Week 36
The hypocrisy of human beings, having conversations with "I Feel Like", Vidhyarthikale Ithile Ithile, an old person's Instagram and a couple of funny signages found in Pune.
Whew, it’s been a while since I sat down to write like this on a Sunday night.
A lot happened in the past 3 weeks and I was forced into a writing hiatus. To quickly sum up:
In the first week (Week 33), I travelled to Pune to conduct a design thinking workshop at the MIT Institute of Design.
In the week after (Week 34), I was in Pune conducting on-field research for a project that I’m working on at TinkerLabs. In the process, I fell sick as well.
In the week after (Week 35), I began to get better but increasingly more burnt out. I had worked consecutively for over 2 weeks without a single day of break. Towards the end of it, I travelled to Kochi to view the Kochi-Muziris Biennale; something that I’d been wanting to do for over 4 years now. It was wonderful.
This week has been the first week in a month where things haven’t been chaotic. I found time to clean up my house, finish all the pending work that had been piling up and my health surprisingly got better.
When I hadn’t written for 3 weeks, I pondered whether this would be a good time to archive this project and add it to my ever-increasing ‘failed projects’ list. However, this break has made me aware of what this weekly activity means to me and the value it brings to my life. Surprisingly enough, it’s not just my life that it brings value to.
So, here is week 36 – a culmination of my major learnings from the previous 3 weeks.
[Thoughts] The hypocrisy of human beings
For a while now, I’ve had a bunch of pigeons building a nest under a box that I had kept on the window sill.
I watch them go in and out of their house almost daily. Recently, I have also been hearing some young ones chirping.
When you search about pigeons occupying the space of your house, they are always termed as ‘pests’. Solutions like putting up wires or obstructions to stop them from building a house are abundant, all over the internet. I find it puzzlingly strange.
Pests? A while back, this land would have been filled with trees; full of options for these birds to make their nests in. Humans come in, destroy the trees, make settlements for themselves and suddenly, the pigeons are the pests?
Human beings are truly weird. I have been trying to co-exist with this pigeon family lately and I can assure you that it hasn’t been easy, especially since the young ones chirp quite a bit in the morning. But I think it’s okay. If these little ones are okay being squished behind the AC outlet, I think I can make do with a little bit of noise.
I hope you can find a little bit of room in your heart to co-exist too.
[Conversations] [Realisations] Having conversations with I Feel Like
Lately, I have been having a lot of conversations that start with the phrase: I feel like. I have come to realise that this is an incredibly powerful way to resolve disputes in your personal/social life.
If something happens between two people, both of them are entitled to feel a certain way. Sure, you may have carried out an action without intending to make them feel what they felt, but whatever they feel is absolutely valid. It may not make logical sense to you and that’s okay. Feelings should not be backed by logical reasoning; they are simply felt.
Once these are out in the open, both of you can then work together to get rid of negative feelings and to do more of the things that result in positive ones.
I think, for a while now, I have been very disapproving of other people’s feelings. It’s not like I didn’t have my reasons for doing so but it just never led to anything constructive. Now, it has begun to lead me to places … places where two people can be honest and go somewhere together.
I have finally understood how transformative embracing the red hat could be, from Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats.
[Films] [Experiences] Vidhyarthikale Ithile Ithile - Film screened at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale
Representatives from the Film and Television Institute of India very passionately gathered at the Biennale pavilion one evening. We didn’t know what to expect as my friend & I were just cycling by. When we observed the commotion, we came to know that they had gathered there for a screening of the film, Vidhyarthikale Ithile Ithile, made by John Abraham in 1972. It was a Malayalam film and I have never been a fan of watching films in languages that I don’t understand, simply because I feel deprived experientially. However, there was just something about it and we decided to stick around. It turned out to be an incredible experience.
What a gracefully made film! I was reminded of a lecture in college that covered the Navrasas (or nine emotions that are believed to define daily life, often used in dance). If I think back, the film very evidently portrayed the 9 emotions and humour was used as a bridge between two different emotions. It felt incredibly balanced, the intensity and lightness of the storytelling. Even the filmmaking language was so simple, yet comprised of everything essential to communicate the director’s vision.
When I compare it to films that appear in theatres nowadays, I feel like somewhere we’ve gotten too obsessed with the little things. The bigger chunks such as the storyline and takeaways have taken a backseat as VFX and technologically wonderful shots are expected to drive the value of a film.
It was a very pleasant experience. I wish to create something like that: raw, honest, and meaningful.
[Cool Things] An old person’s Instagram
I recently came across the Instagram account of someone called George. I have no idea who this person is or how I found this account (it must’ve been through some blog).
He’s someone who’s way older than me (therefore the term in the heading: an old person’s Instagram). Anyway, without diving into the politics of age, here’s what I found so cool about the way he’s documenting things:
George clicks photos of very simple things, I am guessing with his mobile phone (judging by the quality of his images).
They’re all fairly random photographs, moments that may or may not mean anything grand to the world who sees them.
He often uses very simple captions, such as “sunny morning 🌞🌲” for the image on top. That’s basically his Instagram account. I found it to be so cute. He photographs and documents moments from his life, not for a big audience (sometimes he gets 6 likes) but that’s his visual archive of the world.
I found it so simple. I’m not quite sure what I found so cool about it, but there is something within that sheer simplicity.
[Observations] Funny signages
Found a couple of funny signages in Pune.
finally you are back after a long three week .... love