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THE GREATEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE YOUR CHILD

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  “The greatest gift you can give your child is not material possession; it’s the gift of discipline.” Unknown   I have been teaching teenaged students for decades. Broadly speaking, I get to see two kinds of parents of these young students of mine… The first kind - I would say, the majority - shield their young ones fiercely… They defend their young ones’ behaviour and actions, even when correction is required. These parents are touchy, overprotective about their young children. The second kind - I would say, the minority – don’t shield their young ones where correction is required. They are firm when it comes to discipline. For, they know the old truth: The best time to shape a tree is when it is a sapling… Once hardened, it is impossible to shape the tree. One of these mothers, who firmly believes in shaping her teenager before he gets ‘hardened’, has been very, very consistent in her approach… She knows her only son like the back of her hand. She knows when ...
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LET THE BLANK PAGE TAKE ME

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  “There’s something about a blank page that makes me tingle.” Nikki Grimes   S ome of my friends are curious to know, when I open a blank page every day to blog, if I am ready with the subject of the blog. It’s very interesting… Some years ago, I had published a book on Mr. Kannan’s Sunday stories - 'FLOWING WITH THE WHEEL'. He was a cancer survivor; but full of zest and ready with lively stories, every Sunday morning, when we met for our Tai Chi sessions.    One of his stories was, how, on many occasions, he and his wife would simply sit on their car and go on a long drive, saying, “Let the road take us.”… I loved that story of living life with spontaneity, a childlike trust and wonder, so to let Life unfold itself along our journey… It seems, on many days, I do the same thing… I open a blank page and say, as Mr. Kannan would do - “Let the blank page take me!” And, I am sure, this must be the story of every other creative person on this planet – a p...
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SLOW DOWN... LIFE IS CROSSING THE WAY

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  “Patience is the companion of wisdom.” Saint Augustine   T hough I woke at 6 in the morning, today, I have been extremely slow-paced till this minute… It is nearing 4 p.m. It looks like I have been ‘unproductive’ throughout the day. Except for one class in the morning and a visit to my bank, I have done nothing in terms of any routine, quantifiable work. Even this blog, I tried to type, but, strangely, couldn’t move even a word! So, the question –  a quiet guilt – did pop up in me: “Was it a wasted day?” That very question has now opened the gate for this blog: I realize, that the quiet moments are my spiritual moments. Every minute need not – and should not – be filled with the so-called ‘productive’, ‘quantifiable’ work… The heart needs rest… The soul needs nourishing. These don’t happen when we are rushing - frantically rushing - to accomplish more in less time… The periodic retreat – when I am prompted to keep my tools down and just ‘be’ – is needed to r...
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THE PROOF, THAT LIFE GOES ON... FRESH, RENEWED

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  “Perhaps, the earth could teach us… everything would seem dead; then, be alive.” Pablo Neruda   A ll of a sudden, since yesterday, I have been getting on my phone some old funny scenes from the popular TV show of the fifties – ‘I Love Lucy’. I don’t know how this ‘feeding things’ happen on our phones; but, sometimes, they happen for the right reason… I remembered my wife the moment I heard ‘I Love Lucy’. For, she really, really loved Lucy and her hilarious escapades in her New York middle-class, rented apartment. Well, when the ‘I Love Lucy’ show was first aired in America (CBS) from 1951 to 1957, I wasn’t even born. And, my wife was born more than a decade later. The show began to be aired on our glorious B & W DD during the eighties, when my wife was a school girl… She just loved Lucy! Thus, this morning, the first thing I did was to tell my  wife about her favourite Lucy… “Show me, show me,” she jumped. I showed her some scenes, and my wife was jumpin...
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BEFORE THE WORLD BELIEVES IN YOU

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    “The more you believe in yourself, the more the world believes in you.” Isa Zapata   F aith in one’s abilities doesn’t come overnight. If it does, such faith in oneself – such self-belief – can be dangerous. Self-belief should come gradually, through great deal of self-awareness, and lots of self-introspection… Else, it’s overconfidence… As I said, it can be dangerous. What one is good at, what work one can do exceptionally well – yes, the sooner one gets this awareness, the sooner comes one’s self-belief. T wo days ago, I was holding a programme for the students of a premier Architecture college in Mumbai. The subject of the programme was ‘Self-confidence and Communication Skills’. Towards the end, when I asked those young kids to ask me any question that bothered them, many did. But, two questions from these two girls, particularly, carried a worthy response from my side… O ne of these two girls gathered her courage and said, “Sir, I am a shy perso...
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THE TIMELESS LAW OF COMPENSATION

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  “The dream in your heart may be bigger than  the environment in which you find yourself.” Darren Hardy   I came to know about Darren Hardy’s book – ‘The Compound Effect’ – while searching for an appropriate quote for today’s blog. You see, my world has been revolving around the young college kids… for nearly five decades that is. Yes, I started teaching while I was in my first-year B. Com… and, once I made that conscious choice to become a good teacher and a good writer, the rest happened around that robust choice… I stayed committed and consistent throughout. There were bleak times when I did worry about my future… “Did I make the right choice?”… Yes, this question has come to hit me hard countless times, making my heart shiver. But, then, that solitary choice which I made while still in college – yes, at the end of the day, it has helped me stay faithful to my commitment, stay consistent… and, come this far. So, when I came across a good review on Darren Ha...
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SEE IT BIG, AND KEEP IT SIMPLE

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  "I dream my painting and I paint my dream." Vincent Willem van Gogh   C larity is a powerful aide in life. A confused mind only takes us in circles… It makes life a clutter. I am a dreamer… But, I do not wish to get trapped when I dream. As Wilfred Peterson says, I like to see big, and keep it simple. One of the challenging things for every dreamer is not to lose his soul under the weight of his dreams. Somewhere, along his path, man, often, compromises – forgets the very reason why he dreamt so passionately… Therefore, the wise counsel: “Keep it simple, Keep it honest, Keep it you.” Let me read it backward… Most of us dream with our pure hearts and   fine intentions. We are honest to the core. But, along our paths, we tend to get entangled and lose sight of our basic objective. Yes, we lose it in the complex web of confusion… Never to lose your soul… Never, ever. That’s what ‘Keep it you’ means… What we think, we create; what we feel, we attract; what w...
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IF YOU START SOMETHING, FINISH IT

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  “It’s so simple really: If you say you’re going to do something, do it. It you start something, finish it.” Epictetus   R ome was not built in one day. Well, nothing is… Yes, in life, every thing takes time… Everything wants us to wait… But, then, just wait without doing any efforts? That’s what I want to write in this Post… Don’t just wait waiting for the heavens to manifest everything for you. No Sir… Heavens support you only if you start something – however small it is – but, keep doing it, with more and more and more dedication and passion… “Success is all about consistency around the fundamentals,” stresses Robin Sharma W hen I came across the phrase ‘bulldog determination” in Napoleon Hill’s books, I remember falling in love with it, instantly… That bulldog grip is too powerful… That little dog doesn’t give up, once he gets his grip on it… And, we? Yes, we give up easily… when there is the slightest challenge before us… You and I – we all have t...
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HOW'S LIFE TREATING YOU?

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  “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” C. S. Lewis   S ome days ago, I had wished a friend of mine on her birthday. I was not in touch with this friend for quite some time. The friend, while thanking me for the wishes, casually asked: “How’s life treating you?” I do not know, how many of you are familiar with this expression, which, essentially, means, “How’s life?” or “How are you doing?” … “All well?”… etc. During Covid times, some, who live in America, had asked me, “How’s Covid treating you?” That’s when I had realized, that it’s the modern way of asking - “Kya haal, chaal hai?”… So, the other day, when this friend asked me, casually, “How’s life treating you?”, I replied: “No complaints… Can be only grateful.” “Excuses and complaints are signs of a dreamless life,” says Bangambiki Habyarimana. Well, I know the significance of these words of wisdom. I use them, every day, either in my classroom or in my blogs to tell, “Stop giv...
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THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...