Monday, November 30, 2015

Fun reads

Sharing some thoughts and reads that I had already shared on Twitter, in lieu of an actual post.

First, the most important thing: laughs.
On a more sombre note, check out this thread on abuse and not blaming the victim.

Also, wow. People are awful.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Disjointed thoughts on music and literature and childhood

I have been thinking often lately of how important childhood homes and families are, and how much they can affect your interests, your education, your vocation. I am interested in literature and music but always had to learn on my own, with little encouragement from my parents who weren’t very interested in either (though my sister was a voracious reader herself and I often borrowed (sometimes stealthily) the books she brought home.

Well, a bit unfair to say my mother wasn’t encouraging — she determinedly carted me or accompanied me to dance lessons and music lessons. But there was little music in our home. My father used to yell at us when we put on the tape recorder. Apparently, use would ‘spoil’ it. For a few years, I practised my singing regularly but somewhat half-heartedly. My parents seemed to tolerate this rather than derive any pleasure from this. Not because they thought I was a bad singer, because they did encourage me to perform in public. It was the societal reward that encouraged them, the idea that someone might praise their daughter (and them for being cool parents), not any love of music or even pleasure in seeing their child working on something.  

Monday, November 09, 2015

Vacation Pictures: Assam and Arunachal Pradesh

Hello, people. Hope you're enjoying a short Diwali week (if you are in India).

The Guy and I visited my mother in Assam last month, and drove down to Bhalukpong on the Arunachal Pradesh border. It was amazing (and quite cheap).

Here have some photos.

The drive itself was lovely. We left late because I wasn't well in the morning, and were afraid we wouldn't reach by sundown. We made it just at dusk, after driving for a while under orange clouds in a blue sky.



We were pleasantly surprised at how pretty the place was.