Author Archive for Rajesh V

If everyone wanted to move on after the fun and games, who would be around for each other in moments of agony and pain? Is that why so many youngsters were lost and depressed in the downturn? And many even contemplated taking their lives?

“Tsk-tsk.” The sound sets my teeth on the edge and I feel like giving that person an earful. Often enough we see people who seem to think that words like ‘excuse me’ do not exist. Their favorite form of calling attention is to purse their lips and hiss like a serpent that has caught a cold.

When my friends read my earlier tickles, they immediately asked as to why I had not written about that much-talked about, unusual and very memorable incident involving an elephant. I decided to oblige so get ready to enjoy a first hand account of an elephant experience.

I do not claim to have been born with a halo, chanting hymns or solutions to life. After a lot of trial and error I did manage to stumble into a formula that worked for me and keeps me going. Along the path, several well wishers and mentors have given me interesting directions and inputs. [...]

One tends to see people rushing around either being busy or trying to be busy. Nowhere is it more evident than in an aircraft which has just landed and everyone jumps up, pulls out their bags and switches on the mobiles. They impatiently wait for the ladder or aero bridge and rush out. I would [...]

Have you come across anyone who is caught up in something very important and says so, which leaves you wondering what is so important about that task? Most probably you might have even faced such a situation where you are told to complete an important task and you drop everything else to do that while [...]

One tends to see a lot of stressed out people around nowadays, across gender and age group. Most seem to be running against time to complete a task or several of them. First, I am never able to understand the context of ‘running against’ time. Time is eternal and is a constant. Some people say [...]

I recently was speaking to a middle management professional about work-life balance and was telling him about a simple tool to evaluate if there is a balance between our work and personal lives. This is called a ‘wagon wheel’ and looks like a wheel with spokes on it. The spokes are representative of the various [...]

Almost every organization I know is seriously into cost cutting triggered by the downturn. In most cases this has led to instances which are funny, hilarious to downright stupid. Here are a few examples for you to contemplate: A meeting is on and an important vendor has come to the office. The pantry is called [...]

My friends tease me that my pseudonym is “How is it relevant”. I use this phrase very often and for most situations because it helps focus my mind. Let me share this secret with you. Scene 1. The boss is firing the hell out of a person and the person is miserable. Scene 2. The [...]

I recall the haunting song in the hindi film Masoom, which has this line, ‘Tujse naaraaz nahin zindagi, hairaan hoon mein. Pareshan hoon mein. Jeena ke liye, socha hi nahin, dard sambhaline hongein’. This means, “I am not angry with you, life. Just puzzled and vexed. I never thought that, to live, one would have [...]

In a family where communication has not been encouraged and allowed to flourish, this becomes a bubbling volcano. Soon it erupts, ignited usually by the youngsters as the elders are conditioned to control emotions and reactions.

I am amazed at the various self help and self development books that are currently on the best sellers’ lists. This clearly indicates that many people are looking for a road map to develop and succeed in their life quests. Most seem to be newer edits or versions of age old truths which are just [...]

Amidst conflicting news of the downturn having bottomed out, while yet another company is sacking employees and the more optimistic of the lot talking about leveraging the turnaround – one point seems to be falling between the tables. What about the fallout from this downturn and how will it affect employers, employees and the overall [...]

I am told that a goldfish cannot remember anything beyond a 3 minute time frame. One of my favorite pastimes is to sit and watch our goldfish swim around lazily and rising up only to gobble at the food before going back to their contented existence. Their swimming around actually reminds me of children or [...]

Do we teach the right things? I recall an old Tamil film called Kaliyuga Krishnan. The story was rather simple but very interesting. There is this impoverished man who keeps bemoaning his fate and cursing Krishna. One day Krishna appears before him and challenges him. The Divine One offers to give the man all the [...]

I will never forget my experience of being educated about modern art. It was almost a defining episode in my existence. Being a part of a team which was working with an NGO to put up an art show, I was organizing and coordinating the installation of panels. This show was being held in a [...]

While chatting with a friend about keeping one’s self alive and well, he mentioned the term “Wallenda Factor”. I had to look it up in Google as it was a new term to me and what I found triggered some interesting thoughts in my mind. Just in case there are others like me out there [...]

To find out how other Ticklers and readers responded to these questions click here. If you would like to take this interview as well, mail us your answers at interview@tickledbylife.com. (we will publish only the best responses) What is God? Rajesh V: ME. Aham Bramhasmi. I believe and therefore I am! If everyone does that, [...]

In the recent article “The Three Email Challenge” The author, Abhijit Bhaduri makes mention about how many teenagers continue to express deep angst at the enhanced generation who have now taken over as Facebook users. The statement struck a deep chord of identification with me as I experience it everyday. My son who is experiencing [...]

In spite of a high decibel public awareness campaign about voting, it is disheartening to see lower voter turn outs in most states. Of course, there is an increase in the young voter numbers. But the larger voter turnout among this group seems to have been canceled out by the smaller number of voters from [...]

Marriage and becoming a father happened to me at a relatively young age. Before I knew it, I was a “father” and expected to act like a “dad.” I have been trying to figure out what that means for the past 17 years and am still as lost as ever. However, the journey had several [...]