August's been a crazy, crazy month. Completely unpredictable, and hectic, and so much on the plate, that I've no idea whether I'm coming or going. So much happened!
Family was the main theme for this month. My husband K suddenly fell ill, and what was looking like a minor viral erupted into hard-core bronchitis, and then complications with kidney stones that required surgery.
The first two weeks of August was nuts. I spent it running around hospitals, and medical insurance, and doctors - the works. Thankfully, my mom visited to lend us a hand.
While K was recuperating, I had to deal with Piglet's exams (and did a very shoddy job of it too). Thankfully, his exam results came out well, and for that Piglet has been solely responsible. Kudos to him for becoming more proactive towards his homework and studies.
Plus, Snubnose's art exhibition was on, so I was running around town lugging huge canvases and heavy lifting. I had committed Snubnose's participation in the show long back, and it was too late to back off, and Snubnose would have been disappointed.
In addition to all this, work at office was pretty heavy too, and in all this juggling, I dropped several balls 🙁 .
All in all, a very chaotic month, and I don't want any repeats of this in the near future.
With all that happened in August, I didn't really end up doing much reading. I finally finished Milkman by Anna Burns (such a hard read, but also so worth it). I also started and finished Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon, and Lethal White by Robert Galbraith.
- Dragonfly in Amber
- Lethal White
While waiting at the hospital, I picked a book that I thought would be a light, easy read - The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware. And I think I just might have found my new fave thriller writer. I simply loved her atmospheric writing style, and look forward to reading more books by her. Any recommendations on which book of hers I should try next?
I've also been watching a lot of stuff on Netflix - blame it on sleepless late nights spent worrying, or just that Netflix after months of monotonous content has suddenly started providing some really interesting viewing options.
Here's a quick rundown on what I saw on Netflix and what I recommend:
- Beecham House - Mini series on colonial India directed by Gurinder Chadha of Bend it like Beckham fame. I watched the entire six episodes of season 1. However, I left a bit disappointed in the end. It didn't seem like anything different from other colonial sagas helmed by British or American directors. I won't be watching season 2.
- Article 15 - This is a new addition on Netflix. This movie stars Ayushmann Khurana, and is an unsettling look at caste violence in a village in UP. Absolutely loved this movie. Must watch!
- Badla - This is a short and intense movie starring Taapsee Pannu, Amitabh Bachchan, and Amrita Singh. Tense and twisty, this one was an entertaining watch. Recommend!
- Ek Hasina Thi - This is a bit of an oldie (just before the age of the smartphones). It stars Urmila Matondkar and Saif Ali Khan, and is a bit up and down. But still, in my opinion any movie directed by Sriram Raghavan is worth a watch, and this definitely was.
All in all, a pretty great month in terms of entertainment!
Blogging this month was perfunctory. I completed and published blog posts that I started in July, and did a book review and a write-up on Snubnose's art show. But that's about it. A big fat fail overall.
What I blogged
More updates on China travel:
- The Terracotta Army
- Drenched in Forbidden City
I also blogged about Lethal White and the art show in which Snubnose participated.
And that was August for me. Action-packed, worrying, hectic, chaotic. Things have finally settled down now though. How did your August go?
Nish
Voracious reader, vegetarian foodie, mostly armchair traveler, and frequent online shopper. I love to talk about all these passions (and other things happening in my life) in this blog.
