Crafting the interior

Even as the cost of self-care soars, with personalised detox programmes, medical-grade solutions and biohacking consultants costing a pretty penny, ANKITA SHAH believes that the best things in life are free

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Every night before bed, Ambika Agnihotri Magotra doodles a woman's face. Not as a practice in technique or a side hustle for money. It isn’t even a portrait of someone real. The form, expression and aura that the woman will take is unknown to Magotra. “I just throw it out of myself onto paper,” the 54-year-old states.

This nightly ritual began 28 years ago when the design academician was confined to bed rest for the entirety of her first pregnancy. At the time, she would sketch the imagined features of her unborn child. A few years later, navigating family, work and her sense of self, she started doodling the face of a woman. It was both an expression of her angst as well as a manifestation of all that she wanted to embody. “With exaggerated lips, bold eyes and impossible hair, my women are unruly, unconventional, ahead of their time. In a world that still tucks women into corners, they come out strong and, through them, I do too,” she explains.

Magotra’s aimless creative routine—something she has practised every day for over 20 years—is the reminder we need that there is ‘self’ in self-care. Irreducibly complex and context-bound, the self cannot be expected to conform toa factory-line model of healing with bath bombs, snail masks, sensory deprivation tanks and catch-all products that flood every wellness list online. 'There is a version of care, like Magotra’s, that isn’t algorithm-approved or trend-driven. It’s handmade and fiercely personal.