InDepth

I am a bit cluttered in my head at the moment, and I need sleep as soon as possible. But I have somehow gotten into a daily habit of expressing myself. Hence I must get those words out of my head to feel decluttered again. So let me start with a conversation I had once with my cousin sister. We were talking about stages of life in business and academic fields. While I come from technology and business side of the story, she is a sparkling talent in the field of education and academics. Obviously, the charters of our respective lives are different, we have different pursuits in life and we sometimes see the world differently. But we have one thing in common. Stay curious, stay updated, question the very existence of certain things, have a scientific temperament to things around us and above all, continue on the path of a growth mindset. The last aspect is essential for survival. While taking shower this morning, I was thinking, how my life has unfolded so far. When I look back, I find t...

Today I would like to elaborate on the topic of asking questions. Actually I want to start from where I had left the last post. After coming abroad, among other things, I learnt the art of asking. Especially at my work place. In a rather complex technical project, it was obvious to do this. However, there were always a few things that was hindering me in the beginning - We might be having a strong hierarchical structure, the subordinates should not at all ask questions. I should try to get some documentation to read, learn the stuff alone by myself and get the expertise sorted out. I was at a place of safety and I had earned a reputation for myself. By asking questions, I could end up putting myself in an awkward situation. It might become evident for others, that I had lack of knowledge in certain areas.  Which questions were the ones to ask? Which were the stupid ones? Should I be avoiding the ones that were obvious to ask but it might be the case that it was only me who did not ...

Let me trace today the act of engaging in dialogue, by reflecting on parts of my life. Childhood and pluralistic views I have never been exposed to "otherisation". What does that mean? That means, I had never heard something like - "we" are better, smarter, superior, more civilized and "they", who are the "others", are inferior, uncultured and irrelevant people. I remember I had 3 drawing teachers in my childhood, belonging to different religions, a perfect Amar-Akbar-Anthony scenario. Once it so happened, that I passed a class in the drawing school, with good grade. In utter excitement, I touched the feet of all three of them. Later on, I told my grandma about it - she hugged me and said, a teacher is a God, no matter which religion, caste or creed they belong to. Dad would always say - difference of opinion is never bad, but not listening to any contradicting opinion is terrible! He told me - take a stance, stick to it harder than you can, beli...

Early morning and waking up with sound of breeze, chirping of birds and some screeches of hens. The house that I have rented has some poultry farming downstairs - kind of good when I think that this world is not just meant for humans. There is place for other animals, and it is our responsibility to give them that. As a matter of fact, it is the more powerful that should take care of the less powerful. Here comes the topic of today's discussion. In a society, family, friendship, company, team, in every constellation of people, it is the people in power that should extend the hand and offer help to the people that need help, to the people that are weak. Sounds rather one-sided, or? You are right. I need to finish myself. The power should extend their hand of support and the weak should clutch the hand of the power. It must be a two way game!  Let me brain-dump my thoughts - When we are little child, it is the parents that guide us, teach us and train us. Imagine a situation when a t...

It is a fact that I have too much to talk to and too few to talk to. These two diametrically opposite themes run at the same time through me. The solution? Well, I start writing. Today's topic - getting a new car. My first car after getting a driver's licence in Sweden was Volkswagen Golf. It was a standard one and my uncle had commented, after getting to look at it for the first time - ah this is the so called "State Car" of England. I drove this brand for a rather long time, until 2019. The funny part was - little did I know that one day I would be working for the same Volkswagen company. The Golf was a hint from a dear friend who had already used it, and it turned out to be a good proposition.  My problem is - I am not someone who loves long drives. For me, it is all about moving from point 1 to point 2 - nothing fancy and frenzy about it. Any car can do it, and anyhow this is cool. After all, traveling in public transport takes longer time and takes away the subli...

Today lets talk about one aspect of my daily life - that of pursuing calmness through working out!  In no way I am a fitness freak or a gym rat, all I do is try to keep myself fit and healthy. I am not even in the mad rush to make me look good, but I just want to stay somewhat happy. It all began in 2011 after the elder daughter had grown 2 years old and was able to take care of herself. She could say when to go to sleep, when and what she wanted to eat and what she did not like. That meant I had some free time over and I could focus on my wellbeing. Back in those days, in Sweden, we would prefer to hire a personal trainer, at least for a few hours to give us a demo of all the machines available at the gym. I did the same, more so, because I had never touched any of those machines ever in my life before. My only orientation to exercises were - some free hand push-ups, sit-ups and squats, first at a local cricket club and then on the rooftop of our house in India. The association wi...