The pinnacle of success or ‘making it’ these days is defined by among others pulling up in the village with the latest four wheel drive behemoth, or wealth flaunting through social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The abnormal has segued into the norm whereby materialism, defined by the purchase of things we do not really need, is the trend in these modern times. Morals and down-to-earth tendencies that were once a prime characteristic of people of yester years seem to have gone out through the window. Why? Materialism seems to have taken over. Do not get me wrong. I…
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I saw this somewhere and I had to share: “Because of the times we live in, all of us, young and old, do not spend time and effort thinking about the meaning of life. We do not look inside of ourselves enough to understand our strengths and weaknesses and we do not look around enough – at the world, in history – to ask the deepest and broadest questions.” So, if we do not spend enough time reflecting and pondering that which is beneficial, what are we busy up to? The answer: we are knee-deep searching for the elusive graven…
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“If you expect the world to be fair to you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him” Anonymous. Life is not fair. That is something we get to learn even from a young age. Like for instance, why do the good die young? Does Tom Mboya, Martin Luther King Jnr or even F. Scot Fitzgerald come to mind anyone? Is that fair? Why didn’t the hand of fate intervene when the Grim Reaper turned up to carry out his duty? These and many others are questions…
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I had a grand time in Dubai during the launch of Rainbows In My Clouds and then the “Meet And Listen” session at the Change Initiative where I got to sign copies of my autobiography, Rainbows in my Clouds, for the eager readers. The heat notwithstanding, meeting and interacting with like-minded people was an occasion to savor. But life is not without its fare share of ironies. Once back here in Nairobi, Kenya, the weather transitioned from the heat that characterizes the UAE to a teeth-chattering and biting cold that is the norm in these parts of the globe during…
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Imperfection is beauty, insanity is genius and, it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than to be absolutely boring! Who the above sagacity of pure wisdom draped in profound poignancy is attributed to, I do not know. But, the maxim best reflects how my life has turned out until this moment. The world we reside in is one busting at the seams with different cultures. These cultures act as identification for different people that dot the earth. Due to the political borders we tend to confine ourselves in, the cultures are interpreted differently by different people, and so are words. How…
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“Are you mad?” Has anyone at any one time ever posed that inquisition to you? Maybe the remark could be directed at you due to a whiff of concern or in rather extreme cases, due to engaging or having engaged in activity deemed abominable. Poring conscientiously over the word ‘mad’, one – if not all – might tend to understandably dwell on the clinical condition that denotes a psychiatric disorder instead of viewing the word in terms of its eccentric, odd, foible or even peculiar nature. We all possess a ‘madness’ and it’s exactly that which earmarks everyone with a…
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Growing up, there were a lot of things we looked forward to. Our fantasy was that for a while, we could fast forward time so that holidays could arrive a little quicker because we always knew that our parents would prepare the most sumptuous delicacies – especially in the case of mum who was the best cook in the family – and that presents would be in plenty. We were children then; kids who were clueless about the world beyond the confines our homestead and the small town we grew up in, but that was always understandable. But isn’t it…
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This past one week has been quite a hectic one and that is the reason why I delayed this post. I hope you will bear with me…Last Saturday saw the launch of BHARATWALLA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION {Kenyans who went to India for Higher Education} at the Nairobi Club amidst festivities that lasted the whole night…What a night that was! The people who turned up included Ministers, Members of Parliament , Judges, Cabinet Secretaries, Permanent Secretaries, Ambassadors and very many prominent people of the Kenyan society. India has certainly done them well and it is good to see them acknowledging this fact.…
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American novelist Gail Tsukiyama once said: “Mothers and their children are in a category all their own. There’s no bond so strong in the entire world. No love so instantaneous and forgiving.” Her profound gem of wisdom entirely captures the complex relationship shared by mothers and their off springs. It further underscores the immense challenge of figuring out the mystery of the bond of love that has its roots from the second a human is conceived, develops inside the mother, is born under conditions that can only be defined as laborious, and is taken care of until a time when…
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When are we ever honest with ourselves? To avoid asking this question, we tend to cultivate a culture of placating our jaded lives into our everyday monotonous roles; living an existence we think we deserve. But what happens when the overwhelming power of serendipity occasioned by either the inner stirrings prodding for change or inexplicable forces come into play? The fear of the unknown should never be the sole cause that compels most of us stick to our lanes and play it safe. We should strive to be the exceptional few that invest our energies and resources into something that…