Week 4/2025

I’ve realised the only way to catch up with my week notes is to combine two weeks into one and stop falling behind, so here goes.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

Once Amber was back from his work travel on last Saturday, we began wondering if it would be best to squeeze in a documentation trip for me at the end of that week. It is a very hectic few months ahead of us both, and accommodating all the work travel we need to do has been a challenge. After considering a trip to Pune, we went with Ahmedabad, since the weather there will become quite harsh once the winter recedes.

I decided to rent a camera for this trip, and realised at the last moment that since I chose a full sensor camera my EFS lenses won’t work. I do have a couple of EF lenses, prime and telephoto, but the middle ones that I need for street lettering documentation were not compatible. So I ended up renting lenses as well. It was a bigger expense than what I would have liked, but there was no other way. The rented equipment worked really well, though, and I am quite happy with the quality of photographs I was able to take.

Ahmedabad was both productive and terribly tiring. Like most trips of this kind, I’ve come back feeling how good to it would be to return. There is so much to document, and there is only so much one can accomplish over a long weekend.

I couldn’t make much time for socialising in Ahmedabad, but I did meet Tejas for dinner one night.

2.

I’m attending (parts of) BITS next month, and will be participating in a conversation with Veronika and José about TypeTogether’s efforts towards research, cultural preservation, and education, apart from commercial type design. After much agonising, I decided to miss the last afternoon of the conference so I could make it back home on Sunday night. While in Ahmedabad, I made the arrangements for this trip. This year, I am staying at the conference hotel. Given how short the visit is, I am grateful to cut out the cab rides to and back from the event.

3.

My talk at the Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival was announced. I’ll be speaking there about India Street Lettering, with a special focus on Lucknow, on the afternoon of February 2.

I heard from folks from Bangalore International Centre and Science Gallery Bangalore, who emailed to say that my short film Letter by Letter has been chosen for screening at the Sci560 Film Festival, as part of a cohort of B•LORE grantees’ work. I was also invited for a panel discussion at the festival, but I’ll be in Lucknow at the time, so I had to sadly decline.

I can hardly believe that I have a talk, exhibition and movie screening, all stemming from India Street Lettering, happening in a single weekend across two cities.

4.

Amber’s sister was in Noida for an afternoon, and we had her over for lunch on Wednesday. Since she was headed to their parents’ in Purnea afterwards, we were able to send a birthday gift for his mom.

5.

Harshay dropped by on Wednesday and Thursday for a spot of parallel play, and to help me plan the exhibition layout for Lucknow. Since I was under the weather and getting rather desperate, I really appreciated the help, and a second set of eyes. Sadly, towards the end of our time together, Harshay began to feel a bit unwell himself.

There was a mistake in printing for the postcards for the exhibition, but the right prints arrived by Friday night. I couriered them to Lucknow on Saturday morning, and hopefully they will arrive there well in time.

6.

This past weekend was a quiet one. Amber and I ate brunch at Carnatic Café followed by coffee at Blue Tokai one morning. We went to the nearby nursery to pick up a couple of plants, and made the best of the sunny, blue skies by squeezing in another walk in the park. A bit of house cleaning, laundry and cooking, and I’m still happy with the rest we could get.

7.

Theju sent me an unexpected, lovely gift.

Week 2/2025

It’s back to work, and boy, isn’t that always an adjustment.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

I tried to get as much as possible done for my exhibition at the end of the month, but it has been slow going. I sent the shortlisted images to event organisers and curators, but am yet to hear back from them about the selection and about other small details like captions. Not only that, late in the week, I learned that the venue for the exhibition needs to be changed. Despite coming up with the basic design framework, I didn’t manage to complete the design for the exhibition postcards and send them to the printer. Yep, quite frustrating.

In better news, Aarika sent me a new sample for the tote bag I had designed years ago. We are hoping to do a new batch of prints in 2025.

Purée Mag published my essay about street lettering in India.

I signed the paperwork and had a kick-off meeting of sorts for my big project this year. I can’t say anything about it for a few months, but if anyone’s reading this, please send me lots of luck.

2.

We had a couple of new folks join us at TypeTogether, one of whom will be working closely with me. A part of my week was spent in getting them set up and acclimatising both of us to new, collaborative ways of working. I also got myself back into the main TypeTogether project I’ll be involved in for most of the year, and finished up some writing for another project, coming to a close.

3.

I spent a few days alone at home with Amber traveling for work. I had hoped to go into deep work goblin mode, but that didn’t quite happen. My body and mind needed some slow and steady going, and I gave in.

4.

One of my Dad’s old friends was visiting from the UK, and despite a hectic schedule, I was able to go say hello to him when he came over to my parents’. It was a little thing, but it made me very happy. I still vividly remember the first time I met him. He had once accidentally left his digital watch at our house, and it made a loud beeping sound at the hour. My parents had tried and tried to turn the sound off as we were going to sleep, and when they couldn’t, my Dad buried the watch within heavy bedding that was stored in a large aluminium trunk. This happened over thirty years ago, but it is a memory that has just stuck with me.

Week 1/2025

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

It was the last week of the holidays, and that is always strange. By Friday, the impending work week got to me. There were a few important things that Amber and I got out of the way — he got his new laptop and set it up, and we got my camera and lenses serviced. We planned meals for the upcoming week, bought groceries and did some advance cooking preparation.

I sent boxes of zines to Champaca, Blaft and The Bookshop Inc for a restock. In the process, I also realised that I might have accidentally deleted the printer driver from my computer, and now I need to reconfigure that.

After getting a collection of photographs printed early in the week, I tried to shortlist images for an upcoming exhibition. On the weekend, we took a long walk around Mandi House to finalise the route of an upcoming type tour.

2.

The last two tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy were a bummer, but that didn’t stop us from following them, even if grumpily. We watched aa few movies at the start of the week — Juror #2, Wolfs and Challengers.

3.

We visited Sunder Nursery and ate brunch at the weekend market. Our friends from Nature Soul Shop and Kitchen were selling that day, and it was nice to meet them and support them. We discovered a new coffee and tea company, Dolshyne, and picked up some kanji from Supernatural Society. I had stopped by at their stall to tell them how much I love their aam panna, and managed to score a bottle off-season. I usually stick to seasonal produce, but was far too tempted this time.

Week 52/2024

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

Amber and I spent most of week as homebodies. Doing little errands around the house, watching cricket, and going out to nearby places for coffee. We finally laid hands on the bird matching game that Prateek and Rhea bought for us during their trip to Australia, and played that in the afternoons. I used to be good at this sort of game when I was a kid, but I keep losing to Amber whenever we play.

2.

Purneetha and Harshay came over on Christmas eve. I had fun putting together a little cheese board, making soup and burgers. It was a relaxed evening with lots of chatter, and it was nice to catch up with them after a while.

A couple of days later, we had my parents’ over for an evening of baking cookies.

3.

After weeks, we went to Nature Soul Shop to pick up our groceries in person — that’s always fun. We got food packed from their restaurant, and Amber and I both got our favourites.

On the weekend, we took my parents winter shopping. Pret-a-Manger does a vegan hot chocolate, so we could all have a drink together afterwards, which was neat.

Week 51/2024

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind, more specifically: a tiring whirlwind. I spent almost all of last week wrapping up as much work I as could before I took time off at the end of the year. I was going on leave a full week before most of my TypeTogether colleagues, so I was all the more keen not to leave any of them with incomplete work that they would have to tackle in my absence.

I also had a really productive meeting discussing the first design directions for the lettering commission I’ve been working on. We chose which way we’d like to go, and I am looking forward to picking that up again in the new year.

2.

Last Friday, Amber and I hopped on a train early morning to head to Lucknow. There was terrible traffic near the station, even around 5:30 am. While we didn’t miss our train, it was a stressful beginning to our travels, especially since Amber lost his beloved HMT watch in the kerfuffle.

My main agenda in Lucknow was to photograph some more street lettering in order to put together a collection that will be exhibited next January. I met folks at Sanatkada and Lucknow Bioscope, who have me some excellent recommendations for the neighbourhoods I should try to explore, and even introduced me to local sign painters. The days were gruelling — lots of walking on busy streets, going back to places in the right light, and generally being out for hours. I was also struggling with getting the right shots in congested locations and becoming increasingly stressed out in the process. The focus was too soft, and the angles weren’t perfect, but Harshay helped out with some ideas.

We ate some delicious meals at Naimatkhana, and ended each day at The Fresh Factory, which was pretty close to where we were staying. Their cinnamon hot chocolate was just the pick-me-up that I needed every evening.

On our last night in Lucknow, we met Noopur and Kenneth, who were in the city for a family gathering. Noopur and I met in three different cities this year! It is a tough thing making friends as we grow older, even more challenging when the person who want to get to know better lives thousands of kilometres away. But thanks to Noopur making the kindest offer last year, we’ve both tried and I am so happy to have a kindred spirit in my life.

3.

On Tuesday, we traveled from Lucknow to Kolkata, for few more days of hectic photo documentation. Even though it was a short trip, I was able to meet Ananya and Kritika, and it was really nice to have conversations about design and life, and in general, put faces to names you only see crop up on social media. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hang out with Ankush, who got busy with some unexpected work during that time.

We spent many afternoons at Motherland Café, and had an excellent dinner at Sienna Café, but overall we were underwhelmed by the food options around our hotel. It didn’t help that service was quite poor in one of the cafés nearby.

I find Kolkata a challenging city to be in — so beautiful in parts, but it can be unclean to the point of unhygienic. And there is a slowness about everything that is opposite to what I enjoy about city life.

Photography, too, was tough here because of the congestion, and the fact that many streets were misaligned with the sun’s path 🙈

4.

We got back to Delhi on Saturday afternoon, and the same evening went for a Christmas get-together at Rishabh’s. He had cooked an excellent spread. We met some of Amber’s college classmates, and despite our original intentions, ended up staying quite late.

Now I am looking forward to a fortnight at home, where we can both relax before going back to work in 2025.

Week 49/2024

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

Amber’s parents were visiting, and for most of the week our life revolved around either preparing for their visit or taking care of them once they were here. There was a family gathering to attend, but much more importantly, a doctor’s appointment.

As much as we enjoy cooking, we ended up rather tired. Preparing three meals (we usually eat only two) that adhered to not only strict dietary restrictions but also catered to preferences of taste different from ours was a lot.

One evening, Harshay dropped by, and on another, we went for tea to my parents’ (that’s both our mums together).

2.

I wore a saree to the family celebration we attended, and it was fun to put an outfit together from my wardrobe — the saree and jewellery were purchased five years ago, and they were paired with a blouse I had got stitched in 2016.

For the last few months, I’ve felt quite ambivalent towards getting dressed with intent, something that usually gives me a fair amount of joy, even a chance for creative expression. I think I haven’t even worn a saree since March — blame it on over-work.

3.

After Amber’s parents headed home on Sunday morning, we went out for some errands to prepare for our own travels in mid December. It is a trip I am really looking forward to.

4.

I’ve engaged the services of the folks at 3 Sided Coin to help me with a long-term personal project, and it is exciting that things are officially underway now.

Week 48/2024

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

Amber and I finally made the time to give our terrace garden some love. Between the extreme weather and our busy schedules this year, the space lay neglected for months. We went to two nurseries and picked up some evergreen plants, seasonal flowering ones and some tomato and herb seeds that we hope to plant in the holidays. I borrowed some fairy lights from my Mom, and we have a cosy spot again.

2.

I had an interesting typeface review meeting with some colleagues that made me think once again about political typeface design is and how those ideas collide with commercial interests. Not to mention how widely different the approach of Indian design (even if expat) practitioners can be versus Western ones.

3.

I’ve been lettering on the iPad after ages, and the results have not been bad for the ideating and brainstorming stage.

4.

It was a social weekend — a pizza soirée with my parents on Friday, a day out with Sunder Nursery, Nature Soul Shop and errands with Amber and my Mom on Saturday, and hosting Mayank and Tanya for dinner on Sunday. Between all that, we squeezed in a lot of cleaning and organising around the house, which will hopefully set us up for a calm December.

Week 47/2024

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

Work was a mixed bag last week. I met the last milestone of a project I had been working on most of late summer and early autumn. Along with that I kickstarted a new lettering commission, and heard from a client who need some more last-minute changes to a project long-finished. That last interaction, while wholly pleasant, has me consider some new changes to my standard work contract.

2.

Harshay is back from Goa after his residency at Atelier Monad, and he invited us to dinner at his place. It had been months since Amber and I spent any time with him and Purneetha together. Harshay showed us the photographs he exhibited at the end of his residency and I grabbed my copy of the zine he produced there. We also ate the first fresh water chestnuts and roasted peanuts of the season.

3.

On Saturday, we returned to Dhoomimal Gallery, this time with Rishabh. I’ve enjoyed showing friends and family around the exhibition. Afterwards, we went for a bite to Cirrus 9, where Rishabh’s partner, Tarishi, joined us. Cirrus 9 has lovely views of the city, though they were all hidden due to the poor air quality. I hope to return when the skies are blue. I have pretty much been off alcohol this year, so I surprised myself by ordering a Moscow mule.

4.

I made a compilation of photographs I included in my week notes this past year to commemorate fifty-two weeks of writing. This became the centrepiece of my first post on Bluesky. If you’re there, please say hi.

Week 46/2024

Will I ever get back to a proper weekly rhythm for these notes? Who knows, but at least I’ve made it a whole year. I’ll toast this little milestone with my evening coffee today.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

I’m back home after about ten days of travel. It is nice to sleep on my own bed and work on my own desk. Of course, being in these parts as the AQI is in free fall is never exactly pleasant but there are glimpses of blue skies and life keeps going on.

2.

Amber and I were in Bombay together after years. After our hotel misadventure in Worli, it was nice to be in Colaba, in the thick of architecture that we love. We went on many type documentation walks around the neighbourhood, ate some lovely meals, and relaxed a little when we could. I loved our long walk up and down Marine Drive. Yes, it was hazy and the air quality didn’t inspire a desire to be outdoors, but it was simply wonderful to be in a third place where so many folks from the city gather. I did, however, pay the price for that, and fell sick on our last day.

That was a mess because we were headed next to Colombo, where I was speaking at the Sri Lanka Design Festival and their type conference, Script and Structure. I slept 14 hours straight on my first day, skipped all the evenings out and thankfully felt well enough to have a nice time at the conference. The events and conversations were absolutely fantastic, and the scale intimate, just how I like it. I spent time with Pathum and Sumanthri, and met Kosala properly for the first time. It was fun to be on an all-women panel with Sumanthri, Malindi and Leyanvi, and hang out with Anant and Sarang who I haven’t met in India (ever for Anant, and in years for Sarang). I’m also glad I got a sneak peek at the W A Silva Museum with Pathum and Mr. Ravi. There is so much interesting stuff happening in Colombo — I wish I visited more often.

Colombo is one Amber’s favourite cities, and it was our third visit. We went back to some of our old favourites like Black Cat and Ministry of Crab. He tried lots of new (to him) teas, and here too, we went to watch the sun set at Galle Face. I guess when you live inland, the water is so magnetic. This was our first time in Colombo in our birding era, so we went birdwatching around Beira Lake on our last morning. Between the spot-billed pelicans we saw there and a pair of whiskered terns from the restaurant window at lunch, both Amber and I added two new lifers to our lists.

3.

While I was away, the exhibition I had been involved in for almost a year opened in Delhi. It is called The Past has a Home in the Future, and tells the story of Connaught Place and Dhoomimal Gallery, and how these spaces have been centres of art, design and creative pursuits not only in the city but the country. This was a really exciting project to be part of, though it took more out of me than I ever imagined.

On Saturday, my parents, Amber and I went to see the exhibition and then celebrated the project with high tea at the Atrium at the Imperial. Having tea there together was a joke that my Dad and I made when I was in my teens, and it only took us close to twenty years to make it happen. The restaurant made pretty nice arrangements for my Dad despite his dietary restrictions, and that means we should return soon.

4.

It has been tough getting back to work. I am still quite tired from the incessant work load of the last few weeks months, and with two deadlines looming next week, my mind is still not at rest. I pushed myself in Colombo, and again after I’ve come back, which means I have definitely slowed my own recovery down. I had a migraine attack on Friday, and two days later, it is still lingering.

Week 44/2024

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

It was a very quiet Diwali. Like I was telling Noopur earlier today, the festival has lost most of its shine for me. I think the main purpose it serves my life now is that of a punctuation for time passing by, and a reminder to do a round of deeper household cleaning and upkeep, just as one does in the spring.

Amber and I didn’t do any lights this year, nor any decorations — which is as much as we ever do, given neither of us is interested in the religious aspect of the festival. We met my parents for lunch, and cooked and ate some vegetable cutlets together, a thoroughly non-traditional affair.

2.

We’ve been struggling with our neighbours recently. They have been flouting community rules and guidelines related to renovation and usage of public spaces, and have been quite immune to our requests and those of the residents’ welfare group. It is a frustrating situation with no solution in sight.

3.

We had a bumpy start to our travels. The hotel we had booked for Mumbai ended up being sub-par and we’ve landed in an old favourite instead, albeit in a different part of the city. The room, the amenities, everything is much nicer and I’m very glad for it. Things began to look up from Sunday morning when we attended a walk organised by Art Deco Mumbai, which was quite fun.