Guest Post: Punit Thakkar

The creator of Hello Universe shares why he writes and a playlist

Photo: Punit Thakkar

Good Morning!

Today we’re listening to the “Mellow Universe” playlist built for you by Punit Thakkar.

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I first started this project because I had a ton of music I wanted to share and was looking for like-minded people to share it with.

I’ve always been that kid that made mixtapes for people, and would (sometimes obnoxiously) hype bands I wanted people to love as much as I did. Living 2 time zones away from my tribe of music nerds put a damper on that. Isolation during the pandemic just made a bad scene worse. Social media left me cranky & exhausted. I declared content bankruptcy, and with the ironic exception of Twitter abandoned most platforms.

In their place, I did what everyone else seemed to be doing; I started baking sourdough writing again. I expected that reviving a long-dormant habit would have plenty of upside. What I didn’t see coming were all of the new connections I would make with music fans (that’s you!) and writers alike.

One of those people is Punit Thakkar. Punit hails from Mumbai and writes Hello Universe here on Substack. Once a week, he sends out poetry mixed with viewing/listening recommendations.

I’ll let Punit describe it:

Hello Universe is a place where I share fun, thought-provoking poems every week!

I started writing poetry as a way to capture the lost poems of my childhood that had a catchy meter, fun rhyming schemes, and were really memorable as a result.

And just like I can enjoy animated shows with grown-up themes now that I've grown up, I believe that catchy, rhyming, and memorable poetry can speak about some grown-up themes, while being fun and thought-provoking.

Hello Universe is a great read, and well worth space in your inbox.

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Listen:

Thakkar also builds fantastic playlists, and this one is no exception. It’s titled “Mellow Universe, but don’t let the title (or pun) fool you; it’ll get you where you need to be on your Monday.

Enjoy!

What’d you think of this list? Any new favorites?

Thanks for being here,

Kevin—

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