Word of the Year 2026
After years of motion, this year asked for something else. A pause. A clearer look.
A word that arrived slowly, and stayed. →
The Things That Worked. And the Ones That Quietly Didn’t.
Bells are meant to bring cheer. They are also very good at interrupting comfort.
This year had both kinds of rings. The trick was learning which ones to smile at, and which ones to pause for. →
Audit of Me: A December Reflection on Time, Attention, and Patterns
I tried to fit a year into seven kilos and failed in interesting ways. What followed was a quiet audit of time, attention, and the small patterns that shape our days. →
The Leisure We Forgot
We thought it was a dead insect. It turned out to be something else entirely.
A small discovery in a Dallas garden, a line read at 35,000 feet, and a reminder that leisure has very little to do with free time. →
Books in the Time of Dopamine
Once a lookout for escape attempts, now a landmark for people escaping into books. Bangalore has a sense of humour after all.
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The Stuff No One Claps For
“I work physically very hard every day of my life. It’s got nothing to do with cricket anymore. →
Stop the Play, I’m Still Thinking
Sunil Shanbag, weaving Mumbai’s theatre history with the calm authority of someone who has lived inside its stories. →
The Fort That Forgot Its Kingdom
Thick walls, stubborn stones, and a silence that carries the weight of centuries. →
Stop and Smell the… Tyres?
The world smells normal.
Until it doesn’t.
This rose is where my morning took a very unusual turn. →
What a Life Touches
I never met Ramki Sreenivasan. Yet I’ve heard his name often enough from friends and colleagues for him →
The Road Ends, the Sea Begins: Notes from Sayalgudi
Some beaches ask for attention. Sayalgudi behaves like it has better things to do. →
A Hill, a Haze, and All of Pune Trying to Say Hello
Lavale in the morning. A hillside, a haze and a landscape that keeps changing its mind. →
Lightly, Child, Lightly
When you loosen your grip, even a cup of coffee feels wiser. →
The Comfort of the Known
“If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.” – Carl Jung There is comfort →
Watching The Wind Work
The sea was calm, the sky spotless, and a light breeze played around like it had nowhere in particular to be. Then a boat caught the wind, its sail filled, it leaned slightly, and began to move. Just like that.
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