THINK POSITIVE

by Manoj R. Kodachwad     About a year and a half ago, I became the father of a beautiful baby girl. Since then, every day with her has felt magical in its own way. Time seems to move differently now, faster somehow. She is growing up quicker than I can fully take in, and I often find myself wishing I could pause these little moments just a little longer.  Whenever people meet us, one of the first questions they ask is, “How old is she?” At first, I thought it was simple curiosity. Over time, I realised the question often led somewhere else. Soon the stories would follow: "My baby started walking at 11 months." "Ours began crawling at just 6 months." "She started speaking before she turned one." "My baby eats everything on her own already." And just like that, parenting quietly turns into a race nobody officially signed up for. For a while, I found myself paying attention to these timelines. Not because I wanted to compete, but because comparis...

  Recently, I unexpectedly reconnected with a friend I had known couple of years ago. Time had passed, but some things about him hadn’t changed. He was still the same hardworking, focused, and dedicated individual I remembered. There was always a smile on his face - not forced, but natural. He carried an energy that was lively yet composed. He approached every task with enthusiasm and was always ready to extend a helping hand whenever extra work needed to be done. I had always seen him as someone calm and balanced. His steady nature made me assume that he was well-settled and content in life. He seemed like the kind of person who had everything under control. I was wrong. A few weeks after reconnecting, on an ordinary day, I noticed him going through the details of a new car model. Curious, I casually asked if he was planning to buy one. He replied that he was just looking into it for someone else. Out of interest, I asked whether he had plans to buy one for himself an...

I'm a Coldplay fan! When it was announced that Coldplay was hosting a concert in India, I was over the moon, thinking I might finally get a chance to see them live. But to my disappointment, the tickets sold out within minutes. Today, some of those tickets are being resold on platforms like Viagogo for a jaw-dropping ₹9.9 lakhs. Yes, you read that right—₹9.9 lakhs for a concert ticket! What really surprised me, though, was seeing people crying on social media about missing out on the tickets, as if it was the end of the world. Intrigued, I dug deeper and found interviews where many admitted they weren’t even that familiar with Coldplay’s music. They simply didn’t want to miss out on what was deemed " the event of the year" . I couldn’t help but think: Really? I also noticed this phenomenon in other aspects as well.  It's interesting, and a bit disheartening, to think that something as deeply personal and spiritual as a holy journey could be influenced by FOMO (Fear o...

One of the properties of water that makes it so easy to store is its liquid state. It takes the shape of wherever you put it in. Be it glass, bottle, tank, and so on. Water adapts its shape as per its surroundings. We don’t realize how difficult would it be to store water if not for its liquid state. That’s just the nature of all the elements in the liquid state.    Likewise, a human mind also adapts to its surroundings. Our mind is directly influenced by the people we interact with daily. It is our subconscious that slowly adopts our mind to our surroundings and before we know, we end up being a person we never thought you would be.   For instance, a person surrounded by people addicted to bad things gets addicted to such things before he even realizes. Similarly, if you are surrounded by people who are dishonest and unfaithful, it’s only a matter of time before you end up being one too. You start justifying all the wrong things you do.   Take a look at ...

We millennials often hear people say that things should happen at the right time. One should get a job before 25 and marry before 30 and so on. As if like somebody has laid down a time table of events in our lives, one is forced to follow the same.   Why is so much stress is laid out on these timelines? They are not the physical development of our body to happen in time but mere social things.   These timelines have put most of us under stress. What happens if you get a job or start a business after 30? Well, if you are determined to achieve what you desire nothing can stop you from doing it. So is buying your first home or car or getting married at a later age. These things should happen whenever you are ready and not because they have to happen at a certain age. But that doesn't mean you sit and just wait for the right time to come.    What is the right time you ask?   Well, it’s when you are ready. Let me tell you one thing here. It’s not that...

A friend of mine bought an expensive SUV last year. At the time, I had asked him whether it was really necessary for him to spend so much on a car that he wouldn’t use that often. For which he said that everybody would be so impressed by his expensive SUV. For a year or so, all his posts on social media were filled up the pictures of the car at different places.   A year later now, when   I asked him about his car, he said that the maintenance and running costs are very expensive and that he is regretting his decision of buying an SUV. It has become a liability in his life. He further said that he should have opted for a smaller car that would have been more suitable to his city lifestyle.   Similarly, another friend of mine bought a flat couple of years ago at an expensive location in Bangalore. Although not big enough for comfort, it was very expensive because of its locality. I had told him that he should buy a bigger home which was just a bit further from the ...