The Other Side of Life

It's been a while since I "penseived" my thoughts here.  I have realised I have a ritual I never paid much attention to.  There's a fantastic book called The Music Room by Namita Devidayal. I first read it in 2008. Since then, I have gone back to the book once every 4 years, re-read the book and soaked in the amazing nostalgia the book evokes. Namita, in my opinion, has written a magnum opus of a tribute to music teachers. As a girl, she was sent to learn music under Dhondutai Kulkarni. Through 25 years of learning music and a lot more from her, in the book, she chronicles the lives of a music form her teacher practiced that's now almost in oblivion.  Every time I read the book, I am reminded of Carnatic music classes from my childhood. The thing is, I never hated it and neither did I love it. I just did it as a task. Years later, I know for a fact I took more from those classes than I choose to admit. The many hours spent listening to the shruti box tunes the ear...

Hope the few bloggers hanging around are doing well! :P I have been doing ok, picking up new hobbies during the lockdown. For instance, I now like running. Who would have thunk I, of all people, would spend an entire Sunday researching the gazillion types of Nike shoes to pick the best one to buy as a reward for doing my first 5k. I did that, yes. I also used my time to make myself a swanky new website!  (Blogger, I still love you, but I needed to do this for the professional stuff. For all my rants, I will still come to you. You know that, don't you?) So yeah, I have a new website - www.theonionbrain.com where I talk about all things behavioural science. If you are interested in behavioural science, psychology, product design or marketing, please do subscribe there! More than anything, I enjoyed the process of creating it from scratch. I should do more such stuff! Anyway, hope you are all doing well and it's totally ok if you are being unproductive, because God knows we live ...

Today's prompt: The Blessing Prompt  And with that, we reach Day 30, the end of the month long Poetry challenge. I loved every minute of it. I hope I entertained you in some way! :) Small moments, warm smiles,  Road trips of many miles, Unlimited hot chocolate  French fries on your plate. High speed internet, Petrichor without getting wet, Cream cheese never running out, Messy nachos without a doubt. Actually, any Mexican food would do, Throw in free chocolate desserts too Fitness without the exercise, Never outgrowing a dress size. Free upgrades on all your flights All year round Christmas lights. Friendships that outlast social media, Your own page on Wikipedia. Exchange little moments of love wordlessly, But most of all, I bless you with Normalcy . Written for:  Singapore Poetry Writing Month  is an annual event in April, where a prompt is released every day and people write and share their poems based on the prompts.

Today's prompt: The Cursed Prompt  -  Curse your enemies I find nothing more annoying than clich é s. So, I have decided to curse my enemies with clich é s. Dear enemy, w ith all due respect, You are a bad egg , I must be direct. I hope you get stuck between a rock and a hard place, And may people avoid you like the plague. I pray you become the elephant in the room, Especially when clouds without silver linings  loom. May your books be always judged by their covers, And may your love life be that of star-crossed lovers. If you want to play your cards right, You must first stop this cats and dogs fight. If you do that, the sky is your limit , And the rest, as they say, could possibly be history , I admit. Written for:  Singapore Poetry Writing Month  is an annual event in April, where a prompt is released every day and people write and share their poems based on the prompts.

Today's prompt: The Insomnia Prompt  In case you miss it, the number of words in each line for a Fibonacci sequence too. (I couldn’t risk people not seeing it) One Sheep Two sheep Now Three Sheep Two more, makes five sheep Triplets joining the party make it eight sheep Who knew how smart sheep are, they are making a cool Fibonacci heap! Written for:  Singapore Poetry Writing Month  is an annual event in April, where a prompt is released every day and people write and share their poems based on the prompts.