How do I feel/What do I write about? I’ve been writing since three years? Didn’t expect I would. There were times I wanted to quit. Not because I ran out of topics, but because of lethargy. I’m glad I didn’t. If I look back, I see my blog shape up into an online diary with records of what I learnt, what I feel & what I do to make my life more liveable. I think that’s all I can offer. My Life. Gandhi once said, ‘My life is my message’. What we are reflects in the way we live our lives. It shows what we value, what we believe and what we stand for. I’ve tried to do only that through this blog. I’ve written about the mundane, about saving minutes in a day and I’ve written about the grand questions of philosophy that plague me. Nothing I haven’t experienced. If my blog paints a picture of the writer, I want it to show an ordinary individual grappling multiple issues from wondering how to pay his bills, how to squeeze out time to work on his hobby to trying to figure out his place in the universe, a person who is in search of himself, of meaning, of living. This was my yearning when I started to write. To share my questions, my experiences, my doubts, my beliefs & my learning.
Apple Devotion
Yesterday I met a friend after a very long time. After we settled over coffee I noticed he had replaced his iPhone with a Lumia. I asked him ‘what happened?’. He said, ‘the iPhone broke down. It stuttered and finally gave up. I couldn’t afford another so moved onto a Lumia. My wife wanted to sell it. We could make 5 to 6 thousand, but, I said no, it’s the most memorable experience I’ve had on mobile and I just love it. A Benz is a Benz and ordinary is ordinary. I’m going to cherish it’. I could completely understand his feeling. I sometimes just sit staring at my iPhone/iPad admiring their beauty much to the irritation of my wife. I’ve been in the Apple ecosystem for the last five years which in tech parlance equal an eternity. Why didn’t I look out? Were there no other alternatives? So many, and some too good. Then why didn’t I waver? What inspired such devotion? Was it just marketing? I look back:
A Christmas Morning
Sometimes surprisingly it is in the English text that we find really good stories (or as we used to call them, texts) to read, some which stay with us for many years after school. Few such pieces inculcated my love for the language. One of the heart warming lessons I still recollect everyday particularly on this day is ‘A Christmas Morning’ by Pearl S. Buck, an abridged version of the same writer’s ‘Christmas Day in the morning’ (as I would later find out).
Revealing ‘Uncharted’
Over the last one and half a month I’ve been silent on my blog, I haven’t posted anything. But, I had not given up on writing. In fact, on a whim I started to write fiction. A project which started as a short story soon turned out into an eleven thousand worded novella. But, why did I write fiction in the first place? If you remember I started to write this blog as a test – to see if I have the discipline, drive to take on more writing projects – fiction being one of them, and finally one day I took the plunge. As a kid I enjoyed Chandamama Kathalu, Kaasi Magili Kathalu sitting on the lap of my grandfather. The promise of adventure in those stories was one motivating factor for me to start reading. As I grew up and picked fiction – mysteries, classics, drama, pulp fiction – I still missed adventure. Other than Sherlock Holmes whodunits & Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventures, nothing came close. But, it was with ‘Da Vinci Code’ that I found adventure again. The book seemed to have invented a new genre all together because suddenly the local bookshop’s aisles were filled with similar titles. I don’t want to know how much of that book was true or how much of it was false, all I knew was that it held my attention, and took me on a journey filled with puzzles, cryptograms, danger & history. I loved it. Soon, I followed it with Dan Brown’s other books and then with Sigma Series of James Rollins, Jones & Payne stories of Chris Kuzneski and with Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone. Cheap, trashy books? Say what you will, these books satiated my hunger.
A Broke Person’s Guide to Money Management
Why me? in the whole world to talk about money? Simple – because I’ve driven myself to financial hell. I am the best bad example you can parade around. The guy you should not emulate. Over the last 4/5 years when I actually started to sober up and see through my expenses, I understood money management is not just about where to invest, but a lot about our personalities. What money means to each of us is different and subsequently the way we use it. So, it is important to understand ourselves and our inadequacies to understand why we spend in the way we spend. I’ve noticed how people around me spend money and tried to understand why they spend so trying to label them for fun. The list is limited (with no intention of hurting anyone) and not exhaustive. But, I’m sure we may recognize ourselves, our partners, families & friends in this.