Life Etc Etc

Here's hoping we all can banish stupidity from our lives. Until Next Time, Yours Thoughtfully, Chaitanya J.J. 

I was at a family get together when I ran into an elderly gentleman who was an old acquaintance. He eagerly shook my hand and and asked me about the time I met Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam . He listened in rapt attention as I recounted how fortunate I was to meet Dr. Kalam along with my author friend Raghu. After I finished, he remarked, " You were lucky to meet   Dr. Kalam. He was indeed a man of great integrity and character ". The words from the elderly gentleman exactly summed up the imprint  Dr. Kalam had left on me. ' Integrity ' , ' Character ' and ' Focus ' were indeed Dr. Kalam's signature . But what was mine? Do I even need to have one? Imprint your signature on other's hearts and minds (Credits: Leon Seibert ) It only took a few seconds before I answered ' Yes ' to the second question. The reasoning was intuitive, you can pass on your material assets such as wealth and property to your near and dear but what intangible ass...

Now I am making a habit out of this! For the second consecutive year I am reviewing my takeaways for a year gone-by almost a month into the new year. But this is no ordinary review, this is a recollection of everything I've learnt over a grand total of 365 days. Hence the time I have taken to write this blog is extremely warranted (Thou shall all see). So where do I start, I start off this blog right where I left the last one. The New Year's eve of 2019 , while the world was celebrating the New Year I was having a quiet night all by myself and reflecting on a year gone too soon. Fast forward to New Year's eve of 2020, I couldn't believe how fast a year had just passed. If 2018 was a supersonic jet then 2019 proceeded to culminate at rocket speed. Are days flying by too soon? Is time outrunning us? Why does it always seem that happy moments roll by quickly while the dismal ones seem to last a lifetime?  Yours Truly might not have the most accurate answers to any of ...

Until Next Time, Your Student of Life, Chaitanya J.J. 

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

I seldom set off on a tour or a trek without a book. Books are my source of relaxation and a welcome diversion from the rigors of travel. On one such trip I found myself unwinding on a park bench overlooking a beautiful landscape. I reached for a book within my bag but soon realized that I had left the book behind at home. I had no other recourse but to pull out my mobile and start reading my own blog. 15-20 minutes later when I resumed my trek, the only feeling I had was that my blog made some sense, that for me was my first measure of success .  Life gets very complicated when we refuse to understand or analyze the motivations behind our actions. Life Etc Etc should have been done years ago when a series of personal misfortunes rocked me. The blog and everything associated with it became the farthest thing on my mind during that period. While I was piecing my life together, I remembered something that my mother told me when I was at school. She advised me that things become...

" The road to my 100th post had to go through a chilly 8 KM run! " Spring in the northern hemisphere is not all bloom and sunshine as they make it out to be, there's the frequent rain coupled with the occasional snowfall and then there's the gloom of the dark skies engulfing you at every possible interval. But this was not a gloomy day by any stretch of the imagination. The forecast predicted sun and we had sun. At about 10 degrees Celsius we had the hottest day of the year thus far and I was right there basking in the sun. Now why I was there? Because I had to get out of my house! I was reeling from months of snow and sub-zero temperatures. The weather was just not conducive to keep up a schedule with anything else other than work. I did manage to squeeze in a few hours of gym every week though and was eager to test myself at the right opportunity. The opportunity arrived soon enough in the form of ' The Spring Run-off ' at High Park and I signed up for...