Now
A sporadically updated log of what I'm doing, reading or exploring at different points of time.
Now pages are less transient than a Twitter feed but more fluid than my About page.
Now
A sporadically updated log of what I'm doing, reading or exploring at different points of time. Now pages are less transient than Twitter but more fluid than my About page.
August 2024
For the first time in what I know to be years, I'm actually enjoying the rainy season in Bangalore (and also in the Nilgiris, where I just spent four days that, collectively, felt like a deep, releasing, cleansing breath). I think it has everything to do with how brain-melting the summer months were; I am now revenge enjoying the cool, wet breeze and fresh smell of petrichor. The commute to my new workplace remains nightmarish, but I am slowly coming to terms with the futility of fighting it.
This continues to be a season of reflection and reframing for me, fuelled in part by all the truthful writing I've been doing for my newsletter. My working hypothesis is that I am very attuned to cognitive dissonance, but just as reluctant to make the changes I need to make for it to…vanish. At the same time that I try to separate work and the rest of my life, I now more clearly see the behaviours and tendencies I have that underpin and colour both my work and *vaguely gestures to everything else*. Ira Glass talks about recognising the gap between your current skills and the ambitious work you want to create — I, likewise, see a yawning gulf between who I am currently am and who I would like to arrive at.
My main watch over the past few weeks has been Cobra Kai. It's nerdy, it takes itself too seriously, it's downright hilarious, it's moving. In short, it's everything I could ever want in a show.
I also worked my way through my bedside reading stack over the last few weeks. The Burning God, the third book in RF Kuang's Poppy Wars trilogy, was disappointing and a chore to get through, which breaks my heart. My Goodreads review (read: rant) says everything I want to say about this book. Similarly disappointing was The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin, which felt like a history textbook cosplaying as an Agatha Christie novel, and not in a good way.
The Ministry of Time, which I finished the night before I wrote this entry, was a much more interesting read. The sci-fi aspects leave a lot to be desired, I'm sure, but I've never been one to claim intellectual mastery over grandfather paradoxes and wormholes so this level of detail suited me just fine. I'm someone who would enjoy a mediocre story with great prose more than a great story mediocrely told, and this prose was luscious. Kailene Bradley wields metaphors like a scalpel and cuts to the bone with surgical precision.
August 2024
For the first time in what I know to be years, I'm actually enjoying the rainy season in Bangalore (and also in the Nilgiris, where I just spent four days that, collectively, felt like a deep, releasing, cleansing breath). I think it has everything to do with how brain-melting the summer months were; I am now revenge enjoying the cool, wet breeze and fresh smell of petrichor. The commute to my new workplace remains nightmarish, but I am slowly coming to terms with the futility of fighting it.
This continues to be a season of reflection and reframing for me, fuelled in part by all the truthful writing I've been doing for my newsletter. My working hypothesis is that I am very attuned to cognitive dissonance, but just as reluctant to make the changes I need to make for it to…vanish. At the same time that I try to separate work and the rest of my life, I now more clearly see the behaviours and tendencies I have that underpin and colour both my work and *vaguely gestures to everything else*. Ira Glass talks about recognising the gap between your current skills and the ambitious work you want to create — I, likewise, see a yawning gulf between who I am currently am and who I would like to arrive at.
My main watch over the past few weeks has been Cobra Kai. It's nerdy, it takes itself too seriously, it's downright hilarious, it's moving. In short, it's everything I could ever want in a show.
I also worked my way through my bedside reading stack over the last few weeks. The Burning God, the third book in RF Kuang's Poppy Wars trilogy, was disappointing and a chore to get through, which breaks my heart. My Goodreads review (read: rant) says everything I want to say about this book. Similarly disappointing was The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin, which felt like a history textbook cosplaying as an Agatha Christie novel, and not in a good way.
The Ministry of Time, which I finished the night before I wrote this entry, was a much more interesting read. The sci-fi aspects leave a lot to be desired, I'm sure, but I've never been one to claim intellectual mastery over grandfather paradoxes and wormholes so this level of detail suited me just fine. I'm someone who would enjoy a mediocre story with great prose more than a great story mediocrely told, and this prose was luscious. Kailene Bradley wields metaphors like a scalpel and cuts to the bone with surgical precision.
June 2024
I am back to writing for my newsletter, Kindred Spirits, after unapologetically taking a break to find my confidence and rediscover my conviction (I wrote a little bit about that here and here). It was significantly harder to take a break than it was to get back into writing, but I definitely unstoppered a deep sense of okayness and trust in where I was in my writing journey. To celebrate that, I decided to make things official with a new domain name: readkindredspirits.com.
I am two months into a new work opportunity that came as a result of Obvious being sold (read Rahul Gonsalves' notes about it). Safe to say, it's a little fish in a big ocean sort of situation. It's too early to comment on whether this was a successful move, but I'm confident that I'm doing my best.
My unconventional role at Obv came with the advantage of vantage. It revealed a lot about the inner workings of startups and tech that I haven't had a chance to write about… but I think I can finally remedy that and distil what I've learnt into working notes and theories on this website.
Excitedly, I've gotten back into reading everyday. I just tore through Dragon Republic, the second book in RF Kuang's Poppy Wars trilogy, and I'm going to dig into the third next. Also on my TBR for this month is The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin and Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill.
I got a new low bookshelf for my study, now that I no longer work from home. It feels a lot more like a writer's den now, which has always been what I earmarked this room for. I still can't believe it's been a year since my housewarming ceremony — everyday I'm grateful for the cocoon-like feeling I get when I enter my home.
I got published in Yummy Colours' Concept of the Year for 2024, It's So Hard To Be A F*cking Squirrel These Days. This was my first time participating in a creative project of this scale and designing an activity capable of grounding people in the present. The final activity book is both an incredible collection of multidisciplinary inspiration and a collective experience unlike any other. Super grateful to be a part of it.
June 2024
I am back to writing for my newsletter, Kindred Spirits, after unapologetically taking a break to find my confidence and rediscover my conviction (I wrote a little about that here). It was significantly harder to take a break than it was to get back into writing, but I definitely unstoppered a deep sense of okayness and trust in where I was in my writing journey. To celebrate that, I decided to make things official with a new domain name: readkindredspirits.com.
I am two months into a new work opportunity that I can't talk about in public just yet, but safe to say it's a little fish in a big ocean sort of situation. It's too early to comment on whether this was a successful move, but I'm confident that I'm doing my best to actively lead and learn.
Excitedly, I've gotten back into reading everyday. I just tore through Dragon Republic, the second book in RF Kuang's Poppy Wars trilogy, and I'm going to dig into the third next. Also on my TBR for this month is The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin and Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill.
I got a new low bookshelf for my study, now that I no longer work from home. It feels a lot more like a writer's den now, which has always been what I earmarked this room for. I still can't believe it's been a year since my housewarming ceremony — everyday I'm grateful for the cocoon-like feeling I get when I enter my home.
I got published in Yummy Colours' Concept of the Year for 2024, It's So Hard To Be A F*cking Squirrel These Days. This was my first time participating in a creative project of this scale and designing an activity capable of grounding people in the present. The final activity book is both an incredible collection of multidisciplinary inspiration and a collective experience unlike any other. Super grateful to be a part of it.
