This and That aka Daily Musings

Just the other day NS, my running buddy, sent me a message about writing. It exhorts people to write on a public platform. Regular, focused writing would help sharpen one's expression. Usually I sit down to write/type in the afternoon as I am assured of uninterrupted screen time. Writing regularly on a variety of subjects gives you better understanding. Hitherto unexplored thoughts, deep buried feelings surface because of this. The post shared by my friend further states that untold riches can be harnessed from writing if one really gets good at it. I am not sure I would ever be able to make any commercial use of my writing. But I do have the urge to improve. Brevity in writing is preferred rather than employing long winding sentences. This is easier said than done. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, human attention spans are very short. So it is counterproductive to use long sentences. One loses context entirely. Avoiding cliches is very important. For non-scientific writ...

It is now mandatory in many states of India for students to read the preamble to the constitution during prayers every day. What will be achieved by doing this? Our venerable leaders hope, a lot. I remember mugging up the preamble when I was in school many years ago. I was not aware that our constitution began with these lines. In fact to be more candid, I was not aware what a constitution was. A constitution is a framework of basic laws of a nation. It outlines the powers and duties of the government and guarantees certain rights to its citizens. In these hyper nationalistic times it might be a good idea for young people to be abreast of our constitution. Our republic assures its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. Justice is guaranteed in social, economic and political spheres. Liberty of thought, expression, faith and worship is assured. Equality of status and of opportunity is a given (at least on paper) . Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and th...

Contrary to what we all would like to believe, the average attention span of human beings is a mere 4 minutes! Unbelievable it may sound but it has been scientifically proven. Has our attention span always been so meager? Studies show that it has declined over the past few decades. Electronic devices and social media are usually cited to be culprits for this decline. There may be some truth in this observation. People of all ages are now hooked to their cell phones. They are constantly engaged in sending texts, vexing over not receiving any 'likes', getting annoyed when people do not take calls or your profile does not elicit any response from desired quarters. Newer apps keep popping every year and more and more people get drawn to them. This is truly obnoxious. Social media is perhaps an avenue for people who have identity problems to vent out. This electronic form of expression allows them to unabashedly bring forth their narcissistic selves with gay abandon. People give a ...

I am now at the cusp of turning 50 and thoughts of 'retirement' have started creeping in my mind. The question is, "retirement from what?" The dictionary meaning of retirement is 'the action or fact of leaving one's job and ceasing to work' . This interpretation seems outdated now. A few centuries ago when lifespans were shorter, human beings could take the liberty of withdrawing from active life and take up vaanaprasthashram . But now all contexts have changed with improved lifespans. Man's quest of extending life is yielding results. It is now very common to find 'elderly' people of 60 and above leading a very active life. A man can never truly retire. As long as one is breathing, and is having reasonably good health, man continues to be active, one way or the other. Not all occupations would be pleasing. Many retired people are now relegated to looking after empty houses as the younger folks stay away for long hours due to work. They are ...

In about 60 hours from now most of us would have crossed the start line of the Mumbai Marathon. Questions like, “am I up to it this year?”, “will my injuries resurface?” and the dreaded “will the weather be benevolent?” would be forgotten in the initial euphoria of running with thousands of like-minded crazy people. Trepidation would strike in the initial few hours as we travel to the venue but we will get a burst of adrenaline as soon as the start time beckons and we too join others in vigorously chanting “Ganpati Bappa Moraya” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jay”. It is imperative to show restraint during the initial two or three kilometers as we tend to mimic others around us and tire ourselves in keeping up. This is perhaps FOMO in action. As Guruji keeps reminding us, there is a lot of time in our hands while running a marathon. So, stick to a plan and do not compete with anyone, not even yourselves. We should be able to finish smoothly if we are able to keep ourselves in check. All of...

This year began well as far as my blogging experiment is concerned. I wrote consistently for about ten days in a row. Most of my writing is pedestrian with only a few lines really worthy of reading or feeling proud of. Do I really have any depth about anything at all? Can I write on a regular basis on a variety of subjects? Well, I did try but the writing seems a bit convoluted and deliberate. Any kind of self-expression has to flow without any impediments or accouterments. The effort is showing. So rather than forcing myself to pound the keyboard daily, I have decided to focus on any topic that currently interests me and then write about it after doing research. My understanding of most subjects is rudimentary so I do not expect any kind of depth in my ruminations. I am reading Jeffrey Archer's "The Fourth Estate" at the moment. This is perhaps Archer's weakest effort. But somehow I find myself curled up everyday with this book. I find the stories of Townsend an...

Subtraction. Reductionism. Minimalism. I would have smirked incredulously if I had read about the importance of the nouns mentioned above. These are applicable in all human endeavours. Writing, thinking, investing, exercising, relationships, habits, dressing up, choosing accessories and whatever. Any one can write effectively only if they are able to control the usage of extraneous or superfluous words (here I have used two adjectives where one would suffice!). Any kind of verbal or written communication has to be crisp and to the point. A rambling narrative is unable to keep the reader or listener hooked. A habit of weeding out extraneous words needs to be meticulously cultivated. Sheer indiscipline leads us astray and indecisiveness. Our minds are so cluttered with conflicting thoughts that we shudder to take decisions or reach conclusions. Subtract, eliminate, concentrate. Take one thought at a time, mull over it and then act. Reduce, relax and react. Very often we ascribe ...