Rambling on... again..

Having grown up in a fairly financially-constrained environment, this topic seems like a total case of wishful thinking. But its not! Seriously. Truthfully. Painfully. What are these problems you ask? Well they range from how to invest the money you earn to what to buy as a gift for friends and family. Let me attempt to explain these. Investing your surplus earnings is a normal and natural cycle in life for most Indians. Where this enters the problem zone is when you’ve built a decent base in MFs, have a property and own the jewellery you would like to wear. After this, what to do with the extra salary every month is a VERY painful decision to go through. Before this, there are simple goals to aim for. But what when your goals have been achieved and you’re not willing to expand your lifestyle just to accommodate the surplus. Happened to me a few years ago – when I paid off the loan against the property investment I had made. I remember asking a friend of mine – extremely s...

कहने को सब कुछ है और है भी सही फिर क्यो लगता है की कुछ है नही जैसे कटरा कटरा में है मेरी ज़िंदगी और कर रही हूँ मैं किसी की बंदगी   मॅन करता है कही डोर चली जाऊं शायद तब दिल की गहराई में सुकून पायूं पर दर्र लगता है चले जाने में कही खो ना डू सब सुकून के पाने में   ख़ालीपन दिल का अटूट सा एक हिस्सा है   शायद ये बेकरारी का ही बस किस्सा है बँधे बँधे से लगते हैं क्यो ये दिन जैसे अपने बारे में सोचना हो एक ‘ सीन ’   खुला आसमान , खुले दिल , खुला दिमाग़ प्यार का जज़्बा और कुछ पाने की आग कुछ प्यारे लोग और कुछ प्यारे पल आज में हो जीना और उमीद में हो कल   सोच शायद बहुत छोटी सी रह गयी ज़िंदगी बस गिरह गिरह में बात गयी कैसे कहूँ की मुझसे प्यार करो मेरी टुकड़े में बटी ज़िंदगी को एकसार करो   कह कर ...

"Any man can be a father.. It takes a special man to be a DAD" Even though he's not on FB to see this - and this is something i swore i would never do - I still want to today. The man who was born in the British rule, saw the Indian flag raised for the first time at the Red Fort - today turns 80! He has remained madly passionate about cricket, politics and being an entrepreneur all his life. His favorite quote in life i remember used to be - Whats worth doing, is worth doing well. He taught me Passion.  He is such an avid foodie that he pushed all of us to learn to cook and try out different kinds of food from a very young age - I learnt how to make Chinese food before learning daal chawal! He taught me experimentation .  He used to make all the kids eat up whatever was served for food on the table. No excuses. Gulp it down with water if needed. Cannot be choosy. He in fact remains a terror to most of our extended family. But he never cared for his image. He taugh...

In the often-fiercely competitive and insecure corporate world, very few people make a strong impact for one to acknowledge someone as a teacher. After all - in order to be a good teacher you really do need a good student. Someone with an open enough mind which can absorb the learning and then make it their own. Too many times we focus on the traits needed in a good teacher - maybe if we spent a little time on what makes for a good student, we will be able to push up the learning curve a wee bit more.   To make matters worse, hesitation and ego often comes in the way of actually acknowledging our own roles as both Teachers and Students.   One of my pet peeves at work has been that too often we all rush to blame the new generations joining the corporate world as being bad students. Not as often do we stop and think if the older generation at work (Us of course!) are anywhere close to being the kind of high-quality teachers we had when we were starting off wo...

  अभी मुझ में कहीं बाकी थोड़ीसी है जिंदगी जगी धड़कन नई , जाना जिंदा हूँ मैं तो अभी कुछ ऐसी लगन इस लम्हें में है ये लम्हा कहाँ था मेरा अब है सामने इसे छू लूँ जरा मर जाऊँ या जी लूँ जरा खुशियाँ चूम लूँ या रो लूँ जरा   Almost every time I hear this song, it makes me cry. Not a clogging of throat.. not even a chest constriction… just straight off full-blown tears streaming down my eyes. And let me change this to the truth – not ALMOST, but EVERY time I hear this song. Don’t need a psychologist to tell me it appeals to the very core of me because somewhere deep down I FEEL this song. The lyrics are talking to me. Sonu Nigam’s voice of course lends it even more soulful but still the lyrics are much more stronger contributor to my reaction. The hole in my soul is what I’m reminded of. The feeling of life going by and me just a by-watcher instead of a participant. Feeling chained without there bein...

Tralaalaalaaa... What a lovely lovely day it is! I am walking with a little extra bounce in my feet and a small smile on my face - Fixed! And all because - well my 30year old yoga instructor, early in the morning - while breaking my back and generally making me curse mentally (and loudly at times), asks my age. On realising that i am well...ahem...41+ - She was not just shocked into breaking the rhthym of the aasna (a nice side benefit if i may say so), but she actually tried getting me to recalculate my age and do it properly! All because for the last 4 months, she's been calling me 'tum' (and not 'aap) and generally pushing me hard as she thought i am a couple of years younger than her!!!!!! Hell yeah!!!!!! While i was mentally busy feeling all smug about how truly flexible and fit my body must be for her to be mistaken like this, all the while i was pretending to be unaffected to her in person. And yet now - 6 hours later - am still smiling! Whosoever said Age is...

Hi Ruaan, This is the first year that i have actually started using your proper name with you - at times. It feels good. Just as it feels warm and cuddly in my heart to call you 'Cheeku', it feels proud and strong in my heart to call you 'Ruaan'. As you turn 3, there's so much more to US now. I love the stories you make up and tell me. I especially love the morning hugs i get from you to wake me up. Your fav one these days is to offer me a hug where i lie on top of your ear - kaan ke upar waali huggie chahiye? Our relationship has shifted a bit now from last year - where it was mainly about keeping you happy and safe. Now I worry if i am bringing you some good values. If i am able to show you what kind of a human being i would love for you to be. I am aware that soon enough, I will need to let you choose your own path in this world, but i hope by then i would have equipped you with the values to choose the one you want - well. This morning when i started th...