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Showing posts from 2023

When is your habba

 Ours is a fairly close knit family, with similar values, morals and ethics. So, our outlook on most things in life are quite similar and we tend to agree on nearly everything. The operative word is 'nearly'. The one thing that we do not is - "When do we celebrate Krishna Jayanthi?" In my living memory, I do not remember a single instance where all of us, including my uncles and aunts, on even one of paternal or maternal side, have celebrated this festival on the same day. And if you include friends and neighbors, Krishna is born several times over a few days (or even weeks sometimes) in the same year.  One might wonder why all this confusion. As the name clearly indicates, Janmashtami or Gokulashtami, should be celebrated on the Ashtami thithi, no? To be precise, the Krishna Paksha Ashtami in the month of Shravana. But alas, as with most things in life, nothing is as simple as it sounds. This thithi business is confusing. They do not align nicely with midnight or sun...

Creation vs Consumption

In a given day or even a week, how much time does one spend consuming vs creating? This is a question that has intrigued me for some time now. Before we answer that question, of course, we need to define what creation and consumption are. There are no universally accepted definitions, so I will state mine.  Creation involves making something new or doing something that creates value, ideally for others, but at least for oneself. Writing new code or a new blog post, cooking a dish, milking a cow, sketching that wonderful cartoon, taking that wonderful picture of a bird all make it to this list. I would also like to add things like singing a song, going for a run or working out, meditation to the creation list. Consumption is reading a book or a FB/Instagram/WhatsApp post, watching movies and serials and the ilk. One can of course claim that scrolling social media messages is adding value to themselves as they become more informed. That is why this is a gray area and everyone should ...

Vicissitudes of life

December 2022 -- Life was as joyous and peaceful as it could be. Work was going well. I had just clocked my personal best for a Half Marathon. If one had peeked through my window, it would not have been out of place to see me humming the merriest of tunes. But then, the dark storm clouds were just around the corner. As PG Wodehouse puts it eloquently,  "it's always just when a fellow is feeling particularly braced with things in general that Fate sneaks up behind him with the bit of lead piping" "it has been well said that it is precisely these moments when we are feeling that ours is the world and everything that's in it that Fate selects for sneaking up on us with the rock in the stocking" First, I got injured while running. My left knee just gave up, putting a full stop to all running. I missed Mumbai Marathon for the first time in 12 years (discounting the Covid years). All the preparation towards getting to a sub 3:30 marathon just vanished in no time. ...