Slight Edge again ....

One of the earliest jewels I got from my friend when the internet had not been as ubiquitous as it is now - was an article on "Slight Edge Philosophy".  I found the article amazing and very instructive. I would like to say I have followed it diligently but alas! that is not true. :)

However .. time and again .. it never ceases to amaze me how little things add up !

I use Andromoney and I am very happy with the app - I am able to enter the day's expenses and get basic reports. I can use it to budget too but right now I am not using that feature. Which actually reminds me that I should rate the app in google play. I definitely like it.

Coming back - each time I go out it surprises me to see just how much spending happens even though the individual amounts are never alarming. A Rs 50 here, A Rs 120 there, Rs 35 here and .... et voila .. already I  have spent Rs 945 !!!!

Same goes with food - a little munching here and there add up to a huge amount at the end of the day. I am talking about little bites - extra 1/4 th roti. Small 2nd helping of that cashew nut subji, a sliver of extra cake  ! :) Not binge eating --- just a little extra at every meal !

A few minutes wasted indiscriminately add up to a couple of hours at the end of the day !

And so ... to turn the tide towards the positive perhaps a slight edge is all the start we need. Even if 10,000 hours an expert make - compounding is good - in small bits and bytes. :)

Of jobs and sops

I read the latest gimmick involving grains to the poor. I wonder if these kind of alms will help the party in question. One never knows !!!

Cynically speaking it is easy to see - why this is a PR move - I mean if the PDS system in India was made more streamlined - guess it would not garner that many votes na ? And yet tonnes and tonnes of grains in our country are wasted when we have so many hungry people. Horrible !

As an educated urban person - I was dismayed by the handling of the Uttarakhand disaster. I was even more disgusted to see the flagging of relief material a few days after the tragedy with packets having printed leaflets of the party !!!

Swinging into action would have been more appreciated but I am a normal everyday person .. I cannot claim to know how vote-bank politics works !! Plus we are an emotional lot - and perhaps the pomp and show mean more to us than ground reality of a job well done ?

After all - isn't the hunter who kills the tiger more hailed than the hunter who ensured there would be no such problem in the first place? ( Sending tiger to zoo story ).

There was no statement from the PMO , no message from the party , nothing for quite some time. Appalling !!!  To be honest I am disgusted even by our celebrities who were strangely silent. Reactions were so delayed so as to be non-existent !!

I have never believed that just b'cos a person is older - he / she deserved respect. I prefer to go by actions.

If more people believed that their actions would give them respect and not the number of years on this planet perhaps our older generation would stop pontificating and would do more to understand if not integrate with the younger generation that wants jobs and not sops !!!

There is a dignity and joy in working for yourself , your family and perhaps the society if you are so inclined.

Yes - the class that is abused should be given a helping hand but not handouts ! It is like the age old wisdom - "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day , teach him how to fish and he will never go hungry".

Our vibrant youth should have opportunities to work once they graduate. They should have a hand in the future of the country. They should be encouraged to be entrepreneurs !

Wisdom without the benefit of the viewpoint of the people the future is being built for is useless.

Yes there are always exceptions to the rule. There are plenty of people who would rather cheat than work, or laze than work but we are not talking about the outliers. We are talking of today's youth which wants to enter the workforce - and should be given an atmosphere to do so.

Youth - disengaged and jobless is a danger to any country.