Fascinating stuff- Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

http://pbskids.org/rogers/videos/index.html

Mister Rogers Neighborhood is an educational TV series that's been running in the US since late 60s. I just stumbled into it a few hours ago, watched a video on crayon-making with rapt attention and then went on to read the Wikipedia article about it. Why don't we have programmes like this?

While writing the previous line, I remembered that there used to be 'The Turning Point' on DD when I was a kid. I was too young then. I will now look it up too on YouTube.

Enjoyed the Karadi Tales

Finally, life has something new

Since Jan 1, I've come to the blog many times, have started writing a post but then returned, thinking about the other, more important tasks lined up.

Well, the first thing that I had wanted to write about was that this year looks quite promising to me. The last one year had been the year of quietly doing the groundwork. All that toil was latent. It produced no visible results and I had nothing new to tell whenever any friend asked the quintessential conversation-starter- "What's up?". My standard reply- and I got quite bored of it too- throughout the year was, "Wohi puraani zindagi aur wohi puraane hum!"

This year will bring changes. It already has.

On Jan 2, I started my own coaching business. That sounds pompous, right? I have one student as of now and the product I offer is GRE Verbal coaching. What I liked about this initiative was that after wanting to do 'something on my own' since perhaps class seventh or so, I finally took my first baby step into the world of entrepreneurship at which I've only gazed wonderingly so far.

I don't have much business sense or knowldege. But while working on the book, one thing tht I've learnt is that once you get into the thing, you automatically make yourself learn all that you need to know for the successful execution of the task.

My friend, J, got married on Jan 9. She is the first amongst my dearest friends to tie the knot. I realized how different a friend's marriage felt from all the others that we routinely attend. When she and Jeejz were circumambulating around Guru Granth Sahib, I sat watching her resplendant bridal lehnga and was awed by the thought of how naive and raw we had all been in the initial days of our friendship and college life, how we had grown over the years and had seen each other grow, and now, she was getting married! 'Marriage'- the word which we had always associated with grown-up, mature people, had finally knocked at our door! And, the door had been opened. That day, my other best friends and I joked over whose door would be knocked next, and we all laughed at the realization that we were not cringing at the idea and going "Marriage? Ewww!"

I obviously grinned in surprised glee when Jeejz told me that he had read my blog. Hmm, so...Jeejz, are you reading this post? (I am reminded of, 'Hello, hello, mike testing'):P

The wedding was two days of absolute fun. We had been planning since long for it. All of us in our group had this strong desire to do our dear bride proud. We were 'dulhan ki saheliyaan', after all! For a change, we all spent hours getting ready (two hours to be more precise). Everyone complimented us that day, and the most delightful thing was that we knew they were right. All of us were looking good, and after every few minutes, I would compliment one of my friends for one thing or the other, but would then think, "Nahin yaar, that's unfair," and so would compliment the other friend also. I felt so good to just see all of us together, each looking prettier than the other.

Something else is exciting too. I am going to Jaipur tomorrow. For the Jaipur Literature Festival. After AGES, I'm going to live on my own for a week, in a new place, meeting new people, being in close proximity with writers, attending conferences, taking in ideas....am going to have a week THROBBING with breathless action! After a LONG, LONG time! I so needed this breath of fresh air, this little adventure!

I will report about the Lit Fest on my blog after I come back.

And by the way, the book is done. After fourteen months of slogging- and protracted slogging due to the idiotic perfectionist in me- the beast is now fully made. Relief is the only sentiment I feel. Imagine someone making a roll out of a woolen blanket and then, wrapping it tightly around your neck. How smothered by that huge roll and unable to breathe through you will feel! How restless you will get to somehow just throw that suffocating mass away! And then, when finally you do manage to do that, how relieved you will feel! That is the kind of relief I am feeling. I've been restless in the past three months, because what I had thought was just the tail-end of the book, a minor part, had proved to be too time-consuming and unwieldy. I'm mentally exhausted now. I hope the Jaipur break will reinvigorate me.

On Entrepreneurship

"Entrepreneurship is more about innovation and ideas rather than experience. According to the great thinker and Management Guru, Prof C K Prahalad, intellect as a factor to become successful entrepreneur, comes way beyond other factors like imagination, hard work etc. So a person who has ideas and wants to be an entrepreneur should ideally venture into it as soon as possible without wasting too much time gaining irrelevant ‘experience’."
R Satya, founder, Career Launcher