The Internet Personified: I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I begin this week with sad news. One of our Goa cats, and one of the nicest cats I've ever had the pleasure of knowing was killed in a senseless hit and run by one of the many people racing up and down on the road outside our house, where a) there is no speed breaker, b) there are small children, c) there are old people who can't walk so fast, d) we ALL have pets, e) it's very clearly a residential area, so why would you shoot past the houses like you're practicing for Formula One?
I don't know who killed Bipin/Rasam, so I'm angry at all the drivers. I'm also angry with the general neighbourhood for not taking the initiative and putting in a speedbreaker when they've been paving all the roads in the lead up to the election.
Bipin had long eyes, emphasized by black markings, almost like kohl, almost like Cleopatra. He'd have made a good Egyptian temple cat, come to think of it, he demanded worship. He'd walk into a room and climb from lap to lap, meowing up at distracted faces: NOTICE ME. He was a bit of a lovable thick-head though, none too smart for all of that, and once had to be forcibly restrained from taking a leap onto a friend's very fluffy but very cat unfriendly dog.
I hope he's gone to a cat heaven that's by the Nile, with plenty of fresh fish and lots of people to pick him up and cuddle him, an important deity in the temple of Bastet. We loved him well.
Not Bipin, but it could be.
This week in music: Went to the Goat Festival at Marbella in Morjim yesterday. I haven't been to any music festivals besides Magnetic Fields for the first edition years ago, so wasn't sure what to expect, and this one was way more low key. A dance floor, a stern looking goat's head, an overpriced bar (Bombay Sapphire for 800 rups? RIDICULOUS.), some uncles of various nationalities prancing about. However, the music was quite nice, especially headliner DJ Gilles Peterson. (We debated the pronunciation of his name for a bit, and finally settled on "Jiles.") I'm listening to his album right now on iTunes, and it's very "get shit done or focus hard on a piece of writing" music. Here's a link on Youtube for you to have a listen.
This week in The Goan Way: Worked super hard this week, so no exciting new discoveries for me to chronicle. Mostly, since we're leaving next week back to our Delhi lives (new hashtag: #Delhicacies), we've been doing "last meals." Vinayak and Catherine's Corner still on my list.
This week in streaming TV: A Series of Unfortunate Events is on Netflix, and is so, so good. Truly terrifying in some parts, worth a full on binge.
This week in culture: Went for a performance/play at HH Art Spaces in Arpora. Called You Really Got Me Now it's a chronicle of a love story, a German and an Indian applying for a residence permit in the UK. The piece goes through how they met, little bits of their email and text exchanges projected on the screen, old photographs, it's really quite beautiful. It's on in Delhi from the 8th to the 11th of February at Oddbird Theatre, and here's a link to the Facebook page. I highly recommend you go.
In the end, we all want to face these difficult times riding in on a fat ginger cat.
Sunday reading list:
Wonderful poem on being sexually assaulted in India. If I get out of this, I will never smirk as a man explains to me why #NotAllMen is logic. If I get out of this, I’ll give up on this whole feminism thing. I swear.
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He was bored, and she was trying to scam him, so here's a love story. ** Very honest interview with Bobby Deol of all people talking about how he got left behind after the 90s. Also thought it was sweet he was looking forward to his birthday. From the story: "I didn't even realize when my career started slipping away. You usually don't. Work slows down and before you know it, you are sitting at home more than hanging out on film sets. I used to ask myself: What's wrong with you, Bobby? Why aren't you getting work?" ** Why no one likes Meg March. (I actually kinda do, here's my blog post on Louisa May Alcott from the archives.) ** Two reports on the Jaipur Literature Festival: Ellen Barry in the New York Times on dissent at the festival, and Rosalyn on being a first time speaker. ** How they caught Delhi's serial rapist. ** We've forgotten how to dress like grown-ups.** This phone could change your life--or at least, your expensive smart phone manufacturer's life. **
Have a great week!
xx
m