The best excuse I heard lately is from my 4-year-old kid. That little fellow is full of excuses, and most of them make sense, at least from his point of view.
Right now, he is with me at my parents’ home. He is bonding well with them. My dad is not so well, so he is mostly interacting with my mom and her daadi (grandmother). Every night, he insists on sleeping with me, but I am mostly on my Kindle before sleep. Sometimes I tell him stories from my childhood books, and he loves them.
Now my mom, a better storyteller, is around, and he realizes that too. Every night he goes to bed with me, then goes to his daadi, saying, “I want to sleep with daadi.” He listens to at least 5 stories from her(he remembers them well and tells her exactly which story to tell). Once all stories are finished, he asks to go back to me for sleep.
When my mom asks why you are going to your dad? You promised to sleep with me. He gives excuses –
1) I am getting a smell from you (he says this to me too when he goes to my mom)
2) But I have to sleep with Dad too. I want to sleep with both of you, so now it’s Dad’s turn.
We both smile at his cleverness. Kids are like that; they can get anything they want just by being true and honest. I learn a lot from him.
Do you think we’re shaped more by our experiences or by who we are?
It’s a great question, I heard it somewhere. We don’t have anything of our own; whatever we do, become, or decide, society plays a great role in shaping it. It is even said we don’t have any life decisions of our own.
When we are born, we are a clean slate. Then our parents, teachers, neighbors, friends, and our surroundings fill it with ideas and goals. If you follow the pattern, there is a craze to go to foreign countries in South India, and then Punjabis have an affinity for Canada and the UK. Bihar has the largest number of IAS officers every year.
Take my example: my elder sister is in IT. She received a handsome package upon completing her Master’s, and her salary was higher than my father’s, which showed my family a golden path to success. I just followed their instructions, completed my master’s, and am now a successful IT engineer. In my success, I have no role other than the actual effort. My sister’s success influenced all the decisions.
In Philosophy, it is called determinism. A man can never decide on his own. So our lives are shaped by our surroundings, and we have nothing of our own. After we can make decisions of our own, we are influenced by our own experiences. Sometimes, when our dear ones don’t listen to our genuine advice, we say they will learn from their own experiences.
Now, whether they will learn or not, that varies from person to person. Apart from external influences, learning from personal experiences is the best way to improve one’s life. Negative experiences affect us deeply, and no one wants to experience them knowingly, but they are the most important for our growth.
Positive experiences, on the other hand, bring happiness and a drive to move forward and achieve whatever we desire. They can also be deceiving and hamper growth by introducing ego, fear of losing, and isolation. One must be very careful not to fall into the trap.
So, in short, we are completely shaped by our experiences, and we are nothing but reflections of our society.
If you had to be an animal for a week, which one would you be and why?
After thinking it over, I could only imagine being a crocodile. There’s no deep reasoning behind it—I simply like crocodiles.
Crocodiles are one of the most powerful creatures of the animal kingdom, and I have great admiration for them. They have so many qualities needed to be an apex predator.
Firstly, they do not need to feed frequently; once they get a big meal, they can go without hunting for many months to a year. Isn’t it amazing? On the bright side, I could spend that time meditating or planning new hunting strategies. 😊
I love their hunting techniques and their powerful jaws, which are the strongest among all living animals. Who wouldn’t want that? Their ability to catch prey and then twist and roll their body to break bones is equally impressive. Now, this one is a little cruel, but it’s still a power and that should be respected.
Another amazing quality of them is that they move through the water without creating disturbance. This gives them a great advantage over their prey. The prey doesn’t realize the crocodile’s presence until it comes very close. And a crocodile waits patiently in the water for the right moment, keeping low and still. It’s like doing a yogic pose with perfect balance with the surroundings, becoming one with nature. 😍
The last quality I really admire is its vision. They can scan their surroundings up to 270 degrees submerged without turning their heads, as their eyes are on top of their heads. Their eyelids are like swim goggles, giving them underwater visibility, and don’t forget their slit pupils and excellent night vision. And here I am, wearing glasses since ninth grade. I would love to have that 😄
So this one was the selected animal for a week. How about yours?
What’s a piece of technology you’re convinced will exist in 20 years?
First of all, I am not a fan of the overuse of technology. Using technology in moderation is okay to make our lives more comfortable. But using too much makes us slaves to technology. The high rise in health issues is the result of this overuse.
In the earlier days of our parents and especially grandparents, there was less technology and more human work. People were healthy and living life till 100 easily. Now, with all medical advancements and all kinds of knowledge, diets, and facilities available, the average life span has reduced to 70 in India and 80 in the USA.
Yes, we have personalized diet plans available, the best machines in Gyms, great fitness clubs, and various effective ways to improve health: Yoga, Pilates, HIIT, Calisthenics, Tai Chi, Zumba, and so on. But when we are glued to our smartphones for most of the day watching reels, we have Alexa and Google assistants to do the basic work for us, like turning on the light or turning off the fan. We want driverless cars so that we can sit in the car, probably watching reels, rather than improving our hand-eye coordination.
But the problem is not with the technology itself but with the consumers, who are us. And there is no turning back. It will even get worse with time. To remain sane, we should do whatever we can ourselves and use technology as little as possible. Now, with the proliferation of online food delivery services, grocery delivery services, and e-commerce, we are just 1 click away from getting what we want without moving a muscle. Isn’t it scary?
That said, I am convinced that flying cars will exist in 20 years. I always believe that what we can think, we can create. Whatever it is, that’s the power of the human mind. I pray that we don’t destroy ourselves.
I give 5 stars only to those books which I want to reread. Although I barely get a chance to revisit any books I’ve read, I love reading new works. The only physical books in my home library are the 5-star-rated ones.
Talking about the most read book, that would undoubtedly be the Sri Bhagavad Gita, which I have been reading since my college days. I studied in RSS-affiliated schools – Shishu Mandir and Vidya Mandir till 12th, and our school halls were inscribed with shlokas from Geeta.
Few shlokas that are fresh in my memories are:-
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
Meaning: You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are never entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to inaction.
Meaning: Treating alike pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, prepare yourself for battle. Acting in this way, you will never incur sin.
नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः । न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥
Meaning: Weapons cannot cut the soul, nor can fire burn it; water cannot wet it, nor can the wind dry it.
The school days were my first exposure to the Gita. During my BSc, I was going through a serious medical problem and to cure it, my family tried all kinds of solutions, one of them aligned me to a spiritual path. I got in the company of a pious saint, and that was the awakening for me. I started visiting him in Vrindavan every week and used to go to Sri Banke Bihari and Sri Radha Vallabh temple.
I used to spend hours sitting in the temples. That was the best time I had. During that time, I started reading the Gita in the morning, during my worship. It has 18 chapters. In the early days, I used to read half a chapter a day and then gradually moved to 2 pages a day.
To this date, I have this habit of reading the Gita in my worship. It’s the most wonderful book of this time, and I don’t tie it to Hinduism; it has its own philosophical tone. Anyone can read and benefit from it. It talks about Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Gyan Yoga, and Dhyan Yoga. It talks about the supreme power and how, and in what forms, it’s present among us.
Everyone should read it at least once in their lifetime. Each reading teaches you something new and broadens your understanding.
