Simant Verma

“It’s one thing to be looked at, and another to be seen.”
― Caleb Azumah Nelson, Open Water

“I love the circus. I love the mystery, and the wonder, and the way every act transports my soul into another dimension. I love the way it makes me feel as if the world is in reverse and upside down all at once--like there's starlight beneath my feet and the ocean above my head, and every impossible dream can come true with a single whisper.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“I'm American, but that only explains my passport. It doesn't explain all the other pieces of me that aren't easily labeled.
Sometimes it feels like if I call myself American, people will only ever follow up with, "But what are you really?"
But if I lead the conversation? If I tell them everything I am? If I point out all the pieces of my heritage to explain why I have my name, and my face, and my culture? Then people tell me I don't get to be all these other things--I only get to be American. Like the rest of me is suddenly erased. Like my heritage isn't important. Like all the pieces that should mean something don't mean anything at all.
And in all honesty, I'm really tired of people thinking they have any authority whatsoever on what I'm allowed to call myself.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“I don't want to be perfect. I want to be vulnerable and messy and free and wild. I want to experience all the crooked edges in the world, and make mistakes, and grow from them. I want twisty roads and dark corners and big, wide bends.
And I know my parents won't ever agree, but I wish they could at least see my version of the world as a possibility.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky