Writing Updates

I started the year with a few writing related goals. I am not touching those goals but I do know that baring any funding changes, I would be focussing on two story ideas. First, I want to write a new play. The idea for this one has been in my head for a while and …

Reblog: I wrote a play

I have been thinking about this day for a while and reading this post fills me with confidence that I can do it again. https://itsmayurremember.wordpress.com/2023/11/16/i-wrote-a-play/?page_id=3849

Anniversaries 6

Continuing the annual tradition, here are this year's anniversaries. Checkout last year's post here. I met my partner 5 years ago. (Can't believe this one) I have been blogging for 10 years! (Can't believe this one either) I have been living in New Zealand for 8 years. I have been posting on this blog biweekly …

TV: Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974)

When I was very young, I watched a simple animated show on Cartoon Network. What I remember about the show was it was about a young girl, her grandfather, their goats, their dog Josef and the goatherd Peter in the mountains. I recall being mesmerised by serene beauty of the mountains. The young girl Heidi …

2024: Goals & Hopes

To continue the tradition, I wrote down hopes for 2024. These aren't absolutes so if I don't get them all crossed, it is okay. Writing: One new draft of a novel. One new draft of a play. Complete revision on the play draft Publishing: A separate heading for this as this is not just writing …

2023 Goals Retrospective

2023 was a year of highs and lows. I experienced the worst pain possible. I said goodbye to Jimmy. I experienced joy and pride at my creating. In the face of everything that has happened, it seems meaningless to look back on the goals of the year. But I think I need these goals, if …

Final Workshop

I wrote about my play's first workshop which happened two months ago. Last month, prior to my play reading was the second and final workshop. There was a stark difference in how the first and second workshops were and I think this merited another post about the process. The deadline for second workshop was 5th …

Photo: Queenstown Mountains

I went to Queenstown in the first week of November to celebrate my birthday and also to take some much needed rest. I took a lot of photos there but this one is my favourite. The shafts of sunlight illuminating different parts of the mountain along was definitely a photo I needed to take. Just …

I wrote a play

My stageplay 'Why Me?' had a public reading session on 14th November at the Basement Theatre. The reading was done by four actors: Karishma Grebneff, Aman Bajaj, Pamela Sidhu & Natasha Daniel. It was directed by Sananda Chatterjee. Natasha also produced the event. We were in the upstairs Studio of Basement theatre and while the …

First Workshop

After months of preparations, six drafts of my script, I finally had a workshop session with the directors and the actors on the 5th October. I was super excited and also extremely nervous about my script. This was my first time actually working with other people on something I have written, even though I have …

Katikati Bird Gardens, Tauranga

Katikati Bird Gardens is leisurely 30 min drive from Tauranga CBD, off the highway and at the end of a cul-de-sac. It is a privately run garden with a variety of birds and the entry fee is only $11 per person. There's a small cafe at the entrance, which also doubles as a ticket booth …

Grief Two Years On

I wrote this letter and put it on Yuri's headstone last week on the 17th Aug. Yuri, It's been two years mate. I feel shitty to admit that I hardly feel any pain or guilt. The grief is gone and all I have left is some memories, the sound of your voice in my head. …

Introducing the family

I introduced my partner to my family over a video call last month. Surprisingly, it went well. When I was sick in India back in Feb/March I told my parents about my relationship. Before this, (I think) they knew nothing about my partner or that she even existed. My partner and I weren't ready to …

Game: Celeste

I have written about games I love before. Stardew Valley was the first game that made me realise that games can offer more than shooting or completing missions. Cities Skylines made me struggle (and am still struggling) with perfection. Celeste, I think, is a game which is insanely difficult and yet extremely heartwarming I first …

Submissions

Last month, I pushed myself to submit drafts for two writing competitions. And by following proper etiquette, my submissions were made in the last hour. I always thought with time I would get better with deadlines. It was only after my Masters I realised that it might not be possible for me to be on …

Writing Update

I have been meaning to write about this but every time I do, something big or important happens. I have been sporadically writing a stage play for about two years now and the script been selected for Proudly Asian Theatre's Fresh Off The Page 2023 program. That's great! What is that? Fresh Off The Page …

To Jimmy, the best boy.

My dog Jimmy passed away on the 15th May 2023. He was thirteen years old. He was the best boy. When we adopted Jimmy, he was a tiny skinny puppy. He would eat too much and his tummy would extend and we would all laugh at how absurd he looked. And the next day we …

Possesion

It's Mayur Remember?

Pride and Joy

Yesterday night while coming home I saw a couple carrying a big plastic bag. I would have ignored them if not for the line of stray dogs following them. And as I watched I saw them take some food(leftovers or freshly made I don’t know) and give it to the dogs. The dogs hogged the thing down in a matter of minutes. And then almost every dog received a good scratch behind his/her ears.

I watched because sometimes even I have done something similar. I watched because I have seen many other people do the same. I watched because my dog was also a stray dog before we adopted him. I watched because in watching those dogs hungrily gulp down their viand there’s a sense of satisfaction(Maybe, I don’t know the exact feeling)

Today’s post is about prized possession. If not obvious by now then I’ll say…

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Two weeks, two surgeries

The last couple of weeks have been a particular tiring time: both emotionally and physically. I spent almost an entire week at the hospital combined. Of the week, two days were part of a planned surgery and the rest was because of an emergency. I have been suffering a particularly weird case of abdominal pain …

Family Visit

I visited my family in the last week of Feb after not seeing them for 3 years. I was worried about my trip. I haven't travelled internationally in the last three years. I did not want to catch Covid during the trip or prior to it. The Covid arrival rules kept changing for India as …

Anniversaries 5

Continuing the annual tradition, here are this year's anniversaries. Checkout last year's post here. I have been living in New Zealand for 7 years. I have been blogging for 9 years. I have kept a biweekly post schedule on this blog for 4 years. I am now a NZ Permanent Resident for four months. My …

Script Reading Sessions

In late November & early December last year, Auckland Library & Call Your Friends organised script reading sessions in the city library. Every Sunday for three weeks, they read out a unpublished script; be it movie script or theatre; by hiring actors to sit to play the roles. I was able to attend two such …

2023 Goals & Hopes

I wrote about my 2022 resolutions last time. I was barely able to accomplish much but I wasn't disappointed, life happens and sometimes you accomplish everything; sometimes you don't. For 2023, I am going for new goals/hopes because I enjoyed comparing where I was a year ago to now. I measured a distance travelled, a …

2022

2022 was a normal year. It wasn't great, it wasn't horrible. There were good days, there were some bad days. In the beginning of the year, I made a post about 2022 goals and I revisited them to see how I have gone on them. This the status of the goals: (❌ = Not completed/Abandoned, …

Photography: Te Mata Peak, Hastings

It's Mayur Remember?

Te Mata Peak, Hastings at noon

The wondrous Te Mata Peak. This was the result of the best photo I took. My only regret was not visiting the peak at sunrise/sunset.

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Look at the time lapse of the drive up & down.

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Permanent Residency

After 6 years, 5 different visas I am now a Permanent Resident of New Zealand. The process for residency was easy but outdated as I had to courier my application to the immigration. Regardless, now that I have got it, I feel happy and relaxed. I rejoice in the fact that I don't have to …

Things I have learned in the last couple of months

I learned some minor things in the last couple of months, none of the things are big enough for their own post. So here is a listicle: Two weeks is the ideal time between jobs I started a new job last month. I was able to squeeze out two weeks off time between my last …

To Zari: Farewell and I will miss you

Trigger Warning: Death To Zareen or Zari as I got to know you, You were my first online friend. When I started blogging in 2014, one of my goals was to find a community of people who I can interact with and maybe even call them my friend. I don't remember how I found your …

To Yuri, it’s been a year

Dear Yuri, It's been a year since you passed away. I still can't say that you have died because some dying sounds violent and painful while passing away doesn't sound like that. My biggest fear since last year is that I'll forget your voice. I had photos to remember your face but no videos or …

Passage of Time

Recently, I have been thinking about time. I think about my parents and my brother, neither of whom I have met in two and a half years. I wonder about my college best friends Paree and Abhinandan, whom I met five to seven years ago. A lot of things have happened since. My brother is …

Covid positive

After two years of dodging and being super cautious, I tested positive on Saturday. I started having symptoms Saturday morning so I am supposed to isolate until Friday, provided I stop having any symptoms. The first few days were absolutely terrible: I had headaches, fever, tiredness and I was pretty much bedridden. As I write …

Writing Discoveries

In the beginning of the year, I made a few goals: one of them being 'I will complete a story/novel'. After I finished writing the first draft of a play, I was confident and I wanted to tackle a new story idea without breaking my rhythm. I picked up an idea that I had come …

Swimming Lessons

Since my trip to the ER a couple of months ago, I had to start exercising. Currently, I am working in Auckland CBD and CBD has probably the biggest public pools conveniently located near work. So, I decided to enroll into their adult beginner lessons. Swimming has always excited (and terrified me) and I figured …

Blogging is getting harder

When I started blogging, I used to write when I felt like it. Or when a certain epiphany hits and I felt like the words were exploding inside me to come out. I do miss that feeling. Ever since I started my biweekly publishing schedule, I no longer have that luxury. In the last couple …

Anniversaries 4

Continuing the yearly tradition, here are this year's celebration anniversaries. Checkout last year's post here. I have been living in New Zealand for 6 years.I have been blogging for 8 years.I have kept a biweekly post schedule on this blog for 3 years.I have been a NZ Resident for 1 year & six months. My …

Health, Diet & Inflation

Embarrassingly, I have always assumed that the abdominal pain which woke me up at 2-3am was just gas. Why would it not be? The pain was gone by morning and I resumed normal life. I knew my lifestyle wasn’t the most healthy but I figured that as long as I am not having takeout everyday …

Closure

Trigger Warning: Suicide In the last couple of months, I have been looking for closure. Yuri passed away in lockdown and I haven’t met any of our friends since. In this waiting, I have pictured closure with visiting his grave. I think I want closure to look like this because his grave would be a …

On Finishing things

As the Christmas-End of Year holidays started, I noticed that I had a lot of stuff on-going or not started including writing work, programming projects, movie on my watch-list & games. I started the holidays with a plan: to finish as many things as I possibly can. I have always enjoyed completing things. Yeah the …

2021

2021 was not a good year for me. There were a few good moments, but it is difficult for me to look back on 2021 and not see a dark cloud of despair. I don't have the energy or capability to try and properly reflect on everything that happened in 2021. So, I am hoping …

Second Surgery

In the first few weeks of lockdown, I was referred for another surgery. I had a pilonidal recurrence, something I was told was unlikely after the first surgery I had in January. I was still reeling from loss of a friend and it pushed me to consider counseling. I didn't want to have a second …

Picnics with friends

Because of relaxing restrictions in Auckland, I have been able to meet few friends in parks where we have a small, safely distanced picnics. It's great meeting them, talking with them about stuff we have been doing and how we have been killing the paradoxically abundant & too little time at home. However, as always, …

I got a new job!

I got a new job! I am ecstatic and proud of myself. This feels like a long journey but was barely five months. During the few interviews, I constantly doubted myself and after them I learnt new concepts. It was a few weeks ago when I was offered a contract from a company 'N' in …

I know triggers now

Trigger Warning: Suicide I was watching the second season of Ted Lasso when in one of the most emotional episodes, there is a mention of suicide. I gasped as the scene played out, I felt my heart beat louder. It took me a couple of seconds to calm down and I cried with the emotional …

Fond Memories of a friend

I started seeing a therapist because I want to know how to handle my grief and guilt of Yuri's passing. Most days, I doing good and then someday I feel the grief wash over me again. One of the few suggestions from the therapist was instead of writing about my guilt, maybe spend some time …

Interviews again

I am looking for new job. I have been working with the same people for more than four years & similar products. Up until last year (when I got my residency), my job was crucial to get visas so I didn't bother looking for a new job. I didn't think about where do I see …

Odin the Cat

I miss Odin & Osiris.

It's Mayur Remember?

Odin

My roommate Emi is catsitting two siblings cats at the moment. This is Odin.

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Grief three weeks on

Its been three weeks since Yuri passed away. I miss him dearly but there are no more tears.

To Yuri, my best friend: I am sorry & I miss you

Trigger Warning: Suicide My best friend of 4+ years Yuri Reid took his own life on 17th August 2021. He was 25 years old. I wrote this letter to him as I grieved. Yuri, Marlowe & IUmang, Yuri, Marlowe & I: 2019Yuri & I : 2017Yuri & Marlowe Yuri, I am sorry buddy. I lost …

Post Play-writing workshop

Last Thursday was my final Play-writing workshop session. The session was held in-person at the Silo Theater head office in the city & was a welcome change to the regular Zoom sessions. The goal was to have a 10 page script table read by actors. There was no writing exercises or talk about writing concepts; …

Play-writing workshop update

It has been a couple of weeks since I started attending play-writing workshop. Next Thursday will be the fifth & last session. The next session requires me to submit a 5 page script of my work. I am not looking forward to submitting it. My submission is going to be visible to everyone, not just …

TV Show: Ted Lasso (2020)

Ted Lasso is an Immigrant Story. I found myself remembering my first couple of days in NZ as I watched the first two-three episode of Ted Lasso. There are a lot of differences of course: Ted moved to a country with the same native language, a country whose people predominantly share his skin colour & he moved after he took a job.

(Reblog) The Right Side

Words from my older brother Navin about what his week looked like. : I suffered a stroke. The right side of my body lost all its movement. This includes not being to move my mouth, my face falling off with me trying to talk in front of my onlooking family. What should sound like ‘I …

Play-writing Classes

A month ago, I attended a screening of a play in a local theater & I loved it. Afterwards, I told my friend I would love to write a play one day. The next day I saw post from the theater about play-writing workshop & I immediately applied. I am ecstatic to say that I …

My Writing Plans

At the end of last year, I made a resolution to produce more writing & improve my skills. I haven't followed through on my resolution because I don't feel motivated enough. I am plagued by doubts: what if my writing is not good enough? What if this blog is the best I could ever do …

TV Show: The Expanse & what I love about it

The Expanse asks the question of what if we travel to distant solar system bodies without any actual change in how we view our society.

Ben Howard makes me feel

Ben Howard is my favourite singer-songwriter. One whose songs leave me introspective & nostalgic. They start with a mesmerising guitar intro; enveloping his vocals as the lyrics are sung. His old albums Every Kingdom & I Forget What We Were featured songs I associate with morose & lonely places; and yet there is an ember …

Anniversaries III

For last year's post, check here Keeping up this tradition, this week : I have been living in New Zealand for 5 years.I have been blogging for 7 years.I have kept a biweekly post schedule on this blog for two years.I have been a NZ Resident for 6 months! (New) Aside from these milestones, I …

My First Surgery

Last Thursday afternoon, I had a surgery to remove a sinus in my lower back. I have been waiting for the surgery for a long time and, while the surgery was on a short notice, I had to get it done. My General Practitioner diagnosed the wound in my back as a pilonidal sinus back …

Repost: Tongariro Alpine Crossing

I reminisced about this trip from 2018: the first time I used a DSLR, the thousands of steps and the worst uphill ever to reward you with the most spectacular views. Enjoy: https://itsmayurremember.wordpress.com/2018/02/11/tongariro-alpine-crossing/

Movies: The Cat Returns (2002)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp-H_YOcYTM Cat Returns (Japanese Trailer) Studio Ghibli has made multiple movies in which a young adult matures after being transported into a 'another' world. The young adult overcomes obstacles and finds answer to the question: who do I want to be/where do I belong?. 'Spirited Away' is one such movie. The Cat Returns (2002) is …

How I should write now

I have been running this blog for 6 years & change. At the onset of this blog, I published posts in rapid succession; followed by long periods of inactivity. In the last 2 years, I have adhered to a rhythm of posting biweekly on Thursday mornings. I have a list of ideas I write in …

Napier – Taupo DriveLapse

About a month ago, I went on a week long trip to Napier/Hastings - Taupo & back to Auckland. I decided to take a timelapse of my drives as I always loved looking at the roads when I drive. Here is the drivelapse from Napier to Taupo on the Thermal Explorer highway. https://youtu.be/ckYC9Y02veE Drivelapse Napier …

Programming: Blog Post Re-share Bot – part 2

For more information, look at my previous post. Again, this post will be heavily technical. In my last post, I had started work on my bot but I had issues. I wasn't sure if I wanted to use the bot to publish posts via Twitter or Reddit. I did not have a stable database or …

Journey to Residency

FOR 20 months, my residency application was stuck in Immigration New Zealand's application queue. The system's glacial progress finally caught up with my application one month ago and a case officer started looking over my residency application. A week ago, I have been granted residency visa in New Zealand. I can't begin to tell you …

My Brother is engaged

ON 29th August, my older brother got engaged. Despite the Covid-19 restrictions in India, my family managed to make an occasion that they are rightfully joyous. Writing this post from the comfort of my home in New Zealand, I am conflicted between feelings of bliss for my brother, regret about not being there & apprehension …

Guilt

It was February when a couple took over a vacant room in my previous 2 bedroom house. Immediately after moving in, they told me that they can't live with the cats I was cat-sitting: Odin & Osiris. I had a two week trip to India at the time so the cats were gonna be put …

Game: Stardew Valley

I have written about pretty much aspect of my life and its passions: fictions, photography, programming & movies but I haven't written about how I spend most of my free time: playing games. To be honest, I never considered playing games an important part of my character. I would rage at losing while playing Rocket …

Movies: Little Women (2019)

I have never read Louisa May Alcott's 1869 novel Little Women. The first time I heard of Little Women was on This American Life's episode #680. I did not know there had been 6 adaptations of the book but I knew of Greta Gerwig through her movie 'LadyBird'. It took a wonderful recommendation from FilmJoy …

Programming: Blog post Re-Share Bot

Note: This post is a little bit technical and if I write any follow-ups to this, they will get more technical. I will try to make this as simple as I possibly. Also note: The Bot is not yet complete Paid version of WordPress offers the ability to install plugins. I am a free version …

TV: Good Place Series Finale

It is difficult to sum up a multi season TV series. NBC’s The Good Place has the following (cheesy) synopsis on IMDB: Four people and their otherworldly frienemy struggle in the afterlife to define what it means to be good. - IMDB Here is my take: The Good Place was a brilliantly made show which tried …

Lockdown Update

When this post would be published, NZ would have been under lockdown for a month. I have been working from home from my bed for the last 3 weeks. It is surprising to think that we are still in the 4th month of the year as this year feels so long. I went to India …

Movies: Parasite (2019)

In the last year, Bung Joon-ho's Parasite is a movie that I keep coming back to. Parasite might be the best economic class disparity movie I have ever seen. It is so tightly packed because of its absolute perfect direction and story that it is an absolute joy watching it and when the movie is …

I wish someone had told me

People age. Everything grows old. I can see myself aging. I wish someone had told me how quickly everyone around me would age. I wish someone had told me before I moved to Auckland when I come back, I would notice the wrinkles more. Everyone who I looked up to while growing up has aged …

Anniversaries II

See last year's post here. It has been four years since I moved to Auckland. I have been blogging for six years now. I have been posting on my blog on my blog over the last year in a pattern of one post every two weeks. I am really proud of myself. After six years …

House Chronicles

The following are a sequence of events which may or may not conclude by the time this post is published ( 30th January 2020 ). August or September 2019: My flatmate E tells me she wants to move September - November 2019: I stress myself thinking about having to move. Later E suggests that we …

Lack of Motivation

I have written about the new things I am learning. Now, as time goes on I am finding myself struggling to keep myself motivated with those things. I am easy to distract, most things don't hold my attention. My slump has impacted me the most at work. For about 2 to 3 months, I have …

Movies: Toy Story 4 (2019)

Credits: flickeringmyth Each Toy Story movies is unique as each presents a metaphor for different age milestone. First Toy Story dealt with teens/early twenties or college years. Toy Story 2 dealt with Woody undergoing a midlife crisis and questioning his life's purpose. Toy Story 3 dealt with the idea of retirement and the prospect of …

Not Welcome

I have lived in Auckland for the last three and a half years. I love this city, and by extension this country. I have explored the city: found new places, food cuisines and occasionally new people. However, in the last year, Immigration New Zealand announced a flurry of changes which on paper looks like an …

First Blog/Ephemeral Feelings

I needed to post something this week, but I didn’t have anything ready. So I decided to Reblog something that I wrote years ago.

It's Mayur Remember?

My first blog.

Mind any who is reading i have never wrote any thing like a blog before.
I just read a blog by a blogger Ephemeral Optimism before I wrote mine. Though his blog was very interesting about opinions, I couldn’t help but relate to his username.

A few days ago I was just ecstatic. I was practically dancing anywhere, hugging random people. All because I scored great grades in my exams(yes I am a nerd).

Now I am back to being normal. And mind you I am not saying normal is bad, but by comparison it is really sad. So much hard work, so much time and sweat and I become elated for a few hours only?

That is the thing which intrigues me. And I could probably imagine things further down the line in my life. Why are good or great things so ephemeral?

And being normal…

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The Waiting Game

When I applied for New Zealand residency visa in December, I had a plan. Apply : December 2018Wait the estimated time of processing: 6 months, i.e until June-July 2019. It will possibly get delayed, let's say by half the estimated time so 3 months of buffer time, i.e September 2019. Usually, for visas I am …

Dogs v Cats: Who pets it better?

Eight months ago, I moved houses to rent with a friend. My flatmate, E, happens to be cat sitting two sibling cats: Osiris and Odin. Come November, the two cats will move back in with their owner. I consider myself lucky: I have lived with cats in Auckland and a dog in Mumbai. This made …

Macro Photography

Recently, I brought a bunch of mobile camera lenses. One of those lens was a macro lens, which allowed me to take photographs of objects 1-2 cm away from my phone. Here are some of the good ones results. A RoseAnts for sizeWhite roseSize view I also created an account on EyeEm, an social media/marketplace …

What to learn for?

Part of being a developer is constantly learning new programming languages and principles....Some days I am good. Most days, I struggle.

Odin the Cat

Odin My roommate Emi is catsitting two siblings cats at the moment. This is Odin.

Hamilton: Zuru Glow

Two months ago, I had my first solo driving trip. I had just acquired a new license and I wanted to celebrate. I drove to Hamilton for Balloons over Waikato’s Zuru Glow night . In hindsight, it is amusing that I drove to the same city I went three years ago when I had just …

Locked out

I was standing outside my room, a pizza box in my hand as I tried to call my AirBnB host after midnight. No answer. I was locked out. I was in Hamilton, it was my first solo trip after getting my license. ( I will post about my trip soon. ) The drive was great, …

Blade Runner 2049 ( 2018 )

Also, after watching the original Blade Runner and then consequently watching this one, I am only going to talk about Blade Runner 2049. Also, this is not a review. I watched this movie partially when I was India but I couldn't immerse myself in it. The second time I watched it, I was able to. …

Shades of Loneliness

The library is a magical place. From time to time, I find truly remarkable books. Recently, I read Jessie Greengrass's An Account of the Decline of the Great Auk, According to One Who Saw It. I picked it as it was the only short stories collection I could find. I am glad I did. This …

Anniversaries

Three years. Five years. I have been living in Auckland for the last three years. I am not a guy to celebrate anniversaries but somehow this feels momentous to me My blog is five years old now. Five. If my blog was a kid they would probably be in school now. I am proud of …

I am learning to drive… finally

People are always shocked when I tell them that I don't know how to drive. It is almost unimaginable for people to live in Auckland and not drive everywhere. There are a lot of cars in this city. I have to explain it to them that I don't need it right now as I work …

Conversation Starters: ‘How’s it going?’

I don't like that question. I hate asking or being asked the question, "How's it going?" It is a terrible conversation starter. I get it, meeting and talking to new people is pretty hard. Talking with acquaintances is even harder. So, it wouldn't be a surprise that it is pretty common conversation starter.  Almost everyone …

What is my blog about now?

I completely overlooked the fact that my blog is 4 years old. I should have made a big deal of it considering how quickly my passions oscillate. I am astonished that I haven't let my blog die. For the past 4 years, I kept writing without any theme in mind. I wrote about my life, …

With English Language

This post has been long overdue. I first thought about writing it when I was sitting in a bar with some of my friends. Half of us are non-native English speakers. I asked them, 'which language do you think in?' I wish the answers they gave me were revealing. They weren't, all of them thought …

Taking photos is fun now

I have always enjoyed taking photos and a while back seriously considered buying a DSLR or a mirrorless camera. The only problem with such a purchase is the camera isn't as compact as I wanted it to be. I ended up buying the new OnePlus 5T. I am not going to review the phone, it …

Musical Farewell

* Note: This post is more than a week late * Also, all people in this post are mentioned by their initials This was my fourth farewell in the last couple of weeks. I joked with P the other day, I am losing my friends. Some friends are leaving because they don't have a visa …

Parting

I met Rohit two years ago after I started my Masters. Today, he leaves New Zealand as I wait for my visa to come through. Through the past week, I have been thinking about how today might play out. What will we say to each other? Will I feel guilty about things working out for …

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

A year ago, when I had just met a new hiking group, I heard about Tongariro Alpine Crossing. I met people who were going to attempt the crossing with the group and I wanted to join her. I love hiking/walking and it would have been a great opportunity. But I didn't. For the last year, …

Midsummer Night’s Dream by Pop-Up Globe

Last week ( another long overdue post ), I had the pleasure of watching Pop-Up Globe's iteration of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. Having never watched any Shakespeare's plays, I was in for a treat. Featuring an all male cast, the play revolves around the events of a marriage, couple of fairies and two couples. Because …

Birthday Blues

My birthday was in November. Yes, this post is extremely late. When I was a child, I had the habit of counting the number of days to my birthday. I would literally start the day following my birthday and count the number of days till my next. I loved it. I received presents. Mom would …

2017 in Review

I expect things to always get worse. I have always greeted new year's with trepidation because I expect life to get harder. 2017 was a year where I always expected the other foot to fall. But now as I look back on the year, surprisingly it was relaxing. Sure, now that I recall, first quarter …

I host a meetup now

Well I co-host  the meetup but that's perfectly fine. I was just an attendee of the meetup till about 3 weeks ago. One time, the regular hosts couldn't make it and they asked everyone if someone would like to host it, I said sure why not? I mean how hard can it be? Next thing …

NaNoWriMo: Halfway Update

This is not my first NaNoWriMo. It is my third attempt, and the only time I succeeded in finishing my story was the very first year. I liked the story at the time, but if I read my words now I realize little in terms of a story. Last year I had no idea what …

I don’t wanna travel the world

Living in New Zealand, I have had the privilege of meeting a lot of people from different countries. The biggest advantage of meeting people is that most of them are/were traveling the world. The disadvantage of meeting people is that most of them are/were travelers. I remember a Belgian guy from the first group of …

Ramble On Book Launch

This last Sunday was Z.R.Southcombe’s “Ramble On” book launch and I was a part of it. I read an excerpt of my piece. I loved the entire event, it was simple and full of lovely people. Before arriving at the venue, I had to decide what part of my piece I was going to read. …

About Glowworms

This last weekend I was in Raglan, a small cute little town along the west coast of New Zealand. I did a lot of things that I have never done before. I jumped off waterfalls, walked in a forest in the dark ( and made new friends? ). It was a great weekend. I had …

MY NAME IS IN A BOOK!

Yes! My essay on hiking is published in a book. I can see my name in a list of contributors, can see my bio at the end of the book. My essay takes 4 pages among the last chapters. Nothing could have been better. How Did I get here? I follow Zee Southcombe on Twitter. …

House Concert

There is a bar near my house, Flight 605. I go there occassionally because they have host music gigs on Sunday. I have watched ( & heard? ) great Folk music there. Every single artisit had something unique in their gigs, Barrow Brass Band had songs 20min long, Sophie Mashlan played great guitar, Phil Edwards …

Maybe I shouldn’t have complained

I lodged my first (minor) complain yesterday evening & I feel conflicted about it. I was on my bike as I was heading down Sandringham road. As far as I know, I didn't do anything illegal or stupid. I had a bag high-visibility cover on, I was riding in the bus lane (I am allowed …

GovHack 2017: My First Hackathon

We had approximately 48 hours to use open data and create a hack (web app/ mobile app). This was never going to be easy considering: I don't know data science I didn't have a team when I registered Luckily, I knew the language I was going to work on: Javascript. In addition, I sporadically dabble …

RIP Chester Bennington

Chester Bennington's voice sounds different now, I hear his voice with a new clarity now and I get a bigger shock now. How did I never see this coming?!

How hard can it be? (New Plymouth-Paritutu Rock Edition)

(My weekend was not hard except this bit. Considering how much fun I had writing last week's post, I wanted to continue this. I might write an entire post about my New Plymouth trip later) 'Is it hard?' someone in the van asked. A guy, let's call him C had done it before with his …

How Hard can it be? (Ice Skating Edition)

If you are going to try something you have never tried before, a person is bound to tell you 'How hard can it be?'. That person might think that they are encouraging. It is either that or they want to watch you fail so bad that they can send your fail video to FailArmy.  My …

The Longing

Before my flight to Mumbai, I decide I needed to get my thoughts about going home in order

Religions in education?

'If I don't pray before the cross I get punished' my friend explained how his school in Delhi worked. He was in an Catholic school about 10 years ago. The last time I stepped inside a school was when my mom was working in a school and I had to pick up the house keys. …

I Probably Shouldn’t Complain

Life has been tough recently. I am stressed (  because of my visa delay) and really fed up with my incessant problems. I said to my mom the other day on the phone: 'I never get anything done smoothly in my life!' Yesterday I met a friend who is almost my elder sister by now. …

Weekend Coffee Share: Abrupt Changes

We haven't had coffee in a while. Mostly because I wouldn't have much to talk about. Sorry about that. I have not had the chance to talk to you about your life either. If we have met before, you would know that in my life things have a tendency to going wrong in a second. …

You never know you are doing, you just do it

I was talking to my friend past Friday. I was trying to start a PS3 console and it wouldn't start so I called him. While talking I mentioned that I am trying out 'Batman: Arkham City' game even though I have no clue what to do in it. It is at that moment he pretty …

Daily Post: Slur (Fantasy Fiction)

(My plan was not to write stream of continued stories  but now with the help of daily prompt, I am going to try writing them. First story in the series: Glitter) 'Firde!!!' the Slurred Cat screamed. 'Wait what did he scream? Did he say fire?' Maddy asked. Before One Eyed Solomon could reply, they heard …

Gone Too Soon

Friday night was not just a party for some of my friends. It was a night to honor a good friend of theirs who sadly passed away. Early this week, I saw a friend's post on facebook remembering his friend, Jérémy, a young university student. Jérémy had passed away tragically with cardiac arrest. I was …

Internship Monologues

PS: I got an internship recently, and this is how I feel everyday. Credits: The Mighty What are you doing? I am trying to understand this code. You have to admit it is way beyond your comprehension. No I got this. You will screw up. They will know you are a fraud. Shut up! You …

Daily Prompt: Oversight (Fiction)

Nothing bad can ever come here. Last night's events were not oversight, but they were a result of complacency. How else can three vampires just waltz into Wolf town? Wolf town is the holy land for all kinds of wolfs all over the world. Werewolves, direwolves, siberian wolves and so on. Sometimes even Huskies are …

#100DaysofCode challenge: These guys made my week!

I have enjoyed coding a lot since coming to Auckland. I had a lot of time in my hands, ample resources to learn and now I am always keen on coding. I just don't know what to code: I don't have any project in mind. One day, reading an article on Design.blog I stumbled on …

Identity Crisis

A couple of months ago, I was debating in my university team on minimum wage. The opposite side debated that minimum wage should stay as it helps establish identity. I remember the moment clearly when the opposite side argued 'a person's identity is associated with what they do for a living'. I rebutted against their …

Daily Prompt: Unseen Hero (Fiction)

'How could no one seen a thing?!' Lieutenant Copper exploded. The two sergeants in front of Copper had never heard their lieutenant speak like this. Copper was a nimble man, full of courtesy and diplomacy. No other man had stayed in charge for as long as Copper has and that is because of how he …

Daily Prompt: Cling (Fiction)

The smell clung to his self. He could never wash it out, no matter how many times he tried to wash his clothes. He tried to eradicate it out of his self by trying different techniques, by using the ways of his victims. He traded perfumes from some of the best manufacturers of the world. …

Daily Prompt: Shine

The light that shines brightest burns fastest Chanakya kept thinking of the line in his mind since morning. He was scared. He had played his hand and now his gamble might backfire on him. Definitely result in some firing. He had no choice but to put one foot after another. He had to pretend that …

I figured out time at the end of 2016

Or at least I think so. One of the good things in 2016. I reached the realization a while ago but only recently while reading one of the Discover posts, I was able to put my thoughts into words. As soon as I hit 'Post Comment' I knew I had an explanation to my obsession …

Weekend Coffee Share: Graduation Week

If we are having coffee, I will talk all about my week. It was full, filled with different people of different background and different perspectives. It also was the week when I graduated with a Masters of Engineering. The past weekend has been one of the best weekends so far. It was filled with great …

I wish I had a dragon

To Anyone who says Disney movies are for kids, You are wrong. They are not solely for kids. I have always enjoyed them, although I am one of the adults who love to watch great visuals on a screen. Disney or any animated movie for the matter have more than great visuals going for them, …

A year in AUT

A year ago, I was in Mumbai working 9 hours a day and secretly trying to get my visa sanctioned. I had kept my Masters' plans secret from my colleagues. I would frequently call my brother whenever I needed some advice about my visa or about my job. No one really tells you how hard …

Diwali In Auckland

(PS: that is not my home, it is my neighbors') To me, Diwali is the festival of food, particularly sweets. Families all over would create  culinary masterpieces and the very air would be infused with myriad aromas. When Diwali is passes by my house would be filled with lots of food, boxes of sweets. The …

End Panic

(PS: I use my blog less frequently than I used to. Now, it is more a therapeutic measure than a sharing platform. I write on the days when I am sad, today I am sad about a small thing that I couldn't do anymore. A post is due about my events in AUT and I will get …

Rejections

Imagine yourself on the penultimate step of the staircase. You are almost at a new level, representing a new world in itself. How you reached that spot is another story, worthy of its tale. However, if you don't reach the final step, something which often happens in my life, it can be because of two …

Why so….happy?

Recently, partly because of my newfound 'Yes' attitude and my friend's insistence, I ended up at a meditation workshop arranged by people from Hare Krishna Temple, Auckland in University of Auckland. The person conducting the workshop did a good job, outlining the various religious reasons as to why a certain meditation is performed. I know …

Who is this guy?

7 months. Without family, with only an hour long conversations with people who I utterly love. And now, this morning I realized I no longer can recognize myself. Mumbai would be a place of comfort. Where I would say 'no' more than I draw breath. No to cooking, no to cleaning, no to socializing, you …

Privilege

In recent times, privilege has been branded as a word to describe to Whites. The use of the word is many a times justified, but I am not the judge of that. I am not perceptive enough to pick out subtle race differences, to spot the minorities. I am not writing a post about racism, …

Weekend Coffee Share: Househunting again

If we are having coffee, I would tell you that coffee shares are surprisingly simple and difficult at the same time. How much am I supposed to share? Am I just supposed to gloss over stuff, or dive into my feelings as I do in many of my posts. I would tell you that I …

Weekend Coffee Share: Eventful to say the least

If we are having coffee, I would say that this week has been exciting and tiring at the same time. I did a lot of things this week and the main thing is I loved the past week, which climaxed with a beautiful trip down to Taupo Lake.   If we are having coffee I …

Cycling: A Paradox

In the recent months, cycling in Auckland has become one of my favorite activities. At the same time, I have come to loath this activity too. I love cycling down-slope, even though my nerves fire up whenever I ride in such high speed, I am glad I bought a cycle. When I cycle up-slope, if …

Weekend Coffee Share: Week’s helper

I missed last weekend's coffee share as I was doing something. I don't remember what. The week started early, some 5 am when one of my friend called me to talk to me. Something was wrong I knew immediately and we Skyped so early in the morning. Something had came up and she was scared. …

Weekend Coffee Share: New House

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I moved to a new house past Sunday. It's not as luxurious as my previous house but then again I knew it was coming. I spent the week here, making friends with the roommates and slowly our bond seems to be getting stronger, unlike my …

Maybe I should pay more attention

Racism. Something which I would hardly think of when I am dealing with people. So whenever people would ask me "Where are you from?" I would reply where am I from and just leave it at that. I hardly pay any heed to the subtle hints of racism because I do not have time for …

Weekend Coffee Share: The week that wasn’t

I had everything planned. Give my exams, Monday and Tuesday. Finish up my presentation for Wednesday and then go for a Jazz session in a bar in Auckland CBD. I would have finished up with everything with a smile on my face.   If we were having coffee then I would have told you that …

If we are having coffee: Some Reminders

If we are having coffee(or tea), I would tell you that something happened that made me want to take writing seriously again. If we do have coffee, I would also tell you that this is my first #weekendcoffeeshare post. I always loved this idea, I tried it in real life too, however I failed to …

Luck’s running out

Random person: “Wow that is awesome” Me: “Yeah, I got lucky.” That's how I always described it. Lucky. Not hard work or dedication; I was just at the right place at the right time. Many would say that I jinxed it myself, I just knew it was coming sooner or later. The previous housekeeper left …

Captivated

Today I got to know she passed away. I don’t know what else to say

It's Mayur Remember?

Many people catch my attention but only few of them truly captivate me.

Today I met an extraordinary woman.

She is my aunt’s mother, easily older than 80 years.

I don’t know her name, her last name I learnt from the nameplate.  I am clueless about her education, her marriage, her accomplishments or her regrets: because I didn’t ask them.

In fact I didn’t ask her anything, I just watched her in wide eyed wonder. I observed her energy and cordial personality, a person captivated.

Yes, captivated.

She couldn’t hear anymore but that didn’t impede her loquacious nature, she can lip read everyone: me, my parents, my aunt, even the actors on TV! Her focus oscillated from one person to the next as we spoke, she wanted to be a part of the conversation.

She spoke with everyone, she made me feel as a part of her family even if…

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Perfection

  I was assessing year 4 math papers yesterday. As part of my new job as a assistant tutor, this is one of the responsibilities. As I assessed their papers, I recalled my school years when I used to do the same things that these kids are doing. My frustration at the concept of complex …

Melancholy of Goodbye

It's weird saying goodbye. It's weirder if it's a place to which I am saying goodbye to. The past weekend I had a road trip to Hamilton, which kiwis call the hole of North Island. I revelled in the weekend, took the loses with a pinch of salt and enjoyed with icing sugar. It was …

Fiction: Half Remembered Dream

Eyelids flickering. He should know by now he is dreaming, that it is almost 5 am in the morning. The time when the dam withholding dreams is released, random characters both new, remembered and fictitious manifest. Yet he dreams on, his eyelids quivering as his sleep slowly withdraws, his breath quickening. He is standing in …

Grinning Down Queen Street

Today could have been any normal random day. Only it wasn't. If I had known that I could have been this foolishly happy by just a book then I would have borrowed this book sooner: Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 6 Bonehunters! Quite possibly the best book I have read and I saw it …