Respite & alternate realities

Culture (i.e travel, literature, film, food)

As I write my first ever newsletter, I am graced with beautiful, motivating weather - it’s windy and overcast, and it brings me immense peace. Over the last couple of years, I have often found myself overwhelmed while I am within nature. While taking a walk in a park, or even a green neighbourhood, or just like today, an overcast afternoon on a hot summer day feels like such a respite. The Japanese have a term for this (of course) - shinrin-yoku or ‘forest bathing’, introduced by their government in 1982. It was essentially a way for people living in cities to spend more time around trees - not working out, just contemplating; taking a break from the subliminal burnout of city life. Photographer Yoshinori Mizutani captures this beautifully for the New Yorker.

Here’s the only photo I have from my ‘shinrin-yoku’ routine. A Sunday afternoon last month in the green bylanes of Kalyani Nagar, Pune. I was really happy and grateful - especially since everything around is rather devastating, given the second wave.

I was supposed to visit Japan last March, but we had to cancel our trip because of the pandemic. What I missed out on hit me a year late. It increasingly tugs at me as I serendipitously find myself consuming so much art and literature that is based in Japan. I’m reading A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki and savouring it. It’s no surprise that the author’s a practicing Zen Buddhist priest when you read lines as ephemeral as “Eating, zazen (meditation), same thing.” or (one of my favourites) -

“Jiko: "Surfer, wave, same thing."
"That's just stupid, " I said. " A surfer's a person. A wave is a wave. How can they be the same?"
Jiko looked out across the ocean to where the water met the sky. "A wave is born from deep conditions of the ocean. A person is born from deep conditions of the world. A person pokes up from the world and rolls along like a wave, until it is time to sink down again. Up, down. Person, wave.”

The last time I savoured a book this way was Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other. I identified that my most favourite kind of writing is reflective. It makes me notice seemingly irrelevant moments that actually set context for further inquiry. I think it has made me more emotionally aware over time. What’s your favourite style of writing and why? I would love to hear from you - with an ideal recommendation if you’d like.

I have the privilege to transcend vicariously to another universe in the comfort of my home during a lockdown. Over the last year, it has been through literature, film or food. I was transported to a Kissaten or a Japanese coffee shop after I watched this short film - and ate pizza toast and coffee for breakfast two days in a row after.

Politics

Speaking of the pandemic, the current situation in India is deplorable. I’ve been deeply impacted by seeing my mother on the frontline since January 2020, in the COVID ICU. While my contribution is minuscule compared to hers, I am (among other things) actively trying to change the polarised political opinions of near and dear ones - who choose to continue supporting a government that is profiting from the death of its people.

Right now, my weapon is taking time to go through Whatsapp forwards and responding with fact-based counter-arguments (even on giant family groups. It gets very tricky here). What I’m looking for - empathy from people fighting the same battles at home, resources to directly trump the belief of bhakts, and sometimes, just hope.

Here’s a ray of light - despite being an athiest, I really look up to Sikh institutions for taking charge of the situation especially in a country which has witnessed divisive religious politics in the recent past.

Tech

I was looking through my Pocket and Instapaper to share an article - it was about folders being restrictive because somethings can get categorised into more than one bucket. Ironically, I can’t find that article because I probably couldn’t decide which folder to save it under. I’m still looking out for an app that accommodates categorised links, notes and photos. Any alternatives? I’m all ears. I hope Pocket & Instapaper are listening too.

That’s all for now. As I sign off - here’s Sofia Coppola’s work for the New York City Ballet. It’s phenomenal how industries that are driven by bringing people together on ground have adapted to the pandemic. I hope it’s the same again soon.

Until next time,

Anisha