Hanumankind, Singapore, Baba is You
And, "Hitchhiking on the Brink of Summer"
Music: Big Dawgs
Hanumankind — one of India’s best hip-hop artists — is blowing up on social media with his latest single, “Big Dawgs”. It is an absolute banger of a song and a video.
The reaction videos to his song are really fun too! My 2 favourites are the one from Classy's World (my daughter and I love watching Classy’s reaction videos!), and the one from No Life Shaq.
Hanumankind is from Kerala in the south of India; the reason I mention this is that often people mistake Indian Hip Hop for Mumbai (Gully Rap) or Delhi/Punjab hip-hop. I am not a fan of either Mumbai or Delhi/Punjab hip-hop, with a few exceptions (Adi from Mumbai is good, I find Dino James from Delhi funny, and Khayek from Punjab hits hard). The best Indian hip-hop, in my opinion, is from the North East, from the South, and from Goa.
Anyway, I’ve been listening to Big Dawgs on loop: I love the bars, the beat is hype, and it’s so amazing to see an Indian artist get international love and recognition! Maybe this is when the nascent Indian scene goes international…
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Travel: Singapore
I was in Singapore the last week for work. I didn’t pay attention to my hotel booking and my travel agent booked me at the Hilton in Little India, not where I would have preferred to stay, given it’s distance from work (and also because I’m going there from India!).
However, it was a pleasant accident: the room in the Hilton at Serangoon was just the way I like it, not an overly fancy room, a very comfortable bed, a wonderful chair and desk to work, and a good view (looking right into the Veeramakaliamman Temple!). Surprisingly, I didn’t mind the morning and evening bells and chants from the temple either.
Then, there was Little India itself: colorful, with the comforting smells and sounds of home, and some delicious food! I walked about a lot over the 3 days in Singapore in Little India, ate the most delicious Pongal and (crispy) Vada at the Woodlands and a fantastic Andhra Meals at Komala Vilas, and realized that sometimes going back to what is familiar can be the best kind of comfort!
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Game: Baba is You
I’ve been playing a lot of “Baba is You”, an tough indie puzzler on Steam. It is super fun, and super addictive. The idea of being able to change the rules of the game to progress past each level is super fun!
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Book: Hitchhiking on the Brink of Summer
My boss Alex — who is a most wonderful human being & someone I respect highly — has written a book titled “Hitchiking on the Bring of Summer”. It’s the first of a three part auto-biographical series: the first book is about growing up in Russia in the ‘90’s.
I read parts of it on my flight back from Singapore to India, and I love it: the writing is simple, the story engaging, and most of all it is so authentic and relatable — just like Alex. The book isn’t available widely as yet, but I will be reviewing it once I finish reading the full book… it has been really good so far!
Looking back on the week gone by, it was a good week: music, travel, food, games, and books! Until next week…