'Cause Pigs can Fly

(Warning to family if they are reading this: This post is about Athamma and Jon, so you may want to skip this one) Sleep, for me, used to be easy. There was no tossing and turning. By 9.30pm, I was ready for bed. And even if I didn't fall asleep immediately, I'd just act out some scenario in my head (usually related to a story I'm working on. Nothing of the sexual fantasy kind. I promise), and before I can even work out most of the details, I'd be asleep. Now I stay up till late, waiting to feel really sleepy so that I don't need to be alone with my thoughts anymore. I used to treasure that silence. That peace. I used to look forward to it. It helped me work on my stories and even poems. I'd piece together scenes and come up with stories I wanted to write someday. I thought of characters. I put together words and hoped I remembered them the next day. These minutes of peace and quiet also allowed me to think about life. The people I love. The...

A lot of people have told me there are plenty of fish in the sea. Not always using those exact words, but it was the same old 'there are plenty of people out there. Date someone. Anyone.' It gets worse as you get older and seem to care less about the fact that you're single. I thought being 20 and single was bad but oh boy, try being 23 and single. And I know that 25 and single will be a frikking party. Anyway, quite a few well-meaning people have told me that maybe it's time I found someone. Get that fishing rod, hook and can of worms and go catch something. But here's the thing about fishing. Since I was a kid, I've been grossed out by it. I grew up eating meat. I know where meat comes from. But the thought of doing the catching and killing yourself grossed me out. Also... Fishing seems like such a bored, jobless uncles who want an excuse to drink activity. So fishing never really appealed to me. But most of all, I'd rather not go fishing -cast...

Have you ever thought, "hmm I have way too many friends. The situation needs fixing"? If so, you've come to the right place. If we've ever tried to have a conversation, you'll already know that 1) I'm not very good at talking to people. 2) I take weeks to reply to anything So I'm not the easiest person to have a conversation with. And this has helped keep the friend count at a minimum. Since knowledge should be shared, I thought of blogging about how to lose your friends. (Also please note that this post is an attempt at humor. I didn't do these things to cut ties with people. I did most of the following without such intentions but ended up not having many people to talk to, and so decided to turn this thing into a post.) 1. Be an asshole This is something that people did to make it easier for me to delete them on Facebook or unfollow them on Twitter. And I'm sure I've done it too, even though I mayn't have even realized it. If ...

I don't believe in the power of prayer, mostly because I don't believe in any prayer-answering entities and so constantly wonder who exactly one prays to. It's also a bad habit I have, asking this question when people talk about praying. I apologize if I've asked you this question or if I've given you a look when you spoke about praying. What got me thinking about prayers is the current situation in Sri Lanka. A few people asked that we #PrayForSriLanka, like we prayed for Paris or wherever else a bomb went off killing a few dozen people who were usually white non-Muslims. But then praying is easy. Sharing a post about praying for Sri Lanka is easy. Even I, an atheist, can share such a post. Even I can pretend there's someone up in the skies (which is where, by the way, these cursed rains came/come from) who will listen to me and magically make the rain stop, the collected water disappear and undo the landslides. And I accept the argument that praying is p...

As a kid, there was nothing I wanted more than to be an adult. Being an adult meant the great I and the great F. Independence and freedom was what I was after and for some reason I, along with many others, thought that turning 18 meant you were suddenly independent and free. I was of course in for a shock because life sure doesn’t work that way. You don’t go from being a kid to being an adult just because you celebrate your 18 th birthday. Sure, you may be able to drive or drink or get married but none of those things make you an adult. And yet, at some point in life, you will feel like an adult. You know that while you haven’t got your shit together, you can still deal with whatever shit comes your way. You just know… And so here are a few things that I did when I thought I was an adult and what I do now. (Note 1: Things will change, because I still have a lot of growing up to do. So there’s a lot more to add to this post and I’m sure a lot of actual adults will just...

I was brought up a Buddhist and if there's one thing Buddhism does, it is that the truth isn't sugar-coated. We aren't eased into the concept of Anittya, Dukkha and Anaathma. We are thrown, head-first, into the impermanence of things. And I'm glad we are, because from my youngest days, I knew that there will be a day when everything I currently know in life will be gone. My parents. Loved ones. Family. Friends. Books. Looks. Feelings. Everything I value now and have such attachments to will be gone. And yet, most issues we face in life are because we aren't willing to let go of people or things. We think that everything will remain as it is forever. This is why we freak out when we discover our first gray hair. This is why we hope anti-aging creams will smoothen our wrinkles. This is why we refuse to let go of people, to move on. And this is why it hurts when things change. But that's just the way life is and there's not a goddamn thing we can do about i...

This one's for Cup Café. I still remember my first day at Cup Café. It was somewhere in 2013. One of my closest friends and I had just spoken to this artist about a tattoo and we were in the Town Hall area, looking for a place to eat. My friend suggested this little place she had been to with her mother than had decent food and, if I remember correctly, amazing chocolate cake. And so we walked there, to this tiny little café that I had walked past many times without having ever noticed the place. I can't remember what exactly we ordered but I'm sure we got ourselves a slice of their Death by Chocolate. And man, was it heavenly. Somehow this little café became 'our spot' for meetups. We rarely met up at other places. Cup Café was everything we wanted. It was usually quiet, not crowded, the people were so sweet, the food was good, the drinks were amazing (lime mojito, I would die for you) and the prices weren't too bad. Plus it was at a convenient place for ...

1. Team Non-Procrastinators We’ll start with this because if I was a non-procrastinator, I wouldn’t be putting together this post. I have two weeks’ worth of work I need to get done by tomorrow but here I am, writing something that will be of no use or interest to anyone. But here’s the thing. I procrastinate way too much and not in that way where you actually manage to get things done on time despite watching a load of videos you can easily watch later. At the beginning of every work week, which starts on Wednesday for me, I promise myself the I'll get work done by Thursday and send it off by Friday morning. Every week, I stay up till 3 in the morning on Saturday morning telling myself that it’s still technically Friday since I haven’t slept since Friday morning. But somehow it’s so damn difficult to close YouTube, close Twitter and just get to work. Which I always regret the next day when I feel like a starving zombie. Where are my brains! 2. Talent  Befor...