Being Resolute

Making resolutions is easy. Being resolute is not. So I shall only focus on being resolute. And not make resolutions- though we may be nearing New Year.

But what should I be resolute about? That's where I find myself wavering, just a bit. Should I be strict with my students? I was told by someone recently that I was too lenient. And I thought I was strict..this really needs resolving.

Should I spend more time on research? travel? writing? reading? social media? watching movies? reviewing them? watching TV? conversation? setting goals? achieving them? Some of these will resolve themselves naturally given my taste for some and distaste for others. But I must be resolute, whichever way things pan out. THAT I am very clear about.

Resolving Resolutioning

Ok, this may not exist as a word, but it's obvious by its timing that it's about resolution-making. I have  resolutely been against making any resolution of any kind, because I have no clue at all on how to make them see the light of day. The only one I can probably keep is to read a few more books. If they happen to be of the quality of Zorba the Greek, or any of the creations of Wodehouse, all the better. I have also managed to discover a few other good authors over the last few years, through browsing at bookstores, or through 'friend'ly recommendations.

Some of these are Haruki Murakami, Bill Bryson, Sadat Hasan Manto, Alain de Botton, Umberto Eco, Devapriya Roy (The Vague Woman's Handbook), Saurav Jha (The Upside Down  Book of Nuclear Power), Fritjof Capra (Uncommon Wisdom), Subroto Bagchi, Julian Barnes (his 'Nothing to be Frightened of', an autobiography of a kind), Raju Bharatan and Ashok Ranade (on Hindi films and music). Some autobiographical stuff was also very readable, as in Leela Naidu, Michael Caine, and Kishore Biyani (the story of his starting Big Bazaar). Currently, I am reading the autobiography of Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, the heroine of one of my favourite films- Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. Someone recently recommended Charlie Chaplin's autobiography, and I resolve to read it sometime soon.

Other than these, I have also read some good blogs by Harimohan, Vinod Ekbote, Diamond Head and some others like Parul Kashyap Thakur, Meghna Sinha, Gowri Kishore and a couple of IIM Indore students. Also wrote quite a few blogposts, and was happy to see the readership climb in unexpected corners of the globe.