Read your mind!

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Been a long time that I wrote something … while I do have my fair share of random musings from time to time, I haven’t had the time to share them with you. But talking of you, what have you been reading lately, if not for my posts? Articles, poems, short stories, books – anything at all? Do you remember the last time you walked into a library or a book store to read one? I do – coz I went to one of my favourite book stores recently – Crossword!

To admit it honestly, when I walk into a bookstore I feel like I know nothing and there is sooo much more to learn or may be unlearn. From the fragrance of fresh pages of a new book to the imaginary extension of stories that would build up in my mind as a kid, books have an old world charm for me. Even till date when I want to do some quality reading, I prefer a paperback to the e-book format. Albeit e-books are more convenient and cost effective but reading a book in its traditional format, flipping back n forth, placing bookmarks – that’s joy of another kind I’d say.

By the way, did you know that in medieval times, libraries had books chained to the shelves? Before the proliferation of the printing press, each book took hours of work to produce while there were some others like gospels & manuscripts which were way too valuable to be left for random public consumption. Book theft wasn’t uncommon back then. For those of who have watched Game of Thrones, you would have spotted a chained library in its episodes. Hereford Cathedral is perhaps one of the oldest and only chained library of this type which survives till date (read more). From book theft to no books left, it is becoming a sorry situation for our next generation. So my appeal to all loyal customers of modern day book stores like Crossword, please do a favour. Please drop in a feedback whenever you visit a bookstore next time by asking them to house more books. I did a quick visit at a few of Mumbai stores last month and all of them had 1 thing in common – less than 50% of store space reserved for books (that too including stationery). Can you believe that – a book store that sells fusion bags, tees and games????? Why on earth will I go to a Crossword to buy a t-shirt? Crossword could have done many fun activities for kids & adults that would rekindle this habit but what it did instead is that they re-fuelled the dismal book sales by giving people even lesser reason to visit their stores – lesser books on display. While I may have tonnes of ideas on how Crossword could do this, my post is not about them but about those who need to be blamed for this situation – US.

Yes, we have conveniently replaced reading with things which need lesser patience and provide instant gratification – television, web series, computer games, etc. Look around in public transport, office canteens, everywhere – people are glued to their phone effortlessly. Alas, the next generation will have such a limited attention span and no reading habit at all. Worse still, these instant entertainment options will leave kids with no creative visualisation. Books are by far the best companion one can get – do not take this opportunity away from them and from YOU. Buy, rent, borrow – but do read. And to help you start with it, I am sharing a list of 50 books across genres that one must read at some point in time (click here).

Read something worth your while and re-discover yourself, TODAY!!

#books, #bookstores, #crossword, #landmark, #granth, #creativity, #storytelling, #chainedlibrary, #ilovebooks

The social me!

Eyes meet, lips greet

They wave at each other, across the street

An hour later he thinks of her smile

Texts, looking lovely in blue.. just like the Nile

Where’d did you see..on WA or FB? She flips

Hell-O! On way to work, remember? He quips…..

So this is exactly what happened the other day between me and a colleague. While we had exchanged greetings from a distance, she completely forgot about it when I complimented her later in the day. Honestly I was ROFL at that response. Have you experienced something like this wherein either you or your friend could not distinguish between virtual and real?

We dress up, order fancy foods, go to places, do fun activities for an experience but somehow this experience is not complete till we click a pic with the sole purpose of posting it online. I still remember the pics from childhood which were taken for our memories but these days we take pics for other people’s memories it seems. Post online and then forget about it till the next time FB reminds you to look back your memories.

Sitting in the same office we wish our colleagues online on their birthdays … have detailed conversations on completely unrelated topics on FB but just manage to say hi if we pass by the same friend … like a pic but do not compliment in person … and the list goes on. Will your friends actually have the same experience when they meet you in person next or feel like they are meeting a slightly different person who is nice to meet only in the online space? Is connecting the same as engaging then? I am guessing not!

In a day and age when online is taking a bigger pie of your daily life, is your social avatar overpowering and probably altering the real you into a more likeable and social being – but only virtually?

Imagine if kids were to expect a digital Santa to send them e-gifts … that would be quite something … to take the charm of the real world out forever. Luckily we have not gone that far as yet. On that note, wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year in advance!

Cheers!

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#socialmedia #online #facebook #likes #virtualreality #socialavatar #santaclaus #merrychristmas 

My rainbow song

Wings of grey she spread
Covering the morning sky
Looking at her I secretly dread
The sun is hiding and why

The day has just begun
But my cheer’s painted by gloom
Where is my morning sun
My spirits need him to bloom

East to west I looked for him
Kept on calling his name
Slowly my glances turned very grim
When no news of him came

Just then the wind said, hi there!
As the soft drops kissed my face
The earthy mist got me in gear
As I rested my day long chase

Hide as you like, to seek was wrong
Happiness is me I know now
Just then I hear the rainbow song
And I see my Sun take a bow

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#myrainbowsong , #rainbow, #sun, #poetry, #happinessisme, #peekaboo

 

 

 

 

Art or Science?

Since the time I was a kid one thought stuck along – why is there a distinction in these 2 streams – Art and Science. Parents would always insist that taking up Science should be the primary goal and if that wasn’t enough relatives would console you if you didn’t make it to this coveted class.

While I made a conscious choice of not taking up Science for reasons NOT best known to me back then 😉 I am a bit perplexed with what some of the brightest minds are doing today. Many of the science grads are doing post-grad in management and helping me find the cheapest deal online or nearest cabbie or a restaurant to chill at. Not undermining the work, not at all … but just taking a back-seat and looking at the paradigm shift that has taken place in the entire job space.

YET, in it’s today’s edition, Google has given a higher priority to Science over Art. The doodle is dedicated to Mr. Ferdinand Monoyer who undoubtedly came up with a wonderful invention – the dioptre …. BUT if I compare it to the volume and variety of literature left behind by the legendary Nobel laureate Kavi Guru Rabindranath Tagore then I feel it is a tad unfair. You could blame the ardent Bengali within me or the importance I give to art and artists BUT I thought Google could at least rotate the doodles during the day when there are legends being born on the same day. Besides even to doodle you need an artist not a scientist. As for Science over Art, it is all about which side of our brain clicks more 🙂

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#doodle, #google, #rabindranathtagore, #ferdinandmonoyer, #poetry, #art, #artist, #science, #scientist

Am I a time guzzler??

Why are “some people” more successful than others?

How come they do so much more than others?

And, where do they find more time from?

Have they come from outer space?

Do they have supernatural powers?

Hell no! They are regular people like you and me but with the desire and effort to make a difference. They are also limited by 24 hours a day but they choose to be more productive. And what exactly is productivity? To maximize output with same or lesser input. That’s what a process does for starters. While a process is a standardized series of steps that you would take to achieve a goal, it is completely upto you to design it. Customize it as you may, as random as you may … but let there be a pattern in your randomness too.

When it comes to productivity, the common shop floor logic says, you pick one thing and only keep doing that one thing better than anyone could. While single focus is good, but sometimes it forces the mind to work in a silo that makes the job mundane. If it works for you, good … but if it doesn’t then don’t force yourself to continue on the task forever. That does not mean that you relax yourself completely to free your mind from clutter. You could work on something else for the time being and let those thoughts run in the back-burner of your mind till you finally are able to break the monotony and regain your focus. I do that a lot while I am working or writing … multi-tasking is not all that bad … it has helped de-clutter my mind often. However, beware of unintentional task switching as that will eat up more time than you can imagine.

By now some of you would be thinking, hey I am productive enough … well, I used to think that too… until 1 day I just thought to myself – if I am more productive now then how come I have gotten busier than before. Why do I not find time to meet friends like before? Forget friends, why do I not even find some me time? So does that mean that this whole productivity thing is just an illusion that I have begun to live in? Are there others plagued by this time crunch like me? May be they are doing something better. That’s when I began reading about how successful people make most of the time that they have. So in today’s post, I am sharing a few productivity tips that have helped me organize my life better. I thought this would be a right time to share these tips being the start of the year when we make several resolutions and sometimes do not find enough time to fulfill them.

So here they are, very quick 9 tips :-

• Wake up early – you will be amazed at the amount of work that gets done in the first few hours and how peacefully. For the night owls, you may want to skip this tip and try out the rest.
• Set a routine – like I said earlier, it could be a random pattern if that suits you better, but maintain a pattern still. That way, you save yourself a lot of time thinking what to do next, what to cook next, what dress to wear next day, etc. Tip for women – set a colour for each day of the week; once you are limited by choice you automatically spend lesser time choosing your outfit for the day.
• Make a to-do list – create this at the start of the day and keep measuring your progress to re-align your activities. Make a daily tally chart for the days when you have completed all tasks. Check this at the end of the month to assess your productivity.
• Identify and block distractions – boring as it may sound, prepare a week’s log and identify which useless activities are eating into your precious hours. Once you have these noted, keep pushing these for later.
• Learn to say ‘NO’ to YOURSELF and OTHERS – if you are doing something important, say”no” to everything else – be it your favourite movie / match being played on TV, a colleague asking for a coffee break, etc.
• Use idle time to finish up pending tasks – like use your travel time to co-ordinate with the call-centre for a service request, make utility bill payments, finish that long-pending book / movie, speak to an old friend, decide the menu for the weekend party, etc.
• A gadget is a machine, you are the master – Don’t let your gadgets rule you. If you are in a corporate set up, fix time slots during the day to check your emails. In the personal space, switch off app notifications for short periods of time. Don’t act paranoid … the world will not come to an end if you do not check that message or email the very minute it arrives. Your gadgets will live longer with the battery saving and so will you with lesser radiation.
• Make technology work for you – download productivity apps and let them make life easier for you. While Evernote is one of the most widely used productivity apps, since productivity in this context is all about saving time I have made a short list of such widely-used apps which you may find useful :
  1. Save travel time – use video calling or gotomeeting.com
  2. Manage projects better across your team – use Trello, Slack
  3. Store data online – save time while accessing data through Dropbox Or Google Drive. Use personal assistants like Evernote, Google Keep, Haptik for storing ideas, quick notes, etc. Use Todoist to manage your daily tasks better.
  4. Read later – Pockets allows you to save webpages offline for you to read them later
  5. Read less, know more – stay informed with Inshorts
  6. Buy online, save travel and billing time – Bigbasket, Flipkart, Amazon …
  7. Fitness apps to keep track of your activity, route, score – try Strava, RunKeeper
  8. Need some math help – use Photomath
  9. Store passwords hassle free – use Password1 (though I am a bit old-school in this aspect and would not prefer to store such information online)
  10. After all this, want to track your daily online activity – use RescueTime.
• MAKE TIME your PRIORITY – successful people do not find more time, they make time from their daily chores to do that extra bit each day which keeps them a step ahead from yesterday.

I have consciously refrained from naming the successful people in this post with whose habits I agree or disagree. I believe you should inculcate that habit which you would like to follow and it should not be based on whom you would like to follow.

So all you wonderful people who have stayed by and made this blog grow a year old today, I thank all of you and wish that you stop trying to find time and instead start making the most of time from now on. Time is and will be the most precious non-renewable resource You own.

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Disclaimer : List of apps being suggested in this post are only based on online review and I do not have any personal bias or affiliation with any of these. Many of you may be using 1 or more of these already. However, in case you wish to get more suggestions on such apps, feel free to drop a line and I will look up the right app for your need.

#productivity, #productivityapps, #productivitytips, #timesaver, #maketime, #findtime, #evernote, #gotomeeting, #rescuetime

Resolve or Dissolve?

Twenty-one days down into the new year and I know I am a tad late but never the less wishing all my reader friends a Very Happy 2017!!

While I was away, I made a new year resolution this year and thought of sharing my experience with all of you. I am sure we all make at least one resolution at the start of every year whether consciously or not. So did I. Incidentally on 31^st I was having this casual chat with my office colleagues wherein we all decided to take greater care of our health – be it food, exercise, lifestyle, more of “me”time, etc., etc…. and all of it sounded so achievable. However, all those talks vanished in thin air sooner than we all could have thought. Overdose of eating, drinking and dancing like there’s no tomorrow is what usually characterizes 31^st every year … that followed by a mid-day alarm waking you up on 1^st then a brunch and a lazy day to get off the hangover. Well this is how at least I see people of our generation ushering in the new year. Every time that I have resolved, on the 1^st day of the new year, I typically feel that this year will be different and I will certainly live up to my resolution … after all I have the whole year to follow it. Yeah, true … a whole 365 days … out of which 21 days are already gone and I am nowhere close to it … oops!

So while analyzing where things went wrong, I got reminded of an acronym that I had learnt way back while studying management – “SMART”. Most of my MBA friends would know what SMART is and would begin to think now as to what is the big deal about such a simple acronym. Well, the beauty of this concept is that it can be applied to any task in life or work and if used well can always make a difference…. yet we simply forget to use it. And what does SMART stand for :

Specific – Measurable – Achievable – Relevant – Time bound

Unless we view our goal in these 5 angles, it becomes a tedious task to achieve it. And how? So I will use my very SIMPLE example of taking care of health … what I realized was I had set a very open ended goal of taking care of my health without any fixed time frame in mind. Perhaps if I had structured the goal well with SPECIFIC tasks like sleeping by 11 pm daily or exercising for 30 minutes daily, my resolution would seem RELEVANT. Further, I would be able to MEASURE these over a period of time since I could start implementing these small but ACHIEVABLE tasks from Day 1 itself thus making them more TIME BOUND. Hence, global goals do not work my friends … keep them simple, make them SMART.

That was about me, would love to know what were your resolutions for the new year and were you able to live up to them so far?? You know what they say about goals right, announce them to the world and you will be under a social obligation to fulfill them.

Now that I have shared with you these simple yet powerful tips, I expect you to forgive my sort of long absence from this space :).  And as a compensation for my delay, I promise to be back on 28^th Jan with a very interesting topic as it happens to be our blog’s anniversary. Enjoy the year ahead and do stay tuned!

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#happynewyear, #2017, #resolution, #newyearresolution, #resolveordissolve, #health, #smart, #goals, #smartgoals

Agents of Change

Two big economies, two shockers, within 24 hours. Nobody’s guess!

People are not only left baffled with the outcome of the US presidential election but they are also marching protests over the result. In fact, in all my interactions with friends and colleagues, I have not come across anybody who would vote for Mr. Trump. But if the majority section of the population was not in his favour, then who was? This brings me to a few questions :

• Do we know the difference between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’?
• If yes, then is the definition of right changing with time?
• If yes, then is the choice based on right or wrong at all?
• If not, then is there a larger force at play which influences human judgement?

The win proves one point of human psychology clearly though that we humans wear a façade. While there was a smaller segment of the population which continued to openly support Mr. Trump’s candidature despite his obnoxious comments, there may have been an equally big part of the society who were from within supporting his preachings or hoping for a more vocal leader, but they were not disclosing their choice, lest they might tarnish their so-called public image.

Mr. Trump’s personal life as well as his professional demeanour have been far from ideal. But may be that is where our society is tending towards in modern times … hidden desires of unleasing the  outrageous (read darker) part of oneself is perhaps what has been manifested in this win. Some even hope that his campaign persona should turn out to be a farce and they see a more tonned down and accommodative version of their new President in the coming times. To the surprise of many, this was exactly his stance in the victory speech in which he said that he is President for all and would take the nation to new heights in coming times.

If there was anyone who could claim equal limelight during such an event, it was our PM Shri Modi. The de-monetization of select high value Indian currency notes was a good move and has several benefits namely, clearing black-money stored in the form of cash, invalidation of counterfeit notes, putting a stop-gap to illegitimate and anti-social uses of this money, and many other trickle-down benefits. But, people still would like to overshadow the merits of this move by bringing up unrelated topics or issues which are not really show-stoppers. Yes, it will not eradicate black-money but is definitely a positive step in that direction. Yes, there will be chaos for a while and it could have well been timed over a weekend instead of a working day to reduce public inconvenience. Plus there are quite a few scenarios in which one needs to make a cash payment and the daily withdrawal limit of Rs.10,000 does not support this cause. However, the Govt is trying to bring in some change and we should welcome it for what it is, rather than rejecting it outright for what it was never meant to be.

May be since people had not anticipated these announcements (both US and India), that is the reason for the wide-spread disappointment. If the opinion polls from the beginning had swung in favour of Mr. Trump or Mr. Modi had given people a holiday to tide over the effects of this new scheme (since they would not be pressed for cash on a non-working day as much), the reactions would have been a bit somber. The markets had also swayed initially and are now showing signs of normalcy. Markets are but the projection of human sentiment.

So we observe the following here :

• There is a polarization of thoughts amongst people despite growing education and civilization.
• This polarization though present, is mostly latent by choice or by ignorance.
• Any ‘change’ whether for ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ creates an initial disruption and surfaces this polarization in public.
• Disruption slowly tends towards normalization with time and becomes the new right for the society till another ‘change’ is introduced.

Well, nobody knows how far this will go, but the optimist within me hopes that it can only get better from here on for India, the US and the rest of the world till the next ‘change’ happens.

Would like to hear your views on this one – varied as they may be 🙂

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#agentsofchange, #trump, #modi, #donaldtrump, #narendramodi, #uselection, #blackmoney, #demonetisation, #economicdevelopment, #change, #rightvswrong, #polarization

76, Not Out …

Strolling down the aisle, purrs the cat
Did he just spot a rat?

Two eyes gleam from the dark hole
Two hands have a few morsels stole

Not a rat this is a mouse
Together they live in this big house

The cat is big, he must be strong
Still how come he gets it wrong

The mouse is tiny, he must be weak
Still how come he does not shriek

Axes n hammers n poison n tanks
No weapon is spared in their pranks

Each time they go on the kill
The whole world laughs at free will

Who is better from the other
That is really nobody’s bother

For 76 years they gave us merry
Together till date – Tom & Jerry!

Created in 1940 by Hanna-Barbera, they turn 76 years old this year. But one never outgrows some characters and people despite time and status. My most favourite cartoon characters till date – Tom & Jerry do that for me. What would I have done without you 😀

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#tomandjerry, #cartoons, #ilovecartoons, #76thbirthday, #hannabarbera, #catandmouse, #jokes, #laughter, #warnerbros

Hey You!

Hey You!

I know you

C’mon you know me too … remember the years gone by?

Together we counted stars in the sky?

The twinkle of your eye says yes

But the wrinkle on your face says no

Oh I get it! Your memory has just gotten a bit slow

Hey You!

I’ll remind you

Of all the buses n trams and evenings wrapped in our arms

Of all those giggles n tickles and fights with sickles

The curve of your lips says yes

But the curve of your brow says no

Oh I get it! You just don’t want it to show

Hey You!

I will show you

The park n our walks, those late night talks

The sea n sands, those holding hands

The sound of your voice says yes

But the tone of your voice says no

Oh I get it! You must have taken the vow

Hey You!

I thought I knew you

My feelings for you remained just the same

But you thought my love was some kinda game

Oft’ I missed those walks n talks we had

And to meet you again, I was so glad

But the man I knew has long been lost

The one I see is cold as frost

Strangers again we have become

Only this time, with memories none.

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#hey, #heyyou, #poetry, #poetsofinstagram, #stranger, #lostfriend, #lostlove, #friendship, #love, #memories, #lovesong, #memories

 

Haiku with Peekaboo!

From the time that I have taken to poetry (or poetry has taken to me 🙂 ), always wondered what is so great about ‘Haiku’. It looks so simple and yet has an unquenched thirst to it … may be due to its length which lends this abruptness to it. But whatever the case, I always thought of attempting to write 1 … and today when I did, I realised how difficult it is to simplify things 🙂

But, before I go there, a little something for those interested in the literary aspect of it.
‘Haiku’ is a 3-line Japanese poetry which describes a fleeting moment, usually to do with nature. Characterized by its simplicity, intensity and direct expression; an English Haiku poem follows a 5-7-5 pattern and is usually based on 2 subjects.
So here it is :

Peekaboo!

Somewhere behind those rowdy clouds
The sun is playing hide and seek
Beware! It’s lazy, not weak

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#haiku, #peekaboo, #poetry, #poetsofinstagram, #nature, #cloudysky, #hideandseek

P.S: For reading other poetry forms by Moonatic, please click here :
Modified Limerick : Two birds
Shape poem : 100 Days
And many more …