Greetings
Thank you for sampling - or, better still - being an early adopter of my yet untitled, yet experimental weekly newsletter. This project has been incubating inside me for years, and finally something is emerging, gushing out after inspiration from amazing people like Austin Kleon, Jihii Jolly and Craig Mod has brought me to critical mass.
If you have enjoyed my Instagram account, you may have noticed that I am always trying to get the best collaboration out of a photo and the written word. Here I am trying to take this enterprise further. I always felt a need for a slower and more reflective experience between what I create and what is consumed. This newsletter seems to be the answer.
I intent to be disciplined and push out one post a week. No more, no less. Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.
I’m finding my way, and I’ve decided that the best way to proceed is by doing it. Thanks for walking along with me. Walk a while or walk all the way - you are very welcome in either case!
Here's what I’ll try to do…
I want to bring you one photograph a day from my archive, write about it and relate it to ideas that are forming in my head or insights that I find useful, in the hope that they will prove useful to you too.
This photo was randomly picked from my recent trip to Ranthambhore. I don’t have more to say about it just now, except that it was great to be out in the open before coming back to serious Covid madness in Mumbai. Also, I haven’t had a chance to look deeply into my Lightroom archive which is stuck in a never-ending sync loop. Still, at least it’s purrty…
A small note about VOICE. I’m using this exercise to wring out a voice that I know is there, but for now only I seem to be privy to, which isn’t ideal, because I feel - saying this without ego (or trying to) - there’s value in it. It’s elusive, and while it has found some sort of regular expression via my screen-writerly life, I feel writing scripts doesn't give that voice the tyre-screeching torque I want from it. Why, because our voices are unique, and everything unique has the ability do something new and special for the world.
I also want to throw in a film review when I can. Something short, but enough to make you look out for what I felt made that film worth it. That photo of the gentle hills of Ranthambhore reminded me of the landscape in Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” (Netflix). What shapes do we see in that image? Benedict Cumberbatch’s character would have a thing or two to say about it - you’ll get what I mean if you watch the film. It’s a great movie about things not being what they seem. It took me a while to get hooked, but when I did, I found it genre-bending and defying my expectations at every step. In the age of narrative over-saturation, what more could we ask for but a little bit of surprise? The Power of the Dog has pailfuls of surprise.
Other things I’ll write about:
Books (Currently reading Alan Cumming’s amazing memoir Baggage. It’s an extremely readable account of dealing with fame, and a wondrous insight into the life of an actor working between two continents, maintaining deep and meaningful friendships with incredibly famous colleagues, allowing us to see them through his eyes - as people.
Parenting (I am the father of my wonderful twins Ananya and Aahana, and they have put me through, what I feel is an additional educational degree, so be prepared for many crayon drawings of unicorns along the way.
Inner life (I’ve practiced Nichiren Buddhism since 2016, and insights from this practice make their way into more or less everything I do).
Podcasts: I listen to the BBC’s fantastic FRONT ROW podcast for all updates on culture and arts. Some of the interviews are insightful and generally fantastic. I’ll try to push some nuggets you way when I can.
I’ll leave it here for now. I hope this shared experience will be as useful for you as it is for me. Kleon, Jolly and Mod have taught me about ‘the Rigor of process’ and Buddhism has taught me that each of us has a unique mission in life. I have been lucky to be quite clear about my mission as a writer and a creator, and 2022 is the year when I want look under the hood of this mission and really get a firmer grip on the things I want to explore and say.
I am grateful for having you as a listener. For you, I shall strive to speak clearly. Thank you.
Thanks Vasant. Started the movie this afternoon. Intend to finish it tonight :)
Self test (which has a very particular meaning during covid times)