So, what lies ahead?
Before we get to that, a question for you. How many of you ‘know’ your grandfather?
By know, I mean what he was all about. His daily life, his joys, the challenges he encountered, his friends, colleagues…let me put it this way. Most of us must have heard stories from him, but these would have been the highlights of his life. What about the rest of it? Wouldn’t that be a good read?
Now, another question. How much do you know of your great-grandfather, and his father?
Chances are, barring the name, we really don’t know much (unless he was Jamsetji Tata or something, in that case, Wikipedia does the trick). Think about it – in a few generations, people who were so dear to us, fade away to a point that even their names are not remembered.
Enter technology.
Tech has made it so much easier to record one’s thoughts, emotions and feelings. It’s almost like a diary – collate your Twitter, FB and Insta feeds and you pretty much arrive at what a wonderful person you are (well, you only record the good moments, don’t you??).
Jokes apart, how about using this technology for something more than duck-faced selfies and saccharine-filled hagiographies? (in English, self-admiration and self-praise).
When I set out to write on a daily basis, I didn’t have any agenda in mind. No path to follow, no place to reach. But as I went about it, I thought about who would read these thoughts of mine. Would it be the hoi polloi (in English, the common people. And stop using so much jargon please), or would it be a select few? For that matter, would ANYONE read this?
The good news is that I gave up my dreams of becoming a male J.K. Rowling years ago. And so, it didn’t really matter.
When one gives up excess expectations, it becomes easier to do things, without the pressure of performance pulling you down.
So I write, hoping that my kids would read this, and their kids, and so on. Like a time capsule, having a glimpse into what people of my generation and time thought about life, and work, and love. What they think of me wouldn’t really matter to me, since I would be long gone. But knowing a part of what eventually became them, would be a nice thing, don’t you think?
Also a few learnings that I gather on the way, a few words of wisdom that I came across, and a few more that I thought of too. In the hope that the pitfalls that I encountered, help them to navigate the path of life better.
That is what you actually leave behind yes? Not the money (spend it before you go), not the big house (eventually gets demolished, or into dispute), maybe the jewellery (love antique necklaces)…but what you leave behind is the learnings that you give your kids. That is why I read a hundred odd books a year…that is why I learn so many languages…and that is why I fail and stand up again. And I will continue to do so, in turn, building up a huge repository of future thoughts and posts for your reading (and my spamming) pleasure.
How can you help?
For now, by giving your feedback on whatever you read, and also sending me snippets that can help me grow in my own journey. Also, a lot of money to sustain this effort (kidding). If you like it, spread the word, if you don’t, well, I will try my best to win you over. I may not succeed, but I will not give up trying:)