Anish Nadh’s Blog

I started spending time on my body! I pay attention and apply oil and let it seep into my skin for about 30 to 45 minutes! I spend this seeping time to multi task, maybe brush, boil eggs or write this blog. Need to organize this a bit, I’m getting there. After the oiling I get into the shower and now I have to get rid of the oil. Hope this does not clog the drains. 

I lack motivation to make music! It could be because it’s painful to sit for long time and it’s not financially rewarding! So when I actually do something in music it’s because it really means something to me. Most times I lack motivation, but if it hits me I go ahead and do it! I’m constantly seeking this motivation and it’s hard for it to come by.  Here’s another motivated individual! Not sure why or how he does it! But it’s brilliant! 

I heard this from my dad!  There was this guy, who wanted to oil his head. He made a small cup with his palm and poured oil into it and filled a handful. However, while lifting the oil bottle off he spilled one drop on the same arm of the hand he had cupped the oil. This irritated him, he wanted to utilize that one drop and chose to rub that drop on his palm on his head, but alas! he lost the oil in his hand.  He could’ve just let go of that single drop! Or maybe kept the bottle away and used the other hand to dab the single drop.  Sometimes it’s just wise to let go off the single drop to keep the rest of the oil. 

The more you own, the more you have to lose. I have so many guitars some, I rarely even use. After a few years, the mechanical parts don’t work as much and I end up spending more to fix it. This can be applied to various other aspects, too many clothes, rooms, homes etc! You have to maintain these and it soon becomes a clutter. I’ve tried my hand at minimalism, not in an elaborate way! I just couldn’t! I started by just keeping 2 spoons, 2 forks and 2 plates around! This, in-fact,    removed some clutter in the kitchen sink. I’m sure if I move this concept to other things in my life, it’s going to be rather economical financially and energy wise. 

My great grandmother, (mother’s father’s mom) Esther, I hear, was one of the people who helped establish a church in Karamana. She married my grandfather who was known to be a bodyguard/goonda types for someone around. I hear different stories about them.  Esther ammachi was a midwife, who assisted women in childbirth and sometimes she had to walk long distances to assist families. She also drew away demons from women during childbirth, apparently.   One story that I heard from my mother goes like this. My great grandmother would sing hymns loudly in the late evenings. This could be heard from quite some distance! Some women, children and maybe some men (maybe!) in the neighbourhood, even the ones from other faith, would wait for her song to go outside their homes into their yards for nature’s call! Back then, they believed evil lurked in the dark!  During the night when there was no electricity or street lights, taking kerosene lamps would invite attention from the local perverts! So,

When an elephant is young it is chained to tame it. All the fight it gives is futile, it is conditioned to be chained. As the elephant gains in size, though it can break the chain easily, it stops trying to free itself.  We are conditioned similarly when we are young. How  do we free ourselves from the invisible shackles we wear? Most importantly, what do we free ourselves from? 

I saw him parked right in front of the church gate. There were other vehicles expected to come inside the gate. So quietly asked him to move the bike away from the gate. He said that he will, in some time. I responded rudely explaining there are more vehicles coming in so he must move immediately. There were angry exchanges between us.   Fast forward a few weeks later, I had to get my car lights checked, so I drove to the mechanic and he identified me! He was the mechanic there, Jagadish Singh ! He asked me if I was the guitarist, he knew who I was. He also apologized for parking in front of church and attended to my car thoroughly.  Both of us could’ve sorted our first meeting with some kindness and grace. Maybe that’s why he remembered me? 

As an Indian, I find comfort in being served! You go to a restaurant or even if it is your own home, you had someone serving you. How about furniture or plumbing or even construction? We always found a laborer and made sure we got it done by someone else. I now see a shift happening in this mindset. We are moving  towards the DIY,  self help kingdom! We are installing furnitures and painting our walls fixing the plumbing all by ourselves more than we were!  I went to IKEA, Nagasandra to pick up some bookshelves and I noticed that no body was served there! You had to look through items or search online and find it. Even when you asked for help you were given directions to find it, not a “let me find it and bring it to you sir” . Missed some item at billing? You had to go back all the way and retrieve the things you want.  How about furniture assembly? It’s completely DIY! You are again given instructions to assemble this. No installation team is going to visit you, unless you hire a cre

This magical chemical elixir (please don’t drink it) is  amazing, especially for a musician like me. I have cleaned my guitar with it, sprayed on strings to remove dirt and rust! I have even sprayed on the circuits inside on a volume pot and it magically worked!  I heard about WD 40 at a Christian camp I attended with my band Slain, back in the day. Our band was the headlining act for the campers. I learnt there that even NASA used this on their spaceship!  I continue to use WD 40 for removing sticker stains from surfaces, even the tough ones on the decathlon bottles peeled off with no gum residue! I also use it on creaking rusted gates and notice the gate ease quite well. 

Having a second brain will increase your productivity. Imagine a scenario where you don’t have to remember any task or activity that you are supposed to accomplish! All you have to do is refer to this second brain, which could be just your notes taking app. For eg, sometimes I find it really tedious to come up with topics to write about. So when an idea strikes, I note it down on a note taking app. I’m hearing a lot about this app called Notion! I’m going to try the free version and maybe organize my tasks and this is going to save some thinking time and ease my brain a little bit. This will also get my tasks done across various aspects of my life. 

I caught a viral cold. The way I felt was weird. I felt detached from my body, dazed. I did not have any fever, maybe a very mild temperature. I’ve never felt this way before! I couldn’t keep track of time and my appetite was pretty good! I just wanted to eat eat and eat in between all this. Hope this resolves soon, coz I don’t want to sneeze. Just staying hydrated for now. 

Saw this meme and made me think about what kind of a man I am! I am now pushing through the pain that life has put, not so gently on my shoulders and spine! I am Dave Grohl! The guitar he is holding and his broken leg is the perfect example of what life is. I will do things that I want even when I’m in pain. I will develop brain calluses and be oblivious to painful situations.  Wearing a finger cap may help you play with ease! I prefer the callus! It helps me feel with my fingers! Maybe that why some people don’t wear dentures? That’s for another blog! 

I’ve been bothered by the countless promotion emails in my inbox. So I decided to unsubscribe to them, and also send a few to spam folders! It took some effort to meticulously go through each email and unsubscribe. I did this over a period of one week and viola! No more clutter! 

 Sometimes life grants you with some unexpected blessings, sometimes it’s in the form of a volunteer pumpkin wine! You did not plant it, it just grew from your kitchen waste! Unexpected treats like this are truly from God! You, reading this will be blessed as well! Just wait for it! 

The more you own, the more you have to lose. I’m noticing the benefits of keeping things simple. Having too many guitars is not so great especially maintaining them nor is having too many books!  I have always wondered why they couldn’t replace the school bag with just an iPad? The kids could just save their backs for later! 

The parking manager at Chickpet metro station greeted us with the rates for parking. ₹60 for one hour and ₹ 30 for every extra hour! I found the rates to be ridiculous and noticed the fare displayed on a board at the entrance! The lot manager said, “these are the rates, you will not find parking anywhere”, with a mocking grin!    The display even had the licensee’s name and number so I decided to call him. I explained to him that the charges were ridiculous and it was not right, for them to charge rates other than the ones displayed! The licensee on then phone spoke to the lot manager and got my charges fixed! 

You are on an infinity ladder that kept going endlessly, you never saw the end. You kept wondering if you were going in circles in a circular ladder? You never really climbed it. You just stayed on it and wondered if there was an end to it! You gave no memory how it all began not do you know how it’s going to end. You are contemplating to just jump off it. 

 I heard it buzzing, a high frequency hum as I entered the car. The AC was not cooling me, maybe it needed some attention from the mechanic. As I drove to some Bryan Adams, the buzz continued to a crescendo and it hit my ears! My reflexes couldn’t catch the attacker! I parked my car by the side, waited for a second attack, and there it was! A tiny squito! I saw opportunity and clapped with all vengeance, SPLAT! Dead!

I realized that most of my student’s parents are pretty cool people. They have really good contacts! I did a little bit following on linked in yesterday and read some cool posts by them! Some of them are really good marketing/HR gurus with a lot of wisdom in the form of articles. I binge read them yesterday. It’s time to get linked in! 

Now these days, it’s quite hard to get some tone for yoga. Though I wake up early, I’m helping my family to get my niece ready for school. I start yoga after she goes to school. I missed it a couple of days and I could notice my energy levels dropping and me not being able to do anything productive. So I decided to fight my mind and do it no matter what.  I just finished my yoga, and after this blog, I will start Wim Hof! 

The greatest lesson you can learn about yourself is from your suffering. Do you have it in you to survive and look over what others think of you? Can you live through the pain? Doesn’t suffering make you look inward? Wake up through your suffering and stay awake. 

The guitar stayed on a stand in his bedroom. He picked it up and music just flowed through as though the were one. That was his power, the power to connect with any instrument the moment he touched it. He played for hours and when he stopped he turned into a stone, but he was alive. He just couldn’t move. He shouldn’t have stopped! He regretted it! But what was he to do? He had to! He had other things to do, other places to be! He just remained there, like carved stones at museums. 

I started watching stranger things, and as expected it’s got a very slow start. I think I’ll start liking it as the characters evolve. It came highly recommended from some friends. So mite as well while away precious time for season 1 atleast. 

Quite often we share our ideas with friends and family, and are instantly rewarded with recognition and appraisal for something we didn’t actually do. Most times we also abandon the idea and it never comes to fruition. So I began working this on myself for the past few years. I stopped suggesting ideas I could not execute and started working on them one by one. The recognition and respect I get from executing these ideas became nothing! I developed a sense of self appraisal and stopped caring about what others said! I started doing things for myself. I said a stern “No” to things I didn’t want to be a part of. It’s gonna be a “hell yeah “ or a “no from me. 

I had my first harvest!! Though I lost three bags to decay, one survived!  The mushrooms grew very quickly. I called my mom and we harvested it. Then I sautéed it on some olive oil, salt and pepper and made a bun-omelette! Delish! 

My mushrooms are putting out the sprouts! I lost 3 bags of mushroom to decay. One survived! Perhaps the water was a little too much for the mycelium!! Can’t wait to harvest! 

I started work today after that very short break. But this didn’t feel like a break. I’m still getting over the fatigue. I guess it’s a good kinda tired feeling. Will take a few days and diet mending to recover! Avocado shakes it is! 

Today we woke up in a toddy shop literally! I didn’t want to drink before traveling back so it was just food! Parotta and beef just melted in the mouth. Then we drove back and packed. On the way I picked up some rambuttan and mangosteen back home. I’m watching a movie as we drive through the rain! Next stop is Mysore and then back home. 

Today I woke up early before the guys did. We stayed up till 3:00 am, I was up by 8:00. I cleaned up, did little stretching and borrowed the umbrella and took a walk. I walked about 8 km and on the way found a place serving fresh toddy! This was not the alcoholic stuff! I gulped down the sweet liquid and got some back and surprised the boys with it! They loved it!  Then we jammed with myself on guitars revising all the old songs. We had breakfast and it was delicious! I had parotta and beef! The we drove around Wayanad and did some touristy stuff, which I didn’t enjoy but the company was great. Now we are back and as I write this the guys are getting high and playing poker. Good day! Tired! 

Rahul, Shreyas, Piyush and I left to Wayanad early morning today. Ravi, Mahesh and Abhilash are still on the way because Ravi delayed everything for them, as usual . It’s been raining heavily and I can hear frogs and crickets. Surprisingly no mosquitoes here.  On our way I saw the most beautiful sunflower farm with golden flowers. And met Maithri, Shreyas’ wife.  I can hear a very high Piyush snore as I write this blog post. Such is life! 

 Friends are planning a Wayanad trip after Shreyas landed from the US. I’m not sure if I should go! I have a stiff neck with umpteen other health issues. This will also ruin my routine! But I want to go! I will! 

 I harvested avocados with my niece today. I eat atleast one avocado everyday. Toasted buns, sliced avocados and Sunny side up is a regular evening snack. I also drink a glass of avocado pulp. The curious me found out the cost of one avocado! ₹85. Thanks to this tree in our backyard! God bless.