It's a Rik life

05/02/2024

When I’ll cease to be,
And the worms will throw a feast
On these lips that you loved so,
Know that they will say
Could they say anything at all:
“In his last moment,
He sighed your name.”

- Happy Hallucinations, 2024

Available now in Dhaka BoiMela, Pankowri Publishers, Stall 567.

Come and get it if you’re in Dhaka right now.

10/10/2023

28/05/2023

Interview with an Olympic Athlete

🎙️Follow my podcast on Spotify & Anchor.FM: https://bit.ly/improvementors 🎙️How does an Olympian train? What kind of mindset pushes an ordinary human being...

03/05/2023

A very particular scene keeps repeating in my head.

A few years ago, which now almost seems like yesterday, I clumsily dropped my phone into a puddle. As I quickly picked it up and started frantically wiping it off on the sleeves of my coat, a familiar voice spoke up from the balcony:

“I saw that by the way.”

It was Liton uncle, looking at me with a humorous grin.

I keep passing the same street with a cold feeling of melancholy. I might as well drop my phone again but there will not be any Liton uncle affectionately mocking my clumsiness.

A place is defined by its people. For me, Parc Extension has been a place of warmth, care and love, and I could count on its people with my eyes closed. I know that change is the only constant, and the people who make our lives would one day be gone. But despite that obvious fact of life, it hurts nonetheless, especially when it happens too soon.

Liton Uncle, I will not only remember you as the caring, hard-working and tireless family man, but I will also remember you as one of the ever-vigilant guardians I had the great fortune of having in my life.

15/03/2023

Literally..

03/03/2023

Guru Rik in the house!

PC:

14/11/2022

Reading books of all kinds is crucial for your own development.

We often make the mistake of reading only one types of books. Most of us are forced to read text books or novels by our school system. Some of us only read non-fictions and self help books. They are all good but ask yourself, what if you ate only one type of food your whole life, with no diversity whatsoever? Your body will end up lacking nutrients or crucial microbiota for your overall health.

You must read everything you can get your hands on. Maybe you won’t like it, or even finish it, but at least try.

Fiction is the gateway to people’s lives we have never met, especially classic novels. This is an extraordinary tool to develop your empathy and a dynamic societal understanding. You can put yourself in the shoes of a 20th century French farmer losing his livelihood over a drought he had no control over. Or a 19th century street urchin. Or even a colonial era pr******te leaving everything she earned for the development of her village, even when the whole village shuns her.

These stories aren’t supposed to make you comfortable. It’s supposed to pull you out of your space and time and bring you inside another world, a whole other universe simultaneously created in your head to give you the taste of a life you will never have.

Perhaps when you come out of that world, a piece of that world stays with you, and helps you see your fellow human beings around you in a different light.

13/11/2022

Read it. Then read it again. And again once more until you actually get it.

26/10/2022

How does an Olympian train? What kind of mindset pushes an ordinary human being strive for extraordinary greatness? What sort of mental grit pushes you beyond injury and motivation, and puts you in a competition where the best of the best of the entire planet compete? You'll learn it all in this episode with Hank Palmer (), a world class athlete who represented Canada and competed in Beijing Olympics of 2008, alongside the legendary Usain Bolt.

link:

https://anchor.fm/improvementors/episodes/The-Journey-of-an-Olympic-Athlete---With-Hank-Palmer-8-e1pqe46

12/10/2022

Live to contribute, so our children can live better.

09/10/2022

Time to think about it.

07/10/2022

₿ You can also buy the NFT of this artwork on the Ethereum Network here: https://bit.ly/NFT-Trimurti

I drew something after a very VERY long time. In this timelapse, you can see me creating this artwork from initial sketches to primary and secondary inking to shading.

Trimurti, the subject of this drawing, is also known as the Hindu Trinity. Much like the father, the son and the holy spirit, Hindus mashed together three timelines of nature personified: Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the caretaker) and Shiva (the destroyer). The repeating cycle of the Universe according to Hindu myths rest upon these characters and together they become Trimurti.

03/10/2022

I haven't posted a transformation pic in 5 months.

Do I see improvement? Nope.

But in the past, I would have gained a boatload of weight. Just a year ago a hiatus meant starting from square one. But now I am living a new reality. Instead of reverting to my old habits, I have learned to maintain my physique and keep my bad food habits at bay. I don't binge eat for days like before, nor do I remain inactive for too long.

The mere fact that I was able to maintain my stats for 5 months, is a total F***ing win for me.

03/10/2022

This is Yuki. He’s an adorable 6 months old cat. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with feline coronavirus and as you know, pet treatments cost a ton. Any help coming from you would be a a major help for the owners. 🙏 I’ve posted the Go-Fund-Me link on my bio. Thank you for any help you’re able to provide, even if it’s just sharing Yuki’s story.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/yuki-fight-feline-coronavirus-fip?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer

03/10/2022

Empathy matters.

02/10/2022

A woman cannot be free until she is financially free!

Photo: GMB Akash

01/10/2022

Trimurti by Rik Bhattacharja © 2022, All Rights and license for reproduction and distribution owned by author.

This illustration was created solely for one purpose: giving a kick ass tattoo design for my cousin Suborno Mondal.

You may ask yourself if you can produce this tattoo on your body as well. The answer is no. I created this unique tattoo for him only. But if you wish my art work to be immortalized on your mortal skin, you can DM me on Instagram () and I will be more than happy to create something custom and unique for you :).

01/10/2022

Drew something after a LONG time. Took me 40+ hours to finish this but it was WORTH IT! Check out Trimurti © 2022, All Rights Reserved

Trimurti by Rik Bhattacharja © 2022, All Rights and license for reproduction and distribution owned by author. This illustration was created solely for one purpose: giving a kick ass tattoo design for...

23/08/2022

Thoughts?

16/08/2022

New York: a diverse and vibrant city full of colour. Life may be rough over there but the people are full of heart. I will be back again!

15/08/2022

Piece of wisdom found in some gas station restroom in America…

14/08/2022

14/08/2022

Did you know that the Chrysler building never paid a dime in taxes to the city?

The land on which this building sits is owned by the Cooper Union and because of some special law, the building pays them instead of paying to the city.

Cooper Union itself is tax exempt, and because of that the Chrysler Building has been on Manhattan tax-free since 1902.

14/08/2022

No. This is not some modern art. It’s just some spilled ice cream drying on some Manhattan side-walk.

14/08/2022

What does a child's scribbles, a Jackson Po***ck painting, neural network and the cosmic web of galaxies and perhaps the whole universe have in common? All of them show signs of a non-geometric and fractal reality. And the fact that purely intuitive arts like Po***ck's, where one doesn't think but lets the brush flow freely, is created by a network of microscopic thinking machines in a fractal network within an universe that is fractal itself shows a nested pattern repetition that is just... mesmerizing and beautiful.

Wassily Kandinsky's improvisational art sheds some light on this hidden reality and one could argue, perhaps, that he was one of the intellectual precursors to this paradigm. Who knows?

Artworks could be a doorway to our mind at its most unleashed and uninhibited form (like a child's scribbling), and it could very well give hints at the true nature of reality: that the Universe itself is non-geometric and fractal in its very core.