A Mind Awake

                                                        Between the Pages                                                                                        Why Books Are the Best Journey You’ll Ever Take There’s a particular smell to old library books. Dusty, a little worn, pages soft at the corners from a hundred other hands. Some of you know that smell. Some of you are yet to discover it. Either way — this one’s for you. My love affair with books didn’t start dramatically. No wise dada-dadi sitting under a neem tree, pressing a book into my hands with a life lesson attached. No “light bulb” moment that I could frame an...

                       The Lost Art of Waiting                                                                        Patience is not a passive pause, but a deliberate practice of growth.                                                                        "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." — Ralph Waldo Emerson   In this fast-paced world of instant deliveries, online ordering, and skipping bank queues with a tap, we have quietly — almost without noticing — become a generation that cannot wait. Instant noodles. OTT platforms...

              Flattery: India's Most Beloved Unofficial Language       From harmless compliments to full-time chamchagiri—why India has turned praise into an art form.   We Indians have a superpower. No, not cricket. Not chai-making either (though that comes close). Our real superpower is flattery — delivered with such warmth, such conviction, such feeling, that even when you know it's not entirely true, you smile anyway. Let's be honest. Every single one of us has either used it, received it, or perfected it into an art form.   "Aap Toh Bilkul Nahi Badle!" Translation: You haven't changed at all! This is the gold standard of Indian flattery. It is said to every aunty, every uncle, every distant relative at every wedding, ever. The person may have aged twenty years, grown three chins, and lost most of their hair — but you will say it. They will say it back to you. Everyone goes home happy. Nobody is lying, exac...

                  When Help Comes Disguised                                    The help we seek rarely arrives the way we expect.   There are moments in life when the mind refuses to cooperate. You replay the same conversation over and over again. You weigh every possible outcome. You seek advice from people you trust. Yet, instead of finding clarity, you find yourself becoming more anxious. The problem doesn't just stay in your mind. It begins to shape the way you see everything else. A few years ago, I found myself in exactly that place. I was struggling with a decision. I had looked at it from every possible angle, discussed it with people I trusted, and still couldn't find peace. One afternoon, while waiting at my son's school reception, I noticed a few magazines lying on the table. I picked one up simply to pass the time. I wasn...

  “It's not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results. What you must do is handle the basics well.” — Warren Buffett                         The Art of Being Ordinary                                              Finding dignity, meaning, and quiet joy in a world obsessed with being extraordinary.   A man sweeping the street before sunrise. A mother packing lunch for her children. A teacher preparing lessons long after school hours. We rarely celebrate these people. Yet without them, society would quietly fall apart. Somewhere along the way, ordinary became a word we no longer wanted to be. Even the dictionary defines it as lacking special distinction, rank, or status. On the surface, that sounds almost like an insult. We live in a world that constantly requires us to...

                                         You Don't Need to Be Perfect—Just Cook Stop ordering out. Learn to cook. Not perfectly—just well enough to feed yourself with food that's edible and comforting. Start today with an easy recipe. Burn it if you must. Try again tomorrow. Knowing how to prepare a meal that is edible and comforting is a blessing. Learning to cook isn't about becoming a chef but learning a life skill. Cooking goes beyond genders. Anyone who eats should know how to cook. You don't need to master a 7-course meal. Start with something simple, even if it feels overwhelming at first. Make tea. Crack eggs into a pan and scramble them while they're still wet, with a little salt and pepper. Toast bread and spread butter on it. Cook some dal and rice. Learn to make a simple sabzi. If you're feeling ambitious, try making rotis. They may come out shaped like maps inste...

                                    Beyond “Love It or Leave It”           You cannot judge the water from the edge. Step in, try, and you might just surprise yourself                          with what you find.   T.S Eliot -Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. The mantra of many in Gen Z seems clear: love it or leave it. Their concentration window has vastly reduced, and they are either fully into something or not at all. There are no in-betweens for them. In a way, this decisiveness is admirable. Knowing yourself so well that you are already aware of your likes and dislikes shows a self-awareness that previous generations often lacked. But here is the problem: what happens when a young person is sceptical ...