#131: On survival and acceptance

"Beyond living and dreaming/there is something more important/waking up."

Jan 25, 2021

Dear reader,

How are you holding up? It blows my mind that we're already 25 days into the new year, and surprisingly, things haven’t fallen apart yet. I'm happy that America got a new president and am grateful for Amanda Gorman's existence, I started therapy again and feel hopeful for a better version of myself to manifest and I'm in the process of moving homes, which is equal parts scary and exciting. I suddenly feel more equipped to embrace whatever life throws at me, to conserve my energy for what really matters. And most importantly, I am letting go of unrealistic expectations from myself and others, which is the most liberating feeling.

One of my favorite activities recently has been to make a reading list for myself for the coming months. I'm not putting any pressure to read them by a specific date but simply feeling the keenness to read them, at some point, when the time feels right. Here are the five books I'm excited to read soonish:

1. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

2. Less by Andrew Sean Greer

3. Boy by Roald Dahl

4. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

5. Goat Days by Benyamin

If anybody has a copy of Transcendent Kingdom, Boy or Greenlights they'd be willing to send , please let me know. I'm happy to do a book barter instead of buying them.

I’ve been thinking about the notion of Sonder - the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. About how we each choose to survive in this world, how complex life gets. My daily practice of reading, doodling, long walks and journaling has been keeping me sane, and I am finally starting to experience the goodness of life through the little things.

I’m curious to know what your coping mechanism is. Feel free to share it with others in this Google doc where we can collectively talk about how we cope.

And while we're on the topic of survival and acceptance, here are some poems for you to read and find strength in:

1. The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman (excerpt)

"So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.
With every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the golden hills of the west.
We will rise from the wind-swept north-east where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.
We will rise from the sun-baked south.
We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.
In every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country,
our people, diverse and beautiful, will emerge, battered and beautiful.
When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid.
The new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we're brave enough to see it.
If only we're brave enough to be it."

Watch Amanda perform the poem at the American Presidential Inauguration here.

2. What it costs by Marge Piercy

Now it costs to say
I will survive, now when
my words coat my clenched
teeth with blood, now
when I have been yanked
off love like a diver
whose hose is cut.
I push against
the dizzying onslaught
of heavy dark water.
Up or down? While
the heart kicks
like a strangled rabbit
and the lungs buckle
like poor balloons:
I will survive.

I will lift the leaden
coffin lid of the surface
and thrust my face
into the air.
I will feel the sun’s
rough tongue on my face.
Then I’ll start swimming
toward the coast
that must somewhere
blur the horizon
with wheeling birds.

3. And All Shall Be Well by Marjorie Maddox

This is the poem that doesn’t begin,
that knows no ending, just keeps rounding the bend
of middle, the bending and the rounding continuing ad infinitum,
as four-part harmony, long-winded, front-pew Baptist hymn
you learned as crack somewhere in your stained-glass memory of him
who keeps rounding the bend of you, knows no ending. Begin
where there is no beginning, where refrain neither breaks nor mends
what you once knew as discipline. The middle is where we start from—
or the beginning, the surging and receding bringing us back again
to continuum. And we shall know the place for the first time.

4. Earl Gray by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Today the lesson is in the little black leaves
floating freely in the tea, loosened
from their bag. How quickly things come apart—
things I wish would stay intact.
And yet I drink from the dark cup
and find joy in the bold, citrusy warmth.
Though it’s messy, though the bits catch
in my teeth and tickle in my throat,
though it isn’t what I would have wanted,
neither has it ruined the pleasure of bergamot,
the sharpness of lemon, the flavor
of acceptance, of morning.

5. I am Going to Start Living Like a Mystic by Edward Hirsch

Today I am pulling on a green wool sweater
and walking across the park in a dusky snowfall.
The trees stand like twenty-seven prophets in a field,
each a station in a pilgrimage–silent, pondering.
Blue flakes of light falling across their bodies
are the ciphers of a secret, an occultation.
I will examine their leaves as pages in a text
and consider the bookish pigeons, students of winter.
I will kneel on the track of a vanquished squirrel
and stare into a blank pond for the figure of Sophia.
I shall begin scouring the sky for signs
as if my whole future were constellated upon it.
I will walk home alone with the deep alone,
a disciple of shadows, in praise of the mysteries.

Fun things to do this week:

1. Soak up some Tom Gauld goodness, like this comic strip he did for Guardian ^
2. Go on an artist date, a once-weekly solo expedition to do something that enchants or interests you
3. Boost Your Happiness Chemicals
4. Feel inspired looking at these Stitched Leaves by Hilary Waters
5. Check out Couriers of Hope, where 90 artists create an original piece using envelopes
6. Spend some time on The Alipore Post Tumblr page
7. Get your Boarding Pass for a Future Mars Missions
8. Follow They Draw & Garden for some gorgeous plants and blooms
9. Go to sleep listening to Doze by Headspace
10. Watch Yearbook by Bernardo Britto

This is my newsletter #25: Abhishek Iyer

This week's edition of This is my newsletter is a letter that evokes a spirit of embracing the road ahead. Read all about bikepacker Abhishek Iyer's recent explorations and misadventures along the coast of Mexico, kind of like his very own Motorcycle Diaries.

Read Abhishek's newsletter here.

Collaboration: The Alipore Post x Good Earth

The Alipore Post was the first collaborator for Good Earth India's new The Spotlight Series – a collaboration that shines a light on handpicked cultural curators who share with us their unique view of India through portraits of history, design, nature, art.

Good Earth x The Alipore Post presented six poems and artworks by artists who come from diverse professional spheres brought together by their common usage of art and poetry to share their creative impulses. Through these six portraits, we created a layered understanding of India that doesn't draw a line between historical references and modern points of view.

Read all the poems and the curated artworks for the collaboration here.

Poetry Workshop: The Alipore Post x Svami Drinks

Poetry lovers, I'm hosting an online 2-hour poetry writing and appreciation workshop this Thursday in partnership with Svami Drinks as part of their Curiously Sober Jan workshop series. We will talk about what poetry means to us, share our favorite poems with the group, write poetry together and explore fun forms of poetry like limericks, blackout poetry and prompt-based writing.

This workshop is not only for poets. For I believe there is a poet in each one of us, and over the two hours, I hope to help you meet the poet in you, and to show you how playful and magical the medium of expression is.

Register here.

New on the Website:

1. City Lovers by Aarthi Seshadri

"As I anxiously paved my path outside the door, down the three flights of stairs, memories of the past six years flashed before my eyes indicating the death of my first real love. And as I restlessly locked myself into the deep black eyes of my potential new love, he held his arms out and I was too quick to embrace him. I placed my face on his shoulder, felt the cool wind in his hair and the warm touch of his hands on my back. I wish I were able to see the perfume he was wearing. I’m sure it would be beautiful. He was beautiful. As we organically walked out of the gate, into the streets, his warm, primal, lusty smell took over my thoughts and words. The banter of music, work, the city, the weather continued till we spotted a patisserie. Every inch he moved closer, I noticed his kind eyes and mostly safe and comforting smell. Like home, only wilder."
-excerpt from City Lovers by Aarthi Seshadri

2. The Summer of 2020 by Barkha Shah

This isn't our regular summer.
The air is cleaner,
But it reeks of fear.
The sun's shining bright,
But clouds loom large.
The streets are empty,
And the doors are closed.
Loved ones are near,
But greetings are from afar.

This isn't our regular summer.
Locked down and isolated,
Is the whole world now.
Longing and belonging
Have new meanings somehow.
For a few, money is in the banks
But there's nowhere to shop.
For others, the next meal itself
Is relying on hope.

This isn't our regular summer.
Schools are closed
But lessons are being learnt.
In kindness and gratitude,
Selflessness and minimalism.
We're touching each other's lives,
Without touching each other.
We're learning about survival,
And making it through with little.

This isn't our regular summer.

Read another quarantine poem by Barkha Shah here.

3. 2020 Memoirs by Utkarsh Sharma (excerpt)

April 15, 2020
My bones have grown old in your pain --
I learnt to gulp it down with concoctions from the market.
Tonight’s a new night --
With the cold prick of your sight
Let me sew my greening wounds up.

Is it too much to spare?
Or did I jump a queue to be served?

Passion is being rationed tonight --
Since the casks of my heart lie full,
Just smear a little on my flesh.

Read the complete memoirs by Utkarsh here.

I'll end this newsletter with my favorite Bernie Mittens meme, where he becomes a part of Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. I was delighted to discover that the edit was made by my editor at Hyperallergic - Jasmine Weber. :)

Before you leave, here’s some late night wisdom by Antonio Machado to fall asleep to:
"Beyond living and dreaming
there is something more important:
waking up."

Tread lightly and make time for what matters,
Rohini

If you like what you read here, do consider supporting this newsletter on Patreon / contributing to thealiporepost@okhdfcbank via UPI. Thank you :)

The Alipore Post

#131: On survival and acceptance

"Beyond living and dreaming/there is something more important/waking up."

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