Posted in Life Gyan

Managing Your Personal Information

If you have to go to a Bank or Government office to update your personal details or provide some KYC documents, what do you do – just pick up the required set of documents (original and their copies) + passport size photos + pen etc and drive to the Bank or do you have to rummage every cupboard searching for the passport sized photos or one of the key document. 

Do you have copies of your important documents readily available or do you stop on the way to get a copy. Do you have to return with the work unfinished as you did not carry all the required documents or make multiple trips to complete the requirements.

Do these scenarios look familiar? The point I am trying to make is that a large chunk of people either do not consider this important or they do not know where to start and how to organise their personal information.

Having key information handy at all times can save you a lot of time and hassle where you are pressed for time. Also it can go a long way in ensuring that you are prepared for any emergency.

In this post we will look at easy ways to organise your personal and financial information. It is not as difficult as it is often made to sound. All it requires is your will and intent to do it once you understand the importance of the same.

Have Scanned Copies of All Key Documents

With the digital revolution and a smart phone in every hand it is very easy to quickly scan and store digital copies of all your important documents. Many apps are available in the App Store which do a neat job of creating a PDF of the document in seconds. And if you use Google Drive, it has an inbuilt feature to scan documents. 

Once you have scanned all your important documents (including the ones for your spouse, kids and parents), rename them so that searching for the right document is easier later. Now arrange them neatly in separate folders for PAN Cards, Aadhar Cards, Voter ID, Passport, Driving Licence, Property/Rental agreements or Sale Deeds, Medical Reports, Salary Slips, Form 16, Car and Bike Registration documents and so on. 

You can save these to a eLocker or Digital Locker of your choice. You can also store them on to a cloud storage solution like Google Drive, One Drive or Dropbox.

Handling Physical Documents

Similar to the soft copies, create separate files and folders for various types of documents. Create one file for all the Bills, another one for all Insurance related documents, notices and premium receipts. Have another file for you property related documents like Sale/Rent agreement, property tax receipts etc. Similarly create separate folders to file documents for Bank accounts, investments, car and bike, AMC agreements etc. 

Luckily in the last few years all bank statements and statements from mutual funds etc have all converted to digital so it has reduced much of the paper that you need to handle these days. Nevertheless there still will be a few things that each one of us will surely have which is still in paper format and storing them in identifiable folders will allow us to find them quickly without having to go thru the entire stack of paper in the cupboard. 

Also the advantage of having separate folders is that when you are about to flick a document into the cupboard, it takes very less effort to place it into the right folder rather than throwing it loosely into the cupboard or drawer. This habit saves you a lot of time when you might have to invest and entire afternoon sorting and organising the documents.

Emergency Bag

Create a Emergency Bag and let every family member be aware of it. Anyone from the family should be able to open it and it should have all your important information in one place. You can have the contact numbers of important people like CA, Doctor, Tax Consultant, Later, Toll free number of Health Insurance company, Car insurance, Banks where you have accounts and a few close friends and relatives whom you could call anytime in case of an emergency.

Also place a copy of all the key documents like Health Insurance Cards, Insurance policies, PAN and Aadhar card copies etc into the bag for easy access during an emergency. Review the contents of the bag every six months and refresh as required.

Tag Along Bag

Create a tag along bag which you should carry when heading out to any bank or government office. Place a few copies of passport size photos, copies of PAN Card, Aadhar Card, Pen, Glue stick, Stapler etc so that you do not have to hunt for these things and can get your work done efficiently.

Please start getting organised if you are not doing it already. This small steps go a long way and will ensure that you and your family are prepared for any emergencies.

Get organised – Reduce Stress ! 

Posted in Life Gyan

Do Not Go Gentle Into The Night…

The words “Do not go gentle into the night…” caught my attention in the movie Interstellar which is a science fiction movie directed, co-written and produced by Christopher Nolan in 2014.

The movie is set in a dystopian future where humanity is struggling to survive. The film follows the adventures of a group of astronauts who travel through a wormhole near Saturn in search of a new home for mankind.

It is a quite popular movie and very intriguing. So during the lockdown I was drawn to watch it once again as if some unanswered questions were pulling me towards it. I completed the movie and this poem is what I found. If you are interested in movies about space exploration you will like it too.

Let us first go through the famous poem by Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) titled “Do not go gentle into that good night” before we try and understand what it means.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Explanation
The beauty of many poems is that different people interpret the same text differently. This is because we all are unique beings by virtue of our upbringing, our perceptions of the world – honed by our experiences. Two people going through the same events of life experience them differently. Also culture, heritage and personal values play an important role as to how we interpret the words we come across. 

The reason why I like this poem is because it talks about making a mark on the canvas of this world. It speaks about perseverance and never-say-die attitude even though death is inevitable. It gives the message that when we accept our mortality, we understand what really matters in our life.

The author acknowledges that death is inevitable—We are all mortal beings and everyone has to die one day.

wise men at their end know dark is right

But that doesn’t mean that we should simply give up and give in to death. Instead, people should fight, fiercely and bravely, against death because life is precious and worth fighting for.

He goes on to say that when these people are confronted with death, they realise that they haven’t accomplished everything they wanted to. It connects them with their mortality and they fight against death so that they can have more time and leave a bigger impact on the world.

Similarly, the “wild men” that the author describes in lines 10-12, have spent their lives in a joyous and reckless fashion: they “caught and sang the sun in flight.” But, when they face death, they realize that that they “grieved it on its way.” In other words, they realize that they have regrets about the frivolous way they spent their time on Earth. Thus they fight for more time so that they can do something more worthwhile.

In both cases, then, death helps these very different people realize that their lives are precious—and that they need to use their time on earth as best as they can. The inevitability of death offers them a kind of corrective mechanism, helping them reconnect with what really matters in life. So even though death is inevitable, it’s worth fighting bravely against, because doing so helps reveal what really matters in life.

Posted in Life Gyan

Maturity

Maturity is when you stop trying to change people, and instead focus on changing yourself.
Maturity is when you accept people for who they are.
Maturity is when you understand that everyone is right in their own perspective.

Maturity is when you learn to “let go”.
Maturity is when you are able to drop “expectations” from a relationship and give for the sake of giving.
Maturity is when you understand that whatever you do, you do for your own peace.

Maturity is when you stop proving to the world how intelligent you are.
Maturity is when you focus on positives in people.
Maturity is when you do not seek approval from others.
Maturity is when you stop comparing yourself with others.

Maturity is when you are at peace with yourself.
Maturity is when you can differentiate between “need” and “want, and you can you can let go of your wants.
Maturity is when you stop attaching “happiness” to material things.

Posted in Life Gyan

The “Special” Ordinary People

Yes, that is a weird sounding title but let me explain in a jiffy…
Try answering the below questions…
1. Name the 5 Wealthiest People in the world
2. Name the Last 5 winners of Ms. Universe
3. Name the Last 10 People Who the Nobel prize

How Did You Do?

The point is, none of us remembers the headlines of yesterday.
Even though these people must be the best in their fields. Applause dies, awards are tarnished and achievements are forgotten!!

Here’s another quiz…Let’s see how this one goes:

1. Name 5 Teachers Who Added to Your Journey Through School
2. Name 5 Friends Who Helped You Thru Difficult Times
3. Name 5 People Who Taught You Something Worthwhile
4. Name 5 People Who Make You Feel Special
5. Name 5 People who You Enjoy Spending Time with

Easier…right?

The people who make a difference in your life are NOT the ones with most awards…Life is full of ordinary people who have made the world a better place for you!

Cherish them!
Hold them tight! And Thank them for making a difference in your life.
Perhaps sometimes its “special” to be ordinary!

Posted in Life Gyan

Don’t Fall into the Trap…

Few reminders – 

  • Don’t  compare yourself with others.  
    Do not let it become the source of your misery. Someone else will always have a better pay, swankier car, bigger house and so on an so forth. 
  • Don’t let your material possessions become your identity.  
    Sometimes we attach too much importance to the car we drive, the house we own, where we go for holidays etc. We start equating material possessions with success. Often we start identifying our own value based on the quality and quantity of our material possessions and take great pleasure in flaunting them. And pretty soon this becomes a spiral – it feeds our ego and pushes us to acquire more and more material possessions. Owning and flaunting your wealth or pricey possessions may give you a temporary high but it isn’t sustainable and eventually results in the downfall of the person.
  • Be self aware when your decisions are driven by greed. 
    Chances are that your common sense has left you and greed has overcome your thinking. You may overlook most of the risks in pursuit of that shiny object feeding your greed. You may get lucky once or twice but remember there are no shortcuts to success. Yes luck may play a role in your success but most of it is your hard work and perseverance. 
  • Understand that money is important but is it not everything. 
    There are things that money can’t buy such as your health, the strength of your character, the bonding and love of your family, true friends. That is why is has always been said – 

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; 
when health is lost, something is lost; 
when character is lost, all is lost.

Nurture hope and positivity. 
Be grateful for what you have in life. 
The more you are grateful for what you have, the more you will have to be grateful for. 

Posted in Life Gyan

Who is Your Fallback?

A fall back is the go-to person(s) who we reach out to in times of confusion, chaos, dilemma or so to say..in our weaker times.

Life is full of ups and downs and even though we all have our own strengths, yet there are times in everyone’s life where we are faced with new challenges or some major life changing decisions where our mind is filled with self-doubt, confusion, sadness or ambiguities. During such times, we fall back on to our close friends or mentors who are our confidantes in the hope that they will understand our situation and may help clear the clouds from our thinking to enable us to choose wisely and take the right decision.

Thus it is very important to choose our fall backs wisely as they are the people who can have a big influence over the way we think and perceive the situation and the decisions we take at those times and can change the course/ direction of our lives. 

Let us reflect on two important characters from Mahabharata – Duryodhan & Arjun. 

Duryodhan was a person of very high intelligence, power, and knowledge. He had the knowledge about what is right and wrong, yet he couldn’t prevent himself from taking the wrong path and decisions. His fall back was his uncle Shakuni, who had vested interests of his own. He manipulated Duryodhan during his confused state by massaging his ego, and always blaming the other for the situation which was surrounding Duryodhan. Shakuni made Duryodhan dependent on him gradually for all important or smaller decisions.

However, Arjun’s fall back was Krishna who presented him with facts, higher truths of life and allowed Arjun to make his own choices and decisions. Krishna accepted and honed Arjun to be a brave leader. Krishna empowered him to make his own choices and be responsible for the choices he makes. Krishna never manipulated him. This enabled Arjun and rest of the Pandavas to choose their own path wisely and follow their Dharma.

The rest as we say is history. Though we cannot ignore the influence both Shakuni and Krishna had on their protégé yet both Duryodhan and Arjun were eventually responsible for their own actions. And that is why the right fallback or mentor or counsel is so important in life. 

Consider a drop of pure water falling from the sky.
If it lands on flowers or leaves, it becomes a dew drop.
If it falls on a hot surface, then it loses its identity and vanishes.
If the same drop lands in an oyster, it gets converted into a pearl…

Reflect on who is your fallback? Does he or she massage your ego in those confused situations, or do they provide comfort and assurance and help you see the light within and choose your own path wisely. Our fallbacks might not necessarily be as extreme as Shakuni or Krishna but if we take a step back and reflect we can still gauge which ways they tend towards.

Also, reflect upon how you play your role as a fallback. When others fall back on you when they are confused, do you hold the space for them, or do you unconsciously get your own stories mixed up with theirs.

Do you assist the person see his own wisdom and see the truth or manipulate him/her to believe that they are the victim and the other person/situation is the perpetrator?

Do you meditate or contemplate the situation without judgments or you unconsciously get your vested interests fulfilled through the situation?

We all play fallbacks to other people in our lives, especially as a spouse, parent, child, sibling, friend, relative or colleague. Let us be mindful of our energies and emotions so that when someone comes to us in their turbulent times, we are able to empathise with them, yet stay neutral and help them reflect their true essence just as a true mirror would do. 

Realise the role of your community, your companions, your friends and family and how they can influence the direction of your journey of life in a profound way.

Choose your fallbacks wisely and be an empathetic yet honest fallback to someone else.

Posted in Life Gyan

Four Types Of Intelligence

According to psychologists, there are four types of intelligence:
1) Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
2) Emotional  Quotient (EQ)
3) Social Quotient (SQ)
4) Adversity Quotient (AQ)

1. Intelligence Quotient (IQ): this is the measure of your comprehension ability, solve maths; memorize things and recall subject matters.

2. Emotional Quotient (EQ): this is the measure of your ability to maintain peace with others; keep to time; be responsible; be honest; respect boundaries; be humble, genuine and considerate.

3. Social Quotient (SQ): This is the measure of your ability  to build a network of friends and maintain it over a long period of time.

People that have higher EQ and SQ tend to go farther in life than those with high IQ but low EQ and SQ. Most schools capitalize in improving IQ level while EQ and SQ are played down.

A man of high IQ can end up being employed by a man of high EQ and SQ even though he has an average IQ.

Your EQ represents your character; your SQ represents your charisma. Give in to habits that will improve these three Qs but more especially your EQ and SQ.

EQ and SQ make one manage better than the other.

It is advisable to teach children not only to have higher IQ , but also focus on having higher EQ and SQ.

Now let us look at AQ – a new paradigm, coined in 1997 by Stolz.

4. The Adversity Quotient (AQ): The measure of your ability to go through a rough patch in life and come out without losing your mind. AQ determines who will give up in face of troubles, who will abandon their families or may even consider suicide.

Parents please do endeavour to expose children to other areas of life than academic. They should adore manual work, sports and arts. Develop their EQ, SQ and AQ so that they become multifaceted human beings able to do things independently.

Finally, do not prepare the road for the children. Prepare the children for the road.

Posted in Life Gyan

When You Feel Lost…

These are unprecedented times and it is natural to feel a bit anxious and a little lost at times due to so much negativity all around. Most of us feel concerned about what the future holds, how it will unfold and will we even make it to the future safely. A lot of people are going through this emotional turmoil however it is important that we look at the current situation objectively and not get carried away by it.

I am sharing a few quotes for you to ponder – these will probably help you look at things differently and help you feel better in these difficult times –

  1. Always remember that your present situation is not your final destination. The best is yet to come.
  2. Sometimes the bad things that happen to us, lead us directly to the path that will give us the best things in life.
  3. If you don’t like where you are, move. You’re not a tree.
  4. You can’t start the next chapter if you keep re-reading the last one
  5. If it doesn’t open, it is not your door.
  6. Sometimes you need to step out, get some air and remind yourself of who you are and where you want to be
  7. Sometimes you need to talk to a three year old so you can understand life again
  8. Listen and Silent are spelled with the same letters. Think about it.
  9. Sometimes, you have to stop thinking so much and just go where your heart takes you
  10. You don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward
  11. Never stop believing because miracles happen everyday
Posted in Life Gyan

Lockdown Memories

  • These are the things that you may remember someday about the lockdown. 
  • Today is Sunday, 3rd May, 2020.
  • We are at Day 40 of social isolation.
  • Anybody who is alive today has never seen anything of this scale ever in their lives. 
  • Almost all big organisations have a Business Continuity Plan but none would have planned for a disruption of this scale
  • Schools, Colleges, Offices, Markets, Industries, Malls, Restaurants, Cinema halls are all closed
  • Flights, Trains, Buses, Uber, Ola are not operating
  • In many towns and cities all delivery services like Swiggy, Zomato, Big Basket are not permitted for fear of spreading the infection
  • All maids, drivers and house-help are not allowed into the homes or apartments
  • Only shops of essential items like groceries, medicine, vegetables etc are allowed to open for limited duration everyday.
  • All places of worship like Temples, Churches, Mosques are closed
  • Parks, beaches and other public places are not accessible to the public.
  • All sports events like Olympics, IPL etc have been cancelled or Postponed across the Globe
  • All religious and social gatherings have been banned.
  • Funerals related gatherings are limited to immediate cohabitants and max 15-20 persons and too with Police permission
  • Schools have been closed since mid March and most schools have started online classes on Zoom. 
  • There are floor markings outside and inside the stores to maintain appropriate distance between people.
  • Only limited number of people are allowed to enter a shop and the rest have to form a queue outside. When one customer exists then one from the queue is allowed to enter the shop
  • Friendly social gatherings even with neighbours or friends are not happening. Most sane folks are maintaining discipline and social hygiene.
  • People are scheduling video calls to connect with friends and relatives 
  • There is widespread fake news on social media
  • World-over there is shortage of masks, gloves, PPE kits and medical equipment like test kits, ventilators etc and most countries are having to buy it from China which miraculously has overcome this crisis and is back to business
  • People are wearing masks, most places now REQUIRE that you wear them to enter!  People are even making their own masks for sale or donation to medical facilities!
  • Toilet paper, hand sanitizer, anti-bacterial wipes and anything Lysol or Clorox is in short supply and limited per person.
  • Every city has been divided into tiny zones & an instant fine is being issued for crossing the zone without a valid reason. (Transport workers, Essential services, etc)
  • IT companies have adopted a work-from-home approach and are able to run most of their operations remotely
  • Small businesses and daily wagers are hard hit. Government is trying to provide food and assistance to the daily wagers, poor and needy folks
  • Amidst all this the silver lining is that the pollution levels have come down drastically and nature is thriving. 
  • There is hardly any noise pollution and we can hear the birds chirping again. 
  • I have heard in news that the long standing Ozone layer holes have self healed
  • At least everyone is acknowledging that probably we humans had taken too many things for granted and the pace of life was accelerating with every passing day but now this pandemic has put brakes on that mad race and everything has come to a standstill forcing people to reflect on they actions and their consequences
  • Today the Lockdown 2.0 comes to completion and Lockdown 3.0 begins for next 2 weeks. 
  • I am not sure what the future holds for us and how the “new normal” will evolve as we try to adapt to the changed circumstances and environment. However I hope people will remember at least a few lessons from this worldwide pandemic and will adopt a more responsible and deliberate lifestyle.
  • Remember life is precious & that nothing should be taken for granted. And above all let’s be grateful for where we are and what we have.
  • Stay safe and healthy…!
Posted in Life Gyan

After The Lockdown…

After the lockdown…what is the one thing that you will do differently as an individual?

It could be
– reducing the consumption of one time use plastics
– continue to help with household  chores
– buy more from local vendors etc etc..

The point is – are we going to do anything different after this experience or will we be back to our older ways and that too with vengeance.

So what is it that you will change in your lifestyle?