Reflections of a restless eccentric

I have always placed a great deal of importance on my career, and as a result have many times ended up prioritizing it over several things in the personal hemisphere. But of late, these decisions that come so naturally to me have started looking like difficult choices. I often wonder if I'm doing the right thing. Right by whom? Right for what? are questions that I pore over morosely. I write this in the hope that it will bring me some clarity, and help others dealing with similar questions. My father has had many skirmishes with illness lately, and they have resulted in numerous visits to the hospital. When this first started, my Dad was very shaken, and so was I. My parents, knowing my schedule, did not ask me to accompany them. I felt that they could use the moral support though, and hence, my husband and I went to the hospital despite my parents' insistence to the contrary. My dad was very happy to see us, and later confessed that he'd felt sad that there was no one to ...

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....

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...