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Gumption

For all the desires and goals that one can harbour, there is a virtue that is often overlooked. It tempers surreal expectations, and soothes the harshest of blows. It is in my opinion, one of the most potent weapons in the armory of the strong and the stable-minded, and a secret virtue of those that befriend success and nobility. It's quite common, I hear it being bandied all the time these days. It's not a big deal. It's called gumption - the ability to learn from your experiences.

Learning from one's experiences is the key, be it episodes of stark mistakes or high feats. I've always wondered how some people stumble in life, but stand up right back. I think it is because they know that it is not our experiences that decide who we really are, but the way in which we respond to them. Our response, therefore defines our personality and our individuality.

I've had some magical moments in the past two months. I regret to say that some of those experiences cannot be mentioned in this post :). I've seen that we are likely to meet all kinds of people in our everyday life. Some are worthy of our acquaintance, while others are deserve to be our bosom pals. There are others, who in the end turn out to be no better than a rat's posterior. And there it ends.

I've learned so much in the past two months. I have experienced a kind of independence that is very hard to explain - a liberation of sorts ; a realization that what matters at the end of the day is my attitude and my perception.

I am blessed, and owe it to my faith and to my upbringing to be a learning machine in my life, and go to bed a little wiser than what I was in the morning.

A good read - March

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Anchored in Action

There are times when troubles galore almost mockingly, as if to whipsaw the better part of your rationale with a wall of negativity that is seemingly impenetrable. It agitates one mentally and spiritually, forcing an internal perception of vulnerability and uncertainty into the deep recesses of your thoughts. It diminishes one's strengths, but wildly magnifies insignificant weaknesses. It is like a cunning hacksaw that slowly erodes away enthusiasm until one is left with nothing but resentment and self-pity. How does one avoid this dangerous quagmire? How does one stay above the fray and beat the often self-made ideas that drags one down? The answer in my opinion, is too simple and yet, very very powerful.

It is called faith and simplicity. There are some basic values - time-tested attributes of life that form the bedrock of who we are and what we stand for. Honesty, integrity, a stubborn insistence on self-discipline and an intense readiness for hard work are qualities that insulate a human-being against all possible attacks of negativity. It shields a person, creating a powerful circle of defense against the lows and problems that one is bound to encounter during all phases of his or her life. Those that have overcome enormous obstacles are those that have these qualities in abundance. And there is no reason why every person cannot nurture these qualities.

Over the past couple of months, I have realized that too much of analysis and premeditation is quite ineffective. We may all have wonderful thoughts and extremely noble ideas, but they are at the end of it all what they really are - just thoughts. So as nobly formed and as intensely felt as they are, thoughts are not action. They are just thoughts. Thoughts need to be translated into action, for our actions define our habits and our habits define who we really are. The right thing to do then is to translate thoughts and words into action. It is as simple as that. But the benefits are wide-reaching and permanent.

There is a new beginning on the anvil. The era of empty talk and mere thoughts are over. I will strive to to transform these very ideas into action - to take a resolute stand that personal discipline cannot be compromised, to deepen the willingness to work hard and to trust in the basic, enduring values that will help me to make the most of my God-given potential.

This is about being tough and resilient, and about being anchored in the fundamental principles that are the very essence of life. Action is faith and faith is action. For faith without action is not faith - it is an woefully empty chain of fleeting thoughts. As William Shakespeare said, "Be great in act, as you have been in thought".

Marching Season

I've often wondered why some people are more susceptible to melancholy. Melancholy that is the bane of brooding over things that happened in the past, and things over which one has no control. Heck, the vast chunk of humanity seems to have a mysterious affinity for it. I've always thought of them as weak people, those unfortunate souls that have got trapped in a vicious cycle of self-pity and self-hatred ness. But never in the foggiest of my dreams did I expect that I'd ever go through such a phase. No one can ever be fully immune from certain things in life, or so it seems.

As I tried to stand back and try to observe myself from the point of view of an objective observer, I found certain startling things that otherwise I would have scarcely imagined. I discovered that I was attaching far too much importance to what to other people thought of me. Not once did I realize that it is really not good to allow your state of mind to be controlled and affected by what others think of you. Second, I had made, rather unwittingly, a certain pool of friends as the centre of my life. Friends are important, and there can be no doubt that they are to be cherished. But to make them the central focal point of everything is wrong. I have found that it makes one very vulnerable, much like the clueless puppet which obeys the person who holds its strings. Friends that understand you for what you are, and respect your views and stand up for you when you need it the most are those that are few and far-fetched. Those are the ones whose pats and brickbats can both be taken in the same vein.

Charlie Munger, in his address to this year's USC graduating law class, made some observations that resonated very well with me. According to him, there is no such love which can be greater than admiration-based love. Munger said that self-pity is the worst thing that can ever happen to anyone. And he's too right. To dwell endlessly and to constantly ponder over what we think is our apparent victimization is a self-defeating mode to be in. There can be no help to the one who chooses to diminish his self-worth. One of the strongest virtues that anyone can have is to simply like yourself - to understand that everyone is born unique, and that the qualities and attributes that you define who you are is really the best part of you. All men and women are created equal. That is a much hackneyed phrase. But very true nonetheless.

The choice is therefore clear. As Stephen Covey says, reactive people are those who get influenced by what others think of them. They feel happy when somebody is nice to them, and feel down if the weather is bad. Proactive people, on the other hand, are those whose strength is derived from basic, enduring values. They are value-based. Their sense of self-worth stems from the values that stand for, and they are value-centric. Value centric, as opposed to being friends-centric or people-centric. I think I completely agree with Covey. The time has come for me to put myself first before many other things in life - the time to understand that it is only our values that will last forever and not other people.

Over the past few months, I have met with some truly admirable people. Ganesh Ram Natarajan, the dynamic and humble lad whose insights about people and life are something quite remarkable. Krish, the stalwart icon of toughness, who has become my mentor now. I am extremely thankful to him; he's ready with his advice when I need it the most. Jayashree Venkatesh, the girl whose relentless focus on self-improvement is almost infectious.

What a paradigm shift I've undergone through the last couple of weeks. It startles me that I had so many drawbacks and still I never realized that I had them. Things are very different now, and things will take a turn for the better now. I can vouch for it. The time of crawling with the needless baggage of melancholy is over. The time is to march ahead full gusto is here. The beacon should burn brightly and the phoenix must rise. For that is what they are meant to be.

Thank you

I got converted from an intern to an employee at Yahoo!. Thanks to all the people who have helped me for this. The beacon shines brightly.

" Human beings have an inalienable right to invent themselves "
- Germaine Greer.

Privilege of a lifetime

It is as though you step into another world. A world so complete and so rich in detail, that it appears as if you are in it. You are so immersed in it, and so mesmerized by its newfangled way of life, that you adore and relish every moment of it. It is like gliding like an adventurous cloud over a vast wonderland. No, I am not talking about the Aurthur Conan Doyle or about Tolkien. I'm taking about Joanne Kathleen Rowling's world of magic. Yes, I'm talking about Harry Potter.

I was waiting for the release of the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for a long time. I was in my fourth semester when the sixth book was released. From then on, I've been waiting patiently for the twenty first of July of this year. I was very excited about this date, and was looking forward to the excitement and awe that the book would bring. A wave of expectation, of palpable tension, and of pure fun. :)

And the book kept its promise. As customary, I had my eyes glued to the book from the first page to the last. Time and daily ablutions took a back seat, for I was not where I was. My mind had drifted - to chart the stunning journey of Harry, Ron and Hermione to thwart Voldemort, to witness what they discover about their own past, and to mourn the deaths of so many good people.

This book by far is the gravest among all the others that Rowling has written till date. It fills in the glaring gaps that were formed by the previous book and explains many of the things that were not so clear in the earlier books. We learn a lot about Harry's past, especially about his mother and his aunt. I didn't have the foggiest of dreams that Grizenwald was so relevant even fifty years after his death. The saddest part of the book is when one learns about the death of so many characters. I suppose this was inevitable, but it is still hard to read about the death of a character that one had really liked. I dont want this post to be spoiler, and will therefore not name these characters. But they have my tributes and my affection, for they died fighting for what was right.


I have grown reading the Harry Potter books, and I adore them immensely. This series is all about the power of love - of how it gives people protection, feeds them with hope and helps them to resist evil, even in the most testing of times. The books also highlight friendship, and tell us why friends should mean more to us than any other wordly treasure that we can have. They also remind us that whoever we are, and whatever our level of intelligence or wealth, we must never forget who we really are, what brought us to where we are, and who sent us here in the first place.

A friend of mine told me recently that last book had a very naive ending, much like the usual dross that bollywood produces. I was told the book was nothing more than the droppings of a bull. I suppose this view is shared by quite a few. I have nothing but scorn for these people, for they seem to be complaining about the fact that good will always triumph over evil. I pity them, for they are incapable of either appreciating or enjoying what is good. They'd rather finish off every character in the book, and end it with agony and with misery. Is there something that these people do enjoy in life? They might offer the teeniest of smiles if Bellatrix Lestrange was somehow alive. But nothing more. They are blinkered and fettered by the limitations of having a saddist outlook on life.

I am so glad that I have read the series. I have thoroughly enjoyed every single line of each of the seven books. The power of forming a mental image of a world not present and not previously known or experienced - the power and resourcefulness of imagination is great. Tributes to Rowlling for writing these books and my deepest affection for Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione and Ron.