Week 14/2025
31st March to 6th April 2025 (Monday to Sunday)
This week was running fast until Thursday, and suddenly it became slow while approaching Sunday.
We made drumstick sabji on Monday evening. It is my favorite sabji. I love how my mom makes it. We tried our best to make it edible… the taste wasn’t exactly like mom’s, but it was nice. It was fun cooking together.
Antara gifted us nice paintings as a wedding gift. I gave one of the paintings for framing. I realized that wooden frames are quite costly. I’m waiting to see how it will turn out.
I went to physiotherapy on Thursday. My height + long sitting hours + 20 to 25km of everyday driving on Activa + no exercises have all contributed to lower back pain and shoulder pain. I also started some basic stretching, applying ice packs, and taking breaks from sitting. I am in a much better state right now, but the pain is still there.
We had a call with Ram - Rachita on Friday. I was so happy to see them on screen after a long time.
We took on a nature education curriculum/module development project for grades 6 to 9. There is already wonderful work and content creation happening by Palluyir Trust, Nature Conservation Foundation (early bird, nature classroom, season watch), Wipro Earthian, and more. We are trying to curate and make it more contextual. Let’s hope we create something meaningful.
I have developed and now manage two schools’ websites on Wix. It’s a nice, easy-to-use platform for basic stuff. This year they increased the price of their basic annual hosting plan from 2,338 Rs to 3,540 Rs (18% GST included). I think this is too much for our use case. Changing the platform and transferring the content is a task… let’s see how it goes.
I still haven’t had the mental space to work on the ‘Voices of Vishwamitri’ website. I need to focus on it this week.
Nidhi completed 4 sessions at the learning center. She is taking two sessions per week. Both the children and Nidhi are enjoying the sessions. I will ask Nidhi to share her documentation link so I can share more about the sessions.
Mom is at Padra. One week has passed. I talk to her on the phone almost every day, but I still miss her presence.
Next week on Wednesday, Nidhi and I will leave for Bhopal - Child Development Course at Eklavya. It will be a busy week. I am excited to meet all the friends.
I wrote a post on Tantra Vidya in Gujarati based on Subhash Bhatt’s video.
Today, we had a meeting with a financial advisor to start our investment and tax planning journey. It feels weird sometimes… we are now adults thinking about tax, investment, medical care, yoga subscriptions, and health supplements. By the way, let me know if you have any recommendations for protein powder and multivitamin supplements.
Reading
I am still reading ‘Tilor’. The story is progressing slowly, but the plot is very interesting, so I am continuing it. I may read ‘Mane Fom Chhe’ in parallel.
Music
I feel that I am constantly fighting. Fighting with ‘convenience’. Or fighting for convenience?
I lose every day… every hour… every minute.
In Ahmedabad, 39 to 40°C was the average high temperature last week. I feel guilty every time I switch on the AC in my room. I get images of fruit vendors, delivery people, and others in my mind. How are they living? I press the remote finally and keep the AC on for about 30 minutes or so… I start feeling anxious… “The electricity bill will be high…” “It’s okay.” “Am I doing the right thing?” I switch off the AC, open the window, and try to acclimatize.
Last night I woke up in the middle of the night… I was sweating… it was too hot even at midnight. I switched on the AC… but my sleep was gone… I was fighting… fighting for convenience.
On Saturday, I had a discussion with Nidhi about not using plastic bags in the fridge to separate vegetables. We can use something else… or even spend time separating them when we want to prepare food. But she feels anxious if things aren’t in place. Are we that busy? I think yes, we are busy… should I blame the system?
We took some cloth bags and transferred the vegetables into them.
Our composting project is still waiting for our attention. Hopefully in the coming week.
One part of me dreams of a day where I only do mundane, day-to-day work like cooking, washing utensils, cleaning, and more… if someone were to pay all my bills. Would I really thrive living like that? Would I eventually feel the urge to do something ‘more meaningful’? What if I don’t create any value or meaning in my life?
What should we make for dinner? For breakfast? It’s a daily question… On Saturday evening, we went to Kamla Cafe. During dinner, we were talking about ’taste’. How generation by generation we are losing the taste… taste of traditional food, fruits, vegetables… Maggi masala and tomato ketchup are taking over all our taste buds… things are changing very rapidly. Another part of my being says, “Organic stuff is very costly… it is another scam of capitalism… Maybe one day I will have my own farm? How can I support a larger ecosystem for sustainable farming practices?”
One of my friends, Chetan (a KA Shala alumnus), is selling milk and other organic products. I have known him for years and can trust the quality of the products he sells.
I bought tickets for a live concert by Papon in Ahmedabad. This will be our first concert experience. I was reading FAQs on the site and realized that we can’t take water bottles with us, just because they want to make money by selling packaged water bottles and creating tons of plastic waste. Very disappointing.
Photos
