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.
Are you a ’90s kid? Did your school have a computer lab? Remember taking your shoes off before entering the “computer room”? The thrill of writing silly commands in MS-DOS? Or the pure artistic satisfaction derived from making the “two hills and a river” illustration in MS Paint? Yeah? You’re going to like today’s Just One Thing.
Do you think you’re a graceless dancer? Or that your paintings would make Dali turn in his grave? Ever burst into song, but your friends told you to turn the croaks down a notch?
No? Congratulations, you’re an artist!
Did you fly paper planes as a kid and dream of piloting a real airplane someday? Me too!
If like me, you’re fascinated by these marvellous flying tin pots, let me introduce you to GeoFS, a browser-based flight simulator that feels like, well, (I think) the real thing. (Pilots in the house, if it isn’t, don’t tell me). Simulator controls allow you to change the aircraft’s direction, speed, angle and altitude. You can even fly at night or in bad weather conditions. If you prefer you’re flying mobile, there’s an app too.
If you’ve been reading Just One Thing for any length of time, you know I have a thing for Vincent.
Because I love him so much, I’m always on the lookout for all things van Gogh. Or stan van Goghs. You know, the ones who acknowledge Vincent’s true genius wasn’t driven by severe mental illness but crippled by it. That he painted inspite of his illness. Kindred spirits.
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.
It has been more than 30 years since Bono and gang sang about not finding earthly satisfaction. And I suspect some of you are still in the same boat. And I don’t blame you.
Because it is only today that I’m sharing the one thing that will give you everything that you’re looking for.
You want to leave a mark on those around you, don’t you?
Well I did. Quite literally.
When the pandemic came around, bringing truckloads of free time into my life, I jumped onto the stick-and-poke bandwagon. Like every other Gen Z kid.
A few weeks ago, Dolly introduced us to Michael Harriot’s Twitter feed, their go-to for Black American history.
For me, the parallels between the Black Lives Matter and Dalit Lives Matter movements have always been striking. And I’m inspired to tell you about Round Table India, my go-to place for the Dalit-Bahujan perspective.
If you like zombie movies as I do, you’ll know that cardio is an epic first rule. Have you watched Zombieland, by the way? It is one of my favourite zombie movies of all time – great casting, brilliant lines and really kinetic zombies.