Post Number 26 : Happiness and Dress Size

Serena Williams recently gave birth to her daughter and the little fan-girl part me of me is ecstatic at knowing that this incredible woman is happily adding a new role to her life. But that is not even half of it. After all, every second, there are four kids taking birth somewhere around the world. So what really has Serena Williams done to makes me this happy?

It’s this open letter she wrote to her mother, Oracene Price:

serena williams open letter to mother

Courtesy – Serena Williams’ Instagram Page

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Post Number 23 : Grief in the Digital Age

In the last few days, grief and loss were a recurring theme in most of the things I read. I read Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, ‘When Breath Becomes Air’. Paul was a neurosurgeon who was diagnosed with a life-threatening lung tumour which unfortunately claimed his life in 2015. His memoir shares his desire to leave behind a legacy, in the form of this book. The book deals with man’s never-ending quest to find purpose in life, particularly when faced with mortality. His wife, Lucy, shares how she struggles to make sense of her and her daughter’s life after this tragic setback. It was a sombre read and one that makes you realize how our perspectives and wishes change as we realize that the years we once thought we had, are now mere months or weeks. You can find more about this book here.

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Post Number 19 : Deconstructing Pooja’s Dhinchakness

After the roaring success of her previous singles ‘Swag Wali Topi’ and ‘Daaru Daaru Daaru’ (sigh) ,Dhinchak Pooja has been kind enough to grace all ‘Dhinchakians’ ( a term that she has coined for her followers) with her latest artistic endeavour ‘Selfie Maine Leli Aaj’. The video on her YouTube channel, which has 70,000+ followers, has well over 11 million views. It doesn’t surprise me that the comment section has been disabled. I doubt it has anyone recommending her a good voice coach or lessons on songwriting. Nonetheless, 11 million views is no joke and it makes me wonder about two things – A. What’s so Dhinchak about Pooja? B. Why does everyone love to hate her?

dhinchak-pooja

Dhinchak Pooja in one of her videos

 

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Post Number 17 : Girls and Boys

I am walking to my class, when I hear someone shout from above, “Topi Wali! (The one with the cap) I love you!” It didn’t take me a second to recognise it as a man leering from inside the police custody bus, coming back from the Court nearby. It was quite unsettling, more so because of the uncomfortable proximity I was forced into with the bus. Standard, crowded Indian road conditions applied there. Mercifully, I was getting late for a class and it left me little time to think about anything else other than hurrying. And hurry I did, with as much false bravado as possible.

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