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 I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time. As always, was waiting for the 'right opportunity',  which is nothing but a subtle way of saying - I am being lazy & can't seem to find the motivation to sit & write.  Since the last post written in the last days to August 2024 , the lift has changed so much. I recall last year around same time writing this post about manifesting an alternate reality . A reality that was so different from the fears & worries that surrounded me then. And now in this moment, it fills me up with so much joy & boundless gratitude to Almighty that things turned out to be so good, so far  *touchwood* ! A great job, beautiful apartment, generous colleagues, financial abundance - all the things I had been hoping for in last few years since moving to Canada. Some semblance of the security & comfort I enjoyed back home in India.  But that means it also created a space for the old habit patterns to creep in - ...

Thirst Trap Era ๐Ÿ˜…

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At least once in life, I always wanted to have a decent physique that I feel confident posting on social media.  Though I haven't reached exactly the ' Abs are visible '  เคตเคพเคฒเฅ€  stage yet, but I am happy for the progress I have made. Albeit, it is coming a bit later in life, I am on my way to be a daddy :p It took an absolutely hunky gay fitness trainer from Delhi to gift me with the science of food. So simple yet supremely effective. Lost over 15 Kgs of weight and sustained it since :) เคธเคฌ เคฎเคฟเคฒ เคœเคพเค เคคเฅ‹ เคคเคฎเฅเคฎเคจเคพ เค•เคฟเคธเค•เฅ€ เค•เคฐเฅ‹เค—เฅ‡ เคธเคพเคนเคฟเคฌ,  เค…เคงเฅ‚เคฐเฅ€ เค–เฅเคตเคพเคนเคฟเคถเฅ‡เค‚ เคนเฅ€ เคคเฅ‹ เคนเฅˆ เคœเฅ‹ เคœเฅ€เคจเฅ‡ เค•เคพ เคฎเคœเคผเคพ เคฆเฅ‡เคคเฅ€ เคนเฅˆ :) Cheers,  ASK

Learning Lessons for Life - 2024 Edition

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  (About the picture - Taken from my balcony one dreary winter evening in February 2024. A rather apt amalgamation of overcast skies and piercing coldness on the outside & rudderless and hopeless  เคถเฅ‚เคจเฅเคฏเคคเคพ   on the inside)  At this moment I have this strong urge to henceforth treat this blog as Marcus Aurelius treated his diary. As the Emperor of Rome in 170 AD, he had at his disposal the best of wine, women & all kinds of luxuries. Rather than indulging into vices, he penned his thoughts in his diary regularly on importance of being morally upright, what he learnt from various individuals around him & how ruling over his subjects justly & responsibly was his ultimate duty. After he passed away, his personal diary was published as a book titled ' Meditations ' that has become the guiding light for stoic philosophy as a subject.  Borrow from his template, I intend to write the lessons I have learnt in last 2 & half years (and continuing!) , the...

Would you Remember?

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  When this tumultuous time has passed, will you remember? When this chapter is over, the book shut and another episode ongoing, will you remember how you lived?  The moments of helplessness, days of depressing doom & nights of filling the void of time. Will you recall, in vivid detail, the episodic sanity amidst a sea of emotions every day? The bargaining, the pleading, the grief of nothing to hold on to? Nothing to sustain you? Will you reminisce about the times when your eyes swelled at the most inane things? A song, a memory, a picture. Thinking about your parents. Your erstwhile life. Previous/this life karmic debt that brought you at this juncture.  When you are busy again in meetings, on a stage, at official get-togethers all decked-up in formals, will you recollect how hard you prayed to be back in saddle? When you are busy travelling again every fortnight, coming back to your cozy home, tired yet satisfied, how much you regretted not valuing what had when you...

Manifesting into Reality!

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It's a warm Friday evening in late spring. The most beautiful time of the year, summers, are well on the way. Having shifted the new condo a few weeks ago, I have set up the place quite nicely by now. Surrounded by fuzzy yellow lamp lighting, I am lounging on my comfy couch surrounded by cosy cushions & a blanket/throw around me, knitting a muffler for my mother with my knitting basket next to me, I am watching a true crime documentary by That Chapter on my 85" Samsung Frame TV.  I pause TV for a bit & soak into the present moment. It is mostly quiet around here on the 22nd floor except for the periodic swishing of automatic air freshener dispenser & the occasional traffic sounds from the busy street below.  It'll be my birthday next week & I'll  be hosting my friends for the first time at this new place. Most of them aren't even aware that I have moved back into the city and boy will they be surprised! Just a few hours ago, my bi-weekly salary of ...

เคธเคซเคผเคฐ-เค-เคนเคฏเคพเคค (The Journey through Life..)

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   (The trek through Jakhama was tough but the night stay was absolutely worth it @ Dzukou Valley, Nagaland - circa February 2021) A while ago, one of the NGOs working in LGBT+ space organized a poetry writing contest. The theme of the competition was around sexuality, acceptance & pride. When one of my friends prodded me to send a submission, I was thinking what should I even write? My sexuality is just another facet of my existence. It doesn't define me per-se. However, on deeper contemplation, I realize the privileged position I am/have been in. I wasn't born in the era where being a homosexual was criminalized to an extent that it warranted a capital punishment or incarceration. It still is an offence punishable by death in some cultures and theocratic nations, especially some Middle-eastern & African Islamic countries. Nor I faced the 1980-90s era AIDS epidemic that saw a whole generation of gay men dropping dead & ostracized from society. In India, though dec...

Delving into the roots of inaction

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  (A dead tree, or as they call it 'snag', slowly rotting away while giving life to an entire wildlife ecosystem around it, found while sauntering around @Hampstead Health Trail, London, UK circa June 2019) I have been postponing an important task that should have been completed last month. It pertains to my ongoing job hunt and logically speaking, it should be on top priority. However, every day I get up, I find some or the other excuse to avoid it. Let me smoke a cigarette first or lemme have a bath now or lemme go to this party or that friend gathering or I'll do with 'fresh mind' after the weekend yada yada yada. All said and done, I have found neither the 'right time' nor the 'best frame of mind' to sit on my laptop and work upon it yet. Coming to think of it, this procrastination has been a repeated pattern throughout my life and ironically writing this blog post is yet another excuse not to start upon it :/ I think it's high time to dissec...