CRUX OF LIFE

A young scholar once travelled across the land to meet a revered Zen master. He had studied scriptures, philosophies, sciences, and poetry. His shelves were lined with books; his head, with knowledge. “I’ve read almost everything,” he told the master, “but I seek deeper wisdom. Teach me.” The master nodded and invited him for tea. As the scholar spoke — about his views, his interpretations, his brilliance — the master began to pour tea into his cup. He poured. And poured. And kept pouring, even after the cup overflowed. “Stop!” the scholar exclaimed. “It’s spilling over! Can’t you see the cup is full?” The master gently placed the kettle down and looked at him. “Exactly,” he said. “How can I teach you anything unless you first empty your cup?” I’m reminded of this story often — especially when I catch myself, or others, believing we’ve seen enough, learned enough, suffered enough. That we somehow know more than others. That’s when I remind myself: it’s time to empty the cup...

The rhythmic movement of the train, the constant hum of conversations, the occasional cries of babies, fill the compartment. A father walks up and down the aisle, gently rocking his crying child, trying to calm him. It all feels familiar, yet different. Sitting in the Rajdhani Express to Goa with my parents, I find myself lost in a stream of memories. There’s something special about train journeys. They aren’t just about getting from one place to another; they carry stories, emotions, and nostalgia. As I glance at the kids in the nearby berths—laughing, climbing up and down, fighting over the window seat—I can’t help but be reminded of my own childhood travels. The excitement of summer vacations, the thrill of hopping from one berth to another, the joy of watching the scenery shift from city to hills and plains. As I watch the changing landscape outside, another journey from long ago comes rushing back to me. The last time I traveled to Goa by train to my maternal uncle...

I have written about gratitude in some of my earlier posts as well. I write about it again today, because I feel its extremely underrated tool towards betterment. I feel that people nowadays tend to complain a lot, and sometimes they have valid reasons to do so.  I agree with their concerns but I wonder if they are looking at the bigger picture. I am not immune to complaining and cribbing either.. I am no saint and things do affect me.  But, I learnt early in my life that appreciating the little things in life helps us be not dissappointed and we tend to get pleasantly surprised often with the gifts that life brings to us. By keeping our hearts open we discover that the world gives us back more than we expect.  Gratitude is a calming balm for our mind and heart, reminding us that even in uncertain times, there is always something to be thankful for.  Some of my previous posts around the same theme : Navigating disappointments with Grace THORN BUSH has ROSES.. :) Rout...

Best thing I did in 2024 was to read the book "Atomic habits" and it sparked a chain reaction of reading many other books, some self-help books, some one-time read novels and some audio books; And, somehow I was able to make time for many things which I genuinely am interested in. Reading more also enabled me to write more.  Like every year, 2024 taught me some valuable lessons.  Here I will share 2 of the significant takeaways which I wanted to document.  1. Embracing humility - Be Humble, but ensure that it is not misinterpreted as lack of confidence, assertiveness or strength. Embodying humility does not mean that we agree with everything that others say, and avoid confrontation at any cost. It does not mean we are always trying to please others and appease them. It does not mean that we believe everything we hear. It does not mean that we allow ourselves to be intimidated, taken advantage of, and manipulated.  It means that we recognize our limitations and are o...

I just watched Pushpa 2 over the weekend. This is it! "I am not going watch any action movie from now on", I said to myself.  Action movies in general are incredibly boring and head hammering with loudness. More so with the likes of Pushpa, Animal, KGF. I wonder what hapenned to Indian film industry, every other movie running in theatre is of the same genre, where violence is glorified, and the protaganist promotes narcissism, glorifies ego, romanticises violence. Emotional depth, vulnerability, or moral dilemmas are completely sidelined. When younger minds ( I guess older minds too),  when they watch movies like this, it might have corrossive influence, consuming the toxic ideas of masculinity, materialism, superficial self importance, style over substance, violence over storytelling, ego over empathy .  Why is it that movies like Bahubali and RRR dont feel equally wrong, while these movies too are action packed.?  It is the strong story telling with roots in selfle...

There is something special about memoirs. I realized lately that I love reading memoirs when compared to fiction, and in fiction, fiction narrated in the form of memoirs. Mitch albom's "Tuesdays with Morrie" and other novels, Shantanu naidu's " I came upon a light house". Recent addition to the list is "Born a crime" by Trevor Noah. I tend to like memoirs more than autobiogrpahies. Afterall, nobody can have their entire life interesting. It is the slices of the life, the most interesting parts of the author's life that connects with the reader. Memoirs cherry-pick the most significant, interesting or transformative events, making them more engaging.    One is daily journalling, which is basically reflecting on the events that occurred during the day ( one or two days old reflection) . And the other is when you go down the memory lane.. many years back...  I am now doing some random rambling on the later one.  When we look back at our past after...