The just-released book #icouldhavebeenaninstapost is an invitation to scroll through short shorts where we express our ‘unpretty’ moments in an OTT Insta-friendly manner to find strength. After all, the emotions in the book could have been expressed through Instagram posts, too. “The book hopes to be a nudge to embrace the idea that, like most things in life, scrolling through Instagram can be black, white, and grey, “said Purva Grover, who has previously authored three other books, The Trees Told Me So, It was the Year 2020 and She, the latter of which has been translated into seven languages.

Purva shared how she wrote to Abdulla Lutfi, an Emirati artist, simply to express how much she loved his work and share the commonality between her latest book and his artworks — both relying on black and white as a means of expression — and to her surprise and excitement, it led her to spend time with Abdulla in his studio, resulting in a unique bookmark created for the book by him in his signature style. The bookmark illustrates an Emirati man reading the book #icouldhavebeenaninstapost, “We should add the words — to be continued — on the bookmark as a reminder for the reader to keep coming back to the book to read more, for the story needs to continue,” said Abdulla. “#icouldhavebeenaninstapost is designed to be Instagram-friendly, with each page resembling an Instagram post that aspires to be shared, liked, and saved. It’s written with the hope that even as we hurry through life in the most fashionable, quick, and hashtag-friendly way, we remember to sit down with our feelings, and Abdulla’s rendition of the thoughts in the bookmark reflects so,” said Purva.