total timepass...

Last year I did a course on a topic completely unrelated to my academic background - a course at Oxford on the 'Philosophy of Ethics'. The course choice was driven by questions I have about what is the right thing to do - a question we often face in our work and personal lives. We had 4 months of (online recorded) lectures, discussions with ‘classmates’ (all online) and multiple assignments. It was an intense journey and so insightful! Sharing below some of my theoretical and practical lessons from the course:  Overall, we delved deep into four major theories on ethics: Virtue ethics by Aristotle : According to Aristotle, the right action is the one that would be chosen by a virtuous person, and the virtuous person would know what is right, will do what is right and does it for the right reasons. In this theory, reason trumps everything else and is the only driver of virtuous actions. Also, Eudaimonia (happiness) is the aim of life. Eudaimonia is a lifelong pursuit that ...

I read the book, 'The Art of Travel' by Alain de Baton in 2021, on a trip to the Greek islands. I read it within a few days and was blown away by it, totally. It's been a long time since I read it, still I wanted to somewhere post what the book talked about. Below are some of the highlights for me. The anticipation of what to expect on travel is sometimes much better than the actual travel because we forget the tough realities of the travel when imagining them (I think I feel the same about travel too now. It is never perfect, the place may not be as perfect as we have seen in the photos, and there is immense admin associated with planning longer travels. So my expectation from actual travels has gone down a lot also nowadays) How you get to a travel destination is also interesting as the planes and trains used as transport are a huge part of the travel effort  What someone finds exotic and interesting to travel to is mostly based on what they don't get at home (It m...

Where do I even begin. There are tv series, and then there are tv series. And Mr. Sunshine belongs to the second category. Somehow I just did not expect it to have the kind of impact it did. Most of the other K-dramas I have watched before (and there are 11 of them!) were all great in their own right. But Mr. Sunshine is something else. It has touched me and affected me more than the others. And it continues to haunt me even after it's over. Such an epic series. It starts out as a love story, but then turns into an even bigger love story. Love for one's country, for your people around, and for freedom. Mr. Sunshine is the story of Eugene Choi, a Joseon (Korean) child who had fled to the US, and now comes back to his homeland. Initially just to exact revenge for what had happened to him in his childhood. But then he meets a noblewoman, Go Ae-Shin and his life changes. As it does for a few other people, for Gu Dong Mae, a Japanese samurai, for Kim Hui-Seong, a lost nobleman...

I visited the Van Gogh museum recently, again (my third visit actually). It was interesting as always, because one ends up understanding him more and more with each chance to see his art and know more of his life journey. I was able to see more clearly his transformation from a learner to a painter to becoming a master himself. The journey he went through to improve himself, constantly. It is easy to recognise in his earlier paintings, the student, who was experimenting with the art, but hadn't really figured out his own style yet.  Those were especially interesting for me to observe, as I am also on my own journey to learn and enjoy this art. I read about how he used different ways to paint, especially using the perspective frame which explained how he got the dimensions right (it's a learning every painter could use). I also liked his view on art, where he thought painting from reality was more important than from imagination. I am also on the same boat as him on this one. ...

Last fall when the lockdown was lifted for some time, and some of the museums in London had started opening up, I visited the National Gallery. It must have been my 20th or 30th visit to the museum (I don't even remember). But it is definitely my most memorable and impactful one. In the last one year, I have started painting and that has completely changed my outlook towards art. Now I realise how difficult painting some things could be, how critical getting the right colours and light is, and so I am able to appreciate and immerse myself in the paintings a lot more than before. Also I have slowly formed my own opinions and likes in art, so it is a lot more enjoyable appreciating and staring at the pieces I like. Which are generally landscapes, flowers, bright colours and realistic scenes. During these museum visits, I am also figuring out which artists and styles I like, and why. And it doesn't bother me if it doesn't match popular opinion - Art, I've realised is pe...

The various museums I visited in Madrid differ from each other, in their themes and time periods. Like the Prado contains paintings all the way to the 1800s, while the Reina Sofia focuses on modern art. It is a good thing that I read about Reina before going, so I knew what to expect. Else, given its name, I would have expected to see the royal collection of paintings, with Christian themes. And it had nothing close to that at all! The museum owns more than 23 thousand pieces of photographs and paintings. And they are all modern art, from the 1900s onwards. Corridors of Reina Sofia The museum is huge, covering 4 floors plus an extension. It was constructed initially to be used as a hospital but ended up being used as a museum. So its architecture resembles a hospital more than a museum still. All around are corridors lined with rooms where the paintings are housed, far away from each other. And in the middle of the building is a garden which can be seen from the corridors. I had v...