Reflections of a restless eccentric

Of late, I've been fascinated by behavioral economics, and have been reading several authors from this genre: Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Ariely, Daniel Kanheman, Dubner and Levitt, Angela Duckworth, Adam Grant(I suppose these last two belong more in the genre of psychology, but the re-branding of much of that genre as behavioral economics is a topic for another day). The newest addition to my list is Drive by Daniel Pink, a book that explores motivation in detail. The reason this genre is so intriguing to me is because it attempts to explain why we do what we do, which has always been something of a mystery. The amalgamation of what I've read in these books is my inspiration for this article. Over the weekend, I was trying to finish up my music assignments since the deadline was looming quite close. One of these was particularly daunting to me: composing tiny phrases that adhere to the grammar of a musical scale(Raaga). After putting this off for ages, I sat down to make an attempt....

A while ago, a group I belonged to had this activity where we were asked to name women scientists in India. I struggled to find names, and that struck me as sad. Surely there must have been inspiring women scientists in my country too. Was it that no one chronicled their lives? Or maybe it was just me who was blissfully unaware of their existence? So this weekend, when I was looking for a book to read, I searched for something that would shed more light on this topic. And that's how I stumbled upon Lilavati's daughters , a collection of 100 biographical essays on various women scientists hailing from India scattered across a multitude of disciplines. I started reading, and I was immersed into stories of various women and their struggles in science. But one story instantly stood out for me: it tugged on my heartstrings and inspired me, and it is that I choose to narrate to my Reader today. Disclaimer: My narration is based mostly on the essay I have read, and the few articl...

I'd like you to read this post, Dear Reader. In it, the author recounts how one tiny sparrow taught her about hope and faith. My paraphrasing might come off as trite, but the emotion in the writing is definitely not. It moved me deeply, and I suggest you read it as well. Today, I'd like to share an incident from my life that had a similar impact on me. Back in January, there was a week when life seemed very chaotic. I also happened to be staying alone at that point, and it wreaked additional havoc on me, causing me to get into a depressive spiral. I would cry almost everyday, and fret over many things. I was not in a good place personally. On one such evening, I came back from work. There was something I'd ordered online, and the tracking status on the website showed that it had been delivered to me, but it clearly hadn't been. Mildly annoyed, I called customer care. On the other end was a person immune to my distress, who calmly told me that there was nothing the...

A couple of weeks ago, I was conducting a session on communication skills for my mentee, in which one of the exercises was to speak on an impromptu topic. Not wanting the session to get too one-sided in the sense that I pick the topic and she speaks, I asked her to try out the reverse as well. She immediately gave me a topic: 'your role model'. Instinctive responses are sometimes very insightful. They show us what we really think, unfettered by the filters that are normally in place. And that's what happened to me. I ended up speaking on the topic for a whole five minutes, and I heard from her that it was very inspiring. But most of what I'd said was new to me in that I'd never consciously vocalized it before. The feeling was weird. Anyway, I've decided to write about what I spoke, with two different perspectives. This will also be the foundation for my next article on re-framing and building a story. This dates back to my childhood. My parents were both wor...

This is yet another inspired article (what is really original anyway?). I've been reading Grit by Angela Duckworth, and this article is a basic paraphrasing and personal retelling of the tenets outlined in the book. The primary thing I've marveled at and craved for in life is effortlessness. People who do something effortlessly fascinate me, and I watch them spellbound, trying to fathom the reason for their excellence.  Imagine this : you watch/listen to a magnificent performance of an actor/dancer/musician/athlete. What would you attribute this magnificence to? If you belong to the overwhelming majority of the population, you would undoubtedly respond in the blink of an eye: talent. I would have said the same. For haven't we all gone home and tried out the same feat, only to find ourselves bitterly disappointed by the result? I, for one, have. And this is a resounding proof of our hypothesis. That person you watched was way more talented than you ever will be. We b...