A Mind Awake

                          Beyond the Paycheque                   Money matters. But it isn't the only thing that gives our time value. Have you ever caught yourself scrolling through social media, suddenly gripped by panic—"What did I accomplish today?" That nagging voice whispers: You're wasting your time. You're not doing anything worthwhile. We've been conditioned to believe that "time is money," that every moment must yield tangible, measurable results. But what if we've been measuring wrong all along? Doing work for pay is obviously what we all consider time well spent, but what about people who are not earning? The homemakers, the retirees and the elderly sitting at home—are they not spending their time effectively? For a household to function properly, there are areas where one has to work without any pay or remuneration. Washing, cooking, cleaning, laundry, ironi...

                                          Words have power The same message, different words—one sparked rebellion, the other changed behavior forever. Explore how our choice of words reflects our values and holds the power to inspire or destroy.   The words we choose in our lives have the power to affect people and the world around us. They can make or break a person. Our words and even the tone reflect our beliefs, principles, prejudices and morals-sometimes in ways we may not even intend. They shape how others perceive us and the issues we speak or write about.   Words when said or articulated in the right way, can change someone’s mind. They have the power to alter someone’s beliefs. You have the power to push and encourage someone who has lost all hope to do well, make a s...

  Boredom Is a Choice: Rediscovering Daily Wonder Why do we feel dead in a world that's constantly alive? Explore how our minds create boredom by clinging to the past, and discover how living in the present can make every day feel new again.   Have you ever stopped to wonder why, despite living in a world of endless novelty, we still find ourselves bored? Recently, I came across a piece in Hidden Harmony , courtesy of Osho Times International , that explored this very question. Its insights resonated deeply with me, and what follows is my reflection on boredom, inspired by those ideas—a meditation on why we feel dead in a world that's constantly alive. The Paradox of Newness Why do we get bored? Every day is a new day. Every sunrise, every second, every hunger, every sleep is new. Every moment, every gesture, every conversation unfolds differently. If life is constantly renewing itself, why do we become bored? The answer, perhaps, is simple: we don't experie...

                   The Silent Calculations             Freedom shouldn't require strategy—but for many women, it still does. A woman boards an evening train in cocktail attire, heading to a celebration. Another wears jeans and an off-shoulder top to meet friends. A third chooses a short skirt for a summer outing. What should be ordinary moments of self-expression become calculated decisions about safety, judgment, and navigation. This is the reality we haven't resolved: women are told they can wear anything, yet simultaneously told to behave "appropriately," speak "appropriately," sit "appropriately," eat "appropriately," and drink "appropriately" based on what they're wearing. But what does that even mean? Women are human beings, not puppets who must conform to rules laid down by others. Women who embrace both Indian and Western clothing do so for a sense of freedom and expression. There's nothing inherentl...

        Golgappa: India's Beloved Street Food                 The little puri that unites a nation   Imagine a crisp hollow shell — no bigger than a golf ball — filled with boiled chickpeas and dunked in sharp, tangy, cold water, then popped whole into your mouth in one go. That first burst is something Indians carry with them for life. And somehow, in a country of wildly different languages, climates, and cuisines, this one tiny snack manages to unite nearly everyone, perhaps second only to democracy debates and Bollywood. This iconic bite is made of three simple components: a hollow deep-fried shell (puri) made from whole wheat flour or semolina; a flavorful filling that changes across regions—boiled chickpeas or ragda in Lucknow and much of western India, mashed potatoes in NCR, and black chickpeas, potatoes, and roasted spices in eastern India; and a sour, spicy, or sweet flavoured water (paani), poured into th...

                                                                                                  BLUE                              The Many Shades of Blue and You   My favourite colour is blue, but someone once asked me — which blue? Such a simple question, yet it stopped me completely. And once it did, I could not stop thinking. Blue is not just blue. It can be sky blue, navy blue, turquoise, light blue, baby blue, denim blue, indigo, midnight blue and so much more. Each shade carries its own personality. Navy is bold and authoritative — the colour of uniforms and deep oceans. Baby blue ...

       NO CAP: An Indian Millennial’s Guide to Gen Z Slang                                               Sometimes the newest words describe the oldest feelings.   I need you to understand something about my generation before we begin. We grew up thinking we were cool. We had an Orkut profile with a Dil Chahta Hai quote in our scrapbook. Girls my age highlighted their hair and called it "streaks." I carried a Nokia 3310 like it was a handbag accessory. I wore a salwar kameez to the office with a tiny bindi and thought I was the picture of modern Indian womanhood. By the standards of the time, I was doing just fine. Then my son, my nephew, and every Gen Z colleague in my life started speaking what sounded like English but landed like a foreign film with no subtitles. My son said something was "bussin'" at dinner last Sunday. My fathe...

                                                                                   Love For Life                          A story about a girl who had to find herself before she could find her way There is a girl who is afraid. Not of the dark, not of strangers—but of what people might think. She has spent years trying to be the person everyone expected her to be. Somewhere along the way, she stopped asking herself who she wanted to become. Those expectations loomed over her like dark clouds, and somewhere beneath them, she had lost track of her own shadow. Her name is Payal. She is 16, in Class X, at an age w...

                       When Life Shakes You                                    A small everyday moment. A question worth sitting with.   Life has a strange way of shaking us when we least expect it. A harsh word, a sudden failure, an unexpected loss—and suddenly, something spills out of us. I once read a simple idea that stayed with me. Imagine you are holding a cup of coffee and someone accidentally bumps into you. The coffee spills. When asked, “Why did you spill it?” you reply, “Because someone bumped into me.” But that isn’t the real reason. You spilled coffee because there was coffee in your cup. If there had been tea, tea would have spilled. Whatever is inside will always come out when life shakes you.                             ...