Life Etc Etc

It was new year night, while the entire world was partying and going crazy with their friends and family, I was fast asleep giving my body some much needed rest. This new year's eve didn't rank in the upper echelon of all the happening new year eves I've had in my life. There was a new year's eve where I flew half way around the world to give a monster surprise to my friends and family, there was one which I celebrated after making a podium finish at Toastmasters District(National) Table Topics contest, there was another where sandy beaches and crystal blue skies were beckoning me for a memorable holiday. Yes, I was blessed to be a part of some fantastic New Year Eves but none of those years gave me the peace that 2018 did. So how a year ends is not reflective at all of how the year has been . In my blog about 2017 , I wrote about how taking a step back and doing nothing is actually a good thing. 2018 on the contrary was all about getting back on the horse and gallo

Until Next Time, Yours Inspiringly, J.J. Chaitanya

Stay Inspired, Your Observer of Life, J.J. Chaitanya

Keep Searching! Your Observer of Life, J.J. Chaitanya

October is the last month of the year (in the northern hemisphere) which offers some sort of a sunny respite before the cold and chill of the winter reign supreme. On one such warm fall evening I decided to shun the walls of the gym and celebrate the last vestiges of sunshine this year with a brisk walk in The   Don River Valley Park . Now don't let the term ' park ' fool you, coz Don Valley park is no less than an urban forest nestled within the confines of a metropolis. Most parks afford the luxury of circling back to the point of entry but then Don Valley is not your usual park. This woody incarnation straight from a Wordsworth's poem flows like an unending river allowing no way to get back to where you started from, unless you are careful enough to retrace your steps. With several natural and manmade trails this park is a hiker's paradise and a cyclist's delight. After a long day's work I needed a workout but didn't want to get lost in

Your Student of Life , J.J. Chaitanya

Inspiringly Yours, J.J. Chaitanya

It's destiny that I am writing my 75th blog post after achieving something which I had never dreamt of when I first started blogging. Being featured on a very small but prime piece of IMDb web space is a blessing from above for which I am truly grateful. But what does all of this mean for my blog and for me as a blogger? Frankly Nothing!  Sure, the acknowledgment from IMDb and the appreciation from Stanley Park management for my travelogue are welcome pats on the back but I have a long road ahead of me and this is not the time to toot my horn (frankly there will never be a time when I will toot my horn on Life Etc Etc ). Milestones give us an opportunity to take a step back and ask some tough questions and today I will not spare myself while asking the tough questions to churn out the essence of this journey. Question 1: What is Life Etc Etc ? Life Etc Etc is an amalgamation of all the positive things which keeps one's life going . In my opinion, life is just

Stay Motivated, J.J. Chaitanya

Stay Motivated, J.J. Chaitanya

Your Life Guru, J.J. Chaitanya

So here we are in 2018 with another year gone way too soon. But why am I lamenting? Almost nothing went to plan in 2017 , I was stalled, stumped and almost stopped. I spent long periods of time doing nothing, didn't make many new friends (frankly lost a few close ones), didn't add the precious zeroes to the bank balance, didn't take pics which generated many likes and didn't even write a blog post which generated enough buzz. So why am I thinking about a year which I probably couldn't wait to end? Why am I even writing a blog about it? A year where it took time to recognize the path  The answer is very simple, the year 2017 gave me time . It gave me loads of time as I transitioned between jobs. True, the break wasn't expected but the down time was exactly what I needed after more than five years of non-stop work. If it was up to me I would have put off taking a vacation for at least another year but time intervened to give me a break when I needed it

What do you do with memories ? The bad ones you discard right away but what about the good ones? Some become photos, some find their place in videos, some end up as trophies, certificates, or even memorabilia but what about the rest? What do you do with them? Ok! Ok! I hear you guys. I am coming to the point. A year and a half ago while I was busy making arrangements to shift houses, my father handed me a large green folder and said, "Son! now you decide what to do with these." The weight with which he delivered those words told me that there was something important in the folder. When I looked inside, I was surprised to see my childhood report cards, newsletters & news paper cuttings which carried my name, my school id card, my first bus pass, birthday greeting cards the list goes on and on. My childhood flashed before my eyes and I was really happy to spend that afternoon glossing over all the folder contents. But the happiness soon gave way to a dilemma when

It gives me immense pleasure to celebrate the milestone of reaching 50 blog posts . This has not been an easy journey, there were days when I wanted to stop it all and there were some when I couldn't frankly figure out what to write. Quite often I found myself stumped, stupefied and shackled but figuring a way out through the hurdles that mind imposes made this journey extremely rewarding. After all life is all about mending your mind and getting the job done. ' Life Etc Etc ' is the best job I had after my regular job but little did I know how far I would come when it all began six and a half years ago. It was the last semester of my MBA and as part of my 'Internet Marketing' course we were all supposed to create a blog and write at least six posts before the end of the semester. I always wanted to provide an outlet for my perspectives. With my experience in blogging, I thought this would be a great chance to hone my business writing skills and update myself on

Number 22 and I go a long way. Make no mistake I don't believe in either lucky numbers or numerology but several important events happened in my life on the 22nd and just when I make up my mind to dismiss all of it as a coincidence, 22 pops up out of nowhere to once again remind me of it's significance. But this blog is not about my affinity to or my experiences with number 22. September, 2016 was a tough month. I was saddled with multiple projects and really didn't have much of a breathing space. It was during the time that my sister nominated me for the 22 Day Push-up Challenge . I don't believe in taking up more than what I can chew but when your little sister pushes you forward for a noble cause, you don't have much of a choice. I was initially surprised that number 22 found it's way into my life again but was disturbed when I found that on average 22 war veterans were committing suicide in US everyday. Having lost some good friends to the malady of

It's been a month since my birthday and I've had plenty of time since then to relax and reminisce. I even took a break from blogging which was quite wonderful considering the fact it gave some much needed rest to my over worked brain. While I was relaxing thus, the topic for my next blog came to me like a bolt out of the blue . Suddenly the urge to write was there and my mind went back a couple of years when yours truly had hit rock bottom. It was a couple of weeks after an utterly forgetful birthday. I was all alone in my bed room and unable to sleep. The darkness in the room was nothing compared to the darkness inside my heart. My professional career was going nowhere and my personal life was diving faster than an airplane which had lost both it's engines. Unable to sleep I desperately wished for a miracle to rejuvenate my life but nothing happened that night . In the morning I dragged myself to work. I was drowsy, disturbed and disheveled and had no business workin

This is going to be a bit of a rant but a perfectly legitimate one on a day where I believe it's extremely essential to know who your true friends are. Yes, I am speaking about Friendship Day and No, I am not against Friendship. I have great friends whom I admire and respect a lot. I cannot emphasize how much their presence has enriched my life and enlightened my soul. But for every great friend I had, I also had a plethora of ' So Called Friends ' who were a scourge on my heart. Their chauvinism exasperated me, shallowness disappointed me and depravity numbed me. Today's blog is dedicated to dishonoring these friends for never . No, don't worry I won’t spoil my blog by taking names. I am just classifying these ‘So Called Friends’ into broad categories for the benefit of humanity. With friends like these who needs enemies Entitlers:  We start with the worst category of friends first. The 'Entitlers' get their name from the fact that they feel en

It's time to delve into the memory lane and remember a time when yours truly was a college fresher in his teens. It was a lazy weekday afternoon and I had no choice but to look forward to the Physics class which was up next on the schedule. Just when the class was about to begin my good friend Vikram burst in. " JJ come, we gotta participate in What's the Good Word Contest " " Vik What? What in the royal hell is What's the Good Word Contest? " " I don't know but we will know everything once we get there. " Although I wasn't in love with Physics I found no fun in flexing my brain muscles at some random contest either. But when you have a friend who is almost 4 inches taller than you are and broader in every sense of the word you don't have much of a say. Before I could say ' No ', Vikram had already dragged me out of the class. On my way out I muttered a feeble excuse to my Physics professor who glared at me as thou

Wednesday, May 13th, 2015 started off like any other day. I was getting ready for the office when my phone rang. I picked up the phone to hear my good friend Raghu's voice. Raghu immediately announced " Buddy we have a meeting with Dr. Abdul Kalam today at 10 PM, in Raj Bhavan . You have to be there. " It took me more than a minute to assimilate everything that Raghu had just said. Somewhere something didn't seem right, how can two ordinary people meet up with The   Former   President of India just like that. I was instantly worried that this was a practical joke that somebody decided to play on both of us. Raghu for his part reassured me that this was a real invite  and urged me to not miss out on this date with destiny .  A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the legend <Courtesy: Dhristiias > The rest of the day passed away in a blur. I didn't let any one except my family members know about this chance meeting because I myself hadn't come to terms with what