One more revolution completed, amid the pandemic. Yet, it was an eventful year with lots of good memories, a new workplace, and a new set of friends. As I look back at a good life, I would probably do a few things differently, if given a do-over. Attend college Actually attend college, instead of just writing exams. Have fun and make lifelong friends. While I am at college, maybe study engineering too.
As I turn 42, I feel that it is a significant milestone. I feel something unique and different about the number 42. Maybe that’s the reason Deep Thought computed that 42 is the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything”. My life felt like 6 distinct phases of 7 years each. Was that true? So I sat down and recorded my life phases. I was almost right.
Narendra Damodardas Modi, an outsider to national politics, inspired a massive fan following to give BJP an absolute majority. The road to victory was paved with well-meaning promises to out-right hyperbole. What is undeniable is his single-minded pursuit to victory. So, is Prime Ministership too big for Modi to handle? Does he have a plan to deliver on his promises? Is there a strategy in place? I think, as always, Modi has a single-minded strategy and it’s “Make in India”.
When we see a person, like the one below, nothing seems out of the ordinary. Even if we come across the person below, hardly ever an eyebrow is raised, but when we see him, something crosses our mind. Why is that? Because it’s some form of impairment? Then why don’t similar thought cross our minds when we see this form of impairment? Maybe because visual disability is so common, we have gotten used to it?
A few incidents in the last few weeks, made me think of this saying again and again. There is so much truth in it, which is simply glossed over. The biggest culprits are we (non-resident) Indians. Maybe what I say applies to other nationality as well, but I cannot talk on their behalf. When we visit a new place, we take no time to dismiss their taste in food, clothing and lifestyle.
Every once in a while, I have to stop and think about how much consumption driven we have become. Indian’s were, and still are, one of the highest savers in the world. But things are changing rapidly with the young. Saving is not very high on the list of priorities. Being Green Everyone talks about being green, buying green. We participate in new fads like the ‘Earth day’. Personally, I think that not buying at all is even better.
With Copenhagen behind us, it makes me wonder is there something we as individuals do to help the climate? On one such thought tangent I wondered if it possible to teach kids about climate using a simulation game like Civilisation? On cursory search I could not find anything that could entertain and educate kids. What would it be? An empire building game that needs to balance technology, way of life and climate to achieve sustainable conditions.
On the 21st, our wait finally ended and a little angel arrived. We have named her Prisha, meaning “God’s Gift”. Sharing a few pictures taken on the day of her birth.
There are a large number of list / task managers that it needs a list for itself. Seems like every one wants to create a task manager, and who could blame them? The only reason I looked up all these task managers is because I had an itch to write one myself. 30 tasks, to-do, project, collaboration, goals management tools Service Comments Paid / Free* blablalist.
Stephen R. Covey in his landmark book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” defines 9 possible centres that people have: Spouse-centred Friends / Enemy-centred Family-centred Money-centred Work-centred Possession - centred Pleasure-centred Church-centred Self-centred In other words, these are the glasses we see the world through. All decision making is coloured by your bias towards one or more of these. But none of these are worth centring ones life around, they all blur the view.
As hinted in the previous post I will take a departure from my general blogging topics and talk about life. Let me talk about something that troubled me and still slightly troubling me. I have been under a lot of mental and emotional stress lately, and did not know the reason. But with a lot of introspection and a couple of very good reads, I was able to find the root cause of this and am in a much better state of mind.
Life is not something that happens between work, work is a small part of life. So I am adding a category on “Life”. Hope this will increase the work-life balance of my blog, more on this later. Though the number of posts under this category would be less, it just means there is more to life than I would like to share on a public medium. Here’s to life…