Writing

Date: March 19, 2024 Dear Toriyama-sensei, Is it weird that I’ve been saying that starting phrase to this letter multiple times the last few days? Ever since I heard of your passing, I have been reading people’s comments online, from those of random Internet people, to Oda-sensei and Kishimoto-sensei’s touching eulogies. I can’t really say I know you that well. I never touched your video game bodies of work, oddly though, I’d just started playing Chrono-Trigger1 a few weeks ago. I don’t know what made me start playing it. I’d tried several times earlier in my life, but I never went too far. ...

📝 Note This post should have photos of the things I fear. It does not because I’m terrified to look at them. I do have photos of me in swimming gear and my pool, but by learning to swim, I have not conquered my fear. I merely face it. If you want the TLDR of this post, you might want to check out my detailed swimming progress tracking page. Fear I am terrified of water tanks, stepped wells, regular wells, temple tanks, over head water tanks, monolithic statues partially or fully submerged. I’m not fully scared of oceans, rivers, ponds or lakes. What I have is termed submechanophobia, but oddly enough I’m not too scared of watching documentaries of the Titanic Wreck. I’m absolutely terrified of looking at even photos or videos of the former stuff though. ...

I have been taking it easy for a year. I am a recovering workaholic. I used to work myself to death (and this could be why I lost my ear). I tend to get overly passionate about my job and pour myself into things, no matter what they are. It has to do with the common fallacy of tying self-worth to one’s career. I am trying to work on that. ...

It has been exactly one year since I lost all hearing in my left ear. A lot has happened. 📝 Note This post is a follow up to my hearing loss and about my health. Read the first and second articles before reading this one. I am not going to recount how I lost my hearing. I have written two posts about that already. However, this post is about the first major milestone I am crossing now. ...

I do not believe in luck. There is no such thing. Things happen and we must accept them or reject them. What we do defines us. 📝 Note This post is continued from Part 1: The Sound of Music. I knew my left ear would not work again. I had it for 32 and a quarter years. I used it well. I have to make do for the rest of my life with one ear. ...

If I adopt an elephant, I would name him Puttu to remind him that no matter how gigantic he gets, he’s still my baby. I’d buy a sugarcane farm to feed him, and I’d hire a mahouta to teach him manners. I’d teach my children to ask him not for rides, but instead to ask him to pet them with his trunk. I’d teach him to sit and trumpet for bananas, and to roll in the dirt in summers to beat the heat. ...

I don’t know the first thing about music. I learned how to play the flute as a kid. I didn’t like it. My mother wanted me to be a great flautist. I wanted to play the drums. I quit flute class after a year and never picked it up again. I never learned how to play drums either. I don’t believe in whatever some call destiny, fate or kismat. Things happen and the only thing I know I can control is how I feel about them. ...