Twenty-five years ago, on my first-ever formal self-discovery workshop — one of those where you end up crying at the end despite thinking you are all quite well-put-together — we were asked to draw a self-portrait. I thought I did… Read more: On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious

Oh boy oh boy! I just watched this extraordinary documentary of two extraordinary people sharing an extraordinary friendship: If that sounds like hyperbole, it doesn’t come close to how extraordinary the film really is. This is a beautiful portrait of… Read more: Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times

I started writing this blog in Jan 2023, and the first post was titled The Origin of TWM. In that post, I talked about the three inspirations that led me to start this blog: Phase One The first set of… Read more: The Origin of TWM – Revisited

These words greeted me at the entrance of the Buddha Hall in the Deer Park Institute: It is a quote misattributed to the Buddha, but it was apparently written by Jack Kornfield, echoing something similar by Carlos Castaneda. In any… Read more: The Trouble Is, You Think You Have Time

This post is a natural successor to the previous one on The Power of (Almost) Now. This is one of my favourite books because it effortlessly does what it promises – puts me directly in touch with stillness within. The… Read more: Stillness Speaks

A couple of years ago, a while after my brother passed away, I came across this ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness. Four short phrases that restore balance and heal deeply, making things right: At first, I was skeptical… Read more: Ho’oponopono: To Make Right

Someone I knew passed on today. Here is a poem I think he might appreciate: When I come to the end of the roadAnd the sun has set for meI want no rites in a gloom filled roomWhy cry for… Read more: Let Me Go

I read this spiritual classic from Eckhart Tolle soon after it was published in 1997: I immediately resonated with what Tolle was saying in the book, and importantly, I really enjoyed how he was saying it. Life is now. There… Read more: The Power of (Almost) Now

I was reading last year’s Jan 1 post – it left me wondering how much did I accomplish over the year, what has changed, and what I would write about at the start of this new one. Well, I had… Read more: Yes to Life (Again!)

A few weeks ago, a friend pointed me towards Coke Studio Pakistan, and I absolutely loved the songs I found on the channel. One thing led to another, until I found myself listening to the inimitable Ustaad Nusrat Fateh Ali… Read more: Mazaa Aa Gaya

What a title for a book! And what a fantastic answer to that excellent question: 42! This morning I will change that answer to ’52’, because well, it is my birthday! Birthdays have always been a mixed bag of emotions… Read more: Life, the Universe and Everything

I stumbled across this delightful song when my mother was diagnosed with cancer (again) and I needed time off to take care of her. I wrote to my then-boss asking her to reassign some of my responsibilities, and her response… Read more: The Bricklayer’s Song

One of my all-time favourite movies is Matrix. It simply blew my mind when I watched it the first time, and it was as much fun when I rewatched it for the umpteenth time a few days ago. If you… Read more: Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

As we go through life, eyes trained on the next goal or accomplishment, could we create space in our busyness to be a bridge over troubled water, for just one other person, animal, or tree? Featured Image: Photo by Tonia… Read more: Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water

I had mentioned two months ago that I was excited to write this one. I had all the time in the world over the summer to tap into that excitement and to write about it, but I didn’t. The summer… Read more: The Life of Chuck

This book was one of my three inspirations to start That Which Matters in Jan 2023. For a while, I had been reading Arthur C. Brooks’ happiness column in The Atlantic and then I chanced upon his book: He talks… Read more: From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life

This is the second time I have picked up this remarkable course on self-discovery. I last did it in 2021, when I bought it as a New Year’s gift to myself. On the first page, I had then written: Dear… Read more: The Artist’s Way – A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

Alright, I am finally here on this topic. I had created a placeholder for this post but never got around to writing it. I kept putting it off for some reason, not sure why. There were other things I wanted… Read more: The Buddha in Daily Life

When I wrote Discovering INFJ, the plan had been to write about this book by Elaine Schallock Drenth. But that did not quite happen. I had to suspend writing that blog post then and did not find the inspiration to… Read more: Beyond Rare: The INFJ’s Guide to Cultivating Growth & Self-Awareness

Shortly after my divorce in 2022, I decided to get into therapy and ‘sort things out.’ I have written a fair bit about that phase of my life previously: At around the same time, I came across a book that… Read more: No More Mr. Nice Guy

This is a remarkable book and it is exactly what it says it is: a practical guide to personal freedom. When we hear the word freedom, we might think it is about having more choices, or doing whatever one feels… Read more: The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

Have you had times in your life when things seem serendipitous? When things come together in some unseen orchestrated manner that leaves you wondering: wow! Increasingly, life (not “my” life) seems to be just that. Spontaneous happenings that make me… Read more: The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self

Alright! This seems like a good thing to write about on the first day of a new year. A new year is celebrated around the world with great joy and fanfare. It is a marker for possible change for the… Read more: Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything

When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready…the teacher will disappear. – Tao Te Ching About a year ago, I stumbled upon a video by Rupert Spira on the non-dual approach called The… Read more: You Are the Happiness You Seek

Here we are again. Round Two. Had taken this blog down last year. Doubt anyone but I noticed its absence! Not even the turtle! At that time, I had thought the blog had served its purpose. But then, really, life… Read more: Round Two

And with those five words, my brother took his life. As I replay all that has happened these past six weeks since I got the damned phone call early morning on 7 July telling me Rajesh was gone, I can… Read more: Thanks for Always Being There

A few months ago, my friend forwarded a set of emails that I had written while I was at the Necessary Teacher Training College, Denmark. It was fun to read them after 25 years, and I thought I would put… Read more: Denmark to India, and Back

Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least. Johann Wolfgang van Goethe The above quote from Goethe was the first of three triggers that inspired me to begin this blog. I came across… Read more: Origin of TWM

It was always difficult to talk with my mother. We couldn’t discuss anything without her dissolving into tears. Every conversation would trigger her pain of having been abandoned, first by her husband, and in some ways later by her two… Read more: May Be You Should Talk to Someone

My life has fallen apart a few times. Or it has felt like that every time I have had a heartbreak, and I have had a few of those. Not all of them were romantic. The most difficult ones were… Read more: When Things Fall Apart

It was a few days after my mother passed away and things were falling apart. I came across this spoken poem which poignantly captured my struggle to live in this difficult, difficult world. Here is the video, followed by some… Read more: Sukoon Ki Talaash Mein

“So it begins, the great battle of our time.” Gandalf, Lord of the Rings Two months ago, I created my profile on Hinge and Bumble. It said I was divorced. Technically that was not entirely true. I was divorcing, in… Read more: Single. On Purpose.

There were two instances in my life when my jaw dropped as I read something online. The first was when I chanced upon The Necessary Teacher Training College in Denmark while I was a graduate student at the University of… Read more: Discovering INFJ

In the early hours of 15th January, the day the city would celebrate Pongal, twin boys were born to us. They were identical twins and their birth weights were 2 kg and 2.2 kg respectively. They came into this world… Read more: Birthing Without Fear

As the evening sun was setting in the village of Devdungari, Rajasthan, Shankar Singhji and his band of three young men broke into song with their loud baritone voices reaching out into the darkening sky. Sung with equal passion and… Read more: Amidst the Cacophony of Hatred

In my first year as a teacher, I was fortunate to chance upon Kamala Mukunda’s book What did You Ask at School Today? From the chapter titled ‘Motivation’ I gained a perspective (perhaps not intended by the author) that has shaped my… Read more: Learning the Craft of Teaching

In 1998, when I was a graduate student of Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I took two courses: Education Psychology and Educational Administration. My heart was set on teaching but I didn’t know how to make the shift… Read more: The Courage To Teach

The buildings were the same. So were some of the faces. The Nagalingam tree with its deliciously fragrant flowers, the majestic banyan tree and the large neem tree guarding the slide near junior school were all reassuring memories. It seemed… Read more: Baptism of a Boy Miss!

At the breakfast table  A: M, we are going to have a surprise in 3 months. M (mouth wide open): “What surprise?” A: A baby is going to be born.  M: Yeaaaaa! A: The surprise is that we don’t know… Read more: 101 Conversations with My Daughter

This is a response to the article titled The Art of Parenting by Raji Swaminathan, which appeared in Issue 15 of the Journal of the Krishnamurti Schools. As I read the article, I felt the impulse to relate it to… Read more: Response to ‘The Art of Parenting’

Montessori speaks of three external circumstances that may constitute the principles of her method of education: 1. Suitable environment 2. Humility in the teacher 3. Scientific material At first glance, it seems that it is possible to create these at… Read more: Daily Parenting: More Montessori…

Read a wonderful book a couple of months ago – May Contain Nuts. A must read for all parents I think – a novel set in England about extreme parenting. Though some of it was TOO EXTREME to be realistic,… Read more: Daily Parenting: May Contain Nuts

M discovered her shadow a couple of days ago. What joy! It grows long, it grows short, you cannot step on it and it won’t leave you alone. It is there, and now it is not. I loved chasing my… Read more: Daily Parenting: Magic of Shadows

So here I am – a good year and a half later to renew the Daily Parenting blog! M has started school – actually today is the last day of her school term – she started school a couple of… Read more: Daily Parenting: Montessori Comes Our Way

So here I am, starting a blog. Having taught about them at ACJ for a while I have finally created one for myself. With an internet connection that is barely faster than modem speed, I never thought I would start… Read more: Daily Parenting: The First Entry

The article “Daddy Cool” (The Hindu, 1 June 2013) spoke of the significant role of fathers in the upbringing of children. It mentioned the emergence in recent years, especially in western countries, of stay at home dads who look to… Read more: Fathers and Daily Parenting

18 Jul 1999 Hi, It has been a long time since I have written. Much has happened here in the meantime. As I mentioned in one of my previous emails long ago, I was having difficulty with the approach of… Read more: DNS: The end (10/10)

19 May 1999 Hi all, Just to let you know we managed to get back to Denmark intact after23133 kms on the road! I have to catch up on four months of email soit is going to take some time… Read more: DNS: Back in Denmark (9/10)

8 May 1999 Hi all, Sorry for the long silence but I have tended to lapse into these pausesrecently. I spent 8 weeks in India shuttling between Delhi and Madrasmainly, with a few days in Rajasthan, B’bay and Mangalore. The… Read more: DNS: A quick check-in (8/10)

23 Dec 1998 Hi all, Sorry about the silence. The list of emails to be replied to is ever growing longer and I just have not been able to sit down and do theneedful. I thought I would be free… Read more: DNS: On driving a bus (7/10)

24 Nov 1998 Hi all, It has been a long time since I last wrote to you about life on this tiny island. Much has happened and I have been struggling to keep a regular account. As I started writing… Read more: DNS: Doubts and questions (6/10)

15 Sep 1998 Dav! I am bald now. No, I did not do it b/c I am going potty in the head and have joined some weird cult. In order to save money (a haircut costs$30), I asked one of… Read more: DNS: I am bald now! (5/10)

29 Aug 1998 Hi, Time for an update. I have more or less settled into a routine, even if it is one that starts at 7 am and continues unabated till 11 pm, seven days a week. I have lost… Read more: DNS: It unfolds further (4/10)

14 Aug 1998 Hi all, I promised many of you that I would write in detail about my first week in Denmark. So here it is. Some of it is transcribed from my journal, which I write every night. At… Read more: DNS: My first week in “Danmark” (3/10)

8 Aug 1998 Hi all, Sorry for the brief silence but the last couple of days have been hectic like crazy. Been thrown into the deep end of the pool here but I am getting ahead of myself. Let me… Read more: DNS: I am safe! (2/10)

4 Aug 1998 Hi all, So this is it. I am off to Denmark. The flight is at 5pm today fromChicago and I will reach Ulfborg by about 5pm Wed local time. Sorry forrushing away without bidding farewell properly but… Read more: DNS: Goodbye! (1/10)