Hi! We are back with a new format. We will now post once a week, incorporating different elements such as book reviews, poetry, travel stories, recommendations and more. This week, we explore cities and the stories they hide in the form of a photo grid. There’s verse by Dean Atta, William Dalrymple’s search for the sacred in Modern India, Van Gogh’s take on the blues and a link to our shop.
A city bears many stories,
Even the ones we don’t want to hear
Of depleting oceans,
Slavery and migration,
Stories of mere survival.
Under the changing banners of
Communism and capitalism,
The rise of monoliths,
Bent on stifling dissent.
All but stoking the fire,
A yearning for freedom,
A revolution.
Poetry: On Days When – Dean Atta
you feel like a wilting garden,
gather yourself, roll up
your lawn, bouquet
your flowers, grab
your weeds.
You are a wild thing who plays
at being tame.
You are rich with life
beneath the surface.
You don’t have to show leaf and
petal
to be living.
You are soil and insect and root.
Books: Nine Lives by William Dalrymple
In a land where gods and goddesses abound as do their stories, Dalrymple’s search for the sacred in Modern India still throws up interesting threads. From tantric rituals in cremation grounds, houses lined with skulls to the frenetic energy of Sufi dancers, the author underlines how faith in chosen gods keeps lives chugging.
The nine lives documented bring forth different facets – a nun trying to forgo the bonds of friendship, a Buddhist monk seeking penance, ritualistic sacrifice and the inherent caste dynamics in the Indian society. This latter divide is laid bare through the lives of dancers and ballad singers, who as the vessels for divine energy, become an object of reverence for the Brahmins and upper castes, albeit for a while. The lives also represent two distinct ways of seeking the divine – the idol makers, who spend days carving the perfect sculpture compared to the wandering nomads, who sing of the gods being held within.
Each course, different, but led with the same conviction. Hearing the clarion call of the god, after a life of strife or simply following family traditions, men and women embracing the sacred. But despite forming the bulk of their identity, these individuals don’t seek to impose their ways. To them, it is but a way to their own salvation. Peppered with historical references and Western anecdotes, their lives take on a depth that makes this book more than just a sum of nine lives.
Don’t miss:
Van Gogh 360, an immersive experience featuring the works of the painter, which is currently on display at the World Trade Centre, Mumbai. A few pictures below:
Shop
While we were away, we also set up a small shop on Swiggy Minis. We launched two notebooks in what we call the ‘Hope Series’. The artwork for the notebooks is based on poetry that we love and keep going back to. You can place your orders on our Swiggy store.