Weekly Notes 28/2025

Uma started school this week at Earth School. We walk to school every day. It’s about 500 meters, but it takes us at least half an hour to cover that distance. Everything on the way has to be observed by her every day.

• For those of us born in 1980, this is a significant year, as we are all completing 45 rounds. This week was one of my friend’s birthday, and we were lucky enough to have friends in town to get together for a beer.
• I was in Mumbai on Wednesday for business. It was a quick but good visit. I miss Vistara.
• The Weekly Note from Jedda, led me to a note by Sylvia, which quoted James’s blog post “More People Should Write.” That blog post led me to a book titled “Field Notes on Science and Nature.” I started reading the book, which is about notes by various scientists. Their process, methodology, etc. It is interesting, especially if you keep work notes, maintain lab journals, or publish weekly notes. Adjacent to it are the books How to Teach Nature Journaling (also a blog and online resources) and Keeping a Nature Journal. They are on my list to read next. I love the web.
• Deep cleaning has started at home. We now do a whole-house deep cleaning twice a year. It’s less painful than painting, as we can do it room by room, and it doesn’t smell of chemicals, but it’s still painful. Last year, we used a local merchant to do this. This year, we are also using UrbanCompany along with them.
• In 2000, I was a student when Sushmita Sen became a young single parent by adoption; it was a surprise and an inspiration to me. In 2024, Bhavana Ramanna did something similar but close to home. She is inspiring to many people who want to have kids but want to remain single. I know many people have done this before her, but it makes a significant difference when someone can express that desire in Kannada¹. I am very happy for her. I wish her a happy and fulfilling parenthood.
• I am concluding this week’s notes with an excerpt from the book “Field Notes on Science and Nature.” I think it clearly defines what Weekly Notes are, as they are our notes based on observation of life around us.

Taking time to write out an idea or observation forces us to pause and consider. Recording the daily unfolding of experiments—their success or failure—encourages an honest assessment of how each day’s work fits within the underlying goals and theory of the project. It takes time to create a narrative of experiments, events, and observations, but it eventually pays dividends because it forces thorough examination, which is a common characteristic of science across disciplines. In Darwin’s description of the marine iguana, for example, we can imagine him on board the Beagle, penning his zoological notes and pondering the origin of their “apparent stupidity.”‘