In each edition of this newsletter, I will share some inspiring web resources that I have curated after hours of research to ensure that you have the best education coffee in your inbox. In upcoming editions, I will focus on sharing insights, notes and realizations that I gather from people, ideas, books, films and podcasts each week. I will continue to write about education and learning as well and hope to be more consistent with the publication of this newsletter this year. Please subscribe to this newsletter if you enjoyed reading this edition. We are now 89 subscribers strong!
1. Learning from People
On Episode 29 of #LearningStories we chat with Manish Khushalani. Manish is a Cinematographer, Film Director and Musician. He completed his Bachelor of Mass Media from Kishanchand Chellaram College at Mumbai University. He then completed a Conservatory in Cinematography at New York Film Academy. He was recognised as the Best Indie Film Maker for ETUDE - Los Angeles Film Festival 2020. He has closely worked with directors such as Rajat Kapoor, Ratnaa Sinha, Remo D’Souza, Ahmed Khan, Akash Khurana, Debbie Rao and talent such as Dia Mirza, Sonu Sood, Ali Fazal, Mouni Roy, Arjun Mathur, Vinay Pathak, Manoj Pahwa, Vikrant Massey, Jim Sarbh, Kubbra Sait, Neena Gupta, Prit Kamani, Divine to name a few. As a cinematographer, his debut feature, ‘Middle Class Love’, directed by Ratna Sinha and produced by Anubhav Sinha’s Benaras Media Works and Zee Studios released on 16th September 2022. I loved chatting with him about films, music and media studies on a recent episode of my audio and video podcast, ‘Learning Stories’. You can find the full episode linked below.
2. Learning from Ideas
I love watching new films and recently found a website to discover and share my love for films. Letterboxd is a global social network for grass-roots film discussion and discovery. It was co-founded by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow in 2011. It was launched as an app focused on sharing opinions about, and love of film, and is maintained by a small team in Auckland, New Zealand. The site allows users to share their taste in films. You can use it as a diary to record and share your opinion about films as you watch them, or just to keep track of films you've seen in the past. You can also showcase your favorites on your profile page. Here is an image of my profile page on the platform and my film diary to record and review recent films I have seen. You can find me on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/Abhifilms/.
3. Learning from Books and Blogs
Maria Popova started Brainpickings in 2006 as an email to seven friends. She recently renamed the blog to call it ‘The Marginalian’. She calls herself a cartographer of meaning in a digital age. Here is how she describes the purpose of the blog in the about section of her website
Hello. My name is Maria Popova and The Marginalian is a record of my reading and reckoning with our search for meaning: sometimes through science and philosophy, sometimes through poetry and children’s books, always through the lens of wonder.
I have been an early reader of this wonderful blog. I love Maria’s approach of bringing alive passages from long forgotten books and commenting on their relevance to human life today. She shares her insights and reflections on fiction, non-fiction and verse. Here are some of her popular entries - 17 Life-Learnings from 17 Years of The Marginalian, Rebecca Solnit’s Lovely Letter to Children About How Books Solace, Empower, and Transform Us, Yes to Life, in Spite of Everything, Viktor Frankl’s Lost Lectures on Moving Beyond Optimism and Pessimism to Find the Deepest Source of Meaning. She has thousands of similar essays on her website. I think she has a special ability to write beautiful essays on themes and human experiences like love, loneliness, ageing, wonder, perseverance, and death. She brings these old books to life by choosing passages that touched her in a special way. In the process she transfers that sense of wonder to readers of her blog as well. You can also read two books published by her titled Velocity of Being and Figuring. You can supplement her essays and books with some of her podcasts and talks online including the one linked below.
4. Learning from Films, Videos and Shows
The Nerdwriter is a weekly YouTube series that puts ideas to work in the form of 5 - 10 minute video essays. It was created in 2011 by Evan Pushcak as a passion project to share his thinking on topics like film, politics, music, painting, poetry, culture, sociological concepts and more. I love how Evan uses the video essay to share a unique insight on culture and recommend films, books and artists that he loves. He explains his approach to the wide range of topics dissected in the NerdWriter essays in the following statement,
It's in the construction of a video that I understand and learn the most. I just move toward what interests me in that week, or that month.
My favorite videos on the channel are - Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban: Why It's The Best, France: Another Way To Make Movies, Why Monet Painted The Same Haystacks 25 Times, Caravaggio: Master Of Light. He published a book of essays titled, ‘Escape into Meaning’ and talks about his approach to creating video essays in this TED talk linked below.
5. Learning from Podcasts and Music
This week I heard a podcast where Ranveer Allahbadia interviewed Palga Rinpoche about his journey from monk to millionaire to monk. Palga Rinpoche, is a 'tulku' (or a reincarnate custodian) of the Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Ladakh. He is believed to be the eighth avatar after the seventh Chokyong Palga. In this podcast, I learned about the importance of meditation to calm your mind, the human need for attachment and how compassion can transform your world view in a positive way.
I look forward to writing weekly editions of this newsletter this year. I hope to continue to share resources that will add value to your life. Thank you for subscribing to Education Coffee. You can also review the archive of Education Coffee for free at this link (34 past newsletters).
Please do send me your thoughts and resources on any edition of this newsletter through email at abhishekashokshetty@gmail.com or on twitter @AbhishekShetty_. You can find my work online at https://abhishekshetty.carrd.co/. If you would like to read pieces in the future please do consider subscribing to this newsletter by clicking the button below.
I love taking these discussions forward on those platforms and look forward to hearing your feedback.
Abhishek Shetty