obtuse angle

"There is no failure except in not trying" - Elbert Hubbard (American writer) Failure jolts you. May be you were not prepared. You start introspecting as to what went wrong (unless of course you knew already that you would fail for certain reasons!). It gives a lot of insight into the whole process, analyzing each and every step. You will know the exact reasons that resulted in your failure. In your next attempt you would avoid such glaring mistakes. The chances of success become more. Still you might commit some other mistake (not in the list of your earlier mistakes). Eliminate it in the next try. So, this is a continuous process. We keep learning throughout our lives. Embrace your failures and learn the lessons from the failures. Has anyone learnt cycling without falling down, a number of times? And after we learn it properly, we will not forget riding a bicycle in our lives, even if there is a big gap between the cycling expeditions. Likewise, swimming and many othe...

Everyone in life strives to achieve some coveted goal. Only a very few individuals may not have such ambition. What propels us to succeed in our mission? First and foremost, it is the passion. Without the passion of doing the particular activity, we cannot achieve the desired result. And next comes the 'single-minded dedication' towards the achievement of the target. No wavering, during the course of that task, come what may. Focus pointedly towards the desired dream. On the way, there are bound to be hurdles (both expected and unexpected). Expect the 'unexpected' and be prepared to cross over. In short, we should cultivate the 'never-say-die' spirit. Nothing should deter us from achieving our goal. The Japanese like their fish to be very fresh (and not dead). Due to depletion of fish school near the fringes of the sea coast, they had to go far into the sea to catch fish. By the time the fish is brought to the shore, it is either dead or not active. The peo...

Detached attachment - It is an oxymoron. Both words have opposite meanings but when they combine to form a phrase, they give a totally different meaning! We tend to attach ourselves with anything material, especially material comforts. We soon get used to those comforts and if we are denied those comforts (for whatever reason), we get shattered. We cannot imagine as to how we could live without those comforts. To quote an obvious example, our 'smart phones'. The youngsters now wonder as to how the old people ('oldies' in their parlance!) managed without the smart phones in their heydays! The biggest challenge in life for the youngsters now, would be to be away from their phones for more than an hour. Some people have great affinity towards their home, car, pen, and similar personal things. Their affection and attachment to them will be even more than what they have for their spouses. When queried, 'what is the biggest wonder in the world?', the answer give...

The other side always is greener than wherever you are....., well most of the time! So it seems. It is an old phrase descended from Latin. The one who plays in the farm, looking at the aircraft flying overhead, aspires to be up there. The pilot yearns to set foot on earth and take rest. Well, the privileges, the power, the affluence may differ from one place to the other. So is the case with the misery, hardships, pressure, tension etc. We cannot therefore compare just the positives (ignoring the negatives) and wish to belong to the other side. Actually, in an agricultural field, you can experience this. It will look greener on the far side. But when you go near that side and look back to where you stood earlier, that side will look greener. I have experienced it when I was a boy (when I used to visit my relative's village). Is it not a 'fallacy' to think so, or a 'myth' or an 'illusion'? It is a general feeling that many of us get during our lifetime...

Prelude : I am happy to upload this blog in commemoration of my 45 years of happy married life. Today I am entering the 46th anniversary with my adorable wife. It is a coincidence that this is my 45th blog. I thank everyone who has been reading my blogs. I upload my blogs every fortnight. Marriages are made in heaven. Is it? Now-a-days, marriages (or marriage ideas) are made in offices, pubs, streets, bus shelters, parks, (even) schools etc.. You name a place, there, marriage proposals are done. There was a Tamil drama long back, titled "Marriage made in saloon". But I for one, believe that 'marriages are made in heaven'. Though it appears to take place in various places (mentioned above), the seed is sown in heaven. It is predetermined 'there'. Marriage is an 'institution', which most of the present generation youngsters do not respect. They think marriage is a 'convenience'. They go further still and think there is no need for 'marri...

HABITS DIE HARD. It is generally true (and that is why it is an 'axiom'). But like every rule (or axiom) this too does have exceptions, right? For your ready reference, I give below some of the common habits that we have. biting fingernails/pen (they are supposed to be in deep thought...!) smoking (habit inculcated during school/college days) obsessive checking of phone (everybody does now) chewing gum ( cannot imagine some established players without chewing) timely eating (good habit) watching movies (depends on the movies) day-dreaming (yes, most of us do) procrastinating (except a few, almost all others do ) gossiping (no exception, I think) argumentative (Indians are supposed to be argumentative - as per economist Amartya Sen) fiddling with keys/paperweight (really irritating habit) (I too have this habit!) regular workout (good for us, but neglected by many) These are just a few of the common habits. No one can escape from having some of these habits (and s...

When we go to a crowded restaurant (where there is no reservation system), we may have to wait for a table. The occupants of the table would appear to us as monsters taking their sweet time to finish off their meals. It may look like, we are waiting for eternity! We will curse them in our mind. "Can they not finish their meals soon? How long do we have to wait? They do not have the courtesy to quickly finish and give way to people waiting for the table. What kind of people....?" Okay, now finally we get the table for us. During the course of taking our grub, there comes another group of people and waits for our table. "Why do they have to breath down our neck? We cannot even take our meals peacefully; what a pity?" - This is how we would grumble, right? We go out to a nearby place for some shopping, by walk. Very surprisingly so...! We did not follow the IMD report for the day. Suddenly it starts poring. We curse the rain as if we do not need rain for our surv...