Shobhaa De ..

I just read an article about Sonam Kapoor calling Shobhaa De a porn writer... Hmm... I have always liked reading books by Indian Women Authors...

I first started reading her books on my flights back to Hyderabad. I used to buy her books from the small Higginbotham counter in the Chennai airport.

I don't know why - but i do like Shobhaa(we both are Capricorns and have the same zodiac sign - boar). I relate quite a bit to her, a person from a middle class family living life on her own terms. Someone who can share her views with people and is not scared of being judged.

I loved her book Spouse - which talked about the subtle things which are important for a marriage / relationship to succeed. I loved the fact that she made me realise how simple things like holding your partner's hands can make you feel so good.

I also loved her book SpeedPost:Letters to my children.

I grew up with the notion that parents are perfect human beings - but now i know i am not perfect - no one is perfect. I loved the fact that she was able to accept that she was wrong, she was not perfect.

Life .. Planning ...

Life was so perfect when we were kids. My parents always knew what I needed to do. I was extremely planned through my school and college, knew exactly what I had to achieve. I ended up being very successful in school and college. Right after college I started working in Microsoft which was an awesome achievement for me and my family. First few years in Microsoft just passed by, with that initial momentum. I then started my soul searching exercise.

One of the questions that came up to my mind was - Why was I so planned all my life? Was planning in life good or was it making life very monotonous? What did I achieve by being so planned?

I think planning is important for anything in life – personal or work. Everyone around me has been thinking I have been doing great in my life, but I was never completely happy in last few years... I don’t know why nothing (Diamonds/Cars/Good clothes etc etc) made me happy. I think the reason was that I didn’t know what I wanted in life. When I don’t know what my end results are, I don’t work toward anything/ I don’t have any plans. Even if I do something, how do I find what I have achieved /accomplished in life?

So in the coming year... I am going to get back to my planning mode now that I have a fair idea of what I want... hmm... I am already super excited about this new phase of my life

Happy New Year!