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ARE YOU RETIRED OR SOMETHING?

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  “You don’t stop laughing when you grow old; you grow old when you stop laughing.” George Bernard Shaw   W hether we like it or not, and whether we want it or not, we age… the body and the mind begin to lose their vitality, their responses. To some, the deterioration comes faster, and to some, a little later… but, it does come, Sir. None of us will stay eternally young, dashing, agile, alert, attractive - and making headlines. Even if we want to, we won’t be able to… Hema Malini was, once, a dream girl, right? She fell for a very, very handsome married man, Dharmendra… Today, Hema Malini is relatively active via politics (Even though, some of us wonder what has been her contribution in that sphere!). Dharmendra, apparently, spends most of his time in his farms… But, every time I watch this Sholaywala Veeru and compare him with his ‘dost’ – Jai, aka , Amitabh Bachchan, I wonder, why Jai is still there in that space, and Veeru, sadly, isn’t! L ike most around me...
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'HOW ARE YOU' IS A GREETING, NOT A QUESTION

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  “Don’t tell your friends about your indigestion: ‘How are you?’ is a greeting, not a question.” Arthur Gulterman   I do not know the context in which Arthur Gulterman said what you read in the above quote; but, every time I send greetings to others, or receive them from   others, this quote pops up to make my heart smile… During the Lockdown, like everyone else, I couldn’t go to a barber shop (You may call it a Salon or Studio)… the Urban Clap sent the barber (Hair stylist) home. Mine was this young, enthusiastic man called Saba Ansari… I stuck to him... I never saw a barber shop ever since… Saba was with Enrich before joining Urban Clap. But, he is on his own, now. He has built a strong base of loyal customers, that he doesn’t need the shoulders of Enrich or Urban Clap, anymore… He is not even 25…. Married, has a little kid, and works from dawn to dusk… Yesterday, when our doorbell rang and I opened the door, I was pleasantly surprised to see Saba… He ...
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WHAT MAKES US COME ALIVE... AND BURN

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  “Light yourself on fire with passion, and people will come from miles to watch you burn.” John Wesley   A couple of weeks ago, a 60-year-old woman called me. Apparently, she had asked, on one of the FB groups, about a place where Public Speaking was taught for ‘adults’… And, you know how willingly - and, often, weirdly - some of us are ready with our responses. The woman, must’ve received dozens of recommendations… many saying, ‘So and so person/place is the best.’ When the woman called me, she said what one of the young girls, who had attended our Public-speaking course, had written on FB: “Gerry Sir… the best in the entire world!!!” The woman and I both laughed at it… and, then, started discussing about why the she was keen to learn the public-speaking skill… The woman said, that she was a pastor at a certain Christian congregation and felt she lacked the gift of speaking with passion. “I need to speak like great evangelists,” she said… I remembered a hu...
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THE PERILIOUS JOURNEY OF GROWING-UP

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“Dismiss thoughts of good, bad, right, wrong, success, failure – be spontaneous.” Joshua L. Goldberg   O ne evening, I was returning from work… It was around 6.30, and I was especially tired on that day… Two more long-distance zoom sessions still awaited after reaching home… As it was a rush-hour for our building lift, when I sneaked in, it was already packed with people returning from their duties, some elderly men and women returning after their daily walk… Just when the lift door was about close, two little boys – probably about age 9 or 10 – got in. There was no place; still, they didn’t care, nor did any of us , the so-called ‘elders’ who were weight-conscious…. We knew, that the lift would happily take  few kilos of additional weight… So, as the lift started taking us up, the two little friends -  one, quite chubby and heavier in size holding a bat in his hand, the other, a lean, little sardar – continued their animated conversation… They seemed least bother...
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THE GRASS ON THIS SIDE OF THE FENCE

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  “The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. The grass is greener where it’s watered.” Robert Fulghum   J ust as the grass on the other side of our fences, always, looks greener, everything else in our lives, too, does… When I was in college, the situation at home was quite challenging… Dad was a mechanic in a local workshop… He was a loving Dad, but was an alcoholic… Mom struggled, every day and all through her life, to keep us above the water… So, when a young boy watches this situation at home, and feels a lot ashamed and deprived of, what would be running through his mind? Well, the same situation may not yield the same results… To some, it might motivate to work towards a better living condition; while, to some others, it might leave as bitter, harder and even angrier humans… I wanted to come out of poverty of all kinds… I realized, early in life, that money was not everything. Though I held Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’ as my...
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BETWEEN THE TWO EARS, THERE IS A FERTILE LAND

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  “Whatever you are ready for is ready for you.” Mark Victor Hansen   A while ago, a gentleman had come to see me. He had brought along his 17-year-old son. “Sir, I want him to do your summer programme. But, I want you to convince him to join it.” Well, I knew, from my years of experience, that no one could be convinced against his free will. So, the father had brought his son to the pond, but, would the son drink from the pond? Yes, only when he is thirsty… In Life, our thirst to drink is our readiness… Everything happens from there. Until then, as this father put it, the good-ole way, “What comes from one ear goes out from the other.” I get this feeling throughout the day… Most of what I say, with such intensity and passion, seems to enter in from one ear and go out from the other… What stays in, goes deep inside… Those are the fertile fields, which Jesus refers to in His ‘Parable of the Sower’… A farmer went about sowing seeds… Some seeds fell on the pave...
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LOOK SON, CAN YOU SPOT YOURSELF THERE?

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  “The chief proof of man’s real greatness lies   in his perception of his own smallness.” Arthur Conan Doyle   W ell, there are these super-wealthy, who are hailed as connoisseurs/patrons of art, and they are ready to buy a piece of art – a panting in particular – for any astronomical price. But, you see, the painting has to be a ‘original’… So, when an original painting of Picasso, Michael Angelo or M.F. Hussain goes for millions and crores, a thought hits me: “Who, in deed, is the original artist – the real Creator?” To grasp the depth of my question, just stop on your way home, this evening, and have a good look at a few stray cats… Behold the colours of their bodies, their eyes… every hair – the softness, the teeth and the paws of those little creatures. Ask: “Who made them?”… A Picasso, a Michael Angelo or a Hussain? So much for our great pride in feeling, that we are the original creators. Look, we, at best, can be the ‘original duplicators’. That’s i...
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THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...