aira

I’m Dr. Ridhima Aira Behl — but you can remember me by Aira. I am a doctor by profession, and a poet by necessity. Writing has been the one space where I’ve never had to meet expectations, never had to explain myself — only feel. I have always considered myself a misfit, someone born slightly out of sync — and it took me years to accept that this, too, is a form of belonging. Writing, for me, has been less about being read and more about being real. But for as long as I can remember, I have also longed to share my story — not because it is extraordinary, but because it is sincere. My first poetry collection, Ephemeral Eudaemonia is a reflection of the internal therapy sessions I never spoke aloud. It is a call for gentleness — with the past, with the self, and with everything that continues to feel unresolved.These poems arrived over the course of a decade, in scattered, private moments — many of them typed hurriedly into my Notes app during times when life felt too heavy, or too quiet. They helped me make sense of feelings I couldn’t name: the weight of inadequacy as a daughter, a friend, and a doctor; the persistent sense of disconnection from a world that often moves too fast, too confidently. A lot of what it contains was written by a version of me I currently find myself to have outgrown, but it only made sense to put it out first, for the story to be complete. My second poetry collection, and perhaps the most honest offering I’ve ever made, is a desperate call for acceptance of all feelings, past and present, that have spanned a decade and lingered. I prefer to call it my quarter life autobiography, fantasy dips of wishful thinking coming to life. It's something I am so incredibly proud of, and no matter what I do in my life, I am so, so, so fulfilled having written this. It's me bleeding through ink, it's me spending my worth. The chapter before, and the chapter thereafter, the sequel, and the prequel, my ever lasting, Anachronic Sensibility. I hope you find something here that sits beside you quietly, just when you need it most.