Sandhya Menon

When the finally pulled apart, Rishi's mouth tingling still, Dimple smiled shyly and looked down at their hands, entwined between them on the bench. "So," she said softly. "That was unexpected."He leaned over and kissed her forehead, like it was the most natural thing to do. Was this going to be their thing now, casual kissing? He hoped so. "Unexpected but awesome." Rishi paused. "Right?"She laughed and looked up at him. "Definitely."He grinned, his heart soaked in happy.

Dimple didn__ want to admit how much what he was saying resonated with her. Loneliness. That__ what he was describing. And she__ felt it so much it had become like a constant presence in her life, curled up against her like a sleeping cat. __ know what you mean,_ she said softly. __nfortunately.

You're going to see a lot of it._People getting ahead unfairly_because of the category into which they were born: male or white or straight or rich. I'm in a few of those categories myself, which is why I make it a point to reach out and help those who aren't, those who might not necessarily be seen if I didn't make the effort. We need to shake this field up, you know? We need more people with different points of view and experiences and thought processes so we can keep innovating and moving ahead.