A Fabulist is a person who invents fables. You are a Fabulist, whether you realized it all this while, or not. Perhaps it is time for you to examine the kind of fables you have been inventing; to weed out those that don’t serve you and to deliberately invent and create those that empower and […]
Decisions
Eternal
You are an eternal being on earth for a human experience. The eternal, indestructible you (your soul) is the real you. That is your permanent state. Your human role is temporary and transient. It will come and go again and again. With each iteration (pardon the programming jargon, no other word expresses repetitive cyclic […]
Dauntless
The dictionary defines dauntless as resolute courage, adding the dimensions of tenacious determination to the word courage. It is courage to chart your own course, just as it is courage to keep walking it day after day even when you see no end in sight. It is courage to defy the world and choose the […]
Compassion
All spiritual disciplines advocate compassion. Practicing compassion is an act of courage. Specially when your compassion needs to be directed to yourself. It is difficult enough to direct its flow outward, but to direct it inward is a precipitous run for most of us. To demonstrate that courage or not, is a choice. All the […]
Benevolent
The universe is benevolent. You may choose to believe it, or not. Your lack of belief wouldn’t alter the fact. The benevolence of the universe refers to the universe’s neutrality towards you. At some point in your life, if things were just coming apart one after another, it was not because there was a vendetta […]
Autonomous
You are an autonomous being. To be authentic to your autonomy or not, is your choice. If all the influences of the outside world were taken away- the opinions of your family, the compulsions of your peers, the restrictions and permissions of society- what would be left would be the core YOU. Your inner core […]
Everyday Equanimity
My cell phone rings. “Hello!” I answer. “Helllllooo! Shruti hai kya (Is Shruti there)?” “Jee nahi. Ye Shruti ka number nahi hai. Aapka galat number lag gaya hai. (No. This is not Shruti’s number. You’ve got the wrong number.)” I disconnect the call. A modern definition of equanimity: cool. This refers to one whose mind […]
Sunday Brunch #9
Festivals are not dates on the calendar; they happen when your family comes home. When they are far from you, you may remain in touch with them through the many communication channels technology brings us. Nothing, however, can replace the depth of live presence. Their presence fills spaces in you that you never acknowledge even […]
Step Out With A-Z
Come April, bloggers of all shapes, sizes and genres go bananas. They voluntarily- and sans remunerative compensation- enroll themselves to a grueling annual blogging ritual. All through the month of April they commit to writing a post a day on all days except Sundays. The remaining twenty six days are devoted to the twenty six […]
Existential Crisis
I came across Suresh Chandrasekaran’s blog just over a year ago. The first post I read was a saga of self- deprecation- his signature style. If I remember correctly, he took his readers into his kitchen and shared the delight he experienced when reigning supreme in that hallowed place traditionally dominated by women. His post […]