This and That aka Daily Musings

  11th October 2021 On Turning 50 Kedar and Chetan joined the elite club of Guruji, Leenesh, Tasneem, Bindu, Chaitanya, Rajesh and Nihal a few days ago when they turned fifty. Now that the euphoria of their birthday celebrations has subsided a bit, it is time to reflect on what it means to reach this personal milestone. Life’s inexorable forward march ensures that most of us are able to reach and even cross this landmark quite easily. Modern medicines ensure our survival in spite of our lifestyles and habits. By the time we turn fifty, our personal and professional lives are set. This is the time we start reflecting on the days gone by. While mulling on this topic I was reminded of a few songs from the 1961 movie, “Hum Dono”, starring the dashing Dev Anand in a double role and the beautiful Sadhana. The first song to make an impression is, Abhi Na Jaao Chhod Kar… Ke Dil Abhi Bhara Nahi. This is a song where Dev Anand is trying to convince his premika, Sadhana, to spend some more ...

 Bobo Doll World tennis number one Novak Djokovic’s performance yesterday at Rolland Garros reminded me of this toy. Djokovic just kept bouncing back! Djokovic and Tsitsipas, the two gladiators, were battling for the French Open title and history would have been made with either result. Tsitsipas would have won his first grand slam if he was able to defeat Djokovic and the champion would achieve the distinction of having won each of the four grand slams twice. Djokovic has now joined the august company of Rod Laver and Roy Emerson. Djokovic is now one title behind Nadal (19 to Nadal’s 20). Nadal is one title behind Roger Federer (20-19). We are fortunate to be living in an era where these all-time greats of Tennis are active and demolishing all kinds of opposition. Tsitsipas was playing an inspired game yesterday and clearly appeared to be the better player in the initial two sets. Djokovic lost the first two sets against a supremely talented opponent. But the champion that h...

  23rd April 2021 : TASK 2 : List of people in my life who I view as successful Success should be seen not just in terms of wealth accumulated but also happiness. This is a very important thought to bear in mind. Usually success is seen only in its tangible form. We judge a person by the clothes he wears, the car he drives and by where he resides. Everyone strives to be happy in life. Naval Ravikant says that to be happy one has to stop looking for it. I will list below a few names who I think are successful not necessarily in monetary terms but have enjoyed peace of mind and happiness. Success is about being unruffled in any situation and not losing your calm. It is about maintaining your equilibrium under all circumstances. Some names might be repeated from the list prepared yesterday, but that is inevitable. People from the society at large have not been included (e.g. Tendulkar’s, Bachchan’s and Thackeray’s of this world). Also I have tried to be judicious and have not in...

22 nd April 2021 : TASK 1 : List of 50 people who have added value to your life Yashwant Oke: My father. He was always a bit standoffish but once you were able to pierce his reserve, he was a good person to be around. Fiery, feisty, forthright (alarmingly so) and also a bit frightening when I was very young. We became friends as we grew up. I realized much later the reasons or the compulsions behind some decisions that he took. In a crisis one would feel very safe with him in your corner as he was not one to back down and was the eternal optimist. One thing to note was that he had little patience with people who were not intellectually well endowed. Kunda Oke: My mother. She was the foil to my father. Many relations fostered and flowered because of her calm demeanour. My mother like ice and seldom lost her balance. Aai took keen interest in our studies and pushed and cajoled us if we were found wanting. She was the parent who was familiar with our teachers. An excellent cook and alw...

Vidula and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary yesterday. 24 years would mean that I have spent approximately 30% of my life so far in Vidula's company (assuming I survive till 75).  Time spent with our spouses is considerably more than what we get with our other relatives. A spouse gets connected through the ritual we call 'marriage'. Rest are thrust upon us simply by the accident of our birth. Today we have a say in choosing our spouse or partner. So why not make an attempt to have a lasting relationship? We human beings crave for some social connection. One even has the option of choosing a partner of one's own sex if one is so inclined. Marriage is not yet legally recognised but staying together is possible. No relationship is perfect in the Bollywood sense....it just cannot be. Life is unpredictable and the path we traverse unknown and with twists and turns. What better way to navigate this uncertainty than to have your partner alongside?  Vidula and I have h...

I have translated one page of Gopal Ganesh Agarkar’s essay of 1880. Agarkar, a social reformer, was way ahead of his times. Just imagine writing this 130 years ago! Today gender equality and equal opportunity are buzz words but Agarkar was a true liberal and feminist much before such concepts were coined. -------------------------------------------------------------- This is a translated extract from Gopal Ganesh Agarkar’s path breaking essay written in 1880. The complete essay can be found in “Samagra Agarkar Vangmay Khanda 1”. Agarkar was one of the foremost social reformers Maharashtra has ever seen. ------------------------------------------------------------- Both genders should have access to education and that too in the same classroom! The title of today’s essay will confound and even cause turmoil in the minds of many readers. But I cannot help it. It is imperative that I write on issues about which I have utter conviction. If knowledge is imparted to students of both th...

This lock down gave everyone an opportunity to introspect. Those who still have some semblance of normalcy (i.e. having some regular income) in their lives took the opportunity to get their health in shape, acquire new certifications or look for new avenues to keep busy. Work from home is not 'one size fits all' kind of a solution. Being chained to your laptops is taking a heavy toll on the mental health of many professionals. I was very queasy in April and May when work had come to a standstill. Our future suddenly appeared very bleak. Along with us we had a staff of 7 who depended on their livelihood on us. There was a lot to think about. Sometime in June I chanced upon Naval Ravikant's tweetstorm about Meditation. This is what saved me from a lot of anguish. I had a completely wrong conception of Meditation. I used to think that to meditate would mean emptying your mind of all thought. This is perhaps impossible for most people. If one were to peek inside our mind, one w...