Abhinav Bhatt

Yearly reminder about Demonetization

I was about to write today’s blog but then I got reminded about the happenings of 8 PM, November 8, 2016. As we all know, Demonetization changed our lives forever. Earlier, we use to pay with notes, coins, Netbanking, Cards, and mobile wallets as tender. Now we pay with notes, coins, net banking, cards, mobile wallets and… Oh, actually nothing changed really. I might have been dreaming about utopia. Nevertheless, I also got reminded about 2 of my previous posts about the DeMo by Modi.

Here they are for everyone’s pleasure:

Open Letter to my Daughter

https://medium.com/@abnvx/open-letter-to-my-daughter-regarding-500-1000-rupee-notes-a4dd91736396

A bit about Bitcoins

Toastmasters Speak to Inform Speech 1 : A Bit about Bitcoins

So I recently watched: After Life

Ricky Gervais is known for comedies. In most of them, he is known to be blunt, totally devoid of social conventions, goofy, and oblivious to others’ feelings. In Netflix’s After Life, he plays the same character. But there’s a huge difference. He is still intolerable, but because he is coping with a loss.

Feeling Trumped!

Although I am extremely lucky in a generic sense as a human. But when it comes to being lucky in winning prizes or monetary bonanzas, I am as lucky as the bird who arrives at the scene later in the morning. I have to really struggle, strive, and scramble to earn something though.

So, today I got an email from my bank that they are crediting some money in my account due to a correction at their end. The amount was substantial. My first instinct was to double-check the source of the email because it could’ve very well been a phishing email or spam. It wasn’t. I couldn’t wrap my head around being so lucky out of the blue. I could hear happy uplifting music and the sun shone brighter.

Singh vs Murthy

Back in June 2019, I had got an opportunity to hear from one of the best speakers (from the Toastmasters’ community) in Bangalore, Gauri Seshadri. She delivered this speech which I found inspirational and fascinating. I am not exactly paraphrasing but recalling from memory. She came from a family of Indian Army folks which made the story much more credible (I am not an expert on ranks so excuse in advance).

Here it goes,

Strong Views, Loosely Held

It might come across as being weak. However, if one is willing to accept that the positions they held, at a given point of time, were based on their knowledge at that given point of time, it is fine and rather brave. We all evolve and change our opinions.

For a long time, I used to think Fasting on Karwachauth is a trick pulled on womenfolk. And men who fasted along with their wives were sissies. One thing is that with time, the word sissies has been completely erased from my dictionary. Second, if one wants to fast, they totally can. I am no-body to impose my thoughts on someone else’s faith unless it is hurtful.

Moreover, one thing I myself need to try is a full day fast. I have never tried it yet although I think I can. This intermittent fasting will take ages to come into effect.

Drawing the Line

macro photograph of water dew drops on glass panel

Probably, Cyril John Radcliffe, a lawyer in England who had not traveled farther than Paris, had no clue about the culture and ethos of India ever. But he was asked to draw a line to divide the country into 2 halves. We are still paying for it.
Apparently, there is no mention of Lakshman Rekha in Valmiki Ramayan. Sita didn’t really cross any drawn line but still, repercussions were huge.
Roger Bannister didn’t think of the line that was drawn by the runners before him. He just ran faster than anyone before him (1954) and crossed the barrier of running 1 mile in under 4 minutes.
If you measure the length of the blood vessels of an average human by laying them all out in a line, the line would encircle Earth more than 2 times.
Some people aren’t really lying when they recall the past incorrectly. It might be possible that they really hold a different version of the event in their memory.

Bonus: Flat Earth people think that Antarctica surrounds the allegedly flat Earth and that’s why Water doesn’t spillover.

Photo by Tuva Mathilde Løland on Unsplash

Without further ado

Often, these words ‘without further ado’ are said before calling upon someone of importance or moving on to the main event. It has become a tradition. For the audience, build up matters, but they can also do without it if everything before was ‘ado’. More often than not, warming up a crowd is just a formality or a mere trend. If I have chosen to spend my time to attend an event, or a concert, or a comedy show, I know why I’m here. I don’t want to be subjected to unnecessary delays. Of course, only when I haven’t chosen, then the heightened fuss might lead to something.

The same example works for going to a restaurant for a specific dish. We can extend the wait further by bringing in a minute portion of appetizers, or can directly dig in the main course. Again, if your motive is to spend more time at the restaurant and savor everything one by one, only then it is fine.

For me, getting to the point, in time, works wonders. If it were up to me, I will cut a from ado and just do it. Delaying just because of tradition might be off-putting for many. If you have something to do or say, the right time is now.