2024 was a good-ish year. Can’t complain.

In December (right before Christmas) we brought Poppy (on the name, footnote) home from a shelter near Bannerghatta. She started at a ’year old’ and now we know—from teeth-based evidence—is a malnourished one and a half year old. She was perpetually hungry and it broke our hearts to see that. She’s up for food anytime even now, but knows there will be enough and on time and is calmer in general around things we eat. At night the bed isn’t enough anymore and on winter nights we don’t complain.

Now there is just enough floor between all the fur to build a third puppy or evenly distribute over everything in the wardrobe. We prefer the first but settle for the wardrobe thing.

The one in the air in a blur is Poppy. She’s lighter and easier to lift but goes bonkers after exactly three seconds in the air. Chellam with her Bauhaussey collar isn’t as amused by the whole setup as I am.

We (KL11 and recently R) had a fulfilling year at work. We made a ‘corporate’ book about people at River. Will post some pictures later. R took soul-filling photos of people working at the factory. (Everybody smiled.) I went to some ‘events’ and was miserable after. I went to some other ‘events’ and wanted to go to more, after.


I’ve realised work isn’t the focus this year. Not the kind that brings in money, anyway. I’ve decided to work from home more often.

The year was an absolute disaster for reading. I started more books and finished few. Much fewer than usual. It isn’t that I’m older and okay-er with not finishing books; just that I was too distracted to see things through. I’ll replace the void left by two underwhelming Kindles with a Kobo, once I get through the five books on the proverbial nightstand. (Suggestions welcome on which one to spring for. I’m more interested in the more pocketable/pocket-friendly Clara.) There is a thread on Threads from Kobo’s CEO that sold me on the company and a bunch of podcasts later, the feelings hold true-r. (There are a new set of podcasts I’m listening to, mostly while cleaning the house and its utensils, and sometimes when waiting for snoring to set in. Will share a list too.)

R is home alone with the kids most days and that is not okay. So I’m testing alternate WFH days and fifty-fifty days till we find a solution.

I am cycling more. (Or at all, finally.) Driving to work always reminded me of that tiffin-box frame from Sarnath Banerjee’s Harappa Tales (there is a single-person sitting in a disproportionately huge SUV with a single tiffin box in the rearview mirror) and it is getting increasingly difficult to find parking spots for Podimol at the HQ anyway. The other day, I’d diagonally parked outside, between the drain, an excuse for a garden, and a silver-grey KIA. The misalignment drove me angry till other unimportant store-construction measurement fiascos took over that duty for the day. I’ve got some band-less toe-cages and UV-shielded sleeves off Decathlon and have upgraded to the ultimate cycle-riding fashion statement with Sandals+Socks per Rivendell. And there is now a long overdue bar-bag on the handlebar that has fundamentally changed the way I worry about losing phones/earphones from pant-pockets, forever. I think I waited too long trying to justify another Ortleib only to fail and wisen up. The ride is a fifteen minutes thing (sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on how well the little traffic near Nallurhalli Metro behaves). It is pleasant-adjacent especially this time of the year, and I hope more riding will make it more pleasant in the summery months. In the interest of worklifebalance, I’m trying to ride as light as possible, but packing light isn’t always feeling right.

Last year I wasted a whole bunch of time doomscrolling OTT platforms. This year I’ve added TV+ to the list in hopes of getting rid of everything else. I know; logic, etcetera.

There are new input devices on the way. I threw some money at a GAS67 barebones and a Kensington Orbit WL. Can’t wait to build the keyboard and see how a static mouse feels. Then I’ll write a series of posts on all the slightly weird input devices I love. (Input tools [including the ink and paper variety] decide and often define how unique one’s work is and I want to experiment and not feel old.)

Speaking of age. I also want to cook (and eat) better. Numbers from a recent blood-test was a great reality-check and one of the ways to deal with those numbers seem to be eating well. We got an Instant AirFryer and instant air fry a whole bunch of things now. The coconut oil can is sleeping in a corner. Like all great cooks, R doesn’t like me in the kitchen when she’s in the zone. I believe I also want to feel what that feels like (being in the zone, not the being out of the zone) and be more present like her.

This was the year I invited more people home than ever. (I don’t say ‘we’ because R has always had great friends.) And I see why that is a good thing. More this year.

On the name: Poppy is spelt that way to avoid copyright fights with the umbrella manufacturer. And she reminds me of a Poppy pod. Apparently she was just the generic ‘puppy’ as she was being rescued from a miserable place, and the name stuck and morphed into Poppy. She responds to most words that end in a ‘ppee’ now but we figured we’ll keep the name and help erase everything else about her past eventually. Fingers firmly crossed for that.