Category: Life & Living

Never too late to resolve…

Another New year dawns on us. We wonder what new year resolution to make. I am no different. I sometimes wonder if it is too late in my life to make a resolution. But on reflection, I realised that it is never too late to resolve.

If we look back at our lives, we have so many imperfections embedded in us. We are not yet perfect in anything. Hence, the opportunities to makes resolutions to change and improve is endless.

Let me start with simple things in life. Am I good at making up my bed after I get up. I leave it to someone else to do it for me. So, may be the first resolution can be that I make my own bed everyday.

Then the next question to ask is “Can I make own coffee or tea ? If the answer is no, it is time to learn to do it yourself. So, the second resolution can be to make your own coffee or tea and may be make it for your partner or family members also.

Do we do some exercise every morning ? It could be a walk, a jog, cycling or playing any game. If the answer is no, which is most likely for most of us, that can be the third resolution. I commit to walk or do yoga every day.

Then we look for someone to help us with our clothes and office accessories. This could be our fourth resolution and we could learn to organise ourselves well so that we do not need someone’s assistance to pick our clothes or other office paraphernalia.

Most of us ride a bike or drive a car to work every day. We then blame the world for the increasing pollution around us. Our fifth resolution can be to take the public transport to work at least once in a week and there by contribute our bit to reducing pollution in the world.

Do we wish everyone with a smile at work ? We enter the workplace and find it difficult to wish the security guard. We do not think it is important to wish everyone around us at work and shake hands with them before we start our day. This could be the sixth resolution that we will start the day by wishing everyone around us with a smile.

At work, do we delegate things we can easily do ourselves ? If the answer is yes, then it is time to change. Delegation is a good management practise. However, we can do somethings ourselves, which when delegated may delay action and is not necessary. This could be our seventh resolution.

One thing which amuses me is that people do not return calls made to them. Yes, all of us are busy all day and night and we may not be in a position to pick up calls many a time. However, courtesy demands that we call back everyone who called us. It could be a junior colleague, family, friend or the CEO it does not matter. This could be our eighth resolution.

Our ninth resolution could be get back home on time. While working hard is a good idea, it does not add to productivity by sitting late at work every day. This neither improves our performance at work nor makes our family happy.

The tenth resolution may be to make at least one of the above nine resolutions and ensure we follow it through the year. My belief is that if we commit to do at least one thing and make it happen, it will be great.

Let me wish you, your family and friends a wonderful new year. So, here are my Ten Commandments to myself for the new year. I was reflecting on them sitting in front of the Buddha in my garden.

What are yours ?

S Ramesh Shankar

1st January 2019

The last journey


I had gone for my morning walk today as I do everyday.  I go to a beautiful park opposite to my house and it is along the Arabian Sea.  The greenery of the park and the sound of the morning waves from the sea apart from the chirping birds make my day fresh and wonderful.  So, today was no exception to this great start to my day.  However, as I was making my final round I witnessed an unusual incident.

I saw a dog pulling a dead crow, which had died on the sea shore and pulling it to a grass lawn to have it as her morning breakfast.  What was astonishing was to see a cluster of crows in the sky ,following the dog screaming and announcing the death of the crow.  While the dog was least impacted by the shrieking of the crows above her, it really moved me as to how the crows were mourning for the last journey of one of their siblings.  They seem to be hurt that it died on the sea shore and had become fodder for the dog.

While this may be a stray incident, it stirred the emotions in me.  I have always been told from my childhood that it is ok if you do not visit a friend or a relative on the good news of the birth of a child in their family.  This is because you could always do so sometime in the future.  But, if you come to know the sad demise of a friend or relative and if you are in town, you should never miss the last journey of the person who has died.  This is because you will never be able to see that person again and it will his last journey on earth till the graveyard.

I am not sure how many of us realize this as human beings.  We are so caught up with our daily chores that we hardly have the time for our family or friends to share their joy or sorrow.  We neither have the time nor the inclination to visit anyone.  The herd of crows reminded me of how even birds and animals are more human than us.  They gathered together and mourned the death of another crow and screamed down to the dog to spare the dead crow alone.  Why cannot we as human beings learn from birds and animals if we are not able to learn it ourselves ?

The lesson for me today was that we need to find time for our beloved ones.  It could be to celebrate together a joyous occasion.  It could be to mourn the death of a near or dear one.  Especially in the latter case, life does not give us a second chance.  If we as human beings  think we are superior to animals and birds our behaviour has to prove it.  The crows made me realize that may be we still have a long way to go.

It is time to wake up.  It is time to find time for others.  How long will we justify our lack of etiquette to lack of time ?  How long will we run the rat race ? .  We may  realize that there is nobody to run the race with us anymore and then it may be too late.  It is time to realize and wake up now.  Let us resolve to ourselves that even if we do not have time to share joy, let us ensure that we will be around to share the sorrow of others always.

If crows can show humanity, I have not doubt, humans also can.  It is only our ability to reflect and resolve.  It is our ability to prioritise and act on our resolve.  If we think we can, we will.  The time to start is today.

Let us just do it.

S Ramesh Shankar

Terrorism 


We see innocent human beings – women, men and children of all religions, caste and communities being killed by a phenomenon called terrrorism.
While everyone condemns terrorism in all its forms, there are some countries and states, which directly or indirectly support it.

It is time for all countries of the world to unite and fight and eliminate terrorism. How can any human being kill other human beings in the name of religion or ideology and be proud of it ?

If a family loses a member, it is tragedy. It does not matter which religion, caste or community they belong. We have become apathetic to such incidents. It becomes statistic when reported till you are impacted personally by it.

Every day a human being from the defence forces or the para military forces is killed. This human being belongs to a family and if we put ourselves as a member of that family we can realize the extent of damage and the depth of grief of that family.

Politicians and members of the civil society organise protests more to gain media coverage and cheap publicity. They condemn killing of human beings of a particular religion or caste and make it a public issue. This then gets debated in TV channels as if these debates and protests can help the bereaved family get back their loved ones.

It is time to boycott people who protest for the sake of protest and for the sake of publicity. We need to condemn any killing anywhere in the world and fight unitedly against it.

In my view terrorism has no religion. It has no humanity. It has no principles and it has no morals. It has nothing to do with secularism or democracy. It is inhuman and let us not eulogise it.  

Let us together get to the root cause of terrorism and help our children and younger generations of the future to live in a peaceful world, where everyone loves each other irrespective of religion, caste, creed or nationality.

Terrorism leaves behind families homeless and headless like the remains of a dead honey bee comb(as in the photo above), which once was home to hundreds of bees.

Let us fight for humanity and condemn killing of every human being wherever and whenever it happens and pray for their families. Let us not be selective in criticism and project ourselves as the saviours of humanity, only when it suits us and helps us become TV stars by making arrogant and irresponsible statements to get cheap publicity.

Let us preserve and promote love and humanity in the world.

S Ramesh Shankar