February 2026 Recap!

Posted On February 28, 2026

January was the longest, only for February to be the shortest. I have no idea how the month has already come to a close, which also means I didn’t do a lot of things this time. It was more of a going with the flow approach. Several things didn’t go my way (they still aren’t), so in the face of all that disappointment and lingering sadness, there was little to do but survive. So, that was all that this month was about. Just one day at a time, getting over things, letting go of people’s idiotic behaviors, coming close to accepting uncertainty and recovering and rejuvenating the soul through it all.

~~BOOKS~~

I read TWO BOOKS across 668 PAGES in February! Though the month started with slowly with minimal reading, it did pick up because I decided I can’t live like this – letting go of the one thing that makes up 80% of my personality. So, I sucked it up and began rereading one my of favorite books – A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Apparently, this was a good way to get back in the reading zone, so my friend suggested it to me, and it worked like a charm! I just read a few pages of the book to remind me of how much joy there is in this. And that’s how the train has left the station!

~~FIRE BIRD by PERUMAL MURUGAN, TRANSLATED by JANANI KANNAN~~

Fire Bird is the story of Muthu, the youngest born in a family of farmers based in southern India. Part of a big family, with 3 brothers and 2 sisters, he was always adored being the youngest. But, that was only till the land and assets were divided among the family and he was left with next to nothing. This persuaded his wife Peruma to force him out of the family in search of a land where they could have their own life. In a nutshell, that’s all the book is about. Muthu and his farm hand Kuppanna travelling from village to village in search of land until they finally find one. Muthu’s search for something better was certainly the highlight of the book. It’s a search not just for land, but for hope and a better tomorrow. It’s a story of not settling for less and for never getting used to undeserving circumstances. It’s a story of having faith in yourself and in the universe. And most importantly, it’s about seeing it through.

I have rated Fire Bird by Perumal Murugan, translated by Janani Kannan at 3.5/5 stars!

Fire Bird by Perumal Murugan: To Read or Not to Read?

~~REAL LIFE by AMRITA MAHALE~~

Real Life by Amrita Mahale is a story about three people and how their existence in each other’s lives made a remarkable change and changed the path of their lives forever. Mansi is an ordinary woman who wished of ordinary things. She is shown as someone who tolerates everything. She says it was her decision, but really, she becomes a trailing spouse in her marriage. Her best friend Tara, on the other hand, is an ambitious, smart and unafraid woman who has inspirational goals as an ecological biologist. And then there’s Bhaskar, Mansi’s college mate who later becomes Tara’s friend too. If we really look at the book holistically, it’s about choices and how one small decision can change the rest of your life forever.

I have rated Real Life by Amrita Mahale at 4/5 stars!

~~STATS AND MORE~~

Both of the books I read were from my physical TBR and they were both hardcovers. It had been so long since I read from hardcovers, it’s such a simple joy.

~~LIFE LATELY~~

Slide 1: I couldn’t put in as many workouts as I wanted, but still it wasn’t a bad month.

Slide 2: Continuing on the fitness update, Aai and I went to the Coastal Road Promenade at Worli for a morning walk. Had to get up at 6 am, but hey, it was fun to do something different.

Slide 3: Last of the fitness updates and on doing something different, I changed the 5 km route and this area had a lot of flowers so I couldn’t help but take pictures and forego my pace.

Slide 4: Not fitness, but adjacent to it. I found these amazing recipes on Instagram. Strawberry Chia Pudding is now my favorite and I have it at least once a week. The strawberry covered in dark chocolate turned out good too and it’s a fun snack to have. But, the biggest disappointment was the viral 2 ingredient cheesecake with Biscoff and Greek yogurt.

Slide 6: I have been reading another book What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown on ebook and it’s been good so far, but I’m reading it very slowly.

Slide 8: After a long time, Suruchi and I checked out this new café and it did not disappoint. The fettuccini pasta was the best thing there but we liked everything we ordered!

That’s all folks.

Until next time,