ChirpyQuill

DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; I hear people using this term in snarky remarks these days. DEI is occasionally used as a checkbox to make it appear as though a company achieved progress by someone's criteria.  Let's think about it for a little. Isn't DEI a quota system with no clear definition? Is meritocracy doomed? Why should race, gender, and socioeconomic status be relevant? Why is it that as leaders, we are unable to look past appearances and concentrate on the person? Why do we feel the need to label people according to their race, gender, interests, and a myriad of other characteristics? Are we losing the human element? Bureaucratic activities can overshadow the essence of dignified, compassionate individuals within the program definition of DEI. There are legitimate concerns voiced since these projects may not always follow the desired course and fail to include the human factor. One danger of a checklist mentality is that it might erode the basic

 Hmm, so what's the easiest way to extend your vacation? Simple & Sweet: Rise and shine early 🌞🌞 Well simple yes but not at all sweet if you have teenage kids and a nagging wife.. Wife:" Ab vacation pe 5 baje uthna pade toh vacation thodee naa huee..Vacation hai yaa koi race. " Kid 1: " Bro, this is not fair.. who wakes up at 5 on a  vacation. " Kid 2 exasperated: " Do we even have to go to Miami...Why???? " Grudgingly all 3 squeeze in the early morning Uber ride giving menacing stares to the only person who is happy as a clam."Wait till you feel the Miami Breeze at 10:30 am"  our travel planner/husband/dad retorts gleefully.✈ ✈ Satya vachan From the cold winters of the Northeast to the tropical breeze of Miami in less than 3 hours...The palm trees felt like paradise on touch down. In a minute all the grudges of the early morning flight were gone. Having the whole day to spend in Miami felt blissful. Travel Gyaan-1 :Take early morning f

It’s Jan 22nd, 2024 and finally I am resolved about an overarching blueprint for 2024 that is worth going after. That blueprint is to hold my ground and seek Alpha.   Whether it is financial, fitness, relationship or professional goals, we all start out with resolve, with specific objectives and with a game-plan. We even build resilience into the plan by incorporating some flexibility and/or hiring a coach. However along the way life happens. A debilitating flu and resulting loss of time and strength may throw us off from the entire season. A leaking roof may throw us off of our financial goals for the year. We essentially cede ground at a certain level of resistance from life and once derailed find it difficult to climb back onto the wagon again. A state of fluidity then ensues and we let go. We do not hold our ground.  This same phenomenon also plays out in our relationship world. A belligerent child, an aggressive boss, an abusive spouse and we buy peace by continually ceding ground

                                              Lighted Naked Tree    Walking on a cold, winter late afternoon and deeply engrossed in my thoughts, I happened to look at the trees around. What could be interesting about winter? I wondered for a moment, “Cloudy, cold, dry, dull days surrounded by still naked trees”. Suddenly, I felt a strong connection between me and a dull wintry day.                              My personal life was going through an emotional roller-coaster and I was dealing with lots of health issues too. Together it was driving me nuts. I felt as if my life had turned into that cold, still wintry day. While walking, I reached at the end of my street and happened to notice a lovely gigantic, lighted naked tree. It was covered with bright red, blue, yellow and green lights and was looking absolutely stunning. I paused for a moment and admired its beauty and thought “wow how magical! I wondered at the capacity of artificial lights of transforming the outlook of tha

  This came in my Facebook feed this morning, while I was twiddling my thumbs, literally and metaphorically. I give myself an hour’s writing time each morning. Sometimes I complete a prior piece and sometimes I try to figure out a new one. This morning I had nothing of consequence going on. My poem had lost it’s charm to me, so I had finally abandoned it. Then I saw this.  “The Face of Seti I. Seti I's face is one of the best preserved in all of Ancient Egyptian history. He died 3,298 years ago and reigned while on one of Egypt's wealthiest peaks. One of the most famous pharaohs of all time, II. He was Ramses' father. The greatest pharaoh of all time. When he died, Egyptian Mummification was at the pinnacle of absolute perfection. It is generally considered the best preserved mummy in the world.” First, the aesthetics of the face caught my attention.    The peaceful composure of it, the big nostrils, the cheekbones and perfect lips. A good looking man he was, with impeccabl

Though time may shrivel our bodies some may our hearts yet expand and grow your skin and mine may lose some shine may our souls yet forever glow it’s not time’s toll on our body that we need fear the most it’s our heart and soul, when they dry up life’s curtain draws to a close a blossoming heart will forevermore shine through those wrinkled eyes a vibrant spirit will peek through no matter how much one hides the messy dirt, the soil of the land it harbors all that grows the prettiest flower and the sweetest fruit from it’s bosom they spring forth it’s our hearts, the soil of the land that need nurture, tending and toil the youthful skin, the gleaming smile then beam forever from it’s core some compassion and some gratitude  when we pour into our roots lasting are the vibrant hues of our radiant Heart and Soul

I sit at the bar, somewhere in the middle of the counter. Sort of like where I sit in real life. On both sides are people. Good people, beautiful people, at-least in how they reveal themselves to me. This may be a microcosm of the society itself. It carries the same din. The sounds of music, of people talking, the server and the served, of orders being given and taken, of drinks and food being served, of tables being cleared. Everything is competing, vying for my frazzled attention. Five big screens in front and another five behind me. Sports on a few, news on others. News of politics, of stock market, interspersed with that all capitalistic tool of advertising. It’s a public square. Shouting match of “buy my wares” abound in those omnipresent commercials. It’s all here. Politics, people, food, advertisements, sports, drinks, music, more people.. and I sit right in the middle of all of it.  Alone. It is a microcosm of our society indeed.   I look around, two young women chatting, engag

I am liking this feeling. These vistas, snow covered slopes, sometimes too thick with snow and sometimes with thinner snow cover. Cool wind in my hair is playing, channeling from the Eagles song and from them mountains right into and through me. I am liking this feeling. I am staying within my Skis, by and large. The slopes are long and lazy sometimes and steep and brutal at other times. I can just bend my knees and stay put while I pick up speed here and have to cut really sharp S ss there. Too much snow piled up on this one, almost like Moguls, but I keep on and what a beautiful day!! I am happy as a lark. Suddenly in a split of a split of a split second every sinew, every muscle fibre, every neuron is lit up like a thousand fireworks as the body navigates itself into and then out of a severe fall. It’s the feeling we get when we are walking or running and hit a stone or sidewalk and are about to be on all fours. We come alive like at no other moment in time, don’t we? At this moment

  2023 was a year of revelation. It revealed that my daughter is a good story teller and can write well(her college application essays) but still cannot read and remember the deadlines😵📚. My son can finish his first triathlon and yet will not make it in time to the school bus stop each morning🚌. My husband can swim bike and run a 70.3 but a .5 mile road trip to the Indian store is still a summit to the Mount Everest🏔.. And my 2 dogs 🐶🐕‍🦺  still love their daily quota of single socks.🧦And as for me I still drive like there's no tomorrow...🚗🚗🚗 So,2023 was a roller coaster 🎢. Started slow and steady and mid-year the gears changed. The movie of the year changed from a simple family drama to an action thriller helmed by my daughter..Well,she got her driving permit and my plummet down the dizzy heights began.  Being in the passenger seat alongside your teenager on her first driving lesson 🚗 is not for the squeamish.  The year 2023 revealed to me that I ain't a faint hear

    " And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” -Abraham Lincoln The sudden rumblings awoke us from sleep on a Friday morning. It was 26th Jan, My sister's birthday. Our parents grabbed my sister and I and rushed out of our eighth-floor high-rise apartment. We were left with no option but to stand outside the house with our neighbors and cry and pray to the God aloud. We cried and hugged as the building shook and shook and shook!!!!! There was fear written on our faces. Fear of the untamed fury !!!!!!!!!! Amidst  utter chaos and mayhem ,w e rushed down the building as it ceased to shake. For the next 3 months we stayed at a rented house as there were cracks in the building that required repairs. Our neighbors had become an extended family sharing the same fear, the same feeling of homelessness and the same gratitude to have survived this disaster. It has been more than 2 decades since this brush with catastrophe but the m