Hello from my home in Helsinki! This is NordLetter #95, a weekly newsletter on living and walking in Finland. Each week I share some of the interesting things I found on the web.
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I asked Claude to give me a structure for my NordLetter posts. These posts are either travelogues or about going to events. Mostly.
Claude gave me something which I kind of already did know and what I thought of was the structure for these posts.
- You start with the setup - the why of the thing.
- Then the confrontation/middle of the thing - the smells of the place, the sights and so on.
- And then, finally the conclusion of the thing.
I think this is a good structure to follow.
It was not a given, unlike the years past, that we would be going to the BJPF Holi event this time around. As I had said in [[202602262122 NL94|NL94]] that it had been a busy few weeks since I returned from home.
We did not know if we had it in us to go to this event. We registered for the event on the very last day, eventually deciding it would be a fun outing, and we would not have to cook. That is always a good bonus.
The Holi event was at Leppävaaran nuorisotila. As with every other place, I had to find the parking for our car, after having dropped off Prerna and Savya. It took longer than usual here. I had to drive around the parking space a couple of times, after which I found one spot.
The parking space and the space around the venue was full of slush, the dangerous kind, the see where you put your feet or you may slip kind. I walked through all of it and reached the venue.
I heard, ‘Papa’, and ‘Savya you don’t have to go there’ almost simultaneously. I took off my shoes, left it at the entrance among other shoes, took off my jacket, put it on a door hinge, and went and hugged Savya.
The cultural part of the event had started already. Chandji was quizzing the kids - what Holi was, how it was celebrated back home, who was Hiranyakashipu, and so on.
I went and picked up a samosa and a tea from the snack/food counter. The venue was basically split in two halves - one a room where the kitchen, some sofas, and a bunch of games were kept, and the other where the cultural event was happening.
I stood at the boundary of the two rooms and ate my samosa and then had my tea. Savya was hovering around my feet. The samosa was awesome. Meanwhile Chandji continued talking about Holi, Holika, lathmar holi among other things.
Prerna called me then, a space had opened up next to her. I went and sat next to her. Chandji invited Kalpanaji on stage and she gave a short talk. Then followed the pre-planned, rehearsed, performances. Both the performances were good - one a devotional dance and the other a song about saving water.
Then Bhavesh ji took the stage and started calling couples on stage to dance - the non-planned part of the evening. It was good fun. Then it was time for the Bihari boys to take the stage. I went along with Savya. We danced on a bunch of songs. Then the women came, and I recorded Prerna dancing. Then joined her on stage to dance some more.
Sudhanshu took some pictures. I took some more pictures. And videos.
We had lunch after that - paneer, pulao, dahi-bhalla and rabri-pua. I loved the first bite of panner that I had. It was magical. It would have went well with flavourless normal rice or jira rice max. It did not work with pulao. But I understand why they had to serve pulao.
Savya had 2-3 puas. He likes puas.
We went out and stood in the slush as the others took care of the venue - sweeping, putting garbage in the bags, cleaning and so on. Then it was time to play Holi!!!
We assembled in the parking area. What started as civilised putting colours on each other’s cheeks, turned into a wrestling match of sorts. It was awesome!
I got colour everywhere. Savya was super sleepy by this time. He slept the moment I got the car out of the parking.
We went and bought some groceries after that. Then returned home, had dinner and now, I am writing this, inspired by that Claude comment on how to structure the NordLetter.
The second Holi party happened on the day of actual Holi. A party for two - three if you count Savya, but I think he does not know or care about Holi at this point.
Prerna was in the kitchen since early morning. She made puas. She had made dahi-vadas a day before. Making puas took most of the time. She changed recipes somewhere in the middle. Mixing banana in the batter did the trick. Then rice, dal and mix veg.
We ate. Meanwhile, I continued working.
In the evening, we changed and took some pictures.
The final party of the Holi week happened at Smitaji’s place. This happened on a Friday.
This was the type of gathering I enjoy - four families. Enough that you can call it a party, and have conversations.
I talked to a couple of friends about AI, the things they were building if any, and the general state of the world, which, spoiler is in a bit of a disarray right now - thanks, Mr. President.
The food was awesome. Lots of starters. Food is the main thing people go to parties for, that’s my theory. The star was the samosa chat. It reminded me of the samosa chat we have in Bihar. It tasted the same. Just the right mix of tangy, spicy and sweet.
I like their home. It is a 1BHK, tastefully decorated. The kitchen is a room of it’s own, they have a dining table in the kitchen. The bedroom and hall are fair sized. The bedrooms in Finland are usually small in size. Not theirs, or the one in our home.
It was our second time at their place. We were last here for Diwali. There were more people then, less conversations.
There is an optimal number of people for these things - otherwise people just split into smaller groups and you don’t get to talk to everyone. Which is fine, I guess. But not my idea of fun.
The main course after everything was a formality at this point. But it too was great.
/five things to share
1. What We Lose When We Gamify Reading by Marissa Levien
But even if we’re reading more, all this quantifying is forcing readers into harmful patterns. First and most obvious, when we read to hit a goal rather than simply for pleasure, everybody reads as fast as possible to hike up their numbers. It’s like the entire reading public is a high school freshman trying to cram To Kill a Mockingbird at midnight the day before the assignment is due. We technically finish the book, but we retain nothing. Ask someone what they thought of A Guardian and a Thief, they’ll say, “Who knows? That was ten books ago.” More worrisome, when we read fast, we experience nothing. The book does not have a chance to burrow into our heart.
I have felt this once or twice - not often, but enough like reading The secret of secrets at 1.5x. That was driven more by the duration of time I had the book borrowed from library for (14 days).
The second problem is: it’s less and less likely that A Guardian and a Thief is even on a person’s list if they’re shooting for a tally of, say, one hundred books a year. If we’re trying to read fast, the best strategy is to pick books that read easy. Generally this means books that are prose-light, plot-forward, and propulsive. It means we’ll forego a Moby Dick or a Middlemarch in favor of five declensions of A Court of Thorns and Roses. (Before the pitchforks and torches emerge, I should mention that I adore fun, propulsive books. We need these kinds of stories in our life, for the joyous escape of it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t read A Court of Thorns and Roses. I’m saying you shouldn’t only read it.)
Again, not faced this problem, but I can see it happening. I usually chose what to read next thanks to lists. What I add to the list is dependent on a bunch of factors - but mostly is it interesting?
I don’t have a goal though. I am happy with whatever I end up reading. Like I read more books in January because I had time to read. There are more important things in life than reading.
2. Console exclusives might be making a comeback by Andrew Webster
The near future of game consoles could look a lot like the past. Once a hallmark of the industry, over the last few years console-exclusive games have steadily become rare, as the likes of Sony and Microsoft experimented with offering titles on multiple platforms. Heck, who knows what an Xbox even is anymore? But it seems that the experiments haven’t paid off. Signs are pointing to the return of exclusives, as companies lean on other ways to entice new audiences.
I was happy when Microsoft started offering their games on PS5. I was looking forward to play Starfield on PS5.
I never cared for Sony games on PC, because I have a PS5.
I think games should be like Podcasts, play wherever you play your games. Consoles will have a future in such a world. They provide excellent value for those who don’t care about tinkering with their gaming systems. It’s plug and play. That has a ton of value.
3. Say hello to MacBook Neo - Apple
Apple’s all-new MacBook features a durable aluminum design, a stunning 13-inch Liquid Retina display, the power of Apple silicon, and all-day battery life — all for the breakthrough starting price of just $599
The Neo does not appeal to me. For one, the display has huge bezels. The RAM is fixed at 8GB, the storage started at 256 GB, goes up to 512GB. The price was a surprise to me, in a pleasant way.
But I loved the announcement video and I think it is meant for the students - those who would pick up a Chromebook perhaps.
This may be an excellent device for schools. A good device against the chromebooks. I want a Pro. Maybe the next one with touch. I may get that. We shall see. I don’t have any reason to. My M1 runs fine.
4. Apple gives in to temptation and renames its CPU cores
Apple announced its new Fusion Architecture today as well, which allows the company to mix and match different “chiplets” in a single package. This is another esoteric chip thing (is there any other kind?) but it has real ramifications for the future of Apple’s chip designs. It means that Apple can be a bit more modular with its designs, building a standard CPU set (for the M5 Max and Pro) while offering two different GPU variants with 20 (Pro) and 40 (Max) cores. I’m also curious what this means for a future Ultra chip, assuming there will be one whenever the M5 Mac Studio is announced.
I had the same thought. This is the same architecture we were hearing rumours about, some years back. Maybe memory upgrades won’t cost that much now.
5. What Do Social Media Companies Fear? Time Management. - Cal Newport by Study Hacks
When you’re following an intentional schedule, your efforts are oriented toward goals that you find important. You also feel a satisfying sense of self-efficacy. These realities engage your long-term reward system, which can override the urges generated by its short-term counterpart, dissipating the drive for quick gratification from activities like glancing at your phone.
This seems to put too much of an onus on individuals and very few of the responsibility on these social media companies. The products are addictive by design. We can’t keep expecting people to not be enticed by the product.
If you enjoyed reading this, and know someone else who might, please consider forwarding this to them. It would help this grow and make me happy. 😄
Until next week.