For the restless spirit!

2020 is definitely the year of lessons.....for me, for you, for all, for communities, countries, economies... I am a part of a Facebook group called "Girls LOVE Travel".  Yesterday I came across an interesting post there:  " Please brag to me about a thing you did in 2020 that you are proud of. "  The post got thousands of responses - and I spent most of my morning reading them. For a year that everyone characterizes as all things negative, I was struck by the positivity I saw there ...... from hundreds of women all across the world .... it filled my heart.... and reminded me of the indomitable spirit of us humans. Instead of mourning or worrying themselves silly due to the crazy times around, these women have given a positive twist to their coping mechanisms, to do wonderful things - they have taken better care of themselves, so many have got out of abusive relationships and moved on to better lives, some mended broken connects, many started new endeavors - commerc...

I am sure we have all learnt something this year - good, bad or ugly.  So much has changed - some we were able to manage and some not at all. Yet the year has listened to no one..... like tsunami, it has crashed on our unprepared shores and created a lot of deep wreckage, some that probably can be restored / revived and a lot that has changed forever.  One of my many learnings this year has been this :  We spent most of our lifetime building bridges and then either breaking them or having to walk away. Only a handful, if at all, of the bridges we built in our lifetime, remain unchanged .....  And I don't mean this in a negative manner, I say it as it is - the way Nature and Life intended it to be, perhaps.  One of my recent joys has been gardening, though I have the smallest of space to use. Yet, each morning, I rush to my balcony to see which buds have bloomed and which flower has wilted overnight. Both fill my heart. A little bud sparks hope in me - of somethi...

  I think all of us will remember this year for a very long time - probably for as long as we live. So many things have changed for most of us. Deeper questions have unravelled in many of our journeys and not many of us have any answers or even clues. We just don't seem to know anymore!  Now that makes us humans, uncomfortable. We like to know and we have been spoiled to believe we control far more than we actually do. Hence the build-up of angst in many quarters - we are in unfamiliar territory and we don't like it at all. Just before the Covid lockdown, a dear friend gifted me with a book by Oprah Winfrey - "What I know for sure." And I started reading it during the countless days when I was home alone - staring out at a clueless world that had been brought to a grinding halt. This is the first time I read a book by Oprah and the theme resonated deeply.  In these uncertain times, when the fundamentals of all we knew, have been so rudely shaken and for so long - what...

Suddenly... I realize that it's been 6 months since the world started changing, almost beyond recognition - 6 months since Covid took over almost all of our life decisions. I realize that there's just about 4 more months to go in this Gregorian year that probably none of us will ever be able to forget.  And in the midst of it all, in a couple of days, I will advance further into my fabulous 50s. This seemed like perfect time to take stock! And I look back ..... Globally, the new normal is now settling in ...... even as some countries and economies struggle to bring back "normalcy" or in other words, the older ways of doing things. I seriously wonder how much will go back to what we  had got used to. I am reminded that like perspective, normalcy is also dependent on where we stand....... when we move, our perspectives and what we consider normal also shifts.  A 7 year old instinctively reaches for his mask when he is venturing outdoors and hasn't met his friends fo...

I had been toying with this for so long that most around had even stopped taking me seriously .....  But finally, I have turned the page; I have closed this chapter.  I moved to this fantasy desert city 15 years ago, almost unwillingly. Yet these 15 years have perhaps been the most fulfilling in my life - shaping the person I am today; this adopted land has given me a lot that I am, and always will be, thankful for.  But I am done here. Done with this country and the region. Done with my corporate life. Done with my comfortable living. Don't get me wrong - I have loved it all; I just want different now - despite the obvious risks.   And all this was decided, way before CoVid-19 hit the world and shook it hard. In Dec last year, I had resigned from my cushy job with the intention of returning back to my homeland during the summer of 2020. This was to be my year of transition!  The virus threw in a curve ball earlier in the year - but in a...

I recently looked at a picture of mine; it triggered a lot of thoughts on how much has changed in me.....within me.... in keeping with the theme of Change, I used another format to share my musings:  She looked at herself in the mirror, and looked again She hadn’t done it for a while. How time had passed! Is that really me? Bemused, she asked herself I look different. And not just physically. Change, as we all know, is the only constant. Of course, she had changed into an older, wiser version But was that all? Or was it more than just skin deep. Her eyes gave away the answer, they spoke of all her experiences Her tone reflected the wisdom that came with the salt n pepper look Yet, it was not only that. There was more! Just as there was serenity in her demeanor, as she stood there There was this unmistakeable twinkle in her eyes Like a young child ready to run off on a discovery of his own. She was ready for another flight, to places that beckoned The years h...

It's been almost 3 months! Since the world around us changed, suddenly....leaving us all gasping in disbelief and fear. Nothing happens unless something is moved - Albert Einstein The world has indeed moved and I think everyone and everything is gearing up for the new realities as they have started gradually unfolding. I am there too and trying to be as open as I can.... to these new norms. For someone terribly claustrophobic, I have now started going for my evening walk wearing a mask. It's terribly uncomfortable and makes breathing a struggle, but that's the only way I can step out, so tough luck.... I am making new choices. I think by now, we all have accepted that "normal" is going to have a new meaning. And I think once the horror and disbelief left us, we all have started the process of adjustment, within ourselves and our homes. We look at ourselves differently now, we look at our loved ones with a fresh pair of eyes  ( though some partner...

Wow.  We are now in the 4th month of the year 2020 .....  Gosh, what a start! It's like the world will never ever be the same again and we haven't even got to the half way mark of this year.  CoVid 19, social distancing, lockdowns, looming recessions ..... our world has come to a grinding, screeching halt. No one still knows what tomorrow will look like, for anyone. This is a watershed year for sure. Interestingly, for me, personally, I had anyways planned for this to be the year I changed courses. Even before the ugly virus appeared. Now the change appears bigger than I had envisaged. But I believe in change; I am ready for it. So here's to 2020 : the year of Transition! April, 2020  I have truly lost track of time. My life - and everyone else's - has changed drastically in the first quarter of 2020. All our parameters of normalcy have crumbled and disappeared and we have all got used to new terms and lifestyles - social distancing, f...