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Thought of the Day |
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I have seen Jaspal uncle all throughout my childhood
helping my father manage his farm-related work. He could do all that was
asked of him. He could paint the house, he could take care of the cattle, put
them fodder, milk them, could plough the field when it was time to do; at the
time of harvest, he would be seen carrying sheaves of wheat to the thresher
where the wheat grain would be sprayed inside the stationary trolley. Slowly
the trolley would get laden with a small mound of wheat. As kids, we would
sit on it and hop back home with the tractor towing the trolley through the rugged
fields. It was a ride that paralleled any joyride in an amusement park. Uncle was strong. His only weakness was that he drank
till passing out. He did not help my father for money but for the drinks they
shared after a hard day at work and also any contingent support he needed during
his need. I had visited him at his one-room
home which was close to our home in the village. He had married a non-Punjabi
lady who barely spoke Punjabi. It was known that she was a mentally unstable
lady and Jaspal uncle had been forcefully married under pressure from his brother
for unknown reasons. But she was kind whenever I went to their home. She
used to serve me hot milk which I never liked. What I remember and loved about
her was the 5 Rs. coin she put on my hand. At that time, it was like
inheriting a fortune for me. I had no words to thank her and had no idea as
to how I would spend those 5 bucks. I must be 6 years old back then but the
memory is clear as a mountain lake. Jaspal uncle was bothered by a life situation he could
never turn around. He had a daughter with special needs. The daughter was his
only child too. In India, being a girl child with special needs in a poor
household that too with no siblings could be considered as the unluckiest
thing possible. This fact ate him up. He tried to put her to school but in the
absence of any schools to take care of her special needs, the system failed
her and her family. She remained uneducated and bereft of any therapies to
integrate her to society. Jaspal uncle went down the path of a drunkard’s life.
He never settled for any day job. It was only through the mercy of his
friends that he found work and some meaningful employment for his bread and
butter. He never earned enough that he could save. With each visit he later
made to my home I could see him withering away a little each time. I heard that he married off his daughter to some guy. She
seems to be settled by God’s grace. God knows what her husband is like and if
he really takes care of her. Uncle is now a little less worried. But he is
approaching old age quickly. With no one to fend for the family and no permanent
source of income, the family has tough times ahead. This story is not uncommon. There are cases of mentally
challenged people who remain untreated for their lifetime. There are no
specialized institutions in towns where the lives of such people can be improved.
Poverty denies them a chance to think of going to big cities. On the list of health
priorities for its citizens, the government seems to be placing mental health
at the bottom. We can see Mohalla clinics cropping up around states, but is
there an effort to address the gap in this segment of healthcare? |
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Habit |
Review |
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Exercise: My Religion |
Running and Rehab. It was a travel day so could not hit the Gym. Did
some Rehab work at home. Then I went for a run outside the society. Did an
easy run for half an hour keeping the heart rate below 150 bpm. I will run
every evening for this season. I need the stamina badly for the expeditions.
Tomorrow I will hit the gym in the morning. Rehab: McGill Big 3. (2 sets each). Cat Camel Pose. |
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Book I read: My learning |
I have completed the book “Show Your Work” by
Austen Kleon. It is a fantastic book for someone who wishes to
have their work seen by the world. In the previous posts I have discussed
chapters that I had read till then. Today I have completed the remaining
chapters. I feel lucky to have read this book. The key takeaway from the book was to publish
your content online be it through any medium. He impresses upon having one’s
own website or to use Social Media platform that suit one’s content. The book carries a roadmap to your journey of
writing the first post, to garnering an audience around your work, to
building up your presence online whereby you can start the process of earning
money through it. The tips and advice on the whole process handhold you for
the practical challenges that one will face on the journey. Every chapter of the book carries a nugget of
knowledge. It is like a workman’s red handbook that he carries for any
reference that he has to make. I read it on Kindle. I want to have a hard
copy so that I can refer to the part that I would need at a particular time. It is a must read if you think about sharing your
work online and make it big for your own interest. |
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Homework for life: A daily practice to capture important events of
the day that made an impact on you; that can form a story. |
Ego
battles exist in all organisations. Boss discussed the matter of a
Directorate which has asked the employees on its strength to be relieved from
the intelligence wings of our service. Whatever be the reason, the
Directorate doesn’t need so many people for its own functioning. It appears
to be case of bruised egos. Bruised egos lead to irrational decisions leading
to unwanted outcomes. The case of the CC writing to a DG of Police to act
against a constable who dared stop her while fulfilling his duty was a case
of bruised ego. The letter got no intended result but an unintended
humiliation to the one who issued the letter. Never take a decision when you
are angry. Nor make a promise when you a joyed. |
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One Podcast: Podcasts to learn and grow. Utilize Travel time |
I
completed the Vishal Khandelwal’s podcast called The One percent Show with
his guest Vitaliy Katsenelson, a value investor. The key takeaway was the role of environment in
our life in general and our profession in particular. Vitaliy being a value
investor stays in Denver, U.S contrary to popular choice of investors to stay
in New York. For him staying in Denver keeps him away from the noise of the
Wall street and influences that he wants to avoid. Stock Market is constant
bustle whereby professionals indulge in unhealthy competitions of maximizing
numbers and living with an obsession for just more AUM and profits. He also considers financial news channels as a
noise which is not aligned with the mindset of a long-term value investor who
should avoid monitoring day to day changes in the market. Another inference of environment was made in the
context of the amount of energy that goes away if your actions are
contradictory to your environment. If you want to avoid alcohol or drugs then
it is better to not have a company of drinking friends. Trying to avoid
alcohol in a circle of friends that drinks will drain your energy. In a
similar fashion, it will be quite difficult to avoid candies if there is a
bowl of candies always lying next to you. I have a friend who wanted to stop using drugs
but could never do so. He did not change his city or his drug-addict circle.
He never tried to stay away from his broken family. He was always surrounded
by the same environment for years that ate him up eventually. He never
understood the impact of the environment on his life. So the message here is to choose an environment
that resonates with your beliefs and values. This applies to your profession,
spouse, friends and places. By shifting your environment, you can bring in
those changes that you have long sought. By making slight tweaks such as
deleting few apps, one can have hours freed up from their week’s schedule. By
avoiding the company of a particular friend or person one can change their
energy levels. By removing all sugar-laced foods from your home one can
substantially reduce empty calories intake. One knows what is good or bad for them. It is
just the owning up and acknowledgement that can make the difference. |
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Zone 2-3 Training: Heartrate 110-145 bpm on Garmin watch (180
minutes per week target) |
31 mins. For the week 31 mins. Last week 95 mins. |
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Weight: Daily monitoring to track my eating habits and
goals. |
Target weight 85.40 Kg by 31.05.23. |
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Habit
Tracking |
Clean for 116 days and No-Po for 365 days. |
Pic of the Day
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| Emblem holding strong my pen and character for 8 years now. |
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