Chalti Ka Naam Zindagi !

Hola!

Dear Reader,

Right now it's Saturday, 3:52 AM. It's July in Boston. Peak summer, humid days, hot nights, and a loud-ish white noise of my age old window air conditioner, which I bought from a couple living in Cambridge for around $80. I think this is one of the most useful purchases I did - of the few things I get for myself.

Anyway, this blog was in the back of my head since the last time I wrote it in 2022. It was a conscious effort of me wanting to reduce digital footprint, I fairly managed to do so. But hey, a lot happened in these 20 months! I mean it - A LOT. Changed a lot as a person, learn quite a few things (grateful for them). And grateful for everything. 

Updates (unsolicited)

Tucky graduated !! P in Jersey !! Him, Ashish bhai went to Utah, Kedar bhai left USA for Canada !! Made new good friends... and some 46 more things (which I won't be writing here).

(Fortunately) I got laid off in Feb 2024. The first 2 days were devastating, but then I realized that if it wasn't for a layoff, I would never have thought about other things in life. Not just about getting a better job, but also to read - watch - do a plethora of things.

Btw, that Michael Kors watch (yeah, judge me) which I gifted myself in July 2021 ran out of batteries. Obviously, I needed to replace the cells or get myself a new one. This time, the more 'mature' Satyam had a chance to get a Tissot PRX 80 automatic, which was always in my mind since forever. But I stumbled upon minimalism, slow living, and similar movements - which tilted my biases towards the age old Casio A158. A watch which costs 2 coffees in India - and maybe 4 coffees in Boston. As usual, I wanted to get birkenstocks kyotos or arizonas - but I just feel very satisfied with my clarks (which i got in march 2022); and birkenstocks seem like a ferrari to me now. Yes, I love it and everyone thinks it is cool. But I would never want to own a ferrari myself. Maybe I'll go for a 4x4 Thar / Jeep / a good ol' vintage piece. (idk if you can relate to this weird tendency of mine, which has developed over the past 1 year). It's not about being frugal - but being conscious about the things you own. Your decisions shouldn't be shaped by those calculus and probability based deep learning algorithms, which made you buy Air Jordans or Baggy pants.

Don't get too sentimental though. I'm very close to grab 2 extremely cool job offers. So, yes. Things are on the brighter side. The only difference this time is that, I am more satisfied with the fact that I grabbed these two roles. I can still defer / reject them and still be satisfied (no, I won't ofc.). 

Also, I am extensively reading these days (or from the past few months). It started with Osho, but then I realized J Krishnamurthy, Ramana Maharshi, Ashtavakra, Buddha, Thich Nhat Hanh etc provide more value with humbleness (I love Osho btw). Moreover, also read Carl Jung, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Pico Iyer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Guy de Maupasaaunt, Henry Thoreau, Javed Akhtar, Piyush Mishra, Divya Prakash Dubey, a lot of history and vedanta.

Now my favorite part. About Life.

At this moment, I think life is beautiful no matter what. If you have an easy sailing boat in still waters - that's the best journey. If you're in a boat surrounded by cold, blue and large waves - enjoy the ride - it's still the best. But definitely, there's more to our existence that materialism, validation, clout and fame. I realized I'd rather want to be just-enough-rich, a life of no-fame, authenticity, and calm. Staying near loved ones and a slow life. I'm seriously thinking of coming back to India. It's just a matter of when.

Plus respect for pitaji is increasing day by day. Even I want to just stay in the kambal, listening to calm NFAK, Jagjit, Lifafa, or KK - while dal chawal get lukewarm on the side table. That's a perfect friday night for me. I've accepted that it's okay if someone wants to party. It's totally fine if someone wants to just sit and stare at the wall, doing nothing. "Dolce far niente", as they say. We're masters of our lives. I think a slow-life is something that adds more to existence that running after that car, that fat paycheck, settling down with your spouse at 25, or everything that you do because other's want you to do. 

Honestly, you should read Pico Iyer. I have partially borrowed his perspective on life, and moulded it with my own. Cal Newport's digital minimalism is something that might be that smell of mitti before rain, if you are too much indulged on social media. Trust me, instagram ruins us. Take a break from that.

I hate a few things about postmodernism. Brutal boxes everywhere. Tiles in the bathroom, buildings, gadgets, neutral clothes, and heck even the packages in which the food arrives these days. The furniture is so full of right angles, that it just feels as if it paints the colors in my room as grey, even though I have a lot of posters in my life. The next place I will move to will contain a persian rug to cover the naked floor, some good framed artworks, my favorite posters, a reading chair, aasan (for meditation), thuma bed, and a desk (and wooden chair). That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less. Maybe a good lamp to keep on my desk.

I'm trying to gradually shift on the nokia 2760 which I got myself, from the iphone I use. I frequently wear Onitsuka Tigers Mexico 66. I think they'll last me good 4-5 years. Found my style. High waist pleated trousers, loose bespoke shirts, sandals / mexico 66 or boots, and my casio watch. Prior to this, I never wore conscioiusly. It was just going out and grabbing whatever branded shirts seemed decent enough to be recognized by others in a gathering, or something that I saw on instagram story / advertisement. All of this might seem strange, but this is who I am as a person these days.

As always, ending this abruptly because I should sleep. The next time I write, you'll see more organized thoughts, with better writing. This post was just me, resurrecting this blog in hurry, just to prepare the ground for planting some big, green trees which might act as shades on a hot summer day for the pilgrims in this jungle of binary streams called internet.

Also, I won't be proofreading this before hitting the publish button. Bare with the misspelled words.

Until the next time!

S