Chiffonesque

Usually, I have my coffee black. I like it that way. Also, I have lots of coffee - more than 10 cups a day. So my tongue us familiar with that bitter, coarse taste of black coffee. It has also become my mood, I think. The mood of stark survival - slanted towards something simple and strong. But what this kind of a boot camp mentality does to you, I think, it makes you a little brittle. You may be getting strong but parts of you may also be getting chipped off. Yesterday I'd gone to Phoenix with mum. I had such a lovely time! Yes, I was working a little and taking calls and setting up meetings. But just spending time with her in a plush place felt good. We went to one of my favorite stores - Muji. I love that brand! Everything is so simple, beautiful and basic. Usually, I do not like earthen colours. However, I like these colours there - especially for their cutlery and tableware. And stationery. Really like their black erasers. Anyway, the last week or so, there has been a...

I am in the middle of some work but I will take some time out to write a little bit. I was just going through the shelves of my bedroom. Now that I am in Bombay, I don't have a room of my own. So I don't get to go to my bedroom anymore. But today I did. I found a notebook in which I had written earlier. You know what I love and hate simultaneously? Notebooks that have so much written and a few empty pages. It's like an invitation to stop everything and purge your soul, writing and writing and writing. I wonder if there is a parallel to do through writing what Buddha did under the tree - meditate and not move and not give up until enlightenment is acquired.  Long time ago, in college, I had once told a friend that I would like to die after having finished writing a book. Just put in the last word, cap the pen, close the book, settle down in a rocking chair, and go. But then I changed my dying dream again. I thought of going away parked in one of those nice, quiet...

I got my periods today and so I did not run. Actually, I could have run but I was feeling very emotionally exhausted. I really cannot afford to feel emotionally exhausted because I have a lot of work to do, to pursue, etc. But I thought, "What the heck? I will not run." I walked slowly. I spoke to a friend who chided me strongly for being very meek. Am I? Maybe I am. I have spent so much time being an angry person that I am now compensating for being meek. I will inherit the earth, I think. Looking forward to it. Today, I was chatting with some people who were very strongly expounding the need to settle all karmic accounts now because apparently, we have come towards the end of Kali Yug - just before Satyug begins and this small window is where you can rewrite your destiny. If you are not careful, then you carry the same destiny across the ages for all 4 yugas. It's good to have so much certainty over something so nebulous. The notion that there is a chance to neve...

I don't know what I have done but the font on this screen has become really tiny. I went for a play today. On the way, I took a short video of us driving past Nariman Point as the sun was setting. Put it up on Instagram. Shreya had put in a comment in the earlier post asking me about my Insta handle. (Shreya: I haven't gotten around to posting comments but thank you for reading my posts. I didn't think there was anyone around to read them.) My Insta handle is: notamistake23062017. I went for a play today, Dear Father at NCPA with my mom and brother. We had a really nice time. It was a great play (although it felt slightly long) and each actor really played his and her part well. Paresh Rawal is stellar! Do you think that, overall, it is a sin to grow old? I always used to believe that things will only get better when I get older. I could never understand why people are scared of getting older. I think it is because of loneliness. I think loneliness must be hugged  ...

Now I need to scout for freelance assignments. Looking forward to it. My energy has not been quite up to it lately but I will get around to doing some good stuff soon. Somewhere around the end of last year and the beginning of this year, I have decided to focus on consistency. I think the simple act of sticking to something has gotten such a bad rep nowadays that maybe we are collectively giving up too early. Maybe we are just calling a lazy indisciplined mindset to be a flow. Or maybe I am just being too harsh. Matters such as these have occupied my head and heart since a long time now. It is Friday afternoon and I ate a lot. I had rice, jackfruit and potato curry, moon daal with a tempering of mustard seeds, garlic and tamarind. It tasted really nice. I had never really tasted tamarind with a smoky flavour but it was really tasty. Unexpected stuff. I also just had a can of Greek yoghurt which was not really nice. So I think I will eat a boondi laddoo. I intend to go for a ru...

I met my friend who'd recently gone to Paris. Her stories sounded lovely. They reminded me of my trip to Geneva. Her first meal there was a croissant, some dried apricots, a piece of cake and black coffee. It was cold, the Seine was flooded, and I wasn't there but for some reason, I imagined someone doodling summer strawberries on a napkin. I didn't go running today. I feel like running a lot tomorrow. I feel like having fun and taking it really easy. Also, I am typing in the dark. I was thinking of this concept where you buy time when you buy a book. That would be cool. And you also buy a mobile parking spot when you buy a car. I fit into a really old pair of olive green pants today. I'm thinking that I will not buy any new clothes this year. Of course, a year is a rather long period of time. I intend to take it one day a time. So, today I did not buy any new clothes. I see a Facebook post by Elizabeth Gilbert. I follow her page. She, it seems, has lost her ...

Yesterday I went to a charming little shop called Honey Dough. Or maybe it is Honey and Dough. I got myself a ham and cheese croissant. It came in a light blue box with a print of some English neighborhood. The print was in white. The box was sky-blue. The snack was a ham and cheese croissant. The croissant was really good though. It was buttery, light, flaky. The slice of ham was tender. The cheese was salty. This first part was written a month ago when I was working in Defence Colony and I was non-vegetarian. I am no longer in Delhi and I am no longer a non-vegetarian. Both these situations may change. I just wanted to get a lot of stuff out of my head. I am back in Bombay and I am sitting in a very sweet nook in my mother's bedroom. Behind me are these long drapes in aqua silk and white tissue with silver embroidery. So it is pretty and all. But I haven't really gotten around to actually doing any work. I met some friends the other day in Juhu and it was nice. But y...