notes after a year
This website began as a documenting project of my days during the pandemic but almost instantly fell into disuse. A few days ago, I received an email regarding the auto-renewal of this domain name. That is when I brought back my energies to this space. After nearly a year of inactivity here, I wonder if it should remain just what I had initially intended it to be. Even after an entire year has run by, the pandemic is far from over. Perhaps, I should accord a new fate to this website, but I have no clarity on the same. Given the desultory nature that this space has taken and my inability to find its raison d’etre, I think I will let it grow without much thought. For now, here’s an update on 2020 since the time I stopped writing here:
I flew back to India last June after buying an over-expensive ticket and quarantined in Le Meridien in Connaught Place. I was fortunate to be in a room with a glass wall that overlooked the Parliament and the Rashtrapati Niwas. Especially at night, when the colored lights were turned on, I could serenely gaze at the changing colors after I finished my online classes on Zoom.
My parents have moved to a new place where my father is teaching in the capacity of an emeritus professor. Let us just say I currently live in a tech-savvy campus in the middle of the countryside and am completely cut off from the rest of the world. When I crave ice cream, I have to drive 18 kilometers one-way.
It’s incredibly hard to find dark beer in India. Especially German, Belgian and Japanese dark beer that I adore. I haven’t tasted Erdinger Dunkel for around 10 months now. Hunting for dark beer here is a daunting expedition that is wrought with disappointments. I have however found two places that occasionally stock up Feldschlösschen Dresden dark beer. Feldschlösschen is my latest and most precious beer discovery so far. The other beers that I discovered here and liked so far are Crafty Monk of Belgian origin and Birra Moretti of Italian heritage.
I began avidly writing my journal after half a year of no writing. I still write, almost every day. I ended up buying three Tomoe River notebooks from a small Istanbul-based leather company called Galen Leather.
Verve magazine reached out to me and I reviewed an art show and interviewed the galleries that organized it. The piece can be found here.
I have submitted a paper to Milton Quarterly and it has been 5 months since then. I have not heard back from them. I shall wait for another month before dropping them an email.
I became friends with Jude Chao also known as Fiddy Snails who has been my skincare savior since 2014 and bought a lot of skincare. I paid a lot of duties too. I realize that I am very bad at saving up. I need to learn to save and invest my money.
I bought an instant camera and then went on to buy an analog camera for Christmas and then New Year’s. They’ve been christened “Kubrick” and “Andrei” respectively. My film reels are languishing in my fridge since I have barely had any opportunity to use them.
Around the end of 2020, I started investing in stocks.
I began reading books that are unrelated to my Ph.D. My favorites so far being Naomi and Quicksand, both by Junichiro Tanizaki. I bought so many books that I am certain that I am good to go for at least a few months.
I discovered that my university ID gives me off-campus access to wonderful online electronic resource platforms like Kanopy, Audio Ciné, and Criterion On Demand.
I passed my primary qualifying exam after churning out 4500 words in 4 hours on Zoom followed by a 2-hour oral examination.
I finally got a new supervisor after a year of not having one.
One of my closest childhood friends got married in February 2021. I finally made a trip to her city and attended her wedding.
I got stitches for the very first time. It was a painful and surreal experience. I hope the scar fades away sooner than later.
Around the end of February 2021, I started investing in cryptocurrency. It’s been a chaotic journey but I have made small gains and I ardently hope that they aren’t temporary.
By now, I’ve watched too many K-dramas and have finished watching all the new seasons of the big Anime releases of last winter. Currently following the 5th season of the Anime called Boku No Hero Academia and Vincenzo which is a K-drama. I am now shifting my focus to films.
Have bought The Criterion Channel subscription on the 1st of April, 2021, and have been watching a film a day. Been uploading my online movie logbook regularly here. Will buy a Mubi subscription soon.
Have proposed an exclusive film club model to an English professor on campus. I hope the institute gives it a green signal. I would love to watch movies on a projector. I am also considering buying a projector for my home in case the film club proposition goes to naught.
Currently editing my 4th Ph.D. thesis draft. I hope to finish it in the next one hour and go back to reading Time Within Time by Andrei Tarkovsky.
