Week 34/2025
18th to 24th Aug 2025 (Monday to Sunday)
This week was filled with profound realizations about myself and those close to me. I am discovering many things about myself when I am in a relationship, when I am with my partner. What are my triggers, what are my dislikes, what are my biases, what are the things I keep doing in loops, my thinking patterns… when my ego pops up, when my anger slips in… everything. I feel naked. I want to write all of this down in one separate notebook so I can start working on it.
Monday: As I mentioned in my previous note, we have started naturopathy treatment. The next step was doing a sonography report of the abdomen. On Monday we went to the sonography clinic. The naturopathy doctor suggested a clinic which is run by a non-profit organization and their rates are very reasonable. They charged 800rs for the sonography test.
I took work from home that day and we went to visit Shreyash Foundation School. I wanted to buy books written by Leena Sarabhai about the school. But I couldn’t get those in the library at Shreyash. They are not selling them. They are selling a very basic brochure-type book. I was very disappointed that day. I got to see the infrastructure and overall vibes of the school. That was also very, very inspiring. That day it was Leena ben’s birthday so the children were preparing for a performance. I was so amazed by the song selection and preparation done by the children. For a second it felt like my imagination of Shantiniketan.
Tuesday to Thursday: As usual, I was busy with office work. Not getting much time and energy to do something in the evening.
I had a very bad headache on Thursday late evening, so we went to a nearby doctor. It was the wrong decision - we should have waited till morning. It was just because I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. But we got scared that it might be because of a blood pressure issue.
On Thursday, dear friend Nishtha came to facilitate a workshop at Tatvic office. Originally we both were going to facilitate that workshop but because of my office work I couldn’t join her. Nidhi joined her and they both conducted the workshop on Friday.
Friday we had an IKS workshop on 64 Kalas. It was really nice. I have written my notes on the same. I am really liking these sessions. I need to do some critical reading and make my understanding clearer. I need to push myself for it.
I read more about Waldorf education, history and timeline of influences on Rudolf Steiner. I found out his work is influenced by the Theosophical Society, Indian philosophy, Goethe’s science and more. It is very interesting. I want to read Goethean things so I can make more connections.
I tried 2-3 fountain pens in the past. Apart from my Pilot V5/7 pens, I use them. In December 2024, Tultul gifted me a ‘Beena Antic Pen’ and ‘Sulekha Green Ink’. I loved using it. Beena is a very reliable pen with a 3-in-1 mechanism (Cartridge + Converter + Eyedropper).
I liked the green ink from Sulekha which is called Swadhin. But after using green color for the last year I got bored of it, so after short research I bought a Parker - Quink (Black) ink bottle. It is superb… This changed my whole experience of writing. It is as dark as my V5 and smooth.
I was looking for a good stationery shop. A colleague from the office suggested ‘Sky Blue’. One of the stores is very near my house, so I went there. I was about to go for an exploration ride but at that time the shopkeeper asked, “What do you want sir?” I said ink. “What brand?” Parker. “Blue or Black?” Black… “90 rupees sir.” That’s it. I came back with the ink bottle. I am happy that I didn’t go for exploration… otherwise my monthly budget would have gone out of the way…
Saturday morning I had a Sanjhe Sapne team learning call. This time we talked about ‘Health and wellbeing for team and students’. After that we went to the naturopathy center. The doctor gave me a new diet plan which I need to follow from now onwards. Some medications are also there + I did mud pack and ghee massage treatment over there. I hope I get the strength to go through this journey. Outside food is so tempting - pani puri, ghughra, tea, sweets… but I will hold myself back. I will track it every day.
BTW my social media consumption has reduced because I have deleted Instagram and YouTube from my mobile. So I only use YouTube when I am on my desktop and very rarely use Insta for some reference in the browser. I am so happy about this change. Sometimes I feel like opening Insta but now it’s not on my phone so I go and read someone’s blog or check WhatsApp statuses. It is still better than Instagram reels. I wish to delete short-form content from everywhere. I found out that there are short video songs coming on Spotify also which are very similar to Shorts.
In the afternoon we had an art party at an office friend’s place. I enjoyed it. I made one line drawing and one zine based on my poem. Other people made paintings with soft pastels, watercolors, acrylic colors and more. I enjoyed making a proper zine for the first time. I want to do it more. I also found a very interesting Insta page around zine making. Ipsa Jain also uses this medium for science communication.
We had home-cooked lunch together. After some time people started playing UNO. It’s a game I hadn’t played, so I kept myself busy with other things. I don’t know, but there is a fear of judgment or something else… I am not able to enjoy games. Any type of competition or win/lose thing. The last time I tried was when I went to a game cafe with Malay. It takes effort from my side to make myself open to it. I need to work on this.
My zine & other art
The zine is based on my poem - My Clock
Nidhi’s Art
Sunday morning we had a call with our friends who are looking for jobs or feeling stuck in their career. It is like a sangha. We help each other, share tools, ideas, opportunities. Help each other to identify their strengths, vision and clarity of thought. We call this group ‘Kam-Kaj’.
Nishtha went back to Goa. We couldn’t spend much time because she went to meet another friend in the town. Saturday she was super tired and Sunday she was not feeling well so we just had lunch together and did a send-off to the airport.
Khojbeen Mandali & Sakha Updates:
- Nidhi did a tree walk with children at the learning center this week.
- At Sakha, we both are not getting much time to get involved. But they are doing amazing sessions and projects. They did a special session on Krishna on Janmashtami. Apart from that they are visiting nearby villages to understand life over there. They have done 5-8 visits till now. Now they are figuring out how they can engage with youth or children from the village. They are working on one more project called ‘unsung heroes’, where they take interviews of interesting people.
Overall / Self Reminders:
- I need to do yoga regularly, so I need to save my energy in the evening so I can do it at 7pm with Nidhi.
- No Insta and no YouTube is going good, I need to keep going
- Strictly home food, as suggested by the doctor
- Create an environment to read research papers and make notes.
Reading
I have started reading a book called ‘Gurudev Amara Aangne’. It is going well.
Poems
Gifts from friends
Music
Overall things are on a good note. I am enjoying work, home things seem to be a little more settled, and Nidhi and I are also learning more about each other.
I am very grateful to my office friends for their support and love.
Next week will be more focused on following the diet, working with children. On the weekend we are going to visit Mitali ben’s school.