finding Mowgli
the slow rippling of time, declutter, daily chores, self-abandonment, wild wolves, the force of life, and bananas
Hi there!
Thank you for joining me.
I hope you are doing well and your week has been fun.
This time I am not apologizing for not sending the newsletter last week. A loyal reader told me I don’t have to be sorry whenever I can’t email the letter. “Just send it when you can send it,” he said. I liked the lightness of his tone, and so I accepted his suggestion.
My two weeks have been like a rain storm followed by a fragrant earthy calm. I spent the first week writing, walking, and cooking, and this week was all about cleaning up my mind. I talked to friends, took care of my finances, slept, stretched out, decluttered my inbox, walked, biked, went out, gorged on mangoes, and read.
I have loved this slow rippling of time.
And when I went so slow, I enjoyed the little things around me even more.
Can you believe this is grass? Well, I was toddling about in the soil for a long long time so it better be.
Today I want to share with you two secrets to my happiness: keeping my hours uncluttered and finding joy in everyday chores.
I don’t put too many things on my list for the day. I start with a big item, the most important for the day. When I am done with it, I get onto smaller tasks. If I can’t finish the first job, and I can afford to let it spill to the next day, I let it. If it has to be done that same day, I brew a cup of tea or coffee and sit into the night. The next morning I again pick up the priority of the day and the smaller tasks are again scooched up into the end hours.
This goes on. And while getting to what is most significant for me — that’s mostly writing, publishing, sending this newsletter, or going on an adventure — I don’t worry about the other work elements. I get to them when I can. We can’t do it all and I would rather do what makes the most difference.
But this is all about decluttering my work hours. Even when I am not writing and just lying about or going around my domestic setup, I keep things clean. So I don’t try to get all of the chores done at the same time nor do I worry about going on that trail I had promised myself I would explore one day.
For the past month I have been walking in the same park, and I have loved it. Though prior to the past few weeks, I explored different paths in the forests of the Auroville community every day, this month my feet naturally lifted into the direction of this park, and I let them. Now I am so familiar with its mud trails, the crow pair that live there, the group of jungle babblers who preen each other every morning and evening, loud treepies, and the Indian Scops owl that I am also content.
I am hoping to find Mowgli there one day.
And from my past experiences I know one day my legs would take me in the direction of that track that had enticed me once, and I would, again, let them.
There could be many definitions for cleaning the clutter. But to me, it is to look at the one important thing and then move the rest aside from the view, the kitchen shelf, or the computer Desktop.
Immersing in the chores of the daily has brought me a lot of quiet and happiness, too. I never resent cooking, cleaning, buying vegetables and fruits, spending hours cutting them, boiling milk, sorting the finances, returning library books, and so on. I am happy to get all these things done and put in as much time as needed to do the thing well. That it is done properly and without mistake matters to me and not rushing through it.
And I have a strong feeling that I have something going right here. My food is delicious and fresh, my tasks are never overdue (unless I am head-butting the most important thing), and if I’m investing it means I would have not only thoroughly understood what I have to do but also enjoyed the process.
After all, what else there is to do rather than be fair to what we are put up against every minute.
How do you keep your mind, desk, and hills clean?
For the fear of sounding boastful, I have shared my secrets. But it goes without saying that these ideas help me on most days. And when they don’t work, they don’t work, and I let myself become a mess.
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
Why You Should Break The Routine, Sometimes
Remember routine is not life, a schedule is a part of life. You created it to make your life better, and you can break your routine to make your life better whenever you deem right. Another meaning of personal growth is self-acceptance.
Click to read the inspirations. Or Pocket for later.
Quotes I Love
“I love views. When there isn’t anything to understand in them. There are no subtleties of emotion about June. She’s so gloriously elemental. Not a month for self-justification, simply for self-abandonment.” — Elizabeth Bowen
“He had wished to believe that it was true that it was possible for a man and woman to be companions in life and death together; which everyone had to face alone, but even in life, ultimately, people usually travelled very much by themselves, unless they accepted each other, really took to each other.” — Mulk Raj Anand
“Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is growing up.” — James Baldwin
“It is okay to be clueless. But never has anyone gained anything by repenting being clueless.” — 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.
Delving a bit into finance,
(for Indians) Though I was reading a lot about investment on the Zerodha app, I am finally using the Kuvera app to invest. This is not a sponsored mention. Inspired by my simple and easy experience on Kuvera, I just wanted to share.
To read and see,
I’ve shared many illustrators and painters in the past. And here is one more: Gretchen Ellen Powers. The image says it all, and so I won’t talk about the niche of the artist.
Image Courtesy: Instagram of Gretchen Ellen Powers
Here’s another artist whose work brings joy and sunlight to any moment — Astrid Sheckels Art
Image Courtesy: Astrid Sheckels Art
Beautiful books from the week,
The Angry River by Ruskin Bond — This is yet another beautiful novella by my all-time favorite Ruskin Bond. The story of a little girl stuck in a rain storm on an island all by herself is a fun and high-spirited read. The book also shows that we humans are helpless against nature. But no matter how hard it gets, every storm passes, and even on the darkest days, we could be each other’s sunshine. I recommend this one to all those who like to read simple nature-driven stories in which life still strives on with its full strength.
Two Leaves and a Bud by Mulk Raj Anand — This 1937 novel is one of the most significant works of Mulk Raj Anand, a celebrated writer of India. A simple farmer family from Punjab is taken to the British-ruled tea plantations of Assam on the pretext of a better life by a deceitful man. Not only is the book an irreplaceable source of information about the colonial time, but also a full circle on a human being’s life who after having been happy and rich first faces loss, poverty, misery, then goes through deceit, rage, depression, rebellion, helplessness, and finally accepts it all and submits completely. A great read for both fiction and non-fiction lovers.
White Fang by Jack London — White Fang changed how I think about dogs and their connection with humans. Following a journey of two men and their six sled dogs in the Arctic, Jack takes the readers through the life cycles of wolves in that cold wild country. With great descriptions showing the elementary forces of nature at work: the will to live, breed, and protect our own in the wild, White Fang is a story of a wolf who trades the life of the wild to live with a man. I appreciate that London emphasizes the fact that not even humans but dogs, too, become rough and ferocious if society molds them with abuse and sticks rather than with love and softness. You will not regret picking up this book. Not only the story goes through a beautiful snow-white remote landscape where few dare to venture, but it dares to show what the force of life, friendship, nature, and kindness can do.
What I’ve Been Watching/Listening
that’s worth mentioning
Little Women — I’ve just started watching the movie Little Women because I am reading the book, too. Though the movie is going at a breakneck speed, it is still nice to see the classic book enacted out.
And for all my Wanderlusters.
I’m sharing a couple of photos from the past couple of months of my travel through the east coast of India: mainly the town of Pondicherry and Auroville. Hope you enjoy.
a generous home-cooked meal, rich with vegetables, made by a host family in Pondicherry a few months ago
bananas, bananas, and bananas
and then some banane leaves
the banana leaf found its way to my table
a lake I have been missing - Ousteri lake, Pondicherry
why get down when I can buy from my scooter
fish drying on the road, Pondicherry
walking around Auroville
Thank you for reading.
I hope your upcoming week is energetic and in harmony. Take good care of yourselves :)
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Yours,
Priyanka
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