Yet Untitled 041 - A Blog is a Pulse, A Book is a Surge
Continuing is Life!
Greetings Dear Yet Untitler!
A few days ago, it was Tuesday, and I had no idea what I would be writing about this week! But sweet were the uses of adversity, and I used the opportunity to boldly step into the beyond with you. As Pink Floyd famously said:
By the way, I’m coming up to nearly one year of publishing! As you’re all shareholders in this enterprise let me share some stats:
Hooray for upward graphs! Steady growth. Slow and steady. Just as intended. I couldn’t be happier. Wait till you see my reaction when we hit 200!
While I may not be an internet-breaking influencer with 200 subs, you know, dear Yet Untitler - I can’t complain. To publish each week, I’ve had to push myself and in the pushing I’ve got to know myself a little better each time. I’ve also got to know some of you, some whom I’ve never met but feel I know well enough to deliver a long, warm hug without a second thought when I do meet you. May your tribe increase! 200 huggable people are better than 2000 un-huggable ones!
‘Yet Untitled’ has quenched a long-existing thirst in me - to have creative discipline, to create as a way of life - freely. A long time ago, I had made an attempt: teaching storytelling to school kids in the guise of an alter-ego: “Storyman!”. I’m glad I stopped. The costume was ludicrous.
‘Yet Untitled’ feels like the right tone and the right fit; and I’m glad I’ve been able to sustain it. For this I feel truly grateful. Thank you. It would only be half a journey without you.
How has this year been for you? What difference has ‘Yet Untitled’ made to your life, if at all? For some, I know that the weekly drop into your inboxes is a reassurance of my presence in your lives - “the boy’s around, and the goofball’s still writing!” Amazing! Even if that’s what’s happening, I think it’s fantastic; as if the weekly rhythm of YU is a mirror of my pulse radiating from one corner of Andheri West, Mumbai, out to the rest of the world - touching, as of now, 196 lives with metronomic regularity.
A heartbeat is an untiring commitment to life. If YU were to have an aspiration, I’d say it may sound something like this.
But still. Indulge me. If this recurring missive has made the teeniest, tiniest difference to your lives - letting me know would mean the world to me. Do hit comment and shoot me a line about this👇.
This week, I read a screenplay that I had written 9 years ago. What surprised me was that it still worked. It still moved me emotionally after all this time. It lay dormant for 9 years, but suddenly there’s some momentum gathering around it, making it emerge from the back of the drawer.
“Latency”. “Hidden power”.
Those are the words that came to me upon this re-read. Also, the Buddhist Parable of the Jewel in the Robe came to mind:
It tells of an impoverished man who goes to visit a close wealthy friend. Being treated to wine, he becomes drunk and falls asleep. The wealthy friend must go out on business, but before leaving, he sews a priceless jewel into the lining of his sleeping friend’s robe. When the poor man awakens, he has no idea that he has been given the jewel. He then sets out on a journey. To provide himself with food and clothing, he searches with all his energy, encountering great hardship. Being always in want, he is content with whatever little he can obtain. Later he happens to meet his old friend, who is shocked at his poverty and shows him the jewel in the robe. The man realizes for the first time that he possesses a priceless jewel and is overjoyed.
Reading the screenplay, I thought this first:
“I’ve had this gem at the back of my drawer for 9 years. Why didn’t it see the light of day all this time?”
This week, various thoughts have surfaced around this event. Nine years ago, I had put in a pretty large quantum of work on this screenplay for a relatively small paycheque, fighting uncertainty and taking a risk. Had I known then that the journey was going to be this long; taking a decade or more to manifest, would I have agreed to do it? I wonder.
The important thing, I find, is that I did it, regardless. Had I not done it, the scenario of my realising that it was a jewel in the first place would not even exist! Now, I celebrate the fact that it exists, and am excited that there are suddenly new possibilities around it.
‘Yet Untitled’ exists. Nearly 50 instalments of it. You and I exist around it. There is power in this. There is power in being here. Even with all the chaos and desolation in this world, writing these sentences reminds me not to take my (our) being here lightly.
My friend Nupu Press wrote a book and launched it this week.
I’ve met Nupu in person perhaps 10 times over 15 years, but I count her as a friend - an important one. How is this possible?
I have an explanation: For a long time, Nupu wrote a blog that I’d never read. But some of her posts have come together to become her fantastic book. Reading her book now, I totally see how she’d been steadily sending her wonderful spirit out like a pulse into the world via her blog. One way or another, this pulse reached me and moved me enough to immediately call her a friend. While this may sound esoteric, believe me dear Yet Untitler, when I say that I see it and know it is real.
The book’s a gem. If a blog is a pulse, then a book is a surge.
You should totally get yourself a copy.
The word Pulse has been repeated in this newsletter multiple times.
For that, here’s another song (the song?) from Pink Floyd’s landmark 1994 concert, ‘Pulse’:
Continuing is Craig Mod’s Rigour of Process.
The man builds books out of walks, one kilometre after another.
His commitment to Continuing had made me develop a special relationship with it myself.
I think I like running because I like Continuing.
My effort to become a better runner is deeply related to my effort to continue. Which is why I also love the title of Austin Kleon’s third book:
In the book, he says:
This explains why I’ve been heading to Sanjay Gandhi National Park with Sandeep for the past few weeks. We both deplore the demons who do not want us to continue.
Runners are known to have lower resting heart rates than non runners. It’s a sign of fitness. While all my fitness indicators are pretty ordinary, I believe that over this past year, my resting heart rate with respect to news-lettering has reached marathoner levels. I can put in the effort without losing my breath anymore, which means I can go further, perhaps run a but faster, or longer or harder.
I want to.
I want to go further, Yet Untitler. For both you and for me. Let’s see where this leads us.
Write back. There’s power in this relationship. There is power in being here.
Lots of Love
V
Cheers to 200 huggable people!! And yes there IS power in this. :)
such a hopeful post, filled with positivity!