Chiffonesque

I am going to write a quick post here because I am in the middle of work and I have to get started on something. I had lots of ideas that I wanted to write about. I will pick one for now. I have been freelancing for a while now. And sometimes, I work with experienced freelancers. Some of these people I have worked with in the past. In fact, some were my seniors. They trained me. And now, when I see their work, I can't imagine that I ever thought they were stellar. The work is stodgy, jaded, routine, with no application of anything fresh. It is very disappointing and disturbing. But it has led me to consider my own work. Now, I don't know. To me, in the field that I work in, a person is good is you cannot guess what his or her last two or three projects or assignments were. But when I see the work of a few of my friends or really experienced people, you can totally tell what their last few assignments were - what kind of domain they had worked in. The styles are the same. Y...

So we have already entered double-digits. Double digits are easy to enter into and longer to stay at. Yesterday was a good day - in as much all days are good. I had been wanting to go to a Japanese store called Usupso. I love stationery and then, I love Japanese stationery! I love it! In Bombay and Delhi, I usually shopped at Muji - I love that place. I really like the creamy paper and the wood-brown palate they have. They are expensive, though. I had also adored the Hobonichi stationery when I had seen them at an airport somewhere but I can't order it online. Yesterday, a pal told me to check it out on Ali Baba, which I will. So we went to Usupso yesterday. It's in Jayanagar and that is SUCH  a pretty place. You can walk and there are these huge tall trees. The trees in this city are something else. We ate in a place called Nandini. We had a vegetarian thali and it was so yummy! The hot rice, ghee and rasam - awesome it was. Eating rice after the Navratri fast was h...

It has been raining for a few days now. It's cold. Last night I was late at the co-working space. There was no cab or auto available for a good forty minutes. But I waited and came home finally. I felt good with the work I finished yesterday. Today I slept for the most part but my mother had sent over two items of clothing. There's a thin, right red top from Chumbak. It has very pretty, colorful and embroidered cuffs. The other piece is a lovely military green jacket with a hood and a waist tie-up detail. Again, the cuffs are interesting - black and white stripes. Yesterday I was talking to a friend and she said that she would not hesitate to date a married man because she owes nothing to the man's wife or the marriage itself. The man has taken the vow and it is his responsibility to honour it. I somehow don't agree. I would not go out with a married man and I also think that if a partner has started looking out, that marriage is very vulnerable. It may be saved if...

I just finished writing a storyboard and am quite pleased with it. I also just signed up for a seat in a co-working space. That was good. Today is Shoshti and there is a lovely Durga Ma idol in the building complex. I have doodled a few things and they are up on my Instagram account. This girl at the co-working space - one of the admin people - was wearing a really nice top. It was a kind of a jersey material. Bluish-gunmetal shade with lace epaulettes. Very distinctive. I didn't get a lot of clothes when I came to Bangalore and although I am pretty much sorted, I still wanted a pair of denims. I ordered for a Newport pair from Flipkart. Just wearing it now. It's okay. Nothing fantastic but I suppose it can be styled to look better. Am having coffee now. Tasty coffee.

They began. They ended.

I am working out of a collaborative working space now. Well, working is a funky term for what I'm doing here. But here I am in any case. I have a call at 8:30 p.m. and where I stay is a little busy with a lot of people in the house. It's fun, on the whole but working steadfastly becomes a little difficult. Actually, I had to work on one other assignment before my call but I don't really feel like working. I feel like typing. I came late today for this free trial at the co-working space so I don't think I can come and work here over the weekend. That is a bummer because I really needed to work over the weekend. Never mind, if that doesn't happen, I will probably go to a cafe near my house. Today I made a spicy curry-soup with sprouts, corn, soya nuggets and potatoes and another basic jeera aalu. My friend is a very good cook as are the other people who stay at home. But they work etc. so they usually eat out. Last week or so, I have been making something or the ot...

I will make this quick. 1. Worked through the night yesterday and slept at around 5 a..m. 2. Got good feedback on my work. 3. Went with my friend to Meenakshi mall. I had fries and Pepsi at Tacobell. 4. Talked with Ma. She seemed happy. Always good. 5. As part of the fast, there is this thing that I found (I used to eat that in Pune) - Barnyard millet. It's called Samak rice or variyaacha tendul in Marathi (I hope I am pronouncing it correctly). Actually, I find it very tasty. I eat it even when I am not fasting. You soak it in water for 10 minutes. Then you wash it really well. You take ghee and add the general tadka of jeera and chillies. If you eat onions, then you can add that as well. Today I also added soya chunks, salt, mirchi powder,  haldi and boiled potatoes. Tossed it about. Added some more water and pressure cooked it on high flame for  whistles. 6. When I used to eat this on non-fast days, I would add capsicum, spring onions, regular onions, bea...

Karavaan is an excellent film. I loved it! Dulquer Salmaan is so very good! There is a scene where Irrfan Khan (is that how his name is spelt? Too lazy to google) is watching a bunch of people smoke, drink and splash around in the pool. He's a conservative guy and he's overall very disappointed with humanity as he sees them do things that he would never do. He's talking to a musician (for the wedding) and he asks (loosely translated), "I don't know what sadness these people are experiencing that they need so much to feel a little joy!" The way he says it is gold! Sometimes I feel the same way when I see people so enthusiastic about going to new places, travelling, etc. What do they so desperately want to escape from? I don't know. Maybe same reason why I want to go and live in different cities - almost like starting from scratch but with no real guarantee of a return. Maybe that's why I never really fancied travel so much. It feels like a cop out....

On the 8th of August, there was an Amavasya puja at the Kali temple in Electronic City. It is actually quite close to where I stay but the roads are tough and it gets dark and deserted fairly quickly. The first time I had gone there, it was around 6 p.m. But there is a stretch in the road that feels like outer space. The land gets barren and dusty with red earth. There is construction going on in places but I never really saw anyone in the building. It felt like this empty futuristic world where buildings are just making themselves.  But then you come across this thicket and tangle of large bushes, large trees and small dirt roads. The temple is inside one of these lanes but it's hard to tell which one.  The temple itself is in a pink building that looks like the pink of a mithai-box. There's warli painting as you enter and there's a cool, narrow corridor. Then there are these small alcoves inside which you have different deities. Kali herself is very fierce-looki...

I am writing am writing a blog post after really long. I remember that when I was in Pune last, I had started a countdown indicating how many days I had to stay there before I moved out of there. I left Pune before the countdown ended. Since then, I have stayed in Noida and worked in Noida and moved back to Bombay and am having a tiny stay in Bangalore. I don't quite know how many days I will be here but I sense that something interesting is right around the bend. I think that I may reasonably be living for 14,600 days more. I have no way of being sure and I have no way to say that I am wrong. So...here it is. I begin again. (I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THIS IS GETTING TYPED IN ALL CAPS. MAYBE IT WILL SORT ITSELF OUT LATER.)