dreams
who in the world, stories, memories from photos, an exceptional review of my 1st book in a reputed newspaper of India, current reads, and travel pictures.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for being here.
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So I took a short nap today. Okay, I woke up in more than one and a half hours, and I made a cup of cardamom tea, planning then to wrap up this letter and send it to you. Cup of tea steaming on my desk, I was looking at the open Chrome tabs, when an elephant on screen reminded me, or resurfaced the memory, of an afternoon dream, one that probably kept me immersed half an hour ago and because of which I stopped my alarm and couldn’t get up, in which elephants were very close to me. I was looking down from a window, perhaps at a river in which a fully-grown elephant was tearing off green, leafy branches with her trunk and shoving them into her mouth. I was on the phone with someone, telling that person that all the animals had come to this side, and I was also wondering if it would be safe to walk by that elephant. It now seems strange that I was thinking about being close to the elephant because she was standing on one edge of a full gushing river, under the shade of mangroves or trees she was pulling and eating. I don’t know why I had to be in that river and how was I planning to do it.
I am thinking of all the animals I know to recall if I saw another one in the dream. A long-armed blackish monkey comes to mind, but I might be conjuring up the image. The main notion was that a stream of wild animals had come nearer due to some unknown reason. It was festival-like.
The other dream was a scary one (yes, I saw two in the afternoon).
In this one, my mother and I (as I wrote in earlier letters, I’m at my parents’ home temporarily) are standing on our first-floor balcony overlooking the garden, and something pulls at my hands holding the parapet. I bend down but see nothing. Something pulls at my fingers again. I bend down to see a small structure of bone, a proper sharp-jawed skull with a small torso and legs and hands like that of a frog jumping around on the parapet’s exterior, coming back and forth to pull at my hands. I tell my mother this, and she bends down a bit, sees the unexplainable thing, we gasp, I mean we should have gasped, and I remember saying what is this, why is this here, and “See I was telling you something is here.”
So very strange!
I’m sorry for sharing such absurd dreams which lead me, or this letter nowhere, but this remembrance of my dreams through an image on the screen compelled me to write about them.
I used to note down my dreams regularly, but because of my book whose work engulfed me, I even missed out on some dream writing. These little notes here are a promise to myself that, yes, I will write them down again, going forward.
For me, dreams highlight parts of my reality I take for granted, or sometimes ignore. Today was perhaps about my love for animals/nature, or maybe I’ve been craving to be out in the thickest of the wild after staying in the urban world for months. Some things at home have made me anxious in recent weeks, and maybe they were those scary figures hopping along on the parapet, trying to pull at me as those tensions have been gnawing at me.
I am not a dream interpreter, but I am a storyteller, and, for sure, as you can see too, I like to make little stories around my dreams to give them meaning and understand them.
Sometimes I wake up with a jostle, trying to avoid falling or being sure that I have fallen, preparing myself for the impact — this is a common one; many of us dream about falling. Of course, I realize I am on the bed safe and sound, probably just sweaty from the struggle of the dream.
I have so many different kinds of dreams that I cannot possibly categorize them: scary dreams, dreams of catching fish with bare hands only to find it too cute, dreams of monkeys, receiving boxes with big bunches of bananas, strawberries, and other things I love, dreams of my family with some real-life situations and events interspersed in between them, dreams of birds, dreams of long-lost friends and us picking corn together, dreams of talking vultures, and so on. What you call these sorts of dreams I cannot say. For sure, I always wake up feeling that this is the weirdest dream I have ever had, and then the next time, I say the same thing again.
Hah! So much for dreams.
I would love to hear from you about your dreams. Please talk to me in the comments section.
What do you dream about? Do you have any particular dream, like my partner often dreams of a lighthouse? Do you write down your dreams? Do you try to interpret them?
For this week’s letter,
Some of my past writing,
quotes I love,
things to read,
and
things to watch.
Creative Routine and Rituals – How to Dream and Create Consistently
My best creative routine and rituals that let me dream and create consistently.
Get to know the pratices now. Or Pocket them for later.
Writing, Wild Dogs, and Whiskey in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary
For the love of everything in the title. Also, I love this travel narrative, mainly because I enjoyed those three nights in the forest cottage beyond measures and I enjoyed writing about them even more.
Read the travelogue now. Or Pocket it for later.
Quotes I Love
“Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.”
Lewis Carroll
A king doesn’t need a throne.
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.
There’s so much I have read since the last newsletter, and precisely in the past two weeks. Please consider bookmarking some of the below reads if you feel there are too many. I use the Reading List feature of Chrome and save the current tab to pick it up later.
1. Beautiful story of a beautiful little village : A Story Carved in Wood, Snow and Stone by Urmi Chakravorty
2. Everyone should read this: A housewife asks: Was my physical and emotional investment not an adequate recompense for the absence of a fixed salary? — The Joy of Missing Out: In Search of Yutori
3. Why Did New Zealand Turn on Jacinda Ardern? by Rachel Morris — This is a fairly deep article on the former Prime Minister and her new memoir, and I believe you should read it, if for nothing else for general knowledge. But also for understanding world politics, economics, leadership, the fragility of life, and how our actions can change our course of life forever. We may have the best of the intentions but still things may not turn out in our favor.
I really want to read Ardern’s memoir now to hear her side of the story.
4. Reading Behind Bars, and Beyond Barriers By Jackie Snow — Jackie Snow reflects on what working for a books-to-prisons nonprofit has taught her about reading.
What our incarcerated readers demonstrate is that true literary autonomy isn’t about reading “better” books—it’s about the fundamental right to read freely to pursue pleasure rather than prestige, to seek what speaks to our individual humanity rather than what serves institutional expectations.
5. Thriving as a Single Woman in your 30s and Beyond by Akankshya — The piece is sort of a summary of an interview/questionnaire conducted by the author to which both single women and men in their 30s responded. Though I’d have been happier with shorter paragraphs, I liked reading about how people react differently to every situation and emotion. I hope you enjoy the article too.
6. Skype Shutting Down — I think I am a bit late in sharing this memory wall. The piece is mostly Skype users sharing their fondest memory of using Skype as the platform shut down on May 5. I wasn’t going to share it initially (received it as part of another newsletter I read) but then some of the heartfelt stories compelled me to put it down here. Enjoy!
7. An Astrophotographer’s 20-Day Adventure Under the Darkest Skies in the World: Absolutely breathtaking photographs of Chile and Bolivia night skies by a professional photographer.
What I noticed was how I was looking at these pictures. Having been to these locations, every image evoked a specific memory in me. In one photograph, a man is holding a torch light and standing on the ground near adobe cottages. Up ahead of him in the far distance, there are icy mountains, and what seems like close to him is the entire galaxy and its stars just hovering above him, dazzling everyone.
In another picture, there are coffee-brown Andes, and tufts of dry desert golden grass fill the screen up to the foothills. I remember myself in that frame and how I felt. Excited, amazed, a bit saturated because I had been seeing unbelievable landscapes of the Atacama for many days, confused about what sense to make of it all, thirsty, my skin dry, nervous about being alone and heading further into Peru solo, anxious for the upcoming difficulties and moments of challenges, a bit scared regarding visas that are never easy on an Indian passport, and, of course, my parents’ restlessness to get me back home was also gnawing at me. I was also rendered speechless by the breathtaking landscapes.
I take one look at that photo, and it’s all back, all those feelings. Does it happen to you too?
8. Okay so this brilliant, detailed, and beautiful review of my travel memoir, Journeys Beyond and Within…, covered more than half of page 4 of last Sunday’s Sikkim Express: a daily newspaper of India.
I cannot say head to the newspaper stand (the review came out a week ago) but please see the attached, or read the review online here: Book: Journeys Beyond and Within… Author: Priyanka Gupta
"Priyanka’s effort in world-building is commendable. The graphic details about her UP home, the terrace, the changing seasons, their delectable food, the flora and fauna, and her life therein, are a sensory delight for the reader to savour. Similar trains of imagery add flavour, colour and vibrancy to all her travel experiences, be it in Paris, London, Chile, Peru, Bali, or closer home in the Himalayas or the various Indian states."
Urmi Chakravorty
"The author chooses her words with care – simple, free-flowing, but immensely evocative. As a reader, I marvelled at her photographic memory, eye for detail, and engaging narrative skills.
Priyanka Gupta’s memoir is not a vociferous attempt to impress or bombard us with information and achievements. Rather, it is a subtle interior dialogue that touches the emotional core of the reader. Each chapter is like a gentle nudge to accompany her on her path to self-discovery."
Urmi Chakravorty
That my book review has come next to the Booker Prize Winner Banu Mushtaq's short biography makes me giddy.
Journeys Beyond and Within… is available on Amazon globally, in paperback, hardcase, and ebook formats. Just search for the title, or here are all the Amazon links.
My travel memoir is also in bookstores around India. Yay! If you can’t find a copy at your favorite bookshop, let me know. I’ll make sure it reaches there.
There are many more reviews coming in every day. But I can’t share everything here. Journeys Beyond and Within… was also No. 1 Bestseller in Travel Writing (in India) a couple of days ago (it keeps coming on and off). It does well in other regions too, especially in the US in Solo Travel where it has ranked No. 1 many times.
Thank you for trusting me, my writing, this letter, and my book :-)
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9. Elective Affinities by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe — I’ve a strong feeling that I have read this book before. Maybe in college for I have clearly forgotten to return it to my hostel library. Though I am not so blown away by Goethe’s descriptions of people, their feelings, how they will act as much as I am by Proust’s, Woolf’s or Tagore’s I still enjoy the people in his world. They are given in to their ambitions, desires, weaknesses, so easily that Elective Affinities make for a very real read. I’m also quite impressed and fascinated by the title, which is, believe it or not, attributed to elective affinities in Chemisty.
This might make for a slow read but not for a boring one. Do try!
10. I’m re-reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth. I was so engrossed in the first chapter that when I turned the pages to the second and remembered it’s a short story collection, I was upset. I wanted to read more about the people in the first, and that can tell you how good the book is.
Happy reading!
What I’ve Been Watching/Listening
that’s worth mentioning
The same story again. I have a bunch of things to share but as this letter is already long let me do that the next week.
And for all adventure lovers!
a photo from past travels
These are not per se travel photos. But they are relevant: photos of my travel memoir reaching me from a distance.
Happiness is seeing your book in a book store. Actually a book store sending you pictures of its latest stock! This is Book Corner in Meerut, UP (India). The shop has a great collection of books, newspapers, and magazines. If you are in Meerut, I definitely recommend you to visit, and if you are planning to buy my book, buy it from there. The R. Lall Book Depot in Meerut also has my book!
Seeing my Journeys next to Jhumpa Lahiri's, The Lowland, I'm all smiles. It's a big deal for me that a city as close as 60 km from my home town — where I grew up and where I'm at the moment — has MY BOOK on its shelves 😊
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Thank you for reading! I hope you have a cool, sweet week ahead.
If you loved the newsletter, please forward it to someone you know. Have a friend who might like my book? Please send them this letter right away.
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Yours,
Priyanka
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Lovely piece. I vividly remember my dreams, unlike my wife who doesn't recall any. I just need to remember one, then scores of forgotten vignettes of dreams come to me in successive profusion till my mind is flooded with a pleasurable feeling of deja vu - of lands and times I may have lived. Beats reality for sure 😊