Stories

As a new crimson lights a fading night every blade of grass seems to jostle for a better view. The breeze and the birds sing a fresh tune. They ask, ‘so how are you today’?, In teasing invitation.

Thats a good way to begin the day. In their company,. #stories #culture #trade #life #ordinary #traveller #instatravel #instapassport #blogger #travelblogger #blogging #travelinsights #traveladdict #traveltheworld #wanderlust #destinations #entrepreneur #startup #disrupt #fun #metaphor #love #story #latergram #work #meaning #conversation #love #mindfulness

From a big plane’s window it looks like a small plane. There is a difference I tell myself, even as I dismiss it by its size! Size after all is a matter of perspective.

I remind myself : This seat is mine for this journey. That plane is his. There is a difference there! 🙂

Our perches are not us!

Where we stand depends on where we sit! The stances that we take, the identity we craft for ourselves and dispense for others, depends on what sits in our mind.

Our minds are expensive real estate. Perhaps the most expensive of all real estate in the world.

Let’s take care of what thoughts we let in as tenants. Because, those are the thoughts that we will sit on.

Besides what sits in us will also determine what stands we take.

We learn from history that we don’t learn much from history. I read that somewhere and it stuck to my mind.

At the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, erstwhile army gear and flags of nations become props for photo ops for visitors.

For a small fee of course. In battle, people pay with their lives, to defend the flag, which is a different matter altogether.

Amongst other thoughts it struck me that it is part of identity, isn’t it?

If that is so, what defines us, automatically excludes a lot more.

Well, what defines you? What else could you possibly become?

What are the borders in your mind that you seek to overcome?

What are the borders in your mind that you don’t even know, exist?

(at Brandenburg Gate (Potsdam)

What are you working on? And how are you working on whatever you are working on?

The Albert Victor Bridge in Madurai was built in 1886 and was supposed to last a 100 years! It’s still standing. Being of value and use to the day. Long after the engineers went back and the river ran dry.

Good work solves problems. Great work solves problems, through time as well. The option to do both exists all the time. The choices are ours to make.

(at Madurai, India)

A bird in hand is worth two in a bush they say. But what happens to a kid’s heart when a picture of one emerges in her hand?

The flutter in her eyes and the urgent joy that the twitch in the corner of her mouth gives away are flights of joy that no bird can match!

It’s not the big toys that cause the greatest joys. Sure they bring in their own levels of happiness. But the moments spent laughing and waiting for something to emerge are the ones that are green in the mind.

The gates lead to a brief courtyard of four pillars. Which leads to a ruffle of a mud road. That leads into the lake. Beyond which are great trees. When you persist post that pristine rolling hills invite.

The village temple has many celebrations through the year. But when this city dweller gets and looks at the world, the roads his parents have walked become clearer. Long roads that we’re never roads.

Journeys that start by looking out of giant doors and not wondering if there is a road. Whose dreams were never limited by the question : “Is there a road?’

(at Madurai, India)

My experiments with Instagram

Picture stories have been the nerve centre of this website. It is in the long hard look at images that the words and stories have emerged. Over several years. As my Instagram page begins to hog a dab more of my attention than it did earlier, my experiments with Instagram embolden me to weave more stories.

Ever since the shift in career trajectory, there have been many experiments in the recent times that I have been running. When the view of life in itself is viewed as a series of experiments there is only discovery and learning all the way around, experiments and learning on social are also default. Several of social ones are on my Instagram page.

To try and bring a story alive in what is essentially a siloed and image based medium has been a bucket of work with droplets of learning here and there. I have learnt the power of images and how much they can chew up everything else. The importance of filters, lenses, hashtags and what all they can stand in for, and gently gloss over is omnipresent. But to spot the story behind the dominant narrative, has been such fun.

This house, where many of the young are permanently stationed is often viewed as an abode of narcissism by the old. Ok, older. I am finding it to be a very interesting and different platform. I try and keep the play with filters to the minimum and add some shade, contrast and brightness with words. Especially about the places and people that I encounter. If at all it is about me, it is only through the micro accounts stories that I tell there. “Thats not how the medium works” many have told me, shaking their heads with a smug smile lurking in the corner of their lip. Perhaps, they are right. For the way I use Instagram is not what Instagram has bet its shirt on. Instagram’s soul lies in its filters and the words are clearly optional extras. In more ways than one, I am harbouring some old fashioned beliefs. Some of them go like this : Good stories draw people. Good stories are often a combination of pictures and words. etc. etc.

But who cares. Its never about a platform as much as its about the users, their imagination and what they do with it. So I believe. So my page there is become something of a mini blog. Needless to say, my difficulty in adapting to the ready-shoot-filter-publish model is evident in every post. At least in my head. Sometimes though, I receive appreciation. Like the one today from this gentleman whose work I admire hugely, which read  “Love the stories behind your posts. Amazing patience and ‘care’ “.  That chuffed my heart and set me thinking.

The missus added some sense into the dose of kaapi on an otherwise busy Sunday evening to suggest that I need to consider the fact that some of the ‘short posts’ and pictures merited a ‘fuller’ post on the website. “Not everybody is on Instagram you know”, she began. And then quickly went on to other things like “assuming too much” etc, which I thought was fresh brew from another world.

Promptly this blogpost was thought of and some quick-fire decisions were made. Some pictures and accounts from Instagram will get here as well. Some of it shared on other platforms. In any case, its all experiments. So, if you are still reading, do follow me on Instagram and let me know how the page is evolving. My page on Instagram is here : https://www.instagram.com/kavi.arasu/

For, am going to be at it. Chasing a bunch of hypotheses and relishing whatever emerges. When you don’t break into a  sweat on the numbers of likes or followers and are focused on being present with people, their pictures and their stories, there is joy.

Try.

Mountains. The mountains have a way of helping you understand ‘expanse’ .

When the clouds kiss the peaks and the ground beneath seems to quiver with just a bit of excitement, you want to take your eyes away. And look into the horizon.

Where another set of clouds are engaged in the same romance. With another set of waves of mountains. You smile. You learn expanse!

It’s often not about how heavy the weight is as how we carry the weight.

Finding another shoulder and just another plank to distribute the weight works wonders.

So, this week, who are you lending a shoulder to? It could make a telling difference. Who knows whats weighing someone down.

(at Juhu Beach)