A weekly outpour of 5 of the things I consume every week. A coalescence of art, podcasts, articles, essays, newsletters, movies, web series and any other form of media you can imagine.
Hello nerds! Of late my life has been on a rollercoaster (like literally). Going back to office, travelling, studying and reading all of this information at the same time. It is funny sometimes, how we want to control our lives like a joystick, do you feel it too- being overwhelmed , when things go out of control?!
All this while, I have been consistent on one small thing which is this - edition of '5 THINGS' and it has kept me sane, along with all the love I get from friends and family. I spend a huge chunk of my time and effort on this and I really hope you'll dig further editions, as I keep refining myself. Do let me know if you have any special requests that you'd want me to cover. Also, thanks for sticking by (if you are reading this). YOU KEPT ME SANE.
1. The Man With The Beautiful Eyes by Charles Bukowski (Animated Short Film)
I heard of Charles Bukowski and his poems for the first time when I read ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck’. Charles Bukowski was a prolific underground writer who used his poetry and prose to depict the depravity of urban life, romantic pessimism and the downtrodden in American society. This poem from his final and arguably best poetry collection, The Last Night of the Earth Poems (which I am yet to read), sings of multi-varied themes: of manliness, of insecurity, of erratic beauty and so much more, all of it open to interpretation bestrewed with strokes of raw art.
2. What is the business model of (Website)
For anyone who is intrigued to learn about how business models work, from Snapchat, Whatsapp, Mailchimp, YouTube, PicsArt and what not- this is THE website for you!
Run by two full-time working professionals, the articles are seasoned well with lucid explanation about how these companies do what they do. Written like a story, not too long not too short rather immersive peppered with infographics, it’s fascinating to hold your attention for a long while.
3. The Yellow Submarine by Maria Popova (Essay)
Bulgarian couples practiced this custom of whistle-calls — distinctive tunes, usually borrowed from the melody of a favorite song, by which they could summon one another from across the street. In this essay Popova talks about the Beatles song her parents used as a custom, the story behind it, how music transcends generations and how music like art takes ambiguous shapes like the shape of clouds- open to perceptions.
“the right of interpretation belongs to the reader.” It is by this right of interpretation that popular music, popular culture, and perhaps all culture belongs to us at all. This is what popular art does at its best — it provides a screen onto which vastly different people in vastly different circumstances can project the singular meaning of their lives."
4. All Bread by Margaret Atwood on Poetry Unbound (Poetry)
In a poem of four stanzas, Margaret Atwood traces bread from its growth in bone-nurtured soil, to the warm ovens of baking, to the table, to the mouth of one person, then the hands of someone breaking bread for many. It describes the process of bread-making in a way where very simple and this very necessary act is practical — where it comes from, how you make it, how you bite it, how you share it. And one of the things that this poem resists is the idea of seeing bread as a transcendent image or sacrament. Narrated by Pádraig Ó Tuama in his soulful voice, it is indulgent and tranquilizing at the same time.
5. Against 3x Speed by David Perell (Essay)
As the gig economy has grown, busyness has been rebranded as “hustle”—relentless work not as a burden to be endured but as an exhilarating lifestyle choice. The bottomless bucket list, the pressure to fit ever-increasing quantities of activity into a stubbornly nonincreasing quantity of daily time. Do we have time to stop and go back to our roots? Savor what we have learnt and revisit ideas? Perell’s essay talks about the power of spaced repetition and active learning. Walking over Sprinting in life!