In cricket, if you hit 100 runs, it is considered a century and a milestone for a batsman.  In life, if you live for hundred years it is indeed a landmark of your life.  Not many people live up to that age and not many survive to live that way.  What significance is it for me if I say that this is my hundredth blog.  It could signify that I do not have enough to do at work and in life that I have started writing blogs.  It could also mean that I have enough to share based on my learnings in life.

I was always wondering what to write on the hundredth blog.  Its a question for which I have no answer.  I can only state that the journey of writing blogs began a year back.  It has been an eventful journey.  Every time I get to reflect and think, the words flow as water from a tap.  It could be a summer evening watching the sunset or a long haul flight.  The words flow as if there is no gravity.  It is joyful and reflective.

I also post my blogs on my company social media platform.  I get a lot of feedback wherever I travel around the world.  People have encouraged me to write more and given me ideas on what to write.  They have commented on my blogs and made me think differently.  Words are a great expression of feelings.  What we cannot express in person can sometimes be better expressed in words.

As I look back I realise that my life has been a great learning workshop.  It has had its ups and downs.  But every experience has taught me something.  Even writing blogs has been one such experience.  So, I have dedicated this blog to sharing my learning.  As I pen down my thoughts, I learn from it.  It also helps me pour out my feelings on issues, beliefs and values.

In the history of a nation, a century of existence could mean a lot.  It could mean heritage.  It could mean its richness of civilisation.  It could mean the culture and values of the organisation getting institutionalised.  Similarly in the life of an individual an event could mean something.  For me writing my hundredth blog is one such event.  It has brought out something in me.  It has enabled me to express myself in more ways than one.

I am grateful to all the people around me who have made this happen.  My family members, my team members, my readers and my mentors.  All of them have encouraged me to write and share.  I may not be perfect in my writing but I promise that I try to be authentic.  I try to narrate my experiences of life in my own way.  I try to put myself in every readers’ shoes and narrate events as they would experience it.

Just as the historical building above is more than a century old, this blog signifies my completing the hundredth piece.

I hope this energy within me blossoms.  I hope to live up to the expectations of my readers.  I hope to reflect realities of life.  I hope to share what cannot be shared easily.  I hope to bring in positive change in society.  I believe that even if one person changes there could be an impact of my writing and it is worth it.  I do believe that change begins with me and hence this first step.

Do you believe it ?

S Ramesh Shankar
November 2016