A Thinking Man

Reflections on Life

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A Nook of your Own

June 7, 2020 Filed Under: Personal

What is a home? What does it mean to you beyond walls, rooms and roof? To me, its a refuge, a shelter. I think we all look for what we do not have.

Most of my childhood was spent in cramped spaces. I remember staring at awe, when we moved into an entire colony of apartments. It was the first time I saw an apartment. I imagined they would be huge places to live. Ours was a small place. Smaller still, it was, for a family of four. But, it was what we could make do with. I remember stepping into the balcony only to find that it provided more view of the neighbor’s bedroom than the blue sky outside.

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Why advising is not easy

April 20, 2020 Filed Under: Personal, Philosophy

Before the internet, information was hard to come by. You needed to know the right person, be at the right place, read the right book/paper. There was no ‘search and find’. Once something was missed, it was likely to stay missed. So, people ‘knew’ less unless they made that effort to be on top of things. But, after internet permeating all walks of life, we are now inundated with information. Many a times, information overload is the problem and not its lack. But, even when so much information is available at our finger tips, some people are astonishingly ill-informed. I wonder why? It could be because they do not give ‘knowledge’ the same importance as someone whose life was affected because of his ignorance. This leads me to a topic that I wanted to cover today – why don’t some people listen to good advice? why don’t they go out looking for it?

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Thoughts on a Pandemic

April 11, 2020 Filed Under: Personal, Philosophy

– All it took for the world economies to collapse was for the world to stand still for 2 weeks. Begging the question – how sustainable is this model?
– We all now know the difference between ‘essential’ goods and ‘non-essential’ goods
– We all know who step forward or don’t step back (or have no option but to) when a crisis hits – doctors, nurses, police, government administrators, municipality workers, delivery professionals, etc. These are the folks we’ve turn to in this hour of need. Have we valued them enough all this while? If not, what moral right to have to depend on them?

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Let me Google it

October 4, 2019 Filed Under: Personal

Shall we go to a movie? wait, let me check the reviews. What should I read next? wait, let me see the reviews. Is the restaurant good? wait, let me see the reviews.

I don’t know when was the last time I did something without first googling to check if anyone had anything to say on it. And, we all know thanks to Google, that everything that crosses our mind has already been done by someone. We are bound to find a ‘how to do this best’ kind of article on everything under the sun. So, why think, when someone has already thought for us? What is the natural extension of this behavior? of seeking out feedback from someone almost all the time? We end up seeking validation for our every move, for our very existence.

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Living with Questions

September 11, 2019 Filed Under: Personal

Over the last one year, I’ve not been active on the blog. A lot has happened this year – therapy, shutting down of all social media accounts (even that of this blog), coming to terms with the meaninglessness of life (if you can ever come to terms with it), compromising for peace, realizing limits in influencing others, getting bashed for introversion, finding solace in Ayya Khema’s Buddhist teachings, occasional bouts of ill health, the stress of the master’s program I was involved in – well, life happened. A feeling of overwhelm permeated the entire year.

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