DreamingAway

 “Be the change you want to see in this world” is a famous quote. But what if I want change but choose to do nothing to make the change happen? Well, I simply leave it to others, including God or convince myself that the change is not necessary. This is one of those, a random thought on inequality, imposed indirectly. Return journeys, especially after a 500+ km trip between cities, can be tiring and boring. My last one was no exception. We were returning after attending a teammate’s wedding. Since I don’t drive, I sat in the front seat, just watching the scenery and the road. And only the road, once the sun disappeared below the horizon. That was when I started watching people travelling long distances on motorcycle. The first one, the one that no longer annoys me as much as they did once were the daredevil riders. I know they require great skill and courage. Of course, it is a risk for them, but more importantly, it is a risk for others as well. And then the good guys, the real bi...

 I had a hunch that I had heard of it somewhere - “The Deathbed Experiment”. Confused between Covey’s “Begin with the End in Mind” and Robin Sharma’s “Who Will Cry When You Die,”  I set out searching for the “Deathbed Experiment”.  My search led me through things like “Legacy thinking,”“Mortality Reflection,” and the “Eulogy Exercise”.  And it went a little deeper, the more abstract ones, like “Memento Mori Practice”, “Terror Management Theory Experiments”,  “Thanatotherapy,” and “End-of-Life Journaling Exercise”. No, I wasn’t looking for those. The idea itself was simple: imagining how people would cope with your death. Well, the name didn’t matter to start my own experiment. Here is how I progressed. I’ll skip over friends, as I believe that each one of them would fall into one of the categories that follow. Let me begin with the easiest group - my neighbours. Their response would be straightforward  - they would simply find out that I used to live there....

 My mom has been making a comment that is becoming a regular now-a-days. On Saturdays, she will say, “It feels like the week just started, but the weekend is already here.” At the start of each month, she will say, “The month just started, but the next one is already here.” One of my teammates echoed a similar sentiment recently. I believe this feeling is very common, and we may differ on whether we say this to someone or not. So, is the time really moving that fast? And for everyone? Of course, the actual time measurement is the same for all of us. It is our perception that makes time feel as if it is speeding up or slowing down, and that perception is deeply individual. While we have natural senses for things like sound or smell, we don’t have an innate sense to estimate time. For example, try starting a timer and then stopping it when you think a minute has passed without counting numbers, breaths, or using external cues. Chances are, you’ll stop too early. The point is that whi...

We were recently discussing the decrease in attention spans and decided, somewhat casually, to count the number of people entering the lunch hall while looking at their phones. It felt unnecessary, as almost everyone was glued to their mobile. This wasn’t the case in years past. Is this a generation gap? Mobile phone usage is just another addiction, like anything else, and it has nothing to do with the generational differences. Yet, the reasons people use their phones might signal a generation gap. Or maybe the very dependence on mobile devices in daily life reveals an underlying generational divide. We weren’t entirely conclusive. Generation gaps are inevitable, as change is universal, and it is the adaptation to these changes that creates the gap. Differences in thought, social norms, and behaviour naturally emerge over time, creating a distinct divide between younger and older generations. When things like climate change can play a role in shaping these differences, it is clear som...

  On our way home, one of my teammates was sharing his experience from a recent trip he took with his schoolmates. I mentioned that I used to go on trips with my college friends a lot but have since lost contact with most of my schoolmates. He told me that his college days coincided with the pandemic lockdown, so he made fewer college friends and has more friends at work now. As a result, he either goes on trips with his schoolmates or colleagues. Of course, when it comes to trips, it doesn’t really matter who you go with, as we often travel with groups of strangers nowadays. Last Friday, I was having dinner with a colleague who was visiting from our branch office. During our conversation, I asked him if he meets his friend (whom I also know as colleague) every time he comes to the main office. Although he visits almost every month, he admitted that he misses seeing his friend some months. He also reminded me that his friend was also his college mate and that they we...

 When working in an environment where benchmarks are readily available, whether directly or indirectly, we often have a clear understanding of what is required for our career growth. Since these benchmarks typically align with what an average person can achieve through regular skill upgrades for their experience level, achieving them might seem straightforward. However, in reality, it is not always this simple. For countless reasons, we often fail to continuously upgrade our skills, resulting in us falling behind where we could have been. Firstly, there are no everyday indicators showing that we are slowing down or lagging behind. It is difficult to recognise at first and only becomes apparent later. By the time it is noticeable, it may already pose a threat to our job. But what if there is no immediate job threat? This can easily occur in organisations that can accommodate people based on their current skill levels. In such cases, it's like choosing between just running or running...

They say that the departed souls show up in the form of crows, and we express our love, respect, and gratitude towards our ancestors by feeding these birds. This need not be true, I never believed so, but it feels good, so I do feed the crows. I used to give banana peels to cows, enjoying the feel of their rough tongues snatching the peels from my hand. And if you have pigeons at home, you know the sheer joy of letting them perch on your hand while they eat. So, here’s my thing: I love feeding animals. There's something magical and heartwarming about connecting with these creatures, even if it’s partly for my own amusement. They usually run and hide as soon as they sense our presence, but not this brave one. The internet search says, he is a “brown-banded cockroach.” Let’s call him Browny. I found this little daredevil darting out of a carton of pet food. I was curious. I blocked his path with my finger, expecting him to climb over it like a little hiker. Nope! Browny dashed back i...

Even before the buffalo and the bike passed by, I could sense the situation unfolding. The buffalo let out a reverberating sound, both peculiar and familiar, echoing through the air. I had heard it before, not just from buffaloes, but from other animals too. The haunting cry was unmistakably that of a mother’s desperate plea, begging for the release of her baby — a cry that can melt your heart and leave it wrenching in agony. I know this scenario of moving a cow and her calf from one place to another is quite common , but I hoped the journey would be brief. Is this emotion exclusive to mothers alone? I pondered this question deeply. I believe there exists an underlying emotion, one I call “mot-emo,” that drives the actions of mothers. While it may be prevalent among mothers, its presence is not confined to them alone. I think we just fail to recognise or acknowledge this everywhere else. Mot-emo is a universal emotion, much like happiness or anger, that can manifest in a...

She stood among a small group of girls, must be a college student waiting for the bus. Was she a kite? I am never conclusive, never closer to satisfaction whenever I think about the meaning and connection between the God, life and ourselves. And, I am not bored of contemplating it whenever the opportunity arises. It was only a few minutes, but she gave me an opportunity to delve into these thoughts. For many of us, our first experience with flying a kite might have been simply holding the string and running, allowing the kite to chase us from a distance of two or three meters. Of course, when we began kite fighting, we knew that we were playing one of the games that required a multifaceted skill set. We wanted to master them all, from making kites to manja thread, to dheel, to street fights. Imagine a kite festival, surrounded by kites of various colours and sizes decorating the venue. There are kites ready to take flight. There are children playing with kites, crashing a few accidenta...

We instantly make a connection with someone, regardless of whether the reason for it is well-formulated or not, and do everything possible to build a relationship. Of course, this tends to fail in most cases, as the relationship needs some common ground and time to understand each other. However, every relationship has to start somewhere, and the starting point can be anything. For instance, it is easier to forge bonds with neighbours than with those living further down the street. We are inherently social, and hence we already have plenty of circumstances that open an opportunity to initiate relationships, for example, being a neighbour. It is very natural/mandatory that we meet people and build relationships in shared places like educational institutions, workplaces, places of worship, recreational areas. Of course, not as a whole but in smaller circles such as the same class, the same team, and so on. The opportunities to get to know each other are plenty, and the environment forces...

  நகரத்துக் காலை நேரத்துப் பரபரப்பு அடங்கியதாலோ என்னவோ, நான் வார இறுதியில் பயணித்த பேருந்தின் ஓட்டுநர் மென்மையான பாடல்களை ஒலிக்கச் செய்துகொண்டிருந்தார். “மீனம்மா” பாடலின் “அம்மம்மா… முதல் பார்வையிலே சொன்ன வார்த்தையெல்லாம் ஒரு காவியமே…” என்ற வரிகள் ஒலித்தபோது மெதுவாகத் தூக்கிப் போட்டது — பேருந்தல்ல! அது ஆண் குரலுக்கான வார்த்தைகளாய் தோன்றினாலும், பெண் குரலில் ஒலித்த அந்த வரிகளின் கற்பனை மிகுதி ஏதோ சிந்திக்கச் செய்தது. பார்வையில் உரையாடிக் கொள்ள முடியும்தான், ஆனால் அதைக் காவியமாக்கிக் கொண்ட கற்பனைத்தான் சற்று வியப்படைய வைத்தது. வண்ணங்களைப் பூசிக் கொண்டு அழகு கொள்ளும் வெண்ணிற ஆடைபோல, கற்பனைகளைத் தரித்துக் கொள்வதில்தானே கவிதைகளே பிறக்கின்றன, அதுவும் காதல் கவிதைகளுக்குச் சொல்லவா வேண்டும்! பொதுவாகக் கற்பனைகளில் பல உண்மையாகுவதை நாம் பார்த்திருக்கிறோம், அறிவியலின் படைப்புகள் பெரும்பாலும் இப்படித்தானே. சட்டென்று ஒரு ஐயம் — காதல் கவிதைகள் எல்லாம் இதற்கு எதிர்மறையாக இருக்குமோ — அதாவது உண்மைகளைத்தான் கற்பனை என்று எழுதிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறார்களோ என்று. வேம்பின் பைங்காய் என்தோழி தரினே, த...

Honestly, I didn’t like the year 2023. Looking back, it feels like an under-utilized year, despite whatever I had done. I gained 5 kg in the last 4 months, something I’ve never experienced before. :( Watched a good number of movies without checking any reviews and ended up wasting time. Por Thozhil was good and Yathisai was a different experience. Read over 25 books this year. ‘ The Book of Five Rings ,’ ‘ The Top Five Regrets of the Dying ,’ ‘ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ,’ ‘ Accelerate ’ are the books that I couldn’t complete — read at least about 50% but stopped. ‘ The Crossover ’ and ‘ Architect’s Apprentice ’ failed to meet my expectations. On the other hand, ‘ A River In Darkness ,’ ‘ Peaks and Valleys ,’ ‘ Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives ,’ ‘ The War of Art ,’ ‘ My Little Epiphanies ’ are a few books I loved. ‘ Kaikeyi ’ is possibly an interesting book. I couldn’t organize my expenses this year. Here are a few things that I wish to do: Read at least 12 books. Avoid mo...

 Here is the old-age question: can we script our own lives, or are we mere puppets of destiny? Believing in destiny is the easiest path, as we encounter infinite things beyond our control. I've come to strongly believe that erasing God, in any form such as destiny, from our lives is impossible. How can a seed produce both root and stem, growing in opposite directions? Can the root dream of becoming a stem? Will the root’s dream ever be realised? The easiest for the root is to be a root because that is how it is designed. It is its destiny, and it is just that - right? Now, what of our dreams, our aspirations, our quests for achievements, fulfilment? If everything is pre-written, what about the rest of all the things we hear all along? Can we simply surrender and label it as destiny because everything is predetermined? Will we? Honestly, I do not know. Nevertheless, I don’t prefer to be in that state - a state where I don’t see a difference between a lifeless thing and me. There is ...