I have exactly 20 minutes to write before the calendar clocks in. I’d spend till 2:30 last night figuring out Instagram’s reel editor, writing a couple of LinkedIn posts and setting up video-settings on my phone and laptop because I plan on recording a lot of podcasts and sit-down chatty videos this summer.

Haha – I also caught Pooja in the middle of her day and that was cool.

My birthday is here.

Someone asked me yesterday, “4 days to go, how do you feel AK?”

And I’d said something along the lines of, “Nothing really. It’s not a party this year.”

22. The holy-grail of birthdays for Swifties all around the world. It’s not a party this year.

Have the 20s caught up? The next 360 days could tell.

Perfect day.

That’s the song I am blasting to cancel out my internal monologue right now. Perfect Day from Princess and the Popstar. That movie is a core childhood memory. Draksha and I used it watch it and daydream about how being an adult would be the most amazing thing ever. The jury’s still out on that. Given the trade-off, I don’t think it’s a raw deal.

Another memory from home I’ve been thinking a lot about is this: On summer evenings at home, I would shower, moisturise and put on my fresh jammies for the night. And step out in the gardens. Most of my family would be hanging outside. In different groups. Some guests would pop-up occasionally. The lawns would have been freshly watered, so there’d be an earthy smell. Someone would bring snacks and things. And I’d just walk around and play with my dogs as if I were a real life princess. At least in 240-D, I was.

I don’t have my home now. I can’t smell things. My dogs have died. And I think I have lost the ability to eat my favourite things without thinking of the sugar and the calories and whatnot.

But oh, yesterday, I got me a blueberry muffin and decided to relish it without worrying about how trashy it is for my body. And I actually did. Until my 3rd last bite. But it was a fun feeling. I love my baked goodies and muffins so much — especially when I can taste them.

Need to find routine and discipline.

I realised yesterday that I have made an absolute ruin of my life in the last 2-3 years. There’s no schedule that I strictly follow, waste a LOT of time in mindless activities and have brought down my attention span to that of a kitten. I mean, I don’t even know when my best working hour is. My best bet would be mornings. But do I even have enough of the sample set to give you a concrete answer? ABSOLUTELY NO.

So, this summer break, while I work on all my fun, exciting, ground-breaking plans, I want to become a schedule-run person. Not calendar run, but schedule-run. I’m sure you know the difference.

I made a “6 AM: Wake-up” kind of schedule yesterday. Here’s a picture.

Needs tiny changes and edits, but this is it. More or less. Now I won’t ask your help keeping me in check, that’s on me. But yeah, this is what I am up to.

Oh, I have a new place now.

I call it Clubhouse. It is closer to college. And the beach. And all things that happen in the world. And Saurabh. And a very comfortable distance from Chandni. Boy do I love it here?

With all the extra time on my hands, I can sleep a little more. Jk, but seriously. And make time for everything I want to be doing. It’s basically a no-excuses home for me, which I super like.

I don’t know what to tell you about it. Everyone asks me.

It’s close to things. It’s big and empty. I love it that way. I don’t know how to pretty it up. I don’t even know if I want to. I like coming back home to this — so why would I want to spend time and energy thinking about it and doing it? I will bring a couple of lights though. Yellow and RGB. Once I get the sockets fixed. And oh yes, I do not have a mirror in the washroom. It’s funny how I’ve gotten used to that empty patch.

But yes, that.

Coolsies, that’s all!