Vidya Shankar's Blog, page 12
November 10, 2017
Two minutes
The term “two minutes” became popular probably because of a certain advertisement of a product that you could cook in two minutes. Two minutes, like the snap of your fingers, and your hunger was gone.
But in reality, what a lot can happen in two minutes!
In two minutes you could miss your bus or train, with subsequent results. You could be recorded late at your workplace. You could be just there close by, but not close enough to take hold of a person who is falling. You could feel the ball slipping through your fingers in a cricket match. Or you could get that cosy two minute extra sleep in the morning.
Like it happened to me the other day.
What with the cold gradually creeping in, mornings are not exactly not the best of times to wake up. Especially if you’ve been stuck with your laptop till close to midnight. Yet wake up I did, and with great reluctance, tossed my blanket aside and sat on the edge of the bed, not quite ready to greet the day.
Opening my eyes feebly to check on the time, I saw that I had woken up five minutes earlier than my usual. 6:25am. Meaning I had lost out on a good five minutes of my precious sleep.
The blanket was tempting. Two minutes, just a wee two minutes under the blanket surely wouldn’t make a difference. Hadn’t I, after all, woken up five minutes earlier?
I slid back under the blanket. Two minutes later I woke up. Or so I thought till I looked at the clock.
Yikeeees! The clock showed 9:15! Office started at 9:30.
Fifteen minutes later, I was at my laptop. Thank goodness for the occasional work-from-home option.
Vidya Shankar
(Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Nov 11, 2017)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/2e91c2b8-804f-4f89-8923-e970d6ddde7b.aspx
Check out these Pages on Facebook:
Vidya Shankar: The Quintessential Word
Shankar Ramakrishnan: Out of my Focus
Vishnumayamwww.facebook.com
But in reality, what a lot can happen in two minutes!
In two minutes you could miss your bus or train, with subsequent results. You could be recorded late at your workplace. You could be just there close by, but not close enough to take hold of a person who is falling. You could feel the ball slipping through your fingers in a cricket match. Or you could get that cosy two minute extra sleep in the morning.
Like it happened to me the other day.
What with the cold gradually creeping in, mornings are not exactly not the best of times to wake up. Especially if you’ve been stuck with your laptop till close to midnight. Yet wake up I did, and with great reluctance, tossed my blanket aside and sat on the edge of the bed, not quite ready to greet the day.
Opening my eyes feebly to check on the time, I saw that I had woken up five minutes earlier than my usual. 6:25am. Meaning I had lost out on a good five minutes of my precious sleep.
The blanket was tempting. Two minutes, just a wee two minutes under the blanket surely wouldn’t make a difference. Hadn’t I, after all, woken up five minutes earlier?
I slid back under the blanket. Two minutes later I woke up. Or so I thought till I looked at the clock.
Yikeeees! The clock showed 9:15! Office started at 9:30.
Fifteen minutes later, I was at my laptop. Thank goodness for the occasional work-from-home option.
Vidya Shankar
(Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Nov 11, 2017)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/2e91c2b8-804f-4f89-8923-e970d6ddde7b.aspx
Check out these Pages on Facebook:
Vidya Shankar: The Quintessential Word
Shankar Ramakrishnan: Out of my Focus
Vishnumayamwww.facebook.com
November 3, 2017
Shelved resolution
That topmost shelf in my kitchen that’s at a greater height than arm’s length and so is convenient to put away all those knick-knacks that I don’t need every day, that's a great haven for dust and clutter and in dire need of cleaning but never gets cleaned out (because I am so busy with daily routine, and weekends are taken up with the other parts of my life), well, that topmost shelf had been giving me the creepy guilt.
It had started nagging me about a couple of months ago and I had promised I would take a look at it that weekend. But weekend followed weekend and the shelf lay ignored. What could I do? That shelf is not exactly in line of my vision. Moreover, there were far more important matters to deal with during weekends, like going out for a pizza treat with friends.
But finally, unable to bear the furious glances, I set about attending to the needs of that forlorn shelf. The things that saw the light of day I am ashamed to admit. I resolved that henceforth I was not going to neglect my house, especially these out-of-reach places.
The shelf looked at me accusingly as if to say that’s what I tell myself once every 8 - 10 months when I get round to a similar activity. And I reassure it, “Not this time. Not anymore. This time, my resolution is firm. Yes, firm.”
The shelf chose to be quiet. It knows that I would make such a resolution again in another 8 - 10 months, maybe even a year or so.
Vidya Shankar
(Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Nov 04, 2017)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/a490bd6f-1f53-4c26-8fcb-cdc528c1a494.aspx
Check out these Pages on Facebook:
Vidya Shankar: The Quintessential Word
Shankar Ramakrishnan: Out of my Focus
Vishnumayamwww.facebook.com
It had started nagging me about a couple of months ago and I had promised I would take a look at it that weekend. But weekend followed weekend and the shelf lay ignored. What could I do? That shelf is not exactly in line of my vision. Moreover, there were far more important matters to deal with during weekends, like going out for a pizza treat with friends.
But finally, unable to bear the furious glances, I set about attending to the needs of that forlorn shelf. The things that saw the light of day I am ashamed to admit. I resolved that henceforth I was not going to neglect my house, especially these out-of-reach places.
The shelf looked at me accusingly as if to say that’s what I tell myself once every 8 - 10 months when I get round to a similar activity. And I reassure it, “Not this time. Not anymore. This time, my resolution is firm. Yes, firm.”
The shelf chose to be quiet. It knows that I would make such a resolution again in another 8 - 10 months, maybe even a year or so.
Vidya Shankar
(Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Nov 04, 2017)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/a490bd6f-1f53-4c26-8fcb-cdc528c1a494.aspx
Check out these Pages on Facebook:
Vidya Shankar: The Quintessential Word
Shankar Ramakrishnan: Out of my Focus
Vishnumayamwww.facebook.com
October 20, 2017
Let go first
I received a very inspiring meme some days ago, one that is supposed to propagate an idea for a fantastic life. The words of the meme ran thus:
“Inhale the future without any expectations, hold the present, and exhale the past without any regret.”
While the meme does teach us a valid lesson, the presentation of the lesson is all wrong. It doesn’t begin right and so doesn’t end right.
The quotation has been so written because we are used to the concept of inhale-exhale. Fitness instructors in recent times, hardly ever educate their students about the importance of breathing when exercising, and if at all they do so, they teach their students to inhale first, then exhale. (It probably comes from the typical human fondness to acquire and the hesitation to give.)
Anyway, this being what I had been taught, inhale-exhale is what I used to follow too.
That is, till I chanced to listen to a lecture by a famous fitness practitioner.
According to him, fitness techniques of ancient times always began with exhalation before going on to inhalation. The theory he expounded was that it is beneficial to rid ourselves of negativity before taking in the positive.
Carbon-di-oxide is a negative element so far as our body is concerned. If we were to deeply exhale this negative element out, then the oxygen that fills our system with inhalation is likely to remain pure.
However, if we inhale first, then without doubt, the negative carbon-di-oxide will get mixed with the pure oxygen that we have inhaled. Which means the negativity in our system is not cleared and this in turn contributes to our ill-health.
Similarly, we will never be able to hold on to our present and inhale a good future unless we first exhale or let go completely, of all the unpleasantness that is past.
Vidya Shankar
(Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Oct 21, 2017)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/8789c662-cd2c-4d53-803f-b91a4065a2de.aspx
Check out these Pages on Facebook:
Vidya Shankar: The Quintessential Word
Shankar Ramakrishnan: Out of my Focus
Vishnumayamwww.facebook.com
“Inhale the future without any expectations, hold the present, and exhale the past without any regret.”
While the meme does teach us a valid lesson, the presentation of the lesson is all wrong. It doesn’t begin right and so doesn’t end right.
The quotation has been so written because we are used to the concept of inhale-exhale. Fitness instructors in recent times, hardly ever educate their students about the importance of breathing when exercising, and if at all they do so, they teach their students to inhale first, then exhale. (It probably comes from the typical human fondness to acquire and the hesitation to give.)
Anyway, this being what I had been taught, inhale-exhale is what I used to follow too.
That is, till I chanced to listen to a lecture by a famous fitness practitioner.
According to him, fitness techniques of ancient times always began with exhalation before going on to inhalation. The theory he expounded was that it is beneficial to rid ourselves of negativity before taking in the positive.
Carbon-di-oxide is a negative element so far as our body is concerned. If we were to deeply exhale this negative element out, then the oxygen that fills our system with inhalation is likely to remain pure.
However, if we inhale first, then without doubt, the negative carbon-di-oxide will get mixed with the pure oxygen that we have inhaled. Which means the negativity in our system is not cleared and this in turn contributes to our ill-health.
Similarly, we will never be able to hold on to our present and inhale a good future unless we first exhale or let go completely, of all the unpleasantness that is past.
Vidya Shankar
(Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Oct 21, 2017)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/8789c662-cd2c-4d53-803f-b91a4065a2de.aspx
Check out these Pages on Facebook:
Vidya Shankar: The Quintessential Word
Shankar Ramakrishnan: Out of my Focus
Vishnumayamwww.facebook.com
