The Blog
Writing, advocacy, marketing insights — and stories from the hills of Northeast India. Topics range from child safety and gender to SEO, freelancing, and the craft of writing itself — sorted below so you can jump to what matters to you.
All Posts
Stories and insights across 5 content pillars
Why Indian Families Still Don't Talk About Child Abuse — And Why They Must
The silence around child abuse in Indian homes is not accidental. It is cultural, structural, and deeply defended by the myth that "it doesn't happen in good families." Smita dismantles this myth — one story at a time.
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What Poetry Taught Me About Women's Rage That Prose Could Not
When I wrote She and the World, I discovered that poetry was not a gentle art — it was the sharpest weapon I had.
Read About Women's Rage & Poetry →
The Content Marketing Strategy That Works for Northeast Indian Brands
Local brands in Northeast India are vastly underrepresented online. Here's a content framework built specifically for them.
Read Content Marketing Guide →
Growing Up in Shillong: How the Northeast Shaped My Writing Identity
The rain, the music, the resilience — Shillong didn't just give me a home. It gave me a lens through which I see every story.
Read About Northeast Writing Identity →
POCSO Act Explained: What Every Indian Parent Needs to Know
India has one of the world's most comprehensive child protection laws. But awareness remains dangerously low. Here's a plain-language breakdown.
Read POCSO Act Explained →
How to Write Your First Book While Working Full-Time: Lessons From My Journey
I wrote Stop. No! on the edges of full-time work. Here's the honest account of what that actually looked like.
Read How to Write Your First Book →
The Invisible Labour Indian Women Perform — And Why We Don't Name It
Emotional labour, care work, social management — Indian women have been doing it forever. It just hasn't had a name, until now.
Read About Invisible Labour →
SEO for Small Businesses in India: The No-Jargon Guide That Actually Works
SEO doesn't have to be complicated. Here's the exact framework I use with clients — explained without any agency-speak.
Read the SEO Guide for India →
Northeast India's Literary Scene Is Thriving — And the World Needs to Pay Attention
From Manipur to Meghalaya, a generation of writers is emerging. Here's who you should be reading — and why they matter.
Read About Northeast India's Literary Scene →
AEO: The Answer Engine Optimization Guide for Indian Brands
Search is no longer just ten blue links. Here's how to get your content chosen as the answer.
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GEO Explained: How to Rank Inside ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Search Results
Google isn't the only front door anymore. Here's how content earns a place inside AI-generated answers.
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E-E-A-T Explained: Building Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust Into Your Website
Google's quality raters read for one thing above all: can this source be trusted?
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Local SEO for Northeast India: How Small Businesses Can Win the Search Results Near Them
The competition for local search terms in the Northeast is thin. That's an opportunity, not a footnote.
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How to Build an Author Website That Actually Gets Found on Google
A beautiful author website that nobody finds is a brochure, not a business asset.
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Starting a Freelance Writing Career in India: What I Wish Someone Had Told Me
Nobody starts a freelance writing career with a clear roadmap. Here's the one I built by trial and error.
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Self-Publishing vs Traditional Publishing in India: An Honest Comparison
There is no universally right answer — only the right answer for the book you've written.
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Overcoming Writer's Block: Practical Techniques That Actually Work
Writer's block usually isn't a lack of ideas. It's a lack of permission to write badly.
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Women in Indian Journalism: The Progress, and the Distance Still Left to Travel
More bylines, more editors, more visibility — and still, a long way from parity.
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Balancing Motherhood and a Writing Career: What No One Tells You
Nobody warns you that the guilt shows up whichever choice you make.
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Why Representation of Northeast Indian Women in Media Still Falls Short
Mainstream media still reaches for stereotypes when it reaches for the Northeast at all.
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The Gender Pay Gap in Indian Freelance and Creative Work — And How to Close It
The pay gap doesn't disappear just because you work for yourself. It just gets quieter.
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Meghalaya's Matrilineal Culture, Explained: Beyond the Headlines
It is not matriarchy, and it is far more layered than most outside coverage suggests.
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Why Northeast India's Tourism Boom Needs Better Storytelling, Not Just Better Roads
Infrastructure is only half the story. The other half is who gets to tell it, and how.
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Preserving Indigenous Languages of Northeast India Through Writing
A language that stops being written stops being passed down. Writers can slow that loss.
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Khasi Folklore and Its Place in Contemporary Indian Literature
Long before it was written down, Khasi folklore was already literature — spoken, not printed.
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Digital Safety for Children in India: A Practical Guide for Parents
The device is already in their hands. The conversation should already be too.
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How Schools Can Build Real POCSO Awareness Programs — Not Just Compliance Paperwork
A POCSO policy filed in a drawer protects no one. Here's what actually works in schools.
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Recognising the Signs of Child Abuse: A Guide for Teachers and Parents
Children rarely say it outright. They show it — if the adults around them know how to look.
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Talking to Children About Body Safety: An Age-Appropriate Guide for Indian Parents
Body safety conversations work best in small, repeated doses — not one big, awkward talk.
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New posts on child safety, women's empowerment, Northeast India, digital marketing & the writing life — twice a month.