13 weeks, 8 flights, 3 airports, 2 books and a giveaway

A return to writing after weeks of doors and gates closing, sliding and opening. Plus an intro to my travelling companions for April - 2 books (you might get them in the post)!

Despite my earlier resolve to write to you weekly, I have skipped close to 13 weeks.

Thirteen.

In my folder, reside several unfinished drafts. But the return to this letter only meant that I should write afresh, share a small slice of my 13 weeks. I would also love to hear how your 2023 has been so far, so please do add your comments below.

Sliding doors and closing gates

In these 13 weeks, I have just kept hearing the noise around jobs and careers grow louder. Friends and colleagues reaching out with news of abrupt endings. My own journey in a promising young unicorn came to an end on the last day of February. Maybe, more on that, someday later. In my meditations I keep reflecting on impermanence, and find solace in the thought that just like good things come to an end - all those that are troublesome and painful also come to an end. Those are the joys of impermanence. ‘Every exit is an entry somewhere’ - a large typographic poster with a door proclaimed at my alma mater. As you step out of somewhere, you step in somewhere too.

My son would agree, his exams (and the sleepless nights prepping last minute) also came to an end. We managed to take some time out, the three of us.

So, I have been stepping in and out, and in through a lot of doors. Many of them of the sliding kind, at airports and the unusual kinds (below). But it’s not just been doors, windows and frames have been a part of the journey as well. Apart from a brief break, personal work kept taking me back to the city I was born, and back to the city I now call home.

From the Kochi Muziris Biennale, Kochi

And in midst of it all I discovered 2 airport bookshops. A disappearing breed.

The magic of Airport bookshops

There’s something magical about airport bookshops - stumbling upon them accidentally, with limited time to browse and a whole lot of physical books stuffed in a limited space. For me, it sharpens my senses - makes me focus, scan faster and hone in to a handful. And maybe find something special that no amount of search on e-commerce sites could unearth.

The first one was at Kochi airport. Unlike shops that also sell books with chocolates, TSA approved locks, neck pillows, soft drinks, strawberry wafers and other paraphernalia - this one just sold books. A bigger rarity.

The second was at Bangalore airport’s Terminal 1, near the end gates. This bookshop had the paraphernalia, and a respectable collection of books. So from each, I came away with one book, which accompanied me up in the air and in the journey beyond.

My two finds: the first, a neat fit for the uncertain times we live in; the second - magical, absurd, funny and poignant reflection to our crazy times, complete with reflective AI, chats, and cats.

48 Lessons in achieving calm

Written by Shunmyō Masuno, a Zen Monk, Priest of the Sōtō Zen temple Kenkō-ji, and a Garden Designer - Don’t Worry is a compilation of 48 lessons in achieving calm. A companion for the tumultuous times we live in.

Good news—it’s a book for beginners and not a book to be read from beginning to end. Open any of these 48 lessons (eg., lesson 9 - Reconsider the obvious or lesson 34 - Don’t wield logic), each are around just 3-4 pages long. Read and reread. It’s also a book for people who are already aware, and simply need a handy compilation. Don’t compare this to the likes of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki. This one is about breadth, adds in the occasional corporate angle, and collates scattered goodness we may have already encountered.

I read a review that said this book “did not lead me towards any enlightenment” - if you’re expecting that in about 200 pages and sub $10 price tag, you’re in for disappointment. IHO, Don’t Worry is a rather unimaginative title but it may be a victim of being lost in translation. Indeed, this English version likely suffers from a rather stiff translation (for the lack of a better term) from the intended Japanese original.

I loved this small handy hardbound book size—a tad bigger than my open hand, and perfect for keeping beside the bed or desk. The design of the pages, the typography, the paper thickness and texture, illustrations, all of it adds up nicely. And it also does something that I have never been brave enough to do in all the years of designing: most pages have centrally aligned text.

“When awake, half a mat; when asleep, one mat;
even if you rule the world, four to five bowls.”

No matter how great you are, when you’re awake, all the space you need is half a tatami mat; when you’re asleep, a full tatami mat; and no matter how much status and influence you may have, all you need for one meal is four to five bowls.

The birth lottery and other surprises

Written by the 2022 Booker Prize winning author Shehan Karunatilaka (for his book The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida), The Birth Lottery is a powerful collection of short stories. Powerful, because often in a matter of a few pages, or just lines, the plots/setting or scene changes in unexpected ways - often melting the boundaries between reality and absurdity, humour and tragedy. And each of these short stories are distinctive, sometimes as short as a page.

“Karunatilaka is a funny guy. And it’s hard to be funny when you are writing
about your country’s civil wars, it’s many encounters with death and violence, and the uncertain future of a nation divided […] he makes you laugh out loud with the absurdity of it all – not in a way that makes you think lightly of Sri Lanka and its tragedy…”
Sayari Debnath, Scroll.in

The first few paragraphs on reflections of a self driving car facing imminent accident is what got me hooked, and made me swipe my card at the airport bookshop. Apart from a rather quirky introduction on ‘How to Read This Collection’ (the answer to which is: “Never in sequence. I don’t with other people’s works. Why should anyone with mine”), Karunatilaka does offer some themes to help make choices. Though I happily ploughed through without much consideration for thematic choices, and for most of my flight.

I later found this description from The Hindu that seemed to describe Karunatilaka’s writing so aptly - “He is able to pack in substantial details, both emotive and tangible, with a graceful economy of words that is not quite subtle, nor flashy.”

Two books and a giveaway

While Don't Worry by Shunmyō Masuno and The Birth Lottery by Shehan Karunatilaka are quite different in terms of content and style, they both share a common theme of exploring the human experience. Both books offer unique insights into the challenges and joys of being human, making them valuable reads for anyone seeking to better understand themselves and the world around them. For April, they were both handy-sized, compact travelling companions that don’t need to be read end-to-end. And I am offering 2 copies of each book to my readers, as giveaways, details below.

A book posted to you

Tell me, via the comments, which book resonated with you and why you’d want a copy mailed out to you. I’ll choose 2 recipients for each of the books over the next week and get it sent to your preferred address, anywhere within India.

For now, I will pare down my weekly ambitions and make sure it’s not another 13 weeks of waiting. I’ve got to go - the gates are open for my next flight. I’ll see you in 2 weeks.

Keep moving, stay still and stay curious…