Going off script

Despite a successful acting debut at 18, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is taking time to develop unusual hobbies, marvelling at the life she gets to live and learning that resting on her laurels is actually pretty rewarding.

- PAHULL BAINS.

Okay, you need to do this,” Maitreyi Ramakrishnan says, and I lean forward, half-expecting to hear about a TikTok trend that had bypassed me completely.

“Take at least two friends. Take one friend. I don't know how many friends you have. Take yourself, I don't care.” Gen Z's really starting to embrace solo dates, I think to myself. “You draw a pattern on a canvas,” Ramakrishnan continues, “you pick the yarn colours you want and you get this gun.” Her eyes are gleaming with excitement now. “Then, you poke it into this canvas piece, pull the trigger and it goes 'drrrrrr'. The gun will keep pelting yarn and on the other side, it'll fluff out like a rug. Rug tufting is so fun and therapeutic.”

It's heartening to know that the 23-year-old actor, who has just completed an undergraduate degree in human rights and equity studies, while travelling as a charity ambassador for a children's rights organisation and shooting for new projects, is like any other 20-something, swapping doomscrolling for grandma hobbies like gardening, bird-watching and mahjong. Her current obsessions also include crocheting, candle-making and hand-painting pottery—all activities, I note, that require the use of both hands. It's a habit that stems from playing video games at a young age. “That's the beauty about gaming. You have to pay attention. You have to be actively engaged with it or you're going to miss something,” Ramakrishnan says. “Take crocheting. You could do it while you're watching something, but you will start forgetting how many rounds you've done and now you've messed up. So I like to do things that use my brain actively, and take me away from the screen or social media.”