About

I'm Dharva Shah. I was the dux of Crestwood High School, graduating with an ATAR of 98.50. I'm currently working towards a future in medicine, with a particular interest in understanding people, the world around us, and the questions that sit between science and everyday life.

The Commonplace is an independent writing project: a place for essays, opinions, observations and shorter thoughts that might otherwise disappear into a passing conversation or a social media feed. It gives ideas more room than a caption, and gives me somewhere to return to them later.

Some pieces will be considered and carefully argued. Others will be brief, personal or unfinished around the edges. I write about whatever catches my attention: culture, technology, relationships, ambition, ordinary experiences and the contradictions that make them interesting.

I don't want this to be a record of opinions that never change. Ideally, it will be a record of thoughts developing over time: things I believed, questions I had, and perspectives that might look different when I revisit them.

Outside this site, the writing sometimes takes another form through short-form video. The written pieces will remain here as a permanent archive.

Dharva Shah