Tides of Thoughts

  August 22nd 11.20 AM My phone was buzzing and the call was from an unknown number. Though the truecaller id showed it as spam, I decided to pick as I am searching for a job and many consultancy numbers are being marked as spam by some people to avoid repeated calls. Caller: Sir, This is X calling from ABC bank. Am I speaking to Ajit? ( Started with a rustic accent of Hindi) Me: Yes. May I know from which bank you are calling? Caller: I am calling from ABC bank. Sir, are you comfortable in Hindi. Me: No. I am comfortable with English only.  Caller: Ok Sir, I am transferring the call to English department. After a gap of few seconds, the phone was picked by some other caller. Caller: Sir, This is Y and I your call has been transferred. Me: Ok. What's the matter? Caller: We are calling from the credit card department of ABC bank and our system is showing that you have an outstanding of Rs 1.5 lakhs on your credit card. Note that I don't have any credit card from that bank. I

LinkedIn: Place where we see more achievers than in real life. ( No offence for the achievers). Facebook: Place where we see more travellers and happy people than in real life. WhatsApp: Place where we see more self-declared authentic information than in real life. (In fact, the biggest fake news peddler awards can be given to those forward messengers). Twitter: Place where we see more news than in news channels. Instagram: Place where we see more beauty than in real life. Snapchat: Where memory lives shorter than in real life. Tik Tok: Where we can see more actors than in the entertainment industry. Zoom meetings: Where people are more productive than in real life.

It was in late Feb 2020, the Indian government decided to shut down all the educational institutions indefinitely as a part of the fighting against the pandemic, COVID19. A similar situation prevailed in other countries too. Given the acute stress of the alarming infection rates of COVID19, all the schools and colleges complied with the regulation. But at the same time, the management of the educational institutions are bothered due to chronic stress associated with the long term plans of the institutions and the uncertainty about the resuming the classes. This stress extended further to the ed-tech companies supporting these institutions technically and academically. To support the ongoing academic activities, some schools and Ed-tech companies came up with a solution to provide virtual classes and training to students and teachers by mid-April. While the institutions provided infrastructure support, the Ed-tech companies restructured their products to suit the virtual pro

Once upon a time, there lived a boy in a small town. One day, he was playing in the sand. As the boy was digging the sand, he found a wonderful peanut-sized stone in a mesmerizing and intense blue shade. The boy looked at it with fascination and astonishment for some time. He stopped playing and took the stone to his house. He held the stone tight in his hand not to lose it. The stone had some sharp edges and so the boy got injured when he held it tight. When he reached his home, he showed the stone to his mother. The mother got worried about the wound and she asked the boy to throw away the stone. The boy was stubborn and kept the stone in his cupboard. He used to check the stone daily in the morning and before going to sleep. Years later, the boy’s father thought of buying a diamond ring for him and took him to the jeweller. The boy, fascinated by the stone argued with his father to have the bluestone in the ring instead of the diamond. After a lot of contemplati

I am like a child playing in the sand on the seashore. I build castles with the sand. Often, those are destroyed by the monstrous tides. The tides never get tired neither do I. A stranger asked the child in me about why I built castles when they were being destroyed by the tides. The child in me smiled and replied "I find solace in playing with the sand. I am neither bothered by the tides nor with the castles." The stranger shrugged and walked away. A fresh tide came and wiped the castle again. It's only the tides, sand, and me. I am busy building a castle again.