#yesterday i watched some news satire videos from 2020

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

wait interview with the vampire lives in a world with corona?

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 19 June 2020

Hey Everyone!

The weekend is here again, bringing us all the much needed breathing space and relief. With our jobs taking a majority of our time, the constant need to be glued to our screens, and managing the many little things that make our home, the weekend is a perfect medicine to soothe our nerves. 

P.S : For all those feeling a little let down this week, please follow Recipes for Self Love’s Instagram Page. 

Image courtesy : Recipes for Self Love @ Instagram

All right, as usual what do we have for you to read this weekend....

Dreams. Dreams. Dreams.

What do you dream these days? What shapes or forms does your dreams take in these COVID times and do you make an effort to interpret them? or do you remember thedetails from your dreams. New York Times recently asked their readers what did they all dream in 2020? How scary, thrilling, moody or happy were there dreams. ? NYT has curated 20 such dreams from their readers and presented them as an interactive, dopey webpage. Some of my favorites were taking care of baby fishes, Armenian revolutions, Social Distancing etc. Take a look at this well curated, beautiful page on dreams. Don't forget to also check out the comments section for even spookier ones. 

Speaking on dreams, an interesting conversation with dear friend and visual artist Debasish Borah led us to talking about one of his most beautiful works called I Dream of Smoking in Toba Tek Singh. Toba Tek Singh is a satirical short short story by Sadat Hassan Manto capturing the chaos around the India- Pakistan Partition Period. Deba’s zine ( he makes extremely good ones ) is a satirical take on many of those issues we debate over and over. As his website describes, “ The zine questions the ideas of nation and nationalism, leaders, and partition of countries through objects, letters, photographs and documents found and created around stories of separation.”  While you are checking out Toba Tek Singh, also check out for this beautiful book called The Lonely Cloud.

Image Courtesy : Far Side Collective ( FAR ) 

People at work

This week during one of our morning briefs , a colleague mentioned however informal our meeting sessions are, its always on an official mode. Earlier when things were normal aka Before CoVID (B.C.) , we could walk into our offices, meet people on our way, breakout for a chai/coffee break, have lunches together and discuss many things apart from work. With the new normal, how much ever we try to replicate the ‘virtual office’ on our screens and platforms, we miss the people at work. Acclaimed author and columnist Manu S. Pillai, captures this missing feeling in his regular column at Mint. He mentions, we all enjoyed the relative emptiness, the joys of being at home during work and adjusting to a life void of hustle, crowd and chaos. However, now we miss the coffee and cigarette breaks, the excited debate on the country’s state of affairs and the simple face to face Good Mornings. As my colleague and dear friend Giby remarked, “ No matter how hard you try da...virtual is virtual, and people are people...”. You can read Manu S. Pillai’s article here. 

Video Calls

When was the first time you video-called someone? I distinctly remember my first video call when the 3G network allowed for such a thing to happen. I was more excited by how the then-latest cellular technology enabled you to see someone regardless of how far or oceans apart. This was 2010, I believed we were at the cusp of a revolutionary communication method. Goodbye Voice calls, Hello Video Calling! 

And then what happened? I never video-called anybody on a regular basis. Our phones and technologies improved over the decade and I still called people through voice calls. On occasions I would call someone over video and most times I used to dread picking up video calls because of infinite reasons. These two articles at NYT and Mint capture the same dread I experienced about video calls. However with the our lives being confined to our homes and with our eagerness to see others, Video Call has come back from the dead. Timezones can now be managed, appearances don't matter and most of all, you share an intimate, joyful moment in the lives on the other side. Video calls have been a life saver to meet my parents who live on the other side. And in the past decade I can count the number of times I have video called them. Now, 2330 hrs IST everyday is dedicated video calling time. ! You can read both the articles here and here. 

Image Courtesy : The New Yorker 

There is so much to read, tell us something to watch...

For the past two weeks, ever since I began writing for The Weekend Briefs, Thadi and Ammu ( my lovable children of ages 30 and 21 ) have been suggesting I watch a movie that goes by name,  Call me by your Name (2017).

Image Courtesy : Wikipedia 

And after much hesitation, I sat down to watch this yesterday. If there is a movie which dwells on silences, serene, tranquil moments of love it is this one. The movie is shot on 35mm film format, and is a visual treat to your eyes. More than everything, the storytelling is profound, nuanced and presented in a manner tugging on the viewer’s mind. My mind is still stuck in the beautiful Italian landscapes, the cycling rides of Oliver and Elio, the laidback weekend feels and the many frames that speak volumes to the viewer. If you are on the look out for a heart warming story of love, loss and a bit of melancholy, Call Me By Your Name is the perfect choice. 

Bonus : Please Please re-watch the last sequences with much earnest. I have never seen wiser, kinder monologues that reminds me of the many monologues of Robin Williams. 

Tell us something to listen to...

I have been listening to two brilliant soundtracks this past week while working. I was in double mind, because one soundtrack speaks of duty, honor, regales while the other speaks about love and melancholy. It was difficult for me to finally choose one, and I have decided to share both. 

The first, is The Crown ( streaming on Netflix ) original soundtrack composed by Rupert Gregson Williams with the main soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer. I would recommend a binge listen to the main theme and Duck Shoot. You can stream  the complete soundtracks on Spotify , Apple Music or Youtube. 

Image Courtesy : Netflix 

My second selection for this weekend is Sufjan Stevens, “ Vision of Gideon” and “Mystery of Love” from the Original Soundtrack of Call me by your Name. This breezy soundtrack should make most of your weekend and recommends many repeats. 

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Well that’s all from The Weekend Briefs for this weekend. Thank you to Debasish for sharing his work, Prasanth and Ammu for recommendations and all others for sharing our briefs on social media. 

Hope everyone has a refreshing weekend ! Eat, Read, Love and be Merry this weekend and fight the Monday Blues. 

See you all next week!

Signing off, 

The Weekend Briefs!

In Memoriam : Sushant Singh Rajput & Sachy.