I drive an average of 90 minutes every day, give or take 20 minutes. I’ve realised that driving in New Delhi is a lot like life: A stitch in time saves nine: If I get out of the door at 8.45 am, I will be in office by 9.15 including parking and the journey up the lift. … More Driving through life
“What so great happiness as to be beloved, and to know that we deserve to be beloved? What so great misery as to be hated, and to know that we deserve to be hated?” -Adam Smith Isn’t it a wonder that we have been, or are, both?
My Monday tips for my team this time were taken from a talk I’d given on one of my recent Buddhist discussion meetings. It was the concept of: ‘It is the heart that is important’. Happiness (the real, everlasting kind) doesn’t work outside-in; it works inside-out. So we need to work on our inner life state … More It is the heart that is important
First, the news this month. I traded the financial security and prestige of a corporate life for the freedom and happiness of being there for my family and myself. Then, the quote today. “On this day of your life, Aekta, I believe God wants you to know… …that safety is not the thing you should look for in the future. … More Joyful insecurity
The past few days, I’ve been trying to live like Ronnie and Miyake. Whenever there’s a little time on my hands (which is a lot now), I take a nap with my limbs sprawled out languorously. They do the same on the floor next to me. When I get up, I take a nice deep … More A dog’s life
“It’s your duty to be happy,” I coaxed my best friend after she shared that she’d tried to commit suicide, the last resort and cry for attention in a doomed marriage. (Thankfully, the thought of her baby kept her from going all the way.) That’s been a refrain for me in the past many years: … More On happiness duty
A significant phase of my life is coming to a close, a phase that has given me the silence and space to look at my priorities, evaluate my goals and focus on my intimate relationships. I am left deeply affected and indelibly changed. As I look back for the meaning in the madness, I find … More Lessons in domesticity 1
A couple of days ago, my elder daughter M, age 16, borrowed a formal churidaar-kurta ensemble from me to wear to a Diwali party with other teens. After trying it on, she busied herself with hair and makeup, until it was almost time to leave. Then, she asked me, “Where’s the dupatta? I had it just … More Believing is receiving
Dear God, I see what You’re doing. I see how You’ve scrubbed away, layer by layer, years of grime and stress. How You’ve gradually helped me unlearn the frenetic lessons of the past few years. How You’ve taken me back in time to an earlier, more sordid remembrance of who I used to be, and … More Scrubbed clean
A large pile of unexpressed fears got buried under a typhoon of ‘busy’-ness all of the past fortnight. So occupied was I, that I no longer invested in my own daily oases of happiness or in stuff that I normally love doing, like writing on this blog. When a turn of events turned the moth-balled … More Wanting what is
100 Paths 