Children are troublesome. If we take spirituality out of the equation, children become sources of unnecessary life problems. The reason is obvious. If we were merely physical beings, then children are just arrangements of organic molecules who cry loudly, poop randomly and — even when behaving well — cost a lot of money. Our desire […]
Five Lessons from Doing a PhD
My PhD life was fraught with challenges: my lab caught fire, I ran out of money because my scholarship was discontinued, and I was rushed to the emergency room in an ambulance. Here are five lessons I have learned from doing a PhD: 1. PhD is a team effort While I believe we are a […]
What Should You Do After Graduation?
From conversations with university students, many of you have not thought much about what comes after graduation. It is understandable. It is hard to focus on the next few years when you are buried in assignments that are due in the next few weeks. By writing this article, I want to inspire you to carve […]
How to be Kind Despite the Lucifer Effect
Imagine being kind to a lifelong friend. And then one day, you pay a gang to beat him up. I once had a conversation with an Indian man in his early 50s. He is larger than me, yet he has a soft, fatherly voice. In fact, he is a father; his youngest child was still […]
The Sister of the North
This writing is distinct from my other essays. It is an allegory: a story with lessons that are as true and as old as time (a master of this genre is Paulo Coelho). Because the lessons are old, elements of the story should feel familiar. While the narration is mine, the ideas are not. God’s […]
Why You Should Write Despite Your Fears
My courage to write despite fears is founded on a few realisations. I will share them with you to encourage you to do the same. Because for many introverts, when you write and share your thoughts, you feel naked and exposed. Your mind conjures up images where strangers finally realise how stupid you are, how […]