With the herculean task of getting a job out of the way
and nothing specific on the agenda for the next 3 months, this looks like a
chance as good as any to do the things one has always wanted to do but never
got around to because, well, where was the time?? Yours truly has been a not-so-proud member of the club thus far but it's time to relinquish the badge.
To begin with, getting way from
everything and going off on a nice, quiet holiday all by self sounds like a
good idea. (I also hope to finally have an answer to at least one dreaded HR interview question: What is the most adventurous thing you have done in your life?) Perhaps to a historical destination/destinations. History, especially
Indian history, has always fascinated me. I have spent many nights in bed as a
kid fantasizing how life must have been in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
era. A bit more of history reading in higher classes, combined with the heroic
tales of bravery of historical figures who have become the cultural totems of
today, planted romanticised notions of life in the earlier times in my head.
All the associated stories of plunder and massacre seemed like minor
inconveniences then, serving no purpose but that of interfering with the
narrative. It’s only once that I started doing some serious history reading
that it struck how harsh life must have been in those times without all the
mechanical and electrical conveniences of today. Heck, had I been born 50 years
too early, life would be nothing as exciting and convenient as today. All those
sturdy forts constructed back then and pan-country military expeditions carried
out would have required humongous resources, time and effort. And yet, despite
the tyranny of distance, large empires were forged and sustained over hundreds
of years and architectural marvels that have withstood the test of time and
weather were erected. While reading and all is fine, I’d like to actually “feel”
the history in my bones. A tour of Jaipur about a decade back and one of the
glorious Vijayanagara capital of Hampi last year whetted that appetite but has
by no means satisfied it. An extensive tour of Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya
Pradesh would be my priority. I could spend hours at those places in quiet
contemplation trying to reconstruct the times of yore, undisturbed and
unhurried by anything else (Let’s ignore here the fact that I partook not a
drop of history in Delhi in the two years I spent there). My role-model is
Sanjeev Sanyal who is a global strategist for Deutsche Bank based out of
Singapore and lives and breathes history in all his spare time. His book “Land
of the Seven Rivers” is an excellent Indian history primer. Wish they had such
books as text books during school.
May be I could go away to a quiet town for a few
days somewhere in the hills up north, (Kasauli, may be?) be cut off from the
Internet and hopefully mobile communication. It’s damn difficult to switch off
completely these days but I could really do with a break from the daily chaos. I’d like to spend time going for long nature
walks, reading stories and poetry for a change (some by Ruskin Bond perhaps whose
writing is steeped in life in the hills), reflect on the past and the future-
the things gone right and wrong, figure out what and who matters, shed some
baggage of the past and figure out my own philosophy of life (very important,
if for nothing else then to impress a gathering of friends). Being in the lap
of nature and having no deadlines to adhere to may finally get the creative
juices flowing for all one knows and I may end up writing something worthwhile.
(Ok, I saw today a junior from BITS announcing on Facebook the imminent
publication of her first book so right now motivation is at its peak, else I am
too lazy to make the effort) Jokes apart, it would kind of feel nice to jump on
to the Engineer+MBA+Writer bandwagon some day.
In the days left over, I’d
definitely like to start clearing my reading backlog. At least 30-40 books I’ve
accumulated in my collection over time are gathering dust, waiting to be
opened. My Pocket repository is bulging with links saved over the last two years
some of which I am sure are no longer active and the content lost forever. More
importantly, I need to figure out how to do more focused reading- decide on a
topic or theme and read stuff only along those lines for a few days before
switching over to something else. Hopefully, this will allow better retention
and depth of knowledge by helping to form a mental map of ideas connected to
that theme.
The one thing I would likely
accord priority to is a course on the Vipassana meditation technique. It’s going
to be very difficult to find a 10-day break once working life begins and all
leaves would become precious enough to relegate meditation to a lower status in
the list of priorities. I need better focus, clarity and evenness of mind and
would like to optimize the output of my time and effort on all fronts. I am
hoping that a regular practise of Vipassana would help me achieve that.
All said and done, the best-laid
plans more often than not meet a sorry fate. More ambitious the plan, the
higher the probability of failure. I’m under no illusions it’s going to be a
challenge to meet even half the goals I’m setting for myself. One also becomes immune to self-motivation beyond a point. Placing a wager
on stickk.com to lock oneself into a commitment contract may actually not be a
bad idea...
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