GKSihat (she/her)
@gksihat.bsky.social
A neurodivergent born and bred Londoner with Punjabi, East African heritage. A writer. A researcher. An historian in the making.
Of course I'd give myself a concussion during the busiest part of the month... [insert your most dramatic eye roll, face palm, and a shake of the head here]
At least the view on the way to the doctor's is nice.
At least the view on the way to the doctor's is nice.
November 22, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Of course I'd give myself a concussion during the busiest part of the month... [insert your most dramatic eye roll, face palm, and a shake of the head here]
At least the view on the way to the doctor's is nice.
At least the view on the way to the doctor's is nice.
I’ve officially joined the conversation. This is my first real step into academia, the first time Oxford has appeared in my byline, and the first time I’ve published something in a field that matters so deeply to my soul. This is mad — I’m so grateful!
🔗 muse.jhu.edu/pub/162/arti...
🔗 muse.jhu.edu/pub/162/arti...
October 29, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I’ve officially joined the conversation. This is my first real step into academia, the first time Oxford has appeared in my byline, and the first time I’ve published something in a field that matters so deeply to my soul. This is mad — I’m so grateful!
🔗 muse.jhu.edu/pub/162/arti...
🔗 muse.jhu.edu/pub/162/arti...
With Diwali just behind us, I’ve been reflecting on one of my favourite stories: the tale of Bringi. It reminds us that just as Shiva is incomplete without Shakti, society too is incomplete without women’s voices, choices, and leadership.
Read the story here: open.substack.com/pub/gksihat/...
Read the story here: open.substack.com/pub/gksihat/...
Bringi and the Lesson of Wholeness
An ancient Hindu story, offering a lesson still urgently needed today.
open.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:25 PM
With Diwali just behind us, I’ve been reflecting on one of my favourite stories: the tale of Bringi. It reminds us that just as Shiva is incomplete without Shakti, society too is incomplete without women’s voices, choices, and leadership.
Read the story here: open.substack.com/pub/gksihat/...
Read the story here: open.substack.com/pub/gksihat/...
When your life has turned into study-work-study-family responsibility-work-study-errands, you take the breathers whenever you can find time. I have never been more grateful to live in such a beautiful location. 🍂
October 18, 2025 at 12:15 PM
When your life has turned into study-work-study-family responsibility-work-study-errands, you take the breathers whenever you can find time. I have never been more grateful to live in such a beautiful location. 🍂
We often think of the Renaissance as a purely European rebirth but that's only half the story. In this month's blogpost, I give an introduction to how knowledge flowed across continents.
Read it here: gksihat.com/the-renaissa...
Read it here: gksihat.com/the-renaissa...
The Renaissance as a Global Conversation
Falling Down a Rabbit Hole for Stories from the Art
gksihat.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:49 PM
We often think of the Renaissance as a purely European rebirth but that's only half the story. In this month's blogpost, I give an introduction to how knowledge flowed across continents.
Read it here: gksihat.com/the-renaissa...
Read it here: gksihat.com/the-renaissa...
I found myself seeing pieces I would have ordinarily walked past in a new light, finding meaning and beauty in works that didn't initially speak to me, and discovered new favourites from artists I already admired. It was such an inspiring afternoon.
October 12, 2025 at 1:05 PM
I found myself seeing pieces I would have ordinarily walked past in a new light, finding meaning and beauty in works that didn't initially speak to me, and discovered new favourites from artists I already admired. It was such an inspiring afternoon.
This weekend, I was invited on a private tour of the latest auction pieces and Christie's.
Modern art has never been my comfort zone. Still, I went along for the experience, and I'm so glad I did.
Modern art has never been my comfort zone. Still, I went along for the experience, and I'm so glad I did.
October 12, 2025 at 1:01 PM
This weekend, I was invited on a private tour of the latest auction pieces and Christie's.
Modern art has never been my comfort zone. Still, I went along for the experience, and I'm so glad I did.
Modern art has never been my comfort zone. Still, I went along for the experience, and I'm so glad I did.
I love that there are still parts of London I've not yet explored after all these years... 😍
October 12, 2025 at 11:39 AM
I love that there are still parts of London I've not yet explored after all these years... 😍
Although finding out my main library will be the Radcliffe Camera comes a very close second. Dream come true for a book lover! 🤓💫
October 10, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Although finding out my main library will be the Radcliffe Camera comes a very close second. Dream come true for a book lover! 🤓💫
The best part of studying at Oxford? Having access to the Bodleian Library… 😍
October 10, 2025 at 4:21 PM
The best part of studying at Oxford? Having access to the Bodleian Library… 😍
🚶♀️Wandering around Oxford… (Part 3)
October 10, 2025 at 4:06 PM
🚶♀️Wandering around Oxford… (Part 3)
🚶♀️Wandering around Oxford… (Part 2)
October 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
🚶♀️Wandering around Oxford… (Part 2)
🚶♀️Wandering around Oxford… (Part 1)
October 10, 2025 at 4:04 PM
🚶♀️Wandering around Oxford… (Part 1)
Then it was off for a quick pint and some chips… 🍺🍟 Talk about the perfect reset.
October 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Then it was off for a quick pint and some chips… 🍺🍟 Talk about the perfect reset.
I get anxious in crowds, can’t handle loud noises, and hate eye contact… so the second I was out of the Fresher’s Fair, I claimed sanctuary at the Ashmolean.
A bit of quiet time with Lorenzo reminded me exactly why I’d applied to study at Oxford in the first place. 💭
A bit of quiet time with Lorenzo reminded me exactly why I’d applied to study at Oxford in the first place. 💭
October 10, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I get anxious in crowds, can’t handle loud noises, and hate eye contact… so the second I was out of the Fresher’s Fair, I claimed sanctuary at the Ashmolean.
A bit of quiet time with Lorenzo reminded me exactly why I’d applied to study at Oxford in the first place. 💭
A bit of quiet time with Lorenzo reminded me exactly why I’d applied to study at Oxford in the first place. 💭
An hour with Guz Khan and James Acaster last night was worth the four hours to and from a venue we’d never heard of, the cab fare it took to get home because all the buses had stopped, and the rumbling stomachs in the middle of the night because we’d missed dinner. Bloody brilliant!
September 20, 2025 at 4:49 PM
An hour with Guz Khan and James Acaster last night was worth the four hours to and from a venue we’d never heard of, the cab fare it took to get home because all the buses had stopped, and the rumbling stomachs in the middle of the night because we’d missed dinner. Bloody brilliant!
Machiavelli is so often painted as a schemer, when Niccolò himself was far more complex. History turned a political realist into a moral villain, so this month I’m giving you the foundations to set the record straight.
Read the full piece here 👉 gksihat.com/the-villain-...
Read the full piece here 👉 gksihat.com/the-villain-...
Beyond the Term: the Villain History Made Him
Falling Down a Rabbit Hole for Stories from the Art
gksihat.com
September 13, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Machiavelli is so often painted as a schemer, when Niccolò himself was far more complex. History turned a political realist into a moral villain, so this month I’m giving you the foundations to set the record straight.
Read the full piece here 👉 gksihat.com/the-villain-...
Read the full piece here 👉 gksihat.com/the-villain-...
I might still be wearing my Brunel T, but Oxford induction has officially commenced! Honestly, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing or where any of this will lead, but as Tolkien says, “Not all those who wander are lost.” Here’s to new beginnings, late-night reading sessions, and the adventure!
September 12, 2025 at 8:54 PM
I might still be wearing my Brunel T, but Oxford induction has officially commenced! Honestly, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing or where any of this will lead, but as Tolkien says, “Not all those who wander are lost.” Here’s to new beginnings, late-night reading sessions, and the adventure!
Someone asked me how I still have faith after everything that’s happened these past few years. I think it comes back to the stories I was raised on. The ones that stitched me together when I was little. That carried comfort, lessons, and hope when life got messy.🪡
open.substack.com/pub/gksihat/...
open.substack.com/pub/gksihat/...
Stitched from a Thousand Threads
A meditation on spirituality, multiculturalism, and the sacred in infinite forms.
open.substack.com
September 10, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Someone asked me how I still have faith after everything that’s happened these past few years. I think it comes back to the stories I was raised on. The ones that stitched me together when I was little. That carried comfort, lessons, and hope when life got messy.🪡
open.substack.com/pub/gksihat/...
open.substack.com/pub/gksihat/...
Have you seen Tai Shani’s The Dream yet?
The free installation features a luminous blue figure caught in a deep sleep while chaos swirls around her. It’s one of those pieces that makes you stop and think about what we might be “sleeping through” in our own lives…
The free installation features a luminous blue figure caught in a deep sleep while chaos swirls around her. It’s one of those pieces that makes you stop and think about what we might be “sleeping through” in our own lives…
September 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Have you seen Tai Shani’s The Dream yet?
The free installation features a luminous blue figure caught in a deep sleep while chaos swirls around her. It’s one of those pieces that makes you stop and think about what we might be “sleeping through” in our own lives…
The free installation features a luminous blue figure caught in a deep sleep while chaos swirls around her. It’s one of those pieces that makes you stop and think about what we might be “sleeping through” in our own lives…
Identity, innovation, and power, all captured in one of my favourite historical diptychs. 🖼️ This week’s Substack dives into Piero della Francesca’s double portrait of Federico da Montefeltro & Battista Sforza. ✨
Don’t miss it! 👉🏽 gksihat.substack.com/p/power-virt...
Don’t miss it! 👉🏽 gksihat.substack.com/p/power-virt...
Power, Virtue, and the Quiet Brilliance of Urbino
A meditation on identity, innovation, and quiet power in one of the Renaissance’s most enigmatic double portraits
gksihat.substack.com
September 3, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Identity, innovation, and power, all captured in one of my favourite historical diptychs. 🖼️ This week’s Substack dives into Piero della Francesca’s double portrait of Federico da Montefeltro & Battista Sforza. ✨
Don’t miss it! 👉🏽 gksihat.substack.com/p/power-virt...
Don’t miss it! 👉🏽 gksihat.substack.com/p/power-virt...
For years, I thought I just wasn’t trying hard enough. Turns out, I was looking at the world through a different lens altogether. Today's Substack is all about finally being diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult!
Read it here: gksihat.substack.com/p/the-girl-w...
Read it here: gksihat.substack.com/p/the-girl-w...
The Girl Who Spelled Because “B-K-O-Z”
A journey through hidden dyslexia, stubborn childhood battles, and the quiet triumph of understanding oneself.
gksihat.substack.com
August 27, 2025 at 10:23 AM
For years, I thought I just wasn’t trying hard enough. Turns out, I was looking at the world through a different lens altogether. Today's Substack is all about finally being diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult!
Read it here: gksihat.substack.com/p/the-girl-w...
Read it here: gksihat.substack.com/p/the-girl-w...
We call it the “Common Era.” But whose era is it, really?
Over on Substack today, I'm looking at how the Gregorian system is just one of many, and treating it as universal and calling it “common” might actually be a form of temporal colonialism.
Read more here: gksihat.substack.com/p/what-is-th...
Over on Substack today, I'm looking at how the Gregorian system is just one of many, and treating it as universal and calling it “common” might actually be a form of temporal colonialism.
Read more here: gksihat.substack.com/p/what-is-th...
What is the Common Era, Anyway?
From Bedtime Procrastination to Colonial Calendars – When an eight-year-old’s innocent question unravels the tangled politics of timekeeping.
gksihat.substack.com
August 20, 2025 at 11:03 AM
We call it the “Common Era.” But whose era is it, really?
Over on Substack today, I'm looking at how the Gregorian system is just one of many, and treating it as universal and calling it “common” might actually be a form of temporal colonialism.
Read more here: gksihat.substack.com/p/what-is-th...
Over on Substack today, I'm looking at how the Gregorian system is just one of many, and treating it as universal and calling it “common” might actually be a form of temporal colonialism.
Read more here: gksihat.substack.com/p/what-is-th...
Finally got the chance to see A Man for All Seasons at the Harold Pinter Theatre last week. An incredible cast with truly brilliant performances. Not entirely convinced by the portrayals of Henry and Cromwell… but then again, More was painted as a saint, and that’s not the full story either.
August 18, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Finally got the chance to see A Man for All Seasons at the Harold Pinter Theatre last week. An incredible cast with truly brilliant performances. Not entirely convinced by the portrayals of Henry and Cromwell… but then again, More was painted as a saint, and that’s not the full story either.
A few of my favourite details...
@dulwichgallery.bsky.social #DulwichPictureGallery #LondonDaysOut #ArtAndCulture #GalleryWandering #LondonLife #OldMasters #ArtAppreciation #ArtHistory #Brushstrokes #PaintingDetails
@dulwichgallery.bsky.social #DulwichPictureGallery #LondonDaysOut #ArtAndCulture #GalleryWandering #LondonLife #OldMasters #ArtAppreciation #ArtHistory #Brushstrokes #PaintingDetails
August 17, 2025 at 12:13 PM
A few of my favourite details...
@dulwichgallery.bsky.social #DulwichPictureGallery #LondonDaysOut #ArtAndCulture #GalleryWandering #LondonLife #OldMasters #ArtAppreciation #ArtHistory #Brushstrokes #PaintingDetails
@dulwichgallery.bsky.social #DulwichPictureGallery #LondonDaysOut #ArtAndCulture #GalleryWandering #LondonLife #OldMasters #ArtAppreciation #ArtHistory #Brushstrokes #PaintingDetails