I went running yesterday evening. I take the same route every day. There is something of the routine that calms my mind. I don’t like running. Especially not after a grueling strength workout in the morning. I don’t like running and yet I run every day. I am not supposed to run with a bad […]
Abandonment. the action or fact of abandoning or being abandoned: “she had a feeling of utter abandonment and loneliness” synonyms: desertion · neglect · stranding · jilting · betrayal · disuse · [more] evacuation · neglect · renunciation · relinquishment · rejection · withdrawal · dropping · cessation · discontinuation · termination · stopping · […]
I write this at a time when the sun is relentless in Bangalore. The light, pale, washed-out sky seems tired. It’s almost a reflection of my mind. I have been trying to be kind to myself – to not beat myself up if I do not work at the same pace as in a “regular […]
Today, as I finished Sylvia Plath’s semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, and looked up more of her works online, I came across this quote from her journals: “I want to taste and glory in each day, and never be afraid to experience pain; and never shut myself up in a numb core of nonfeeling, or […]
The last week or so, I have been learning lessons on honesty. Over the years, nothing has annoyed me more than lies and deception. Yes, we all lie. We lie all the time. We tell a friend who we are meeting that we are just around the corner even though we might be stuck in […]
It’s not often that you meet a man called Dante. Come to think of it, I have never met anyone called Dante. Dante the playwright, yes, through his works. But this Dante, I meet in the beautiful Philippines island of Siquijor. On my way to visit Mt. Bandilaan, I see this little sign that says […]
I wanted to write more about the Philippines today. But I found that I couldn’t. I got an email notification to renew the hosting of a friend’s website, which I had gifted last year. I clicked on the link for renewal even though I had absolutely no wish to renew the hosting, as the friend […]
Siquijor has healers of all kinds. Herbolarios like Ann, who you read about in my previous post. Then, there are bolo-bolo healers. There are also the darker mambabarang – the ones who will cast a curse with their potions. But the ones I want to find are the bolo-bolo healers. Bolo-bolo healers use a drinking […]
There aren’t too many photos of me on this blog. Or, for that matter, on my Facebook profile either. But I saw this YouTube video, and somehow, I just had to say: This Is Me. The mouse. Nibbling underneath the blanket. I know most people would not identify a mouse with me. Impressions are everything.