Offbeat Spirituality

Its 7 p.m. here in India right now. While coming from office today (yes! We work on Saturdays) I bumped into neighbourhood kids. I asked them that what they did today and pat came the reply – “we played”. It made me think – as adults, how often do we play? By playing I mean it in true sense - in the playground -a cricket, football or rugby match? Why do we adults think that we have hundreds of responsibilities on our head? Why are we always stress? Why is our enjoyment limited to going out for movies, shopping, parties, eating out, chatting unnecessary with people around? True that we need these activities as well to let our presence known and stand tall in the social arena, but where has the kid in all of us gone? The kid who wanted to steal every opportunity to play, to get dirty on the ground, the kid who knew no boundaries, no tensions, no stress .........

Last night we went out for a dinner. It wasn’t on any occasion, but felt like eating Thai. 15 minutes into the restaurant the meal service began. It was simply an excellent meal I’ve had in years - fantastic salad, tasty dishes and brilliant soup. For my own personal development, I have recently started working on gratitude more than ever before. I do so by practising a vote of thanks at every single opportunity. The list includes being grateful towards a rag picker who takes out trash from our compartment, the fruit vendor across the street, the courier guy among others. There are so many people working in the background to make life better for us, the least we can do is to say ‘thanks’. So I took a piece of paper and write out a thank you note to the serving members and the chef. I wrote it sincerely without expectation of any type of a reward. While moving out of the place, I handed the paper to the waiter who collected our bill, saying “This is what I can return you for your superb...

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Leadership means that you do everything thinking that you are zero. Its only then you begin to see the bigger picture. And if you ever get a feeling that you know everything – start counting your days to gloom. To be a leader, you need to – Let go of your past. Leadership makes you forgive others for their mistakes and love them as your own Maintain your health – it is your biggest asset. Leaders are authentic communicators Read and read more. Books are our best friends, really and they make leaders. Develop a habit of writing journals to record good ideas, lessons learned and dreams to be executed on. Run your own race. Leadership isn't about following the mob and being like everyone else. That's followership. Be ethical – maintain immaculate reputation Micheal adds: Try to keep friends with all people. Everyone has a right to an opinion. That’s my list for being a leader – add if you know anything worth mentioning about leadership.

“Do you know who I am?” Last night I heard someone shouting these words at a glossary store. The speaker of these words was a tall man who looked like someone from a very rich family, and he was shouting at a boy aged 14-15 years. This man was so full of ego that it overflowed in his every action. Someone interfered and sorted out the matter within the two within minutes. Just after 10-15 minutes I saw the same man driving away his car rashly, as if wanted to show his anger to the world around and the boy on the other hand was back to his cheerful jokes. Time and again we come across people who are always ready to pick up an arguments or fights. They only need a slight indication. These so called ‘hyper sensitive’ and ‘temperamental’ people can be seen at every corner– in the departmental store, on roads, within movie halls, at parties etc. They do not have a control on their feelings do have tendencies to burst out with anger on others. Our reaction, when we see a incident like these,...

Being a writer, I have developed a habit of observing situations– something that few people consider strange. I was at a conference yesterday where someone from the audience asked if I believe in God in a religious way. For two minutes I just couldn’t answer – I am not a religionist but I do believe that there is a Supreme Force called God. It’s just that I refuse to limit my vision of GOD. So what followed was a detailed discussion which made me write this post today – “What is God?” and “Is it possible to Find Him?”. Science says that everything that originates has an end. So that means whatever we see with our two eyes will become extinct after few years or decades. Since nothing including us is permanent in this universe, how can God be? So it makes sense to realise that God is not like how we perceive HIM (I am talking about Hinduism here). Science also says that the only thing that never dies out is energy. One of the properties of energy that I read in ninth standard stated that...