The Eternal Optimist!

"A few more hours to submission.” I reminded myself as I battled with my assignment. I had no patience to read the reference books and irrelevant information on the internet was only compounding my problems.  When governments and intelligence agencies run out of options, they turn to Special Forces.  I was a king fighting to protect his academic empire.  In moments of desperation, I remembered one such man. A man who is shrewd like the British, dour and cunning like the Chinese and insane as an Israeli Commando.  For him, no task is impossible, no challenge unbeatable and that he is unstoppable so his friends say. Hence for all his coldness and insanity, his cunning and his efficiency, I nicknamed him after the legendary killer in a famous novel. The Jackal. “Ah, it has been such a long time brother,” said the Jackal as he ushered me into his flat.  One could see he was happy from his broad smile. his deep black eyes just sho...

Unlearning is the key to successful innovation. I wish to have these words tattooed across my forehead so that I never forget them. That is what I learnt during my two year long career as a journalist in ‘our Great News Channel’.  It’s a really simple two step process. First, you list all the assumptions people have about a story. Then, you break them all. It was my boss, the editor of Our Great News Channel who taught me these things.  It was him who set the core value of my writing both in journalism and creative writing. “Content is king”. He used to remand all his staff from time to time. Get your hands on great content and present it in an entertaining manner because infotainment is the best means to keep your audience hooked in information age. He was a boss with brilliant ideas and very liberal way of leadership. When I looked at his ideas and his ability to build networks of knowledgeable people, a nickname just popped into my head. This man understood th...

To most people, the word ‘friends’ brings a surge of excitement, love etc. but for me, ‘friends’ reads ‘alarm’. My mind and body become sharper then a commando, hair on my head stand up and panic fills my stomach. Trust me people, that’s what your reaction would also be if your friends were to throw you into ice cold water on every winter morning, or drag you early morning without breakfast into a forest full of leeches. These are only some of their atrocities. Not my fault. Not my fault at all but it’s the magic of that word ‘friends’ that compels me to be their slave! Oh how I loved my Royal life! With a book and a bed, P.C. and T.V. , spending holidays watching action movies curled in a couch that was my temple until… I began to hang out with them. My friends have made me rediscover myself. Thanks to them now I know that not only am I weak, skinny and under-confident, but also devoid of a sense of style and my communication skills are terrible with girls. ‘The builder’...