Ideology through Society, Culture, Family and Sports

Many times in our everyday lives, we take the words we use, for granted. It doesn’t really matter if we do it consciously or not, if we meant to say things that way or not — when words get spoken, the listener is free to interpret them in the mode they want. That makes it imperative for us to use the right words every single time, offering little or no opportunities for misinterpretation. Words evolve from thoughts and therefore, when the latter gets fixed, the former gets fixed automatically. Last morning, we had an eye-opening session on “ Inclusive Language ” presented at TrusTrace by my good friend and colleague, Dinesh . A variety of topics were covered but I wanted to focus on a problem that is so prevalent in our society — Gender Equality, or the lack of it. I have always been conscious about not using terms that focus on a section of crowd and ignoring another: “Guys, can we do this today?” “The supplier should be given access, so that he can add details”. “This would need 10 ...

...that offers us an opportunity to course correct! Call me over-cautious, paranoid, blind believer; I truly think the lock-down request order is indeed going to be useful and therefore, we as a family, have kept ourselves within our house walls for as long as we could. We step out once a week, only to buy groceries, not too far away from our place and at the time of the day when the crowd is likely to be less. Whenever we go, the outside air seems to be so fresh, birds seem happier [not sure if it's just our dreams, we seem to witness some new birds], roads are mostly empty, no honking sound and everything around feels serene. Elsewhere, I heard from someone very reliable that dolphins have come close to the shore and they all seem to be absolutely thrilled to have been given the freedom. And here we are having to surrender the freedom gifted to us, albeit temporarily as all of us like to believe. While we can complain as much as we want about the virus playing havoc i...

The video that inspired me to write this How many times in the past have we complained about work and other priorities not allowing us to spend time with families? Now when we actually have the time, we don’t know what to do with it and constantly are going out on the lookout for entertainment and freedom. What do we do with freedom when we cannot be alive and do not allow others around us to live? Isn’t it time for all of us to become responsible together?  Lock-downs need not necessarily be boring. I wish to list down some of the Do's and Dont's that can make them fun, entertaining and efficient. True - some of those could be hard to follow, just life's way of balancing things! Do’s: Stay where you are , eat what you have. Develop self-control. Find alternatives . Don't seek perfection in moments of adversity. If you run out of tea powder, survive without tea. Going out to buy elementary grocery items should be avoided. Lock-down means a...

It was the month of July, 1997 when I first met Senthil - 23 years ago, approximately. We took a liking towards each other straightaway since both of us carried an air of innocence [or at least that's how it looked like at the beginning]. We sat on the same bench on most of the days, either Arun or me. The fibre framed glasses, chubby cheeks with a prominent dimple, a laughter that was extremely infectious - all of them flash in memory as if it was yesterday. Senthil didn't believe that he was made for computers and therefore he struggled right through the course. It's a huge credit to his determination that he completed his graduation in three years. He worked in a few places across different domains, but deep inside, he always wanted to be his own boss. He combined with a few friends of his at different junctures, initiated different types of businesses. Few succeeded many failed, very badly too. Someone with an impeccable fighting attitude, Senthil always shrug...

TrusTrace turned 3 a few weeks ago and this was to celebrate completion of yet another glorious year together. I don't remember after how many years I went for an official celebratory trip. Regardless of that, the wait is worth it. I write this as a dedication to people who joined the trip and the ones who couldn't. Kora, Kiruthiga, Loks, Kadhambari, Shameek - we missed you all.  " @channel We will leave from office tomorrow at 7.30. Please be on time." was the message from Keerthi on Friday. Sadly for her and us, the travels’ person was not part of the channel and was not listening. And that means only one thing - just like every other trip, the start was delayed, luckily by not that much.  We picked up Suresh and Thiru on way at Mettupalayam and shortly afterwards we took our first break. No idea what energised everyone, a hot seat got created and nobody was spared. I'm not sure how many of those stories were fabricated but the quicker they spoke about the...

At the beginning of May 2019, I was between jobs. On an advise from a well-wisher friend , I attended a Level 1 Table Tennis coaching certification, conducted at the YMCA, Alleppey . Shortly afterwards, I was allowed a chance to work as a part-time coach in the academy he runs . Having been involved in a lot of sports throughout my life, this is the opportunity I have been craving for. It hasn't been smooth sailing right through. I have found coaching beginners to be reasonably easy - for the simple reason, they listen. For someone who believes he is yet to acquire proven credentials on coaching, slightly advanced players pose a challenge. I had to become assertive to deal with everyone. I needed to change - I turned to books for help. I didn't spend time to arrive at a list of books I wanted to read. I chose something that was lying around - "Conquering the Mind" from Eknath Easwaran [had borrowed it from my brother in law , without really attempti...