My Musings

I first met Harihara Iyer in 2009 in a hurried and anxious setting – not for him, but for me. He wasn't particularly interested in me, but I was hoping to win over his daughter's interest! I'll never forget his opening salvo to me 17 years ago. I would dread such a question from a prospective employer, but coming from a suitor's father, it was downright jarring. He skipped the pleasantries and cut straight to the chase: "Are you a CA?" (He knew I wasn't). The question pierced right through my gut!   But I rattled off my rehearsed response, highlighting my MBA and certifications (including Hindi Prachar Sabha, of course!). However, his attention had already wandered midway through my meandering response, and I could almost hear him mumbling, "Next groom, please." Despite that shaky start, our bond grew over shared interests in politics and macroeconomics. We'd discuss election results and India's economic landscape, and I'd nod enthusi...

The human capacity for stress is boundless. Give us a problem, and we'll worry. Take the problem away, and we'll find something else. Stress is such a stressful topic amongst the chatterati. To assess the quality of challenges in a given society, look at what the local newspaper in the city is fretting over.  I visited a country last month where food allergens and bullying at school were among the most stressful issues for the community. The local newspaper reported food mislabeling as one of the gravest crises of the century. The locals were stricken with grief when they heard about employees back in my country working nine hours a day! They claimed to have empathy burnout by merely hearing the story! A Child getting bullied at school can cause deep distress in this community. As a child, I remember getting thrashed at the playground. I come back home with a deep gash in my hand. My grandmother glanced at it and suddenly remembered that she urgently needed a half-liter of milk...