InDepth

  The seed Abby, my friend and classmate from my business school days, thought of bringing handmade designs from Ghana to Sweden. This was the seed thought. And that was it! A spark it was – spark that slowly took the shape of an initiative and formed into an initiative that could connect. A connection that could touch the life of artisans who come from the “Gold Coast” of Africa. A country that emanates hospitality, creativity and purity. Anyone conversing with Abby can easily get a feeling what purity of talks is all about. The start was not easy, it never is, isn’t it? We always have so many doubts. Had it been an established brand we would not question, would we? But since it was a seed, we had to doubt how the plant will come up. The products, the price, the place and what not! Things got sorted out one by one – a channel for procurement, a network of artisans and craftsmen/craftswomen, a capital to start and a mind full of hope – perhaps, nothing more was needed. After a ...

Last few days have been hectic. Travels, work and duties - they were with me. So, in essence I was not bored, but I could not find time to pen down some thoughts to share with you all. What has happened with me in the past few days? Well, as stated, some travels, I was at the shores of the Baltic Ocean and spent a lot of time to drink the beautiful moist air, to listen to the near-silent waves of the sea and to hum a few lines. Visiting the seashores of southern Scandinavia brings several emotional highpoints - The Baltic Ocean is blue and obedient. It is relatively calm, almost like a river. But a sea cannot be a river. A river meets a sea, and not the other way around. So, the sea is hierarchically higher placed. Therefore, Baltic sometimes shows its higher status - it soars and disturbs its own serenity. This interplay of emotions of a sea is wonderful. The neat and clean surroundings of the Ocean is exemplary. Any beach you visit in Sweden, like, Malmö, Lomma, Simrishamn - there is...

Today, I want to digress to an interesting topic - importance of short vacation. After coming to Sweden and starting to get settled here, I decided to start this experiment. Instead of taking long summer breaks, I wanted to try out short bursts of days. It was 2011 I believe, the elder daughter was only 2 years old. She had started to go to the day care, and was speaking a word or two. I took some days off. Back in those days summer in Sweden was rather unpredictable. The weather had a digital choice - either sunny and warm or dark and rainy. The period was mostly between May end and August end.   I took some days off in May. I still remember one of my colleagues had told me, it was too early. But the good thing about this part of Europe was - it could shift its gears very quickly, from being dry, desolate, lifeless to full of colours, flowers and energy. This particular shift of nature could be compared to a small child getting happy once the father would bring a toy, after he had...

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 dates back to the time when I was hardly 14 or 15 years old. One day I ran up to my mother and said - I want to drink a cup of tea. I want to taste it. My father was a chain tea-drinker, and I want to imitate him. Obviously, I was big fan of my dad and as a matter of fact, he had great qualities to create several fans across generations. One of the ways he connected to people was through tea. He drank tea in the morning over a conversation and flipping through the newspaper, he would drink again at his office, at the community club or purely when relaxing with his friends. I liked the first tea, so much so that I started drinking it often. It helped me to concentrate on my studies, spend quality time with my parents and also be by the side of my grandma. My grandma liked tea, and we could bond over it! Years passed, the context kept changing, but drinking habit did not. First with high school friends, then with college friends, finally with office colleagues. During these phases, a ...

Today was an odd day. I got late to wake up again. I had dreams too, that of having a pain on my knee. But nothing too scary. I think it sometimes can be due to overwork or over-reading. Today let me focus on my habit of reading. I try to meditate through reading. I like all kinds of books, suspense thriller, fact-based, investigative journalism, or the odd short story collection. When I read I am deep into it. However, when I am done I still a bit in trance - thinking of the content. Finally I get a bit restless - can I be good enough to write something worthwhile one day? These days one such book is making me restless. It is Malgudi Days written by R K Narayan. I have not yet gone deep into his childhood and upbringing, but reading the short stories I can get a feel of the person behind the author. This is actually also a tip for someone wanting to read or starting to read the works of an acclaimed author. Actually his or her works reflect the personality behind the creative talent. ...

Today I have promised to write about the World Championship of Football. So, I would quickly wrap up the otherwise simple day and switch over to the "Beautiful Game". Today morning was ordinary - I woke up late, as late as 8:30 AM! In total, I lost 3 hours of productivity. The early riser that I am I had a rather slow start due to the early delay and the slowness. One good thing of Bayern and Germany is - we love our food here. I had bought a full corn sliced bread from the local supermarket, Aldi, the other day. To my surprise, I found it tasty and healthy. Healthy I can imagine but tasty? That too the corn variety? A bit unthinkable, but it was rather good. Once food was done, I took myself to the Danube river. The river was calm and serene today, it was not the usual tom-boy kind temperament. By the way, a small tip to people going to the part of the river just opposite to the Stadttheater, the parking rules are as simple as that. You just drive in, park the car within the...

When my mother was with me in Sweden between 2020 and 2021, we did two things almost everyday - talking about life, and spending time together while doing long afternoon walks. Mom used to say - look, you people in Europe can accomplish many things during the day and the reason for that is the favourable weather and access to a car that you own. I cannot comment much on the weather nowadays! After she had left me in 2023, the world has seen more wars, and more extreme weather conditions. However, on the other front, which is the aspect of owning a vehicle, I can agree fully. Today proves the point somewhat. I do not even know how many tasks I managed to accomplish today, only thanks to the hired Volkswagen car I got here at Ingolstadt.  Ok but lets switch back a bit to the early morning. In the new house which I have rented since a few months, I am blessed to wake up with chirping of birds and a smiling greenery covering the entire periphery of the house. After a nice early breakfa...

There are some subjects which need further research in my opinion. Like for instance, what effect can a singer's voice have on a particular generation - like Elvis had on the youth of his times. Or, a Sinatra had over generations. Or, a Kishore Kumar had over multiple generations and continue to have. Another instance - which I want to talk about today is - the effect that a football has on the mind and soul of a spectator. Especially when it goes past the goal box and gets caught up inside the net. In short, what kind of psychological effect does a goal have on us? Interesting isn't it?  After I had a terrible night with practically no sleep, with bouts of doubts and a basket of anxieties, I went to my balcony and looked at the clear sky. It has stopped raining here in Bayern and the temperature is rising again! WHO has said, Europe is warming up faster than other continents. This, despite the fact that Europe takes care of its greenery arguable the most, its fuel consumption...

Let us now talk about a few unique characteristics of English language. English is a so called Subject-Verb-Object language, which roughly means, in most cases, the most important information comes right at the end. English is also very structured. There is hardly a scope to change or alter the format. "Mr Brown went down" & "Down went Mr Brown" - if we look at these two sentences, both are correct. As a matter of fact, something similar to the second one is actually available in a very famous English grammar book, by Wren and Martin! But hardly anyone uses the second version.  This means, however, that English is a very reliable language. One can never play with misplacing an adverb, or misuse a preposition. It is like driving on a road in Europe. Everyone follows rule, so if you too follow them, you will be fine. The issue happens when you do not follow them, or when someone breaks the rules. The entire chain falters and falls flat on its face. Just take this ...

Before starting today's blog post, I want to lay down a few beliefs with regards to films and filmmakers. First, films reflect society and cannot essentially change the norms of a society. It can put a mirror to the society and thereby we can see the evils, the darkness, the prejudices, but when it comes to correcting those problems in the society, films fall short. I am not a firm believer of this argument. Second, a film is a portrayal of a filmmaker's own views, ideas and ideologies. The storytelling, the scenarios and dialogues, together with the overall treatment of a film, is very much a projection of his or her way of thinking about life. I partially agree to this, I think a filmmaker might "learn" to say few things differently, but predominantly, he or she stays true to his or her version of how life flows. Third, a film is edited reality. A film cannot depict all, but it can reveal a big deal of what happens in real lives. Not just in the context of the overa...