In my opinion, one of the best, worst things that happened with the advancement of cell phone technology is the screen time feature.
The feature that tracks our screen time, gives us options to moderate it and holds up a starkly accurate image of our imprisonment within the darkest recesses of the digital age (okay, maybe that’s just me).
Last week, a friend of mine went to Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan. She went on a jungle safari with her family, and they saw a tiger, a bear AND a leopard. The guide, she said, was beside himself with excitement because this NEVER HAPPENS.
They were incredibly lucky, and when she told me and my friends, the Whatsapp group was filled with messages expressing surprise and blatant jealousy.
Most of us have a voice in our heads. A mean, resentful, critical voice that berates us for the tiniest of errors.
“Why did you take that second helping of mango gelato?”
“Why did you spend four hours re-watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine instead of finishing The Argumentative Indian?”
I’m not overly fond of dogs. Don’t get me wrong – I think they’re cute and cuddly and all that, but they don’t quite excite me as much as cats do.
But I do think they’re wonderful creatures and fully understand how they’ve earned their “man’s best friend” title.
My family had a dog when I was a kid, who then passed away before I hit my teens. Her name was Puchi, and she was an indie with an ochre coat and a perennial wag on her tail.
Happy New Year!
2023 is here – can you believe it? I, for one, am excited for the year to unveil its surprises. Unusual for me, but hey – it means therapy is working, hehe!
All this week, we’re sending you our favourite Things from 2022, starting with moi.
Argentina wins the World Cup! Messi lifts the coveted trophy! Millions celebrate across the globe!
All true.
Also true that thousands of migrant workers died in building the infrastructure Qatar needed to host this tournament.
I’m walking on the ocean bed, breathing water in like air, holding a giant stuffed giraffe in one hand and a can opener in the other- when suddenly, my local milkman appears and asks me to follow him to the Railway Station, which turns out to be my childhood school, except that it’s full of people I had once met on a Sound Of Music Bus tour in Salzburg…
A month ago, I got my first real taste of heartbreak. A situationship I was in ended abruptly after 1.5 years because the other person decided that he was just not that into it. Ouch.
Today’s JOT is my attempt to be humourous and wise about this ordeal, even though every time I think about it, it feels like I’m being stung by 500,000 venomous wasps at once (and I think about it 3 million times a day. So that’s 3 million x 500,000 stings in 24 hours. You do that math.)
Every morning, I wake up to the sound of birds chirping. Spotted doves, common mynahs and sparrows conduct a symphony outside my window among the mango trees and Gulmohar branches.
No, I’m not making this up – I live in the suburbs of Kolkata, where avian habitats haven’t been completely destroyed. Yet.
Let’s begin with a little exercise.
Imagine your fifth-grade English teacher appears at your doorstep and gives you an assignment. You were just about to leave for work, but you are paralysed by the sternness in her eyes, and something inside you regresses to the 10-year-old you once were.