Weeknotes - 2025-W29
A paarijaatha / Pavazhamalli flower
On Monday, just as I was leaving to the station, I got information that the train was delayed .. by 3 hours. So I stayed back at my dear friends’ place to finish breakfast and head out (food at their place, is always something I cherish very deeply). Given Bangalore’s peak traffic, I almost missed my train back. I am very thankful to the auto anna who took all kinds of diversions to get me there on time.
The LinkedIn lesson here is about how important domain knowledge really is, in this case, it was his knowledge of inner roads that actually got me to my destination on time. Had this been someone who just went by the maps, I am certain that I would’ve missed by train back home.
The entire journey back was me finishing the Bobiverse book 2 - For We are Many. I am really enjoying this series and it absolutely checks everything that I love about stories - science, science fiction, space, computer science, AI, ethics and what not. Just a wonderfully written series.
I am on Book 3 already - All These Worlds which digs even deeper into the topics while building an amazing world.
I lowkey want to work on a small website that allows the reader to visualize the book as they read it - I think that’d be a very cool “companion” to have while reading this series.
Guppy, File this under things to be done. Aye.
I’m so proud of myself that I actually managed to get back home, and hit the gym on the same day. I didn’t let “travel” be the reason from showing up for my body. And I think a large part of that reason is that I really enjoy taking that time for myself and to see my body grow, week on week.
Also, I deadlifted 70KGs this week at the gym - super happy to have gotten here from where I started, I actually feel strong when I’m doing other things around the house too. And that’s what functional strength really is.
Although I’ve been too sore on the other days, so I want to remedy that in the forthcoming weeks, so that I can make time and start running too!
We watched the latest Jurassic Park movie this week and it was … nice. What really humbles me, is that a track made in 1993, still has the power to give me goosebumps. Just such a masterpiece. Listen ⤵️
Also I found this beautiful quote by Stephen Spielberg on John Williams (the composer of this and many other iconic tracks)
“Without John Williams, bikes don’t really fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches; nor do men in red capes. There is no Force. Dinosaurs don’t walk the Earth. We do not wonder. We do not weep. We do not believe. John, you breathe belief into every film we have made. You take our movies, many of them about our most impossible dreams, and through your musical genius, you make them real and everlasting for billions and billions of people.”
Art really is where it is. I’m playing this track as I write this, and tears are just filling my eyes right now.
Speaking of art, We placed an order for 28 totes for Sundarakala! I am so happy and proud of Prasanna that she has gotten here. 28 is a large number for a small business making its foray into this new territory.
I wish her 28,000 more!
I attended TOSSConf to listen to 2 of my friends give talks.
- Vijay was keynoting and he spoke about “Between Ethics and Exploitation: The Infinity War”. He’s easily one of my heroes in the tech world. Absolute no nonsense, put your head down and do the work kind of a person. Someday, I wish to inculcate this in me. Its been an absolute pleasure co-organizing Chennaipy and 2 conferences by his side.
- Rengaraj gave a fantastic talk on “Dissect, Build Network packets”. Rengaraj is an absolutely wonderful person that I had the pleasure of meeting at Chennaipy and also co-organizing alongside him. He is an absolute inspiration of being able to put your mind on something, and going out and getting it. His story is one for the books!
Sunday was action packed! I went in the morning to my trusty trails in Porur with friends to run saunter around. Trails are always more fun when you share them with friends. After this, we grabbed a bite to eat at ID and a cheeky coffee (am I doing this right, colonizers?) at Third Wave.
Went out for a tea and a short drive with Prasanna in the evening and played some badminton with the colony kids too.
The upcoming week is going to be rough. 24th Marks 1 year of Prasanna losing her father. 1 year ago, we were all vacationing happily in Kodaikanal. 1 year later, we’ve only just begun to understand what the shape of grief looks like.
It has been a journey to get to here! Its also been an immense privilege to share space with Prasanna during this time, to see her be so open about her pain, so visceral. It in many ways gave me the permission to be open about my own grief too.
On that note, we march on. Slow, steady and with each other to get us through it all.
Till next time 👋🏾