Category Archives: Uncategorized

Hospital-ity!

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Let me treat the word “hospitality” as two:hospital and fatality.

Without getting into the definitions of each, what one tends to attribute to the former is the latter.

Though, a hospital apart from taking care of the cases of fatality, also has a very beautiful aspect to it, which is bringing new lives into this world.

On one hand, where one can observe blood spilling all over either due to the accidents or a calamity,

On the other hand, one can witness the same blood unfolding magic of life which can be seen happening right in front of one’s eyes.

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This makes me wonder, what we call contradictions, are nothing but the 2 sides of the same coin.

For death is no different in space and time as the birth, happening every moment of our experiential lives,

Scientifically and at an individual level which might be represented in the dynamics of the trillions of cells which constitute our body.

What differs though is our perceptions in terms of which side of the coin we have a tendency to look at.

Why am I calling it a tendency is because most of us go by the same, though each and every aspect is under our control if we choose to take control.

Whatever it might be, whether you take control or not, this game of hospital-ityĀ or the game of life & death happens day-in-day-out.

Better to take at least some control, though, if you want to enjoy this game,

For if the shuttle or the ball (depends on which sports you play), doesn’t go where you want it to,

Why the hell one is playing this game for? šŸ˜‰

Source for the Image: https://www.talenthive.co.uk/blog/different-sectors-hospitality-industry

Generation F-Up!

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We have heard various generations, be it X, Y, Z, ABCD or whatever.

But have we realized that we are a generation of constant follow-ups (F-Ups)?

Be it getting that piece of furniture that you might have ordered from the likes of Hometown etc. assembled,

or

The internet connection when you move to a new house installed,

or

Any other thing that you tend to live upon on a daily basis.

There is a constant need to follow up with the service providers,

Be it the government

or

the private sector.

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Makes me wonder, when as a society, we would become professional enough to meet what we say or promise.

Words have become such a loose commodity.

Whether it be reporting or reaching on time, as promised,

or

Meeting the T&C of a contract,

No matter be it on a legal piece of paper or not,

We tend to violate the trust code,

Without realising that it’s the basis of any association or communication in the society we choose to live in.

And when people start taking this code lightly, credibility is bound to go down.

Be it at a personal level, let’s say when you commit to someone for marriage,

or

As a country, where the intention is to attract investments from different quarters, whichĀ gets reflected in the indicators such as ease of doing business in a country.

The gap also represents an opportunity, in a society like ours, where doing what’s promised, becomes a key differentiator of sorts.

Wonder, when all of us will do as we say we would! šŸ™‚

Source for the Image: https://www.shutterstock.com/search/follow-up

Let Go!

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This morning, when I got up,

There was something on my mind which I hadn’t resolved the previous day.

Naturally, wasn’t feeling too good about the same.

Then realised, how beautiful the weather was.

Stepped in the balcony, where fresh cool breeze ran past my face.

Not a bad day, I thought šŸ˜‰

Somehow, it struck, how random we are living our lives, without realising that one day, it’s all gonna end.

And because of this randomness, every random situation that we come across, we tend to take it super seriously.

Be it our work and what the boss says,

Be it our relationships and its dynamics,

Be it our possessions,

Be it our aspirations,

Be it our conversations and the constant endeavour to prove that what we say or believe in as the only truth that there is,

Be it the straight face that we tend to show to all the strangers or the known who pass by,

Be it the anger we tend to take out on those who are not, so called, as powerful, as we think we are,

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Without realising that it won’t really matter.

In fact, the very thing we want to achieve or aspire for becomes easily attainable,

If we don’t give too much importance to the results of the same, rather than focus on the very process needed to achieve it.

From today, I choose to let go of my seriousness,

What about you? šŸ˜‰

Source for the Image: http://www.lovethispic.com/image/20870/let-go

Chalo Foreign!

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There was a time, I remember, when most of the guys from my batch during graduation wanted to go to some foreign land, be it Europe, US etc. in search of a better life.

Don’t know whether it exists today as well, among the age group,

Though one thing that has continued to occupy the conversations among friends is to decide whether one wants to live in India or go abroad and settle down.

Somehow, the opinion seems to be divided, with those in favour suggesting:

Better infrastructure,

Better service standards,

Better governance,

Good money, as the pros of living abroad.

Those against suggest:

2nd grade citizen label,

Lack of emotional connect,

Difficult for parents to adjust, as cons among many others.

When in Rome, be a Roman,Ā suggested some man, who found the wisdom in the saying, which doesn’t seem to work always.

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As belonging to a nation or region, there is an ever pervading hangover associated with the interaction that one might have had with the person of the respective origin.

So strong at times are our biases, that it becomes very difficult to go beyond the generalisation and focus on the very person with whom we find ourselves interacting with.

It’s either religion or caste,

Either nationality or regionalism,

Either Asian or African looks, which tend to restrict our sensibilities.

In such an atmosphere, though preaching spirituality and the concept ofĀ vasudhaiva kutumbakamĀ makes sense at a certain level, but might not be the immediate solution to the pervading issue.

In such a situation, does one really want to venture abroad and at what cost?

Leaving your loved ones behind, even if you take them with you, somehow becomes a pseudo life of sorts for them.

After all, what you need in life is probably:

Social companionship, in terms of your family and friends,

Few pieces of bread that one needs to earn for your loved ones,

A roof, for which one needs to pay rent or EMI for,

May be a good car, if you are too ambitious and are extremely passionate about driving in traffic, considering that there are enough Uber and OlaĀ cabs on the roads.

Am sure, most of us, would be able to afford this.

It’s another discussion altogether if you or your wife are bent upon buying 2 dresses ofĀ ZaraĀ or such each every month :).

The only question that one needs to ponder over,

How much and why?

On a funny note, not a bad idea to conquer the entire world with your population and this might make the world one ;).

Source for the image: https://thecsspoint.com/reasons-for-foreign-policy-failures-by-mohammad-jamil/

Minding Happiness!

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Many a times we tend to ask or think in our lives, as to why things are not going our way, the way we want them to happen!

Reminds me, this very morning I had my mind questioning, more so feeling annoyed, as to why the water supply was cut in my apartment.

And when you need to attend a so called very important meeting, then you feel like getting the hell out of the person who might be responsible for the same,

Be it the watchman in the apartment

or

The random tanker guy, who didn’t turn up on time, sheerly because he might have overslept.

Which reminds me of the grave water situation in our country, for which I will need a another blogpost to do justice to.

For now, will stick to me being happy or unhappy šŸ˜‰

There are so many reasons one could be unhappy about,

Be it the failure I encountered in an exam,

Be it the meeting that I screwed up big time,

Be it the fight I had with my wife,

or

Be it any other random traffic situation I had to encounter this morning in my city.

Sometimes, it feels like the world is a big shit hole where one tends to spend sometime.

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Having said that, being happy is as simple as countering the negative thoughts that tend to haunt one on a daily basis with an equally if not more, positive thought, which could be anything, ranging from:

The feeling of extreme joy that I felt,

let’s say when I qualified the IIT JEE exam,

to

Getting a chance of counting my heartbeats when I proposed my then girlfriend and now wife,

From,

Feeling I was on cloud nine or ten or whatever, when I got that coveted job that I had been craving for day-in-day out,

to

Feeling relaxed while spending a holiday in a place of my choice,

Somehow, the very act of being aware and conscious of what’s going in your mind

and

Making sure that the mind focuses upon the brighter side of life rather than the not so bright a side,

Seals the deal for most of us.

Why I say most, is because for those who don’t get a complete meal in a day, there are different issues that need to be taken care of,

But for most of us who are either reading this blog or might come across this write-up sometime, the above is definitely applicable.

It’s just a matter of how disciplined we are when it comes to training our mind,

How aware we are of the lifestyle we are leading,

How cognisant we are of the very nature of our so called monkey mind and the games it plays with us,

And if we just become a little more aware of the same, imagine, what miracle it might do to our lives.

So, what are you waiting for,

Possibly another water situation in your own apartment, before you actually start to work on your mind! šŸ˜‰

Source for the Image: http://fortune.com/2016/05/05/why-smart-successful-people-dont-value-happiness-enough/

Partner Mania!

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Thought of and taking the liberty to share the gist of conversation that I had with a very dear friend, who is on the verge of getting married.

Courtesy the advice that seems to come one’s way,

Be it the parents,

or

Who’s who among the near and dear ones,

One ends up thinking about having a partner in the so called long life that one is going to spend from here on.

What starts in turn is the search of that one and only partner (supposedly) who would go on to fulfil every aspiration that the family cares about.

Be it the likes ofĀ shaadi.comĀ 

or

A recommendation given by family friends,

One ends up meeting different girls or guys depending on who one is looking for.

And then the big question arises,

To do or not to?

A set of criteria is laid down that one’s supposed to meet,

If not, the search goes on until,

One realises that there is nothing like the right one,

or

One is fed up of the entire process.

Marriage-Certificate

This, more often leads to one succumbing to the pressures of the immediate society on the consideration that it’s high time.

And the day beckons the groom’s arrival, giving the couple cold feet.

With so much going through their mind, the one and I think the most important aspect of it, one tends to ignore, which is,

It takes 2 to clap hands,

Similarly, it takes 2 to make it work, the reason for the same being anything,

Ranging from the love and respect one has for the other party,

To believing in the very notion, that it’s worth making efforts for the very concept of marriage, living together and spending the rest of your life both physically and mentally with the same person.

With the likes ofĀ tinderĀ and other dating apps freely and easily accessible to all,

With the privilege of interacting with beautiful girls and guys on a daily basis, be it the parties or in one’s profession,

There are loads of distractions working against the very institution of marriage that one chooses to enter.

No matter what the reason one gives, there is only one to abide by the vows and so many not to.

The choice is simple,

Are you ready to work towards making it a success?

or

Get guided by your hormones and end up screwing not only yours but others’ lives as well?

Food for thought!

Source for the Image:Ā https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/marriage-certificate/

To do or not to?

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Nike came up with this catchy tagline, “just do it!”

Sounds great, no?

Well, it is, the only catch with this catchy tagline is,

First, one should know what one should do or loves to do,

Also, once you have had the clue about what you love, you must have the capability to be able to do so.

Most of us fall in either of the 2 categories mentioned above,

Be it not able to find our so called path or one’sĀ dharma,Ā 

or

Not having enough skill sets, both mental and physical to travel the path.

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Any or both lead to utter dissatisfaction, which draws one to thoughts like,

To be or not to be!

or

To do or not to do!

The above questions may arise once you are not able to do something that you want to or feel being inadequate,

Though what needs to be the focus is to build the foundations in a manner which acts as an enabler to accomplish things in society that one wishes for, based on doing good for the society,

Also, due to externalities, if one is not able to accomplish the same, one should be OK with it,

For ultimately,

It won’t matter!

Source for the Image: https://kayrell.com/creativity/do-what-you-love-or-just-do-it/

Retirement-Mind–>full?

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Retirement for people working in the government job generally happens at the age of 60, for private, it might happen a little late.

As far as I am concerned, the only time one retires is when one leaves this body.

Though, what needs to be done for most of us in contemporary times is to retire our thoughts from doing stupidity.

Most of the times, our minds seem to be occupied with one thing or the other, which one refers to as being able to multi-task or being mindful,

Be it the comparisons we keep making day-in-day-out,

or

Aspirations of earning more and more,

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Have you ever wondered, what would happen if instead of being mind-full, you were mind-less?

Free from all worries that seem to come as a consequence of being mind-full,

Free from anxieties of what if!

Free from meeting the expectations and aspirations,

Does that mean, sitting idle?

Not really, in turn, you get an opportunity to focus on that all important thing, in terms of making your contribution towards the society that you are a part of,

That one core activity you would want to dedicate yourself to make a difference in the lives of people occupying this cosmos at the same point of time as you,

To utilize to the core that key skill set you consider yourself to be having,

The question though is your preference for being mid-full or mind-less ? šŸ˜‰

Source for the Image: http://www.cndajin.com/group/pictures-for-retirement/

Tag-Li!

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Nothing to do with the likes of Bruce Lee, have you ever wondered, why tags are so significant in one’s life?

If you think about it, the digital world, where tags bring in lot of visibility to one’s posts etc.;

Is not very different from the physical world, where tags bring in social recognition and in turn lucrative professional prospects.

Be it ones who have done their bachelors from the likes of IITs,

or

The ones who have done their masters from IIMs or ISB.

With time, though, things are changing;

With online platforms of learning propping up day-in-day-out,

With more and more students dropping out and choosing to become entrepreneurs,

With advertising platforms talking about success of people, who might not have the luxury of owning the much wanted tags, yet have done some fantastic work, solving people’s problems e.g. “water-man of India“.

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Slowly, but surely the tags seem to be moving from an institutional construct to a knowledge and impact based construct expressed via different channels of communication.

The social hangover seems to be fading fast enough, with companies beginning to realise that their core hiring policy needs to focus on one’s ability to make things happen with relevant skill sets.

Does it mean that educational institutions would loose their relevance and importance in, say the next decade or so?

Well, it depends on how institutions respond to this dynamics and how flexible they are in terms of framing their own strategies, based on a fundamental understanding of the evolutionary process.

For those, who are at this point of time, wondering whether to go for an expensive Ivy league university course which brings in loads of debt to cater to after graduating and force oneself into the rat race,

or

To take up an area of interest, where one wants to create some positive impact and thereby indulge inĀ self- and manav-nirmaan,Ā 

The choice seems to be obvious!

The question, though is, whether one is prepared to do so?

Source for the Image:Ā http://www.psdgraphics.com/psd/red-tags/

Lap-topping the Baggage!

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The inspiration for this post, I draw from the new platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp, LinkedIn etc. which have become a place for putting across to the world, one’s accomplishments,

Be it parents posting it on behalf of their intellectual kids,

or

Be it the professionals who are awarded for their hard work.

From childhood, parents inspire or force (at times) their kid to become theĀ bestĀ in academics/sports/anything and everything, to which a kid might have varied reaction, depending on factors like:

The state of mind kid has, at that point of time, under the influence of his/herĀ peer group, more so.

Whatever be the reason, most feel theĀ baggageĀ of parents’ and society’s expectations in their growing up years,

What a pity! Considering the most beautiful days of one’s life is lost in chasing fulfilment of expectations.

Once, the kid grows up, theĀ baggageĀ shifts to becoming the best in whatever field of study, he/she manages to pursue,

More so because of the perceived nature of the college than his/her interest, which in any case, he/she hadn’t had the time to ponder over;

Too busy was he/she bearing theĀ baggage!

Entering the professional world, literally puts thatĀ baggageĀ in the form of laptop bags that most professionals seem to carry around in today’s world, having implications for one’s health,

Leave alone the mental torture one has to go through, sheerly because most don’t like the work that they happen to be doing,

And aren’t able to justify how this work is bringing about an impact to others’ lives, that being the derivative of highest level of satisfaction that one draws.

Top this with the pollution, traffic etc. in the city, and what you picture is a person, moving around with hisĀ baggageĀ all over the city,

Not knowing why the hell is one doing so!

Money, which was more a matter of survival than accumulation, has become the basis of life for most of us, having all the negative consequences for us day-in-day-out,

Yet, we tend to stick to it, because of the fear and an inability to answer: what if we don’t have what we have?

Is there a way out?

baggage

Well, yes if you want to find a way out!

One needs to understand the difference betweenĀ survival aspirationĀ andĀ accumulation aspiration.Ā 

The former fits in well with the concept of maintain a good physical and mental health, allowing one to contribute to well being of others,

Whereas the second, leads to a path of disaster and chaos for oneself as well as the others.

Once that understanding is there, one wouldn’t be thinking of carrying all theĀ baggageĀ that one proudly carries in today’s world,

And justifies the same, labelling it as his/her ability to multitask.

The only question is whether one is prepared to change the very way one perceives things.

Are you?

Source for the Image: https://brandimpact.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/words-with-baggage/