My Newest Experiment: Narrative UX and Drama UX

I’ve never been good at "taking breaks." My life feels like a web of open browser tabs : writing, teaching, cooking, and walking. All blurred into one.

But this January, two specific "tabs" are fundamentally changing the way I think: my new Marathi column for the widely-read Daily Sakal and my new semester at FLAME University.

Writing for a daily newspaper with over ten million readers (and a multi-million digital reach) is a humbling challenge. For me, it marks a shift from "impulsive" writing, waiting for the muse, to the "consistent" discipline of regular production. Meeting readers in public who recognized me from my column photo was a stark reminder: writing is a shared experience.

This has led me to a new experiment: Narrative UX. Instead of focusing solely on my own aesthetic choices, I am exploring the "User Experience" of storytelling. In my column, where I explore culture and drama, I’ve started asking:

How does the reader navigate the emotion?

How do they "use" and “experience” the drama?

How does the narrative design affect the reader's reading experience?

Simultaneously, I am implementing Drama UX in my playwriting pedagogy at FLAME to help my students build more resonant, impactful work.

I’ll be sharing more on these experiments soon. For now, I am thrilled to share my debut column!