Author: Abhinav Bhatt

  • Bhrahmaand

    Ravi and Bhaskar, two teenagers who have keen interest in space, go on a school trip to a Planetarium. While they learn about space and the Solar System, we as audience learn with them. And with that we take a deep dive into the nostalgic TV program Brahmaand of late 1980s and early 1990s.

    It is always fun to go back to watch old TV shows which you would have seen when you were really young. But even some episodes which you never saw again, their impact is so big that the scenes gets etched into the memories and the intro jingle gets hardwired into the grey matter.

    I was watching Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics produced Brahmaand on YouTube lately. It was made to generate interest in youngsters about Science and Space. Professor Jayant Narlikar of IUCAA himself stars in it and calls the students and explains the mysteries of Space. Searching further, I also found out his interview taken just a few days back from some people who might have got inspired by such shows.

    Funnily, when the show was being shot Jupiter had only 14 known satellites and Saturn had just 10. Now in 2021, we have found out that Jupiter has around 79 moons and Saturn has 82. In 30 odd years, a lot more has been known. The cgi has become indistinguishable from reality. But the charm of those Doordarshan days is still sweet.

  • Green Lights

    There are days when every traffic light you encounter turns green from red as soon you are about to stop. Then if you keep your pace optimised till the next stop, you encounter another green light, and so on. You get going, get happier, get luckier.

    Somedays the opposite happens. You try to go faster, or slower but all you find is a red light followed by another red and so on. Everything gets delayed, dragged, dropped.

    What if we react to both the situations with same poise! May be it can make us learn to be more patient as well appreciate good luck more.

  • When the going gets tough

    The tough might be too tired to get going.

    Responsibilities grow when you grow older. The sooner one learns this lesson, the easier it becomes to tackle. I didn’t want to just rant on this blog and just do for the sake of it. But sustaining a daily blog can work only if the schedule is created for it. If left as the last thing to do before sleeping, it won’t work out. It needs to be the first thing in the morning rather.

    Again, planning and organizing needs a reboot.

  • Things change

    I have always been interested in being able to take good photographs. The process of capturing scenes, the moment, the landscape. And the process of editing, ah what fun.

    When I started and bought by own camera, Flickr was in vogue. Later 500px was buzzing. Then to a certain extent Instagram became the go to place.

    Now Instagram has become a mish mash of all the things internet can offer. There are some great photographers there but to find them is like finding a needle in a haystack.

    Probably when things change, one should move on and start looking for new avenues. That’s how things are.

  • Discipline

    This is often said “Confidence comes from mastery. Mastery comes from repetition. Repetition comes from discipline.”

    Having said that, discipline is actually the hardest thing to achieve. There are several factors at play to distract one from staying disciplined. If discipline was the peak, it’s a very pointy peak and all sides around it are a slippery slope pulling you back to the ground.

    If one wants to latch onto something to stay at the peak of discipline, that is the freedom one can get from Organizing. While the process of organizing itself can make people anxious, once achieved, it gives all the freedom possible to bend and break the rules within the scope of staying in the disciplined realm.

  • A Layman’s Guide to The Annual Financial Budget

    It doesn’t exist. Sorry for the clickbait.

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  • New Year Resolution starts now

    Every year, I tend to start working on my resolutions from Feb 1. By this time, gyms are back to the normal footfalls, people have forgotten their promises, and I am left with no choice but to start working out again.

    The year 2020 has been a year that took me off guard. By me, I mean everyone. However, some people took it upon themselves to not lose out on their physical activities. Some started running, some played sports, and some started on some routine. I sat longer on my computer, wreaked havoc on my eye sight, and basically gained weight.

    But all can be forgiven if I start back doing things from Feb 1. Because once the world becomes Corona-free (whenever that is), I don’t want to be left behind as the dullest of them all.

    Declaring on the blog in public and never doing it has been a forte of mine. But here’s a chance to change that.

    Onwards Feb 1, let’s see how it plays out.

  • Life is hard

    “When I hear somebody sigh, “Life is hard“, I am always tempted to ask, “Compared to what?”

    Sydney Harris

  • Sweet Spot

    You know when the ball hits the Cricket bat at the sweet spot, it makes that crackling of sound and the ball just rushes towards the boundary. That knocking sound and the power generated from that Sweet Spot is one of the most majestic things in Cricket to a player as well as the viewer (except the bowler). But not every batsman is that elegant. For example, it is rare to see something equivalent to the sweet spot of Sachin Tendulkar Straight Drive.

    In work and in life, the flow is a somewhat similar concept. We expect to hit the sweet spot daily but it doesn’t hit often. It is either an edge, or a bouncer, or an unexpected beamer. Sometimes life is a lofted ball so slow that even if it hits the sweet spot, goes straight to a fielder.

    Working from home, studying, delivering speeches in Toastmasters, and handling the nitty-gritty of life have been some major struggles in the past year. The sweet spot has been hit but only a handful of times. The rest of the time, it has just been hits and misses.

    Today I completed my Level 5 of Toastmasters Pathways. But I didn’t do any justice, to at least the second half of the Path. I got the same comments which I got in my first speech 4 years ago. The form was there but off late, the sweet spot has not been met.

    There are numerous excuses but they don’t matter. What matters is sharpening the axe, and working even harder for the tasks ahead.

    I am hopeful that next time, the sound would be sweeter, and the impact would be stronger.

  • My profession is Better than Yours?

    My profession is Better than Yours?

    In any office cafeteria in today’s day and age, there would be flocks of people coming in and going out during lunchtime. They would come in groups or alone, sit at some tables, have their lunch, and go back. There’s nothing unusual in this. But there would be a bunch of folks who would clean up the table after a set of people are done with their lunch before the next set comes in. Normally, it should be the people themselves who should clean up after they have done eating but that might be too hoity-toity for many of us privileged junta.

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