Week 03/2026
12th Jan to 18th Jan 2026 (Mon to Sunday)
12th & 13th Jan - Office
14th Jan - It was Makar Sankranti / Uttarayan in Gujarat. I am not very interested in flying kites. Actually, I never learned it since my childhood. My father used to fly kites—I used to try out—he was super excited about all the festivals: Diwali, Uttarayan… I was a little slow, silent, not excited in celebrations itself. It was not a stimulating thing for me at all. This time also I did nothing. We woke up late, spent time with family. I had a catch-up call with Tanya from Nature Classroom. We had a nice discussion about the Nature Assessment Framework.
15th Jan - Bansi came home. We had lunch together, and in the evening we went to Kamla Cafe. Bansi loves this place, and we do too. Bansi gifted me new books from Eklavya Publication. I feel so happy to see Bansi happy and growing: she is leading the publication process for books in Indian languages (except Hindi and English). She is very passionate about her work. We had a discussion about new stories in Gujarati. I shared a story written by me in Gujarati about an ant and a spider. We also discussed publishing a nature activity book for primary-grade children. In the evening, I had a meeting with Stephnia. She is helping me document my past projects in the form of articles and zines.
16th Jan - Office. Most of the people were on leave because of the long weekend, but Nidhi and I both went to the office. I spent most of the time drafting my stories. I think Nidhi, Raj, and I should meet every week and share stories and feedback. That will be helpful.
17th Jan - It was a working Saturday for Nidhi and a holiday for me. I had a learning call with Sajhe Sapne and a catch-up call with Nishna Mehta. We talked about nature writing, conservation outreach, and theater for young audiences. Nishna also gave me an assignment to explore materials and see how it unfolds. There are three major tools for early years which are mostly non-verbal: dance, material, and physical theater. It was a good conversation. Basically, things are progressing in different aspects.
Children’s literature - Raj, Bansi, and Harshal are helping. My dear friend Chaya Upadhyay also called and asked me to write stories for young adults which she can publish in her magazine.
Theater - Nishna is helping.
Documentation - Stephnia is helping with writing. For illustration also, many friends are interested in helping.
I also reached out to CEE people to see if we can start a Nature Educator Meetup in Ahmedabad together.
Book club / Library - Navjivan Trust Campus from next Sunday.
Collaboration with orgs working with young adults:
- Nazaria Arts Collective
- Sajhe Sapne
- Project Circuit
I am fixing these three orgs for now. So yes, things are moving.
18th Jan - It is suuuuunnnn day. We bought nice idli and uttapam and had brunch. Finished some home tasks: getting the mixer repaired, getting oil changed for my scooty, and other tasks. Reading blogs from Indie Web Club is my favorite activity. After writing and publishing this weekly note, we are going to watch a movie called Laalo. We didn’t book tickets. I saw that BookMyShow is taking 138 rupees as convenience fees for three tickets. I thought, let’s try if we get tickets directly from the box office.
Tomorrow we are meeting Raj to discuss stories. I am excited for that. Overall, things are good. Sometimes I get tense because of the khit-khit of the house owner, otherwise things are okay. I am also thinking of buying a second-hand AC because in this house there is no AC, and in summer it will be difficult to stay here without that. We have a cooler. Let’s see, we will figure out something.
How I refill the ink in my pilot kakuno fountain pen
