I happend to watch the fabulous lives of Bollywood star wives ….or some show with a similar name. If the show was meant to draw us to the star kids or highlight the fact they have difficult lives to lead or their dilemmas; It did the straight opposite. It was a compelling watch, though.

I felt it just showcased the abundance enjoyed by a certain section amidst the poverty in India. Wives of three failed actors along with a once-upon-a-time star (who still keeps bragging about her past) – took us through their privileges they enjoy – it shows families with patriarchal mindset, hollow conversations and highly insecured individuals.

It showed a privileged group of individuals who were so divorced from reality or who would rather wanted to -stay away from the common people and consider themselves the up-end section of the society.

I was just wondering – would the show be more interesting if those star wives were moved to a house like that of big boss or shifted to small units in Dharavi, where they get to do real household work and have real conversations like majority of Indian women do – Daal,Chini, EB, power cut …. ?????

As we grow older, reading articles or books of our interest and sharing it with our friends is an interesting past time.

When I read J.Krishnamurti’s extracts and share it with my friends and they share their perspective – it becomes a good learning experience. It makes us open-minded to new points of view and discussions.

I read newspapers. I like the smell, the sound of the rustling paper, just as I enjoy reading the content. They have been my morning companions for dogs years, now. Why do I like newspaper?

Over the years, there are aspects about newspaper which I have noticed (I am sure everybody has) and which is very much applicable to our lives. Some of them are :

• News articles are categories and sequenced – our life needs to be organised and it is better to work in compartments.
• There are news about local events, politics and people along with news of national and international events – which means there is enough room for people in our lives.
• Political cartoons that make you smile, small crosswords to engage your mind – indicates never miss the small pleasures of life they are as important as the big picture.
• Headlines screams, front page always gets noticed – learn to prioritize tasks in a day – eat the frog the first thing in the morning – complete the difficult task first.
• Eye capturing pictures – retain certain photographic moments in your life and store it in your memory.

Above all, once read- the newspapers of the day cannot be re-visited meaning live life one day at a time – that makes it worthwhile.

There has been much said and written about re-opening of schools from September 1,2021. There are educationist and academicians raising concerns about re-opening of schools- seating arrangements, transport guidelines – will schools be really able to run on shift basis with rising petrol prices. There are articles and warnings of rising Delta variant, the third wave around the corner.

Amidst all this what do parents feel? I was thinking : Are our children better-off at home or would they be worse-off from prolonged online classes?

In families were providing a digital pack / devices for learning for their kids are far from reality – re-opening of schools is definitely welcome. On the other hand, there are many families were devices can be provided to students, and to them as well, re-opening of schools is still a welcome. Why?

As a parent, I would rather have my son writing and reading from books and notebooks rather than watch him helplessly switch from one screen to another – small screen for online classes and big screen for binge watching. What is more painful – is to notice that social skills wane away, disinterest to write, depending on calculators instead of doing quick mental math. Wonder if students still have team spirit and interest in sports ?

Though, the above statements are one-sided, , I think re-opening of schools is something zillions of parents are wishing for. It is easy to get students vaccinated (at school) before the third wave arrives- that is, if the vaccinations are available. Let’s go to school.

This is the title of chapter 6 in J Krishnamurti’s book ‘Commentaries on Living 1’. In this chapter he encourages us to be self- aware. He discourages us to follow any spiritual master. And, he further reiterates that when spiritual masters live in a different country and the pupil lives in another – then this leads to an illusion and self-deception of the pupil.

He says spiritual bodies and organization headed by spiritual leaders are just exploiting our need for gratification. There is a beautiful quote in the essay which goes like this, “Reward in any form is extremely gratifying, especially a so- called spiritual reward when one is somewhat indifferent to the honors of the world. Or When one is not very successful in this world, it is very gratifying to belong to a group especially those by someone who is supposed to be a highly advanced spiritual being, for then one is part of a team working for a great idea, and naturally one must be rewarded for one’s obedience and not for thee sacrifices one has made for the cause.”

If we reflect on his statement we realize it – need for joining spiritual/organized religions is our need to deceive ourselves – our need to be rewarded for what we think is our achievement or our need to get rewarded from others for what we think is our success, either way it is our illusion.

We all need a friend / sibling to vent out our frustration, anger and disappointments. Venting out is better than bottling our emotions. Venting out gives us a clear perspective of where we went wrong, what could be the way forward and how could something be fixed. It helps in self-reflection.

Last weekend was wonderful – I did my first podcast recording with my sister. We started as a banter, it turned to be so spontaneous and I loved every minute of that. Planning, Scripting and discussing K-dramas (a common love between me and my sister) was fun. I never knew I could articulate stories, dissect characters and enjoy discussing background music.

And, I also got an opportunity to work on a research proposal. That was another huge challenge. Reading and scanning research papers and articles, framing research title, re-working on it, choosing papers and working on literature reviews, above all – referencing using easy-bib- was intellectually challenging. Above all, this weekend I felt and experienced the unparalleled joy of creating something new- challenging myself. Bother were a wonderful learning experience and that made a difference in my life.