As I write this, it is raining in Madras. To quote Amma, “rains in Marghazi mean bad things are on the way” or as the majority of us like to call it climate change is here! But hey the first week of this year didn’t feel like months, so I will take it as a positive sign from the universe.
From the shelf:
The 2017 Quartz article on How to read more effectively says that if you see three people recommending the same book then you should read it. Recently the book The Midnight Library by Matt Haig has been popping up on all my feeds. I picked it up as my last read of 2020. I loved it! It picks you up, makes you feel warm and cozy, and leaves you with a message that you will remember. The book follows Nora as she lives all her possible lives to decide which one she would like to continue with. You should give it a read if you get the chance.
From the kitchen:
I made puttu with my grandmother over the holidays. The one we make at home is more into the dessert category than the healthy breakfast version you generally come across in South India. It is a simple dessert with three ingredients in total - Rice flour, sugar, and some shredded coconut. Mix, shape, steam and ta-da dessert is served! Packing the flour mix into small moulds and expertly demoulding them is nothing short of therapy. We have been happily gorging on them over the week, the resolutions will have to wait.
From the playlist:
The B2B Marketing Leaders podcast episode with Bill Macaitis, former Slack CMO, is probably the best marketing podcast episode out there. If you are a marketer, you should definitely listen to it. Bill gives you insights into Slack’s marketing campaigns, experiments, metrics, and overall culture. Even if you are a non-marketing, non-SaaS person, the episode still packs a lot of leadership lessons that will benefit you.
From the gallery:
“It would make sense to her much later, that you needed some distance from a city to be able to worship it the way he did. It had also been his way of belonging: learning its mythology was one of many paths to calling a city home.”
― Amrita Mahale, Milk Teeth
I will leave you with my favorite message from The Midnight Library - “The life that you regret not living may not even be the one you want”. So throw the regrets out the window and have a kickass weekend!
Ciao.
Haha true! Who would have thought I'll ever miss Chennai and then again, probably I might regret it once I stay for 4 weeks...you need to move to UK so I can borrow books from you! Loved all that you have suggested so far! 💞 - AI