Yesterday I could have died. And yet here I am, more alive than ever before. It is, however, a very strange feeling to walk down the streets knowing that I might not be here tomorrow. I am looking at people and watching them interact. I look around myself and observe the nature, the buildings surrounding me and the streets I…
Before every exam, every test, every student already carries a question with them, one which stirs a mortal dread in their hearts — what if today’s test contains a question from outside of the syllabus? We aren’t taught to tackle such questions that fall out of the pattern of examining. We aren’t taught to tackle questions which do not align with propriety.…
I seldom cry. And no, that isn't the reason why I'm always happy. There does not exist a magical correlation between them because life doesn't simply slope around two axes. There are too many variables to fit into one graph. Too many possible outcomes for happiness to emerge as the sole solution. Over time I've tried to filter out the…
When Deepak, with his characteristic inquisitiveness, asked me about the things I've learned in my life, it got me thinking. As I looked back and hard at the 62 years that I've lived, it felt as if everything that happened was pre-ordained and that I was just a participant all along, thrown in with various factors, people and circumstances which…
‘Every season in the hills has an essence of its own, one as beautiful as the other', I remember our porter saying, as he hauled our luggage off the sidewalk of Gangtok's tidy Mall Road. Monsoon was slowly descending upon the land of Sikkim, making its way up from the South. Our arrival was veiled in a haze of white,…
“You are only as weak as your strongest link; this is only half the truth. You are also as strong as your strongest link”: Khalil Gibran.
During the course of my treatment, I met a lot of cancer survivors, some of them would visit cancer patients to offer support and guidance. I remember telling Aditi that I didn’t understand how these people could relive their cancer experience again and again, and that when I was done with my treatment, I would just close this chapter of…
"If you could go to a place or a person, where would you rather go?" he asked. "I'd go to a place where my favorite person is." I answered rather cheekily. "So mushy" He had laughed. "Falling in love with a place is easy. A person, not, okay?" I had snapped. "And yet you'd go for the latter. Profound" And…
Heirlooms are magical words. They are passed on to generation after generations, with love and with care. Heirlooms are seldom tampered with, for the emotional value of those exceeds their material value. As of mine, I have endless of these valuables passed on to me by the most unexpected people at the most unexpected times. And these are what I…
Maya Angelou was the ultimate teacher. She would have been 90 today. Although, I never met her in person yet I feel I have known her personally. Through the elaborate writings, powerful poetry, essays, speeches she lives on. I was working late one evening at my first job when I heard the news that Maya had passed away in her…
