I couldn't write last week because I was sick, but I have gotten better this week. I am writing this note from Kolkata. Over the few weeks I've had numerous thoughts and realisations. I will try to write a separate post on that some day. Below is a gist of some of them in chronological order.
Week 13/2024
I stretched myself too thin by eagerly accepting many additional responsibilities, which led to burn out. I've come to understand that we wake up with a finite amount of energy each day. I wrote a post on quitting some of the major projects I worked on.
Recently, I've transitioned from podcasts to YouTube, mainly tuning into Amit Varma and Ajay Shah, but now through their different show called Everything is Everything. I listened to Surface area of Serendipity This was mostly non-political and I enjoyed.
I finished Einstien's Dreams. It transported me into an entirely new dimension of time. I found many chapters captivating, especially the one exploring the concept of time as a loop.
Week 14/2024
The week started off quickly, with the first half flying by. I caught up with some friends from previous travels, but my main focus was on finishing the work I hadn't managed to complete the week before.
I travelled to Kolkata, which captured the essence of the week. I stayed with friends. We were greeted by unexpectedly pleasant weather today, which made us to comfortably explore Kolkata's rich history and lively streets - Its a city which felt like the time had almost frozen after a period.
At resort, I had a memorable experience learning to open my eyes underwater while swimming, a challenge I had grappled with for a long time. I was incredibly happy. Thanks to my friend who had the patience to teach me.
We explored three main parts of the city on foot,
New Market Area - We had one of the authentic Biriyani's of Kolkata. It also had variety of small shops. We were three of us and I sensed the novelty and happiness in us navigating the bustling crowd — An experience I likely wouldn't have sought out in my hometown.
Prinsep Ghat - I loved the charm of the train stations, with their stops alongside the riverbank. It felt like walking into the scenes of one of the Jhumpa Lahiri stories. We spent enough hours just strolling beside the river.
Park Street Area - It was filled with richness of commercial elements and books. We spent hours at Oxford, one of the only two bookshops that exists in India.
I hoarded books, which I am happy about instead of the usual guilt. We spent quite sometime at Oxford reading some parts. The book I started reading now is Khushwant singh's The Lessons Of My Life .
For two days I made a conscious effort to disconnect from my phone for nearly 6 hours straight — Also managed to avoid Instagram for ~24 hours which I am happy about. Despite the break, the urge to share a story prevailed at the end of the day, and eventually, I gave in and posted it. But this is still a good stepping stone.