On the 06th of December 2025, I released Season One of my coffee table book. Of the 49 invitations that went out, 45 people walked in. We gathered in the Westminster Hall of the ITC Windsor. The women wore their finest Bunt jewellery and sat like true Buntedis. A Room That Belonged to Women My mentor asked me, what do you mean by that, true Buntedi? This is something I cannot explain with words alone. They walked tall, shoulders back. Most of them had a towering presence. Eve

The graffiti and hand notes included in the book are to show the trial and error we faced in a region that does not have a well-written history and relies on oral and hearsay. How names can be confused. Two Sadanand Shettys, two Raghuram Shettys, two Vinayas. How does one figure out who is who? It took us four years to correct the data. The graffiti is to let you in on mistakes and thoughts. Also, I'm a bit cheeky, I love to provoke and test people - I love it when people com

“Do you know Aishwarya Rai? Have you watched Pink Panther 2? Bride and Prejudice, maybe? Have you seen the Cannes red carpet at least once? Did you see the most beautiful woman on planet Earth walk it? Yes, she’s Bunt.”

To study R.N. Shetty is to study how symbols become systems, and how intention becomes institution. He stood at the intersection of faith and function, turning aspiration into architecture — and in doing so, he gave the Midnight’s Children their most enduring inheritance: the confidence to build a future from the ground up.

For Bunts, he was proof that our community could move from wooden trunks to modern institutions, from feudal estates to professional futures. For India, he showed that institutions are not born from regulations alone — they are born from vision.

But how does that matter, you ask? Another thing you have to understand about Bunts is that we remain a vanity-driven society, and we attach value to people too. We ostracise those we think are falling from the threshold we have set for our social circles, we chase those who are rising above that threshold, and we mingle with those at equilibrium with us.

It's true: a name is a very important thing. If you'd asked me a few years back, I might have disagreed. I'd have said, "It's what you do that counts, not what you're called." But names do matter; they're how we recognize each other. While writing this, I got really into how people name their kids, and the different customs around the world

I’ve lost a lot. But what I’ve gained through that loss is perspective. These lessons don’t make death easier. But they make life fuller. If you’ve lost someone, I’m not going to say “sorry for your loss.”Instead, I’ll say: Tell me about them. Or don’t. I’m here either way.

Reclaiming the lost voices of Bunt women requires a critical examination of these power dynamics, a re-evaluation of the community's values, and a conscious effort to create spaces where women can once again exercise their rightful influence and leadership. Only then can the Bunt community truly honour its matrilineal heritage and harness the full potential of its members.

This essay walks through lived histories and personal echoes, tracing how Datth (adoption), Hakk (rights), Maryaadi (honour/respect), and Paal (division of property/inheritance) danced through Bunt's life—sometimes as a blessing, sometimes as the battlefield, and quite often as a very spicy family WhatsApp group.