So You Want To Be A Writer

if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.
don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.

–– “So You Want To Be A Writer” by Charles Bukowski

Patterns of Life

To understand is to perceive patterns.
- Isaiah Berlin

Beauty lies all around us. When we are open to receive beauty we will see patterns all around.

To be “open to receive beauty" is to cultivate a mindset of reverence and appreciation for all the that surrounds us - both minute and grand. We need an “active openness" which requires us to engage with our surroundings with mindfulness and intentionality.

William Blake, in his glorious poetic wisdom, said:
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."

When one adopts such an open stance, patterns of beauty reveal themselves with a magical clarity. The interplay of light and shadow, the juxtaposition of myraid forms, the cadence of the wind and water and of life itself — all become agencies of joy and a reminder of the inherent order and harmony that govern the universe.

In this state of openness, beauty is not merely observed; it is experienced. It becomes a source of inspiration and a reminder of the interconnectedness of all things. As John Keats wrote, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness." Beauty, therefore, is not transient; it lingers, enriching our lives with each encounter and leaving an indelible mark on our souls.

To see beauty and the patterns it forms is to embrace life with a full heart - it is an invitation to look deeper, to feel more profoundly, and to live with an awareness that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.


Photo taken at Badami on a Sony A7R3.

Sunday Flower

“If you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment.

If you never know what you want to be, if you live what some might call the dynamic life but what I will call the artistic life, if each day you are unsure of who you are and what you know you will never become anything, and that is your reward.”

― Oscar Wilde

Portrait: The Minchin

The singer who laughs a lot.

Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Sony Zeiss Plannar 50/1.4
Light: Portable square softbox with strobe

Mutton Rassa

1 Kg Mutton (Thigh and Chops with little fat).
Wash throughly a couple of times.

Take:
1 tsp Sea-salt
1/2 tsp Haldi
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

Massage into the mutton.
Marinate in fridge for a minimum 3 hours. Cover with cling wrap so that there is minimal air contact.

The Watan (gravy mix):
4 black cardimum
6 green cardimum
10 black pepper
12 cloves
3" dalchini
1 star anise
1 javitri
3 bay leaves
2 tsp jeera
1 tsp badisoap
1/4 cup sabut dhaniya

Roast in pan with a little oil, remove and keep aside.

Add following to same oil:
10-12 Garlic
1 1/2" Ginger
3 Medium-big onions
2x2" Dried coconut
6-8 Kadipatta leaves
1 tsp white til
2 tsp khuskus
10-15 coriander stems

Roast-fry in a Kadhai (wok) with little oil till onion is golden brown.

1 Medium-big onion

Give a couple of cuts and roast on fire till light brown inside and a little charred outside

1x2" dried coconut

Roast on fire till completely charred.

Grind all the above to a fine paste.
Take a good amount of oil in a large pot and get it hot.
Seer mutton in the hot oil for a few minutes and keep aside.
Saute the watan till texture changes and gets curdly and oil separates
Add mutton to the watan and saute for a few minutes

Add:
Chilli powder (to taste)
Kala masala (2 tsp)
Garam masala (2 tsp)
Salt (to taste)

Add enough hot water to cover the mutton and cook covered for 60-90 minutes on very low heat.
Garnish with coriender and finely chopped mint.