‘Father’ is the noblest title a man can be given. It is more than a biological role. It signifies a patriarch, a leader, an exemplar, a confidant, a teacher, a hero & friend.”
Some #books that I simply adore due to the way they express the bond of a father & child #FathersDay
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
- one of the best books written in the last century, it tells us endearing story of a father son bond while they undertake a Bike journey across America.
Fav Quote - Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive.
The Pursuit of Happyness- -One of my favourites, the book vividly tells story of a persistent father, Chris Gardner looking to create a better life for his son under all conditions and not giving up.
Fav Quote - The world is your oyster. It's up to you to find the pearls.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- there are very few Literary fathers like Atticus. His compassion and willingness to let Scout explore the world at his own makes him unique.
Fav Quote - People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.
Letters to My Son: A Father’s Wisdom on Manhood,Life, and Love
Amazing book on what the spiritual side of being a Man is about, emphasising that we need gentleness of spirit
Fav Quote - "Being male is not enough; being a man is a right to be earned and an honor to be cherished,"
Open by Andre Agassi-
Agassi hated Tennis while growing up, and that was due to the rigour which he had to undergo while training but He is what he is today due to his father & his training
Fav Quote-What you feel doesn’t matter in the end; it’s what you do that makes you brave.
“Being a great father is like shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow.” –Reed Markham
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Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
- Winston Churchill
And there are a few books which give us an opportunity to peep into Russia’s Beauty & Brutality.
A few books which I liked about #Russia in no specific order.
War & Peace-
There are books, there are thick books and there is “War & Peace”. I have for a long time been remained intimidated of this book’s size.
What I liked about the book was it attacked conventional, established ideas with a new approach.
Anna Karenina-
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
What I liked about the book is how eloquently Tolstoy has written about Anna’s character. Also the way so splendidly Russia’s beauty has been expressed in this book, that’s unmatched.
Patience, grasshopper," said Maia. "Good things come to those who wait."
"I always thought that was 'Good things come to those who do the wave,'" said Simon. "No wonder I've been so confused all my life.
Cassandra Clare, City of Glass
A short thread on my thoughts on Patience.
Wildlife photography is all all about being incredibly skilled and amazingly lucky,
But you need extreme patience also. Sergei Gorshkov’s shot called “Embrace” won him Wildlife Photographer of year
And while it was shot on a hidden camera, he had to wait for 11 Months for it.
Like Wildlife photography, Sports and Business are also replete with stories of patience and the subsequent success it brought.
It however triggered me to think about how largely our lives go on and are perceived on the basis of outcomes and not process.
Oscar Wilde had famously said and I believed & still believe that “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” that’s something called Optimism.
And all of us have heard some version on “A pessimist has no engine & An Optimist has no brakes”
However the biggest tyranny of being an eternal optimist is that at times it makes us reluctant to explore potential failures.
The other extreme is Being Paranoid, where you try to see everything in fine details, and all the absurdities of life which May or May not come true.
Over last 3 years or so, I have lived both the extremes and then I got to read about Admiral Stockdale.
Stockdale was a Prisoner of War in Vietnam for more than 7 years and survives a hell & more in those seven years.
And That’s how I was introduced to Stockdale Paradox.
“Comfort zone is a very nice place but nothing grows there”
Have personally experienced it over last 3 years. Was very happy in a great job, excelling professionally & happy in personal life. I was in what we called “Comfort Zone”
Then out of compulsion, started at my own with great optimism. But nothing went as planned. Clients backed out, partners withdrew support, Friends doubted whether I was good enough. All my fears & self doubt started to creep in. Frustrating & self loathing.
I was in “Fear Zone”
At that time a client told me “no matter what show up every day for 1000days, irrespective of your yesterday’s failures”
At times, building something of your own is so frustrating, coz you are all alone, you have to do everything by yourself, but there is some fun in that agony
On the day of “Buddha Poornima”, the day when Buddha attained enlightenment, a brief tale of enlightenment which just occurred.
This story is about Abhi Shah, who was a “millionaire for a night”
A short thread 🧵
“If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything.”
- Gordon A. Eadie
What would most of us do, if we found a bag filled with 1million dollars on a deserted road? Many of us would take it.
But not Abhi Shah, because he stood tall for his virtues.
Abhi and his family own a convenience store in Soutwick. Most such stores in US sell lottery tickets as well. Very recently, a regular customer came to their store, bought a 30$ ticket, and after scratching it, mistakenly thought that it had the incorrect number. And she threw it
The only thing which works is Capitalism & Economic Growth.
In practice, socialism didn’t work. But socialism could never have worked because it is based on false premises about human psychology and society, and gross ignorance of human economy.
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries
And that is bound to happen coz, in Capitalism, the risk is disproportionately born by one who is bringing the capital, and we should celebrate
America’s abundance was created not by public sacrifices to ‘the common good,’ but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes.