The uncomfortable questions Steinbeck forces us to sit with. Iâm honestly still recovering from this story. I picked this book up thinking it would just be a straightforward, old-school novel about two men and their little dream of owning land, and instead it left me sitting in my room, staring at the wall and holding on to my tummy like Iâd just witnessed something I wasnât ready for. This book genuinely broke something inside me brutally, and with this strange kind of inevitability. And the moment I started digging deeper into what shaped this story, it all made a frightening sort of sense. The world Steinbeck was writing in. Steinbeck…
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How âSteal Like an Artistâ by Austin Kleon Helped Me Find My Creative Voice
While reading this book, I couldnât help but notice just how crowded our world has become with ideas and opinions. Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon feels like a straightforward guide for anyone hoping to carve out a bit of creative space for themselves. The heart of the book is really simple: it questions the idea that creativity means inventing something out of thin air, and instead suggests that creativity is about borrowing, remixing, and gradually finding your own way. One of the bookâs most refreshing ideas is that originality isnât about conjuring something completely new. Kleon suggests that all creative work is really a kind of fan fiction. Weâre all…
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Does the End of Summer Really Feel Like the End of Opportunities?
The leaves are falling, turning red, then a deeper shade of brown. Suddenly, the bursts of scorching heat have started receding, taking a step back. The season of blossoming is over, and that makes me really question: Does the end of summer really feel like the end of opportunities? Itâs intriguing how the transition to this patjhad-wala-mausam feels disturbingly like an ending. Yes, the optimists will call it a new beginning. But youâll rationally agree that every beginning requires an end, a pause, a split, a turning point. And so, Iâve come to realise that like the leaves that dry up in Autumn, I notice our minds drying up too. We are slowly…
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Glow with Guilt and Ghee-wali Mithai: Diwali In-Progress
Itâs Diwali, and Iâm currently sitting somewhere between a sugar rush and an existential crisis. The house smells like incense sticks and fried snacks, my outfits have already survived two rounds of sitting carefully, the third round is on its way, and my diet plan didnât even make it to yesterdayâs breakfast. Every year, I tell myself Iâll be more mindful. One laddoo, one kaju katli, one chakli, one samosa, and then some restraint. But somehow, every Diwali turns more and more into a social experiment, always testing for one simple hypothesis: how much can one human eat under the polite pressure of âaree bas ek aur le loâ? And…
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Sapiens: The Book That Took Me Five Years and One Human Evolution To Finish
Iâll be honestâââSapiens by Yuval Noah Harari took me five years to complete. My actual reading time was two months, but I consumed 50% of the book within the last two weeksâââprior to that were simply phases where I waited for myself to grow into it. It wasnât because I didnât enjoy it; itâs because this book is a vessel of information overload. You learn so much that you end up struggling to retain even half of it. Even now, I carry away only fragments: glimpses of civilizations, revolutions, the evolution of humankind, and the many economic systems weâve built and left behind. Itâs not a book you can fully absorb…
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A Three Month Reading Curriculum: October to December 2025
As a reader, I can tell you this: books can either show you a reflection of who you are right now, or they can hint at who you might become further. I tend to stay stuck between the lines of the chapters rather than rush to the last page, I donât see reading as a task to finish. Itâs more like a ritual for me, a way to learn, and sometimes, have a conversation with myself. Thatâs why I started thinking about a reading curriculum. And yeah, I knowââââcurriculumâ sounds kind of formal, like youâre back in school with a stack of assignments. But this isnât about racing through a…
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How The Greatest Hits (2024) Taught Me That Music is Our Anchor To The Past.
Ned Bensonâs 2024 film The Greatest Hits is romance and sci-fi, but it also pulls you into an unexpected orbit. Itâs about grief, time, memory, and an impossible urge to go back and fix whatâs already happened. The movie makes you stop and contemplate on tough thoughts: Ned Bensonâs 2024 film The Greatest Hits is romance and sci-fi, but it also pulls you into an unexpected orbit. Itâs about grief, time, memory, and an impossible urge to go back and fix whatâs already happened. The movie makes you stop and contemplate on tough thoughts: What if we could revisit the moments that broke us? And; What if letting go means losing access to the very person…
- Life Lately and Real Talk, Life Musings, Thoughts, Opinions, Mental Health Notes, Productivity and Well-being
Personal Branding, Perception Anxiety & The New Social Media Flu.
What if you didnât want to be a brand, but just a person who overthinks their captions? Ten years ago, âpublic imageâ belonged to celebrities, politicians, and people whose lives depended on red carpets and press releases. These days, the spotlight has widened. The moment you open an Instagram account or post something on LinkedIn, you step into the world of personal brandingâââsometimes without even realizing it, without even willing to. Managing how weâre seen online is a phenomenon today, and it can feel like a full-time job. So, no wonder so many of us find it exhausting. Thatâs where perception anxiety starts to creep in. That lowkey panic you feel when you…
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Book Review: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
This book can surprise you with its narrative, and it can also make you clench your fists in rage at the same time. The book is Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. It is one of those wild rides where youâre deeply invested one moment, then fuming the next, and engaging in a monologue with your wall about the deep-rooted issues in our societal structures. Itâs sharp, itâs witty, and it gets under your skinââânot because it messes up, but because itâs too good at showing you all the ways in which the world can be unfair to women. And yet, somehow, itâs also weirdly comforting and full of courage.…
- Life Lately and Real Talk, Life Musings, Thoughts, Opinions, Mental Health Notes, Productivity and Well-being
Early Career Truths I Would Tell You If I Didnât Care About Your Feelings
Most of us step into our careers carrying a mixed bag of expectations. Thereâs the naive optimism weâre fed in collegeâââthat our degrees will matter, that hard work will speak for itself, that if we âjust follow our passion,â the path ahead will be meaningful and rewarding. Then thereâs the muffled fear that everyone else has it figured out while weâre still Googling âhow to write this email in a professional way.â The truth is that early careers are messy. Theyâre political, unfair, and often discouraging in ways no placement talk or graduation speech will warn you about. You donât walk into your first job as a âfuture leader.â You…
