Crows, cats, and trees

We’re a tad late again. :’) October’s newsletter is making it to your inbox in early November. As always, thank you for reading!

🌊 Hi, I’m Sachi, and this is Currents, a newsletter about birds, animals, music, and books. If you want to unsubscribe, the link is at the bottom. If you like this, share it with someone or say hello. Say hello, let’s chat!

I was looking for common themes of the month while thinking of what to write in addition to good shows, movies, and books. For me, a lot of what happened in October reminded me to enjoy what is around me. I tend to complain and get angry at my circumstances as a way to fuel (self initiated) change but that can make it harder to appreciate and improve your life in little ways. The essays this month are about smaller things that brought joy or helped direct my attention to better subjects.

1. 
Crows and Cats

I have human friends, but I also have crow friends and cat friends. 
Every morning I wake up and open all the windows, one of which is the one next to my kitchen. On most days, there’s a crow perched on top, waiting for a snack. It started innocently enough with giving them bits of fish and chicken. I don’t cook fish or chicken often enough for them to have daily treats. They began to caw at the window I mentioned or come to the living room window in case I forgot that it was snack time. I’m slowly starting to distinguish them by their personalities. I learned that they really like chips. One of the crows is gentle and waits for its turn while another will stuff as much in its beak as it can. One of them will eat pineapples but the other won’t. Both like watermelon. Sweet treats are usually welcome. Is it healthy? I don’t know. One of their recent favorites is gathiya, made of chickpea flour. It melts in the mouth and is easy to eat. They used to wait for me to leave snacks at the window and leave before they’d dive in. The unafraid one of the two doesn’t mind me watching anymore. It almost ate one straight from my fingers. After a few days of this, the shy one began to eat with me around too. My grandfather used to feed them boondi back in the day and would buy packs of boondi specially for them. I think that’s the path I’m taking with these two. 
(Update - they also like apples cut into small pieces and pan fried idli. These crows have good taste. It’s either that or their ability to eat absolutely anything.)

Neighborhoods in Mumbai are either dog neighborhoods or cat neighborhoods. I have the good fortune of being in a cat neighborhood. The pocket of Vile Parle East that I live in has stray cats everywhere. There are cats napping on cars, sitting on rocks, lounging on tables outside cafes, waiting by entrances, sitting on and below benches. There are cats EVERYWHERE and I try to pet every cat I cross. Most of them are friendly and will allow you to pet them for a bit before they get bored or you have to go about running errands. One of these lovely cats is Tuxedo (whose fur is black and white and reminds me of Tuxedo Kamen from Sailor Moon), who I pet and spend time with every evening. I first spotted him near my building’s entrance. He spends most of his time in the building next to mine but pops by sometimes. He only ever lets me pet him when he’s at the other building. His choices make no sense to me but who am I to question a cat? He sits on the gate of the other building watching people go by. I adore him. Petting the little clown makes my day. Look at his paws?!

There’s another orange cat in the same area that I haven’t quite befriended yet but hope to do so soon. A little white cat that also sits by the entrance will drop you all the way back home in exchange for a snack. Safety is important folks. 

2. 
The devil’s tree

There’s a flowering tree outside my window that I noticed this monsoon because of its stunning white flowers and its unique spicy smell. I have been fascinated by it ever since. Mumbai had unseasonal rains this past week and the tree found itself with a fresh layer of flowers. I didn’t know what it was called but I started to notice it every time I smelled that spicy heady fragrance outside. Once you become aware of it, you can’t ignore it.  My mother sent me a video that she found about it on Facebook. The tree has many names, two of which are the devil’s tree (I think this is a very cool name for a tree) and milkwood tree (because of its milky white flowers) On Wikipedia, it says that it is a toxic plant, but is used traditionally for myriad diseases and complaints. The sap is apparently an irritant to skin but other parts of the tree are useful? I’m sure they’ve been around in Mumbai for years but I only just noticed it. The flowers attract butterflies like nothing else. It’s lovely to simply watch small birds and butterflies hover around the flowers. The fragrance begins to emerge in the dark, soon after sunset. The devil’s tree isn’t for everyone. People either love or hate the smell of its flowers. Its abundant pollen can be a problem for some people too. I’m at an ideal distance where the smell isn’t too heady. I like keeping my windows open in the evening and before you know it, your room smells of its flowers. It’s an absolute delight. 

3
TV Shows & Movies of the month - Blue Giant, Belle, and Romantics Anonymous

I watched Blue Giant (2023) and could not stop thinking about it. It’s about a young man who falls in love with jazz after seeing a live performance. He dedicated 3 years after that to playing the saxophone every single day, regardless of the weather, by a river in his hometown. All because he was moved by the intensity, roughness and aliveness of jazz. Eventually, he moves to Tokyo in search of bandmates and honing his skills. He finds good people, he perseveres and eventually gets ‘discovered’. He never lets the politics of finding venues, getting record deals or needing to appear a certain way get in the way of his love for music and how he plays. Something about seeing someone so dedicated to something woke me up, even if a little bit. The music in the movie was brilliant, as expected from a movie about jazz. I highly recommend this movie.

Belle (2021) is about Suzu, a young highschooler, who lost the ability to sing from the trauma of losing her mother as a child. Until she discovers social media platform U, that lets you have an embodied experience and choose an avatar for yourself. It creates a vision for social media that’s different from what we usually see and a treat to the eyes. Suzu finds that she can sing on this platform unhindered by her past trauma. She meets ‘the Dragon’ , an ostensibly angry and dangerous online character until she realizes there’s more to the Dragon than she thought there was. The lack of romance was actually refreshing. If anything, this movie was an excellent reminder of how loved ones (online and offline) can protect you and hold you in difficult times.  The movie is about grief, violence, reconnecting with something you once loved, moving on, friendship, and the power of the internet. 

Romantics Anonymous is a new-ish Japanese show on Netflix and it is absolutely adorable. I love when a show’s leads are awkward people in their 30s. Hana Lee is a brilliant chocolatier who has scopophobia and cannot tolerate eye contact. She makes chocolates for a shop called Le Sauveur, run by her mentor, and delivers them anonymously. Things change when her mentor passes away and the shop is acquired by a major confectionary company. The new director of the shop is Sosuke Fujiwara who cannot stand to be touched by anyone. Through an unexpected encounter, they find that Hana and Sosuke are immune to each other’s anxiety. They find a way to work together and keep Le Sauveur running while being extremely kind and thoughtful towards each other. People being kind to each other is my new favorite genre of books and shows. The other characters around them are lovely and complex as well. The show avoids a lot of tropes and tackles heavier subjects with care. It’s a sweet and heartwarming show that I wish I could watch again for the first time.

4. 
Angels & Demons - lowering the barrier to entry

I felt a little burned out this October and took some time to find things that made me feel even a little bit more alive. From befriending the building crows and neighborhood cats to getting out of a long reading rut, this break has helped me get out of what felt like a mental swamp. I feel like I’ve been wading through this swamp-y energy for a while and felt like it was time to get out. I started with familiar suspects - reading, observing things around me, and moving my body.
I hadn’t read anything in months and my running excuse was that I missed my local library in New York. As the owner of many books both physical and digital, this is bullshit. I was moving through The Golden Road at a pace so glacial, I didn’t think I’d finish in 2025. To get things moving I read Angels & Demons. It was my first ever Dan Brown novel. I realized early on that the writing wasn’t much to write home about but the plot was ridiculously engaging. The pace was fast and it kept me hooked. From reading nothing to a hundred pages a day was what I needed. Reading something easy lowers the barrier to making a habit stick. I often go to romance or a really slim novella to shake off a reading rut. (I bought Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series which I’ve been delighted to dive into. I’m reading Mistborn slower than I want to admit but it’s good enough for now.)

Doing tiny things has been far more helpful than big and drastic changes. A short workout is better than no workout. A tiny walk or one page read instead of none is a step forward. A lot of the heaviness is self inflicted and it has been fun to focus on other things for a change. 

I hope you folks had a refreshing Diwali break!

Until next time.

Warmly,
S