Volume 14
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I have been thinking about diversity a lot lately. It is something that the world desperately needs and yet is a word thrown around casually. We'd all agree that diversity and representation is something necessary in institutions and our culture at large. Diversity (in the context I am talking about) is the inclusion of people with different opinions, backgrounds (degrees and social experience), religious beliefs, political beliefs, sexual orientations, heritage, and life experience. As we continue to share information on social media and urge institutions to take a more inclusive approach, we must look at our own lives to see if we champion the inclusion and diversity we want to see in the world.
I began to investigate the ways in which I champion diversity in my own life. How open am I to listening to stories that were radically different from mine? Are the books that I read written by writers across the globe or are they primarily North American and British? Within the Indian context, I ask myself if I am seeking out stories of people from different backgrounds? Is the music I listen to diverse? Above all, am I living by the diversity I want to see in the world?
The books, podcasts, music, TV shows and movies I consumed barely reflected the richness of humanity I wanted to pursue. 7 of the 42 books I read this year are written by Indian authors, 1 written by a South American writer, 1 written by an African writer and 1 written by a Korean writer while the rest are American.All the podcasts I listened to and shared were only American and British. The disparity was too glaring to ignore. Those podcasts are amazing, some of those books were wildly brilliant too, but I couldn't help but wonder why there wasn't more Asian, African, Australian and South American content on that list.
A lot of us grew up with certain beliefs and picked up cues from a society that barely recovered from colonialism. It was always assumed that writing, research and culture of the West is unquestionably far superior than what 'developing' nations had to offer. It doesn't help that most book recommendation lists online (including Goodreads unfortunately) largely feature American and British books.
I had to look at my own assumptions (and prejudices), which was far more difficult than accusing people of being asshats who benefited from colonialism. A lot of people are asshats who benefited from colonialism, but you get my point.
Seeds of diversity and curiosity are best grown at home, in your own reading list and playlist. This is something I have started to do. I consciously look out for books, art and music that honour the infinite variety available. Yes, your patronage, your views, attention and sharing counts. Every country has equally gifted writers, artists and musicians. The possibilities are endless. The world is available online for us to see and appreciate.
Till then - read diverse books, consciously seek diverse music and art, support smaller local businesses and remember that your choices make a difference. Everything that we consider to be cool, relevant and better than anything else had a team designing ways to make us think so.
PODCASTS
>> Maha Bharat with Dhruv Rathee - Encountered this three month old podcast recently. These are the ones I heard. The podcast is in Hindi.
+ What is Right to Information and why does it matter? - How RTI came into being, how it works and how it fails.
++ What is a PIL?
>> Almost 30 - Biohacking Your Hormones with Alisa Vitti - my hormones have been out of whack in 2020. Did they predict the debacle that 2020 would be? Alisa Vitti's research focuses on how hormones and cycles of the female anatomy work and above all how they can be balanced. Her main teaching lies in listening to your body and syncing your life with your menstrual cycle. This includes syncing your food, exercise routine and ways of cooking with the nutrients your body needs at different parts of your cycle. Your hormones, metabolism and energy levels shift in various phases of your cycle. Planning your meals and activities accordingly seemed very logical to me. This is my first month trying out what Alissa suggests. So far my energy has been stable and higher than usual without needing any caffeine. I have avoided any form of PMS (which in itself is a wonder) Her blog has a ton of useful resources if you don't want to read the entire book though I would recommend it. The first two chapters are repetitive, overly prefatory but the actual research that comes later is worth it. Highly recommend it to anyone with PCOS, trouble with PMS and irregular periods or even anyone curious about how our hormones work.
>> Respectfully Disagree by The Swaddle - Can Kink help Us Better Understand Consent?
>> Justifying The Means: What It Means To Treat All Suffering Equally on Hidden Brain
++ Playing Favorites: When Kindness Toward Some Means Callousness Toward Others on Hidden Brain.
>> Mauro Porcini on Design Matters - Mauro is the first ever Chief Design Officer of Pepsico. Listen to his journey from architecture to design and the lessons he picked up along the way.
ARTICLES
The Indian Study Abroad Dream Is Dashed. Will We Finally Redefine Success?
Why AOC’s Clapback to the ‘Fucking Bitch’ Comment Is Unprecedented for a Female Politician - AOC is a force of nature. She is undoubtedly one of the most articulate, intelligent and confident woman I have seen. She leaves me awestruck not only when she speaks about gender but also when she speaks about inequality, poverty and environmental issues. If you haven't watched this video already, please watch it.
How You Should Read Coronavirus Studies, or Any Science Paper.
BOOKS
Eduardo Galeano - Upside Down - Anyone who follows me on Instagram knows how much I love Galeano. I happened to discover this book by accident when someone I follow on Goodreads shared an old review for this book and mentioned how much he loved it. That was all I needed. This book talks about inequality, colonialism, economics, exploitation and warfare with spectacular sarcasm and wit. It is hugely educational. Cannot recommend it enough. Please read this book.
Eduardo Galeano - Mirrors - Galeano's take on the history of the world is incredible. Each chapter is a page long story through which he aims to cover forgotten and untold parts of history. I haven't completed the book because I took an indefinite Kindle break. There's only so much screen time my eyes can take.
The Forest of Enchantments - Chitra Banerjee is BACK with the Ramayan from Sita's perspective. Banerjee calls it the Sitayan. Someone FINALLY decided to write about the women of Indian epics. Our history is FULL of stories written by men about men who wage war with other men over stupid issues because men won't apologise to other men. This book is such a relief.
The Woman Code - The book mentioned in the podcast with a LONG description. The title is very misleading - she had me at heal your endocrine system. The rest is fluff. Start reading from chapter 3.
Goodbye PMS. I will not miss you.
**Note - most biohacking + fitness information is suitable for male bodies. Keto, paleo, intermittent fasting and bulletproof coffee do not work for female bodies. Female bodies metabolise food and chemicals very differently. Be careful about where you get your health and fitness information.
MUSIC
>> Fabiano Do Nascimento : Tiny Desk Home Concert - Brazilian guitarist Fabiano Do Nascimento is my favourite discovery of this month.
>> The Malawi Mouse Boys : Tiny Desk Home Concert.
>> Coreyah : Tiny Desk Home Concert - Coreyah is a Seoul based band. According to the band, the name represents "inheritance," they play traditional Korean music with a modern twist.
>> Maed in India - the best place to find new music. (Confession - I skip the interviews and listen to the music)
ART
>> Cover Junkie - Magazine cover design as an art form.
>> Judge a bar of chocolate by its cover! Stunning packaging for Coco designed by numerous artists. Take my money.
>> Supergombo's new music video - As many of you know by now, I love making collages. This video is my ultimate collage goal. I want to make something like this in my lifetime with music as catchy as this. If you make music and want a collage based video, please please reach out to me.
>> Thought Over Design's campaign against colourism.
>> Contemporary Art Daily
WATCH
How the US Stole Mexico.
++ How the US Stole Hawaii.
GOODIES
What They Don’t Teach You in Design School by AIGA - the book is available online for free.
I hope you find something that catches your interest and leads you down your own rabbit hole of reading and learning. Please don't forget to fill the feedback form. Sending you lots of love.
Warmly,
Sachi.
Till then - read diverse books, consciously seek diverse music and art, support smaller local businesses and remember that your choices make a difference. Everything that we consider to be cool, relevant and better than anything else had a team designing ways to make us think so.
PODCASTS
>> Designed this way - I LOVE that this show features several talented Indian designers and creative folks. Kawal Oberoi has raw conversations with incredible people. The interviews are quite enjoyable, insightful and long overdue.
+ Mira Malhotra - Mira talks about her love for Indian Aesthetics, the design industry in India, designing wedding cards, and her experience running her own studio.
++ Shiva Nallaperumal - Shiva talks about designing typefaces, his journey in design, studying at MICA and working at Pentagram.
+++ Anant Ahuja - Anant talks about his design journey, starting an agency, and his love for entrepreneurship and design.
>> Maha Bharat with Dhruv Rathee - Encountered this three month old podcast recently. These are the ones I heard. The podcast is in Hindi.
+ What is Right to Information and why does it matter? - How RTI came into being, how it works and how it fails.
++ What is a PIL?
>> Almost 30 - Biohacking Your Hormones with Alisa Vitti - my hormones have been out of whack in 2020. Did they predict the debacle that 2020 would be? Alisa Vitti's research focuses on how hormones and cycles of the female anatomy work and above all how they can be balanced. Her main teaching lies in listening to your body and syncing your life with your menstrual cycle. This includes syncing your food, exercise routine and ways of cooking with the nutrients your body needs at different parts of your cycle. Your hormones, metabolism and energy levels shift in various phases of your cycle. Planning your meals and activities accordingly seemed very logical to me. This is my first month trying out what Alissa suggests. So far my energy has been stable and higher than usual without needing any caffeine. I have avoided any form of PMS (which in itself is a wonder) Her blog has a ton of useful resources if you don't want to read the entire book though I would recommend it. The first two chapters are repetitive, overly prefatory but the actual research that comes later is worth it. Highly recommend it to anyone with PCOS, trouble with PMS and irregular periods or even anyone curious about how our hormones work.
>> Respectfully Disagree by The Swaddle - Can Kink help Us Better Understand Consent?
>> Justifying The Means: What It Means To Treat All Suffering Equally on Hidden Brain
++ Playing Favorites: When Kindness Toward Some Means Callousness Toward Others on Hidden Brain.
>> Mauro Porcini on Design Matters - Mauro is the first ever Chief Design Officer of Pepsico. Listen to his journey from architecture to design and the lessons he picked up along the way.
ARTICLES
The Indian Study Abroad Dream Is Dashed. Will We Finally Redefine Success?
Why AOC’s Clapback to the ‘Fucking Bitch’ Comment Is Unprecedented for a Female Politician - AOC is a force of nature. She is undoubtedly one of the most articulate, intelligent and confident woman I have seen. She leaves me awestruck not only when she speaks about gender but also when she speaks about inequality, poverty and environmental issues. If you haven't watched this video already, please watch it.
How You Should Read Coronavirus Studies, or Any Science Paper.
BOOKS
Eduardo Galeano - Upside Down - Anyone who follows me on Instagram knows how much I love Galeano. I happened to discover this book by accident when someone I follow on Goodreads shared an old review for this book and mentioned how much he loved it. That was all I needed. This book talks about inequality, colonialism, economics, exploitation and warfare with spectacular sarcasm and wit. It is hugely educational. Cannot recommend it enough. Please read this book.
Eduardo Galeano - Mirrors - Galeano's take on the history of the world is incredible. Each chapter is a page long story through which he aims to cover forgotten and untold parts of history. I haven't completed the book because I took an indefinite Kindle break. There's only so much screen time my eyes can take.
The Forest of Enchantments - Chitra Banerjee is BACK with the Ramayan from Sita's perspective. Banerjee calls it the Sitayan. Someone FINALLY decided to write about the women of Indian epics. Our history is FULL of stories written by men about men who wage war with other men over stupid issues because men won't apologise to other men. This book is such a relief.
The Woman Code - The book mentioned in the podcast with a LONG description. The title is very misleading - she had me at heal your endocrine system. The rest is fluff. Start reading from chapter 3.
Goodbye PMS. I will not miss you.
**Note - most biohacking + fitness information is suitable for male bodies. Keto, paleo, intermittent fasting and bulletproof coffee do not work for female bodies. Female bodies metabolise food and chemicals very differently. Be careful about where you get your health and fitness information.
MUSIC
>> Fabiano Do Nascimento : Tiny Desk Home Concert - Brazilian guitarist Fabiano Do Nascimento is my favourite discovery of this month.
>> The Malawi Mouse Boys : Tiny Desk Home Concert.
>> Coreyah : Tiny Desk Home Concert - Coreyah is a Seoul based band. According to the band, the name represents "inheritance," they play traditional Korean music with a modern twist.
>> Maed in India - the best place to find new music. (Confession - I skip the interviews and listen to the music)
ART
>> Cover Junkie - Magazine cover design as an art form.
>> Judge a bar of chocolate by its cover! Stunning packaging for Coco designed by numerous artists. Take my money.
>> Supergombo's new music video - As many of you know by now, I love making collages. This video is my ultimate collage goal. I want to make something like this in my lifetime with music as catchy as this. If you make music and want a collage based video, please please reach out to me.
>> Thought Over Design's campaign against colourism.
>> Contemporary Art Daily
WATCH
How the US Stole Mexico.
++ How the US Stole Hawaii.
GOODIES
What They Don’t Teach You in Design School by AIGA - the book is available online for free.
I hope you find something that catches your interest and leads you down your own rabbit hole of reading and learning. Please don't forget to fill the feedback form. Sending you lots of love.
Warmly,
Sachi.
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