Retirement- Possibly for Good

 I have contemplated retirement, often. Of course, life does not always turn out the way you think it will. So it was that I came to work in Kolkata. But circumstances have forced me to relook at life's priorities. And it is very likely that I will soon retire from full time work. 

It gives you enormous freedom to think, and indulge.. in things that you could only dream about, and occasionally partake of. This may include some travel, some reading, some Golf, meeting people at various places, or in town, doing new things, and listening to music. Of course, family responsibilities, as they are, will be a part of it too.

I am of course, open to occasional forays into teaching if there's any demand from an institution. But mostly, not admin. positions that are devoid of student interactions.

Pune will be the base, or adda- not the Bong version, but the Marathi or Hindi one- as far as I can tell. Mumbaikars, beware. You might see more of me in the months to come!

It has been good while it lasted, through corporate jobs in Advertising and Market Research, and teaching through my Ph.D. to post-Ph.D. days, in the US first, and then in India.

Some great colleagues and students who turned into friends along the way, are my billion-dollar wealth.

Fogged Out

It was cold and breezy this morning, reminding me of Delhi. I am glad Indore is milder, because the days are pretty warm and sunny-at least thus far. Delhi winters got me down usually, having grown up in the sunny southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Contemplation about life and years well-spent (living it) is the norm around this time of the year, so I thought I would sit and meditate for a while. But my dilemma was, that in meditation you are generally asked to think of nothing. So, how can one think of something while concentrating on nothing?

Anyway, I am now attempting to do a bit of both-something and nothing. The thing is, I like doing both. And therefore, will idly think about work and while working, ideate about idling. I have got it down to a fine art. Consultancy is on offer for those interested. Fees are negotiable. 

Learnings From Traffic

Traffic is the ultimate punching bag for all of us, with apparently no redeeming features. But during one such heavily-filled road journey, I came up with the following things one can learn from negotiating traffic on our roads (apart from of course, learning to use choice expletives, which some consider a useful part of language training)-

1. There are no kings or commoners here. We are all as the maker intended-equal.

2. This makes us contemplative- note that my (above) contemplations happened on the road.

3. This teaches us patience- I would have said forbearance, but I realise not many would recognise the word.

4. It lets us appreciate the beauty of our existence- the mind wanders into all the beautiful places that one could have been in -especially when you are not driving (it could be fatal if you ARE).

5. It makes us acutely aware of how much we long to be at home, or even at work. Therefore, it increases our positive feelings for both. Even the boss appears to be better than what we are going through.

Happy Trafficking (of the right kind, with the right mind).