375. “Baraduc claimed to be able to photograph emotions … He sought out emotionally agitated people, then held light-proof paper a few inches from their heads. He found that the same emotion would make the same kind of impression upon the photographic plate, but different emotions produced different images. Anger looked like fireworks. Love was an indistinct blur.” – Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill.
I’ve read this book twice, back-to-back this year. I will read it again before the year is over.
374. A Difficult Mountain by Rohan Chhetri
373. A Quora question went: “What are some of the best conversations in movies?” I was immediately reminded of Before Sunrise. Although the answers have some real gems, Before Sunrise is special for me. I was so influenced by it that I teamed up with Boy to write a similar script set in India. We mapped out the story and wrote a whole bunch of scenes. I would like to see Before Sunrise again. I would like for us to finish the script someday.
372. I have a new graphic novel that looks nothing short of mesmerizing. Habibi by Craig Thompson. Did I say it is mesmerizing?
371. The point when you spend so much time aimlessly browsing that you do find some gold. A few fantastic bookstagrammers: thebooksatchel, obviousstate, nitya.mema, and triinbooks.
370. Timshel
369. River Lea by Adele. There’s a point when the song takes off, and I can imagine the poetry being injected into the world. I kid you not. Oh, that song! Too bad the original is not available on YouTube. But there’s one where Adele has performed it at Glastonbury. She forgets the lyrics after the first verse. It’s quite cute. (Nowhere close to the original though.)
368. Extremely, extremely grateful for the rains. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
367. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. They’re just shooting for 1.5 hours of the 2.5-hour movie. They’re just shooting. After a while, I wonder what’s the fucking point of it all. I don’t think I am cut out to consume any kind of art based around war. Not Atonement or Night. Nor any of these war movies. All the signs of the universe leading me to war literature/movies should know they picked the wrong person. Come on universe, you can do better than that.
366. I can finally read Urdu sentences haltingly. New skill set FTW! There used to be this Urdu poetry appreciation class in the Kitab Khana building at Fort. If it’s still around, now would be a good time to join.
365. The other day, I read an article on some of the most obscure gifts given to people. Someone gifted their lover the spectrum of a star saying, “The light from the star left the surface of the star the day you were born.” How nerdily cool is that!
364. Zen and Quantum Mechanics. Both same. Both different.
363. Seems to matter what I do, so I’m saving this for you
Cos it seems to be the last piece there is
And you haven’t had a chance yet to taste this
Fragments of a life you shouldn’t miss
362. You can’t turn a corner these days without knocking into some kind of outrage. Have we always been this angry?
361. Always remember that the small bottle of lens solution does not come with a lens case. Phbt.
360. Grandma passed away. Helped prepare a dead body for the funeral. Sewing a white cloth as a piece of clothing. Washing the body. Clothing it. Placing kafur with the body. Wrapping it in a single white sheet. Sending for prayer. Then I thought about all those 200 people who died in Baghdad. How long would it have taken to prepare all those bodies? Who was left to pray for them and then bury them? Who is going to be left to pray for us and bury all of us?
359. “To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.”
358. The hair fall problem seems to be in control. Finally. Healing takes time. It took me a year. Growth is another matter altogether.
357. Genzaichi
356. In my journal, sometimes I make a note of things that kids should be taught. Or that maybe I could have done with learning when I was a child. One of those things should be persevering without disappointment. Planting a bamboo and waiting for it to grow should be the mode of teaching.
355. Wasting time is no fun at all. It’s a bother to not have anything to do and to not do anything.
354. Boardwalks by Little May :: One for the girlfriends.
353. Slowly turning into some sort of a book whisperer as AT puts it. Does anyone have a full-time job for it?
352. Ami ki kore jaanbo?
351. Foster father P, and N send me pictures of things and places they know I will love or of those that remind them of me. It’s just so heartwarming how your loved ones can go all the way across the world and still think of you when they see a cottage or a sign or a city. Reminds me of what Old Jiko said – that we’re here and we’re everywhere. Which means that they’re everywhere, and they’re here.
amarllyis 