Achintya Rao’s Now Page

As of 1 February 2026.

Topsy, the pub cat 🐱

As seems to now be customary, my update’s first subject is a cat: this time, little Topsy, who lives in the Volunteer Tavern in Bristol. One of a pair of resident tortoiseshell kittens – whose sibling Tipsy is a little more adventurous, seemingly, and isn’t around as often as her sister – Topsy quickly made her way into our laps and, therefore, our hearts. She can often be found sleeping against Tiptoe, the publican’s dog, who also loves to be fussed over. Now, no Thursday is complete without a visit to the pub before/after Heartwood rehearsal.

Alpacas! 🦙

January wasn’t just about meeting new cats; Jenni and I also spent an afternoon with some alpacas, at a farm just north of Bristol, courtesy of a lovely Christmas present to us from Juli. On a slightly drizzly day, we made our way by bus to the outskirts of Thornbury for our Alpaca Experience, which involved learning about the animals themselves, feeding them and giving them hugs (OK, so those weren’t strictly hugs, but the position you adopt when they need grooming or check-ups). Alpacas are such gentle creatures, and the lack of teeth on their upper jaws results in some tickles when you feed them straight from your hands. Afterwards, all five pairs of visitors were taken to the farm’s café for a very filling afternoon tea. It was such a beautiful Sunday, despite the weather!

Christmas concerts 🎼

Heartwood Chorus, the choir in which Jenni and I sing, has a big annual Christmas concert, featuring traditional and modern folk arrangements of Christmas music and wassails as well as our favourite folk tunes and wintery songs. Last year’s gig was held at St James Priory, one of the oldest surviving buildings in Bristol, if not the oldest. It also turned out to be our last gig at the venue, because the church leadership, in all their wisdom, decided that they will no longer accept “secular” events on their grounds.

The gig itself was wonderful, if I do say so myself. Jenni’s parents and maternal grandparents came from Loughborough to attend it.

Our final gig of the year was as a support act for the folk duo Bryony Griffith and Alice Jones, at Downend Folk & Roots. It was a little frustrating to get to the venue by public transport, due to traffic and driver changes, but Jenni and I got there in time for rehearsal, and the gig itself went very well.

Christmas break 🎄

We ended up spending two lovely weeks with Jenni’s parents over the Christmas break. For me, it was my laziest trip to Loughborough, and the cold weather meant I wasn’t particularly motivated to spend much time outdoors. Jenni and I did step out on Christmas Eve to listen to carols played on the Loughborough Carillon’s many bells: forty-seven of them! It was so enjoyable to see loads of people of all ages out in the cold and singing their hearts out to the tunes from the tower.

All of us (including Jenni’s brother, who had come down for the day) spent a lazy Christmas morning opening presents by the tree, after which Jenni’s parents set about preparing a lavish Christmas dinner (which involved special vegetarian dishes just for yours truly).

I think it unnecessary to recount every detail of our time there, although I will say we watched two Ealing comedies (The Lavender Hill Mob and Whisky Galore!), spent a day in Leicester introducing Jenni’s father to some new Indian foods and snacks, and did two jigsaw puzzles. I also cooked chanā masālā and vegetarian fried rice for the annual family gathering hosted by Jenni’s grandparents, set up my camera on a few occasions to do some live streams of birds in the garden and of the first full moon of the year, and attempted to apply mehendi onto Jenni’s hands (she did a much better job applying it onto my arms!).

New laptop 💻

I have been using the same laptop since 2018, and am quite pleased with how it has served me so far. Although it had decent specifications for its time, it has become a little sluggish over the years (despite a relatively fresh install of Linux on it a couple of years ago). I decided, keeping an eye on the rising prices for computer internals, to finally buy a new one, and ordered myself the latest ThinkPad X1 Carbon (13th generation) over Christmas. It arrived last week, but I have yet to set it up fully. I really want to start using the new one as my primary device, but I am struggling to find the time to migrate all my files across. So I am still typing this on the older machine.

Writing blocks 🖋️

One of my blog posts has been languishing in semi-completed draft form since August. It is on a topic that I am keen to write about, and yet all attempts to make progress are hit with roadblocks. This isn’t an unusual state of affairs for me, and I am aware that in times of distress my ADHD gets a lot worse to manage. I really want to finish writing it before my next update here.

India trip this month ✈️

I am travelling to India in a few days, to attend a cousin’s wedding. While I am looking forward to seeing my family after more than a year, I am terrified of travelling this time, since I no longer look anything like my passport picture, and have no legal documents certifying my gender transition. The Indian government’s portal to acquire the necessary documents requires other documents that I, as a non-resident Indian, do not have. Attempts to contact the Indian High Commission in London have been futile. So, we shall see how things go. Wish me luck!

Pursuits 💭

(I will keep this section largely unchanged – unless the pursuits have been achieved! – as a reminder to myself.)

My current aim is to acquire a UK driving licence. I don’t need or want one, but it would come in handy if I ever have to rent a car. It is a shame that, having driven in Europe for around a decade with not so much as a parking ticket, I cannot simply exchange my Indian licence. I understand why, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

For what feels like forever, I have been helping Amanda with her English translation of an old and famous Finnish text. The translation has been complete for a while, and I intend to finish editing it sometime soon, before starting work on formatting the final piece for various platforms.