A heinous attack has been perpetrated on the Prime Minister of India. The assailant has disappeared after executing a flawless operation, leaving shock waves, tears and pandemonium in his wake. Who is he and what was his motive? Is he a lone wolf or is someone else pulling his strings? Will the Prime Minister survive or will he leave behind a nation steeped in grief and chaos?
The wounds of Pulwama are yet fresh in the country’s mind and calls for all-out war are getting more strident by the day. In a race against time, intelligence agencies are working as one to uncover the secrets behind the rogue operation before it’s too late. Any one of several terrorist organisations could be involved or the nation across the border. Or perhaps the truth is much closer to home.
As the armed forces on both sides of the border prepare for an offensive, will the agencies succeed at unravelling the truth or will it disappear forever?
I don’t remember
But it must have felt safe and warm
When, for the first time, she had held me close
Cajoling and calming a wailing new-born I
I must have felt her chest close to me
Falling, and rising
In anxiety, and excitement
In love, and an unconditional belonging
As i clung to her ferociously
For love, for dear life
Years have passed since
I’m out in the wild
Caught up in the race
But once in a while,
If I’d stop
I’d think
If I could stop
I would think
How I wish
I were back to being the lil’ one
On my mama’s lap
When every day
Was my mama’s day
You know it all,
You claim
And yet you can’t help
But fall
Over and over again
Round and round
Tll the head spins
And the thoughts, laser like,
Bore a hole
In your know-it-all
Hole of a head
It’s good to have a vision in life. About life. But then the vision must trickle down to goals. The goals must be further divided into to subgoals, and the subgoals into steps. More importantly, small, measurable steps.
These steps must be then adhered to. Sounds simple?
In fact, it’s the steps that are most difficult part.
Lofty vision and goals are the simplest of all, for who can’t build castles in the air? The steps are where we all go astray. It’s where we get lost and have intermittent bouts of frustrating realizations – that we’re pretty much where we were eons ago.
You require two qualities to hand hold you through the steps, and these attributes are what make this phase so arduous: Willpower and Discipline!
If you inculcate those qualities somehow, and sustain for a period of time… one step at a time, you get closer and closer to your goal(s).
So what’s the difference between vision, goals, willpower and discipline?
You have a vision for your life – an overarching desire of how your life should be. You break that into goals – the things that help define your vision. The goals can be broken into subgoals, and the subgoals can be further reduced to steps.
So Vision => Goals A B C => Sub Goals (A.1, A.2) => Measurable steps (A.1.i, A.1.ii…) – precisely action and time defined.
The fuel for goal realization:
Willpower: Conquering yourself, stepping out of the comfort zone, pushing through, and laying bare the duplicity and comfort of false excuses. Willpower helps you overcome your own state of inertia. It’s what makes you take the first step.
Discipline: the quality required to sustain the next step. And the next, And on and on. Over and over again.
The timelines of Steps need to be strictly defined and followed. Else the goals fall. The vision crumbles. And you become just another day-dreaming sucker like the most of us!
Have you ever experienced waiting forever for something to happen, for someone to revert, for things to get done? How do you deal with the waiting period?
A forever wait: Like an anticipation on hold Expectations to the brim Frustrations and anxiety On the boil
Since years I’ve been holding this question to myself: is it wrong to generate expectations in others, only not to fulfill them, or not bringing about a ‘closure’ to them?
Is it even wrong to make people wait (expectantly)? Is that disrespect? Arrogance?
So how do we cope up with the waiting scenario: when we’re waiting forever on something to happen? A couple of approaches to consider:
Relax: You’ve set a ball rolling. Let it free. If it be so, it shall come back to you. No point checking on it again and again.
Keep rolling different balls. One of those would come back to you?
Do not be constricted. Open yourself to newer things, newer ideas. What is the new option you’ve thought of?
Do not fight the situation or question. Accept it.
Breathe! It’s certainly not the end of the world! Keep rollin’.
And Finally: Call it Quits! You need not be the one to be on edge forever. Take the decision, accept and move on. to the next step. You will realize how simple life becomes.
All of this wouldn’t certainly doesn’t apply to all the situations. If you’re waiting for a ‘yes’ from someone you love for instance, you don’t want to set different balls rolling, and think of options. But for sure, even if it doesn’t work out, it wouldn’t certainly be the end of the world, would it?
A treasure of love
Are you
To be wrapped in warmth
And cherished forever
Like a fine red wine
In a wooden cask
Or a letter from love
Hidden in an old cardboard box …in the closet
I am the undefined
I am the unknown
I am the limitless
I am the unboundI am what you see
I am what you do not
I am the core of me
I am the core of thee
Rs. 500 and Rs 1000 notes scrapped: the black money crackdown news is an avalanche of a news.
Gosh! Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes not legal tender any more!
I shiver as I write this post. Why? Because I am camping downhill the path of the snowball? Because I am a global aggregator of black money? Nope. It’s because I wonder what’s available in India that’s worth less than 500? Rs 500 and Rs. 1000 notes are like denominations of Rs. 50 and Rs. 100 of our yesteryears! You can’t just do without them. They are your wallet’s best friends!
As per a recent Mint report, the large value notes – those which are greater than 100 – Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 – constitute for more than 84% of the money in circulation in the country.
This only confirms the issue I’m highlighting. There simply aren’t enough wads of Rs. 100 to replace the 500 and 1000 denominations.
Corruption Issues
Enjoy khamans and dhoklas on black money !
There was another demonetization of the currency earlier in 1978. Rs. 1000 notes were suddenly considered not a legal tender. They simply stood cancelled one night. Just like that. No time given! That was during the time of Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Lot of black money was wiped out. It’s said that folks in Surat ate dhoklas and khamans the next day on Rs. 1000 notes! Tissue paper value. And that’s completely true!
But what about it?
Did that stem corruption, bribery and black money? Did that wipe out the (not really) hidden black undercurrent of the economy? Babus just changed their instruments, twice aggressive as earlier, as they had to cover up for their losses. Babudom and Corruption thrived like never before.
This time the babus & the corrupt would lose a little, probably, for there’s time till Dec 30th. But what would stop the babus from continuing their practices with newer, crisper notes? What would make them change their behaviour? What would it take to bring about ‘integrity’ in this country?
As an aside, I think the traffic cops are the smartest of the bunch… Rs. 50 and Rs. 100!
Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes demonetization, crackdown, is welcome, certainly. We are going to have the new notes now – the more secure and colourful Rs.500 and Rs. 2000.
But I can only hope the Government would introduce tracking methods and stringent punishment so that the newer notes don’t become another set of crisper tools for the fiefdoms and arrogance of those in authority and power.
