Thailand and adios, 2025

 Ok, so 2025 is officially over. It's kind of unbelievable how fast it came and went. This year, we did a lot. Like a shit ton. Probably more than we've done in previous years. Work wise, it was super busy and super fulfilling. But I don't want to talk about work, because it almost seems like that's all we do. So on the personal front, we travelled a lot, ate some great food, drank some great alcohol, made some very good friends, and also met some just about ok (aka very forgettable) people. It's damn tough to sum up an entire year this way, in one blog post, so I really should've been more regular with blogging this year. But unfortunately that ship has sailed. What I can do is promise myself I'm going to be way more regular in 2026. And use that ProCam subscription I paid for, and take lots of polaroids to post here. Like I did back in 2023. 

But mainly I want to get back to blogging regularly is because AG and I have decided we're going to write a book together. We have a couple of leads, which we want to explore, so why not? Mainly, I want to develop a distinct writing style once again. I knew I had one back in 2018, when I wrote all those shorts back to back, but I feel like I've kind of lost my style from not being as regular. I just don't feel very confident writing anymore. So I want to get that spark back. I'll try and do anywhere between 5 to 8 posts each month. 

Thailand and Pondi were definitely the big highlights of the year. Went to some really beautiful places. Also had a bit of a shaving accident in Thailand. I'd forgotten my electric shaver back in bombay, so I bought one from 7/ 11. And the damn thing was so brittle, it barely worked on my stubble. Took out like half of the beard, and the other half just wouldn't come off. So I went old school and shaved it all off using the razor and shaving cream. Ended up looking like a boiled potato for like half the trip. 

AG and me outside Chatuchak one day after 'the incident'

One of this year's biggest discoveries was 7/ 11. Made like 20 trips to multiple different 7/ 11s the entire time we were in Thailand. For everything right from snacks and sandwiches and soda to creams, USB cables and those amazing instant-heat sandwiches. One night after some drinks in a jazz bar, we walked to 7/ 11 on our way back to the hotel, grabbed some sandwiches, had them heated up at the counter, and wolfed them down on our way back. Best thing ever. 

This guy had the best khao soi

This guy was incredible. He was running a one-man opeation at a restaurant somewhere in Thailand- waiting tables, cooking the food, serving, cleaning up, and doing the billing. There's something so awe inspiring about small teams and single-person operations. The focus and no-nonsense vibe. And the food was yummy too. Best way to run a profitable business right off the bat - keep things small. 

So yes, that's about it. Oh, and Diwali this year was great as well. 

Us and the fam at the new bungalow

And some good trips to Mangalore/ Bangalore too. 

Me and the folks in a rickshaw stuck in Bangalore traffic

What I was specifically very happy about was the number of parks we went to this year. Went to Lodhi garden in Delhi for the first time, did an early morning walk around the lawns at India Gate, the park next to our house in Mangalore, the park next to the museum in Pondicherry, the lawns outside the Matrimandir in Auro, the Swaram and lawns in Auro, and overall all the many, many jungles over there. 

AG trying to figure out Maps in Auro. Being lost in Auro is the best place to be.

 And there's quite nothing like early morning kayaking.

AG happy that she finally got the hang of kayaking

That was about it for our 2025. 

Will never forget this lunch at the Solar Kitchen. God damn what fresh food.

Better Call Saul has made us Cinnabon fans for lyf

Stuff we ate in 2025

 ... and we ate a LOT. 

Veg roll and vanilla milkshake

Cinnabon

Mango ice cream in a cone

Khao-soi in A&U's in Goa

AG discovered Effingut

Cafe Tonino at Connaught Place does decent cocktails

Lifelong Saravana Bhavan fan

Homemade khao-soi

Saravana Bhavan in Pondi

Bread & Chocolate in Pondi

Samurai Kitchen somewhere in Thailand

Small khao-soi place

Japanese place with the best sushi

Mango sticky rice

Burmese noodles & broth

Yum

Duck fried rice

Ice cream at Chatuchak

Goa at A&U's

Biryani & fish

Right now, is forever

The feeling of haste and urgency is - in all probability - the universe testing you. 

Testing to see how desperate you are for it. 

Desperation is the great repeller of the universe. 

Even in the Milky Way, at the spot of the dipole repeller lies a huge supervoid. 

Which is the universe basically telling you nothing comes to those who are desperate for it. 

I now have a 50-year plan, inspired by someone who is in great power today who - I think - when he was younger, has waited patiently to see the time he wished for. 

And it has come true for him. Not that I agree fully with this man's principles and values. 

But some things are best learnt from villains. Because heroes are too virtuous to always do the smart thing. 

The plan is to wait. And wait. And wait. To react to nothing. To be shaken by nothing. 

Which is going to take a lot of mindfulness and meditation to achieve. But I will consciously pray on it. 

I will strive to keep my mind clear at all times. Of distractions, of poisons, of negativities. 

I will be led by my breath, which will be slow, measured, present. It will be deliberate. 

Anything worth having is worth waiting for. Infinitely. 

And life, as it is today, in the moment, is how it will always be. 

Right now, is forever. 

100K on MMS - welcome Paris Hilton and Zohran Mamdani!

 Just as I started to write this, a pigeon came and sat on the window awning of the apartment next to mine. The awning was downward sloping and dusty, so the pigeon very casually skidded all the way down until it reached the edge, and then fluttered its wings and flew away. Looked kind of cool, like it had figured out a budget ski arrangement. 

Anyway. 100K is a big friggin deal man. It is. By objective standards. Less than 5% of all accounts globally cross the 100K mark. Even fewer see the kind of engagement we do. Just for context, we've touched 30M monthly views. Monthly. A majority of our audience is from the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and India. Which in itself is quite a big achievement- going so global with the kind of resources we work with. 

This basically means that in today's world, if you have the sensibility, the intent and whatever few resources you need to keep being regular with yuor stuff, it is possible to get the world to see your work. 

Paris Hilton and Zohran Mamdani followed us within the span of a week. Other biggies like Craig Thomas (creator of HIMYM), Shefali Shah, Orry, Alyssa Milano, Shefali Shah, Gurinder Chadha and Dr Jane Goodall's account among many others, also followed and interacted with our content. I've actually now lost track of how many big accounts interacted with our stuff. Especially the Paris Hilton post. 

Editorially, though, we're nowhere close to where we used to be when we started out. And I think that's a great thing. 

We're no longer all about neurodiversity and disability, and for a while now our focus has been way beyond our Indian audience. We've forayed into a multitude of diverse topics, we're more nuanced in our coverage and reportage, and our design game has advanced at least a couple of levels. All thanks to AP, AS and KA from the team. I think that's also what's working for us- we don't always look to work with the loudest voices in the room. We'll take the quiet voices, the ones filled with ideas and no spaces to voice them, and get into chats with them. Sometimes, that works too. 

I see so many pages copying us. Which is a good thing, I think, because imitation is the highest form of flattery. But the pages that screenshot our stuff, remove our logo and post it on their profiles are just plain assholes. 

Anyway, so while AG and I were in Pondi, we did a short vlog chronicling our 100K reflections. Thinking back on our journey from nothing to where we're now. A lot of it was shot way too early in the morning, or way too late at night, so I might be quite incoherent with my thoughts through most of it. But meh, what the hell... will ask AS or AA to put together a quick edit and make the best of what we managed to get. 

On a separate note, Auroville is just unreal. The Matrimandir is just unreal too. I wish they let you spend more time there, because 15 minutes just doesn't cut it, but I kind of understand why they don't. It just all feels like a different universe entirely. 

We're in August 2025 already...

Can't believe we're 8 months into the year and I've only blogged twice. It's been crazy busy. 

I genuinely can't tell where the past few months have gone by. 

It's a great feeling, honestly.

I read somewhere recently what a privilege it is to be doing the work you once prayed for. To be so busy doing what you love. 

Maybe this is what they mean by Ikigai. 

I will come back here very soon. As soon as all of this good, great, soul-satisfying madness is over. 

I will - hopefully - be able to string all my loose thoughts together to write something that'll help me make sense of the utterly delightful chaos the past year has been.

This. This is what we once prayed for. 

I'll be back... soon.

WINNER TAKES IT ALL (BCS - S4E10)

 

The Parenting Aaj Kal launch event

 We did a launch event last week for the launch of the first Much Much Media IP - Parenting Aaj Kal with Dr Vibha. Dr Vibha is the founder of Ummeed. The event was in south Bombay on a rainy evening, so I was genuinely scared if people would show up. But it was a great turnout. Our first event, pulled off entirely by our small team. 

Me giving the opening speech

AG giving the opening speech

Did a small panel feat Owen Roncon, Ira Khan, Dr Vibha, Dr Pervin and AG

AG, Owen (my former boss and event space veteran), and me

Abhishek Karnani (head of the Free Press group) and me

DD World War death edition

It's World War 2 time. I'm on one side as a civilian. We're in Prague or somewhere and somehow I land up at a warsite that's a swimming pool. There's 4-5 of us and we all dive in. There's heavy shelling going on, and some of the blasts are missing us narrowly. It's quite scary and I'm telling the others to keep themselves safe. Some of the others die from the shelling. Somehow 3 of us survive. Then a small UFO looking thing flies above the pool, detects the other 2 moving and shoots a kind of bullet or something that kills them. Then it comes for me. At first I'm able to evade it by lying very still in the water. Then something pulls me back, and the UFO is able to detect me. It hovers to a stop right above my head and shoots the bullet. I feel a numbing and the lights go out. 

I'm at some kind of cottage where it's quiet and peaceful. In it, my parents are having lunch. Noodles and some curry. There's some kind of TV on, on which they're watching the war unfold. I'm still numb, so I'm thinking to myself if this is what death feels like it's awesome and not something to be scared of at all. But we have to go again because the shelling will get us. So we get out of that space. We're now at some kind of small port where people are rushing to get on a boat. The shelling continues. Some kind of God command goes off in the sky and it orders a change of viewing resolution of the war. The visual mechanism obeys, and all the equipment changes to high resolution displays. Suddenly everyone is so much clearer. We're again clamoring to get on the boats while some people fall off and drown in the water. 

BTS at PAK

 Some BTS pics from the sets of Parenting Aaj Kal

Aditi, me and Dr Vibha on set

The Parenting Aaj Kal set

Dr Pervin, Ira and Aditi

Afzal Baig, Natasha Badhawar and Dr Vibha

Cyrus Broacha and Rafiq Siddiqui

Shravan, Aditi, Anjali Siroya, Dr Vibha and Shalaka

Anirudh framing Dr Vibha

Lodhi garden is incredible

 PS took us there this afternoon right after our morning schedule. Can't believe I hadn't ever come here in all these years of coming to Delhi so often. So quiet and peaceful. Of course it helped that the weather was perfect. We went to some place to have chole kulche right before we came here, so I was quite sleepy almost throughout. And before that we had spent early morning walking around the India Gate lawns, which are also lovely. But we did manage to cover quite a substantial area in the park itself. Also, VHS is making a comeback in a big way starting with this trip. 

All the ways we speak

 New film for Ummeed on non-speaking autistic people. Shot over 2 days, very Alag Hain Kam Nahi-type feel, which I personally love. There's something so personal about going to people's homes and shooting them in spaces where they belong. It's a different vibe. People are way less guarded, way more open. And if you get adjusted to the space soon enough, you can get some good stuff too. The key is to have a small crew, and people who understand.