A few of us sat down virtually in a ClubHouse room to discuss how one can be prepared in terms of personal finance if there is a death in the family. The Covid-19 pandemic was at the centre of the discussion since it has been the cause of lakhs of deaths in the country. The panel included a social worker (Taranga S for the grief and mental preparedness aspect) and two financial writers (A.R Hemant and myself).
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Oh, how relaxing a haircut is! It is in the ritualistic walking into a salon, being asked what look you want, trusting the stylist to make the better choice, relishing the pre-cut hair wash, savouring each snip, and feeling the tiny hairs on my neck accentuated. The hair dryer’s heat is thoroughly luxurious as well (in the right amount). One look at the mirror at my transformed self is enough to keep anxiety at bay for 2 weeks at least.
When I moved to a big metro over six years ago, I hadn’t imagined that summers would be so harsh. The joy of strutting around in the house in my underwear might have just saved me in the first summer, when my flatmate and I could not afford a cooler or an AC. Contrary to the verb I used (strut), we didn’t do it to impress anyone; we did it to be ourselves, just like men in boxers. The subsequent summers were also spent in a similar fashion, unwatched by familial eyes. A cool glass of iced tea and a book bring comfort as you lounge about in your bare essentials thinking of what to do with a Sunday.
Yesterday was Father's Day. Every social media space was brimming with either photos of fathers and children or advertisements disguising themselves as essentials for the father. Influencers went a step further to create stories, comic videos and photo dumps to sell products in their contracts.
Probably the only valuable dialogue in The Conjuring 2 (a Hollywood horror thriller about a couple that helps families deal with haunted homes) was when a corpse converses with the ghost-buster woman giving her a clue about the devil that is present in their midst. The make believe ghost, in a cryptic message said, “It is given and taken, you do not ask for it, but it follows you until death.” This old man, whose soul was being utilised by a more powerful demon, was hinting at the universal concept of naming someone. Knowing the demon’s name would give another power over it.
The north-Indian summer is not for the faint-hearted, when not humid, the stark naked Delhi sun ensures you loathe it. But today isn't peak summer. My phone informs me there is forecast for rain, or maybe just empty thunder. I sense moisture-laden clouds, relentless to pressure somehow. I take a shower, in vain though, as sweat beads have begun to appear even before I step out of the bathroom. Strutting around in a towel I sift through my cotton clothes and pick out a yellow maxi dress. Peering into the mirror, I notice the different ways in which the hair on my big head is growing; I need a haircut.
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