Hello friends,

The world is falling apart at the seams, and my mind has been with the people of Ukraine. Propaganda, half truths, misdirections — modern warfare is a war for our minds and attention. This will all be forgotten in a few weeks. Another trauma buried under the sheer weight of indifference. Today, I keep thinking of the people of Ukraine and hope they find comfort (however, small) in the millions of people who still care.

1. I came across Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Lark Ascending. A prominent song in the history of 20th century classical music, it completely went by me. A deceivingly simple song inspired by the poem of the same name and birdsong. I was moved to tears. My favourite, after listening to dozens of variations of the song, is Isolde Menger recording from 1928.

An under-watched, eye-opening look at the piece by Dr. Jonathan James.

2. Michael Schur made his way through the comedic grind of SNL before working on Office, Parks and Rec, and Good Place. I listened to a scintillating conversation of his with Tim Ferris. We gallop through an array of interesting topics - his obsession with Infinite Jest (I touched upon David Foster Wallace previously), Ethics of Modern living, the craft of comedy among others

3. I have finally found my way back to Virginia Woolf’s (standard ebooks has a lot of her work for free) Mrs. Dalloway. I read a little bit of it in 2015, before moving on to another book.

The rhythm of Woolf’s language suddenly doesn’t seem so foreign to me anymore. Maybe, the years have made me a better reader. A more patient reader.

4. Andy Miller, one of hosts of my current favourite podcast — backlisted, wrote about reading a lot of books. How there is this peculiar reaction of hate and judgement to a bibliophile who shares their love for the books they read. An exploration of the cultural nuance that stems from that hatred.

5. People do cruel things in the name of tradition. A deep programming of hate and conformity. During P. pregnancy, this was the idea that paralyzed me the most. Of passing on the misguided coercion of our parents. Adam Grant’s tweet is timely in reminding us where our responsibility lies in the chain of ancestry.

6. Yes, I love watching tiny house videos! There is something satisfying about seeing so many thing fitting in one place. But, they mostly tend to be impractical. A showcase of how smart the architect is.

This was the first video, where I came out of it thinking I could live there. A clear and concise explanation of the choices they had to make to get a sustainable living space. Urban living and inefficiencies of it has long vexed me. This looks like a good first step in redesigning our homes to do more for us.

7. You should be assured that your neighbourhood is safe. The police are on it. Po-po got your back. You might be in desperate need of diapers or baby formula. What do you do? Steal. Nope, not under the watch of Big Brother.

A heartbreaking picture of stack of baby necessities and the proud office who made the arrests. The innocent words here are “closure of 23 warrants”. People are just fodder for the industrial prison complex. The system primes the environment based on its needs. And, lets the dominoes fall.

8. A love poem to remind ourselves of the beauty of everydayness