October 16, 2023

Monday, 10:30 PM

Zostel, Bundi, 

Rajasthan

Today’s day was dedicated to pottery, and I did quite a lot of it. So after stuffing myself with poha and aloo parathas, we went to a pottery village, where I learnt how to make big and small earthen pitchers of different sizes even though I knew a bit of it from the previous pottery class I have taken here and there, off and on. I have always wanted to learn pottery even though it’s not exactly a recommended career alternative. Even though I am not a great at making earthen pitchers, but I tried my clumsy hands at the clay and made a few earthen pitchers, most of them of shapes that would not pass as pitchers but might still be able to hold water. So who cares what’s the shape of a chapati as long it can fill your tummy and is not undercooked; same for the pitchers, or so I imagined just to feel better. And did!

I talked to the people there, and they told me that they have, on occasion, had tigers visiting them in peace. But there were only stories of occasional tiger sightings, and no stories of the tigers bringing their kills to share with them, or staying around to feast on its self-hunted food, like Riddhi, the tiger, did at the Ranthambhore Fort a few months ago (for more about it, click here). 

From the pottery village, we came to Kota, Rajasthan, and found the city completely boring. But we had to come here because Mukandara Hills Tiger Reserve is close-by, at about 50 kilometers from Kota. In fact, the forests of Kota, Chittorgarh and Jhalawar are part of the buffer zone of the reserve. 

In Kota, I decided to try some sandwiches and a google search told me that there was famous sandwich store called Krishna Sandwich place. We went there and tried their sandwich, which had mayonnaise more than anything else. And since I am not a fan of such sandwiches, I would call it overrated, but if you are an over-mayonnaised sandwich person, that’s the spot for you!

The best thing about today was that we had our daily Vlog uploaded on time, and I am happy that Harsh, our video editor, is finally getting the hang of things. But as things stand, I am sure that today’s performance is not going to find a repeat tomorrow, and we’ll have a late upload again, from the look of things, by which I mean Harsh’s complacent disposition after today’s timely upload. That’s what we do. One thing goes right, and we are over the cloud. And the next day, things go down the pipes and we are holding our heads, wondering what went wrong, like we have no idea what. 

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention. When I was at Krishna sandwich store, stuffing my face with the mayonnaise sandwich that I did not even like (and yet gobbled it down — the weight gain is not for no reason), a group of students approached us, having recognized us by Red Panda (our car, remember?), and it was fun. But that has happened before; I just thought I would make a mention of it this time. 

And I finally sent a promotional outline a brand had sought that I was slacking off on for a while, owing majorly to the ATR-related work, which has been occupying a lot of my time and attention at the moment. But I finally did sent the outline off. Also, I am thinking of starting Intermittent Fasting (IF) from tomorrow, which I certainly can do, and have done it before; it’s sticking to it that’s a challenge. But I am still thinking. But I am thinking seriously. That’s it for now. I am hoping to have tomorrows Vlog uploaded on time, but hope doesn’t get wings unless and until we do supply them to it by focused work. And that’s not as easy as coming up with such motivational one-liners.