at an arm's length
daily mantras, Pondicherry, suffering is relative, understanding rivers, women-oriented movies, freedom, and colourful years of travel
Dear Reader,
Thank you for joining me. I hope you are having a colourful week.
Today I want to share the mantras I wrote on my sticky note yesterday that are to guide me every day.
Here they are,
Suffused with fun
Happy in where we are
Pass over the baton of responsibility to deadlines
Believe in the power of little by little, slight edge
You are learning
Forget everyone, laugh at everything
This sunshine, as long as it is there how can I be sad
You are as oldest as you have ever been and the youngest you will ever be
Don’t explain yourself to anyone because they won’t see you as you are
Don’t scream, fight, do self-pity, or cry because of whatever someone hasn’t done for you or done against you. The only way of getting out of the quagmire is to do what you have to do.
Work with routine, rest happens
Quiet the voice always explaining things to you
Slight edge — keep doing the things working in your favor. But also find out what works against you and remove those habits.
Many of these ideas are inspired by and collected from people and forms of art. But these work for me and so I keep them close.
What are your mantras to life?
For this week’s letter,
Some of my writing,
quotes I love,
things to read,
things to watch,
and
travel tips.
Articles of the Week
the Pleasing Potpourri that Pondicherry is – in Photos
Everyday photos of Pondicherry collected over a ten-month stay. But more than being a photoblog, this post is an exploration of Pondicherry's medley of cultures.
Read the photo narrative now. Or Pocket it for later.
Searched For Big Adventures, Satisfied With a Little Lakeside Picnic – In Karnataka’s Sharavathi Valley
Our search for a big adventure in Sharavathi Valley Wildlife Sanctuary brought us to a lakeside picnic which reminds me to-date how little we need to be happy.
Read about the day now. Or Pocket for the weekend.
Quotes I Love
“If a man knows more than others, he becomes lonely.”
Carl Jung
“I travelled miles, for many a year,
I spent a lot in lands afar,
I’ve gone to see the mountains,
The oceans I’ve been to view.
But I haven’t seen with these eyes
Just two steps from my home lies
On a corn of paddy grain,
A glistening drop of dew.”
Rabindranath Tagore
“To draw an analogy: a man's suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative.”
Viktor Frankl
“I am just a fleeting flicker in this passing of time. But I am the time. I am the moment.”
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.
Beautiful reads from the week,
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage — a collection of Alice Munro’s stories — as enchanting, real, and entertaining as ever
Understanding Rivers by National Geographic — So much I didn’t know about rivers.
Best news I read this week — Kerala: India temple replaces elephant with robot for rituals
Finally Forensic study finds Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was poisoned
A Bengali food blog that had to be shared — Bong Mom’s Cookbook
What I’ve Been Watching/Listening
that’s worth mentioning
I saw two movies and they left me overwhelmed. Both the movies “Hamari Sulu” and then “Thappad” come from the Hindi cinema.
I really enjoyed Hamari Sulu: the story of a woman who is shown to transform from a homemaker to a radio jockey. The movie was amazing in its portrayal of husband and wife’s expectations from each other, the societal role of women as a mother, daughter, and wife, and how the traditional lifestyle is supported while the unconventional is rebuked at every step. The movie also focuses on loneliness and that it is to be dealt with acceptance and support not judgement. The stories were intertwined well. At some point, things started to drag a bit, and then the ending wasn’t perfectly clear. But overall a good and humorous effort to show the many facets of the life of a woman.
Then I rewatched Thappad: a story of a woman who is slapped by her husband in a party and then how she deals with the abuse. Every character’s story was intertwined well with the theme of domestic abuse, taking women for granted, and the societal expectation of them to move on and sacrifice. This is an intense movie but a great mirror to today’s modern society in which freedom maybe at an arm’s length but it is us who have to reach out and grab it, no one else will do that for us.
Both movies made me cry in their own way. They also taught me a bit on family life, how things can be ignored, laughed upon, and the little joys that can be celebrated by dancing together. When we start taking ourselves so seriously and get offended or feel being treated unjustly while the other just intended a joke is when things go down the hill. Forget everyone and laugh at everything.
And for all my Wanderlusters
Pictures from the past years of travel.
once upon a time in my favourite country Burma in its ancient town Bagan.
I hope peace comes quickly to all citizens of this tormented nation. people were so generous, kind, and ever-smiling.
an oriental darter sun-bathing on lake Ousteri in Pondicherry. East coast of India.
nature can keep us mesmerised constantly.
everyday scenes on the highway of Karnataka state. i guess that is the ragi millet being husked.
pictures taken on a trip from Bangalore to Sharavathi Valley. 2018 year-end.
every time I return from Southeast Asia this is the typical scene. prawn chips and a cup of tea. this was in 2018, I was back from two months in Indonesia and Malaysia. good times, despite getting stitches on my knee and traveling alone, while doing freelance writing projects.
And that’s it for now.
Thank you for reading.
I hope you have a great rest of the week. Hope you can look at the bright side of things :)
And for those who are celebrating, happy holi.
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Yours,
Priyanka
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