Category: #30Posts30DaysChallenge_Apr18

R. Roads.

Post 4 in series of 30 posts in April. Each about a thing that I am grateful / happy about. Others in the series are W, M, G. I haven’t been able to write on the 4th or the 5th. So glad that I could write today.

Today I’ll talk about Roads. 

R. Roads. Or may be H. Highway. Depending on other days as this becomes increasingly harder. You understand that right? 

So, structurally a road is a stretch of paved surface that connects two places. And maybe takes you beyond. In an ideal world, this stretch is smooth to drive on, is lit well and has loos and pitstops at regular intervals. It should go on forever, if you ask me. And if forever is tough, which I think it is, may be it could just go around the world a few times, taking you through hills and valleys and cities and villages and people and stories and memories and dreams and all such places that typically seem accessible; but are not. You know what am saying? Its mithya. Its an illusion. You think its there but it aint not there. You think you’ve seen it all, hell, you know that you’ve captured the scene in your cameras and have uploaded to Instagram and have like a 238 likes on it already. But did you really get it? Did you see it? Did you capture it? Or all of its just a myth?

The thing is, I love the roads like I love life and money. I can spend all my life on the road. I could live on road. If I am home for a few days on the trot, I get itchy. So itchy that I have to just leave. The sad bit is that I don’t have a car yet. I am buying one this year. I had thought that my first car would be a premium car but in case I cant get one, I will get whatever I can afford but will buy a car this year for sure.

With roads, thing is that you have this illusion of freedom. Freedom because you are moving all the time. Illusion because you are still confined to the road. You are on the road. You are tethered to it with the wheels and the seat and all that. But then like they say, you see the glass half-empty or you see the glass half-full. I see the road as a liberating agent. You are on the move. You can see the world go past by. You can see yourself move on. Move ahead. And move towards a destination in most cases. What destination you may ask? Well, often, there is that loved one at the other end. Wait. You know what’s better than having someone at the end of the long road? That loved one next to you, as you try to break free from the road. And no, not break-free like in full-of-rage break-free. Just plain old pleasure of being in control and that great feeling of getting away from the trappings of the drab life.

Oh, I just noticed that drab life features in way too many posts that I make. I need to do something about it. Break the monotony. How? May be by hitting the road?

Well, maybe! 

G. Giants.

Post 3 in series of 30 posts in April. Each about a thing that I am grateful / happy about. Today I will talk about Money! Others in the series are W, M. Today I’ll talk about Giants. I’ve talked about them multiple times in the past. But I think the subject deserves all the attention and mention that I can give it. 

G. Giants. 
For the context, I believe that I am very average. And that means I have to work hard to get things. And I’d have to work harder to be able to reach my #lifegoals. And one of the ways in which I can reduce the time that it’d take to get things, is to learn from others (who are learned, better than me, more intelligent than me and so on and so forth). I want to metaphorically stand on their shoulders and see farther than what they’ve seen. So I want to essentially build on top of what they know and push things further. You know, I want to stand on the shoulders of giants. 
I am so grateful that I have had access to some giants that shaped me who I am and gave me whatever little I have. This post is an ode to them. 
Here is an INCOMPLETE list – for I can never know who all have contributed. Its a long list and that goes to show that it has taken so much effort on part of so many people to help me reach a point where I live in relative abundance! 
So, here goes. 
Wait. I wrote a long list of people (and lessons), I realised I cant do justice if I were to publish it. Not to the people. Not to the lessons. So, no names. No lessons. Just gratitude. 
Thank you! 
Original post that I wrote, which I’ve since removed. 

M. Money.

Post 2 in series of 30 posts in April. Each about a thing that I am grateful / happy about. Today I will talk about Money! Others in the series are W. 

M. Money.

If you are a regular reader of what I write, you would have noticed that I talk crib a lot about money, poverty, unfairness of life, purpose, reason etc.

Truth be told, I am doing fairly ok for myself. In the sense that I have enough and more to live a upper-middle class lifestyle. I live in a decent house (rented of course). I have the latest iPhone available in the market. I buy the best brands. I eat good quality food. I travel to international destinations often. And so on and so forth. I have enough money in the bank to last me another 6 months if I stop working today.

And I am so thankful and grateful for that. Really am.

Of course a lot of things had to come together to make this happen. I had to get a good hand at the Ovarian Lottery to end up with my parents. They had to have the insight to send my sis and I to good schools. And pay for expensive education. I had to be lucky to get an admit at MDI. I had to have the keeda for learning. And I had to have a certain mention proficiency to be able to absorb things. You see a chain of things that had to work well?

What am I, if not lucky?

So, like I said, I am doing ok. A thing like money has no end to it. I do have enough if my aspirations were limited. If I were a simpleton, I could’ve retired on what I have!

But. The damn but.

But that’s the problem as well. I do not have simple aspirations. They are tall. About 8848m tall. And more. I want to do large things. And to do large things, you need large ideas. Or access to large capital.

I don’t have any big ideas to be honest. I am a mere aggregation of other giants that I have had the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of. So if I have to make those inroads and make this world a better place, I need to have access to large amounts of capital. Now I was not born a Baron. So I need to do things that can make me that kind of wealth.

And that can NOT happen with the ideas I have. Or my talent. Or the amount of money I have. And neither it can happen with the potential I have. So I need to work hard, slog and get access to more. And that’s what keeps me up at night. The question is not “if”. But “when”. More on my dreams and ideas and aspirations some other day. Today its about being thankful for what I have.

Over n out.

W. Writing.

Its April. And that means a new financial year is here. That also means its yet another opportunity to start afresh. For this blog and for my writing, it specifically means that I can try and restart writing and creating. So, I am going to attempt to write a blogpost each day in this month. So 30 posts in the next 30 days. Each will be inspired by a thing that I am grateful (or happy or thankful) about in life. I call this Project 30Posts30DaysChallenge (yes I suck with naming conventions but I get things done). 


Here’s the post for the day. Starting with W. Couldn’t think of anything that starts with A. 

W. Writing. 

Among all things that I am so so thankful for in life is the ability to write. I may not be able to move mountains with what I write but I do think that I can write well. And unlike those super talented people who write so well that each piece is like a masterpiece, it takes a lot of effort for me to write something that is worth reading. So the only way to writing greatness for me is to write more. And the plan is to write so much that even if 1% of what I write is good enough, there is enough for a my audience to consume.

So yeah, I love to write. And I am thankful that I have some amount of talent that allows me to express. I do wish I were better at it. And its something that can of course improve with practise. Just that on the list of things that I want to do in life, writing is not really up there. I mean if I had all the money in the world, I would travel, teach and write. In that order. And if I had money and / or time left, I would play poker.

Why travel? To enrich myself.
Why teach? To learn more.
Why write? To connect with others.

And what would all these things do me? Allow me to become a better version of myself. And then use that to impact the world. Sigh. High hopes, Mr. Garg.

But then I dont have all the money. And that means I need to invest all the time I have to earn money. Like they said, “you’re slave to money and then you die.” Oh, the good part is, I am getting there in terms of money. I will have abundant money very soon and then I will put this plan (travel, teach, write, poker) in action.

Meanwhile, coming back to the agenda for the evening – writing.

So writing is such an integral part of me that I can not imagine not writing. I’ve been writing this blog since Jan of 2014. Thats like 14 years! I dont think I’ve done anything for longer than that!

Writing has helped me express thoughts well, it has helped me make new friends. It has given me the vain satisfaction of seeing my name in a bookstore. Agreed that tnks is not a bestseller but it is a book nonetheless. May be the next one will be. Or the one after that. May be its delayed because I dont see writing as an avenue that could give me enough to make my ends meet?

Thing is I’ve never been able to make it commercial – there are no blogging awards, no fans, no regular readers. Its just me and and my echo chamber. And may be thats why its not on the priority? Even if I had some people who’d ask me for an update or tell me that they wait for what I write, I would probably be more motivated. Vivek does. But I need more. And I need strangers. Why? Because like everyone else, I often take my people for granted. No am not crying about it. I would continue to write even if I had no readers. Its something that I do not need external validation for.

Anyhow. The point is, there is certain therapeutic value to writing. Its like pouring your grief, your tears, your sadness and your anger and your heart on paper. And its like leaving streaks of happiness, excitement and everything in between on a blank canvas. Of course it helps if you have the words and ideas that could make others share your grief as well. When the entire thing becomes a shared experience. That probably is when you succeed as a writer. Probably.

So yeah. Thats about it for the time being. Writing. One of the things that I am grateful for. First in the list of 30. I dont know what I’d talk about tomorrow. Lets see. Till then, over n out.

P.S.: If you are reading this, tell me what part of my writing has moved you the most? What can I improve. What can I do more of?