As wedding season looms large, lets think about its form, shape and purpose.

The vows - why not study the religions you admire, compile and list the promises from both sides that you can actually commit to. Instead of blindly following along to a priest speaking in an alien language, and never really keeping any promises once married, because you don't know what you signed up for.

The witnesses - the people you invite are there to witness these promises - this is not just a celebration but also an invitation to hold you accountable. Who would you invite into this vulnerable and honest admission to your partner?

Is celebration = performance? Do you need to watch badly choreographed dances by friends and family, and then be the center piece of this performance trying to move in clothes that render you immobile? Is this the occasion for this?

Music - is your wedding an ode to Bollywood's trash? Can the Sangeeth not be re imagined to create the sound that heals one, in a moment of quietude and sobriety?

The flowers - does one have to rent characterless ballrooms in 5 star hotels and then spend lakhs on doing it up to tie flowers to concrete pillars? For this to then look exactly like the 500 weddings before and after. Is this really beautiful ? Or are you forced to accept that it is.

The purpose - question the purpose of this ceremony and celebration. Is it for you and your spouse, or is it for the establishment of family, wealth and industry.

Is a display of wealth still considered an establishment of it? Even if it is, does anyone appreciate your superiority over theirs?

The clothes - are you going to wear something that will hold you down, make you immobile, force you into cliches? Or will you choose freedom?

The tagging - in tagging your every purchase, are you drawing attention to the sacredness of your moment, or the consumerism of it? Are you a celebrity who got these things for free and therefore are obligated to provide free advertising to the vendors? Or do you just want to be cool and feel like you're in the same club as them ?

The functions - how many functions does it take to have a good marriage (not wedding).

If one were to imagine the future of education that is relevant to India’s strengths, we cannot ape countries that are devoid of natural resources, and therefore are reliant purely on industry that is service oriented - technology, strategy etc. In short, the world doesn't need more coders or MBAs. 

The answer lies in going full circle back 500 years and relying on becoming the master makers of things that the world vied for. And this time, resisting the exploitation that came with that vying. 

For many centuries, vocational crafts such as carpentry, jewellery making or weaving were passed down from father to son, son-in-law, and so on, with no systemic public education systems that imparted this knowledge with all its trade secrets. 

In fact this was one (of many) reasons why clannish systems of marrying within one's community was perpetuated, to be able to channel this knowledge down and keep it. 

As we find global service industries crippling worldwide with ai replacing it, Its time to set up cutting edge universities that teach us how to conscientiously use our raw material to create the finest personal goods for the world, like we did during the peak of the Mughal reign, when our GDP was 30% of the world.  

What does this need? On the one hand, a bit of a change in mindset to understand that it's no longer going to be prestigious to make your child study engineering. Rather, perhaps you want them to study carpentry. 

And on the other, for us to look inward and see what technologies, resources and pedagogies work for us, enabling health (infra and training in villages to avoid urban crowding), atmasamman (by not wanting to ape the others), and environmental consciousness in order to nurture these resources.

Crafts that inherently were used to make rural objects for a rural way of life may not survive and that is fine. This isn't nostalgia for the way things used to be.  Rather it's the technology of beautiful objects that are functional for today's way of life - furniture, lights, clothes, jewellery, mural making etc. Not Bidri vases which unfortunately are highly non-functional. 

P.S: I understand that many crafts educational facilities exist today both state sponsored and private. However, unless these become aspirational centers of wealth creation, scientific advancement, and prestige (like going to a Cambridge), they will always be viewed as needing patronage, and not centers that attract the best talent in the world.

What can AI never replace? Things that take physical time. Plants that take time to grow. Soil that takes time to generate. Animals that take time to grow. So let's invest in our relationship with nature. 

What can be replaced but may take time? To replace People with duality of nature and complexity of experiences. Empathy being driven by hormones, by love, by higher ideals than beyond efficiency. Our grandfathers and how they told us stories of lands far and wide and how that made us feel. My fondness for Gariahat homes I grew up in, and therefore my sensitivity towards objects of the east. My relationship with nature informed by my animist retreats and love for my dog. 

So where does design fit into all this? 

Only we can design for this future which supports and validates human feelings. Tribal feeling of belonging, human need for nature and health, human need for validation and love. 

I don't think that the future will allow retrofitting human needs to suit capitalist needs. The manipulation of media is short lived, as we find ourselves with more access to real information about things that are truly good for us, outside the walls of bias, ironically enabled by AI. Is this idealistic, maybe, but our ideals shape our future.

Consumption will massively reduce because one can have everything in 9 min including the latest iPhone. We suddenly find ourselves with more objects, otps, courier guys calling for delivery instructions, and boxes than we can stomach. 

The question will then be - What is worthy of space. In my body in my home in my cupboard? What is worthy of my time?

Personal items: is it comfortable, cherishable, good to touch, useful everyday, can I travel with it, is it good for me and not so destructive. 

Business : will this enable me and my team? Will this guide me? Will this hold me accountable, will it prevent me from making mistakes, will it have checks and balances for me to spend more than I can afford to. 

Homes: will it make me healthier, make me connect with people and nature, allow me to recluse and connect with my ancestors and give me a sense of identity? 

News and Information: is this truthful and fair, does it make me feel peaceful, work in my larger interest to keep me informed yet not influence me with corporate or political bias.

“Tamilnadu has its fashion trends but lacks prominent style icons – but is there a need for any?

Promoting a particular style involves creating a persona to emulate.

When focusing on what appearance to mimic, users think about what looks best over what suits them the best. This act detracts from the pure joy of adorning oneself, as an image of empowerment again, is a label that does not truly empower those who don’t fit the image.

Citing observation for explanation:

In the past few decades, heavier traditional jewellery has been advertised with associations to domestic bliss, while lighter, sleek jewellery has been advertised using the image of a “modern woman”. Lighter jewellery has been generally preferred by women who work, travel, and/or belong to primarily urban areas, owing to better functionality. Women who fall under these categories were socially perceived as more empowered than their counterparts, and this association of empowerment extended to the clothing and jewellery they wore. Hence, the fashion they adopted had been labelled “modern”. However, social circumstances have changed. “Modern clothes” have become “Western wear”. Cultural associations with the old modern aesthetic have been rendered irrelevant as, currently, most women prefer lighter jewellery for daily usage. They are much more exposed owing to the accessibility of the internet. The old notion of empowerment is not as aspirational as it used to be. Women effortlessly switch between different styles with access to fast fashion and don’t have a region-specific wardrobe as they used to.

Hence, creating visuals showcasing associations of empowerment is not bound to be effective long term.

While it is more convenient to adopt fashion associated with empowerment, it is not truly empowering for those who cannot or don’t prefer such fashion. When the image of an “empowered woman” is created, those who don’t fit that label due to the displayed jewellery not suiting them would end up feeling disconnected, not just from the image of what’s ideal but also from the qualities associated with it.

What women want – is to be free, in their element.

While acham-madam-nanam (modesty, elegance, and sensitivity) are portrayed as the epitome of feminine grace in Tamil literature, they imply submission. Yet, there has always been an undercurrent of rebelliousness. That’s because real women aren’t manifestations of what’s commonly perceived as feminine. Women are women, no matter what the perception of femininity is at any given point in time.


Labelling qualities that constitute a feminine ideal and encouraging women to pursue them would be counterintuitive to the idea of empowering women. True empowerment is simply enjoying adorning oneself free of the framework of what’s considered stylish. In spaces where they’re truly free, women don’t concern themselves about the appropriateness or compatibility of elements of their appearances.”

In a civilisation as old as ours - we have so many cultural influences - from food, to fashion, to craft. In a medium like graphic design which is relatively new, how can we use these influences to make it authentic to us?

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Now what exactly is authentic to us? There is a saying in Hindi - “Caravaan aate gaye, hindustan banta gaya”. As caravans and ships came and went, they left us their language, their dress, their food, their architecture, art and technology.**

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**Language - English. Dress - some say that the saree with the one pallu over the shoulder is influenced by the greek toga as Alexander paid us a visit. Food - gobi manchurian, thanks to the Chinese settlers in Tangra, Kolkata. Architecture and art - Mughal pietra dura, marble edifices, geometric structures. Art - persian miniature paintings. 

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Graphic design can be broken down into these 5 components. 1. Typography, 2. Colour, 3. Imagery 4. Illustration 5. Medium (paper/web/mobile)

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Each of these present an opportunity to express a certain character for the overall piece personality we are trying to build. Assuming that being Indian is part of the brief - how does one achieve that?

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In order to infuse indian-ness into graphic design, one must first try and find the essence of what about it is Indian? Is it its ornamentation? How does one bring in ornamentation into design, without resorting to adding paisleys? 

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Going into the detail of how this can be infused in the 5 components of design as mentioned above. 

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1. Typography: 

Much like how a fashion designer might start with a piece of fabric, which already has a lot of character - its fluidity, it’s weave, its thickness, a graphic designer starts with the choice of a font. While letters when they come together tell you something explicitly in the words they form, the way the letters are shaped tell you many things implicitly. Observe the shapes of the letters - their edges and their curves. What exactly from the Indian essence are you trying to showcase through type? Is it that it's delicate? Or is it ornamentation? This essence can now be found in various typefaces. Dig further deeper and see how the lines modulate from thin to thick, and have a certain unusual angle, that portrays a boldness, an avant garde edge to the earlier mentioned delicacy and ornamentation. Fonts can be so many thing n s, if one allows themselves to feel - they can be fluid, lyrical, or edgy and bold. Alternately, one may choose to use a font which has the least amount of character - in order for all the other 4 elements (colour, imagery etc) to allow for expression. 

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An overt way of saying - this is indian, is to use the devanagari font - but please don't do that - it's cliche. 

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2. Colour

Indian colours are not just what you see on trucks. A garish combination of hot pink, bright orange, blue, green, all combined together in a kaleidoscopic clip art mess. My client Tarun Tahiliani is an indophile and all his designs, his shoots are all inspired by Indian art, architecture, and people. In building his identity, we chose beige as the primary colour, as for him that is very Indian. It's the colour of Indian mitti. Botanicals like indigo, madder, turmeric, have been used in dyes for thousands of years in paintings, and textiles. If one looks at miniature paintings, the beautiful ombres of pinks and blues from pastel to nude, much before the english brought them in to suit their pale complexions. So an old faded rose madder is not really an English colour, it is very much Indian. Let's move away from the obvious kitsch choices to depict Indian, and show what is historic, authentic and has depth. All of us don’t love trucks, bollywood and drama, just because we are Indian. I for one, can’t stand bollywood or oversaturated colours, and that doesnt make me any less Indian. 

Identity Design Trends for 2021: 

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Developing the identity design for a brand involves putting together a system using 5 things - a wordmark, a symbol, a colour palette, a typekit and brand messaging. All of this is put into a brand manual at the end and handed over to the client. 

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Let's look at design trends for 2021, and look at each of these items individually. 

1. Wordmark:

A wordmark is the lettering that is in use in your logo. For example, in Coca Cola, there is no symbol, and the letters themselves form the logo. This is its wordmark. I have found that over the last few years there has been a rise in popularity in display typefaces using serif fonts. Individual foundries such as Violaine and Jeremy’s VJ Type in Paris are creating exquisite typefaces that have the grammar of serif fonts, and the glamour of the 1920s. We recently used one of their fonts to design a wordmark for Engram - a young hardware design shop based in Kolkata. 

There is definitely a move away from using script and handwritten typefaces. While it is tempting to use these fonts as they have a lot going on, it's best to let this trend die with the last decade. Humanist sans serif such as the Helveticas retain their position as evergreen digitally reliable fonts. Look up fonts by pangram foundry to see some interesting new fonts in the space. 

2. Symbol:

The world is moving away from the symbol - wordmark - tagline stack. 

As more brands get more digital, there is a need to remove the clutter. While some brands such as mastercard and nike chose to drop their wordmarks, some brands are choosing to not have a symbol at all. In choice of symbol, more people opt for monograms, which is a combination of letters. Here is a monogram we developed for Tarun Tahiliani which has 2 Ts joined together. This also makes a pi, a symbol Mr. Tahiliani resonates with. 

From Roti Kapda Makaan in the 1960s to a “good job and romance” (according to Chetan Bhagats 2004 book – what young India wants) we have always endeavoured to understand – what does young India want?

As a brand designer working with young people since the past 10 years, what young India wants from your business is 1. Sustainability 2. Purpose 3. Honesty 4. Digital presence.

“Can you help u find a way to do away with plastic packaging altogether?” – is often something I get asked by my clients in their 20s. Millennials care about the environment, not just because it is cool, but because for them it is an existential concern. In 2006 I went to the Andamans and discovered a world so colourful, it was like jumping into a technicolour world, a scene from “Finding Nemo”. 10 years later, the same waters had nothing but a graveyard of white skeletons – testament to the mass bleaching of corals that has affected 95% of the world. This is a testament to global warming, and its far-reaching impact, beyond making diving a lot less fun. So for millennials, climate change is not 10th on their priority of things to solve for, when addressing business. It is 2nd or 3rd. Spending away the earths resources means they may not have a habitable planet by the time they are 60. This demand will eventually lead to supply, where eco friendly packaging solutions will be available in mainstream industry.

Millennial brands are driven by products built for a specific purpose. The Instagram ads increasingly lead to shopify sites that sell only 1 innovative product. Junipers.fun is one such site, that sells a bra that doubles up as a swim suit, a sports bra and also an everyday bra. The opening description says – “the Do it all Bikini”. Another site called Allbeing sells neutraceuticals to address the concerns of today – such as eye fatigue. Their product “insight” has a powerful carotenoid that reverses the damage done by blue light, due to long screen exposure. I saw a meme that read “Another weekend of staring at the big screen, while scrolling through my little screen, so as to reward myself for staring at the medium screen all week.” Both these businesses address the concerns of today. With the democratization of the internet through the holy trifecta of shopify, razorpay and shiprocket, anybody can start a business overnight. Double this up with Amazon, and young people have the world at their fingertips. Which means that one becomes discerning in their choice of things to buy. Hence, businesses must articulate what purpose their product serves, and let that drive the brand. Not the other way around.

With the world of information available in a second, gone are the days to hide behind campaigns to fool people into buying things which are bad for you. Millennials of today value honesty, because there is no way to lie anymore. The meteoric success of a skincare brand “the ordinary” is a testament to this. The Ordinary simply lists the ingredients on the front label – Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5. This is not meant for chemists, but young people who are aware of what they are putting on their skin, and are given the choice to choose their skin mocktail. So people are curious now about where their coffee comes from, or who made their clothes. The zamaana of selling a product by putting Kareenas face on it and saying “get the glow” is gone. They will ask you – but what is glow, and what ingredient provides it? Millennials are convinced by logic, facts, ingredients, plain spoken language, and an urban relevance.

While it seems redundant to say, I say that all businesses need a digital strategy and presence. What is the implication of this for businesses – that the information in their campaigns has to be bite sized bits of entertainment. Why entertainment? Because now information and entertainment are accessed in the same place. Long mission statement and PR statement won’t cut it, nobody wants to hear it. Product photography will be viewed in a 2 inch square on Instagram, and should be optimized for that. For example, having clean solid backgrounds in photographs is a great fit for insta worthy product shots. This digital presence is key for businesses moving forward, even if they are b2b service businesses where they don’t sell online, but engage online, as it opens up a two way communication. Brands need to spend less on their logo, and invest more in their social media and website. This is reflection of how innovative, open to conversation, and trustworthy a brand is.

So in designing a brand for them (either as clients or as end consumers), the choices one makes must reflect these values of sustainability, honesty, and purpose. In the packaging one chooses, in the tone of voice one speaks in on their channels, or in the information on the labels. In the medium one spends on - whether online is a better strategic investment than brick and mortar. 

In my experience, the younger generation is more conscientious than the previous. They don’t aspire to own private jets (too much fuel consumption), or find “royalty” aspirational. Rather, they want to be able to choose the life that makes them happy. In terms of consumption, this product that they are buying should either be useful, innovative, original, sustainable, or even simply entertaining, and relevant to the context of their lives

I just finished what I think will be for me a life changing week in Coorg. One month ago, I signed up for this vague residency called the Story Collective. I came across this online, and it talked about learning about “storytelling” and assumed it was a writing workshop. However, since it was run by Raghava KK, an artist, I didn’t quite understand why he was equipped to teach us writing skills. However, Raghava is fascinating and so I signed up for it trusting that it would be worthwhile

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Once the program started, the exercises made it clear that it wasn’t to do with writing at all, rather, an exercise to identify and unblock your own mental patterns that keep you from progressing in life and in enterprise. Through the diverse set of 19 people who attended this residency, it validated new skills that are relevant now, as we move past the industrial age and into the creative age. That a linear and homogenous career path is no longer the only path to success, rather a polyamorous relationship with your skills, where one dabbles in multiple things, and finds a way to integrate all those learnings.

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A new corporate structure, where collaborative networks become the digital nervous system of your enterprise, rather than one hierarchical organism.

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Learning to listen without prejudice, and finding that giving someone a chance, is what gives themselves a chance to realize their full potential, and in turn change the world.

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That education systems based on unending amounts of empathy (sometimes seemingly undeserved) can create safe spaces that unlock unlimited possibilities in every single person. Whether applied to adults or children.

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This program was like a mini MBA, and instead of textbooks, the facilitators told us about their experiences with success and failure through their lived experiences, rather than a textbook. And how hustling,hacking and audacity are an integral part of growing.

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From writing a letter to your younger self, to collaboratively making one giant painting, to delivering a TED talk we wrote ourselves to this little audience, this week has left me vulnerable and exposed to my own limitations, the awareness of which will hopefully help me overcome them at some point. I made 19 new friends, and each one taught me through example, how one can work on their own personality. I feel incredibly grateful to Raghava KK and the rest of the team to open up their vulnerabilities so I could learn something from it.

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This little group consisting of artists, actors, writers, architects, karate referees, hustlers, journalists and educationists has become my new little tribe.

A brand identity exercise is more than the sum of its parts - when it comes to the deliverables mentioned in a contract. However, the very basic deliverables would be a logo which is a combination of a wordmark and an optional symbol. (There may be a monogram as well in addition to this). A colour palette, a font kit including the instruction on which fonts to use for headers and body copy. A basic guidance on imagery for catalogue photographs. I usually also include basic stationery such as an invoice in an excel format, a visiting card, a letterhead and an envelope. All of the above is included in a brand manual that tells you how to use these components, and also how to avoid using them. The next phase could be creating a strategy for the social media, writing the content for the website, getting the photography done, and then the layout designs. It helps to have an open keynote/ppt template designed with 10 slides that the client can edit themselves. 

But beyond the deliverables, an agency who is doing this for you will help you come up with a visual theme that creates certain intentional perceptions. For example, what is your brand’s personality? Is it friendly, humorous, sarcastic, delicate, straightforward, conversational etc? How weighty are each of these adjectives? There are explicit and implicit ways to do this, in the choice of fonts for example, that may be delicate, fluid, or old-school. 

How much of the above should you get professionally designed - well that depends on 2 things. The first is - how many people will be interacting with your brand without you present in that room? If the entrepreneur is present, then they are all the brand. This is especially true for a smaller service providing agency such as a boutique legal firm. However, when the reach goes beyond your presence, people perceive your brand’s trustworthiness, organisation and credibility on the basis of the professionalism applied in the communication. So then it's time to invest in these. 

Free/inexpensive tools you can invest in for your team

For websites - shopify, squarespace, wix, are quite inexpensive and look professional. For social media - one could create stuff on canva. For editing photos - snapseed by google. For other basic web based creatives - adobe XD is pretty inexpensive since it is new now. Here is an article on how to create your own shopping site. Sketchbook pro for illustration. 

How to know whether your design agency/designer are any good (what kind of material should you ask for, what kind of references and success stories you can expect to get)

They should have a website which is professional looking. If they cannot organise their own information, then it's unlikely that they can organise yours. They should also give you a contract with their process and terms clearly outlined. One should also try and gauge whether they have too many projects at hand, and whether your project will be one amongst many, or handed down to an intern, which is not desirable. Last but not least, see whether they get you as a person. Because a lot of the culture of an organisation is actually an extension of the founder. And these subtle things can only come through if they are able to pick it up. This you will know through conversation with them. In my case, for the projects that I do want, I would invite the client to my home, have a meal or a coffee with them, and show them my work. I would create an informal setting so we both can know each other to see that we can be friends. For me this is important, and then the work is fun, where you can collaborate with your client to create something unique with trust and experimentation. 

When to choose a freelancer and when to go full time based on your organisation's design needs

It depends on the portfolio and experience of the designer. What I would look for is the ability of this designer to present and organise information and while doing this, to bring out a certain personality. As someone who hires designers for my team, this is what I look for. While being able to illustrate is great, it’s not a primary skill in order to present and organise information. Its very important to work with layouts and typography, and for this, you must see some web and publication projects that your agency has worked on.

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• originally written for Channel 46 news.

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes"

My husband recently whisked me away to Africa on a surprise holiday for our anniversary. Whatever notions I had about Africa so far had been derived from watching the Lion King and boy was the experience a real Hakuna Matata, an extraordinary and unforgettable adventure.

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We spent all our time at Kenya, in the plains of the Masai Mara, exploring its rolling grasslands through every sunrise and sunset. The safaris, the weather, the people and the surreal surroundings were never something I would have dreamed of witnessing.

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The adventurous plane ride:-

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To get from Nairobi to Mara, we hopped on a short flight, aboard a small 15 seater Kenyan Airways non pressurised air cabin, where one can look down and see the giraffes, zebras and antelopes frolicking around in the plains! It is the most spectacular ride one can take, and this is an introduction into the cheeky african sense of humour, where our security announcement was "there are 4 exits on the plane, 2 up ahead at the cockpit and 2 behind. So if you see us jump, you know what to do!"

The Lodge -

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The earthy, friendly, welcoming and luxurious lodge of Sir Richard Branson - the Mahali Mzuri was where we were at home for a week.

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It is a rather intense jeep ride from the bamboo shed airport at North Mara to the campsite, but we were welcomed by all the staff at the entrance enthusiastically waving and greeting us to welcome drinks of champagne. One step into the campsite and one cannot help but gasp at the site. It overlooks a valley with a river down below, a watering hole for all creatures of the forest, in plain view, while one has breakfast.

It has happened, that a majestic lions and a herd of elephants quietly came to have a drink and went along on their way, while we were having our morning tea. The glamorous tents are right in the midst of nature, where we heard lions grunting all night, not very far away, on many of our nights there.

My current situation is that I have a few hours of work a day, and absolutely nothing else to do, yet I wish there were more hours in a day, so I could remain a few hours more, in my dreamy languor.

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I remember myself to be a sleepy child, spending a lot of my time daydreaming on my grandparents' sofa, while the sunlight filtered in, highlighting all the floating specs of dust in its rays. There was, and is a sense of guilt, that in the peak of my youth I could be doing something else, yet there is a comfort, contentment and cheeriness in this idleness.

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A few years ago, I was tired of spending the day all by myself, and I decided to partner with somebody for work, to keep me entertained. It worked out well for me, but since the past few months my partner has been on a sabbatical, and while work doesn't happen with the same fervour, I have really enjoyed the solitude.

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I spend the whole day reading books, online watching videos, allowing my mind to absorb bits of politics, neuroscience, biology, and savour whatever catches my fancy. My palatial house currently has many well lit nooks I like to snuggle into, and allow myself to meander down this rabbit hole that is the internet. There is guilt, that I spend too little energy, at a time when I should be doing high energy activities, but theres also a knowledge that there is no right way to live.

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My current dilemma is that I am not able to streamline, or absorb knowledge at the rate at which I would like to. Im intrigued by the body, its functioning, yet I don't know enough about anything to be able to do anything fruitful out of it.

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I have existential issues about my work, whether it will ever amount to anything worthwhile. With my current plan, or lack of thereof, there seems to be no scope for growth. Yet everything is overshadowed by my happy state of restfulness.

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I feel guilt for the incredibly happy life I live, and I wonder if I could do more socially. Help a large chunk of people, in any way.

I ate a fish and I liked it

The taste of its fleshy scaleskin

I ate a fish just to try it

I hope my grandma dont mind it

It felt so wrong

It felt so right

Dont mean I'm non veg tonight

I ate tuna and I liked it

I liked it

(My take on katie perry's song "i kissed a girl", on having eaten olives stuffed with tuna by mistake.I really did think they were peppers.)

And its not coming easily

Speaking not of politicians, but of everyday situations. You talk mean about someone behind their back, because you CAN do it. You boss over someone and make them feel small because you can do it, knowing its wrong, just because you have the power to do it. You talk rudely to your parents or family, because you know you can get away with it.

If on such microscopic levels power can corrupt us, why do we blame politicians when they get corrupt.

In corollary, an evolutionary consequence is that the feeling of guilt is slowly being replaced with the fear of being found out.

When a problem seems too difficult to solve in a wholistic way, dont give up. Break it down and take it slow.

While baking a cake,underbaked is always better than overbaked. Anybody would prefer their cake moist rather than too dry. I tried baking yesterday and exceeded the prescribed baking time by 15 min just to be sure that it was done. Bad idea.

I saw this ridiculously scary horror hindi movie called 1920. I'll spare you the story, as it was of no significance, it was the same old girl gets possesed in a gorgeous gothic architectured scary old house. Although, when the climax happened, when the priest came to perform exorcism to the possesed girl, she just got out of bed and ran away like Jack Sparrow in The Pirates of the Caribbean. Exactly how he runs.

It was so ridiculous, that the spectators at the theatre were as shocked as the poor priest in the movie. Then the priest had to send the not so faithful butler to run after the ghost,as if commanding him to do another cotidiano daily chore. I cant even comment and say that "these modern day concepts" because the movie is called 1920. Gone are the good old days when the possesed just hung around flying 2 feet above her bed.

I wonder if the Marginal Utility theorem applies to boyfriends too.

El titulo de mi blog fue la pelicula que debimos ver el mes pasado para escribir el ensayo final del curso de verano que hago en Granada.

Ironicamente, no lo he escrito todavia, y no tengo ganas de tampoco, pero escribo el blog en espanol porque he buscando mi nombre in google hace un rato, y he visto que puede ver este blog y mucha informacion para mi. No quiero que la gente puede conocer la informacion tan facilmente y por tanto escribo en una lengua que la mayoria en mi pais no puede entender. Y las mariposas porque yo escrito sobre verguenza y espero que las mariposas tiene verguenza. No tengo razon ,pero creo que si.

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Mi viaje a Espana fue el mejor en en mi vida, sin duda. En 1 mes, he aprendido poco espanol pero mucha cosas sobre yo. Tengo capacidad de ser muy alegro y divertir mucho y en 1 mes, mucha paredes que habia construido en mi vida en Bangalore y Kolkata han destrozado. Las paredes que no permiten entrar muchas personas, y muchas experiencias alegras y que no me pueden tener confianza en mi. . Estoy triste que he pasado mucha parte de mi vida en una manera tan aburrido y con arrogancia. Pero en Espana, he aprendo como vivir sin verguenza.

La gente de la pais y tambien la lengua is mas passionado que ingles y yo creo que si conoces la lengua un poco, puedes expresar mas mejor que en ingles. Es un pena que todavia yo pienso en ingles y creo que escribo en una manera muy aburrida. Pero intento mejorar.

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No se que si la lengua puede influir la gente o es el contrario. Porque, yo creo que cuando estaba en Granada, estaba mas expresivo y energico y tengo mucha ganas de ir de copas y bailar y conocer mucha gente y tengo mucho mas passion para hacer muchas cosas. Estaba infuir de la gente y la idioma al rededor a mi. Pero en India soy tranquilo. La transicion fue dificil, es claro, pero despues de algunas semanas, soy como antes.

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Un amigo me ha dicho que cada cuidad conta una cosa. Por ejemplo Barcelona me conto que tengo que ser mas creativo y ganar mas dinero. En barcelona se habla catalan, una idioma la mezcla de espanol y frances y es mas suave de espanol y porque menos passionado.

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Los cuidades del sur me han dicho que tengo que ser mas apasionado un cualquier manera. No se si la gente son intrisicamente apasionado, energico, dramatico y expresivo, o es porque la lengua es como eso.

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No quiero este persona que soy yo ahora. No tengo ganas de hacer nada, y creo que si siguiendo ser aburrida y sola el resto de mi vida, voy a sufucar mi ambiciones y energia hasta cuando muera.

En mi pais y en mi cuidad, no tiene mucha posibilidad de conocer mucha gente porque la gente tiene verguenza y amor propio y la infujo de espana, que ha detrozado estos malas vicios ha volvedo, y soy tambien como ellos.

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Me encanta mi pais y la sencillez, pero quiero que tiene un poco mas drama en pequena cosas cotidiano.

Tengo un razon para escribir estos cosas sobre verguenza, porque no soy alegro conmigo. Estoy un cobardo y no me gusta que tengo arrogancia. Acabo de hacer una cosa mala.

No puedo escribir que he hecho aqui porque existen paginas de internet donde la gente puede traducir que he escrito!

Using what I was taught in Digital Signal Processing, where the Information content of a signal received, is directly proportional to what is Not expected, I realized and am going to explain why I get stirred more by classical music as compared to commercial music.

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Giving a piano players technical point of view, in commercial music it is easy to decipher the bass clef (left hand chords) once you know what scale the piece is played on, and what the treble clef(right hand notes) is.

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Now this is applicable obviously to not only pianists, but anybody listening to the music. In layman's terms, in commercial music, subconsciously you sort of know whats coming.The information content is just whats there in the melody, and not in the bass, hence the information content gets reduced to half.The expected part of it stems from those involuntary brain cells which act up sometimes, and what we call instinct.

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In classical music, the bass notes are totally unexpected, and they compliment the treble beautifully. Unless you see and hear and play the notes, there’s no way you know what’s supposed to be coming your way.

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Whats unexpected and pleasant, catches my attention more than otherwise. Its serendipity. I love what it does to me.

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This sudden realization happened while trying to play this piece to myself called Traumerei. Tis lovely.

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This is vladimir horowitz's (who i only came to know about through youtube) version of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq7ncjhSqtk

Love flows deep in rivers.

Today I accidentally jumped out of my usual energy level and transcended into another level while listening to this young village boy (of grade 5 piano) playing the piano.

I’ve heard a lot of people play, grade 8 students, teachers, performers etc, but have NEVER been as enchanted.

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I was sitting at my piano class, trying to finish that theory workbook, feeling silly about it because it was obviously meant for really small kids and yet I made mistakes, when this young boy started practicing his piece ( Fantasia in D minor by Mozart) on the piano. He was utterly depressed because he probably thought that he couldn’t get it right. So while he was fiddling around, his fingers just dwindling on the keys, while waiting for the teacher, grumbling and sulking to himself, I discovered a new found emotion in me. So far I had only read in books how people get mesmerized. It was fantastic , his fingers had magic in them, and he didn’t know it.

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My teacher told me later that in her whole musical career she’d only come across 2 such musical people in her life, and one of whom became so arrogant because of praise, that he almost lost his touch. So this poor boy was creating magic with his music, while he was being told that it was all rubbish. Infact he was made to take a walk around the area(birla temple in ballygunge) and come back, to get over his depression and to get some fresh air.

I had the laziest day in the history of planet earth today, starting from the tertamezazoic era.Its possible that a few of those dinosaurs were lazier than this.

Its 9 pm and i havent had a bath or washed my face.

Ive watched 2 movies and played 4 games of scrabble.

Thats it.

All done right from this spot on the couch.

I think its possible that my skins gotten fused with the couch material.

Somebody help me out of here.

I saw this movie last night called blood diamond. It left me in a sour mood and with a sour taste in my mouth.

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Its about the civil war in Sierra Leone which started because diamonds were discovered in this area which both the government and the Rebels (locals) want control over. The Rebels use the revenue from these diamonds to further fund the war, by buying sopisticated arms and training (even underage) locals, hence causing more bloodshed.These diamonds are termed conflict diamonds and they say that this problem has been solved to a large extent by curbing the sales of these conflict diamonds,by certain international governing bodies,but not entirely.

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After having watched the movie a lot of people said that "now I never want to buy a diamond" but I wonder if the war started because of the buyers' vanity or whether the war just feeds on it. This sort of a civil war had happened before because of ivory and other things as well, so I cannot help but blame the people in question rather than the diamonds.

I finally quit my job. I did it.

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I was subconsciously waiting for a day when I would be extremely happy, and know for sure that its not homesickness or any deeprooted sadness which was causing all this drama in my head and making me want to quit.

So one fine day, when my niece laughed all morning just because she saw me eating toast, and I saw a girl with a wedgie at the food court, I just knew that the moment had arrived. I couldnt be happier, had not laughed so much in a while, and I decided to summon the authorities immediately and tell them to find themselves a replacement for me.

Slept like a baby that night.

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People often tell me that I'm going to regret my decision, but as the days pass, my instinct grows stronger and tells me that I made the right move. It may just be plain rebellion but as long as there isnt a doubt in my mind.

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I must confess that a couple of fortune tellers and well wishers told me that I shouldnt quit before such and such date, and that did affect my decision. I wholeheartedly went against their advice and it gave me immense pleasure in doing so. I dont wish to undermine their clairvoyance here, its possible that they knew how well reverse psychology would work with me.

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I have no clue whats to follow next. I dont even want to clutter my head with options. Its going to be complete vaccuum for the next few months, till sudden inspiration takes over and enlightens me about what should be done next.

I've recently discovered that having nothing to do at work is not as much fun as i thought it would be. Nevertheless, it is educational as i learn more from the internet.I spent an entire afternoon looking up information about pianos and i discovered that there are so many rules about scales, notations etc which i was clueless about, even though i claim to have learnt western classical piano (on and off) since the age of 9. I also realized that to be able to afford the piano of my dreams ( a bluthner baby grand ),I would definitely have to quit infosys and start making a new plan.

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Sometimes i cannot decide whether having gone into this line was a terrible mistake. I know i'm secure about my job, and that people in conventional society think of me well and it always makes me feel cool to be a technogeek, but that sums up all the benefits which this job could offer.

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I know that being really good at this job will not give me as much pleasure as being really good at an artform.Its bizarre how badly i want to be good at dance/martial arts/vocals/piano/art etc etc and how i really really dont care about how good i am at my job.

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Now the question that i'm faced with is whether it is possible to excel at something alongside work (which takes up 80% of my time) or whether i should take a risk,quit and do whatever i please...and eventually discover what is it that i really need to do to exhaust all my creative and nervous energy.I wish something would happen...an inspirational flash...a sudden miraculous adrenalin rush or anything at all... which helps me make up my mind and get me out of this dilemma.

Spent a fruitful weekend in bombay. Went n watched this dreadful movie called Poseidon and just when i thought it couldnt get worse i saw yet another movie called "jarhead".

Apart from that i accidentally did this musical theater workshop which incredibly enough i really enjoyed! We're dancing to roxanne. I didnt think I was capable of melodrama but apparently I am. Although its going to take me a while to figure out why people enjoy performing on stage with a million scrutinizing eyes on them;when they're at their utmost state of vulnerability,venting and digging out emotions which really shouldnt be made public, and with stark lights bringing into view all the areas in your body you wouldnt want to emphasise upon. The bizarre thing is that i loved it too.

Just out of curiosity i also did a jazz workshop which was a good workout more than anything else...i always thought that jazz was about all those strange men with painted faces and bodysuits enacting expressions in mime but turns out i was mistaken.

Now its back to monday morning and a good whole week of staring at my comp screen at work and waiting for something interesting to happen around me. Anything god please...aliens, shark attacks, blizzards, powercuts....I cant take 5 days of inactivity!!