When the Social Butterfly speaks

How did the idea of this IG character emerge Was there a trigger or was it an organic decision to create her characterThe IG character is based on the eponymous heroine of my longrunning column and book The Diary of a Social Butterfly The Social Butterfly is a wealthy shallow but endearing character who lives in Lahore and comments on her life and timesWhere do you get your fodder for these tiny commentary pieces Is she based on someone yoursquove met in the pastThe Social Butterfly is based on myself She speaks all my unworthy unfiltered thoughts mdash all the things we all think but thankfully are too polite and proper to sayThe content is relatable we have our SoBo cliques here in Mumbai and the Lodhi Gardens set in Delhi Is there something you feel that connects all of themIndian readers have taken the Social Butterfly to their hearts because she reminds them of their own social butterflies be they in Bombay Bangalore or Delhi In fact shersquos a pretty universal character and can be found in Moscow Lima Singapore New York Riyadh or wherever there are very wealthy people who can afford to live in privileged bubbles and whose grip on reality is at best tentativeTell us about some of the funniest episodes What feedback have you been getting so farI invented this particular iteration of the Butterfly during the first COVID19 lockdown almost exactly a year ago now The lockdown provided me with lots of material mdash her inability to attend coffee parties and swanky dinners or fly to London for her holidays her fear of catching the infection her anxiety at losing her servants her boredom her withdrawal symptoms from shopping mdash all of which got an immediate response because so many people were going through the same experiencesMoni MohsinDo you have plans to make a web series or any other visual translation of this characterTherersquos nothing Irsquod like more than to make a web series based on The Diary of a Social Butterfly and would be delighted to collaborate with a producerHow has your writing been coming alongMy most recent novel The Impeccable Integrity of Ruby R was published by Penguin India in December 2020 A collection of new Butterfly columns is in the offing and I have just launched a podcast with my friend Faiza Khan who is an editor and a critic Called Browned Off the podcast is a funny irreverent commentary on the portrayal of brown people in contemporary western culture Our most recent episode of Browned Off can be found at httpswwwpodbeancomewpbu5qiefcc9b3Log on to wwwmonimohsincom to check out the Instagram posts and podcast episodes