Becoming the sun

Ever since I started to learn more about gender and gender expression, I have become fascinated with the concept of being gender neutral. The fact that there are people in this world who are going beyond the boxes we trap ourselves in and creating a space for themselves is both intimidating and empowering.

10 things you can do for your mental health

I did a thought experiment recently that had only two questions. One of those questions was what you do for your mental health every day. I thought this was an important question because it would remind you to slow down and go through your day to understand that every day, we’re doing small activities that help us keep our mental health. We don’t have to do anything spectacular to take care of ourselves. And even if we’re unaware, we’re doing things to ensure we stay mentally healthy.

Creating space for yourself

One of my favourite marketing lessons is the two ways in which you can create a competitive advantage for your brand. One is to encroach on someone else’s market share. So, if yours is 30% and your competitor is at 70% you take away 5% from them to reach 35%. The other way is to increase the size of the pie. While that doesn’t increase 30% to 35%, it does increase the value of 30%.

Let’s do a thought experiment

I read a tweet recently that said: I miss the rawness of people’s emotions that came out during the pandemic. Where everyone was sharing how fucked up their mental health had become, how stressed they were, blurring of home-gender-work lines, etc. Now that things are settling and opening up, people have gone back to running after things and showing the finger to the pandemic and perhaps to themselves that everything is peachy and they’re going to live their dreams again.

So I thought before the year ends, I will do a little thought experiment. I have made a Google form for it too so you know how serious I am! There are two simple questions on the form:

Reading tales: Noddy

Finding a book to talk about for the final post on my reading tales [and My Friend Alexa] has been hard. I contemplated between choosing Macbeth and Harry Potter but the problem with both those choices was there isn’t just a memory attached to these books. There’s an entire yarn, tangled, sometimes with each other because I read these two in the formative years of my life, and untangling that yarn feels like doing the books a disservice. There are so many threads that just talking about one would be incomplete.

Reading tales: Divine Comedy

Identity as a concept fascinates me. I didn’t like the thought that someone else could inform the way I lead my life. I liked the thought that I alone am responsible for my thoughts and actions.

It has taken me a while to accept that my interactions with the world have and will continue to have an impact on who I see myself as a person.

Reading tales: The Once and Future King

There was a time in my 20s – ha makes me sound like it was decades ago when it was only…er…one decade ago – when friends and I went crazy over Hindu mythologies. It happened because of Palace of Illusions and continued because of Devdutt Pattanaik’s Jaya and Sita. There was also the horrible first part of Ashok Banker’s Mahabharat series in the mix; but the least said of that experience, the better.

Reading tales: Bed of Grass

Books are something mom and I have bonded over right from when I turned sixteen. She has always understood the madness that descends on someone when they’re reading because she has lived through it too. She had indulgent parents when it came to books and reading and so she was an indulgent parent right back. I say was because I no longer ask her if a book is too expensive to buy – I usually just buy it!

Reading tales: The Lord of the Rings

I did not choose The Lord of the Rings, The Lord of the Rings chose me.

Back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, we used to get these 5-in-1 and 7-in-1 movie discs that were pirated copies of English movies. I had an entire folder filled with such DVDs and it was my favourite pastime to find pretty folders to lovingly organize my prized DVDs.

Reading tales: The Birth of Venus

Grocery shopping is my ultimate favourite thing to do. If I was looking to replace a library as my safe space, it would be a grocery store. So while I was in Singapore doing my Masters, since there wasn’t a library nearby, the local supermarket company Sheng Siong became my favourite place.