Blog me...curiosity redefined

      I recently saw a trailer of the hollywood movie 'It could happen to you'. A beautifully crafted, simple, generous, kind hearted story made me feel - the generosity and honesty is still there, at least in the movie stories. It make me believe that humanity exists even today, thou in reel life.     Who in the right minds would sacrifice half of their lottery win? Many would say "only a fool can do so". In the movie, thou fictional, has a good message in those lines. Being true to yourself matters the most. Empathy matters even more. Good deeds is never wasted, it always returns back. Getting the justice may be slow if you are on the right path, but is never denied.      Being truthful, may not be make us overnight success, but it will assure us that only the right ones remain with us. However hard it is to be truthful to oneself, it is all going to be worth it.      Symbolically, deer is the animal that has the association with ...

      I recently came across an Instagram reel that spoke about how humans, too, undergo rebirth— spiritually . The idea fascinated me. I began wondering what it really takes to be reborn within this very lifetime. At first, my thoughts were rooted in the material world. Later, I realized that the reel wasn’t talking about a physical rebirth at all—it was pointing toward spiritual rebirth . So, let’s take a deeper dive.      We’ve all heard of snakes shedding their skin and butterflies undergoing metamorphosis. But what about human spiritual transformation ?      This kind of transformation is not for the faint-hearted. In many ways, your old self has to die. By that, I mean old habits begin to fall away, people who are no longer meant to walk with you may leave, and core beliefs that no longer serve you start to change. It can feel uncomfortable—even painful at times. But if you are willing to walk through this process, life eventually ...

A Question That Changed Everything A few years ago, my grandfather visited us from another country. Coincidentally, it was also my cousin’s wedding. Amid conversations about business, family, and life in general, I overheard him ask one of my relatives a simple question:      “Are you happy?” That question stayed with me. At the time, I was around 35. I truly believed life was about chasing big dreams, gaining recognition at work, and making money. Please don’t judge me — my life lessons arrived a little late. Today, I’m 46, and I know my priorities far better. ------------------------------- A Moment of Realization      Fast forward to today's life, while watching a youtube video on silence  " Stay Silent — Everything Will Come to You Naturally | Inspired by Brené Brown" — I realized something important: I had drifted away from myself. That realization led me inward and surfaced three honest questions: Am I doing something that truly aligns w...

“God does not listen to our words; He listens to the truth behind them.”    - anonymous “If God understands every soul, why do we fear speaking to Him in silence?”  - anonymous     Let us look at our evolution first.  If most of the past revolutions humans have witnessed in our lifetime, has a language to speak, it would be as below:     Industrial revolution had ' mechanics ' as the language to speak     Digital era had ' programming languages ' as the language to speak     AI era has ' prompts ' as the language to speak to them      In a world where every era speaks in its own language — from mechanics to code — there lies a deeper question: could there be a  language of the heart  that connects us with the Divine? The next being Satya yuga (Kali yuga is gradually phasing out), ever wondered what could be the language to speak to God.       Is it the pure devotion or bhakti? ...

    'Doctors and hospitals are not just meant to delay death but rather add quality to their life of patients'. a dialogue from the movie 'Patch Adams', so simple yet had a profound impact on my heart. It lead me to introspect, "is healing in the medicine OR in the heart behind it?"  The intent, compassion, belief system, faith, happiness shown by doctors is all that makes the difference, isn't it?     At the end of the day, we all know the truth, yet get caught in this storm of making money while doing business. As a teacher/trainer/facilitator/guide for kids, the same applies. Formal education has just become an entry ticket to earning money, instead of identifying the strengths of the kids. Grades & certificates may be necessary to get the job, but the real success lies in the heart of the human connection.      The passion, the happiness, the spirit, the craziness shown by Robin Williams in the movie "Patch Adams" is just muuuuah(latest b...

      "Those greeny little fellows are a treat to harvest", was my first initial thought on harvesting the microgreens couple of weeks back. Yes, my experiment to grow microgreens on couple of trays worked out well. All GREENS in first harvest. It was fenugreek & radish microgreens in the first harvest. I was definitely anxious on how it would come out. Bingo, my first experiment was a huge success.     By the way, you should have tasted my microgreens chutney, it was awesome...on of my innovative south Indian style that I tried. To add to my cooking innovations, microgreens mosarubajji (a type of salad) was great too. Fenugreek ones are a bit bitter, but healthy when added to any food.   Do suggest any innovations here?     Being fairly confident from my first harvest, in second one, I tried fenugreek and chia . Made a few mistakes that I can add to my learnings:  AI generated image - meta AI a) Never soak a chia seeds before sowing...

     Do you often use words like “Yes, please,” “Thank you,” or “Sure, that would be great” with AI-based LLMs like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, etc.?      Well, it may seem like we are being courteous to them, treating them as we would treat any other human being. But there is a deeper fear we humans have—at least for now. What if Generative AI starts learning and mimicking human emotions (also known as sentience )?      It’s easy to say we have hired AI ethicists to keep such things in check. But the fears of the future still persist. By the time we frame the protocols and shape GenAI so it cannot misuse sentience, it may have already surpassed us. Imagine a student who has surpassed a teacher, hahaha.      Let us accept the fear of the unknown. Yes, we don’t know how AI will act once it learns to mimic human traits like emotions or consciousness. The TEDx talk by Deborah Nas, Why Are People Falling in Love with ChatGPT ? , highli...

      "Love the way she sketches", that was my first thought few years ago when I saw a short video on how a pencil sketch was done. It was during Covid time and was locked in my four walls. For many Covid times were hard, am sorry for their loss. But to me, it helped me introspect and find many a hobbies.     I enjoyed the cooking, blogging and stuff like that. But one thing that stood out was my pencil sketch. Then I regained the touch of stroking and shading, couple of months back. Each time I start a sketch, I get so engrossed in to it, that I loose track of time.     Every stroke and every shade, makes me feel am still learning and yearning to do better. However there are certain things that it definitely teaches us. To name a few : a) importance of the shades with white spaces around it.  b) importance of erasing  part of the deep shade to make the contrast stand out. c) importance of depth of pencil re-strokes that highlights the curve...

    I happen to see an Instagram post on 'The Human Library' in Denmark where you get people to hear you out or rent you out like books. Isn't it interesting?  On the darker side of it, has humanity reached a point where you have to rent out people like books?       In the midst of this AI revolution that is trendy now a days, we have been on the verge of major transition. Particularly, we (Humans) have become addicted to technology and have been so dependent on it that we spend on an average 141 minutes (i.e. 2 hours 21mins) on social media across the globe.  That also means the average human attention span has reduced from 12 seconds in 2000 to 7 seconds in 2024.  What does that mean?            Its adding a little bit of impatience, stress, anxiety, self obsession etc. to our mind. Is that fine?  Image credit - Freepik     Yeah on a short term basis, if you can deal with it with alternatives to ...

     I just happen to watch a good speech by Andrew Ng on youtube on AI & how it can empower businesses of any scale. Please watch it before you read my blog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reUZRyXxUs4     All due respect to him, we don't need democratization of AI, but democratization of sustainable villages (like Auroville experimental village in India) as we are impacting the environment/natural resources in the name of AI. Humans don't need more education but rather less of it. We need more of wisdom & values than education.     Man is known for his 'constructive destruction' nature...and we call this as evolving. Being an Indian, I believe in ancient wisdom of ours. Even the bell curve applied to a human life tells us once you reach a certain height of gaining information or knowledge, the next step is to let go of it. After all, wisdom comes only with let go.     We are on the wrong path by giving aw...

  "Design isn’t just what it looks like — it’s what it makes you feel." "Posters that don’t just speak — they shout with purpose." "Turning messages into moments through visual design." "Every great poster tells a story without saying a word." "Good design stops you. Great design moves you." "Crafting clarity out of creativity, one poster at a time." "Designs that connect, inspire, and leave a lasting mark." "Where ideas meet impact — through posters that work." "Speak visually. Inspire boldly. Design fearlessly." "A well-designed poster is more than art — it’s a voice." P.S. - ChatGPT provided inspiring quotes Creativity oozes when I start designing posters. I can tell a story, gives me clarity, puts life in to a message and transforms me. How about using it as an art therapy? Yes, it helps me relax and boosts the moral. Why not? Always enjoyed my Canva creations as it helped ...

        "Are you happy? Is this what you wanted to do in life?" my inner voice rings the bell.           It does not matter what these folks in the outside world look for in you. It is ultimately the inner YOU that needs to be fulfilled at the last. Probably at my age (45+), yes this is what matters!        The goal isn't to competitive with others, but YOURSELF. The agenda is not materialistic pleasures anymore but SERVICE or CONTRIBUTE. With that being said, after all some of us are in the rat race to either earn money or build a career, only to realize is that all they wanted?  I see a lot of young folks following this race to make quick buck to retire early. It's their choice...no comments on it.       Do what you like and most importantly ENJOY...because YOLO. :)            

     A couple of years ago, I was a instructor/mentor/coach for an alternative school in Bangalore. I was supposed to teach them Canva tool as a design tool. Yes, it was a simple task. But I thought of make it more interesting.       The challenge, I put myself was how can we embed 4Cs (Communication, Creativity, Collaboration & Critical thinking) into their learning of Canva tool. The brain gave me some suggestions to use PBL (project based learning) methodology for giving freedom to implement anything under the sun with the Canva tool.      Firstly they came up with their own ideas of what they will be implementing on the Canva within 2 or 3 days. Bingo. Freedom empowered them to own their projects. A buzz created across the school that they are now involved in a project. A curious mind which owns their idea can be a deadly combination. Yes couple of students struggled with to come up with an idea. I asked them what are their hobbi...

     I stumbled upon a job opportunity with an NGO EdTech recently and the expectation was how to monitor and evaluate teachers/educators in Govt. schools at a scale that is across India. Yes I agree it is quiet a challenge when we hardly take a sample size of sessions to monitor. It will be easily skewed towards that particular session's performance and not really going to be a true judge of all sessions.     Nevertheless, if we are to go ahead with this sample size sessions, I was on the thought process of how to approach this problem. Here is my two cents:    (i) Let me first define what indicators to look for in a teaching/facilitating sessions. Different category of indicators are involved here -  (a) Instructor/Teacher   (b) Learner/student  (c) Tools utilized  (d) Teaching methodologies applied.   But ultimately the bottom line questions are -                   ...

I stumbled upon a instagram reel which was funny nevertheless had truth in it. Here it goes:  -  Dawood Ibrahim ran away after blasting bomb  -  Vijay Mallya ran away after taking loan  -  Nirav Modi ran away to London after diamond heist with around 11000 crore  - Police caught whom? The person without the helmet on roads. Isn't India one of the best places to live in. We see all the wonders of the world. Sunny Leone's name came in the college merit list for a B.A in Kolkata. Father cheats in Ludo, his daughter files complaint that it caused emotional stress and led her to lose her trust in her father. We enjoy everything in India from Golgappa Maggi to Chocolate Idlis to Mirinda Omlette.  But what we don't realize or rather even if we realize, we accept it as 'chalta hai' attitude in our system of justice. Most of Gen-Z Indian don't care of which politician is corrupt, as they are busy with their cool life and Entrepreneurial mindset of making m...

 The "Learn, Earn, Churn" framework in customer relationship management is iterative: Learn why churn happens and refine the value proposition. Use those insights to earn more effectively. Continuously monitor and address churn to sustain growth. Courtesy - Canva photos 

 

 Thanks to ChatGPT for the below content. Hail ChatGPT and myself for customisation :-) Hey coffee lovers!      Let’s take a little aromatic trip down memory lane and see how coffee became the soul-soothing, conversation-starting drink we all adore. In India, the story of coffee is as rich as its flavor—a blend of tradition, innovation, and some seriously cool modern vibes. So, grab your favorite brew and settle in as we explore coffee’s journey in India. A sip through History...       Believe it or not, India’s love affair with coffee started way back in the 17th century. Baba Budan, a Sufi saint, smuggled seven precious coffee beans from Yemen’s port of Mocha during his pilgrimage to Mecca. He planted these magical beans in the green, misty hills of Chikmagalur, Karnataka. And guess what? That region still reigns as one of India’s top coffee hubs.       Fast forward to the British era, and coffee cultivation was booming under the East ...

    The future of work is something to ponder. The traditional 9-to-5 or 40-hour workweek is becoming obsolete for the younger generation, who prioritize faster rewards, whether in money or career growth. This shift has already led to the rise of freelancing. Over time, the importance of "time" as a primary factor for pay is being replaced by "skill." Gradually, even skills might become less critical. But what will replace skills? Perhaps, it's attitude. Maybe.     Consider the ASK model (A - Attitude, S - Skills, K - Knowledge). While knowledge is important, it’s no longer a major differentiator in an era where humans compete with AI. Information is abundant, and machines excel at processing it into insights. Skills matter to an extent, but they too might become redundant in the near future. Attitude, however, is where humans can still shine—our emotional intelligence and personal touch make a difference. At least for now, this gives us an edge.     Histor...

        I love beauty and economics, have always pondered over the similarities between the two. Yes, be it nature or economics or even life, it falls into the curve. The Bell, of course.        Beauty lies everywhere, even in a flower, colors, mountains, birds, women, child etc. It is how the eyes sees that matters. A curvy lady can enchant my eyes as much as an economical demand supply curve for me. It is pleasurable only after all the break even, isn't it?           Renowned statisticians say everything in life falls into the Bell curve. Be it count of dices over a period, heights, weights of a group of people, marks of a class/grade, life cycle of industry or a person. We do enjoy its peak as much as while growing. Once the peak is achieved, what about the downfall? Take for instance the Governments or kings that have ruled before. How long have they sustained in the peak is what matters.      Isn't...