Yashas Mahajan's Blog, page 11
September 6, 2022
Word of the Week #336:
A faint clap of thunder,
Garden of Words
Clouded skies…
If perhaps rain comes,
Will you stay here with me?
August 30, 2022
Word of the Week #335:
So, as I sat down for dinner, sipping on my bowlful of hot pumpkin soup for the third time this week, I was happy.
I like soups. I mean, what’s not to like, right?
And as I kept thinking about my soup, I came to realise something interesting: Many of my favourite things about soup are the same about people too, and that thought made me come up with this list.
How do I like my soup?
I like my soup like I like my girl:
Warm.
Thick.
Full of flavour.
Simple but deep.
Always with me at the dinner table.
Filling up my home with their fragrance.
Hot on my tongue, and oh so warm in my heart.
Perfectly comforting any hour of the day, any day of the week.
And once they reach my lips, I cannot seem to stop. I will always want more.
Oh, I am so far away, and I already want more right now…
I like my soup like I like my girl. And some good soup will always make my life better.
August 23, 2022
Word of the Week #334:
Never trust the sweetness of a brook when you have been parched for days.
Scarcity can play tricks on your mind.
August 16, 2022
Word of the Week #333:
Lately, I’ve noticed that I’ve been talking a lot about love, around here.
And, yeah, I’ve enjoyed it too. I love love. I love talking about love.
But I do realise that I’m not an expert at love. Heck, when was the last time I was even in a stable, loving relationship? Was I ever?
Then why should anyone ever care about what I think and feel about love?
Because what I do speak of love comes not from experience or expertise but from simply asking the right questions about what I want, what I seek, what I yearn, and trying to understand myself through its lens.
If what we love doesn’t define who we are, I don’t know what does. And if understanding what we seek and why doesn’t explain everything about us, I don’t know what will.
And, of course, when has not being an expert at something stopped me from talking about it?
August 9, 2022
Word of the Week #332:
So, I am a cocky kid.
Not all the time, and not in every aspect. Just, I tend to know that whatever happens, I will handle it.
Now, I have to board a flight tonight. 8PM boarding. Normal normal.
What do I do about it? I hang out with my friends all afternoon doing the randomest stuff imaginable. Stuff that would have no direct, immediate effect other than the joy it created in my life and (hopefully) theirs.
It is already past 4PM that I get back home. At this point, I should mentioned that I had not even begun packing yet.
Do I get into it immediately? Of course not!
No, for a flight that boards at 8, and for which check in closes at 7, I do not start packing till it is already 6PM. Cocky.
It is 6:40 when I actually step out of the door to leave for the airport. Now, my place is barely 5 minutes from the airport, so that was never a concern.
And as I would expect, by 7PM, I’m at the airport bar sitting nursing a glass of ginger ale in one hand and tossing roasted peanuts into my mouth with the other.
It is fun being cocky and still having my life work out just fine.
Update: So, my flight got delayed by a good 40 minutes. I’m still sitting at the bar, and I guess I’ll just post this now that I have the time instead of waiting for later in the night. Oh, the irony.
August 2, 2022
Word of the Week #331:
After the past few years, I have heard some people say, “This is the worst time to be a human on earth.”
And at the same time, countless others say, “This is the best time to be a human on earth.”
And as baffling and contradictory as the two may seem, I actually agree with both the notions.
Let’s think about it. If we look at the world as it is today, at this moment, we can say that more people right now have more of what they want or need across all humanity as compared to any other time in human history.
Okay, maybe that was more true before the pandemic than it has been since, and our collective economic well-being has just been faltering ever since. However, if we take a broader look of, say, the past 5–10 years or so, the quality of human life has been at its peak.
Whether we talk about the intangible necessities of life, like health and safety and rights and freedoms, we have never had it much better than this. And our material wealth has been relatively good.
The problem, however, appears when we stop looking at the world “right now” and think about “what’s next.”
What is next? The answer is worrisome.
By most estimates, the future of human civilisation is extremely likely to be extremely bleak.
That is why it is a bad time to be alive. As humans, we need to have a view of the question, “What’s next?” We need to have a light at the end of the tunnel. Even if we can’t see it, we have to know that it is there.
And therein lies the problem.
Most of our global and local leaders fall into two broad categories regarding the major issues we face today: and fearmongers and the deniers.
It’s always either “If all of you don’t do exactly what I say, we’re all—and our children, and their children, if we even manage to make it that far—going to die in a fiery pit! If it’s not too late already!” or it’s “Aye, there’s nothing to worry about whatsoever. Everything is just as it should be.”
And both seem unreliable, right?
Not equally unreliable, of course. Saying that would be a fallacy. Still, unreliable nonetheless. And extremely uninspiring.
Why can’t we have more leaders who can come up the people and say, “Hey! So it looks like we have a few problems facing us. Do you wanna sit and talk about how we could address them?”
Okay… Why does it sound exactly like the tone I’d use with a girl I’m dating?
You know, if I were dating…
It almost looks like the world needs a good boyfriend. Too bad there’s only one of me, right?
July 26, 2022
Word of the Week #330:
The ridiculous thing about being a writer, an artist of any sort, is that there is no real definition to what we can call “work”.
I might be looking up medieval weapons and armours. That is work.
I might experiment with random chemicals to see how they affect the plants and soil around me. That is work.
I might sit in a different restaurant and try a different cheesecake every evening to see what I like about it and whether it can measure up to the mental image I have of the ideal cheesecake and think about how that is a deep allegory for every aspect of our lives. That is work.
I might just lay in my bed and daydream… or wonder about life, about love, about everything I want and everything I have lost. That is work.
Every word or thought or emotion is work.
My life itself is my work.
And therefore… Every penny I ever spend should count as a work expense, and I should never have to pay an income tax!
Makes sense, right? Right?
Let me talk to my accountant and see what we can come up with.
Addendum: I spoke to my Dad—who also happens to be my accountant and my lawyer—and he doesn’t agree. Looks like I will have to pay taxes, after all.
July 19, 2022
Word of the Week #329:
You know what’s a randomly tough part about writing medieval fantasy fiction?
The details!
As a writer, there are so many more details that you need to know that you might not even consider as a reader.
What kind of footwear did the normal civilians wear?
How fast can a horse run and for how long?
How many people actually live in a town or a city?
How large is an army, actually?
How many warhorses would a local warlord normally own? How long does it take to even breed and train a warhorse?
How did engineers aim catapult weapons before the formulation of Newton’s laws?
Was ice easily available in the temperate plains? Was it possible to freeze ice artificially, or did it have to be transported from glaciers?
What actually happens when you slash wildly at someone with a broadsword?
What food was available in what climates, before paths to the “New World” were discovered?
How did they keep time and dates before the reforms by Julius Caesar?
What kind of medical facilities were available in European kingdoms, which were surprisingly lacking in scientific knowledge at the time?
There is just so much random detail that goes into writing period fiction that people do not realise.
Now, do I know random things because I’m a writer, or am I a writer because I know random things? That’s a question I have always been asking myself.
July 12, 2022
July 5, 2022
Word of the Week #327:
Though I may be indestructible—and I continue to maintain that I am—I am aware that I’m not invulnerable.
I am not impervious to pain and hurt… and, boy, have I received some strong reminders of the same over the past week.
Life, for all of us, is filled with varying degrees and manners of pain. Mine is clearly not devoid of it, and I am clearly not immune to it. So how do I handle it?
Above anything else, I know that any pain I experience is transient. It won’t stay within me in the long run. It may exist within me today, but soon enough, it will pass through me and vanish into the aether. And I will be left behind, strong as ever. Perhaps stronger, even.
Just knowing that any amount of pain I am forced to experience will not break or warp me is what allows me to face everything I encounter in my life.
No matter what happens, I will always keep moving forward.
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