Life Skills

Pliant

The free online dictionary defines Pliant as: 1. Easily bent or flexed; pliable. 2. Easily altered or modified to fit conditions; adaptable. 3. Yielding readily to influence or domination; compliant. Its synonyms include: amenable, ductile, elastic, flexible, governable, limber, lissom, malleable, manageable, plastic, pliable, soft, supple,  tractable, yielding. You may have heard this word used for […]

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Who do you want to be?

Today is one of those whimsical days I refuse to do anything. Today I want to be a sponge, to soak up life. I want to sit on a fallen tree- trunk by the side of the road and watch life go rolling past in its numerous carriages- some gaudy, some plain. Today is a […]

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Gratitude

There was a time when I had no concept of opposites. No, that’s not right. There was a time I had no concept of the importance of the opposites to each other. When someone told me that darkness was essential for one to understand light, or that a heart that hasn’t plumbed the depths of […]

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Kicking A Cat

The CEO of a company noticed that discipline was getting lax in his company. People were wasting too much time gossiping. They’d taken to visiting each other’s work stations and passing the time of the day over endless cups of tea. Lunch hours stretched from half and hour to almost two hours. With work piling […]

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A WOW Experience

One summer evening a long while ago, I saw a woman with her three-year-old daughter. The little girl was skipping along ecstatically. She was holding on to a string that was attached to a huge, red helium balloon. All of a sudden, a sharp gust of wind pulled the balloon from the little girl’s hand. […]

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Counterfeit Virtue

Every virtue- diligence, honesty, fairness, integrity- has its antonym representing the opposite pole. Diligence has sloth , honesty has dishonesty, fairness has unfairness, integrity has lack of integrity and good has evil. A person can be fair or unfair. They may be scrupulously honest or grossly dishonest. They may be diligent or slothful. They might […]

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Great Expectations

I live on the banks of the river Narbada. The river is lavish and generous to all her children. She lets you take as much water from her as you need. She’d never refuse you, on the contrary, she would love to give all you want. She cannot be called sparing or miserly if you […]

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Ten Minute People

Do you know people whose negative outlook can begin to poison your own sunny disposition in ten minutes? It takes them ten minutes to get off to a good canter, trotting their grievances out. Such people are ten minute people. There are important things to do when you trip over such people. Listen carefully, for […]

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Dear Parent

I read something today that made me want to write to you. I’d like you to imagine a crowded public square, filled with people. They are busy, happy, engrossed in their own concerns. You stand among them, unnoticed. You’ve just realized that you have poured your future, every minute of everyday of the rest of […]

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Stepping Back

You take out your best formals to wear at a party and find them too tight. Dismayed, you decide to re-start a regular workout regime. You retrieve (read excavate) your walking shoes from never- never- land and dust the entire Harappan civilization off them. The steely glint in your eyes could slice Mt Everest into […]

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