I finally know the answer.

"Where are you from?"

After 4 weeks of being away from my studio and home in Bir, I am finally just a day away from restarting my life in the mountains. Not only did I dearly miss the mountains, the trees and the sanctity of my studio but also the person I am in that environment.

I am planting a few very deep thought-out intentions for the next few months. The idea is to immerse myself deeply in processes and experiments that would bring out creativity and flow in me.

Here it goes -
1) Watching world cinema (3 Films a week)
2) Mindful photo walks (3 Times a week)
3) No judgement painting (2 Canvas a week)
4) Weekly writing calls
5) Solo hikes and Solo Bike rides
6) Daily habits like Morning Pages, Sketching and Writing on social media.
7) Reading travel books extensively
8) Editing the first draft of my book

There is a lot more that I wish to do but even the above written intentions seem quite ambitious in themselves. By sharing them here, I keep myself accountable!

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I am writing from Shimla today. Last week I was in Noida after spending almost 20 days in Pune. I spent my childhood in Noida and after 12 years, my family has recently moved back here (this time, for good). Due to my father’s transferrable job, we kept moving cities. While my hometown is Rewari, Haryana we never really lived there. So wherever my parents were was my definition of home.

I was okay answering the question “Where are you from?” till the time I was in Bombay. I loved the city, had spent a decade there and it genuinely felt like home.

I found myself gasping for an answer when we moved to Jaipur 2 years back. Suddenly, I didn’t know where home was or what home meant to me.

Now, as I sit in my parent’s home in Noida which they call Home, I know for a fact that my home is in Bir. It is a small, cozy and simple house and yet it feels like the most extravagant place to me. I feel at home there and the place feels like a safe haven for a person like me. I can’t wait to be back.

I left from Noida on Sunday. I am now in Shimla to meet a friend and her lovely daughter. Tomorrow, I will travel to Bir and be home by night.

I had a lovely transit here in Shimla the past 2 days. Shimla is my happy place. I have always found myself feeling nice and peaceful here. This time, I was a bit all over the place due to all the extensive travelling but still, Shimla felt nice.

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My recent experience of teaching writing to students in Pune has gotten me thinking of my journey as a mentor and a writer and how I can bring those two worlds together.
I wish to facilitate more writing + creativity-themed spaces both online and offline. I am happy to work on projects and collaborations of any kind. Hit me up if you have any ideas.

As a feature of all my newsletters, I share one song, one book, one plant-based meal, one film/video that inspired me, and some photographic updates from my life.

• I had a Mango Avocado salad at Cafe Bean and Basil in Noida.

  

• I played some very interesting board games at my friend’s house in Pune. I got introduced to the world of Board Games and now I think I am going to become a board game junkie too!

  

• I don’t have any photographs to show you this week but I have something far more interesting! My dear friend and soul brother (who doesn’t wish to be named) gifted me the most precious thing ever!
  Any guesses?

  

  A Pentax Spotmatic vintage film camera. It is perhaps older than my parents.

  I haven’t used it yet but it’s so beautiful that I can’t take my eyes off it. I am excited to learn and practice film photography with this camera. I think it’s finally with this piece of art in my hand that I will be practicing Mindful Photography. Look out for some very interesting film photographs!

  

  Can’t believe I got so lucky to have people in my life who are crazy enough to gift me a vintage camera!!! Like seriously, is this for real???

  Thank you everyone for reading and sharing my work. It means a lot to me. Like always, have a brilliant week ahead and my love and hugs to everyone!