5 Things I Consumed Last Week (puking my mind 🤯)

on things, many things, so manyyyy thingssss

I was thinking of skipping this issue not because I don’t have anything to share but because I think I need more time to process these things. Writing helps me process my thoughts better, distilling the recommendations for y’all makes me revisit them and think more deeply. Overall writing looks glamorous because you have an audience who is interested in what you have to say which brings in accountability as well as responsibility BUT sometimes I just don’t feel like writing.

Multiple reasons - primary of them being bombarded with information and things to do all the time that I can’t find space to breathe and then there’s social media (not worth the discussion) then there are times when content leads you to an epiphany - something that hits you so hard that you want to take sometime and savor it.

I want to put my legs up, blabber my mind out and speak to you like a friend. This issue is not going to be a typical 5 pointer issue (sorry, if you find it incoherent). This is me vomiting my mind out.

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I came to know..

I read ‘Crying in H Mart’ by Michelle Zauner this year and it is a terrific memoir but somehow I never realized Michelle is the lead singer of the band Japanese Breakfast. Love this album

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It’s me versus me

‘I contain multitudes’ said Walt Whitman and this quote applies everywhere (much like ‘it depends’ in economics). Have you ever felt you have two personalities - one stable, one which flutters like a butterfly?

Katie from Everyday Woo does an intriguing exercise of naming these two personalities and defining their characteristics to understand herself better.

I think of these two dueling selves as lines in a musical score. At times, my stability is the melody: an easily recognizable pattern that pushes the composition forward. Meaning comes in to add nuance in the form of fortissimos and extended holds and interesting harmonies.

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I can’t stop listening to because I watched..

Call me an idiot but I watched ‘A Star is Born’ two weeks ago and I just can’t stop listening to ‘Shallow’. I can watch anything and everything related to music and this movie hit all the right spots. Exceptionally good soundtrack (cuz it’s Queen Gaga)!

I also watched ‘Maja Ma’ last month, after reading

Womaning in India

's review and I can't stop raving about how good 'Buniyaad' is. The Yellow Diary is another one of those bands I'd love to attend live. I can’t imagine how they shot a Garba scene on this song - it’s just 🤌

Now that we are talking about music, read this: Nick Cave on Music, Mystery, and the Relationship Between Vulnerability and Freedom

Of all things, music can lift us closer to the sacred. ~Nick Cave

Illustration by Carlotta Notaro

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I spent 10 hours listening to these..

I don’t think I have heard anyone talking about books with so much passion. In this episode Nilanjana Roy talks about books, feminism, family, memory and the state of the world. If I can quote lines from essays & books like Amit and Nilanjana, all this reading will be worth it after all. This podcast has given me enough content to explore for the next month!

We live in times when all Indian Muslims are forced to be aware of their Muslimness.

Hussain Haidry is a Chartered Accountant as well so I could relate to a million things. His perspective on being a Muslim in India almost made me teary eyed. The way he speaks about poetry, about shayari, about Mumbai, about the state of politics and propaganda in India is worth a listen. Certainly made me re-think so many things!

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I am overthinking about..

I have been reading more about ADHD (found this one via

The Alipore Post

), it's symptoms and what to expect. Sussanah writes beautifully about how she was diagonsed with ADHD and how to deal with it with some resource links to read more about it.

My beautiful butterfly brain

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Leaving you with this..

“Transformation” by Adam Zagajewski

I haven’t written a single poem
in months.
I’ve lived humbly, reading the paper,
pondering the riddle of power
and the reasons for obedience.
I’ve watched sunsets
(crimson, anxious),
I’ve heard the birds grow quiet
and night’s muteness.
I’ve seen sunflowers dangling
their heads at dusk, as if a careless hangman
had gone strolling through the gardens.
September’s sweet dust gathered
on the windowsill and lizards
hid in the bends of walls.
I’ve taken long walks,
craving one thing only:
lightning,
transformation,
you.

Illustration by Kathrin Honesta

See y’all next week back in the same format!

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With gratitude,

The Hummingbird🌺

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