BEAUTIFUL UNDULATIONS

The anticipation will make us feel happy.

FOR MY BOOKS, PLEASE VISIT THE LINKS BELOW (FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED):

POEMS OF LOST LOVE

Poetry book 'INDELIBLE ETERNAL ETCHINGS':

https://www.amazon.in/INDELIBLE-ETERNAL-ETCHINGS-emotions-unbridled-ebook/dp/B072J4L656/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=indelible+eternal+etchings&qid=1583428166&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/INDELIBLE-ETERNAL-ETCHINGS-emotions-unbridled-ebook/dp/B072J4L656/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=indelible+eternal+etchings&qid=1583428402&sr=8-1

STORIES

Short Story book 'A PEARL FROM EVERY OYSTER':

https://notionpress.com/read/a-pearl-from-every-oyster

https://www.amazon.in/Pearl-Every-Oyster-Stories-Shorter/dp/1948473151/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3GI23X9JIKQGK&keywords=a+pearl+from+every+oyster&qid=1583428674&sprefix=A+Pearl+from%2Caps%2C302&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Every-Oyster-Stories-Shorter-ebook/dp/B07948GRVC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1H9GU3Q8JNH29&keywords=a+pearl+from+every+oyster&qid=1583428722&sprefix=a+pearl+from+ev%2Caps%2C363&sr=8-1

For other countries, please visit the respective Amazon sites.

FAMILY

It’s a puzzle as to how this concept has remained alive through the tests of time.

FOR MY BOOKS, PLEASE VISIT THE LINKS BELOW (FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED):

POEMS OF LOST LOVE

Poetry book 'INDELIBLE ETERNAL ETCHINGS':

https://www.amazon.in/INDELIBLE-ETERNAL-ETCHINGS-emotions-unbridled-ebook/dp/B072J4L656/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=indelible+eternal+etchings&qid=1583428166&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/INDELIBLE-ETERNAL-ETCHINGS-emotions-unbridled-ebook/dp/B072J4L656/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=indelible+eternal+etchings&qid=1583428402&sr=8-1

STORIES

Short Story book 'A PEARL FROM EVERY OYSTER':

https://notionpress.com/read/a-pearl-from-every-oyster

https://www.amazon.in/Pearl-Every-Oyster-Stories-Shorter/dp/1948473151/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3GI23X9JIKQGK&keywords=a+pearl+from+every+oyster&qid=1583428674&sprefix=A+Pearl+from%2Caps%2C302&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Every-Oyster-Stories-Shorter-ebook/dp/B07948GRVC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1H9GU3Q8JNH29&keywords=a+pearl+from+every+oyster&qid=1583428722&sprefix=a+pearl+from+ev%2Caps%2C363&sr=8-1

For other countries, please visit the respective Amazon sites.

PROGRESSING AS A GROUP

Today was just another day when I lost patience with someone at my workplace because I had to repeat something to him again. When I explain the first time, I bring in all the details and try and explain completely and also bring in details as to why doing something is important. May be there is something in my body language that makes people feel that my points are not convincing enough for them to take it seriously. May be or may be not. I am not sure. For some I have even explained something multiple times only to find them at square one again.

The best part of this dynamic is that every time we explain we are expected to be patient and polite. We are not supposed to lose our temper or show anger. Once anger takes over then the person to whom we are explaining has an easy way to divert the focus and this is where my biggest weakness lies today. I don't have the patience to keep on reiterating to anyone to follow something or to do something properly. These days I have even started measuring whether it's worth the time to keep on reiterating.

I think at our workplace we can explain once or twice to the members in our team and then give the task to someone else if things don't fall in place. But when it's our home, what do we do? When we explain something multiple times and find that things are not getting implemented, we cannot lose patience or get angry. It can be detrimental to the peace that prevails in the family. I think we can only be patient, wait and coach our loved ones. In the process many things may never get implemented at all in the name of love and family relationship. The sad result of this is that the family progresses slowly or it progresses at some decent rate with one person or a few in the family having to take the brunt of compensating where the others did not act,

A family that progresses well is a family that is able to quickly take collective decisions and implement things fast through the fast and dynamic contribution of the members of the family. The more the number of capable people, the more is the progress. The same applies to teams in  an organization or teams in any social circle that works towards an objective.

It's much easier to work alone, Being part of a group can make or break us if we are not careful. But then, not all things in this world can be achieved alone. We have to strike a balance and move forward.

FOR MY WRITINGS, PLEASE VISIT THE LINKS BELOW (FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED):

POEMS OF LOST LOVE

Poetry book 'INDELIBLE ETERNAL ETCHINGS':

https://www.amazon.in/INDELIBLE-ETERNAL-ETCHINGS-emotions-unbridled-ebook/dp/B072J4L656/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=indelible+eternal+etchings&qid=1583428166&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/INDELIBLE-ETERNAL-ETCHINGS-emotions-unbridled-ebook/dp/B072J4L656/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=indelible+eternal+etchings&qid=1583428402&sr=8-1

STORIES

Short Story book 'A PEARL FROM EVERY OYSTER':

https://notionpress.com/read/a-pearl-from-every-oyster

https://www.amazon.in/Pearl-Every-Oyster-Stories-Shorter/dp/1948473151/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3GI23X9JIKQGK&keywords=a+pearl+from+every+oyster&qid=1583428674&sprefix=A+Pearl+from%2Caps%2C302&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Every-Oyster-Stories-Shorter-ebook/dp/B07948GRVC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1H9GU3Q8JNH29&keywords=a+pearl+from+every+oyster&qid=1583428722&sprefix=a+pearl+from+ev%2Caps%2C363&sr=8-1

For other countries, please visit the respective Amazon sites.

HOME, SWEAT HOME - A POOL OF WORK - LET'S REVIVE LIFE

How about reading a book in the middle of a working day for 30 minutes? How about jamming the guitar after lunch or to begin the day with? Yes we need to make some changes in our life today while working out of home. We need to revive life.

There was something called a journey while heading for home from office. Even though we would still open our laptops and take calls after reaching home, there was a logical break from office work to take that journey. Home was still a place to be home and to get into a different mode after long hours of work.

I miss those journeys, the city, the traffic, the sounds, the different shades of the sky and the people. Yes, there were struggles in those journeys but there were sweet things too that came along in it and home was always a  very sweet place to enter after every day's journey. We had a work life, a home life and a travel life too. My commuting time every day was close to three and half hours. Travel life through my company transport had given me lots of time for myself, away from home chores and office tasks and I had put this time to good use for my several avocations. Sometimes this slot was apt for a good bout of sleep or to just meditate through a sit and gaze approach, watching the city through the windows and letting random thoughts fill our minds.

Today home is just for work, work and work and my family gets a virtual feeling that I am always around to get any home tasks done. But the reality is that I am never available for home as I am always into work.

I long for those sweet journeys and for that sweet home to return to. I consciously make time daily to pursue something other than work. Soon, I will be investing some time into travelling short distances every day, just to relish the joy of travelling.

ANOTHER EASTER...ANOTHER CHICKEN CURRY

We have Easter coming up the next Sunday. This is the first time I am going through a fifty day fast. But I have only been skipping non-vegetarian dishes and not been skipping meals at all. Along with this I managed to have Morning Prayer sessions in the company bus, while on my way to office, on most of the days. So in real terms this is actually nowhere close to a real fast.


Next Sunday, I will be in the long queue at some chicken meat shop in Anna Nagar, Chennai, to buy some meat for the Easter chicken curry that is to be prepared at home. This along with Kerala appam will form the sumptuous breakfast for Easter. My wife and sister would be the ones who would get this cooked and we would sit together around the dining table and have breakfast. Am happy atleast that way...I mean...by having food together, our family is still doing something together.

Our life has become so mechanical that way. We seem to be so busy running after things that really are not going to give us in proportion to this run. We seem to know it too. But still we run. Looks like we have to. There are just very few areas where as a family we can get together into some activity during a festival these days. This year I had just set up the tree and my daughter decorated the tree herself. I was too busy with work around Christmas time and I just could not join her. Again an example of things being done in isolation in a family.

I remember the Easter feast in Kerala when I was a little child. We had been there as a family during my school holidays. My aunt had planned for Kerala chicken curry for breakfast. My father and uncle were to take the lead in chasing the hens and catching them. Me and my cousins, all of almost the same age, were all over the place chasing them. The hens ran all around the back of the house, sometimes flew a little up into the lower branches of the trees, ran through the paddy fields, but finally they were caught. It was the role of the elderly males to kill and dress the chicken and get it ready to be cooked. My father and my uncle would get into this role and we kids would all sit around and watch. Once the hen was dressed and cleaned, my aunt and mother would take over and do the cooking. It was the role of the women to cook the food with all love and care. The more their interest and focus was in the cooking, the more would be the taste that would come out. And while the cooking was in progress, we kids would hang around, helping them to keep the traditional stove alive with dry twigs and leaves, blowing and blowing to get the flame out of the embers. Once the cooking was done, we would sit together and enjoy the family feast. Today the dressed chicken cut into pieces is available for our taking. And cooking ranges of all kinds are available that makes life easier. But that way we have killed the family activity associated with it. In those days, there was a lot of interaction over such activities that bound the family together.

Today the biggest factor that is hitting all families is the time at hand for the family members to participate in such activities. Be it family prayer, a family gathering, a family dinner, or other family activities, we find it difficult to see it happen and even if it happens, it does very rarely, in a nice and relaxed manner.

May be, it is we ourselves who should draw the line, between family life and the other busy areas we are into. Tradition is always great and sweet to be retained and for that to happen, we need to have a good time set aside for our family. After all, spending long hours over powerpoint presentations and excel sheets while leaving the family aside, will only deny us of those precious moments in life.

MY DAUGHTER'S GIFT FOR MY BIRTHDAY

Happy to share this card with all my friends. I believe she spent a few days before the birthday getting this ready.

Kindly skip the adjectives like "Awesomest", " Greatest" and the words "Entire Universe" :))).

We spent a long time together going through this creation. This gives me much more happiness that anything that happens in my workplace.

I still believe that our entire time is our family's time in which we as parents are the main entities. It is a part of that time that we are committed to do the work at our workplaces that we are responsible for, with all diligence. The more we focus on managing that time well, so as to find time everyday for our family especially our kids, the more joy we will experience.

LIFE'S SEPARATED DRIVES

Faraway from you in a distant land,
Filled with chilly wind and snow,
Nature’s magic wand,
Seems to make everything, around glow.

The Almighty paints in majestic aura,
This winter painting in snow white grandeur,
Spotted with a myriad of flora,
Leaving every envious artist to revere.

But blind is my mind,
While nature unveils this beautiful face,
And a joy in this I cannot find,
For my eyes do a mere empty gaze.

You know I am here to make some penny,
Having daily trysts with loneliness,
And what’s money without you honey,
With me wallowing here in emptiness?

The pressing needs of life drove me here,
And so did dire situations keep you there.
You will agree on all these, I am sure
Else, to separate us who would dare?

At a station often looking yonder,
Dreaming that you would by some train arrive,
These parallel tracks make me ponder,
Whether our life would be one separated drive.

Darling will not that day come?
When destiny will bring us again together,
And also bless us with money handsome,
To meet our pressing needs forever.

P.S: I wrote this poem while I was at onsite, seperated from family. This snap came along with a lot of other snaps from my friend Anirban Chanda, during his visit to Japan. But it was this snap in which I found, that there was so much that I could relate to, from my perspective and also from the body language of my friend as seen there.