Over the years, as I have grown older, the meaning of April Fool’s day has changed – from playing foolish pranks on others to dreaming about foolish wishes, mainly steeped in nostalgia. 

I wish those four clear seasons viz. Summer, autumn, winter and spring, light and flowing traffic on roads, quality time spent with family ( read extended family) and friends, family outings consisting of movie followed by a simple meal of idli and dosa, sleeping on roof or in open air during summers, waiting for postman to deliver a letter or magazine and massive morning newspapers sometimes as thick as having 40 pages , replete with news as well as advertisements, could be witnessed again in this life time! 

I am normally progressive, forward looking, living in present and believing in changing with changing times. The reason for this rare nostalgia and foolish wishes is April Fool’s day having become almost a non event! I didn’t hear, read or come across any message, communication, post, notification, reel concerning this potentially fun filled occasion that was looked forward with enthusiasm in my childhood. Probably, it’s the end of another event of the yore getting consigned to our memories! 

I recollect that that when quality of Bollywood music deteriorated from being original melody, raga and folk based with meaningful poetic lyrics to noisy, plagiarised, loud and crude wordings, the industry attributed the same to the changing consumer taste. A few old timers, of course, refused to toe the line, but such persons were few and far between and they too soon went into oblivion. But the real music connoisseurs didn’t agree with the stand that the music so getting produced was to cater to the changing public taste! 

However, today when I see mobile users getting hooked on the Reels and posts on social media that are replete with home remedies (read quack and medically unproven treatments), religious chants claiming miracles within a few days, exercises, trolls, unverified tall claims etc ,  clearly aimed at earning eyeballs, likes, comments and subscriptions with ultimate objective of earning revenue, I agree with the stand that one is served what one likes or deserves! 

Who’s talking about the issues of greater interest to humanity- environment, depleting natural resources ( especially potable water), global warming,  mismanaged traffic on our roads, road rage, polarisation et al – and wherever an attempt is made to rake up such issues, the authors or pod casters have to struggle to get at least a few eyeballs. 

The above thoughts hit me when I saw an insta reel , circulated by a friend, in which the protagonist is exhorting the audience to stop wasting time by following the unverified and unproven claims so much being propagated on social media and instead focus on the real issues – the issue covered in that particular reel being excessive use of non biodegradable plastic and its unthoughtful disposal on roads and in water bodies and natural environment ( read tourist spots). After all, we cannot leave the above issues only on to governments and others, but start giving to the nature in our own humble way, instead of only taking from it. 

Also, a word of unsolicited advice to these well meaning social media protagonists ! If their post, reel, commentary , blog touches even one heart,  they should deem their effort to be successful instead of yearning for more eyeballs, likes or follows, absence of which can be heart breaking! I have diligently followed the aforesaid policy during the years of my journey as a writer, author and blogger. I have tried to spread awareness, knowledge, happiness, feel goodness, without ever getting guided by response or lack of it! 

Three deaths in short succession concerning three different sports took me down the memory lane, when the first thing in the morning was to read the sports page of newspapers. 

Boris Spassky played an epic match with Bobby Fischer during the height of Cold War between US and the erstwhile Soviet Union. Spassky, a three times world champion and favourite to win against the rank outsider Fischer, lost the title that ended decades of Soviet domination in chess and probably symbolised US domination in the then prevalent Cold War. The two icons had a rematch ( not recognised by FIDE) in 1992, when Fischer, who had withdrawn himself from the limelight after his famous victory in 1972 and then rather lowly ranked Spassky ( his world rank by then had plummeted to 106) , but ironically Spassky lost again. Spassky’s death on 27th February, 2025 brought back the memories of 1972. 

Much before Kapil Dev inspired a generation of fast bowlers in India and redefined all rounders, there was Abid Ali, gutsy and diminutive player, who opened the bowling for India, could bat anywhere, including as an opener and was a a brilliant fielder. His arrival at the wicket would always raise expectations and hope of a good fight. Many people feel that his game would have suited today’s style of cricket greatly. His death on 12th March 2025 has been widely condoled. 

Today’s newspaper announced the demise of all time boxing great George Foreman, who famously lost his world crown to another great Muhammad Ali in 1974 after which he quit active boxing and became a religious preacher only to don boxing gloves again in 1994 at the ripe age of 45 to reclaim world championship. Along with fellow boxers Frazier, Ali and Holyfield, Foreman brought much glory to the game of boxing. Such legends are rarely born. 

Three different sport icons representing three different sports but from the same era, when sports were much bereft of today’s money, glamour and hype, but were keenly followed by sports aficionados!  The above three icons would always be remembered for their resilience and contribution. 

India’s glorious victory in Champion’s trophy can be a case study in management. Takeaways that immediately come to my mind as a result of team India’s stupendous performance are:

(1) Create such a position for yourself that you negotiate all the terms from position of strength. Given Indian team’s strength, the tournament ultimately got played on a hybrid model, with matches happening in Pakistan as well as Dubai.

(2) Collective strength, also known as team strength, matters much more than the strength of individuals. One day Virat clicked another day it was Rohit. It was the combined strength of everyone that came into play game after game.

(3) One must have a plan B, a handy replacement even for the most critical team member. Jasprit Bumrah, India’s main strike bowler, was absent; Shami’s timely recovery could be attributed to India’s good fortune, but the presence of Harshit, Arshdeep and Hardik was not incidental, but as part of a well thought out plan B.

(4) No leg of a task should be taken lightly. Even on a wicket that was not friendly for batters, good bowling and great fielding ensured the team’s success. 

(5) Larger objective has to overshadow immediate or personal goals. For the team, winning the cup for their country was paramount objective, much beyond the individual glory by way of personal achievements and records and our captain led from the front, taking all the risks, without worrying about his statistics. 

(6) Skill, fitness, attitude etc are prerequisite for success – this was amply demonstrated by team india players that endeared them to even their bitterest critics! 

Hopefully, we will continue to select the best based strictly on merits,  provide the best training and opportunities and support our heroes – in their good times and occasional failure, understanding the true spirit of any sport- there’s only one winner! 

On the eve of the International Women’s Day on the 8th March, I came across a beautiful quote, celebrating all the women on this planet. The quote read:

“ All women are working women, albeit only a few are salaried.”

The quote made a very deep impression on my heart and inspired me to pen a few lines, celebrating all the women. There’s a distinct change in our attitude towards women and this is very much evident from the way the girls are being brought up by the parents – with absolute parity with boys and no discrimination whatsoever. Girls are being provided with the similar opportunities like their male siblings and are allowed to pursue area of their interests without the Damocles sword of “ marriage” or “ settling down” hanging on their heads. In fact, I go a step backwards and notice a distinct change in the expecting parents, who are eager to welcoming a girl child with similar enthusiasm, if not more as a boy. No more gender determination pre natal tests or lamenting the arrival of a girl in a reconciliatory tone of treating it as arrival of “Laxmi!”

And girls are seizing the opportunity by competing with boys in all the fields, including the hallowed precincts of defence services. The domination or to put it more moderately, equal precipitation  of girls is not restricted to teaching, PR jobs, air hostesses, doctors, nurses etc., but in space technology, police service, administration, IT, aviation, business, self entrepreneurship and defence, as aforesaid. Several organisations have women CEOs, CFOs and other senior functionaries. Many women are leading large businesses, including new gen businesses and start ups. More noticeably, most of these successful women are the kind of women we all deal with and know on daily conversation basis. They are wives, mothers, grandmothers, aunts etc, who have gone through all the cycles that a woman has to in her life time – pregnancy, motherhood, family affairs such as managing aged parents or parents in law etc. 

Coming back to the aforesaid quote, a home maker deserves as much recognition, respect and importance in society as her professionally employed avatar  enjoys, because, in many cases, such women have foregone their aspirations  due to family circumstances. Even if a few have chosen to be a home maker, it in no way belittles their contribution to the family, society and nation!

True celebration of International Women’s Day would be the menfolk deciding from their heart to treat the women around them – mothers, sisters, wives and colleagues – as their equal in all respects – in office, kitchen and above all in life! Happy International Women’s Day to all men and women.

Although in India, especially in the Northern parts, March heralds the start of spring, after months of bitter cold and Is, accordingly a welcome development, I have not enjoyed March as far as my memory goes. More strikingly, my first board exams that of class X commenced from 1st of March, of course way back in 1978. Ditto the next boards in March 1980 for class XII. But whether it was internal exams in school or at university, March meant preparation times as these exams used to be held in April. 

After years of studies, I finally became a professional and chose the bank service. But for a few years in the beginning, when banks used to close their books annually on 31st December, March again became a crucial month for annual closing and achievement of annual targets that guided one’s future prospects in the organisation. The month also required tax planning and a few forced investments that would send the household budget for a toss. 

After years of academic and professional evaluations that made the month of March a nightmare, I finally retired from active professional life and the month of March became just another month. And thanks to an equitable throughout the year climate of Mumbai, one doesn’t even experience transition of season from winter to spring! 

As they say, life is a great leveller! With time, everything passes by – youth, power, high position and indeed a few eminently passable things like “March!”

Saint Valentine, who lived in 3rd century AD and who’s the reason behind celebration of love on the day designated after him, probably propagated love as to the one that encompassed humanity and everything to do with humanitarianism ! However, the romantic aspect of love acquired prominence over other forms of love – affection, compassion, empathy, care and concern- and has since become a festival that celebrates love of the “Mills and Boons” genre. 

My book, “ A tryst with destiny”, celebrates youthful love – in fact, it celebrates romance in its purest, deepest and most vulnerable form and also the victory of true love over the narrow schisms based on religion, caste, creed, gender and other such created divisions amongst humans! 

Taking liberty to use a beautiful  verse composed by my old time friend Sunil Babbar on the Valentine’s Day, let me wish everyone a happy valentine day and invite the uninitiated to take some time out and savour the pure love story, A tryst with destiny. 

The verse by Sunil is reproduced below:

Why should only youngsters celebrate Valentine’s Day,

Love is not only romance but has several hues;

As long as our hearts are joyous overflowing with love

For all and sundry and not only exclusive few to choose!

The Amazon link to my book https://amzn.in/d/h4tyuf2

A well known YouTuber , whose podcasts are lapped up, especially by the youth, has run into problems for his certain comments that seemingly crossed the thin line between tongue in cheek and outright crassness! It’s not clear how the controversy will end, but currently the matter is refusing to die.

In today’s age of social media, visibility and getting the eyeballs have assumed great importance as these elements contribute to both – popularity as well as revenue! We can see that the shows by stand up comedians, pod casts by YouTubers, reels by amateurs etc all vie for likes and eyeballs. In the process, everyone tries to outdo everyone else and this frequently leads to the content getting compromised.

In my years of journey as a writer and blogger, I have tried not to go insane or overboard and have never craved for response from audience. My two books met with at best moderate success and some of my very important blogs and posts have attracted much fewer eyeballs, when compared to other popular bloggers and commentators, but that has never deterred me. 

The best case for use of social media platforms is to impart knowledge, share wisdom and spread goodwill and happiness. The criticism, contrarian view, speaking one’s mind etc all form part of knowledge and wisdom that’s bereft of hurting the sensibilities of the audience for earning some laughter or eyeballs. 

On a broader note, over reaction to something offensive only goes to inflate the matter. The best way to douse a controversy is to ignore it. 

Sent from my iPhone

Suddenly I realised that Valentine’s Day was around the corner and that given its importance more specifically to rhe millennials, Generation Z and Generation alpha – in fact all those eligible to be classified as youngsters, including those young at heart, notwithstanding their age, it was a great opportunity for me to reach out to a fresh set of readers on this occasion. My book, “ A tryst with destiny “ is all about celebrating love in its purest form and though the book is set in a period when Valentine’s Day was just taking roots, and the day, therefore, does not find an explicit mention in the book, it nevertheless has all the relevance as a true Valentine’s Day read. 

Happy Valentine’s Day to all the young at heart and die hard romantics! 

https://amzn.in/d/h4tyuf2

The annual budget presented by finance minister is a big enigma.  Certain things are predictable – criticism of the provisions by the opposition, unhappiness expressed by those either unaffected or adversely affected and welcome by those who are benefitted. There’s unpredictability too, like the tax exemption allowed up to annual income of Rs12 lakh and increase in standard deduction , though I could be blamed of being ignorant of the Pre budget expectations that hovered around relief to middle class and a boost to consumption. 

Now let me touch the enigma part. All of us lament that the problem is not about tax rates, which are high in any case, but the coverage of the tax net. With less than 2% of the population paying tax, the need is to broad base the tax net. However, the nation is celebrating relief to about a crore of the tax payers, who are out of tax ambit consequent to the enhanced limit. 

On a philosophical note, all the nation lovers want our great country to be scaling new heights of growth, progress and prosperity for which sacrifices are required from the citizenry to contribute to the process of nation building – infrastructure, defence capabilities, space research, healthcare, educational establishments et al. Ultimate path to the glory will lie in saving and mobilisation of resources for the huge outlays that all the aforesaid entail – savings by individuals as well as government and newer venues of mobilisation by the government . Already, in the new tax regime, there’s no incentive to save. My exhortation to all the youngsters is that even if savings result in no tax benefit, part of the surplus income that’s about to come their way due to enhancement in taxable income must be pooled into savings in any form – mutual funds, insurance or bank deposits – and that too every month. Government wants consumption to grow; we can contribute to it without necessarily trying to be one its poster boy.