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Showing posts from October, 2017

When Destiny Sends Its Helpers

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Keep running. The right people find you on the way. At different stages of life, you’re confronted with different challenges. And each time you cross a hurdle, you feel that familiar sense of accomplishment. It’s tempting to attribute that success to your own skill, tenacity, and willpower — to pat yourself on the back and feel proud of how you handled it. But when you zoom out and look at the moments where you somehow managed to trump the odds, a quieter realization sets in: It’s never just you. There is always an unseen army that shows up at the right time. It was 2005. I had decided to pursue my Master’s in the US. I picked a few schools in the Midwest where the expenses were manageable, and that’s how the University of Missouri–Rolla entered the picture. But funding was still a massive question mark. I hadn’t secured any assistantship, and we didn’t have the means to pay out of pocket. We went from bank to bank, hoping for an education loan. Each manager aske...
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Storytelling time

The long day was winding down towards the usual predictable close.  It was 9PM.  My wife and I sat back to watch the first of many episodes of a chosen series for the evening.  Soon, it was midnight.  We were contemplating whether to watch one more or hit the bed.  We eventually ended up watching two more and went to bed.  It was 2 AM.  We got up late the next morning, went to work at a relaxed pace and got back from work late.  Nothing felt out of sorts. Fast forward life by a couple of years.  The long day was winding down towards the usual predictable close.  My wife and I were scrambling to put the kids to sleep.  It was already 8PM.  The whole bed time routine is pretty mind-boggling.  Akhil would brush his teeth, which means I'd have to brush my teeth as well.  Even before he gets to the sink, he would say, "Appa, Brusss".  I would do the mandatory correction.  "Akhil, it's not brusss, it's brushhhh...
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