But also, mainly

It’s Sunday! Blog day! The first of many to come! Or is it the second? Because technically that one last week was the first one, no? No? Okay, no let’s count this one as the first real blog. So, here goes — BLOG 1: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGING IN THE EARS

It’s been kind of a tiring week even though I barely did anything. I did get back to work after a two week break (during which my cousin got married [CONGRATULATIONS KEVIN AND ROSHNI!!!] and I went for a proper karaoke night for the first time in nearly two years) and had a pretty long and tiring, but fun Friday night that ended at 6 a.m. on Saturday. 

I’m currently in Hyderabad, making use of a remote working option that expires this year. Yup, COVID’s officially not the top priority anymore peeps! But I’ll be honest, I’m kind of looking forward to going back to the office mainly because even though I feel I’m kind of a loner, I do enjoy company and having people around in the background like white noise while I work. Plus, I’d finally get to drive to work (yup, I enjoy driving in not-so-busy city traffic) and also not have to wake up early every day and direct cab drivers and then commute an hour before I actually need to. 

I’d also get to make use of clothes other than my now extremely worn out house tees and shorts that have literally been worn to death. Any more wear and they’d have more holes than the mesh nets on my windows. Time to dust off those formals shirts and pants and shoes! Shirts are tucked inside the pants, right? Do we need to wear chaddis inside pants? Say that again — “socks”? What in the world are those?

But also, mainly, I’d get away from the deafening silence of working at home alone through the night with no one to take a break and walk around with to get some air or a coffee or bitch about the idiots at work. Silence that’s made my tinnitus — that I’ve been conveniently ignoring and not seeing a doctor about for more than a year now — grow louder with each passing month. Yeah, yeah I’m going to get it checked out soon. In the coming days, maybe. Weeks, probably. Months, for sure. Years, definitely. 

Speaking of hearing annoying things in your ears all the time, my friend Priyanka bought a new car last month! I got to drive her Jeep Compass last Sunday evening. It was okay. OKAY FINE IT WAS BRILLIANT AND MADE ME MISS EVERYTHING I LOVED ABOUT KIM CARDASHIAN. Don’t worry, I still love you, Taylor VXi Swift.

Priyanka also hosted a “dinner” at her place on Friday night. It was supposed to be drinks and poker, that turned into drinks, no poker, impromptu karaoke and dinner-at-4-a.m. But man, her cooking is brilliant. 

I also got to meet a couple of colleagues I’d worked with at Deccan Chronicle — Neha Jha, Tollywood promoter extraordinaire and Latika Mehta, future master podcaster and Bollywood aficionado. Latika said I hadn’t changed a bit in six years. I’m outraged — clearly I’ve added at least 3 inches to my waistline since then. Also good luck to Neha and the team at Pushpa and Mr. Allu Arjun and family and his legion of followers who will rip me apart if I say anything other than nice things about him. Good luck, sir. 

I took my mum and dad out to dinner this weekend. United Kitchens of India at Karkhana isn’t bad at all. Service is a bit spotty but that’s mainly because the place was crowded. Food’s goooooood though. Go check it out. Tell them I recommended it to you. Use my discount code THISISAFAKEDISCOUNTCODESUCKER when you ask for the bill.

And that’s all the words I can manage to string together today. I should probably start doing this over a few days instead of in one or two sittings, so I can get more done. I shall get better. I promise. Don’t go away. Please come back! 

Song recommendation of week: 

This could just be a blog

I’m just typing all this here in the hope that it will inspire me to begin writing for myself again. Personal writing, whether it’s random words, poetry (I don’t really want to do that anymore though) or even, maybe, possibly… a manifesto? I guess this is the written word’s equivalent of what artists do when they doodle. Do artists doodle? Or is that just reserved for cartoonists? Are cartoonists artists? Am I an artist? Isn’t writing an art form? Literature is considered an art form, yes. So I guess I can call myself an artist. Once, that is, I actually start writing again. Which should be soon. Hopefully. 

I mean I bought a whole new laptop for it, so I’d say I owe it to myself to start writing again. It does help to let emotions and thoughts and feelings out, I’m told, instead of bottling them up. As I’ve been doing for the past… two years now? The last time I posted something on here was in January, 2019. Before the pandemic. Before things started turning to shit. Or was it after? Who even knows now. So much has happened in the last two years. But also, so little. 

This could just be a blog. I have a friend who started vlogging last year, and she’s getting really good at it. I don’t think I’d ever be comfortable enough in front of the camera to do that. So maybe I should just do this — blog. Old school. Write a column. Isn’t that was people used to do a few years ago when “digital content” was all about being funny/sarcastic in a weekly online column, instead of dancing for 10 seconds? Not judging anyone at all, I’m just saying I think I’m going to stick to this for now. Maybe throw in a few photographs now and then. 

Is my life really that interesting? Probably not. I live in Bangalore now. I have a job that I love. A handful of friends I enjoy hanging out with once in a while. My weekends recently have mostly involved movie marathons and drinking and eating some good food at home. I’d honestly rather go out, but getting a group of people who enjoy hanging out with each other without secretly bitching about each other can be pretty hard to put together. 

Oh well, here’s to doing things better. Meeting people. Finally living my life. And yes, blogging. 

(FINE I’M NOT AN ARTIST)

Cheers ra, mama