Weekly Notes: 2/52

This entire week went in a blur. Infact, on Wednesday/Thursday, I did catch myself confused about the status of these weekly notes because I knew a lot wouldn’t have been achieved worth writing about.

But a life was lived and it deserves a mark.

1. On Sunday, during the time when Orbit was getting her wash done, I went to catch the exhibition of the books of Kohei Sugiura. I was utterly disappointed because nothing could be touched! Imagine hundreds of books laid out in front of you designed by one of the most prolific designers and you can’t flip a page. It was crowded but surreal because people were craning their necks to look around the books to catch a glimpse of inspiration but I could see that everyone was disappointed.
   Luckily, I was present there on Friday when the exhibit opened and was able to flip a few magazines over before taking the wrong decision to come back later for a more peaceful preview.

2. At Anomalie Tattoo Co, I’ve decided to use this year to be intentionally present at events so a couple of days were spent in talking to some upcoming events and adding our new designs to the website. Everyday, I discover atleast 2-3 new things we can be doing with Anomalie Tattoo Co and discovering about it just lifts my spirits. I think this is what happens when your soul is aligned with the work you do and I consider myself lucked out that I am getting to build this little brand.

3. Paras’s parents arrived in the middle of the week and we took them to Toast and Tonic, a place that I’ve grown to enjoy not only for their drinks but also for their food. His mom doesn’t like cocktails a lot but she thoroughly relished the Herbalist - one of their signature drinks.

4. On Friday, we left for Coorg for a two-night stay with them and I am typing this weekly note from Coorg. This entire week, I had troubled sleep paired with pains and aches sprouting from random places and somehow I have managed to catch up on my sleep. I do need to go for a full body test once I am back in Bangalore because I feel bloated and not super energetic.

5. While in Coorg, I unfolded the inner immature flower-spotter in me and whipped out my favourite app to identify flowers. Here are a few of the species I saw.

This was this week and hope that the pace picks up a little next week.

Weekly Notes: 1/52

The first week of the year flew by quicker than one could blink. This year, it is one of my deep wishes for myself to take focus away from the instant updates on social platforms and direct that energy into filling the pages of my blog. Just like the old days :)

I spent the last week of 2024 in Goa with friends and it seemed like a lesson in Murphy’s laws - tilting towards the bad side. Everyone got the flu and I had a panic/anxiety/heartburn because of all the lack of sleep and black coffee consumption. So I have stepped into the new year a little wiser for limiting my coffee intake specially when I am sleep deprived.

1. I have been reading The Other Side - a documentation and revealing of artists that leaned into their spirituality to create art. I have been making meditation drawings for over five years now. Something that I started making at a low point in life and have always assumed them to be non publishable pieces. The drawings are tiny to begin with and with no text around them, hard to understand by anyone other than me. This book gives me courage to continue my practice.

2. On the 1st January, while we were taking our flight back to Bangalore with problematic throats and cold, Nishita hosted her friends at home for an art party and they played around with an Anomalie tattoo she designed. It always feels nice to see people wearing these tattoos. Watching people look at a design and feel that it is a part of their identity gives me goosebumps!

Nishita’s friends sporting the tattoo she designed. You can get the tattoo here —> https://www.anomalietattoo.com/products/brown-kudi-temporary-tattoo

3. I came home to a pending list of dispatches I had to do for our upcoming collab with the Kairo Store - a brand whose tees I have really liked and we made a cute little postcard to send along our tattoos.

4. Visited an exhibit by Prof Kohei Sugiura where almost 100 of his designed books were on display with Noopur and Rasagy. The exhibit was so full that all of us decided to revisit it to actually enjoy seeing the books properly.

Noopur, Rasagy, Kenneth and Garima came home and we chatted and ate idlis and chikkis. Noopur gifted me the cutest hand made sweater, this graphic novel and a postcard and Garima and Rasagy gave a little working camera that fits in my palm. I have been blessed with friends who take so much time and effort to think of the most beautiful gifts and I do feel I need to make a zine of all the little gifts I keep receiving.

5. Started working on a book illustration project that I need to complete by this month and when I printed the existing illustrations, I figured that the readability was an issue so I need to redo everything I’ve done so far!

6. In the evening, Niramayee came over to hand deliver my belated most thoughtful birthday gifts (which featured this graphic novel) and by that point, I was just reflecting on all the good energy of this tribe around me. There’s something about sitting with classmates that lights a warm glowy bulb inside one’s head. The laughter comes so naturally and easily :) Oh, Rashmi brought flowers to the mix!

Ending the weekly notes with these are two sunsets. One is 31 December, 2024 and the second is 4 January, 2025

This week in the studio 20/2024

This year is racing past like a rabbit on steroids and every now and then, I reflect on the weeks going back, take a deep sigh and move on with the next task on my plate.

Given the ongoing guilt I feel of not examining/reflecting enough, this weekly writing is the least I can commit to, for my own sanity. I also got inspired by a similar weekly writing project by a friend who also seems to be on a similar documentation path in life.

This week in the studio

1. Last Saturday, Satya didi, our cook plucked almost five kilos of mangoes from the tree that’s right outside our balcony. I had been eyeing the mangoes ever since they started ripening but I didn’t imagine that’s how many they’ll turn out to be. Looking at the plucked harvest, I went back to see that there were almost double of the harvested amount still hanging from the tree. I am not adept at thinking of the delicacies to be made (generally not creative in the kitchen and not a foodie for sure) so the task of putting all these mangoes to good use is left to Satya didi.

2. On Saturday, after a hiatus of more than a year, I was able to organise a small ‘Drawing Room’ session with friends. We got with the initial intention of making collages but ended up drawing zines. These sessions had become a weekly activity in 2022-23 and somehow I loosened my grip on it and the sessions made way for just house parties. Anyway, with this session, Kenneth got a lot of great coffees to brew along with a substantial brewing equipment and Noopur, Rasagy, Paras and I got the pleasure of sipping on amazing coffee while drawing.

3. After much back and forth (a little heated back and forth), I finally received the packaging envelopes for my independent temp tattoo brand, Anomalie Tattoo Co and knew that the rest of the week was going to be spent in packing orders and dispatching them. Specially because customers had started asking for their order updates and I was losing patience rapidly. So when the envelopes finally arrived, I hugged them for good luck and started dispatching our first tattoos to customers!

4. I went to Spirit Forward, a bar that was taken over by a Goan bar, Grumps. Its not usual that I feel the need to go out for a drink but I was positively grumpy that day and felt that a yummy drink could fix my mood. Fix it did actually. The cocktails were quite yummy but I ended up eating a wild mushroom dish that made the next day quite unbearable for me in the stomach department.

5. I received the hand tufted rugs made from my drawings and without any shame, I was smitten the moment I set my eyes on them. There’s definitely more of them coming specially with how they came out.

Writing this on a Friday night going through the phone photo gallery made me acutely aware of how documenting our lives and reflecting on them can stretch the fabric of time, albeit a little bit.