POTS OF THOUGHTS

Death or redemption? Today, on a Sunday morning, when the weather seems to be cloudy and dull, I felt like writing about death. Make no mistake, the subject is by no means dull or gloomy to me :) As it is a day after Shivratri, I thought the subject is apt - with Lord Shiva, being worshipped as the destroyer, of the Brahma Vishnu Shiva Trinity. Death has been a fascinating yet very mysterious fact of human existence. During school days, I remember reading about a piece which said Death is a great leveller.I could appreciate the thought of the poet even then. While no other life events may be the same between fellow humans, death brings in a commonality across all. Death sees no caste, creed, age, religion, geography, political status, economic status or morality. When it is time, you have to move on, from here to somewhere else. Truth be told. I was quite hooked on to this topic since my formative years. While I used to think about death, I couldn’t share with anyone as...

Never did I ever think that I would say this to anyone I miss you so much, that a part of me aches sometimes Then I wonder - why We seem to be worlds apart - in thoughts and deeds You care so much about the world and others You put the rest of them first You have the streak of a free spirit You are brittle, but not that soft You are generous and righteous You are well grounded and have high moral values You think from the heart and wish well to all You look good with that killer smile and near perfect teeth You are charming and at your best, when having good times You can light up the room when you are cheerful These are the things that I adore and love about you But then, you also are many more things,after all human !! You are oversensitive and find meanings in the words untold You don’t express emotions through words enough You don’t listen and are demanding at times Your expectations aren’t realistic sometimes You cry a lot, well, used to... You ma...

OK…Let me get this off my chest. One of the human emotions that I have been quite intrigued about is LOVE. With February approaching fast, I wanted to reflect upon this subject a little more. Sometimes I feel that it is a wonderful feeling, bringing the best out of us and some other times, I feel that Love is so over hyped and over romanticised that there seems to be quite a lot of stress that comes as a baggage with this ‘emotion’. Also, I never understood the expression ‘falling in love’. Why would someone be falling, after being ‘lovestruck’? Isn’t love supposed to elevate in one fell swoop and take you to the next level? Is love one overhyped emotion, being cashed by the corporates and being sold to us, in pieces, in various forms, size and shapes? Is love a play of chemicals, with hormones going haywire - science clearly stating that you will have changed levels of Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin and Vasopressin - which also explains why you have a ‘feel good’ factor associat...

To me, Travel and reading are a ‘perfect marriage’ of two hobbies. I feel very blessed when I realise that I am in one such myself. Both hobbies, when done solo, helps you learn and grow so much as a person. It is so intoxicating that many of life’s day today challenges seem insignificant. But, what I was not prepared for, was the unplanned baby from this labour of love. It all started with those frequent aches that make you go crazy. My name is Guru, a Sanskrit word, meaning “a teacher” ('Gu'=darkness, 'Ru'=dispeller). Indian philosophy puts a teacher on a very high pedestal - like a guardian angel. However, my life philosophy has been the exact opposite. I like to think of myself as a “student forever”, constantly seeking knowledge and new experiences. I am a Guru to myself, trying to be a better version of me, everyday. I am a Gen X with a firm belief that age is but a number, unless you are a cheese or wine (being a teetotaller, can’t spea...

One of the perks [if you could call so] of my job as a software consultant is an opportunity to travel; visit new places, meet new people and try to understand different societies & people’s behaviour. Being a very open minded and a highly perceptive person that I am, I have been fascinated by how strikingly similar they are in one or the other ways, though they are geographically apart and culturally different. My perceptions have changed with time; have changed for the good. I don’t like to be opinionated or judgemental on most of the things; I find it hard sometimes to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad; as I believe it depends on which side of the coin you are looking at. Anyways, it was my first assignment to US as a consultant in 2001. As I had been just out of college, I was a little nervous. I didn’t know what to expect of the visit. But, it turned out to be a wonderful experience and the one that would reinforce my faith on people and belie...

It has been drizzling for the most part of the day today, here in Ipswich. I feel a very strange connection between some of the incidents that keep happening on a day-today life, like deja vu. Some events act as a time machine taking me back to my childhood incidents. They rekindle the memories of some sweet and cherished moments. The fresh fragrance of the soil after it rained today reminded me of my hometown and my school going days. It was the same smell of the soil after the first rain and I still remember it as if it were yesterday. I remember the time when I used to go to school along with my sister Anuradha, my cousin Asha and other girl friends - Manjula, Susheela, Shahin, Prema. [Yes!!! I was the only boy in the gang and was the next youngest after my sister!!]; all of them happened to be our neighbours. I remember waking up in the morning on a rainy day and wishing if I could sleep for a little more ...

YES!!! It happened again. I heard about this new business proposition; a chance for me to become an 'aspiring entrepreneur' – independent of any financial tangles; free from the daily, mundane and boring routine job and live a life that is supposed to be fulfilling and also, make me financially independent in the near future. Yes…I heard it again and as always, didn’t excite me or trigger the passion that I was supposed to have. It didn’t rekindle the spirit that every entrepreneur talks about….Is it a problem with me? Am I being too lazy? Or, do I always like to play safe and not take any risk? I don’t really know…But, I really wanted to give a serious thought about the same. When some one spoke about ‘Amway’ business model, the thing that impressed me was their conviction, the belief that it would really happen and it would happen soon in a big way!!! Shame that it was, ‘amway’ to me sounded like ‘am away’ as I couldn’t connect with the business model or...