Postcards From J

"Your true life exists in between the period of time where you stop being an ass and something kills you. That's your life, and I just started my life." JOHN MAYER *** Honest, candid, thoughtful and positive! These are the words that first struck me after listening to this superb interview of John Mayer by Talia Schlanger. And I've listened to it twice already. Ms Schlanger did an outstanding job of conducting this with class. The questions and prompts were smart and effective. And the best part is she handled some of the obvious done-to-death talking points with such sensitivity that even JM surprised us and himself at the end to round off the perfect interview.  Set aside 35 minutes and press 'play' below to listen:   I have so many favourite bits in it! Listing a few here: On being asked whether he's nervous about his parents hearing 'In The Blood', he goes "Nah!" followed with "A good song explains its...

Mondays can suck. Especially when you're coming back to work after a five-day break. Anyway, if you need a little pick-me-up, here are two videos from the Golden Globes held earlier today. One where Viola Davis pays tribute to Meryl Streep and the second is Streep's speech on receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her body of work over the years. I'm ignoring the hate that Streep is getting for the 'political' slant she took (some of the comments are just vile), but that final Carrie Fisher quote has just become a major inspiration for the year ahead. via GIPHY Take your broken heart, make it into art.  How beautiful! 💔 ~j~

Damn, the year has flown by! Now where have I heard those words before? Yeah, that's pretty much what we say EVERY December as the end of the year approaches. But it felt a bit different this year for me. I was busy in phases, and the last three months were incredibly slow - at least it felt like that. So do I hate 2016? Umm... not completely. For starters, it brought about the birth of my niece (and godchild) - a tiny miracle that left me weeping when I first laid eyes on her. She has turned our world upside down and changed us as humans. How can someone so little have so much power over the rest of us? Even though she's far away in another country now, just a glimpse of her on video calls or her photos brightens the dullest days. A blessing like no other! I lived all by myself in patches during the year. And it was fine for the most part. But after the niece and the rest of the family left, I had a tough time by myself. I went back to being an insomniac - and this time...

Two and a half years ago, I took off with friends to a resort in Khopoli for an overnight trip. While we were there, we decided to explore the nearby Morbhe Dam (not accessible to public) and the surrounding villages. It was rainy but definitely not depressing. Carpets of lush green grass, a little hilly terrain, the occasional tiny waterfall, grey skies, cool breeze and droplets from the sky marked that evening's drive. I came across this idol placed near some rocks. No clue who it is (and I couldn't get closer because we had to rush back), but it reminded me of Arun Kolatkar and his famous work of poetry entitled Jejuri . A collection of poems focused on the temple town of Jejuri (which is still on my travel list) in Maharashtra, the lines from "Scratch" are my favourite. And here's one that has always stayed with me. scratch a rock and a legend springs Look it up if you like! Found this post lying in my drafts and thought it's necessary to ki...

For some unexplained reason, I've been wanting to blog all day. Write a few lines at the very least. Or at least cheat with some pictures on the photo blog (which needs to be revived). But NOTHING. It's well past 3 AM and I am still wide awake. Dammit. Reading (or trying to read) as many things being thrown at me by the world wide web*! And you know where that leads you... Straight into insomnia hell. Well, I think I'll just go back to reading and dreaming of that next holiday. My desk looks calm, but my mind is all over the place. Okay, enough. Thanks for stopping by. :) ~j~ *PS: National Geographic Traveller India has some great content, by the way. Their social pages on Facebook and Twitter are constantly pushing out features which are quite refreshing. Just thought you should know, especially if you love travel! #NotASponsoredMessage

It takes very little to break one's heart, no?  Watching your favourite cricketer stranded on 99 or some such significant milestone. Having your best friend back in the city after years of her being away only to know she's moving further away. Being unable to relate to friends with husbands/wives and now, babies. Losing out on travel opportunities because you put others' interests ahead of your own. Meeting the man of your dreams only to realise he's already taken. Or in the process of being taken. And you have to be supportive about it because he is also the friend you can't lose.  Indeed, it takes very little. ~j~ PS: Don McLean's American Pie plays in my head as I type this. Only because: "... I know that you're in love with him/ 'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym/ You both kicked off your shoes/ Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.../ I was a lonely teenage bronckin' buck/ With a pink carnation and a pickup truck/ But I knew...

There I was, on my day off at home, switching between TV channels and came across Vh1. Some random song was playing and I wasn't even looking up from whatever I was doing. Then I heard this familiar strain and looked up and saw singer Anushka Manchanda in a video with another 'firang' guy. And soon I was actually humming a line or two. What song was this??? How the hell did I know the words? The credits that rolled at the end of the track called it 'Chase Every Dream' and it was on an album called ' TV Dinners '. Then it struck me as *that* Levi's ad and it intrigued me enough to Google it all.  So Mikey McCleary is this music composer who has worked with really big brands like Vodafone, Levi's and more for their ad jingles. On the request of many fans, he decided to extend the jingles into full tracks. And all of them are now part of his unique debut album called 'TV Dinners'. Cool, right? You can watch the video here for 'Chase...