as young as we will ever be
the now, friendships, lost memories, make someone smile, Rajasthan, pictures and pictures, cat-like owls, Scottish Highlands, and the Himalayas in photos
Hi there!
Thank you for joining me.
I hope you are doing well and your week has been peaceful.
I didn’t send the newsletter last week, again. And from what it seems, I am going to miss the letter many times this year. The last two weeks I had writing deadlines, again. The pieces I have been writing will get published around the internet by the end of this year or the beginning of the next year.
While I continue to write these old stories, I find myself drowned in them over and over again. So much so that I have to miss out on other things; that’s how it is. My apologies.
Here are three things I have thought about these last two weeks,
Time is going as fast as ever. I remember when I was a child I used to think, “oh, I had just got into sixth standard but this grade is almost over, tests are here, and I will be soon in the seventh standard.” And every year the new grade also got over quickly. Then the pattern repeated in college. Every semester got over when it had just started. And even though I felt the length of the four years in their entirety, each four-month semester was a blink.
Now again, 2022 had just started. But we are almost midway through it. In less than two months my blog would have completed its five years. I can’t believe it.
While I am writing these memoirs with so much focus, soon they will be over and published. All we are planning to do will get done. Of course I will be elated with the results, hopefully. But what then? I will do something new and that would be over as well. No matter what great thing or event or change is coming, it will be done one day.
While the time runs fast, the most important — and the only thing we can do — is to fully loose ourselves in the now. If we can immerse in the now, we won’t eternally be waiting to get done with the thing we have on hand and won’t feel empty when it has left us. It would be the moment, the doing, the immersion, the gradual change or improvement that will drive us. And the fear of the upcoming won’t haunt us either.
2. While writing about my past, I try to recollect how it was between my old friends and me. And when I read through old emails or talk to a friend, I realize I don’t remember a lot about those old friendships. I look at the past romantically as if there were no grudges, no complaints, no ignored evenings. But all of that was there. It’s just that I want to imagine those relationships as perfect.
I’m unsure of the finer details between us. But I can be perfectly sure of the feeling I get from thinking about a friend. Love, laughter, warmth, fun, comfort, each friend represents a bubble of each of these feelings. And it’s all that I can be sure of: how my friend has made me feel. That’s all.
And that’s what matters in all our relationships. How we make the other person feel.
3. I recently read somewhere on Twitter that “each day we are as young as we will ever be.” The profoundness of this simple and straightforward sentence struck me. Perhaps that something so simple can be so true and real was what shook me.
Though I am penning down a lot about my childhood and growing up years, I can only recall so much from that time. So for example I remember I loved to eat stuffed bitter gourds but I don’t know what I liked just about average. I know I used to write in my journal in the evening, but I don’t remember if I cried one day after writing it. You know?
In the past fifteen years, my body has changed all cells at least once, maybe even twice. My brain has formed new connections within it to store all the new information and have let go of many past networks.
As much as I would like to, I don’t think I even know the old Priyanka of ten years ago. I have shed my old-self already. Then what remains? This consciousness. This breath. This life. This feeling of being me. And there are some other constants too. Like my parents. My long fingers. Wavy hair. Things I did. Studies or tests I completed.
Above all those constants, all that remains is an illusion, nothing more different than the illusion of perfect friendships. And the only truth is the old me has been left behind to make this new me.
Do you think you know yourself from ten years ago?
For this week’s letter,
Some of my writing,
quotes I love,
things to read,
things to watch,
and
travel tips.
Past Articles I’ve Just Renewed
47 Bright Ways to Make Someone Happy (or Smile)
This list of 47 methods have helped me put a smile on people’s faces and make them laugh or feel good, often. Do try if you want to see someone smile.
Click to read the inspirations now. Or Pocket for later.
A Photographic Affair With Pushkar, Rajasthan — Captures from Pushkar Camel Fair
It was about four years ago when I went to the Pushkar cattle fair held in the town of Pushkar in Rajasthan.
This visual diary is a collection of not only what I saw, but what I heard, understood, and felt about the life of the people of Rajasthan and the state’s camels.
See the pictures now. Or Pocket the photo essay for later.
Quotes I Love
“Will there be singing in dark times? Yes, there will be singing in dark times. There will be singing about the dark times.” — Bertolt Brecht
“Anyone who cannot come to terms with his life while he is alive needs one hand to ward off a little his despair over his fate… but with his other hand he can note down what he sees among the ruins.” — Franz Kafka
“For at the end of the day, what’s all the bother about? Simply about human relations, about how we are to live one with another on the old earth. That’s all, ultimately. To understand one another, and to understand what we can about the earth, and, in the process, gather some peace of mind and, with luck, a little delight.” — Neil M. Gunn
“The trust we put in others ripples on, though it may not look so initially. And one day it reaches back to the trust-breakers in their own moment of need, and they realize they were looking at it all wrong all the time..” — Yours Truly
What I’ve Been Reading
I’ve been reading short stories, books, articles, and so much more. I can’t possibly list all what I have read in the past week so I’m putting down the things I found most relevant and worthwhile.
A lot of beautiful pictures to see,
10 Rare Pics from History That Expand Our Understanding of India — An ode to the India of the past.
Lush Aerial Photos by Pham Huy Trung Capture the Annual Harvests of Vietnam’s Countryside — Some of the most amazing pictures of Vietnam I have seen. I did observe the tea-collectors of Vietnam when I went to the country. But I didn’t know how beautiful the workers composition in the natural setting could look from above. Please relish.
The divide between the rich and the poor becoming obvious in these drone-photographs.
Could you have imagined seeds could look like this?
Namibia’s surreal photographs that are no less than a wonder.
100 tiny crocodiles riding their father’s back in river Chambal — I never saw something like this before. Looks crazy.
Billions of fireflies dancing in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu — A couple of months ago about 7-8 fireflies used to dance in front of us in our jungle cottage. We stayed in that hut in the woods for more than two months and every night those fireflies came. That tiny group was enough to make us marvel, and now look at this,
and some of the most important photographs for today,
Stop Tanks With Books by Mark Neville — Mark’s and many others effort to give tragedy and war a face, in fact, many faces. This book is a collection of photos that show the impact of the war in Ukraine. The linked website, too, displays many of the pictures which are part of the book.
As I’ve shared about 7-8 links from This is Colossal, needless to say it is a great place to browse and read and see a bunch of great artistic, innovative, old, classic, fun, and unique stuff.
The Indian Scops Owl: Ghost of the city by Abhishek Gulshan — A couple of days ago on an evening walk, I saw some birds fly to a tree. It was almost dark. When I looked above, what I saw confused me. There sat a bird on a branch. For sure she looked like a bird. Then why did she have ears like a cats’? I researched and found that what I saw was The Indian Scops Owl.
The linked Hindu article says, “It is quite a common species (not as common as the Spotted Owlet though), in urban developments but has learnt to camouflage and hide from civilization for its safety. It is a widespread resident across forests and well-wooded areas of the Indian Subcontinent south of the Himalayas. In Delhi, you’ll see them in Vasant Kunj, Hauz Khas, the Ridge and other such biodiversity-rich areas.”
A continuous frog-like, a hoot is the bird’s call. Look around, perhaps you will find this curious creature, too.
An illustrated guide to the birds in the backyard by Mint — India has 832 avian species in our cities bringing the country to the fourth position. This beautiful guide to some of the most common birds found in Indian backyards is good to scroll by.
Beautiful books from the week,
Charlotte's Web by E.B.White — I don’t know why I hadn’t read this book until recently. Whenever I heard Charlotte’s Web, I thought of witchcraft and didn’t get excited about reading the book. But this is a simple, sweet story of a tiny spider, a pig, a barn full of animals, and a little girl. If you are looking for a light, joyful read, pick this one up.
Though the book is categorized as a children’s book, I categorize it as a great read for even adults too. White shows a full and complete universe of animal life and repeats often that if adults listen in, they will also be able to hear them animals talk. And I believe him.
The Drinking Well by Neil M. Gunn — This one is a classic and I have got a rare hard-bound copy of it from the local library. In the book, Gunn writes about Scottish Highlands and the life they contain with such knowledge and compassion that I couldn’t keep the book down for days. The way he writes about people and change in their countenance and what they say and think and hear and feel has put him, if not as equal, but quite close to the writers I pick up when I want to read the nuances of being human in exquisite detail. Proust, Tagore, Tolstoy, and many more.
The book is divided into four parts and is not a short read. But given how much one can learn from the book, I recommend it to both fiction and non-fiction lovers. It will be a special delight to those who love the countryside.
What I’ve Been Watching/Listening
that’s worth mentioning.
I saw a movie Upstarts on Netflix that focuses on what young entrepreneurs have to do to get their startups running. The tug of war between “how it should be” but “what one has to do to survive” makes the movie a good watch and relatable for everyone.
I also wanted to watch All Creatures Great and Small based on the book by James Herriot. But it is hard to source the series here in India. So instead I have been watching birds.
John Gerrard Keulemans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
And for all my Wanderlusters.
I’m sharing a couple of photos from my last year’s travel in the Himalayas. Hope you enjoy.
Thank you for reading.
I hope your week is energetic and in harmony. Take good care of yourselves :)
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Yours,
Priyanka
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