5 Things I Consumed Last Week (beyond paper and ink ✒️ )

on reading classics, impossible dreams, cost to company, tautology and human resources

Hey y’all,

I am back from my hiking trip and it was splendid. The whole valley was covered in white not with snow but with flowers. I am back all rejuvenated and with more recommendations. This issue is primarily related to books and some cool links at the end if you are feeling adventurous, hence beyond paper and ink.

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Why Read The Classics | Italo Calvino

I have been a fan of Italo Calvino since the moment I read this quote in one of The Marginalian’s newsletter.

Lovers’ reading of each other’s bodies… differs from the reading of written pages in that it is not linear… What makes lovemaking and reading resemble each other most is that within both of them times and spaces open, different from measurable time and space.

Graphic by Bookstr

He was an Italian journalist known for his short stories and whimsical fiction. My association with classics started last year after I was done reading non-fiction and contemporary bookstagram books. Before I tell you why classics, I will let Calvino speak:

A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.

The classics are the books of which we usually hear people say: "I am rereading…" and never "I am reading…."

These are just some of the reasons (in total 14) he elaborates on what makes classics ‘a classic’ and why you should read it.

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Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht | The Seen and The Unseen

I started following Mahima’s newsletter ‘Womaning in India’ this year and it has been wholesome & fulfilling to read daily life experiences of women up and close.

Globally 75% of unpaid work is done by women. The term ‘working woman’ is a tautology. There’s no such thing as a woman who doesn’t work. There is only a woman who isn’t paid for her work. -- Caroline Criado-Perez

She did this podcast with Amit Varma on one of the most popular podcasts on Indian charts. I spent 5 hr 45 mins listening to her, which left me utterly impressed at the end. More so, that I wrote a whole post about it. An excerpt:

She speaks about her journey from NIT to IIM B to IIS to working in the PMO's office to starting this newsletter. All of it from the lens of a woman elaborating on how misogyny and mansplaining is deep rooted in our society in subtle nuances.

The podcast is peppered with other intelligent book recommendations and trivia such as how Einstein did not credit his wife for his discoveries and other tidbits (no spoilers)

Illustration by Cassandra Calin

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Dream The Impossible Dream | Zen Pencils

I have a personal affinity towards illustrated books and thanks to my friend who gifted me this. Gavin Aung Than takes poems and inspirational quotes, some are famous, some are less so, but all are inspiring, and draws a comic around it.

The book opens with an original by Gavin about struggling for art called ‘The Calling’. Among the others are Isaac Asimov, Maya Angelou, Kevin Smith, Chris Hardwick, William Shakespeare and many others.

The cartoons are whimsical. Some are straightforward, some are fantastical. All are the kind of things you'd want to share with people around you that need inspiration.

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Cost to Company | The Ken

For past readers, you know I am a fangirl of The Ken. They started two new podcasts this year, one on how modern Indian workplaces are changing (Cost to Company) and other an interview based format with Indian entrepreneurs (First Principles).

I listened to one episode on Cost to Company titled ‘The Product Manager is a Politician’ which began with an interesting trivia on how a narrative was used in 2014 to earn votes by BJP in Assam. Tune in to know more about what product managers actually do.

Like Sardar Patel, and like Narendra Modi, every product manager has a voice, a method of rallying people, of building a narrative, and of finding what makes them tick. Just like every politician.

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Human Resources | Netflix

Human Resources, the animated spinoff from Netflix's sex-focused Big Mouth, probably leans too far into the term “adult”, but beneath all of its crass, gross, and often overbearing jokes there's a solid story.

Creatures ranging from lovebugs, anxiety mosquitoes, and hormone monsters, which ironically represent various facets of the human condition, work together in an office setting, sharing human clients and facing conflict in their own interpersonal relationships.

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Now, time for some fun stuff

I tried Midjourney, an AI bot, which can take a word or a full paragraph and turn it into computer-generated art. Join it through Discord and create some fun images. Here’s one I created:

Also, if you are looking for book recommendations, check this out.

See you next week 🙆🏻‍♀️

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I appreciate your feedback (suggestions, critiques, positive reinforcement) as well ideas that inspire you, reading/podcast recommendations etc.

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With love and gratitude,

The Hummingbird🌺

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