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.

Week 43/2024

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

At work, I finished a long-overdue essay, and handed it off to my colleagues for their review and feedback, and next week it should be off for edits. I’m very glad to have completed this work before I take some vacation days.

The possibility of a new street lettering exhibition and talk for early next year are beginning to take shape, so I’m quite looking forward to that. I also took the first steps for making some changes on the India Street Lettering website. Cautiously and optimistically, I signed on the dotted line for a new project that could take up most of my next year.

Mid-week, I also gave a short talk for a group of design and type folks, which was a nice pick-me-up in the midst of a long and drudging few days. I met some new local people, whom I hope to keep in touch with.

2.

On Friday afternoon, Amber and I met Purneetha for a catch-up at our mid-way Blue Tokai — a couple of hours of rambling conversation over coffee and food. As we were heading back, our car refused to turn on. Turns out there is/was a problem with the battery charge, and its scheduled visit to the workshop for a service needs to happen even sooner.

I had a phone call with Ankush. We railed about bad clients, and thought up ways to feel creatively fulfilled while putting food on the table.

3.

Amber pushed me to go to Chandni Chowk to do lettering documentation, and we headed there early on Saturday morning. We spent a few hours there, caught breakfast at Fig at Malcha afterwards, and then walked around Connaught Place for a bit longer. I came back with a fair few photographs, though for complicated reasons, I wasn’t entirely happy with the results. That didn’t stop me from publishing some photos, though. I did get a small lead for new research, which I will follow up on after Diwali.

Week 42/2024

I am counting down the days for my little break after Diwali.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

I’ve started planning what the next year will look work-wise. I already have an idea of what I’ll be working on at TypeTogether, at least for the first two-thirds of the year, and I am filling the gaps for Matra Type. There is one large personal work project that is getting cued up, and I need to carefully see how much client work I can even take up. Last Monday, I had an exciting first conversation about the prospect of taking my work with India Street Lettering to a new city and community.

2.

My Mom was supposed to have a minor medical procedure on Thursday afternoon that was cancelled at the last moment, and will now have to be rescheduled for mid-November.

3.

On Saturday, Amber and I went for a small exhibition of BV Doshi’s drawings at Vadehra Art Gallery. Amber thought it might be a display of his architectural drawings and was probably a little bit disappointed. His college friend, Rishabh, joined us there and we went out for coffee afterwards. We hadn’t seen Rishabh in years, barring a chance meeting last January, so it was nice to catch up after a long time.

4.

I gave a short online talk for The Goa Project Sessions on Sunday evening. It was a nice engaged audience, and an hour and a half of chatting about Indic type went by in a breeze.

Week 41/2024

Three weeks is two weeks too many to skip these weekly notes. So here goes a mix of what’s been up lately.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

Amber and I got some routine medical tests done last month, and followed that up with doctor visits, and tweaking our diet and exercise regimen. We’ve started going for walks at night before we turn in, and I am still adjusting to this change in routine. Anticipating the deterioration in AQI in the coming months, we also tried the local gym one night, and assuming it is not too crowded during our regular hours, the treadmill should be a reasonable, if less fun, alternative.

2.

It was my Mom’s birthday in late September. She was excited to try Korean buns, and so that’s what we ate for breakfast that day by way of a small celebration. My parents also celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary a few days later.

While not for either occasions, Amber and I cooked an impromptu dinner with my parents one weekend. It had been a long time since we did anything like it, and it was quite fun.

3.

My iMac is still busted, and I switched work spaces with Amber for a few days to use his external monitor. That made kerning much easier than doing it on my laptop.

3.

Amber had a day and a half of travel before we both made our way to Bangalore for a jam-packed week. I facilitated a type walk and gave a lightning talk at DesignUp. Even though it was a small group of walkers, we spent a lovely morning looking at signs around M.G. Road. I was debuting a new talk at the conference so I was thrilled to get a lot of positive feedback, especially since I showed a tonne of my own work. The talk was to a group of close to 900 folks and from the biggest stage I have ever spoken from. All-in-all, quite exciting!

As always, Bangalore meant a lot of socialising. I grabbed lunch with Pranav one afternoon, and afterwards, Amber and I crashed his writing club meeting to say hello to Ankur, with whom we ended up having dinner. On the day of my talk, I went to my cousin Aditi’s for dinner, which was lovely. The next day, we slept well into the afternoon, and visited Amber’s college friends and their new baby in the evening. On our last full day in Bangalore, we pulled out all the stops — briefly attended a meet-up with Gurman, went to Champaca, ate lunch with Garima and Rasagy, and then coffee and dinner with Rahul and Radhika. Before heading back to Delhi on Sunday, we met Saumyaa and Mahesh, who we had missed spending time with all of this year. Phew!

I also got some bad news while in Bangalore that I am still trying to cope with.

4.

I have a few public speaking engagements lined up for the next month, hopefully the last of the year.

5.

It has been all guns blazing on the work front. I delivered on a milestone for a typeface commission, tried hard to meet some deadlines at TypeTogether, and have been consistently working on wrapping up a project that started at the beginning of 2024. In the coming week, I also need to follow up on some enquiries.

6.

Prateek and I managed to have our accountability call early this time, because of all the travel he and I are doing. I am very happy that we’ve found a rhythm with them. Not only is it nice to share what I am upto with him and get his honest comments on my work load, it is a nice excuse to have a long chat every month, whether or not we’ve been able to make time to chat otherwise.

Week 38/2024

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

The weather was lovely a few days this past week, and all I really wanted to do was play hooky, but it was not meant to be. I also tore myself away from working from the living room, which has a large door looking out, meaning you can enjoy the weather better to sit at my desk and give my back the support it needs while I work. In other news, my iMac refuses to switch on and there don’t seem to be enough technicians around at the shop where I bought it from for someone to come and fix it 😒

2.

Test cricket is back — India is playing Bangladesh for two matches. It is hard to explain but that’s just what I needed to anchor my days around. On Ambika’s recommendation, I also started watching Fisk this week.

3.

On Saturday, Amber and I had a little outing with my parents. We went to Pulp Society to catch the exhibition where my zines are displayed. It was really nice to be at the exhibition on a quiet day. We last went during the opening, which was the opposite experience. All four of us could take the time to see the books and zines that intrigued us. Mumma liked the Blue Jackal books, Papa the artworks by Prakash Ranjit. We came back with with a small haul, and wrapped up the afternoon with drinks at a neighbourhood café.

Speaking of zines, both batches of India Street Lettering zines are sold out on my shop, but now available online on Champaca and Blaft. There was also a nice mention of the zines in a news piece covering the Pulp Society exhibition this week. It was completely unexpected and made my day. I’m relieved that the hullaballoo that comes with publishing new zines is calming down. Without that, I can’t shift my attention to new things.

4.

My participation at DesignUp has been announced — I’m facilitating a type walk, and giving a new talk about lettering for multiscript logotypes. This week I worked on the framework for the talk, and I am quite happy with the ideas I have put together for it.

Week 37/2024

The weeks have bled into each other and I have missed some updates here, and so this note covers the last fortnight or so.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

I’ve been keeping Anne Lamott’s mantra bird by bird close to my heart as I try to make my way through an oppressive to-do list at work that doesn’t show any signs of becoming smaller even as I check things off it.

2.

Amber and I visited some excellent exhibitions over the past two weekends — Delhi Crafts Council’s showcase of heirloom sarees, a retrospective of pictorialist photographer O. P. Sharma’s life and work, a show of serigraphs by M. F. Husain, and Meri Notebook, an exhibition of paintings by Anju Grover. The exhibition visits were paired with meals at Café Lota and Triveni Terrace Café. Our mission at Café Lota was to have Onam sadhya, and it was one of the best I’ve ever had.

3.

After over a month of not managing to meet up, we hung out with Purneetha not once but twice — a pizza night at home, and a coffee run between her clinic and hospital shifts.

4.

Pleasant monsoon weather seems to have arrived late this year, but we’re trying to make the most of it by spending as many evenings as possible outdoors.

Week 35/2024

Well, better late than never.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

1.

I wrapped up a lettering commission that had been in the works since March. It was supposed to be a rush job because the client was in a hurry, but ended up taking months due to their long feedback cycles. I am very glad that it is over now, and it has cleared up precious mind space for me.

Cataplisms was announced this week, and I am really pleased that folks have enjoyed the identity design work I did for the project. I also added an entry for it to my website.

A typeface script extension job that had been in talks for a couple of years finally got green-lit, and work on that has started tout de suite. I am in the final days/weeks of completing a typeface script extension project (different writing system) at TypeTogether, and another original design in Latin for a local client. It has been an interesting contrast, working on different projects at different stages and supporting different scripts 🙈

I also wrote the first draft of a book review, and had a short meeting with the editor of an essay I am supposed to write later in the year.

2.

My new dental crown has been fitted, and so far so good.

3.

After making plans to see not one but two exhibitions and also visiting Sunder Nursery, Amber and I ended up spending the weekend at home. It was much-needed. We also went back to the local park and swimming pool after weeks, and really, I had missed the outdoors so much.