Why We Need More Stories About Aging, Intimacy, and Emotional Disconnection
Literature has long been fascinated with youth—with its passions, its beginnings, its sharp edges. But what about the stories that begin at sixty? What about the emotional terrain of people who have spent decades building lives, raising families, and quietly suppressing their needs?
Different Worlds centers on characters who are past their so-called prime. Ramesh is 65. Vandana is 64. Their children are grown. Their careers are well-established. By most standards, their work is done. And yet, they find themselves in the most emotionally volatile chapter of their lives.
This is deliberate. Because the conversation around aging often focuses on physical decline, but rarely addresses the emotional hunger that persists. Intimacy does not expire. The need to feel desired, understood, and respected does not disappear. It merely becomes harder to express.
In writing this novel, I wanted to honor those unspoken needs. I wanted to show how aging is not an end, but a shift—a recalibration of what love and connection look like. Too many men and women live in marriages that no longer reflect who they are. Too many have convinced themselves that longing is selfish, or that distance is inevitable.
We need more stories that challenge this narrative. Stories that say: it’s not too late. Your emotional life still matters. And your desire to be seen and heard is not something to be ashamed of.