Newsletter from Nowhere
I am writing from a sleeper bus!
Hello everyone! Hope you all are well and not being troubled too much by the changes in weather all across the country.
I am on my way to Dehradun from Jaipur, writing from a sleeper bus. It’s exciting to be lying down in my mini room and writing this.
I have realized that I deeply love travelling and just being on the road, regardless of the destination, mode of transport, or reason for travelling.
Ever since I last wrote, things have been quite shaky. I left my home in Bir to travel to Delhi by an overnight bus, and then I took another bus to Jaipur.
After spending 3 days in Jaipur, I am now on the road to Dehradun.
I finally said bye to Jaipur, a city I could never call home. Last night when I was about to fall asleep, I reminded myself that it was perhaps my last night in my Jaipur home, and yet, even though many emotions surfaced, I was still not very emotional about it.
Back in Bombay, even a month prior, every night while sleeping, I would have tears in my eyes just out of the sheer thought of leaving Bombay in the coming days. ( I lived in Bombay for 10 years)
Anyways, more about Jaipur and my toxic relationship with the city later :)
I had a fantastic week, workwise. A few of my posts did very well, and that makes me so excited and confident as a writer.
Here’s me deciphering the ideas of success and failure:
Visual Essay on Earth Day:
Visual Essay on World Book Day:
The latest and the best of all, my post on Laapata Ladies, a brilliant film by the great Kiran Rao:
This one was shared by Kiran Rao herself, by the lead actor Sparsh, and by the casting director, Romil Modi! I have been so pumped since this afternoon.
I am slowly and steadily reaping the benefits of what I have been sowing for so many years! I have been writing on Instagram for almost a decade. I see it happening. I am not saying this because my post got shared today; I genuinely mean it.
The answer is consistency and fooling yourself every day!
I am slowly realizing how the laws of the creative world are actually “NO laws”!
There’s just a lot of unlearning and unschooling that one has to do to become more creative.
The creative journey is a journey from mind to no mind, from words to gibberish, from form to no form, and from somebody to nobody!
Wait, let me explain so that you’re convinced that I haven’t copied this off the internet!
We are all born creative.
We are all born experimenters, with a bucket full of self-worth and self-esteem. Unfortunately, our upbringing and the ways of society mould us into ‘learned subjects’ who are supposed to do things, rather than just be.
We are educated individuals supposed to bring money home, drive cars, build houses, spend money, and just strive for better every single day.
I ask, “But why?” The problem here is NOT with the houses, the cars, the riches, or the money. It’s all great. I know money is important and has an integral role to play.
The creative world is not exclusive of money; in fact, it is accepting and appreciative of wealth, value, and money. Only a person who has their basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing sorted can afford to be creative.
The problem is in being ‘supposed to do something’ and being robbed of the chance to ‘just be’.
'“Creativity is best produced in a state of being.
We are human beings for a reason. Soon, we might be called human doings!”
Okay, I went on a writing spree, but I must pause here.
The conclusion is when you’re creating, keep your mind aside.
How to do it? Well, let's explore it in the next newsletter.
Creative Writing Lab is now 5 weeks old, and I am super excited to do the 6th space in the coming days. I am travelling this weekend as well, so I will update about the next space in a few days. To compensate for not holding a space this week, I will have 2 spaces next week! Promise :)
This photo is of the call from last week where 5 people turned up, even though I had put up the post for it less than 24 hours prior. I am truly grateful for your support!
As a feature of all my newsletters, I will be sharing one song, one book, one plant-based meal, one film that inspired me, and some photographic updates from my life.
I am reading 'Quiet' by Susan Cain. I picked it up 2 -3 weeks back and even mentioned about it in this segment. As I read 3-4 books at a given time, I have been reading Quiet during my travels. It has been incredibly healing for me to read about the life of introverts and how there is nothing wrong with us! I have taken multiple photos of parts that touched my heart. Sharing a few here.
I will write separately and in depth about these two pieces but for now, do read it and let it soak in. If you’re an introvert, you will surely understand why this exists here :)
I made a simple meal of millets and dal. I am a dal chawal boy since my college days. Nothing makes me happy like the combination of arhar dal and rice. Lately, I have shifted to millets, and I have been thoroughly enjoying the shift.
Here’s me having millets - dal.
Since I was home this week, I watched two films with my mother, Laapata Ladies and Amir Singh Chamkila. It felt so nice to be spending time with my mother. We thoroughly enjoyed both films, and I recommend you watch both of them. Laapata Ladies is in theatres, so go watch it there if you can!
I have been listening to Adjust by my favourite singer and man crush Hasan Raheem.
Lastly, here’s a photograph I took of the farms in my village. At this point, I was just coming back from a beautiful evening with a very dear friend. We were sitting in the middle of the farm, surrounded by the green colour of the fields, and since it was a bright sunny day we were shadowed by a huge tree next to us. It was a beautiful evening. Another one of those “Damn, I literally live here” moments!
The bus is doing its fair share of shaking around, and I must put my laptop off and sleep.
Thank you for your time! If you like what I share, do share it with your friends and family.
Hope your week was fine too! Wishing good health and lots of love to everyone. Have a lovely week ahead :)
Hello! boy from sleeper bus :)
Why do you make everything so good? While I was reading this blog, i felt yo are sitting just right there, narrating it in your voice.
And yes, do give me a call whenever you think your emotions are brimming . Your posts are working tremendously good. No! Let me correct. They are ridiculously good!