How are you feeling right now?
Subdued.
Tag: challenge
Life, in the blink of an eye!
What topics do you like to discuss?
“Life is like riding a bicycle”.
Albert Einstein wrote in a letter to his son Eduard.
Balancing work, family, and leisure time can lead to a more harmonious existence.
One should maintain balance. To achieve it, we must be willing to adapt to new circumstances and embrace change.
But, that doesn’t happen too often. Life poses many challenges.
We grow old and lose a loved one. We get fired, get separated, meet with an accident or suffer an unexpected financial loss — any of these can happen when you least expect it.
A loss in life puts us down. But we should learn to move on with the same vigour rather than continue to suffer in pain.
Patience is what we should keep when overcoming challenges.
We all know how COVID-19 hit us all unaware. The pandemic showed how life is impermanent.
We suffered huge losses. Events were postponed, our travel plans cancelled, the economy tanked, many lost jobs, and uncertainty reigned supreme.
Buddha taught Four Noble Truths.
They can be more simply put as:
1) suffering exists.
2) suffering has a cause;
3) suffering has an end;
4) and suffering has a cause to bring about its end.
Buddhism and Hinduism share the doctrine that says “nothing lasts, everything is in a constant state of change”.
Even Taoism and Sufism teach the same thing.
We can’t take our bodies with us and accepting the impermanence of all things brings us closer to our divine nature.
The impermanence of life refers to the ever-changing nature and eventual perishing of all things in our universe. Plants die. People die. The universe keeps disappearing into eternity.
Everything ends.
Our life is recycled into the universe. All stars burn out. The universe will one day fold up, come to a close, so nothing, regardless of how big or small, can escape an ending.
You don’t have much of a choice. There’s no pause button in life.
‘This should also pass’ – should be one’s motto in life.
You’re here for a moment, so you might as well enjoy the blink of an eye that you’re here.
And remember what Jim Rohn said, “You cannot change the destination of your life overnight, but you can change your direction”.
Fart, a sport and loads of laughter thereafter.
What makes you laugh?
When we were young, we imagined animals were ferocious. And they killed other animals for food.
But when we watched the cartoon characters such as Tom and Jerry on Disney, we were so humbled.
Alex, the lion, from the Madagascar series’ Escape to Africa movie, was a captive, pals with other animals, dancing and entertaining. Hilarious!
The King of the Jungle was shown a laughingstock as Alex stood a complete joker in the movie with a fruit-hat.
That just makes one laugh.
The same is the case with people we see every day in our life.
We laugh when big people cry at the doctor’s clinics. We laughed when we saw George Galloway, the MP from Bethnal Green dressed as a cat crawling on all fours at the Celebrity Big Brother show in 2006.
Have a personal story to tell.
I used to coach my 8-year-old cousin Sindhu. I had just finished college and my parents told me to teach her civics, history and science.
She had many friends, and they treated me with respect. I felt I was like a professor emeritus.
The girls often played with a skipping rope.
One day, Sindhu asked me during break if I could beat one of her friends, Akila, in a skipping game. Her friends said she was a sport, and she held the record for most jumps.
I said, oh yes. Why not? Throw the rope. We gathered in the driveway in front of her house.
Akila first started. By the time I got into a pair of track pants, she had already finished 50. She was seriously an athlete.
She gave me the rope after finishing 70. At a stretch, without a break. I was really worried. The other girls clapped. It’s my turn now.
My uncle, aunt and the maid have all gathered now to see the challenge. Loads of audience, waiting. Interesting!
I picked up the rope and started jumping. I quickly counted 20 and was just racing. I thought it was so easy.
When I reached 35, I felt something wasn’t alright. My stomach was giving me some discomfort.
Oh! God, no! Not now!
By the time I reached 40, I ripped one out so loud. Thrrrrrrrrrrrreppp!
A fart in the middle of a sport wasn’t so nice. The girls giggled.
48, 49, 50 and this time it was long. Frrrrt… Frrrrrrrrrt!
I could hear Sindhu, Akila and friends bursting out into a roaring laugh.
I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My pride was at stake. I kept jumping.
The fart now had got worse. It sounded wet. So serious.
57, 58, 59. I saw my uncle, aunt and the maid getting up and running inside the house laughing out loud. The place had suddenly become a circus.
I couldn’t continue beyond 63 and gave up.
Fart played a spoil-sport. I couldn’t help but join in their laughter.
I laughed, they laughed, and did you have a laugh?
Laughter, ultimately, was the winner.
Thank Heavens!
You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?
Not many seem to live through two centuries to write an autobiography in a sentence. Thank heavens, I do.
Yes, I do.
Do you enjoy your job?
To quote Maynard James Keenan, I’m a lot easier to work with now than I have been in the past, for sure.
Thanks for asking.
A challenge for me and my nation alike!
What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?
Allow me to rephrase the question: What is the biggest challenge I and my nation will face in the next six months?
Our nation, India, is gearing up for the general election between April and May 2024 to elect new members for 543 Lok Sabha seats in Parliament.
I shall be looking forward to a feverish campaign nationwide by political parties of all hues and colors.
This election is going to throw some huge surprises though, as the country is now divided between people who continue to call India a secular democratic country and those who seek to create a new nation which holds religion and faith supreme.
Who will win this time will create a new path for India. To achieve the objective, we as citizens face a huge challenge: which way should I take India forward?
The current government at the center, headed by PM Mr. Modi has been ruling the nation since 2014 and is rooting for a third term in a row. A hat-trick performance is what his party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aiming at.
But the leaders of the opposition have come together and formed an alliance in the name of the I.N.D.I.A (INDI Alliance). They are more determined this time to stop the juggernaut of the ruling NDA.
While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP is strong in the north of the country, the opposition alliance (INDIA), on the other hand, is putting up a better show in the South.
The next six months, therefore, is indeed a challenge for the political leaders and the citizens, alike. Each of us has a vote that’s going to seal the fate of a nation of 1.43 billion people.
Do join us and help in our prayers for a more vibrant and stronger India.
Isn’t that a challenge?
"சென்றிடுவீர் எட்டுத் திக்கும்" 