AshTalksHobbies

A  is for association  B is for Bollywood dance   C is for crochet   D is for darts  E is for embroidery   F is for fanfiction    G is for gardening   H is for horseriding   I is for insect collecting  J is for jewelry collection/making   K is for karaoke  L is for letter writing  M is for music  N is for newspaper clipping collection    O is for online learning  P is for poetry  Q is for quizzes   R is for reading   S is for science fiction   T is for time capsule    U is for underwater pursuits V is for vegetable garden  W is for watching TV/Streaming platforms X is for X-treme sports   Y is for yoga   Z is for zoo visits  

Who doesn’t like watching the telly, Netflix, Amazon Prime or any of the other streaming platforms? It’s a popular pastime, especially now during the lockdown. People always called the TV the idiot box, but over time, the quality of the shows have improved dramatically and there is content for every kind of sensibility out there. I’m not an inveterate TV watcher, but my mom simply cannot do without the TV to de-stress. Her favourite shows, as are mine, include Two Broke Girls, Mike and Molly, The Big Bang Theory, Superstore and other comedies. On Netflix, I’ve enjoyed Sacred Games, Atypical, Sex Education, and other shows. On Amazon Prime, I’ve mostly watched movies. I’ve also watched a couple of Man vs. wild shows featuring our PM and another starring Rajnikanth. There is a show for every kind of mood and every kind of person. I don’t consume much news on TV and rely on online publications to get my news. My dad watches Christiane Amanpour’s show and also a lot of ...

There are a whole bunch of activities that can be done underwater, starting with scuba diving and snorkeling. I haven’t done either although I had the opportunity to do it on my trip to Ibiza in 2012. Some of my friends who accompanied me on the trip to Ibiza did take part in scuba diving, but I decided to give it a miss. I did take part in parasailing though in Ibiza and other adventure sports in other countries.    My friend who came on the Ibiza trip with me used to do scuba diving in Africa, too. She has done a course and obtained a certificate in scuba diving. She enjoyed it immensely, but it is not everyone’s cup of tea. Another friend has learned scuba diving in the Andamans. As the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara shows us, it gives some people a unique experience to enjoy marine life in its habitat. Here's a picture of the Mediterranean sea that I took on my trip while seated on a speedboat with my friends.  Even on my trip to Thailand, when I went pa...

I don’t recall which movie it was that featured a group of girls recording a message for their future selves in 2050 and burying it in a box in a vacant plot of land. It was their ‘time capsule’. Was the movie the Britney Spears’-starrer ‘Crossroads’? This concept has been featured in several Hollywood movies, none of which I can recall at the moment. But I think it’s something we must explore, especially if we are keen on collecting memorabilia and creating memories. It would be a great activity for students in school to perform.  Here’s  a link that explains more about what you can put in a time capsule and how to go about it.   In my post, ‘ L is for letter writing, ’ I’d explored the idea of creating an email account for your newborn (if you are a parent) and sending emails to your baby for years and years and then giving your child the access to the account when he /she becomes an adult. That, too, is a kind of time capsule. How about leaving video me...

  Yes, this( horseriding) is a hobby, too, albeit for the rich and famous.    Tourists visiting hill stations can go horseback riding with guides leading the way. Children can ride small ponies in beaches, as I have done as a child.  The last time I sat on a pony was when I was about ten years old. At least that’s the last time that comes to mind. Here’s a picture of me with a pony in Kashmir. My parents and I were tourists visiting J&K in the 80s. A simple Google search throws up a list of results for horse riding schools in Chennai alone. Talking of horses, the scene from the movie Godfather comes to mind, when a beloved racehorse Khartoum is found dead and its head severed on the bed as a threat from Marlon Brando’s character. A lot of ‘Westerns’ in Hollywood couldn’t have been made without horses. More recently, the film ‘The War Horse’ was made.   In Indian movies, the heroine on horseback or riding a horsedrawn carriage ( li...

Gardening is a great hobby for the youth and the aged alike. My cousin who is about 19- 20 years old has a green thumb and has a collection of over 120 plants in his house. He is on Instagram as https://www.instagram.com/theleafiestboy/ My dad, too, has tended to his little garden in our backyard and to the pots in our balcony for the last five years.  He has raised 31 types of plants in our small garden, which includes evergreen, medicinal, flowering and house plants as well. My dad bought some of these plants from a nearby nursery and watered them and gave them fertilisers. Unfortunately, there are natural calamities like droughts, floods, cyclones etc, which can affect the plants.  So a gardener has to toil hard to maintain a garden. My dad says gardening teaches a person the virtues of patience and gives them an appreciation of nature. He says one has to understand seasons, weather, light and shade, the water table, soil conditions, air quality, composting, etc b...

Wikipedia says, “Fan fiction or fanfiction is a type of fictional text written by fans of any work of fiction where the author uses established characters, settings, or other intellectual properties from an original creator as a basis for their writing.” Although in most cases, writing fanfiction is more than a hobby, there are a few authors for whom it remains a hobby.  Harry Potter has spawned a lot of fan fiction. ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ comes to mind. Quoting again from Wikipedia, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a 2016 British two-part play written by Jack Thorne based on an original story by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Thorne. Previews of the play began at the Palace Theatre, London on 7 June 2016, and it premiered on 30 July 2016.” I remember reading terrible reviews of this book long back, but since I haven’t read it myself, I can’t really say what it is like. Sherlock Holmes has also attracted legions of fans who continue to pen adventures i...

Although I can barely thread a needle, there are several people all over the world who turn to embroidery as a hobby that gives them peace and also some income. Many run their businesses on Facebook pages using Facebook Marketplace or on Etsy. My mom has always been good at embroidery and so has my maternal grandma. Some people just seem to have a knack for it and pick it up easily. My mom considers embroidery a stress-buster. She says she always feels good after doing embroidery since she feels creative and fulfilled. I found that it added to my stress. We had SUPW as a subject in one of the schools I attended, but since I was so bad at it, I dreaded it. My mom says every country has different types of embroidery, and, in India, every state has some speciality. In Bengal, they specialize in Kantha stitch. My mom has a lovely Kantha work saree. Kashmiri embroidery is colourful and elegant. Hand embroidery is considered more valuable than machine embroidery. My mom has done stem s...

I think I was first introduced to darts back when I lived in a compound in suburban West Bengal. I must have been a little over ten years old. I haven’t played darts much, but I know of people who are interested in darts. One of my neighbours here has a dartboard outside his house. It is a solo sport that one can indulge in even in their home. It is a favourite pub game in the UK, and it also played by people of all ages. A dartboard requires very little space and everyone in the family can play it and conduct competitions, too. Those who cannot go outdoors would find d arts a good hobby to pursue.  It would help improve one’s aim and help steady the hand. I suppose surgeons would do well to practice darts. My mom has played darts and she feels it is a simple game, probably similar to rifle shooting. One needs to calculate the distance and aim properly. The dart travels just like a bullet, she says, although she has never done rifle shooting or held a gun. She says she...

Bollywood has always captured the hearts of cinephiles the world over. People have been turning to Bollywood dance to stay fit while being entertained. Item numbers are a dime a dozen these days and while some people feel that these songs objectify women, they continue to be watched by men and women alike. For a few years now, Bollywood dance classes have been popular. I remember that several years ago, Shiamak Davar was one of the known names among dance coaches. My college friend who has learned Bharatanatyam used to conduct classes for Bollywood Dance in the U.S. In Bangalore, too, another college friend attended Bollywood Dance classes at a leading fitness centre (before the lockdown). Here’s a Bollywood Dance Routine I found off the internet.  It features the catchy ‘Lovely’ from 'Happy New Year', a song I’ve always loved. In Indian weddings, they often dance to Bollywood dances for the “sangeet” function. In Bollywood movies, we often see the heroine dance to so...

Although this( being a member of your residential association) is hardly a hobby and more of a necessary intervention by community-minded people who want to maintain some standards in their neighbourhood, I see more and more senior citizens being active members of their building associations. My dad, for instance, was the Secretary of the resident’s association in the earlier group of flats where we stayed. I used to wonder why he had this masochistic interest in dealing with ungrateful people who would be rude, oppose him, and even call at odd hours( I have fielded a call from some loon at 6 am one day) and abuse him verbally for a burden of a job that didn’t even pay. But now that I’m older, I understand why he is taking upon himself so much of this burden. We have shifted from the earlier apartments and now stay in the suburbs in a villa, but we still face numerous issues. My dad, who is 72, has put in way too many hours of community service. We’ve had people ring the bell so ...

Everybody needs a hobby. Some people are naturally more predisposed to boredom. These are the creative ones that if encouraged and nurtured can go on to change the world. But before they save the world, they need to save themselves. As the saying goes, no one can pour out of an empty cup. Many artists and creative folk are prone to listlessness and depression. They need hobbies to keep them afloat in choppy seas and help them tide over challenges. Sometimes, they are prone to dark moods and anger, too. The only way to heal is through staying engaged creatively. What will help is to stay amidst verdant surroundings in a peaceful place with few disturbances so that one can delve into one’s artistic self and draw from the wellspring of creativity that lies within. It must be tapped because unless one uses it, one loses it. It’s just like one’s grey cells. It needs regular honing and application. Creative people owe it to themselves, if not to the world, to try to create, even through th...