why thodi?

why not?

Oct 15, 2022

this week’s Thought (singular)

is there any love purer than the one you reserve for your favourites? your favourite song, your favourite food, your favourite pair of jeans?

i am, in no uncertain terms, absolutely delighted to bring to your notice that this is the 20th (!!!) issue of thodi. in honour of this tremendous milestone, i thought it’d be nice to tell you the lore of the name of this very reputed publication.

in each octave, the seven notes of carnatic music (S, R, G, M, P, D, and N) can manifest themselves in different frequencies. for example, R can be sung in three different ways (or, places on the scale), each subtly different from the other. taking this into consideration, there are numerous (like, so many) combinations of notes that can be put together to form a framework for a song. technically, each framework is called a ragam. based on the widely accepted Venkatamakhi school of thought, out of this multitude of ragams, 72 of them consist of all the seven notes. this method of classification is known as the melakarta system. one such ragam is called hanumathodi. or, quite simply, thodi.

it isn’t my favourite. i actually don’t know a lot of compositions set to it either. but it is arguably one of the most beautiful combinations of notes i have come across. deeply solemn, with startling progressions of tenderness across the octave living in perfect harmony with the most plaintive underlying melodies.

it’s beautiful and intimate - i wanted to create something beautiful and intimate.

george r.r. martin said, “give a thing a name and it will somehow come to be.” i have named this newsletter something dear, something so genuine that only a beauty with its origins in pure art can embody it. i adore the process involved in writing it.

it is truly one of the highlights of my week to curate thodi, to come up with these little bits, to pick and choose my favourite poems, songs, books, and essays for you. thank you for reading. i am virtually placing a sleepy, purring cat on your lap.

click here to listen to the hauntingly beautiful scale of the thodi ragam.

white kitten on pink textile — Photo by Tuğçe Beşel on Unsplash

English Recitation Competition

Heliocentric, Keith S. Wilson
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What is there to do: I’ve made love
to satellites in your name.
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Why Do You Love the Poem?, Charles Bernstein

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For the beauty. — Then you don’t love the poem you love the beauty.
For the outrage. — Then you don’t love the poem you love the outrage.
For the tenderness. — Then you don’t love the poem you love the tenderness.
For the hope. — Then you don’t love the poem you love the hope. 
For itself. — Then you love the poem.

A Woman and Mountains, Helen Hoyt

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The clouds rest on me, the rain renews me,
The winds whisper, trees sway—
I nourish a great verdure, I am strong with rocks.
The hills of my breasts shall let down rivers of life—
Life flowing from life, from the furthermost source,
From the fountain never-ceasing, the ancient beginning.
Nothing can ever remove us, mountains, my strength and yours.

A Poll!

Middle School Book Review

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

the original vampire novel, written two decades before Bram Stoker’s Dracula. very spooky, very gothic. super interesting to see which vampire stereotypes are followed (creeping around in the dark, homoerotic subtext), and which ones are not (carmilla doesn’t burn in the sun, is a Female). quick, creepy read.

A Picture!

*adorable illustrations on the back of a wafer packet. thodi approves this message*

The Good Side of the Internet

An Essay About Watching Brad Pitt Eat That Is Really About My Own Shit (tw: unhealthy relationships with food, body dysmorphia, mentions of eating disorders)
What I’m talking about is watching a body that is made to be looked at, that is professionally looked at, behave as though it’s simply doing something natural, unconcerned with what we might see. It seems I’ve just described the concept of acting. What I mean, though, is when the incongruity feels gratuitous, or at least pointed, and the lack of acknowledgment of that pointedness becomes part of the pleasure or tension — the one nude person on a non-nude beach rolling over for an even tan, an act of defiance made nonchalant.
Tea, Biscuits, and Empire: The Long Con of Britishness
The soft-focus Britain of Downton Abbey bears little resemblance to the real Britain collapsing under the weight of racism, austerity, and COVID-19. As Brexit plods on, it’s time for an honest reckoning of the history and future of this outsize little island.
Five Gen Z traits transforming the world
Have you noticed the world is getting fast and wavy lately? Rex Woodbury has too. He’s a venture capitalist with a Substack which explains a lot of our hyperspeed progress through the lens of Gen Z. Duncan Greive gets inside his head.
How to Embrace Doing Nothing
Absolute idleness is both harder and more rewarding than it seems
Moral Panics Come and Go. Sex Bracelet Hysteria Is Forever.
In 2003, a media frenzy led schools across the country to ban colorful jelly bracelets out of concern they were being used for a teen sex game. The origins of that frenzy—and the speed with which it spread—offer enduring insight into the machinations behind moral panic.