Freezing Thoughts

A 5-year old kid wishes to go out and play. Unable to accompany the kid for half an hour (owing to work stuff or house errands), and in order the stop the kid from bothering them, the parents hand-over a mobile phone and say, " Watch YouTube " or " Play a game ". Later in the day, the kid doesn't eat supper on-time, and the parents spend a lot of time cajoling, negotiating (with sweets as a reward) and finally forcing the kid to eat, an ordeal that lasts almost an hour! Due to the lack of physical exertion, and a long time spent staring at the mobile screen followed by a late dinner, the kid is unable to sleep properly. After tossing and turning for hours, followed by a disturbed sleep, guess how the next morning would be at that household! Imagine if most days of the kid's childhood are spent this way, and upon reaching adolescence they realize how much irreversible physical and mental damage the bad habits have caused? We all wish to do something that'...

Exactly one year ago, I was travelling in California, staying at my cousin's place and doing the usual traveler stuff; attending Halloween parades, road-trip to Vegas and Grand Canyon. Who would have imagined then how much times were set to change in the succeeding 12 months! Many things we assumed as constants in life have changed beyond recognition, while many others we had always assumed as transcending variables are sticking around longer.  It is like a collective " You know nothing, Jon Snow. " phase for the whole world.  While economies will recover, profits/investments can be consolidated and career paths readjusted, the irreversible loss of lives will cast an everlasting shadow. It feels indecent, intrusive and even inhuman to come to terms with a reality where life is lost over a handshake, a hug, or simply physical proximity to a fellow human, more often their own kith and kin.  My stay in San Diego last year coincided with the date of  Día de Muertos ...

கொரோனா  இந்த மூன்றெழுத்துதான் இன்று உலகத்தை ஆட்டிப்படைத்து, மூச்ச்சுத்திணற வைத்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது. அமெரிக்கா என்றாலும் அடுத்த தெரு அத்தை வீடாக இருந்தாலும் யாரும் யாரையும் நேரில் சென்று சந்திக்க முடியாத ஒரு வினோத நிலை. எது வேண்டும் என்றாலும் மொபைல் போன் அல்லது லேப்டாப் தான் கதி. இந்த அழகான முப்பரிமாண வாழ்க்கையை இரு பரிமாணத்தில் மட்டும் வாழும் அவலம்.   குழந்தைகளின் பள்ளிக்கூடமும் பெற்றோர்களின் அலுவலகங்களும் அடுத்தடுத்த அறைகளில் ஜம்மென்று நடக்கின்றன. இந்த அளவுக்கு எல்லாமே கணினிமயம் ஆகிவிட்டது ஒரு சாதனைதான் என்றாலும், அதில் சில ஆபத்துகளும் இருக்கத்தான் செய்கின்றன. ஓடி விளையாட முடியாத பாப்பாக்களும் ஓய்ந்தே இருக்கும் பெரியவர்களும் ஒரு ஆரோக்கியமான சமூகத்தின் அங்கமாக இருக்கமுடியாது.   அலுவலகம் என்பது ஒரு தனி இடமாக இருப்பது சில எல்லைகளை வளர்க்க உதவும். 'வீட்டு விஷயங்கள் வீட்டில், அலுவலக வேலைகள் வெளியே' என்ற நிலை, பன்னாட்டு நிறுவனங்கள் நமக்கு ஆசைஆசையாய் லேப்டாப் ஏற்பாடு செய்து குடுக்கும்போதே தேயத் துவங்கின. இப்பொழுது கட்டாய Work from Home (WFH) என்ற நிலையில் எந்த ஒரு வர...

Nobody, not even the Indian team, expected India to perform well in the 1983 World Cup, let alone win the championship. But two superhuman feats by the captain inspired them to believe in the impossible; an invaluable innings of 175 runs in a crucial league match, and a stunning 100-metre backward running catch to dismiss Viv Richards in the finals. The rest, call it miracle or destiny, is history.  Exactly 37 years since that, today we could all use a bit of that miraculous streak, as the world reels under the pandemic and the multi-pronged chain reaction it has triggered globally. It is too easy to fall into the traps of hopelessness or negativity, not to mention the dreaded depression, courtesy of social isolation.  But remember that there are many warriors, not unlike Kapil Dev, believing in an eventual victory and waging a war on this global pandemic in multiple fronts, be it individuals or organizations. I firmly believe that for every covidiot there are multiple sane on...

Times of purposeful wanderings, that's what travel is, enjoying the journey as much as looking forward to the destination. Times of viewing Asgardian violet sunrises and glorious golden sunsets from heaven, earth and even waters. Times of marveling true connectedness, the human spirit of oneness, of handshakes and applauses, hugs and kisses. Times change, for they wait for none, to anxious and stressful phases, and these are our chances to reinvent as every crisis is an opportunity, to learn, grow and evolve. Times we live in are beyond our control, but we have an undeniable choice of how to spend the time we live through.

Earlier this year, the World Economic Forum published a report titled Jobs of Tomorrow: Mapping Opportunity in the New Economy and Society . The report explored the emerging professions that promise to be shape the workforce of tomorrow. It also reviews the shifting focus of employment and the skills that would be expected in the future.  The report presents 7 emerging professional clusters and 96 job roles in those clusters. The key findings indicate that the highest in-demand skills span both technical and cross-functional skills. Another interesting finding is that both digital and human factors will drive the growth of professions. Here is a snapshot look at the emerging clusters and required job skills: URL to the full report:  http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Jobs_of_Tomorrow_2020.pdf Edit: Further to some requests, I am adding here the emerging technological areas in which the above job roles and clusters would fall into. The information ...

Party music. Romantic music. Peaceful music. Workout music.  We ensure there’s a background score to many aspects of life when we feel a need to accentuate the emotion of the activity. And we know it helps. How about sad music ? Heart-wrenching BGM score that we might have heard in a movie, maybe brought us to tears at the movie theater. Is it a thoroughly depressing idea to listen to such music when we’re feeling low or sad ?  Sorrow is yet another normal human emotion we all feel. But somehow, we don’t have a lot of space and scope to process our grief. As much as the phrase “don’t air your dirty laundry” is true, it is also plain idiotic (and unhealthy) to pretend you don’t have any dirty laundry. Maybe you’re going through a difficult phase right now. Maybe you’re dreading an impending misfortune and are helplessly mourning already. Or perhaps, you’re feeling the aftershock of a blast from the past. Maybe all the above! And yet, we all choose to reply with a ‘ Fi...

"Out of sight, out of mind." In the days of forced 'Work from Home' for a bulk of the corporate workforce worldwide, the above proverb may sound a bit outdated. One might argue that in a world that's never been this connected, where communication is instantaneous and there are whole ecosystems that thrive on remote working, location is not truly a deal breaker.  However, when we're used to doing things a certain way, it is not easy to change all of a sudden and adapt instantaneously. Being a solo-entrepreneur, I firsthand experience how incredibly lonely it can get when you're cooped up, which in turn affects productivity. (People have often told me how cool is must be to be my own boss, but that also makes me my own employee, and that is very hard!) When Governments are educating people on how to cough and sneeze, guess it's not a bad idea to explore some tips on working from home.  Plan your work, and work your plan The first function...