From The Weepies to A.R. Rahman, Norah Jones to Pink Floyd, these tracks aren’t...

A late-night reflection on growing up in India’s IIT-JEE culture, choosing science over writing, and realizing that life isn’t something that begins after the finish line. This episode traces 17 years through IIT, a PhD, academia, ambition, burnout, and the quiet process of learning how to jee (to live) along the way. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribe...

I went to an all-girls Catholic school in the early 2000s. One of my least favorite classes at the time was needle work - a class we took from grades 6-8 where we learned embroidery, knitting, and crochet. The final project was a fabric-based item involving the skills we learned all year, and your final grade in class was entirely determined by the completion of this project and how clean the work...

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. I believe in spring cleaning my entire personality. Starting with my house. If I could build the perfect house, I would never leave. It would be beautiful and comfortable, yes, but also slightly unhinged . Absolutely no empty white walls or floor-to-ceiling windows. This house would have obnoxious wallpaper in every room, and dark, moody bathrooms that fe...

Not that anyone’s counting, but I’ve been off this website for about eight months. A lot has happened in this time. Most of it has to do with my professional identity—as a 30-something who’s just realized I never grew out of the “what do you want to be when you grow up?” mindset. Which is unsettling, considering that by most definitions, I am, in fact, a grown up. At my age, my parents had two kid...