Gathering thoughts…
A world of little thoughts.
The only constant I have observed in my 21 years of existence is this — no matter how well I sleep at night, it just won't be as good as that nap in the afternoon. I'm a Bengali. And what science suggests is that since Bengalis have a carbohydrate-heavy diet, food that takes long to digest, they're naturally more…
I'm no more on a streak. Couldn't write yesterday. Nevertheless, the 30-essay series still continues. Today I am writing about productivity - a topic that is beaten to death a million times, every day, day after day. Well, this one is a different. I'm not selling a "I-know-it-all-shoving-it-down-your-throat"…
My parents and I went to England in the summer of 1972, by which time my Dad had ensured that I was already cricket mad, like any good Indian boy should be. India had just won Test series in both the West Indies and in England for the first time and Sunil Gavaskar had entered my personal pantheon of Hindu gods. Dad…
Estou passando uns dias na casa dos meus pais em São Paulo. Voltar para cá me faz encarar uma realidade de onde às vezes teimo em escapar. Estava refletindo sobre a minha preguiça quando ouvi a minha mãe no cômodo debaixo arrastando o andador para se movimentar pela casa. Ela faz questão de fazer tudo apesar da…
In honor of my birthday today, I'm giving you a gift. I’m sharing the knowledge I've gained in 65 years around the sun. Regardless of your age, you wll benefit from the lessons I've learned. Sunscreen. Lesson: I grew up in the baby oil sunbathing era. You can spend your money on sunscreen or frequent dermatologist…
the point is that you’re supposed to be out there looking and finding, trying and making and dreaming. don’t get too bogged down in the how or the why. the bees go on buzzing. the way makes itself. don’t bother analysing it too much. take a step and then another step and then turn around and go the other way, people…
as I write this, there is a meeting going on in the background. Someone is saying something, and others are writing. Most are pretending to listen while they browse the internet on their laptops. Meanwhile, our client on the 56-inch LED screen continues to talk about the product. This is not the first time I am seeing…
Similar or familiar. Like-minded. Something old and new. Wabi Sabi. Perfection. A gift from me to you. Happy memories. Warm fuzzies. Like a nod to the golden. Best friends. Your favourite jumper. Positivity. Feeling eternally soulful. Confidence in dressing. Lace up. Your humble tribe. Where kindness shared, is…
Meet friend Yvette Francino. I was part of her Jan 2025 "Carpe Diem Budget" of "guilt-free spending on friends, family, travel, and joy." Who is/are your Yvette(s) in your life? CARPE DIEM BUDGET Yvette emailed five friends about her travel to the SF Bay Area, California - "This year marks a milestone for me (and all…
Care is the gravity that holds a group together. It is the practical stuff of hospitality, like preparing for a meeting or cleaning up afterwards. It's also emotional work, like noticing that someone is not having a good time, and checking in with them. Without care, a group falls apart. It’s safe to assume that in…
Nov 20, 2023 marks a few approaching ends—the conclusion of the year, the nearing end of my mid-20s, and the closing of this chapter of my life. I have found a myriad of tools to distract me from my anxiety, with nostalgia being a key one. I dress in '90s fashion to emulate the teenagers I saw when I was a kid in LA,…
I've spent so much time in one mode of living (ie the aspirant mode) that something else feels foreign and alien, something abnormal and even wrong. I crave the familiarity, the structure, the discipline of the routine. I crave the sense of purpose it provides. Yet I must also begin to understand that living in just…
I have done okay as dad this month. While my son did tell me that "I sucked", it was only after he lost control of his temper trying to fit a couple of Lego pieces together, and needed to be separated from them. I take that as a win. When he runs home from the bus, he will give me a great big hug, I will tell him that…
Moods, nausea and fear washes over me in tides and recedes just like that. Like my therapist said, fear needs to be embraced. It's an emotion that serves one quite well if embraced properly. I try to slowly build a friendship with fear because something tells me she will be a companion for life. Fear is a sneaky…
So long I worked and toiled and begged. To make a small dream come true. Everything came undone, with a nod, a slip and slow announcement. I don't want to dream anymore. It hurts so much to feel so worthless. So incompetent and dumb and silent. So foolish and stuck and silent. I dont want to dream anymore. And have no…
I don't think I've ever come to terms with what happened that night. It was horrible and took the very life out of me to a point where I thought going on was impossible. But I had big reasons to create a way out of the madness and while I'm not there yet, I am on the path. They say, "You'll never get over it." They…
There's a sickening feeling of being surrounded by darkness. What feels like an everlasting doom consuming your peripherals. You're trapped, maybe not physically, but mentally, or both. If, one stands in place, that place becomes your home. A home that echoes into the voids of your mind driving you insane. The purpose…
Yesterday in a class on human breast milk we discussed how it is considered a living tissue by some, because the breast milk contains living cells too. Many of these cells come from the gut associated lymphoid tissue(GALT), is what one of our professors said. And surely that led me to the next possible question, what…
Came across a captivating question recently by Nicheless founder Louis on his post "12 questions that captivate me". Can a society with diverse, conflicting values survive? I believe only a society with diverse and conflicting values can survive. Humans follow their desires to pretty much any extreme. If a particular…
Comecei uma nova série. New girl estava na minha lista ha anos. Eu conheço a atriz que interpreta Jess como cantora. Então, está sendo legal ver ela nesse papel de comédia também. Olhos grandes e azuis. Claro, a série tem uma vibe meio pick me girl. Meio "nossa como eu sou estranha e preciso da aprovação desses…
Is to apply HARDWORKING THOUGHTS! And to be prepared! You’re good at last minute changes cos you had to. But planning on the goal to success is what’s important right? Having that vision - and combine knowing what and how to adapt based on different circumstances. If you study just one day earlier - you could’ve…
Hoje uma amiga querida me deu apoio em duas situações. Uma sobre um caso que ela sabia e outro que ela não fazia ideia. O caso que ela sabia diz respeito a falar inglês. Com anos de estudo, eu consigo entender 80% do que falam, escrever bem, mas a fala ainda arrasta numa performance medíocre. Hoje, especificamente,…
A sense of assurance that eventually things will fall into place and you will be more than fine. Its a state of mind which makes you calm, happy and at complete ease. The last I felt this is when I was in Kannur, Kerala for New Years. The clean and calm beach with the shades of sky changes from orange to hot pink, the…
is that bad? i want him to read marie calloway bc i think he could really relate and really love it and it'll convince him to live the life that i want for him [i see him as the robert to my patti smith, the edie sedgwick to my andy warhol, and the andy warhol to my edie sedgwick] whenever i'm around him or recall our…
After mulling it over for a couple of weeks, I made the change. I gave writers the option of adding a single image at the start of every Nicheless post. I'm not confident that it's the right move, but I'm eager to find out. If you're a writer here, I owe you an explanation. That's what this post is for. Firstly, let…
Maybe I'm biased, but I don't believe that people are fundamentally lazy. Our whole modern world seems founded on this misconception. Why do people need jobs? Because, if they didn't have them, they'd give themselves over to lounging and debauchery. Every person is a malingerer at heart. Can this really be true? In my…
On a walking tour in Oaxaca, Mexico last year, my local guide said something that struck close to home – “Most homes and businesses in the city aren’t owned by Oaxacans. They’re owned by Americans.” Because of American demand, Oaxacans couldn’t afford to live in the best parts of their own city and were forced to live…
When we spotted her garden from far away we were theorising on what could be growing. One of her family members spotted us leaf and drain inspectors. They rolled their eyes and made way for Ajita kakima to take charge. The matriarch introduced all the trees like her old friends. There was jamun, mango, banana,…
Ahhh the moment as a cup falls to spill out water lets us predict the near future. the same can be applied to any idea strong enough to take action. the puddle may result in something special...
I kind of want to read Holzfällen twice, in German then in English because I feel that the voice is completely different. perhaps I should read Murakami again, in Japanese. or try to... Philip Gabriel's translations of Murakami is such a special voice and I really really enjoy it but what does Murakami actually sound…
The best writing I've read around writing and marketing books lately has to be Rob Fitzpatrick's 'Write useful books'. The thesis is that book marketing is broken and the only way people buy books anymore is when a friend, or someone they respect, recommends one. Therefore it book marketing is largely down to writing…
If one believes a certain proposition to be true for all times and for all places, the proposition can be said to be universally true. Conversely, if a proposition is only true for a particular time and place, the proposition may be true for other times and other places, but not necessarily so. Consider the…
i find listening to content while working prescribes higher quality to the output. when designing for a creative output; poetry that influenced many great artists is highly productive listening. their creation influences my thinking, it forces my mind into a state of deliberation...
i want to be the perfect amount of enigma i want to make something beautiful for you i want to be more than useful i want to make a sound that you haven't thought of before i want to echo i want to make art, artifacts, that outlast my own changes i want to get worse at things for a while i want to stop looking i want…
Big bosses stick to their final game plan They have a very strong will point Not just putting one foot in And when it’s about business You need to learn how to talk With a very strong will inside your brain Not being affected just because of emotions And other people manipulating you You gotta stand strong of your…
I like how dreams work. (no not the one you see with eyes wide open) Every day is a new beginning. You never know what's coming next. I always wanted to do bungee jumping. It's one of the few dreams I have. but a few weeks back, I just did that in my dreams. The next morning I woke up sad because now I know how it…
Leaving a new place that I just knew and that I loved always makes me wonder if I will ever get back there. That thought comes as I depart, as I take the final looks onto the place. My mind seems to need to know if it's like a last and forever goodbye, or if it's more like "I will see you again sometime". Ubud was one…
No matter your choice of activities, you can be learning. You intentionally choose to participate in some activities to increase your knowledge. Having an in-depth conversation Reading to learn (vs. reading for pleasure) Watching a how-to video. Your purpose in choosing other activities is downtime. A vacation…
it's better to spend time alone than to be bored by people. after the norwegians left, i haven't really enjoyed hanging out with other people our age because all they want to talk about is BOAT PROJECTS and i sit there thinking about how they're wasting my time and how i wish i could go read and write but when you're…
Encontrei com a minha irmã no último domingo. Ela me encarou assustada gritando: "O que aconteceu?" logo que notou o roxo se alastrando por onde outrora repousava meu bigode chinês. Contei que durante um procedimento estético, o médico provavelmente pegou um nervinho. Encarei-a de volta e percebi que, aos 55 anos, a…
Unstructured work is under appreciated. It's the kind of work you do when there are unknown unknowns. Or when you're searching for a solution that might exist, but you don't know where to look. Or the work you do in pursuit of perfection, which can never be recognised, except in its absence. The process can be…
This is not an essay. Rather, a letter to self. I have been journaling for almost 3 months now. It's irregular at best. Yet, it has been the best clarity building exercise for me. During the writing process, I discovered - patterns in my thought process. Such as - I start, seldom finish. I am an instant-dopamine…
If you're observant of how you live, it is easy to realize that most of us live on autopilot. We're usually getting by every day, figuring stuff out on our own. On most days, it is rewarding to be self-sufficient. However, the more isolated lives we lead, the more difficult it is to know when to seek help from…
Our outward appearance tells others a lot. Wear a suit and show your business personality Wear an orange robe and show your religious personality Wear harem pants and show your free-spirit personality This is all signaling. By signaling we let others know that our "culture" exists. Now here's the problem.. We, humans…
Don’t hate the bus, or the bus app Hate the fact that you don’t have enough money to get a car. Use the mean time to think and do efficient tasks. There’s no help in being negative thinking. Also be smart - know how to learn and find knowledge. Acquire good knowledge. Who to ask. What to know & have that think for…
The internet has given rise to a new genre of humorous content and I personally love it! The ones I find particularly amusing are around wine and comparing it to life. ''Yoga Class? I thought you said Pour a Glass''. You get the drift. When did wine become such an ubiquitous part of corporate lore? I for one of course…
it doesn't happen everyday, folks you've heard it here first: high motivation karate tai-chi ok so you basically do karate moves, but with every move, you also say something motivational and it's a whole sequence you essentially memorize a monologue of positive mantras as well as a karate sequence (1) ready position…
A friend shared - It costs me up to 3-4 hours/day for this writing effort. My friend is consistently writing on a daily basis in the "build in public" approach. She is using a platform where that makes it so fun to do so with templates, drafts, and queues. And it is truly energizing for me to know writing daily brings…
