Pujit Aggarwal

      It was an extremely busy and tiring day with half a dozen meetings back to back. I took a very light meal and retired to crash out for the night. I requested the inmates of the house not to disturb me if there was a call from anyone.     I fell asleep within minutes. It was one of those ideal periods of sleep that would block even pleasant dreams just in case they tickled my fancy or imagination and interrupted the repose induced by a deep slumber. I heard the mobile tinkle on my right. I declined the call. I decided not to check who it was from. I went back to sleep.     I don’t how much time had elapsed but the phone tinkled again. Declining the call or the notification or the message, I picked up the device and switched it off. I had deported the spectra of cyberia and digitalia for the night. I closed my eyes and snuggled up into the cosy bosom of Morpheus, the patron god of restorative sleep and dreams.     I wa...

  My mother was more particular about my moral code and conduct than my performance in the periodic exams held by the school. If I got good grades, she would pat me on the back, if I under performed, she would just beam a smile and encourage me to study methodically and pay more attention to subjects in which I was weak. She would assure me that I had enormous potential as a learner, and I should never ever consider the exam results to be the last judgment. She was never paranoid about the downside of my schooling. My school friends envied me for being blessed with a mother who was never obsessed with grades. They reported hours of third-degree interrogation at home, demanding answers and justification as to why their score was so pathetic despite a posse of private tutors coaching them over the weekends and during holidays. The anxiety of the stigma of chronic mediocrity staining their children sometimes pushed them over the edge, impelling them to a round of counselors and expert...

  Among all the moral qualities our parents, teachers, and scriptures inculcate in us is sincerity . It is not employed as frequently as it used to be in the good old days. There may be a small chapter in the unopened handbook of business ethics wherein it is explained and recommended with caution and tact. When practised and promoted without finesse in the corporate transactions, or practical give-and-take, it can lead to underachievement, even disappointment. In a loose sense, we can equate it with honesty and frankness: easy to preach but hard to practise. No wonder scriptures invariably prefer words like truthfulness, verity or variants that are loaded with figurative and allegorical freight. A rather well-known saying from the founder of one of the three Abrahamic religions states: “Render unto the labourer his wages before the sweat on his brow becomes dry”. Simplified into the common man's lingo, it means: pay now not later. Discharge your liabilities on time. According to t...

The moment you are born, the auspicious event instantly creates several ad hoc relative identities. Your entry into the world has given birth to mother, father, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grandpa, granny, and any number of cousins. All of them welcome you to their fold. You are a bonny, mettlesome baby. The world is your oyster. Joining the pre-school and subsequently the school, you will discover the comforting equipage of classmates and playmates some of whom you will, for lack of a better word, miscall friends. They are fellow travellers and fellow sufferers under the back-breaking weight of the school bag you lug all the way to school and home.  No sooner do you upgrade from one class to another, than the equation changes. The old familiar faces scatter to the periphery, giving way to new classmates sitting next to you. Some are left behind and some now occupy the front row, basking in the supportive nimbus of the teacher on the dais. With a little bit of luck, one or two of...

 The title of this post is far from appropriate. Help is far too general and non-specific a word to exclude any mortal self-reliant enough not to need any support from a relative or friend or even a stranger. Human beings are brittle vessels intrinsically liable to dents, cracks, and damage. We need good Samaritans to prop us up when the sinewy body reels and the soul threatens to crash in a flat spin. What I want to discuss briefly is the enormous popularity of books on self-help since 1950 onwards. Visit any book stall and you find an array of self-help books displayed prominently. Ask the manager about the demand and the sales generated, and she will tell you how briskly they sell. Students on the threshold of the job market invariably browse through books on effective communication, body language, etiquette, general knowledge, and interview techniques that will equip them with the skills and the gumption to secure a lucrative position. I have been, of late, on a spree of readin...