Mindful observer. Curious listener. Slow walker. Poetryhead.

My endless appetite for cinema, music, art, literature and metaphysics is a consequence of a belief that only love adds meaning to existence.

And if you ever decide to spend even a single but honest moment with me, I am certain you will find a little bit of me in you.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm here because it is time to realize that the world has found way too many incentives behind dividing us and we must find more ways to unite. Because we must claim what is ours - trustful and nurtured connections in a universe where we belong. So, we can begin from this world, right?

And also because a best friend was a stranger first.

Interests

Cinema, Music, Literature, Art, Philosophy, Cosmology, Neuroscience, Quantum Mechanics, History, Politics, Cooking, Meditation, Creating characters out of clouds, Walking aimlessly, Fishing for stories, Poetic justice.

• arts
• literature
• poetry
• cooking
• recipes
• meditation
• walking
• politics
• movies
• music

Music, Movies, and Books

Music is an essential part of my being so I am immersed in various sounds of the world (except for hip-hop/rap/hard-rock/metal and anything with mediocre lyrics)
Ghazal, Qawwali, Singer songwriters, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Indian Classical (diving deeper into Western Classical now), Classic Rock, Soul, Progressive and Alternate genres are welcome too.

This space is a bit limiting for a cinephile but I will try summarizing with a few names:

Ray, Herzog, Kiarostami, Kieslowski, Jodorowsky, Tarkovsky, Kubrick, Bresson, Bergman, Pasolini, Varda, Panahi, Haneke, Dardene Brothers, Asghar Farhadi, Linklater, Anand Patvardhan, Lars Von Trier, Inarritu, Mira Nair, Nuri Ceylan, Nolan, Bela Tarr, Ulrich Seidl, Celine Sciamma, Leos Carax and I will keep updating as I gather more light.

Poets have been my earliest guides - Ghalib, Gulzar, Rumi, Mir, Faiz, Sahir, Paash, Cohen, Gibran, Tagore.
Thanks to Ambedkar, Nietzsche, Kafka, Camus, Manto, Premchand, Renu, James Baldwin and Chinua Achebe, I don't get to sleep too much.
Graphic novels hold a very special place in my heart and my book shelf but now I am immersed in non-fiction.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I haven't made any real contribution to society other than plumbing the depths of human condition through my ideas and craft.
But once I sang songs at a Police Station as a form of protest though I am not sure if it belongs in this box.

One amazing thing I did as a very young kid was to ask myself - why do I exist!

Oh and I busked to survive in Amsterdam and Prague. (Will tell you in person why it was amazing).

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach how to acknowledge suffering so we can rise above our own cyclical miseries and work towards creating and implementing solutions to progress towards an equal, peace loving and nurturing coexistence.

Learn to corner fear and combat oppression to seek balance in the paradox that often tests the path between our actions and intentions.

Share the inexhaustible source of love and compassion which we are all capable of finding within us.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A contagious smile. Recipes. Poems. Songs. Stories that may inspire us to seek more stories. Comfortable silences.

And anything that can lead us to profound sensitivity that turns I into We.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

India