480, 479, 478, 477, 476, 475, 474

A lot has happened.

I spent a lot of time with my sister-in-law and mom, which was sweet and fun. Caught the 'Ground Hog Day' at Lost the Plot - which is an open-air screening that happens at the Seasons Hotel in Aundh. It was lovely. (I'd definitely recommend catching a movie there. They have those cushy chairs and headphones and you can watch the film sipping wine or glugging beer or nibbling crumb-fried mushrooms. And maybe during a slow moment, you could look around and see an inky blue sky threaded with stars. A pretty cinematic dissonance there - at least for the first few times.

Also watched Joy which I loved immensely. Jennifer Lawrence is so,,,solid. In an odd way, she reminds me of Anthony Hopkins. Like if they just said 'Open the door', they'd say it in a way you'll replay in your death-bed because it would be momentous. I haven't seen any of her other films but this one I quite liked.

Speaking of good actresses, I liked Nimrit Kaur's performance in Airlift. Airlift was quite a movie. I mean, I didn't find it exceptional or anything but my father had visited Kuwait during the time Saddam had attacked it. When we'd visited him in Aquaba 2 months before, we'd seen tanks lining the streets. And there was evacuation of such a large number of people. All this happened not too long ago and I was obliquely involved. But because there was no internet or mobile phones or anything, you really just went with the collective flow. It was heartening to see the Indian flag flying at the end of the movie when the refugees are finally brought to Aman from where they board the flight to Bombay. Patriotism - that moment of pride when your country finally comes through for its people. Overall, I liked it.

Finished reading Em and the big Hoom by Jerry Pinto. Cried hard after that. Starting reading Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro. Sometimes tears flow soft when I am in the middle of one of those short stories.

I had some friends over. It was nice. We sat in the balcony, in the candle light, and had coffee. A couple of days later, a friend had us over too. The person I was dating was invited too. It was so massively uncomfortable for me to go that I couldn't skip, you know? Sometimes, you just decide to go and put yourself in a situation to see if it will break you and if it does, how much. So I went and spent a lot of time in the kitchen making coffee. But then, I think one softens when you see people operating from a basic sense of decency. The person I was dating was polite, my other friends were discreet and didn't bring up anything that I couldn't handle, and only friend I felt, repeatedly kept putting me on the spot. But I think it's all okay if you remember that people mean well.

I read out a passage from Nocturnes. I also got everyone to read out a passage from Shame by Salman Rushdie.

And that's why I love books so much. Books listen. When you read something and you are stirred, the words on the page listen. You may feel like you are the vessel that's taking all the words in but I think, there comes a point when the book hushes and pays attention to whatever story is pouring out of you as you read it.

I think that's why I believe in the goodness and salvation of the world. That even in a civilization that may be as doomed as ours, we are still capable of that.