Ignatius Raphael - cosmic traveller

Day #38:     Monsoons (100 days Gratitude Challenge) The skies have darkened and the clouds have gathered and burst forth to shower rains on us. Yesterday was the first day of the monsoon and the city is getting pounded by torrential downpours. I love the rains and this monsoon is promising to be a good one with rains predicted through the month. Along with the rains, romance is in the air. This is the time when you can cuddle up and make out with your lover even during the day. If you love books, this is the time to sit in your favourite armchair, sip hot chai, munch on some bondas and drink in your book.  Monsoons revive and rejuvenate us and give us a fresh new start every year. The city reservoirs get replenished and the water table rises to store enough for us to draw water for a full year. The city gets cleaned up by the waters which wash away months of abuse and dust. The pitter-patter of the rain on the sunshade, the croaking of frogs that have...

Day #38: To the nameless workers 100 days gratitude challenge Yesterday I was out for a jog along a canal and there were two JCBs and some supervisors working at 6:30 in the morning clearing the debris so the water can flow freely and without hindrance. Most people would have been deep in sleep in their beds enjoying the Sunday holiday. But for these people it was work as usual and they were busy ensuring that we are able to enjoy the monsoons without having to fear about flooding. There are countless such people out there whose work is making our life easier. The city conservation workers, the maintenance staff. EB, water board, Police and other Govt Staff, etc are all engaged in ensuring that we get our basic neccessites and we are kept safe from calamities and danger. Most of the time we do not even know that they are taking care of us but because they are doing their duty we are benefitted. I’m grateful to these people who are toiling for us. We remember them only when so...

Day #37:               Social Media 100 Days Gratitude Challenge Yesterday I attended a Social Media Workshop by Social Eagle. Here I learned how social media has taken over our lives and companies are learning about us through our digital footprint and are able to target us for advertising their products and services. Many of us live on facebook, twitter, Instagram or other social media sites. We let the world know our thoughts, what we do, our relationships, our opinions, our interests and our pet peeves. We are letting it all hang loose out there and there are people who are watching this and making up their mind about us or targeting us for commercial gain. There are over two billion people out there on social media and it is growing rapidly every day. It has democratized journalism, helped millions become authors and opinion makers and given the populace a voice that can be heard and trended. In ...

Day 36: My mind 100 days gratitude challenge I'm going to turn 55 on December 17. My mind is biologically that old. Many people have stopped learning by this age and say I'm not that young anymore to pick up new learnings. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. I love learning. Anything I hear that is new to me or something I don't understand, I look it up. I ask for more information so I can understand it better. I love puzzles, word games, chess, cracking clues, etc. I give challenges to my mind so it's working and growing. There is no limit to learning. The human race is evolving so rapidly that if we don't keep up, we will become redundant. Individuals and entities that are nimble, open, and quick to adapt will survive. Others will enter the extinct list. I'm grateful for my mind. It's giving me a rich life filled with valuable experiences. It's taking me on a journey that is filled with potential, possibilities, and magic. You take care of ...

Day #35:    Car Pooling (100 days of gratitude) I live in the suburbs a good 18 kms from TIDEL park. We are 3 kms from the OMR the main highway that reaches the city and there is no public transport to my place. Over 1200 families live in my township with more than 1000 cars plying to work daily. We have an active carpool group of around 250 people with an equal mix of givers and takers. Some are regulars and some are occasional. I’m using the carpool group as a taker for the last two months and I realise how useful it is for so many people. There is a regular giver who I travel with sometimes in the mornings. He is Ashok a good friend of mine. He is such a happy and giving person who literally gets upset if his car goes empty at any time. He actively seeks people who need a ride and helps them out. He regales us with meaningful conversations and sees to it that in the evenings there is some snack available for those travelling with him. Today I was ridin...

Day #34:     Pacing partner (100 days of gratitude) I’m grateful for my pacing partner who has been keeping me company for the last 33 days by participating in the 100-day Gratitude challenge. A 100-day writing challenge is difficult because you have to be able to write every day whatever your schedule or preoccupations. And to write on gratitude you need to dig deep to find what you are grateful for. We find it very easy to crib or complain. But to be able to find something to praise or be grateful for is not an easy task, especially after running through many topics over 30 days, So when I’m down and unable to pull myself up to write in an upbeat manner on gratitude, I remember that there is someone out there who would be posting her Day 34 of gratitude and I should not let her down by quitting. The same thing happens in running. When I’m running alone it’s very difficult to stay motivated and to keep to my timing or distance. But when we are in a group and...

Day #33: Death (100 days of gratitude) I am grateful for death.  You must be wondering what’s happened to this fellow. Death is a somber, dark, depressing, perhaps terrifying topic to most people. But it need not be so if you went a little deeper to understand it. Death signifies the end of one state and the beginning of another. The day dies to give way to the night. The night dies to give way to the new dawn. The caterpillar dies to make way for the butterfly to take wing. The freedom of bachelorhood dies to give way to the bonds of marriage. (Oops, hope she is not reading this). Death in one state may mean life in another state. Death is nature’s way of ensuring the dynamism of life. Our Creator is also the Destroyer. What he creates in one dimension he destroys in another. A death of a loved one may mean that the loved one is now an angel looking back indulgently at us from above. Yesterday I attended a funeral of a 90-year-old man. He was my father’s cousin and w...