My world My life

Everyone has a different definition of life, and for all that happens with/in life. And that definition comes from the experiences we have had, the expectations we have and the kind of person we are, which eventually concludes to our experiences in life and our responses to the same!   Usually, success is defined as achieving something that a person has lacked in early life, and happiness is defined based on what a person values more. For example, if i value money more in life, i would be happier if i have more money, and would assume that someone who has money is happy in his/her life which may or may not be true.  Last month, while having a regular chit-chat with "My Angel" (just that this time it was face to face instead over a call), we discussed about who is happy and who is not. She asked me "If am happy in life?". Since i am able to do the things i like to do, we concluded that am happy. For her, she thought, as per my standards she is very unhappy, as our li...

How do you define growth? Growth of a person, and not business. :)  Do you think, the increase in capability of executing things, or of better planning defines growth of a person? These days, am getting ample time to look back, and reflect on how have i grown or out-grown (a few things/people). Everyone knows, that people grow or evolve with time, new experiences bring changes to your thoughts. Something that you liked a few years ago, today you may start getting uncomfortable with. Can change in likes/dislikes be called growth? Or the learning that changed the like to dislike be called growth?  There could be multiple interpretations of growth, and each may be correct owing to the situation, age and existing benchmark of the person. Someone who could not complete any responsibility, is today capable of running a family. Is that growth or just an opportunity that person grasped to showcase his/her capabilities? Someone who could not stay alone, now prefers being on his/her own...

 The last 15 days, felt like an era. Too many things happened in just 15 days, that probably, I didn't get enough time to process or feel each event. To give a snaphot:  Went on a family trip Added a new country on my list of countries travelled TinyMiny's second birthday celebration in Hoi An Brother's birthday in Da Nang River wonders - Panda watching in Singapore this was the first time i saw a real life Panda!  Visited My Angel's abode in Singapore Had my indulgence taking over probably first time in two years - For records - Good and deep conversation is my indulgence Finished a book - "Little Book of Yes" by Noah J. Goldstein Solo flight back to India Rakhi celebration with family A close family member deceased - ending of a long suffering Another friend, "The Freebird" - her kid's first ceremony - Annprashan My birthday!  And a few other things that can't be mentioned here.  This fortnight brought a lot of events together some good, a ...

I don't remember when was the last time, i visited this page, not for writing but even for reading it. Today when i opened, realised it has been more than 4 months i wrote something. Appears that i have lost the writing skills i had (whatever good/bad i had). What should i write about?  Have been living a life in silo, practically no social existence, life revolving around close family. Even my phone call history has more spam calls than personal calls. I have almost vanished from social media, and technically only a witness in all the whatsapp groups i have been a part of! Have read close to 20 books this year, and want to read a few more. Trying to learn new things and somewhere contemplating the next step along with a reflective stance on the life that has been so far.  Looking back,  lost a few friends (at least for me, they were friends, and they may disagree), learning to keep boundaries, being unavailable, and to an extent letting go the responsibilities that i alw...

In the recent times, there has been a lot of noise around "feminism" and about how a man/woman should behave. And this becomes even louder, around Women's Day and i guess around Men's day too (if that exist, not sure when it is celebrated). I have always been of an opinion that all these days are just marketing gimmicks, and no one gets anything from them. Women still fight for their basic rights, while men also fight for their right to be vulnerable.  Sometimes, i feel, instead of celebrating a Men's Day or a Women's Day or glorifying feminism or smashing patriarchy, why can't we all just understand one thing, we at the very first are "Humans"! Men, Women or third gender, all these things matter post that! First as a species we are "humans" and why can't we celebrate being human? (Okay, am not referring to the NGO being run). Specially in today's time where the world is standing at the verge of a world war, which may result in ...

 HaPpY nEw YeAr 2026!!  This year i wanted to post something different from my regular style. So i took some help from internet and found this piece. I tweaked it a bit, making my version of " A-Z of 2026"   :)  A-Z of 2026 A s I step into this year, I stay anchored and accepting. B alance over bravado, honesty over pretence. C alm becomes my default as I clear what no longer belongs. D etached, but not distant — connected without clinging. E nough healing to move ahead, not all at once, just enough. Freeing myself from old weights, staying faithful to who I am becoming. G rounded in what is real, choosing what feels true. H armony within, even when things outside don’t align. I n sync with myself — thoughts, words, actions. J ust mindful of where my energy goes, and why. K eeping kindness for the past, without carrying it forward. L iving lighter, letting life be what it is. M ore response, less reaction. N o forcing, no holding — letting things unfold. O pen enou...

"From where i see, i find your life to be boring. There is nothing exciting about it!" This is what my Angel told me, when we were speaking last. As expected, we didn't agree on this, as for me this is a good life, where one is free from any kind of drama, a very defined life, except for a few happenings due to extended family or parents' social circle. I asked her, "One always seeks a life free from drama, and i am having it already, then why is it a boring life?" And she too agreed "Yes, people want a life free from drama, but still i feel your life is not exciting at all, it is too predictable!"  These are the kind of conversations we have these days, when neither of us has anything happening around us. Though this has come after a difficult period (something kept happening in last couple of years with either of us), and i feel it pretty good. For someone like me, it is a perfect life. No noise, no drama and a lot of peace! It's not that she...

Just a few days ago, Cute Li'le Angel happened to be in the town on a business trip, and as usual, we almost fought the hectic schedule, city weather and the traffic to have a meeting for a couple of hours. Somewhere we both knew, that there is no formality of meeting, instead more a need to see each other, our own way to cope up with the fast moving life!  As usual, our conversation was much beyond about the life we are living, and more focussed on deeper thoughts. Obviously, we know each other like back of a hand, and still, love to know each other more when it comes to how we are evolving as a human being in this world. And, every interaction we have, inspires a blog here!  This time, the thing that remained was, "Learnings in life" over a cup of tea.  Guess she was not very sure, that even at this age, we are still learning about how to conduct ourselves. But for me, I was pretty sure, i have a long way to go when it comes to learning things. For me, it is more about ...

 'The real "you" is different from those thoughts. You are reacting to every thought that visits your mind. By reacting to all of them, you are paying attention to your thoughts and feeding them, allowing them to exist. That is how a troubled mind creates a chaotic world.' This is an excerpt from a book am reading. A book which happens to be a fiction, and i didn't expect to read such a deep line in that one. It made me think, ponder upon even after days of reading the same. This is something that i learnt during Vipassana. My understanding of this is "Things keep on happening around you, whether they are good, bad or negative positive for you, completely depends on how your brain processes it, which is again dependent on what have you fed it in terms of thoughts and inputs (like reading, watching, etc).  They say, we create a version of reality in our mind, which is a product of actual happenings, our thoughts/ideas and our reactions to them. What you pay at...

It has been more than 5 months that i wrote something, and that's true for not only this place but in general, I haven't written anything. Probably the longest i have stayed without writing. And am still sane. Wow, something to be really proud of. Guess the credit goes to two things: Another 10 day Vipassana course  My 9 month old niece. She is a saviour, as these days, most of my time goes to her playful antics.  I did my second "10 day course of Vipassana". While i was looking forward to the peace that noble silence brings, to my surprise, i was asked to do " Seva " when i joined. The seniors or the more experienced people in this field told me, that it is great that i was able to do Seva in my second course itself, however, somewhere i felt like a scapegoat. Nevertheless, the experience was amazing in more than one way!  Though i missed the complete " Noble Silence ", (when you do Seva , participants can reach out to you, for any kind of inconve...

First post of the year! Traditionally, I shall wish "A delighted and prosperous new year" to everyone who reads this.   Coming to what I have been working on, in addition to the regular personal trading, I started consulting a start-up owned by a friend and was required to travel a bit. During this trip, I somehow managed to sneak some time for a "One day Vipassana Course" in a nearby rural center. It gave me time to cherish the chirping of birds in the middle of a farm, and, of course, some meditation. Meditation helps to keep myself sane and gives a different dimension to the hustle of life.  While returning from the trip, I was at the airport, a book caught my attention, and I picked it up without a second thought. The book was " Wabi-Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life " by Beth Kempton. I had heard about this Japanese concept but was unaware of how the concept could be followed in day-to-day life. This book threw some light on the sam...

Since the last post, life has been overhauled. It's been six months, and life is completely different now. A lot has happened in these six months, and I cannot relate to myself anymore. The person I was before April and the person I am now are two completely different human beings! Definitely, I have become more boring than earlier.  This year has been the year of firsts! Many things happened for the first time with me, and I did many new things.  Getting fired Vipassana Living in negative temperatures with basic means  Not planning anything  Noble silence for 9 days (Trust me the best time of life) Living without a phone, internet, and family  Lived at an altitude of 3500+ mtrs from sea level  Rushed mom to emergency for cardiac care Went on a trip with my Angel Welcomed a baby girl in the family. The first daughter after me! When she was born, no one in the family knew what rituals we had for a baby girl, as the ones who did all of them when I was born ar...

Finally, the day came when I could meet my "Cute Little Angel". Her work brought her to town, and we managed to steal a few hours for us. The last time we met, it was 2018. When we saw each other in person, it felt surreal in a good sense.  We both have been there for each other for the last 20 years in a way that even a simple phone call would make us feel like we are sitting next to each other. Still, as they say, meeting in person is a different feeling. Of course, it is! We were so busy speaking with each other, cherishing our bond, how the two decades went by, and how much we are grateful to have each other!  Today, when am writing this, have too many things to write, but unable to find the words. I have always been comfortable expressing myself in writing than saying, today I am at a loss of words. I can not find words that can do justice to this bond. Probably there is none!  Guess some things can never be expressed with words, they can only be felt.  Cheers K...

I've been feeling disconnected from everything and everyone around me for the past few weeks or months. I couldn't figure out why. I even took a break and went on a trip to try and understand what was happening, but it didn't help. I was still at square one, confused. Then, I started to analyze what I used to do that I wasn't doing any more to feel that connection. That's when I realized that I hadn't been reading or writing in the last few months. It was such a simple solution! All I had to do was go back to basics - Read and Write. That's why I'm writing this second post in a week. As for reading, I finished "Sach Kahun Too: An Autobiography" by Neena Gupta and then resumed reading "My Gita" by Devdutta Patnaik while simultaneously starting another book "The Moment of Lift" by Melinda Gates, and now am hooked on it! I have only read less than 10% of this book, and am already loving it. Some really good lines till now:  If ...

 "That doesn't kill us makes us stronger"  ~ Friedrich Nietzsche  Today is 4th Feb, The World Cancer Day! , led by the Union for International Cancer Control to support the goals of the World Cancer Declaration written in 2008, to raise awareness of Cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment.  What is Cancer?  We all know it to be a deadly disease. But is it really a disease? As for us disease is usually due to some infection or external factors that affect our body. So what external factor causes Cancer? Well, the answer is "Nothing".  About 8 years ago, I started reading/researching about Cancer. The reason, we suspected, was that my mother was suffering from a kind of Cancer, and later on was diagnosed with leukemia. This inspired me to know more and more about this disease, and in all the books and medical journals I read on this subject, I came across the book "The Emperor of All Maladies - A Biography of Cancer" by Dr Siddha...

Otsaliheliga is the word used by Native Americans or the Cherokee people to express Gratitude or "We Are Grateful"!  For me, this weekend was kind of one.  Did a couple of things, that I probably should be doing more often, and were fulfilling, had a calming effect overall,  I slept for more than 15 hours.  Went for a walk (getting back on track)  Spent some time at a center dedicated to differently-abled kids Helped them the way I could with their studies Though I don't believe in sharing what we do to give back to society, today I would like to share this feeling of gratification and fulfillment I have right now, after doing the abovementioned things.  Yesterday when I came back from the walk, I was happy. Happy as I had hit the track after so long, happy as I could finish 5km in one go, and a bit disappointed as I took more than an hour to finish 5km. (Earlier I could do 10 km in 100 min).  Today, while I was at that center, I realized how stupid we...

 A delighted and prosperous New Year to everyone!!  A few days back, or precisely, a fortnight back, I went on a trip to the "Teardrop of India" or the "pearl in the jewel of the Indian Ocean" with the Free Bird. Both of us wanted to end the year with a smooth, slow, peaceful, and calm trip, that soothes us and helps us take a break from our overwhelming lifestyle. And it was pretty much as per our expectations. Well, the trip deserves a dedicated post, so will be back with the travelogue soon.  For now, this post is more on the "New Year Resolutions".  On one of the days of the trip, she asked me my New Year resolution(s). I was taken aback by this question, as I do not remember when was the last time I decided on one? To answer her, I gave her a few random replies, and she said I want it in writing from you so that by the end of next year, we will be doing a check if you really completed the resolution or not . I looked at her thinking, why did I choose ...

Hellos!!!  Have been crazy busy the last few months with work, work, and some time to rejuvenate to work again! To the extent that I hardly got time to speak with "My Angel"!  But the last couple of days I tried to get steal some time from the day, and spoke with her, only to realize that now she is full of one-liners! While we spoke a few hours back, she got some excellent one-liners in the first few minutes of the call! Not that she was not good at these earlier, she always was good with comebacks, but today she was on a roll! Alas, the call could not last longer, owing to our respective schedules. Am not going to list them down here. However, one was  "Kindness invites kindness".  And it got stuck in my mind.  Usually, we do not think about it, and honestly, if we do something for someone thinking that it would come back to us sometime in the future, then it no longer remains "kindness". It becomes more of a selfish act that is carried out only based on...

 For an introvert like me, a perfect Sunday evening is, "Be on your own, no obligation to see or speak to anyone. Chill, while watching something, reading, or just listening to music. I did all these three things today!" And I had one such evening today! After a loooong time.  The last few weeks have been overloaded with too many social engagements, family affairs, and festivities, and hardly getting any "me time" to recharge. I need such peaceful evenings to keep myself sane. I have been out of my place for the past 5 weeks, only came back last week, and thus the first evening in more than 45 days, where I could be just myself.  Well, last month was the birthday month. A few friends had asked me, "What did I wish for this birthday?". I was like, last year I had wished to have a simple meal without pain or painkillers, this year all I wish is a simple day. No show sha, no party. This year it was the exact opposite of what I would have ever wanted. It was a...

 Another day, another airport, another flight!  When I was on a trip (the one to Andamans), somebody asked me to define what traveling, reading and writing are for me. It left me speechless for a few minutes, as I had never rated them in any order, I loved all three of them. After thinking for some time, I said, "Reading helps me understand people, writing helps me understand my own thoughts and traveling helps me know the world. All three are equally important". And here I am, sitting at an airport and writing this blog while waiting for boarding.  Many of my friends, usually prefer to enjoy the lounges or shop at the airports, and at the same time, I look for a quiet corner with a charging booth, either to read or write something with some exciting music playing on the AirPods. What an introvert I am. Ensuring that no one disturbs me, gives (at least pretends to give) a vibe of a highly intellectual person (which is definitely not true), someone who is beyond worldly af...