Namaskaara 2024

ಇಂದು ವರ್ಷದ ಮೊದಲ ದಿನವಾಗಿರುವುದರಿಂದ ನಿಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಹೊಸ ವರ್ಷದ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳನ್ನು ಕೋರುತ್ತೇನೆ.

We are well aware that nowadays nobody can read past 1-2 lines because of our declining attention span. Therefore, by writing the 1st paragraph 100% in Kannada and not a mere 60% like a hypocrite, I think my job is done. Continuing further in the language we all love to hate but cannot live without at this point in time, i.e. English.

This blog is about Time.

I recently picked up a book called:

Affiliates Link https://amzn.to/3U1I0YX

And if you are expecting a joke, here it is: I gave it up after a few pages of reading. I will probably go back to this later but too many things are happening way too fast in the world and one cannot catch up with them all. And still, it feels like nothing is happening. If you go by the trends and fads these days, it would appropriately be called: Millenials are getting old.

2024 is here. When you last blinked it was 2019. Since I have been just repeating this line every year for the last few years, I am going to stop doing it from now on. I was recently sternly reminded by someone that I am still stuck in the lockdown (mentally) and it’s time to move on and smell the coffee. Fair enough, it is indeed time to move on and accept the reality. Even though some new variants are still lurking around, mostly everyone else has moved on and started doing normal things like living their lives, buying new things, expanding their families, traveling, and creating jams on the highways.

2023 was a year that also finished pretty quickly, in my opinion. I have been complaining about how time is zooming away for the last few years. The theory of time flying is easily understood by this wonderful graphic by Tim Urban.

It also boils down to the same old adage. Without new experiences, every day looks the same. Unless one tries to do things differently or try new stuff deliberately, even this year would be over in a jiffy. Hopefully, this year things will be interesting if not dramatically better. After all, our country would go through General Elections (which is also a good hint to stop watching the news and leave Social Media). AI would become more and more popular even if it is still not really AI, but it’s fine, why be a snob? Let’s call it AI. And so on.

The responsibility lies on us, we have to be the change we want to see in the world. Like many past years, I don’t have any New Year resolutions. I am just going to try to read more books and control bhook (hunger) in general.

But I am going to sincerely try to be more creative and less of a consumer. I don’t know how long I can do that but I have given up my Netflix subscription already. Prime Video already has everything on Rent or in other words it is useless. Nothing is there to watch on Disney Hotstar and after the debacle on November 19, 2024, opening the app itself gives me shivers. I still have a YouTube Premier subscription but it is mostly used to have an uninterrupted viewing of important channels like Pink Fong and Cocomelon. So, to change a few things, I have started to read more and ordered a few graphic novels (review soon).

That’s the mantra for 2024 then: Create More, Consume Less.

Happy New Year to anyone who landed on this page and continued to read till here!

Header Photo by Ananthan Loggi on Unsplash

What’s the deadline for accepting Happy New Year Wishes?

If there’s something more cliche than gifting and receiving Soanpapdi on Diwali, it is the Happy New Year wishes. Saying Happy New Year to each and everyone with a smiling face is prevalent universally. The only day one would smile and greet others with the same intensity is the day when one is throwing a reception for the wedding. The smile gets inverted after that anyway. But the question looming over our heads is this: What’s the date by which you are going to accept Happy New Year’s wishes? Is it the first week of January? Or Mid-January? Or if you are meeting someone for the first time in late January? Is it really required to video call or just a ‘Same to you’ on Whatsapp would suffice?

Continue reading “What’s the deadline for accepting Happy New Year Wishes?”

Day 1 Year 2018

Happy New Year Dear Readers! (Yes, the 2-3 of you)

So, as I had promised, I did go to the office today. As expected, there was as much silence as there is silence in a curfew laden area.

When I opened my mailbox and saw a flurry of Working from Home emails, my sarcasm meter went haywire and I sent ‘Working from Office’ mail to many. Sarcasm getting charged up early in the morning is a good sign. Right?

Few good things happened though.

  • Even when the colleagues weren’t there, there were no abstainers from the helpers and pantry workers. That shows how much these celebrations meant to those who don’t have the privilege like us to skip work. (You may argue that you have earned this but do you think that time would stay the same.)
  • Someone came to my desk and wished me a happy new year. Who does that nowadays?
  • I bought hosting space for my domain. After much pain, it is finally live now at abhinavbhatt.com

What did the new year bring for you?

2013

कवितायेँ लिखने मैं हाथ कुछ तंग है मेरा,
कभी कभी तो लहजा भी थोडा सा  भंग है मेरा |
हिंदी में पहली कोशिश है, फिर से शुरू करूँ, खुदी से कुछ बात,
माफ़ करना, खा जाऊं, अगर मैं मात।

 

स्ह्याही के कलम की तरह, हिंदी कहीं छूट सी गयी थी,
फॉर्मेलिटी की गलियों में, भटकती कहीं रूठ सी गयी थी।
गलती से घुमते फिरते, जब पड़ती है हिंदी अख़बार पे नज़र,
भाग कर उठालेने का, अन्दर बजता है एक buzzer |

 

अंग्रेजी में तो बड़ा सरल है राइम करना,
फेविकोल को अल्कोहल से जोड़ के पेट्रोल के मायने बयान करना |
शब्दों के ढेर से जब निकालने पड़ रहे हैं अल्फाज़,
लगता है, नौसीखिए से बजवाया जा रहा हो जबरदस्ती कोई कठिन साज़ |

 

खैर, यह मकसद नहीं था की मेरी waste कोशिश की चर्चा करूँ,
बस यही था की इस साल फिर से कुछ नया करूँ,
2012 कुछ हद तक मेरा रहा,
बाकी समय हम सब से बहुत कुछ लेता रहा,

 

आशा है की इस वर्ष, खुशियाँ ज्यादा, गम कम रहेंगे,
थोडा गिरे भी तो, फिर से उठ खड़े होने के लिए हम कहते रहेंगे!
जो बाकी रह गया, पूरा करवाएगा आने वाला सवेरा,
दो हज़ार तेरह, साल हो यह तेरा!