Beating summer heat and self-doubt: Indulge in these unique offerings this week

Pic/Rane Ashish

It's summer, and for times you are stuck somewhere without proper ventilation, this hand-held fan (Rs 100) is a must. In Mumbai now, it's being sold at every traffic signal - we bought ours at the one near Jack and Jones on Link Road in Santa Cruz. What caught our eye was the Oriental theme, and the delicate lace detailing on the corners. And the best part - it delivers what it needs to - a gust of air that will freshen up your face. It's also foldable and tiny, and can be carried aaram se, without taking too much space.
Available at traffic signals

A crash course on being authentic online

Pic/Twitter

What makes an influencer account stand out for you? For us, it's authenticity. But as Emily Hund's book The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media tells us, most influencers now are not the ones who are truly sharing their lives and art, but ones who have figured out how to work the algorithm, making it beneficial for them. The book, which has in-depth interviews with leading social media influencers, brand executives, marketers, talent managers, trend forecasters, reveals that most people are less "real" and more profit-driven. Hund is a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, and tells us most creators basically study the metrics and then make their content according to that, authenticity be damned. In the world that we live in, where we are what we consume on social media, maybe reading this book will make you a more ethical consumer.
Amazon.in

An earful of the bright side

If you're a fan of psychological thrillers and crime dramas, we've got the perfect podcast recommendation for you. The Bright Sessions is a science-fiction podcast that follows a group of therapy patients, each with a unique supernatural ability. The story follows their struggles and discoveries as well as the motivations of their mysterious therapist, Dr Bright, performed by actress Julia Morizawa. It has an unconventional yet simple narrative style; each episode is a therapy session with a different recurring character. Listening to it made us feel relaxed and, well, it was indeed therapeutic! The plot is compelling and contains profound observations on the human condition, apart from featuring a diverse and interesting cast of characters.
thebrightsessions.com

Film from the past

Sharmila Tagore is that sapno ki rani who has everyone gawking at her beauty, be it back in the day or now when she is back on the OTT screen with Gulmohar. In that spirit, we were captivated when a black and white photo of Tagore from some 48 years ago, standing gracefully by a staircase, came up on our feed. Some reading into the caption informed us that this was the movie poster of Shakti Samanta's Amanush that released on March 21, 1975, with Uttam Kumar as the male lead. A sepia photograph then caught our eye with filmmaker Sai Paranjpye posing with Saeed Jaffrey and Deepti Naval on the sets of the 1981 film Chashme Buddoor. This Twitter page seemed to have a repository of old pictures from the Bollywood world all in one place, be it a handsome Shashi Kapoor standing next to the Prithvi Theatre signage or Nargis and Meena Kumari smiling at the camera from an era gone by. If you are interested in the filmy world or like us, intrigued by old photographs, then do check this out.
@FilmHistoryPic, Twitter

Action replay

The timing is not right. I'm too busy. This seems difficult. What if I fail?" How many of us, plagued by self-doubt, have found ourselves uttering these sentences, when confronted with a new challenge. Clinical and consulting psychologist Dr Timothy J Sharp's eight-episode podcast, Habits for Action, reminds us why these are just hackneyed excuses that prevent us from getting the job done. This is not the first time that we are listening to Dr Sharp. His previous podcasts, Habits for Happiness and Habits For Good Sleep, saw us through the difficult pandemic, keeping us calm, afloat and restful while we were zombie-ing through one lockdown after another. This podcast is no different. An extension of his previous work, he shares why we as humans, often resist, even rebel, and push-back a chance to live and be different, because we get too comfortable. Dr Sharp makes us face our biggest enemy - us. What works is how effortless his ideas are - simple changes to help sift through matters that are important and urgent, realign how you think, and become a better risk-taker. Bold actions can have happy consequences, but for that, you need to act and now.
Audible

Curated by Aastha Atray Banan, Yusra Husain and Sharanya Kumar