Who are winners

 Winners are those who practice winning everytime. Yes, it is not like winning something is not under our control . I would debate that winning is always under our control.

Ofcourse if we are chasing an objective result, you will have a boolean answer of yes or no , did you win or not. But that isnt the nature of our work, life , relationships or plans or anything for that matter. The outcomes more often than not are not binary

When you start a task , you either accomplish it exactly the way you thought it would be or a part of it. Sometimes though you end up doing something completely different. That is the futile nature of whatever we do, so having a binary result as a definition of winning is also incorrect.

Then how is winning under our control ,when the results are not under our control? That is exactly what I hope to explain. For us to progress, we need to win more often than not. A win is nothing but progress. Progress can be bite sized or hill sized, but is progress and hence a win can be either also.

If you have made progress of whatever type in what you do , you have won. Sometimes we make huge strides and that is a more resounding win than a lesson learnt in doing a complete failure. But you still have a win , because this lesson will lead to resounding wins in the future, you have set the basis of a future win and that is progress.

And hence winning is an attitude and habit. We need to inculcate a habit of winning by winning more often. However small it may be. And if we do any task, we learn something about it. Looking for those little lessons, signs of progress is the habit of winning. We will have more wins in more successful endeavours of ours and less wins in failures. But there are wins, and if we make it our business to find our wins, our minds will be tuned to the idea of winning.

We will crave for wins but also we will find wins faster. We run faster when we know we are for sure going ahead. Doubts hold us back. How do we know we are going in the right direction? by winning more often. By finding our wins even in the more calamitous failures of our life.

If we make a habit of finding even the smallest strains of progress in our daily lives, we would win more often than that. As James clear says in atomic habits , even if we make 1% progress everyday of a year, by the end of the year we would be 37 times ahead of when we were at the beginning of the year. Habits, progress and therefore wins always compound. Once we cross a certain threshold our wins become bigger and more spectacular. Similarly if we hold back ,our fall becomes spectacular once we cross a threshold.

In my mind , my end goal is to be able to keep emotions aside even in the worse of moments and look for the little wins in those. I call it the "lobster theory". I will credit my friend Ankit for helping me with the name. But what it means is that there is something good even in the worse moments of our lives. Like the sinking of the sea boat is the worse of disasters but atleast the fish and lobsters onboard the ship who would have been dinner would have returned to their habitat. Now I am no marine biologist and cannot vouch for the validity of this specific example. All I am trying to say is to find a value in everything we face which shows us the signs of progress.

These signs of progress are what will help us compound our wins in the future. Now why is it for us to look for those wins? It is to register those wins in our minds, use those lessons for our next endevour. These will be the foundations of whatever we do next in our lives. These are the multipliers in our equations which will lead to compounding results.

These are the multipliers which will move the needle of success in the right direction, it will make us a better person and human being. It is the human culture to learn from everything around us which has helped us evolve to who we are now and where we are now.

So win often, every day , in everything we do. Don't worry about the size or significance of the win. That is compeltely pointless.

New Month and New hopes

The new month is 10 days in and I must say, I have a very positive feeling about this year. Why? I am not sure, but one of the things that I am noticing is ,I am getting things done that I wanted to and were pending for the longest period on earth.

The funny thing is, once I was done with some of those tasks, I questioned myself. Why did I delay this for so long? I am not the first one to criticize myself for sitting on my back side waiting for things to happen.

I have come to realize that nothing is standalone in life. Everything around us is linked, so for example, if we avoid doing something that we don't like, we end up also avoiding doing things that we like. How else can we explain the fact that , I know so many talented musicians, writers, singers, who are working at a 9 to 5 job and not doing extraordinary things they are capable of?

So we need to get the balance, balance between things which we must do ( whether we like it or not) and things we want to do. The important thing here is that , we must get things done. Getting things done is a habit, and we need to inculcate it, to be able to do it constantly. Like any habit, you can inculcate it in 40 days and you can break a habit in a week.

40 days in , and I have tried to inculcate the habit of getting things done. Where am I? I wouldn't say I am there yet, but I am closer to it, than when I started. The important thing is to keep at it and I am in the middle of figuring out my processes and ways to do things, which work for me.

These processes will help me avoid my weaknesses as much as possible and work with my strengths. It is similar to the Gallup strength finder assessment. It tells you, what your strengths are and in the order of their impact on your way of looking at things. It is amazing that many years ago, when this study was done, it talked about the exact same things that I am only discovering now about myself.

It tells me two things, people haven't changed much at the core- even with the passage of time ( centuries also), what has changed is the tools we use to express or emote. Second, I am on the right track. While everything I talked about is out there, the real challenge is in implementing it in our daily lives. Who says it is going to be easy? Will it be worth it? Hell yeah!!


Cheers
Shady West Side

2 weeks in

It has been two weeks since I last posted. Now is the time to give a quick update. So I listed down 5 things that I want to achieve this year. Each of those tasks range from long term to short term goals. The idea was to prove to myself that I can set targets and achieve them as well.

I learnt a lot of things( already!), that I had unlearned over a period of time. One of those things was that if everything does go smoothly as you want it to, DON'T WAIT till it happens smoothly. MOVE things around so that it happens. Case in point, I had ordered some raw materials, to move my saplings to a pot, from Pune. Unfortunately, they never arrived. I waited for one weekend, but the last weekend also, it seemed like it would get delayed. Now the saplings, really needed to be moved and so I ventured out in Chiplun. To my surprise, I found the raw materials, good quality and at the same price as in Pune.

Patience is a virtue and sometimes I have shown patience when needed. But , I am also guilty of sitting back on issues which have eventually blown up. This time, I almost did the same mistake. While I was forced to take action and make the move, I realized that ,I have to be proactive. I am sometimes so stringent on my methods and processes, that I forget that the process I set up is to achieve something and ACHIEVING my end goal is more important at almost all the times than following the process. I will always remember to think two steps ahead, but to also plan every day or revise the plans everyday.

There are four more targets for the year, and each of them is at an initial stage and there will definitely be more progress when I move to Pune. Now, I know, may be this sounds like procrastination but at this point in time, I want to take up one little thing at a time. It might make me slower, but I am surer that way.

That is all that I have for now, I will be back soon with another update and hopefully with some exciting news.

Cheers!!

Shady West Side

A challenging New Year

As 2019 has just risen over the horizon, I wish everyone reading this blog and everyone around the world all the luck for this year. I am sure this year will bring new challenges, surprises, smiles, some tears as well. That is par for the course.

Every year is the same, it is always about what we make of it. So how do we achieve more? How do we make sure that the year is the best possible year for each one of us?

By challenging ourselves to achieve more every year. And here is what I have set my priorities and targets for this year :

1. Grow 5 veggies in my terrace garden : The terrace garden is non existent at this moment. Heck, I am not even living in that house and wouldn't be in Pune till the beginning of February this year. But I have already dabbled in the gardening a bit and am preparing for some veggies from it, when I go there. I have already grown tomato seedlings in to beautiful plants and I hope to get some fruits later this year

2. Write Technology related articles on a blog : I am an avid technology guy, the gadgets section is the first place I walk to when I go to any mall . There were predictions and thoughts about tech in the mobile world which I got right quite a few times. And in this era , where coming out and talking tech is so easy and a pleasure, I want to jump on the bandwagon sooner than later.

3. I DIY : Making things at home, even the smallest of things are always a pleasure. My target is to make atleast 3 items in the whole year which will be helpful at home and would be created entirely at home. 

4. Get FIT : I intend to join the gym at office and run regularly. The idea is to get back to the fitness levels I had a few years ago, when the gym was an essential part of my daily routine. Obviously my targets have changed from having six pack abs to just a presentable physique ( my wife will be the judge)

5. Move to a new country : I obviously cannot reveal the name of the country , but I really am trying to move to another country. The reasons are obvious, better salary, better lifestyle and prospects. I will post more about it as there is progress.

As a welcome change , I have posted after years on my blog and to be honest, this blog post sounds , feels amateurish , hopefully the quality improves as it goes.

Cheers

Shady West Side 

( This feels so good!!!!!!!!!)

The dying embers of a passion

A long time ago, I used to look forward to what people think about my opinions and thoughts expressed on this blog. I knew I had a voice, but here is where a few people heard it. More importantly, I could pen down the thoughts that I had on my mind. 

As funny as it may sound, but I do not value my opinion as much. It has at times helped me improve because people tend to blow their self images out of the roof, but in the long term I think I have suffered more.

Letting your self image be dependent on the opinions and behavior of others is a very risky proposition. More often than not, anyone driving your self image will always do so for his or her benefit. Once, I acknowledged the fact that after living for more than a couple of decades on this blessed planet, I did not take the effort of creating a self image myself.

And just like that, I realize the reason to why people of my age ask this question to themselves
 "Who Am I?". Heartening as it is to know that there are more of your kind around, not many have answers to this question and continue to find happiness in other avenues. I am no one to judge what is right and what is not, but to me not knowing yourself is criminal.

The introspection told me something I always knew. I am a rebel, a rebel to who I become. I constantly rip my belief system for a new one, I look like I flow with the tide, only to reach somewhere different to where others have reached despite embarking on the same path.

Some might call this eccentric, unpredictable and to some extent it is just that. But this isn't a crime, it is who I am. While I would like to change some aspects of myself, i realize that treasuring what is essentially me is paramount to the entire exercise.

Once the edges are smoothed out, I think this rebel living with me will be ready to go.

Good Luck to him

The power of your words

In today’s world we communicate a lot more than we actually do a task. That’s what a connected world is on the contrary to the adverts by technology giants, where everything is easier and every-one knows everything. Sorry folks, but today, the technology has brought us closer because it is easier to stay in touch.

Statistics and data is all important, but the real thing is an actual connection. I would trust a set of numbers more, if it is a friend sharing those to me. And that is the case with so many more. So here is the thought that lead me to write this post. Our words are way more important than the importance we give them.

The words you say today, could be the basis on which a decision is taken by the guy next to you. It could be the reason for a person to hate another, and so on. Today, because of this connected world we live in, everyone has his/her own watering hole for sharing comments, thoughts, news. That watering hole could be facebook, twitter or some other social media platform which I am not aware of. See your single status could possibly be looked on by the number of friends in your account and further by their friends.

Imagine, if you have 500 friends in your friend list and each friend has additional 200 friends. A single post of yours could be read by a hundred thousand people. That is the equivalent of a city. Have we measured our thoughts to understand this impact of our words?

When I say India is intolerant, my words could change the thoughts of a town in Pakistan, where they think that India is hell for Muslims. If I say that Muslims are terrorists, a kid growing up in Europe would carry this image in his mind for years. If I say India is not a clean place, people worldwide will keep associating us with snake charmers, muddied roads and what not (A lot of people still carry that image, don’t they?).

What I am coming to is that your words today carry the power to change a life, I dare say change the world. Would you want your words to change the world for the better or worse, would you want the world to hate others or learn to accept every individual the way they are? While there would be difference of opinions, would you want the world to touch arms at every single provocation or learn to sit together and sort it out?

Let me tell you a story. I was in UAE for Eid last year September. I met an uncle of mine after a long time at a mall. I was very glad to see him. He asked me about my whereabouts and all, I told him that I am planning to move to the middle east full time soon, as my parents and brothers are settled out there and it is lonely out here in India.

He said , “All we can do is try. Every day, even today, I try to live the life close to my ideals. I try to make someone else’s life slightly better. Keep trying and sleep peacefully”

I recently heard that he passed away. I would always remember him for his beautiful words, and pray that someday when I am gone, people remember me for the words that I share with them.

 I hope each of us understands the impact of our words are beyond our comprehension and so rather than being discouraged by this, understand that words of encouragement, wisdom and happiness can be shared with the exact hundred thousand people at the click of a mouse.

Live happy, speak happy.

Cheers

Footnote:

Image courtesy:http://drthermanevans.com/

All about second chances

Ted Mosby was right, we all come to a phase when we want to give everything we rejected/denied/hated/ forgot another chance. For me the phase has been on forever. I think I have given everything a second or a third chance already ( Its called having an open mind).

This habit of mine is responsible for me being called "Some people"( a movie quote "Some people never learn". I am one of those some people). I am not a hopeless romantic, I am practical. I behave how I expect others to behave with me.

I believe in second chances because I know I will need a lot of second chances. No one is perfect, but I am a longer way away from being perfect. That doesn't mean that I do not expect perfection or quality, but if the effort is earnest and honest then I am not worried, because going in the right direction is always important.

The reason I am writing this post is not to discuss my quality of forgiving or trying old things again, but to give my self a second chance. A second chance to start writing again. Every now and then we need something new to start an old habit. I have installed Windows 10 and reset my laptop completely and that has given my laptop a new lease of life. I might add a new battery backup to my device as well.

I am not able to write much because, I do not get much time away from work. Every now and then there is an urge to write but I do not have a laptop which I can carry around easily. But does buying a smaller swankier piece of hardware ensure that I write often? The answer is definitely no. So I have decided that only when I start writing more regularly I will not buy anything with the reason to aid my writing.

I guess this is a justifiable ask from myself. After all a second chance cannot be without history.

Here is hoping a revival of my writing again.

Cheers

This is now dead!!

I opened my blogger account today and I realized that all the blogs that I had saved/ would follow have all been erased. Now, this isn't a virus or some kind of error. This is plain neglect on my part. 

There were days when I would read my own blog three or four times to ensure that I haven't made a mistake or have got my thoughts out in an appropriate manner. But now , my entire reading list is gone and god knows from when, and I have no idea. 

It is my fault, that I let this blog of mine die and let it die a slow death. I would start thinking of writing a post, but never write it. I thought of reading posts from fellow bloggers but wouldn't. Was I always so busy with work ? with friends? the answer is no.

I have a tendency to isolate myself every now and then. I prefer my solitude, but the more I understand myself, the more I hate the fact that there is more to me going into a shell that I made for myself. 

I suffer in this shell of mine and it is not a fantasy world of mine which I live in after I jump down the rabbit hole. But there is this need in me to want my loved ones to come to my shell and knock me out of it. It is that craving for attention or loved that makes me do it. I hope there is more to me than this.

Getting back to the blog, this blog maybe isn't dead  but is in the stupid shell of mine. I hope I can give it the love to come out of it, just the way I have been taken out of mine by my loved ones.

Cheerios!!!

The sun shines on everyone

Every day we wake up, is a little milestone we achieve. With the first touch of the rays of the sun, the story of our lives move on, we move on.

When we look around us, a few happy faces smiling back , some grumpy faces and a sad face, we know it is the small world we live in. As human beings the emotions are limited but the depths of each are endless and that is the true nature of our existence; the depths we reach in every breath we take.

But, if that was all , life would be just the count of the breaths we take till we are no more breathing. I know, its much more than that.We all know its much more than that. It is also about those around you.

Each of us are affected by the people around you and conversely all around us are influenced by us. It is like this huge motorway where each one of us knowingly or unknowingly come into each others paths or share the paths in our journey. Some might be pleasant and some are not.

Let me ask you a question, when we are driving on a motorway, more often than not we make it to our destination, don't we? We have an occasional skirmish, or unpleasant incident but we make it. And if we do have that one unpleasant incident, our journey is remembered for that one unpleasant incident or the smiles we have when we reach our destination?

Its the same way with life, we remember that one person that made us sad, that one person who mattered but didn't live up; but shouldn't we be glad that one person was there?

Shouldn't it remind us that , that one person is exactly the reason why we are humans, why we take breaths of varying depths? Isn't that one person the reason for the smiles on some faces? on your face?

I am not saying anything new, just saying that there is good in this world and only good. There is no bad, just like oxygen, we thrive on good and the non-existence of good makes us feel 'bad'. But that's not true, all it takes is a little 'good' to bring everything back to normal and it isn't difficult.

I have been blessed with a little good at all times and that has been largely due to all the blessed people around me who knowingly or unknowingly have given that little good to me, never letting the good vanish from my life.And that is what I( you, all of us) are about.

So, do not worry, do not frown, the sun shines on everyone

Chain mail et al

I get all kind of emails, some talking about the atrocities of some unknown government in an unknown land, a girl saying that we are compatible (how shaadi.com...how?) and should meet up, other ladies simply flaunting the assets they paid for and well some are downright...ummm stupid? And no! The stupid kinds are not my phone/ credit card / yada yada yada bills ( they are important..well maybe)

The stupid kinds, OK I will find a new word for it before the end of this post, are those which say that be careful before you read. Curiosity kills the cat and I open the email. It contains a picture. And then I regret opening the email. It has the power to change my world for good or worse.

The picture is of some god, saint or god knows what. It is supposed to get me good luck, if I share it with say 10 people. But hey, if you want more luck you can share it with 20 people, 30 people if you want even more luck and guess if I share it with a 10000000 I will be Bill Gates! The world is a good place again.

And I know a lot of us get these emails and we know there is a catch. If you do not send it then the whatever in the picture gets angry (oh you don’t want these things angry do you?) The wheels turn anti clockwise and you end up getting bad luck (cue...Goosebumps!). Some of the emails even give examples of people who pissed them off, trust me; some of the victims get so unlucky that they aren't even unlucky anymore.

So here we stand at a crossroad wondering which road we want to take and then I see a light bulb slowly flickering to life. What if, I start one of these? With a picture of my ahem ahem...and send it around? You never know who might end up getting lucky you know (I hope it’s me!)

But then wouldn't forwarding the email I get just do? Why take all the efforts? That’s it then! let’s just forward these emails and hope you get luckier, richer than the richest and hope these emails don’t reach the already rich and they get richer than what we end up at.

Have a nice weekend guys and gals!

PS: Yes I couldn't find a word for the stupid emails, any suggestions

A new country- Thoughts at midnight

In the modern times, its not very rare for us to be moving around countries. It is a luxury which was um imaginable a decade or so earlier in our part of the world. Well I have enjoyed the benefit of our time. I have moved to Singapura.

A lovely country with discipline deeply engraved in the ethos of every person here, is a welcome change to the largely chaotic and charming country of mine, India. The weather is predictably unpredictable out here, with rains visiting this island city at its whims and fancies. But what all of us would appreciate about this country is that, the country hasn't been taken aback by all the issues it has. The country has simply accepted what it can't change and moved on to do what it can do best. It is not a surprise that the country is doing so well with its residents going places.

Again, I am not sure how many people will be reading this, and if you have read this, you would accept that this isn't a planned post. I just happen to wake up and wanting to write something desperately, let the thoughts flow.

I hope I get to meet some of the bloggers here. Do drop me a word if any one of you guys are here

Cheers!

A child's mind

My posts have taken a long time coming, I promised myself this New Year I would do more regularly what I like doing and that is to write. I still am 24 days late but I guess never late than never.

So what sparked this post? A beautiful advert by Microsoft!

Microsoft really needs a new ad agency because some of their recent adverts plain and simply suck, but this one they have got it right. 

Watch the video below:

 Now assuming that you guys have watched the video, let me ramble along.

So what did we learn? Windows 8 is good/easy?

I don't know and honestly don't care much ( Sorry Steve Ballmer, I know you have paid millions to the ad agency who created this agency, the same ad agency you should have fired long time back!).

What I really liked about this advert is that knowingly or unknowingly they have brought forward the real picture of how people look at new technology. To think of it, the kid wouldn't have seen much of the previous OS's of Windows (for the Techno Geeks - Linux and others), his mind was fresh and ready to learn.

Compare that to how a lot of your friends would have said about Windows 8, 

"It takes time to understand"

"I have no idea how to figure out Windows 8"

There are obviously a few techno dead people around who just cannot grasp a technology and that's fine, but the others saying this is the point I want to make.

Over a period of time, we have filled our minds with preconceived notions and ideas. Our minds have been industrialized to react to situations we are more likely to encounter. What this has done to us is, left us unwilling to accept different. I am not blaming anyone for anything because this is something which is common to most of us, had this not been the case technology would have taken us to unimaginable heights. Let me give a few examples, the touch phones/ Smartphone’s/tablets have all been around even before the iPhone era. Microsoft launched a tablet way back in 2002!

The thing is that today most technology companies have accepted that Mankind in general is slow to react to change and they cannot simply bombard new technologies all together on us, instead, we are given a glimpse into the future which is nothing but getting us used to the idea of doing something differently.

See the innovative technologies we see today is not very different from the imagination of a child’s mind. I remember when I was a kid (I guess this is part of getting older, isn't it?) I saw this magic slate on which we would write and it wouldn't appear unless we lifted its small lid. I never owned it but it was the first thing I would look at when we went shopping. The kids today would simply pull out their touch screen smart phones and say what the magic in that? This is one of the reasons I am hooked on to these smart phones. It is like a dream which I saw when I was younger, to use something like this. This is my Cinderella moment!

I guess the picture I am trying to draw is that we all dream of achieving our childhood dreams and imaginations. But we sometimes don’t appreciate the path en-route. Open up your minds like a kid, believe that every path will lead you to a magical world we always dream of, and you never know. Maybe there is another guy working as hard as ever out there to achieve what he thinks are his dreams but at the same time so many other dreams too! All he needs is your acceptance and a fresher perspective, we can give him that.

Three worlds- – my entry to the GetPublished contest

The Idea:

The story is an amalgamation of three stories.The central character/ narrator is the first one to board a train, wanting to get done with the journey. Through his eyes he sees the other two stories, one of which is about a group of blind students travelling and the other of a couple sitting right across him in the train. As the narrator observes the love brewing between two students from the blind school, he compares his own troubled love life which is suffering from insecurity. At the same time he also observes the love or the lack of it, between the couple sitting across him. The story grows as the journey comes close to its end. The narrator throu


This is my entry for the HarperCollins–IndiBlogger Get Published contest, which is run with inputs from Yashodhara Lal andHarperCollins India.

The Muddy River – By P.A. Krishnan

I have been guilty of a few things, not trying for one, putting off things for later is another one of the habits I want to get rid off and this is where I thought I should begin.

On 14^th November last year I received a book from BlogAdda called “The Muddy River” as a part of their book reviewers program.

What I liked about this book was that the author wasn’t scared to take on a complex story as this and actually executing it to perfection. This is book is a take on the political situation of Assam, the corruption in India and the way bureaucracy is in India, while the loss of a child of  the central protagonists adds another angle to the story line.

The story is of Chandran who is a bureaucrat in Delhi who gets transferred to Assam when he runs into his seniors, threatening to pull a plug on the existing corruption scenario there. Assam being in turmoil for the obvious reasons is not a likeable posting for any one.

The story moves forward with the kidnapping of Mr Ghosh and how Chandran sets out to ensure the release of Mr Ghosh, when the company refuses to pay the ransom as demanded by the naxals. But there is more to the book.

With the loss of their only child Priya, Chandran and Sukanya have started to drift apart. This subplot gives in a dose of emotions which never go over the top.

While these are the ingredients to the story line, the narrative of the story is in the book in a book style. It definitely adds to the layers of this book and makes the book a good read albeit a challenging one too. I must say that despite various layers to the narrative, it is clean and crisp, so will never confuse you.

This is definitely not a breezy read but pick up this book and finish it at your own pace and you would marvel at the narrative of the book. Having said that I have not read many books on the Indian political scenario, but this was a good beginning for me and I definitely can recommend this to others too.

Ok, now that the review is done, I must apologize to the BlogAdda guys especially Harish. I am sure there were quite a few abuses hurled my way, something that I definitely deserved. But BlogAdda has been the reason why I wrote the last two posts of mine and I hope I don’t give up this blog.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Chanakya's Chants-A review

So, I am writing a post again after months. All thanks to the Blog Adda's book review program. It’s a beautiful program where they send the books for review to the readers and they are supposed to review the book within ten days of receiving it (demanding these people are, I must say). So without much ado review shuru kiya jae( I do watch that show)

First of all I must say that the author Ashwin Sanghi is worth putting your money on. I can bet you that one fine day there will be a book coming out from the author that will grab him fame and mass acceptance. Is this the book? I wish I could say a whole hearted yes, but it isn’t. It has all the ingredients but there is something which doesn’t work. I haven't read the Rozabal Line, but don't bet on me not buying the book.

The story is in the Dan Brown mode in terms of using history as a backdrop or a parallel plot as is the case of Chanakya’s Chants. The story starts with Chandni Gupta while taking the oath of the prime minister of India is shot, while a terribly old man is watching it with rapt attention. This old man is Gangasagar Mishra. He was the person behind the rise of Chandni Gupta as the prime ministerial candidate and probably also the reason behind her winning it.

The parallel story is about the best political brain India has ever seen Chanakya. It was with his backing that Chandragupta Maurya became the ruler of the united Bharat. It was also to avenge the killing of his father by the ruler Dhanananda.

While Mishra was a king maker by choice, Chanakya became one for personal Vendetta.

So what works and what doesn’t?  Well the concept was fantastic, with two stories running parallel. The two central characters coming up trumps against similar situations, becomes a little predictable as you read further but they hold up well in the end. The pace of the novel is frantic to its advantage. The dialogues of the present day Chanakya or Mishra are very cheesy. There are lines said by Chanakya which are actually not his and the author has acknowledged that at the end of the book (I didn’t realize that anyways).The author has also been inspired by some recent scams and weaved them into the plot, a nice touch I must say.

 The one thing that doesn’t work and probably is the biggest disappointment is the central plot. If you read successful books in this genre, the questions asked in the beginning of the book cannot be answered even after finishing three quarters of the book, here the answer was very predictable.

But that doesn’t mean that the book isn’t readable at all. It is a good book from a very talented author. Pick it up and finish it at your own pace, you will enjoy it.

Footnote:

I must thank Blog Adda for this fantastic opportunity to review the book Chanakya’s Chant. Cheers to more reviews and books.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews by bloggers;Book Reviews Program at  http://www.blogadda.com. Participate now to get free books!

What is your legacy?

Time and again we have seen the power of this question; in fact the world we live today is filled with examples of people living their lives out in search of a legacy they want to leave behind. They live their entire lives creating memories which would stay even after they are gone and there are some lethargic ones who believe in leaving no legacy behind as their legacy ( I think there is only one example of it , the guy who writes a blog called Tale Weaver).
If I talk about one person whose answer to this question I definitely loved was that of Randy Pausch. A professor in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon, Pausch with his determination to make his weird childhood dreams true and making sure that he worked hard enough for his students to make their true. He asked himself this question when he was living on borrowed time. Struck with Pancreatic cancer he decided to give his Last Lecture. The Last lecture was a series of lectures where professors spoke about the legacy they would leave behind once they call it a day. Randy spoke for a little over an hour about his legacy and what he strived for. He famously called the lecture a head fake, in principle the lecture was to talk about the legacy but in reality it was for his kids, who were too small to know who really their father was, and what he stood for. His book is one of the must read.
If there is someone like Randy who did his bit to make the world a better place, there is someone like Elizabeth Taylor who made the world a glamorous place to be in. A beautiful woman of her times, she always gave something for the gossip columns to fill space with. I gather, she was a good actress, and has two academy awards to her name. A few movies which are classics but her legacy can very well be summed up with her funeral where she arrived fashionably late by 15 minutes.
Talk about legacy and Hugh Hefner cannot be left behind by much. If the world is a little more open about sexuality then the credit has to go to Hefner. He has lived the sexual fantasy many guys think of, is still the subject of envy of many and also role model for some. But what is more important is that people are more aware of their sexuality, and today having fun playboy style is not really uncommon. Today it is ok to have a little fun and not feel bad about it.  Though his work has always been on the wrong side of the lines of morality, it is without any doubt that his legacy will remain long after he leaves this world.
I guess the list can keep going, but the point is that we all are working towards our own little legacies. So let me ask you the same question once again

What is your legacy?

Ray Ban Baba- The story till date

For the benefit of those who haven't read the previous parts

When I first came to Pune, I was full of enthusiasm and excitement about all the things I would do there and guess what was the first considerable thing I saw here? , the roof of a semi-private ward at the hospital!. I was diagnosed with typhoid, a disease which catches hold of you when you don’t pay attention to what and where you are eating. Like I always believe, everything happens in this world because the universe conspires to, so now I know who I have to blame for my condition.

The first thing you would want to know in a semi-private ward is who the other inmates where. Well my semi-private ward had four beds, and only one other bed was occupied. At the first night (I was rushed to the hospital at mid night) I was in no condition to notice anything about this place. All I remember about the night was a few conversations between the nurses which were in some alien language and so I did not care, all I did was sleep.

The first thing I saw in the morning was some doctor reading my medical reports. I don’t know when they took the blood out of me but he said that I would need a week long rest in the hospital. He specified on the word hospital (that’s where he gets his bread and butter; he is bound to emphasize on the word). So my so called journey towards a celebration called life did not start in a very nice manner (that’s what I thought at that time) but I have to be optimistic about it. I mean this is the city which is going to give me my career.

“Mr. Sameer, is there somebody with you who could get your medicines?” a nurse asked interrupting my thoughts

“No, I am on my own. If you could send somebody to get my medicines .I will pay for it”

“O.K” 

The nurse walked away.  A few minutes later, a young kid walked in with a plastic bag in hand

“Saheb, these are your medicines” and he handed over the bill. I stretched towards the drawer near my bed and pulled out my wallet, paid the bill with an extra five bucks the kid charged me for his efforts.

That was followed by a few hours of roof staring till the start of the visiting hours. I knew there was another patient there, so I guess there would be some people coming to meet him, probably that was the only way I would be able to see a non hospital face. 

I was right about that; a man of medium height, thick moustache and extremely large belly walked in with his wife and daughter.  My bed was diagonally opposite to the other occupied bed and we were separated by a veil which they usually use in the hospitals. They moved the veil slowly so that they could place the chairs around the bed. The patient in that bed was a very old man. He was very skinny with his skin sagging from every part of his body, his cheeks where sucked in and he did not seem to have teeth.  The hospital robe was too big for him. He barely managed to hold the trouser on his waist.

Like all Indian families, this one had brought a lot of the old man’s favorite food items. Since the old guy was on his last stretch, the family does everything to keep him happy and well their antics put me to sleep.

A small poke woke me up; it was the nurse changing the needles. I rubbed my eyes, trying to see what has changed in the past few minutes; I raised the pillow and put it in between the wall and my back for some support. The old guy was still lying down and his granddaughter was giving her company. 

“I have seen bad days, but nothing like this” I told myself. The boredom of lying down in the hospital was putting me to sleep every second minute and well I always felt as if I had slept for hours and when my eyes searched for the clock, it moved by a few minutes only.

The kid who had bought my medicines yesterday walked in, and gave a packet of medicines to the granddaughter. She went through the bill, something upset her and she started gesturing wildly. She thumped the bill in the boy’s palm, and she walked towards my bed agitatedly. I was surprised, I really couldn’t think of what could have happened.

“Excuse me, do you realize this boy has been fooling you?”

“ohh..umm”I stammered, “he charges me for delivering the medicines, if that’s what you are talking about”

“He is much smarter than that, He has billed you more than the MRP price for your medicines, on all your medicines”

“How much extra has he charged me?” I asked, not knowing what I should be doing about it

“At least 100 rupees. If you have a lot of money to give away, then, do what you want”

“100 rupees!”I tried to act cheated  “ What did you get by cheating me? You know that is why India will never progress, everyone here is a cheat, except for this lady here” The boy let loose a giggle and there was thin smile on the girls face

“It’s ok, If you don’t care then you don’t have to act” She said turning her back towards me

“I wasn’t acting,” I said trying to get up, only to be reminded that I was tied up by a saline.

“let me decide that” she said and sat near her grandpa, trying to keep herself busy with a book.

I called the boy, he walked towards me sheepishly. 

“Who asked you to laugh?”

“Kya sir, you don’t know how to get angry also”

“Accha, and what about overcharging me?, had you not gone to her, I wouldn’t have known”

“What do I do sir!, the cashier at the pharmacy does these things, I don’t know about it at all”

“Ok, do me a favor, call the pharmacist here, and let me talk to him”

The boy went and called the pharmacist. The pharmacist apologized and also sent my one hundred and thirty five rupees back.

“Here you go” I handed them over to the boy

“Why me sir?”

“Had you not done the mistake of showing that lady” I pointed towards the girl “  I wouldn’t have got them back, so keep it , but make good use of it”

“Ha,sir, I will give them to my mother now only, thank you sir”

I smiled to him, and he left the hospital with a spring in his step. This was the first time, I smiled in this hospital, and like always, one smiles only when we see someone else smile or make them smile.

The specialty of the hospital was its food. The look, the feel and the taste of the food makes you realize that you are sick, maybe it’s a part of the hospital strategy to make sure that their patients stay an additional day. My food was curd with rice, and both the curd and rice was cold. It seems that the cook forgot to add a little of salt to the food. I put the plate aside and went back to staring at the roof. 

The fragrance of hot Dal and rice distracted me. The pharmacy boy was holding a plate of rice and dal.

“Is this for me?” I asked

“Yes,” he said with a mischievous smile

“And who gave it”

He winked , put the plate on the small table near my bed and left. He returned swiftly and said

“She said to tell you that her name is Rashi” and left again.

I was smiling from ear to ear. Now I did not want to leave the hospital. Rashi was sitting with her back towards me, but I knew that even she would have a smile on her face. I ate the food and to be honest I don’t remember how it tasted, when you feel good about something, everything around you is good.

I was smiling from ear to ear. Now I did not want to leave the hospital. Rashi was sitting with her back towards me, but I knew that even she would have a smile on her face. I ate the food and to be honest I don’t remember how it tasted, when you feel good about something, everything around you is good.

It was around 4 in the evening and it was the time for the patients, who could, to have a walk and move around a little bit. Rashi helped her grandpa to stand up. He sat on his wheel chair with Rashi’s support. He pulled open his drawer and took out a pair of glasses from it. They did not look like the one worn by people who have had a cataract operation. It was more stylish and was a design which was once popular in the early 70s.

He asked Rashi to push his wheelchair towards me. 

“You are new here” he asked.

“Yes I am” I said, but he did not pick it. He pushed his neck towards me, urging me to talk a little louder and I repeated a little louder. He came closer to me and added in a soft but naughty voice

“I hope Rashi did not trouble you a lot, she gets angry quickly”. He waved his hand to Rashi, signaling her to push him away.

I had met a lot of people, a lot of people had peculiar habits and Rashi’s grandpa was definitely one of them. I don’t think he could see much through the glasses, but he wore a warm smile, he couldn’t talk much but what he talked was sweet. He had a certain charm and pride on his face, the one you have after you have lived a satisfied life. There was immense respect for him in everyone’s eyes. I had decided to stay back on my bed. It was just the first day, though it felt like I had been here forever but already he was the best part of my day. He was the first one to enquire about me, and well the fact that he still has a penchant for life at a stage when he adds to his age everyday was unbelievable.

The zest for life is an unbelievable thing. I had seen those words in literature and on cinema but here was a person, living those words in front of my eyes. He wasn't going to die young, nor was he suffering from any critical illness which would eventually take him away. Age simply caught up.

My eyes were fixed on the door waiting for Baba. He was one person who you just cant have enough of. No wonder it took him a more than an hour to find his way back to his bed. I pulled a chair and sat besides his bed.

"Baba, what is your age?" I asked him

"I get a lot of this" he replied with a smile

"Well, no better way to start a conversation with you"

"You think I am old?, See I never went to school so I lost count but the last time I remember my age I was 18"

"and I guess that was a long time ago?"

"No man, It wasnt that far off, may be a few years ago"

"Could be decades!"

"Yes, I will not rule out that possibility. But lets not talk about numbers now, I need to work out".

He caught me by surprise

"Open my drawer, my dumbbells are in it"

I opened his drawer. It was filled with a lot of medicines.

"I get it you meant the medicines, when you said workout right"

"No, no bugger. Look properly," he said. Rashi stepped in from behind.

"Looking for the dumbbells?" she asked

I nodded, noticing the smile on her face

Ray Ban Baba -4

Yes, the story of Ray Ban Baba continues


The zest for life is an unbelievable thing. I had seen those words in literature and on cinema but here was a person, living those words in front of my eyes. He wasn't going to die young, nor was he suffering from any critical illness which would eventually take him away. Age simply caught up.

My eyes were fixed on the door waiting for Baba. He was one person who you just cant have enough of. No wonder it took him a more than an hour to find his way back to his bed. I pulled a chair and sat besides his bed.

"Baba, what is your age?" I asked him
"I get a lot of this" he replied with a smile
"Well, no better way to start a conversation with you"
"You think I am old?, See I never went to school so I lost count but the last time I remember my age I was 18"
"and I guess that was a long time ago?"
"No man, It wasnt that far off, may be a few years ago"
"Could be decades!"
"Yes, I will not rule out that possibility. But lets not talk about numbers now, I need to work out".
He caught me by surprise
"Open my drawer, my dumbbells are in it"
I opened his drawer. It was filled with a lot of medicines.
"I get it you meant the medicines, when you said workout right"
"No, no bugger. Look properly," he said. Rashi stepped in from behind.
"Looking for the dumbbells?" she asked
I nodded, noticing the smile on her face

To read RayBan Baba 1 click here
to  read Ray Ban Baba 2 click here
The third edition is here

What a wonderful world

The moon had taken over the sky on a Sunday night. It was on its way to witness another complete revolution of the earth on its axis, it would like always bring in a new day in a few moments. Sameer was staring idly at his Face book page.

His phone clicked a couple of times indicating a message. It was another of those early Valentine’s Day messages sent by a few who knew how to save a buck or two. He walked to the balcony of his house, it was late in the night and the city was peaceful.

The facebook page made a noise. It was Nida, his friend.

“How bad do I look?” she asked

“Ummm..that’s a tough question “ he typed back in reply

“Sameer it’s a serious question”

“You don’t look bad at all Nida! why that question?”

There was no response from Nida for a while.

“deR?”

“Yeah”

“What happened? Bol na”

“Nothing, that’s the problem”

His phone clicked again

“Is this about Valentine’s day?”

There was no response again for a while.

“I think that’s a yes”

“Yes” came the reply in an instant

“But leave it” she added “Its mighty depressing not having someone special in your life as it is, discussing it makes it sound even more depressing”

“oye, it isn’t depressing at all”

He waited for her to say something but there was nothing

“Let me explain. Tomorrow is Valentine’s right. It will be a reason for someone who loves you or adores you or even has a slight crush on you to come forward and tell you that”

“So?”

“Think, someone whom you really adore, comes forward and says ‘Can I ask you something’, I am sure you will be on cloud nine for a few seconds. Aren’t we living for those few moments in life?”

“Hah”

And just like many years ago Sameer had made Nida smile.

                                                    **************

“Team meeting” her TL announced

“Now?”

He nodded and went on announcing around the other cubicles. She picked her phone from the desk and headed towards the elevators. When the door opened she made her way towards it, she fumbled at the small gap between the cabin and the door. A guy held her. He was fair and tall and looking handsome in the white shirt. His arms were still supporting her

“Can I ask you something” he asked her chuckling.

Nida closed her eyes “Sameer you idiot” she cursed under her breath.

                                                    **************

Nida was at her doorstep, looking for the keys to the house when her phone rang. It was Sameer. She picked it

“I see trees of green, red roses too” he crooned “I see them bloom, for me and you and I think to myself …what a wonderful world”

Nida had a huge smile on her face “What was that?”

“A song”

“I know and a bad singer to add to that, but why the song?”

“I see skies of blue, clouds of white. Bright blessed days, dark sacred nights and I think to myself …what a wonderful world”

“That doesn’t answer my question”

“The colours of a rainbow…so pretty in the sky. Are also on the face… of people going by. I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do…They are really saying…I love you”

The smile widened “really?”

“Why? You are my best friend and I love you for that. I thought it was Valentine’s Day and why not let you know”

“I know, what’s the harm”

“You know had I not known you so well, I would have asked you out”

Nida smiled, Sameer had once again made her day.


Footnotes:
May all of you find love in everything around you! 

Chase-the sequel

The moon was hiding behind the clouds, peeping out occasionally to make sure that it wasn't missing out on something interesting. 

 I was sitting in front of a computer screen showing complicated screens with important data popping out in regular intervals. My eyes were tiring out; red threads were creeping into the white of my sleep deprived eyes.

"Dude I am hungry" K.D said

“same here, let’s go to some tapri"

“Are you done with your work?"

"Nopes, but if I don't take my eyes off this screen for now then I will never finish it"

“Alright, btw you have cash?” KD asked

“No, but I will withdraw it from some ATM nearby”

“Cool”

Since the evolution of man, very few friendships have lasted the test of time.  Today, one such friendship will be tested.

KD kicked start his bike, making the only noise in the huge parking lot and drove out. The weather outside the office was different. There was a slight breeze along with a chill in the air. The breeze massaged my tired eyelids. I was losing the fight of staying up when KD stopped on a corner.

He pointed towards the ATM at the other side of the road. When I saw the ATM for the first time, I knew it was different, but I thought common sense took over me and I started to cross the road. I stood at the divider checking for any cars, there was a chill which ran down my spine. I thought I heard something but wasn’t sure. For the second time in these few minutes I did not listen to my senses, a fact that I regret.

I crossed the road and was just about a few steps away from the ATM when I was sure I sensed an old enemy. The growl was there, and the enemy decided to let go of a bark. My walk turned into a sprint to the ATM, and the old enemy was a few steps behind me. The door of the ATM was too heavy for the enemy. I stood behind those heavy doors safe but I knew that this couldn’t go on forever. I had to start looking for an exit but there was none in sight.

127 seconds to go

“Why was it chasing you?”KD shrieked

“I don’t know man, but you got to help me man”

“That thing looks ferocious”

100 seconds to go

KD called again

“That thing isn’t moving”

“I can see that”

“We need to distract it”

“I will throw a stone or something, you run and jump on my bike”

80 seconds to go

I pushed the door as slightly as ever waiting in anticipation of KD’s move.  I couldn’t go more than a step outside; the stone couldn’t really distract it. It only made it turn away and it saw its victim trying to step out and in an instant jumped.

I pushed the door back, it collided with the door and still growling. I could see those teeth grinding against each other in anticipation of the victim, and those eyes never let go of the victim.

I was starting to lose hope.

60 seconds to go

“What is that noise?” the security guard inside the ATM asked rubbing his eyes

I explained him my situation.  He rushed into the small cabin masked behind the machine. I thought I had lost my only hope. But that’s what I thought.

30 seconds to go

He came out with a huge stick and rushed outside towards the enemy

“Madar****” he shouted at the enemy, letting go a blow at the enemy. The enemy resisted for once but started to back track. I saw my opportunity; I rushed outside the ATM and ran across the street towards KD. He had kick started his bike already. On my way, one leg got into the way of the other and I fell. But the enemy was nowhere to be seen. This was to be continued for later.

They say that it is man’s best friend, but after my ordeals I have come to doubt it. When old friendships were tested, a hero was born.

I was sitting behind KD and watching my hero light a beedi on the stairs of the ATM. I don’t know how things would have been had it not been for his heroic act.

 The moon was clear of the clouds, I am sure. 

EPILOGUE:

"Dude did you withdraw some money?" KD asked

Footnotes:

This is my hundredth post on my blog. I thought of writing some ode to myself but I guess the best way to do it is by doing it the way I know best.

For those who don't know about "The Chase" click here