obtuse angle

Who doesn't like to tingle his/her taste-bud! Invariably everyone. May be next to 'sound sleep', everyone craves for 'tasty food'. For most of us, our mothers are the best cooks in the world. It could be because we get used to our mothers' preparation right from our childhood. Again, we appreciate the taste of our regional cuisines more than any other food in the world. Of course occasionally we try foods of other regions (and countries) and do like them. But, in general, we always opt for the food preparations prevalent in our area. When we visit Europe, America or China, we look for 'dosa', 'puri', 'chappathi' etc.! We tend to boast and brag about our dishes to anyone, who cares to listen to us. For a Bengali, food without a fish is not a complete and wholesome meal! He will say, 'What dada! Meals without a fish! How could you eat?' People from Andhra, always go for 'spicy' food, whereas Karnataka guys prefer a little...

The 'best' is yet to come. I am not simply referring to a song of Frank Sinatra! It literally means 'whatever is happening now will be surpassed by something better in the future'. "You think you have seen the sun, but you have not seen it shine" - Frank Sinatra. That is how we motivate ourselves to do 'better than the best'. We should never ever get complacent with whatever we have achieved. We should raise the bar and try to cross over. Then again, raise the bar and set a loftier goal. This is the way to excel ourselves. The success does not lie in beating another person; it depends on whether we are able to beat ourselves and keep achieving more and more. There is a word of caution here. Not able to achieve the next goal should never hinder with our happiness. We should always be contended and be happy with whatever we have got. At the same time, we should keep striving to scale more peaks. We have to believe that the 'best is yet to come...

"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...