Author: S Ramesh Shankar

Born in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India, I have been brought up in different parts of India. Graduate in chemistry and post graduate in personnel management and industrial relations. Have been a HR practitioner for 38 years in the industry and have experience in working in steel , automobiles, FMCG and engineering industry. Was head of HR for Siemens in South Asia based out of Mumbai till March 2019. Currently founded hrishti - joy forever, a social enterprise to give back to society and work as Chief Joy Officer.

Minimalist versus Maximalist ?

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In my definition, the minimalist fulfills his needs in life while the maximalist tries to fulfill greed.  Most of us grow up from middle class families and it is but natural to be aspirational.  I think there is nothing wrong with that.  We need to work hard and look to a brighter future in our career and life.  We tend to start accumulating material wealth and look for ways and means to fulfill our dreams.

As students, we mostly cannot afford to live our dreams as we do not want to burden our parents.  But, as we get into a job, we look for every occasion to save and realize our dreams.  It may sometimes not happen when we want it to happen but as and when it happens, it is a moment of joy.  I still cannot forget as to how I used to aspire to buy a world class music system of a particular brand and it took me almost 5 years to realize it.  I used to visit the show room of this brand on every occasion I could and admire the system from the window till the day I could afford it.

As our responsibilities increase, we try to balance our income and expenditure.  We do try to save and thereby look for fulfilling our life long wishes.  As long as one works honestly and hard, there is absolutely nothing wrong to dream for anything.  It is but human to have needs and as Maslow taught us long years ago that human needs are hierarchial.  It starts with physiological needs, then safety, social, esteem and finally self actualisation.  Interestingly our behaviour today validates Maslow’s theory on motivation.

We first try to fulfill our needs of food, shelter and clothing.  We then want to secure our family and safety.  We then look for love and belonging by being social, then need recognition to enhance esteem and finally we want to attain nirvana or self actualisation.  This could also be linked to different age groups and career stages.  In our twenties and thirties we are focussed on fulfilling physiological and safety needs.  In our forties, we are looking for social,  esteem and recognition.  After we enter our fiftees, we tend to move towards attaining self actualisation.

When we reach the stage of nirvana, we all want to be minimalist.  We want to give back to society more than we have got from it.  But this may be easier said than done.  Let us take a simple phenomenon like shopping.  If we enter a mall, we end up buying clothes or other accessories of our interest even though we may not need them.  This is inspite of the fact that we have enough clothes and accessories we need but we cannot resist the temptation of shopping.  I call this phenomenon as minimalist in thought and maximalist in action.

I have been no different.  I have gone through all the stages of fulfilling my needs as I have stated above.  Today, I am moving towards the stage of self actualisation.  However, as I said earlier, I am still tempted to buy things which I like although I may not need them or already have them.  For example, I recently bought a new camera since I love photography and this is the latest in terms of technology.  This is inspite of my having three other cameras in my possession.  

As in the photo above, we all want to eat less and maintain our health( like a minimalist) but end up gobbling away(like a maximalist) and impact our health adversely.

The only way I have learnt to get over this temptation is to give as much as I take.  So, I decided to give away two of my old cameras to people who will need them after I bought a new camera.  Similarly, I try to donate old clothes as many as I buy new ones to people who need them more than me.  This is no way the best way to be a minimalize but may be a less guilty way.

Life is a journey and we need to learn to live every day.

S Ramesh Shankar

Romantic Rains


We all eagerly await the monsoon after a dry and long summer.  It is indeed one of the most eagerly awaited events in our lives as it brings instant relief from the sweltering heat of the summer.  But much beyond the relief from the summer dryness, the monsoon brings joy and romance into our lives.  The trees look greener, the rivers are full and sea roars as if to keep us active all day.

The farmers await the first rains with bated breath since their  fortunes are tied to the rains.  A shortage of rains or a drought could mean disaster for their lives.  Hence, rains help us have adequate stock of food grains and vegetables right through the year.   The ground water is refuelled and this ensures adequate drinking water for all of us.  We do not realize how much the rains contribute to our daily lives.

Every aspect of our lives is impacted by the rains.  It starts with ensuring adequate harvest of food grains and vegetables.  Then it ensures that we have a perennial source of water for drinking, bathing, washing etc in our daily lives.  The rains also ensure that all our buildings, trees and surroundings are cleaned and washed every day for three months by God without any dry cleaning charges.

The romance of the rains kindles the artistic curiosity of poets and authors.  We have had innumerable movies made around the world, which are based on rains and monsoons.  The waterfalls in the mountains are a source of inspiration and admiration.  The misty clouds in the valleys create a mystic around you.  Rains can only benefit us all the way if we do not obstruct nature in all its natural forms.

The other side of rains faced by humans are disasters due to floods and landslides.  If I reflect back on this negative aspect of the rains, I would say we are mostly to blame for this situation.   We cut trees unabashedly while constructing concrete jungles around cities and towns.  We obstruct the natural flow of rivers and rivulets so as to fulfill human greed rather than need.  So, it is up to us to respect nature and benefit from it or ruin nature and face the wrath of it, as we do nowadays.

Rains also help in bringing out the child in us, which we have lost as we grow up in age.  We have forgotten to dance in the rains and share joy with others.  We have forgotten the fragrance of the wet mud after the first rains hit the soil.  We have nobody else to blame other than ourselves for this state of affairs.  Even the animals and birds protect the environment better than humans as they realize that by doing so they benefit more than they lose.

We have to ensure that our greed is less than our needs in life.  This balance may ensure that we protect nature and the environment around us.  We are keen to take away all the positives of nature without having the gratititude to give back to nature in equal measure.  The day we are content with fulfilment of our needs and not greed, we may be able to protect nature and benefit from it always.

Rains are God’s gift to mankind and we need to learn to do everything to protect our rivers, mountains and lakes so that nature gifts us with more marvels always and we do not deny our future generations of the miracles of nature, which we have enjoyed all through our lives.  Let us continue to enjoy hot chai(tea), pakodas ( Indian snack) and Bhutta ( corn) to celebrate the rains as we have always done.

Let the rains continue to add joy to our lives.

S Ramesh Shankar

Child in us


“Child is the father of man” or so goes the saying.  Most of us will recall that the best years of our lives were when we were kids.  We did what our heart wanted without worrying about what others thought about it.  As we grow up, we tend to live for others.  We act the way others want us to do.  We have lost the child in us and this is indeed very sad.

We find it difficult to laugh or cry every day when we feel like doing. Smile replaces laughter because we start believing that the world will laugh at us if we are too loud.  In situations where we feel like crying, we hide our emotions since we are conditioned to believe that adults do not cry.  If you cry, you are kid and have not grown up.  This leads to our conditioned behaviour.  It is almost like the air conditioned environment that we are used to in our offices and homes today and we have forgotten the heat of the summer, the gush of the rains or the chillness of the winter.

I sometimes wonder how beautiful life would be if we can continue to be our natural selves.  Imagine dancing in the rains and getting wet at the onset of monsoon.  It would be fun to sit on the sea shore and play with sea shells in the sand.  I remember enjoying raw cut mangoes on the beach with family and friends during vacations.  The joy of travelling by train with family on a long summer holiday appears a bygone era.

Who do we blame for losing the child in us ?  We can conveniently blame our education system.  We can blame our parents and elders for not allowing us to enjoy life as a kid and forcing us to behave like adults even before we grew into one.  But, I would blame myself more than anyone else.  Nothing stops me to sit and cry if I feel like doing so even today as an adult.  There is nothing which stops me at laughing at myself and jumping in joy.

We have become less adaptable to the environment around us.  We find it difficult to cope with situations of joy or sorrow and hence want to be behave like conditioned beings.  It is easier for us to hide our emotions than to express it.  We are guarded in our behaviour at home, work and in the community.  The day we learn to be our natural selves, we may be able to rejuvenate the child in us.

It is time to laugh and cry when we feel like.  It is time to express ourselves with everyone around us the way we feel like.  Let us rekindle the kid in us.  The best outcome of this change will be our ability to bounce back from the troughs in our life.  We will also be able to deal with crests with equanimity.  We can see children bounce back from sorrow even before we realise it.  We also see children sharing their joy with others and not riding on a sense of pride always.

It’s time to bring back the child in us as in the photo above.

The time to start is now and the day to start is today.  It does not matter how old or young you are.  Our physical age is just a number.  We need to live life as if a tomorrow does not exist.  We need to learn to enjoy life and share our joy with others.  There is no better way to do it than the way children do it.  It is time to learn and it is time to learn from the kids around us.

Let us regenerate the child in us from today.

S Ramesh Shankar