Dear Ila

Reimagining Saajan Fernandes Writing Notes to Ila on Substack

Shaikh says other people can read these notes. Did you know? I thought it was only you. I will keep writing anyway.

This morning something happened, Ila. I opened this app before making tea. And you know I don’t do anything before tea. But I was eager to see what you wrote last night. I saw two notes: one about Mrs. Deshpande and her new cassette of Hemant Kumar hits, and one about the rain that made you feel like making pakoras. You had 20 likes under your pakoras note, and the 21st one was mine.

I am still new here, Ila and I don’t understand restacking and I don’t feel comfortable in direct messaging, it is too instant for my liking. Shaikh says restacking is when you find something others have written and you want to show to the world. An old man like me has nothing left to show the world.

Yesterday I saw a man in the train dressed like a goat. He could not see properly with his costume. Kept bumping into everyone. I did not laugh. I thought, I must write a note to Ila. Only after I had written the note in my head did I laugh. Things don't finish happening to me anymore until I have told you.

Last night I went back to your first note from December, there was a spelling mistake in the third line. I read all the rest of your 208 notes again to check for errors. I found none.

Saajan