Curiosity is my hobby

I ain’t no singer or potter, Master of no sport, Nor can I put a treat together. Am a skimmer. Am a dabbler. I question, I ask. I converse, I listen. I experiment, I experience. I learn, I unlearn. That’s my talent. I don’t know it all, I ain’t no master. Am wide-eyed, Easily distracted. My paths not given, No end, pre-determined, So, I always achieve, The journey is my seeking. No awards, No certificates, No badges, No crowns, No levels, No recognitions, Just a curious mind, And its fascinations.

Why I believe storytelling could make you happier.

That uncle and the nth repetition of his joke,

Those aunts and their banter on ol’ college furore.

We all have our favorite anecdotes,

That we have mastered over the years,

Retold and relived them without a bore.

We remember the past, we forget the recent,

Because creating memories too, needs commitment.

We add years, but the number of fun stories often don’t play catch up.

So here is why I think, your narrative to yourself, could be a deal maker.

Our brain tricks us,

False memories are a fact.

Each time you retell a story, it is not exactly the same.

It is a little more drama and a little more detail.

Each time it becomes more real.

What more,

we have free choice, in choosing our version

will it be amusing or dull and dry?

1st Jan 2017, I did this little exercise,

I recounted moments in the year gone by.

Moments that made me smile.

Revelation it was!

Centered around people, experiences and even random conversations.

None of my achievements got featured.

It wasn’t what I did, but how I felt that lived-on.

So I do a little more of what makes me happy from then-on.

Telling ourselves. our daily story is like setting anchors.

It is much like organizing ,

Putting up signboards and sticky notes.

It is correlating happenings with emotions,

Making it easy to find one another.

It is empowering, because these stories are ours to own.

Bookmarking them though, requires conscious effort,

Daily, weekly, monthly or annual recapitulation.

You may use a map on often traveled routes,

but do you need one to walk through the gate of your school?

Rethink how you respond to a mundane question like How your day was?

Rethink if it’s a mundane question, at all.

PS: Stories are forever!

Spread the word

Gullak

Muskurahat

Khat jo tum nazrano ke saath likhtein ho,

Un lafzoon main jo ehsaas bayaan kartein ho,

Us waqt shayad mehsoos na ho,

Par aane wale paloon par ek muskurahat chodh dete ho.

Ehsaas

 

Ek ehsaas hai,
jo humein insaan banata hai
Is kudrat ke karishme se,  kab tak aankh churaoge?

Jab chu jayengein ruh ko jazbaat,
Tum beetein hue rukhe pal na badal paoge.

Sabr

Death @ Email

Emailing has varied styles and I have found mine. There are different personality types, the whole MBT analysis can sensitise you and help appreciate your colleagues’ communication style. Some folks are comforted with greetings, exchange of pleasantries, long notes and others aren’t. I belong to the latter.

Here is what email etiquette means to me:

1. To, CC and BCC are real categories. Use them. To is for the people the action lies on-they are addressed directly and you expect them to reply, CC is those who need to be informed, BCC I usually use to move someone out of a conversation thread. Yes, it is a polite exit and one that people usually thank you for. Oh, you did know this! Now let us use it.
2. Make your email count. Its not always the content but whom you get the mail from that often determines its importance. So if someone often hits reply all, marks me on emails with no action, I stop being attentive. So yes you just lost spotlight in my inbox. Who knows I have a special folder for you too.
3. Its important to you, but is it important to me? Give context, build relevance. WIFM is key, and a successful communication style, IMHO.
4. You said a lot of things but I don’t know why! What’s the desired action? Did you write because you need to be understood or because you are particularly fond of literature? Ah! it is the cryptic documentation. One for the archives.
5. Which brings me to bullets. Hell am a big fan of, to-the-point emails. They save time and get things done. No fancy language or storytelling. If I want to feel warm and fuzzy, its definitely not on Outlook.  Rapport building is best done in -person. Try getting a cup of coffee or easier still, smile at your colleagues in-person.
6. Its terribly important, and you choose to send an email! Hmmm. I agree it is crisis, that can wait, till I get to it. Immediate attention on emails is an oxymoron. No, I don’t constantly check emails because there is real job I do. Give reaction time and kindness will be returned, like all good things.
7. Re: Lets talk anytime tomorrow and close. (Please read: this can be sorted over 1 phone conversation, does not need a group huddle, conferencing,  appointment)
   1. Re: Re: What time shall I call you?
   2. Re:Re: Re: 1130 am. If it works please send calendar request. Else, please pick a time from 3-5pm. (Fine lets be formal)
   3. Re: Re:Re:Re: Thanks. Will call at 1130. Sending calendar request
   4. Silence
   5. Re: Re:Re:Re:Re: Sent request. Please accept
   6. Silence
   7. Re: Re:Re:Re:Re:Re: Thank you for accepting
   8. 9. 10. 11.12 …..We will coordinate till cows come home, better still we will hit Reply All.
8. Read Receipt: Sales people who use read receipts are a huge put-off!! Insecurity isn’t flattering. Its the equivalent of an offline sociopath, a stalker. Please use the feature sparingly. Policy matters, legal you know that kind of important stuff, a category your email does not make it to.
9. Man is a social animal, we love to seek email companions by marking our managers and managers of those whom we write to. My reading of this is that either you don’t feel empowered or you don’t feel confident enough to manage the conversation. The first is a managers fall, the latter yours, and it’s a vicious cycle. Trust your manager to know all the effort you put in without looping them in. Try pulling your weight-find your place, else seek help on how to.
10. Treasure hunt. That + sign, on a long mail trail. There needs to be a capping on how many emails can be in a thread before someone is added with + and no context. Goes without saying that no one bothers to share the attachment that’s at the heart of it all.
11. Hello, I am calling you. Pick up your phone/ You missed the call/ Your phone was busy. ROTFL need I say more.
12. Emails do have a cost-to company both monetarily and as employees time & productivity. Lesser the better.
13. Oh and I just have to mention this last one. It is not revert but respond. Revert is to go back to original state. So unless you mean that you read my email and it rolled off your back into nothingness, please respond not revert.

Hit me up with your email style in the comment box. We may find some common pet peeves.

Nivrtti

Rukhi aidiyoon main ab bas rahi hai duniya,

Aankhein jee rahi hain, roz ek naya qissa.

Naye log, naye hai ehsaas,

Jeevan jeene ka yeh nav-abhaas

Drishy jo kitni bar-dekh, bhi andekhein the,

Saamay ki ankahi dhool main, dafne the,

Muskaan ki jhurriyoon main aaj ubhar rahe hain.

Meri gheri, pehli, swach swaas.

Nivritt, here, implies freedom from responsibility, retirement.

 

BANDISH

Ek bewafaai aur mili tumhari jeb se,
Siahi ke nishaan, ek muchade hue bill pe.
Kuch der sambhale rakha unhe,
Maine apne mathe ki shikan pe.
Befikr nazar churai tumne,
Main bhi muskura di,
Tumhare lateefe ki ot main,
Din ka varnan, awaaz main hasee aur ulass.
Chaha tumse pooch hi lu aaj,
Laboon tak laakar, rukh gayi kitni baar.
Goonj us sawaal ki,
Shanka mere mann Ki
Kitne kadam door ho tum, es dayere paar
Us siahi ko toh baha diya maine,
Katra katra kar, jeeni hogi, ab yeh daraar.