Serendipity and Learning

I received yet another invite for a timeshare on my mail. In the spam folder only, but as I looked at it, I wondered if timeshares are a good idea? Many years ago, we had considered going in for a timeshare and then we paused and said, well, we do want our vacations to be different experiences each time. And that has been a good thing because for one, we aren't bound by dates and artificial constraints from the timeshare, apart from our own. More importantly, our vacations have been different. From treks to pilgrimages to beach holidays to temple towns to laid back visits to forgotten places to home-stays to food by the roadside - each of them has been different. We have met wonderful hosts, teams, guides and cuisines along the way. A lot of "big-one-size-fits-all" is being broken up into more customisable pieces. In an age of airbnb where big hotels are more about business travel, I think we made the right choice.

Of course, it is a Pulitzer prize winning book, so it is a great book. But here is what I liked about how it ticks the boxes in terms of what I really like in a non fiction book. One, it takes a historically known something and tell you many things you did not know. In some cases takes something unknown and makes you aware. Or throws light on a new concept. The second, it brings people alive around it. Brings to light facts, personalities, their quirks, how they worked, how they researched. Third, it connects them - and Gene especially does this very well. Joins the dots beautifully in an intricate tapestry. Fourth - and this is the bonus with Gene as compared to other books in this genre - is that it is very well written. It is page turning, like a fiction book. Like a mystery; well almost. Fifth - the story is not a linear story. It goes back and forth, into new branches, characters pop up in one place vanish and show up in an another place - sometimes, across a generati...

We sat there, watching a friend in his first ever yoga class. This friend has years of experience (the yoga teachers experience is measured in decades, not hours - he said). The class was being held in a not very posh place. It was simple. The people who came to learn were not people you will find in Nike ads. One way to think about it is to say Why does someone with so much experience have to do this? Does he have to go through this grind? He deserves so much more. He should have waited and launched himself at a bigger place. The other way is to say He is trying He is brave He is working on his mission He has brought his passion alive in a small way Thats when it struck me. Beginnings are small. All beginnings by their very nature are small. Take any dream, any business. The beginnings are almost always messy, untidy and even unsure. But they are beginnings...