Dear Reader,
We have eased into February and the pink tabebuias are blooming in the streets of Bangalore. As long as I was in Bangalore, that was how I kept tab of the year; the one with tabebuia blossoms, the one with a week long summer, the one with the good weather (just Bangalore being at its best), the one with will I get leave for Onam?, the one with the rains right when you decide to leave from the office, the one with the winter and the fog and the one where you either leave Bangalore, or get stuck indoors screaming ‘Happy New Year’ in whispers and passing out. Now that I am in Kochi, this is how I romanticize with Bangalore.
Two months flew since my last newsletter, and so much happened in between. I welcomed 2023 with some explosive changes. I have been on a break from work. I went on a two weeks long, solo trip to Rajasthan and it opened a whole new world for me. Rajasthan shocked me with its beautiful people, streets, forts, food palaces, each city vibrantly different from the other; the pink city, the blue city, the white city, the golden city. It also piqued and fed my artistic senses.
At Jaipur, I got the initial taste of Rajasthan. Chittorgarh drenched me in Mewar’s stories; Allaudin Khilji’s foul play and Rani Padmini’s sacrifice, Meerabai’s devotion, the sheer size of the fort and the intricacy and detail of its architecture, the war strategies and the shadows of a magnificent kingdom that once was. Udaipur was a dreamland with its lakes and colorful alleyways. I joined a miniature painting class and made this ornate elephant, thanks to Kinjal, an artist I met in the hostel, who took me to the class she had been attending.
The Miniature Painting I made in Udaipur
Jodhpur’s blue city tour had me walking aimlessly through its tiny, silent residential blocks with paintings peering me from every direction. Jaisalmer fort woke up in all its glory with the streets bustling with sellers and tourists and went into deep, cold slumber by 9 PM. It was a horde of firsts for me when I went to the desert, rode a camel, learnt French from a French couple, camped under the stars, caught half a dozen shooting stars, urinated in the sand (haha!)
I approached strangers and started conversations. I approached villagers and asked for help. When people went the extra mile to help me, I paid it forward. On my way back from Rajasthan, I met this group of boys in the train. I decided to talk to thema nd joined them for a game of UNO. I met someone from Canada in Rajasthan and when he visited Kochi, I took him around. It got me a lot of stares from the locals here and one guy was bold enough to come and ask me if I was a guide. I seem to be doing a lot of strange things these days. Things I never did in my life and I am loving this new person I am becoming. It is liberating!
Come February, I decided to go for Matrubhumi International Fesitival of Letters (MBIFL) in Trivandrum. It opened a whole new world of ideas, authors, books and knowledge. I listened to Janice Pariat, Aanchal Malhotra, Collum Mc Cann and Sjon speak about their books, the research they did, their way of looking at the world, and I fell in love with writing all over again.
Meanwhile, with the intention to write everyday, I joined #WriteAPageADay by Blogchatter which is a community that helps bloggers. I have been writing every day of February so far. In addition to this, I started a 28 day challenge of #Showingupformyart on Instagram (@afew.handpickedthings) wherein I called upon anyone who wished to be consistent with their art or habits to simply show up for their habit everyday for 5 minutes. I discovered so many beautiful artists and they motivate me to keep at my writing as well.
While I leave behind a world of numbers, zero fulfillment and embark upon a journey of art, colors, stories and barely any bank balance, I am brimming with questions, doubts and fear. I am knocking unconventional doors, making awkward conversations and walking a path not walked before in the hopes of getting someplace with a balance. I don’t know what that place is. I am seeking that as well.
With that I take your leave. I hope this letter sparked something inside you. Do hit reply and let me know what you thought. Any questions, thoughts, personal experiences, they are all welcome.