It’s March 26, 2025. I will turn 23 in exactly two months. That’s a serious age. In two more years, I will be 25. That’s more demanding. Greater expectations. I’m not scared of it. Hopeful actually. Now I don’t think I have made something worthwhile of my life so far. Or satisfactory. But I’m confident I have gathered enough experiences to put the next few years to good use. Or so I hope. Either ways, I am in no rush. With stuff like this, I will accept that it’s a matter of time and resilience and taking baby steps everyday. That it will all add up in due time. So that.

That’s looking into the future and hoping and thinking. Let me come back to the now. The today. And write down my thoughts.

One. Hung out with friends from college.

Got lunch at Bokka in Bandra. With 4 friends from college. I don’t usually go out with college folks — so this was a new, interesting break. Got the Caprese Dosa that I had gotten a year back with Prak and Pants. And an Oatly. And Americano from Boojee. And maybe a couple bites of the waffles. We talked silly fun, ate good food and struggled to find a parking or a table or the cafe altogether.

Somewhere in that conversation I decided to stop getting coffee from outside and brew some at home instead. An old friend would do this all the time — I loved it, but I never bothered to ask how. Looked it up on YouTube and it’s fairly easy. So no more outside coffee for me. I don’t know what purpose this serves. I think — I can store it so I’ll always have some; I can control sugar; I can choose the kind of milk — if at all; and if nothing, it’s something worth trying. Should someone like to get me grounds, I can send you my address.

SK told me her sister runs a nutraceutical business. Which is pretty interesting + exciting. I’ll chat with her and learn more about it sometime this week. Had to drop off KF at the Bandra Railway Station and the side we arrived on was really pretty. I’ve been told there’s a not-so-aesthetic side too. I’ll find out some day.

Two. Zepto owes me 90 minutes of my time and headspace.

Last night, I ordered myself some water and other home things from Zepto. Which took a terribly long time to deliver. What’s worse is: They told me it’d be 10 minutes before I placed my order. And then there were incremental delays in delivery time + partner has almost reached your location + I couldn’t even cancel my order. Terribly frustrating. Then, such slow Customer Support and the rider won’t even share complete information.

Got done, ordered the same basket on Swiggy and both arrived at the same time. The Zepto partner told me her scooter had broken down on the way. Superbly understandable. But if only the team had given me complete information and not kept me in the dark and just waiting for the bell to ring. Plus, honest estimates on delivery time. I would never have had beef. But nothing.

What’s worse — there’s no compensation for time lost. And sleep lost. Lord help the service economy.

Three. None of my old clothes fit me. Feels crappy.

Over the last 15 months, I’ve consistently gained some 20 extra kgs. Consequence of my own inaction. Bad diet, lack of exercise, messed up sleep cycles, etc. I’m also an avid shopper — I really enjoy dressing up, getting cute new clothes, all that. Because of all this weight now, my hoards of 500 outfits don’t fit me anymore. Every few months I’ve had gather what doesn’t fit me and put it away. And then maybe buy a couple of basic t-shirts and a pant. To keep my regular life going.

I did the same thing again. Only that this time — I seem to have nothing left. And being angry at myself, I don’t want to get new things in my size which is obvious. It is now my stubbornness — I want to fit my old cute clothes again. So now, I’m left with some 4-5 t-shirts, one pair of jeans and couple of ghar-ka-pajamas. One set of formals. And of course, a couple huge gym-tees that are merch from brands and events. Which is not bad, come to think of it.

But putting away all my old things was a crushing feeling. A reminder than I’ve gotten fatter and I’ve done nothing about it. I mean, I did start going to the gym and eating better the last month. But that’ll take time. It did make my periods pain-free, so that’s good. But I need my full wardrobe back. Oh!

Finally. Micro-thoughts from the day.

1. The long em dash has become a ChatGPT indicator and I don’t like it. I literally use it all the time. That’s how I think.
2. I have a love-hate-love-hate relationships with eggs. I’ll eat them obsessively for a few weeks. Then not touch them for months. And eat them obsessively again. Yesterday, I had scrambled eggs and veggies and rice for dinner. It was the best. Again tonight.
3. Missed my morning gym session because I hadn’t slept enough last night. So tonight, I will be doing a home-workout with ONF. Should be fun.
4. The weekend is off — Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I already have my work plans carved out. Nobody touch me.
5. Alexi Pappas, the Olympic runner, talks about the Rule of Thirds on this podcast. It’s the idea that: When you’re chasing a dream, you’re meant to feel good a third of the time, okay a third of the time, and crappy a third of the time. I don’t have a pointed, serious BHAG right now. But maybe it will be worth tracking this everyday. Here’s a sheet for that. I’ll share it here everyday.
6. With these blogs and the Instagram posts, consistency has made more people take notice of the fact that I write. And has made them click, read and come back with thoughts. A lot more people have told me that they read what I write than they did earlier. Clearly, daily habits and greater frequency has value. SG, Gary Vee, James Clear — you were all right.

Aur bas!

Anshika – on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Ps: I share interesting links and stories that tickle my brain through the day on this WhatsApp group. Most of it doesn’t make it to these blogs, but should you like to join — here.

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