Listen to me read out a really nice (if I may say so myself) essay I wrote recently. You may find some sentences leap out to you or, at the very least, you will be entertained at my expense. And I would love nothing more than either.

Tune in to learn about 7 books that come recommended for those looking for legit ways to slow down in life.

Show notes: Evolving & Enough by Raju Tai https://rajutai.substack.com/

Raju on Instagram https://instagram.com/rajutaii?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==

Gulmohur (a poem by Raju Tai) https://femasiamagazine.com/gulmohur/

Coke Studio Pakistan (a poem by Raju Tai) https://museindia.com/Home/ViewContentData?arttype=feature&issid=79&menuid=7803

Books featured in the episode:

1. In Praise of Slowness - Carl Honore

2. Destination Simple - Brooke McAlary

3. Essentialism - Greg McKeown

4. Soulful Simplicity - Courtney Carver

5. The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down - Haemin Sunim

6. Seeking Slow - Melanie Barnes

7. Digital Minimalism - Carl Newport

I asked chatbots ChatGPT and Google Bard to write haikus in the way some of the poetry greats would've written it. Think Wendy Cope, Sylvia Plath, Mary Oliver, Louise Gluck and more.

If you'd like to read some of the featured poets' works:

Wendy Cope - https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/worry-by-wendy-cope/

Louise Gluck - https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2020/gluck/poetry/

Mary Oliver - https://www.poetseers.org/contemporary-poets/mary-oliver/mary-oliver-poems/the-swan/

Haikus from the OG masters - https://www.readpoetry.com/10-vivid-haikus-to-leave-you-breathless/

My dear listener, In the first episode since my self-imposed hiatus, I read out a personal essay-ish (?) piece and a flash fiction piece for you. There is also a little something at the end that I hope you will find valuable (I know I did).

Tired of watching Mukbangs? I hope this episode will be of help to everyone who is having trouble eating or those who don't like eating alone. Why is food so important to us? Why is it so sentimental and also political? Tune in if you'd like to hear mouth-watering stories about food. PS: The currency used in France now is Euro. In one of the stories, I say it's Francs, which was the currency used in the country when the story was written. You'll know what I'm talking about when you hear "Francs" :)

Do you know what "cheugy" means? Did you know that even the coolest things run the risk of being plagued with cheugy-ness with time? In this episode, I take a word I recently learnt and see literature through its lens. If you are a reader, you might find one of your favourite books in there. Don't come at me (unless it is with something productive) if you don't like what you hear!

Exasperated with people who feel the need to challenge themselves, Fran Lebowitz says that real life in itself is a challenge. And I agree. I also believe that to overcome this challenge, all of us could do with some professional help. In this episode, I pick out excerpts (Salinger, Plath, Sayaka Murata) around mental health while also sharing my own experience with therapy.

I wanted to share a short story I'd written a few years ago to mark this day, but it was pure drivel. So, I turned to some of my favourite authors for help, and mustered the courage to read the decent-ish bits from my own writing. The main idea behind doing this was to at least document, if not discuss masterfully, our tendency to speak of moms and motherhood in absolutes. It's to document another perspective, which urges us to refrain from deifying them, even if it's mother's day. PS: those thinking this episode is a day late, it was still Mother's Day in Honululu when the episode went up. Ha!

This is the story of Ann Patchett's speech for an incoming class at Clemson University, the story of Ann Patchett's friendship with a "complicated and brilliant" writer. The story of the book that Ann wrote to honour her friend's memory. The story of how that book was targetted for "corrupting" young minds. Long story short, go pick up an Ann Patchett book. PS: Apologies for the flat voice, accidental mispronunciations and at one point, using the word 'perspective' when I meant 'perceptive' :)