my thoughts

  In their speeches, all our leaders talk about the development of the nation. Our present Prime Minister Mr. Modi once said “I have a vision of a Modern India. I have embarked on a huge mission to convert that vision into reality. My mantra is Development.” The concept of development is almost as old as civilization; it has been the driving force behind all progress in the history of mankind. And although in the current modern times, it finds the most amount of mention while describing economic and monetary state of affairs, it is pertinent to all walks of human life, whether social, technological, psychological or personal. Development is a phenomenon, so holistic and fundamental that if understood closely it would help define the very purpose of our lives, but how often do we see it that way? The book that I am currently reading, ‘Small is Beautiful – A Study of Economics as if People Mattered’ by E F Schumacher has touched my heart indescribably and helped me see things in a ...

    “Ashwathama hatha, Iti narova kunjarova” “Ashwathama is dead”, said Yudishthir, “I don’t know if it’s a man or an elephant”, he murmured. With conches being blown by the Pandava army as the second part of the sentence was being said (thus making it inaudible), Guru Dronacharya was led to believe that his son Ashwathama had died. Hearing this, the shaken Guru Drona lost his will to fight and fell to the ground.   We are all well acquainted with the above episode from the Kurukshetra War in Mahabharat which ultimately ended with the almost invincible Guru Drona laying down his weapons in grief and being executed by Dhristadyumna. The incident holds great significance in the Hindu Mythology, which got the Pandavas closer to winning the war against evil. The question that each one of us then ask is, is it okay to deceive / lie? The quest to identify right from wrong, just from unjust, good from evil is something that has vexed the human race for centuries and w...

  With the news of COVID 19 vaccines doing the rounds, the print media these days is flooded with updates about stages of development / evaluation various vaccines are currently at. Newspapers and magazines are full of articles informing us of the successes and failures of vaccine trials being done by various pharma companies. And amidst all these writings, the one that caught my eye was like a low blow in this season of hope. Published in The Indian Express, this article states about the probable challenges in administering a vaccine in a country as diverse as ours and how, in this hour where sufficient knowledge about COVID 19 and its vaccine is not available, the only way to tread through is with wisdom because only knowledge will not be enough in making the right decision and coping effectively with the current challenges. There is also one mention that the countries which applied wisdom and not knowledge only faced the challenge of pandemic more effectively than others. Wisd...

  “You are working at an educational institution and have top priority for the COVID 19 vaccine, free of charge”, read a phone text message received by an elementary school teacher in Moscow.  Moscow began distributing the Sputnik V COVID 19 shots on Dec 4, 2020, marking Russia’s first mass vaccination against the disease. So much has and is still being said and written about COVID 19, that talking any more about it might seem tiring, even futile. But the extent to which our current and potentially future lives are reeling under its continual impacts, the topic is nearly impossible to avoid. It has been almost a year now that the world is fighting this virus, and if there is one thing that we know for certain, it is that the repercussions will be long term and not confined to our physical health only . Different countries are facing different challenges and governments are trying to come up with varied coping up strategies. Matters worth discussing and contemplation range fr...

I recently watched the latest Rajkummar Rao and Nushrat Bharucha starrer film, ‘Chhalaang’. Set in a small town in Haryana, it is the story of a school PTI and his unconventional training methods. The beginning of the film establishes the lead character as an extremely lazy and complacent fellow who is uninspired and unprofessional. But as the story progresses, we see him evolve when faced with stiff competition due to the entry of a new sports coach. The risk of losing his job, self-respect and the love of his life, makes him pull up his socks. To prove his credibility and coaching skills, he goes on to challenge the new PTI with a three - sport competition wherein both the PTI’s are to choose and train their teams. In order to impress the female lead, the hero chooses to train a significantly weaker team of students, thus calling upon himself a task of extreme difficulty. As the story moves forward, we witness various problems he faces and the unorthodox training ...

We have just celebrated a number of festivals in the last few days. In India festivals come with lot of preparation of different kinds but the most important of them during Diwali is preparation of sweets and delicious food.The pleasure with which these are served and received tends to make many gain weight and they keep eating promising themselves to start dieting after the festiwal. but does that happen? We often come across such examples where people find it difficult to pursue important tasks they plan to do. For e.g., one might solemnly pledge to follow a exercise routine  or get rid of a bad habit from the very next day. But sadly for most of us, the decision of starting from ‘the next day’ is taken every day till we settle for ‘we will one fine day, when the time is right’. Can such a behaviour be attributed to sheer laziness and poor planning? Not quite. It is what is called ‘Procrastination’. Widely understood as the act of delaying or postponing tasks, procrastination i...