14 things to make 2014 20 times better

You've moved past your resolutions. ( I definitely have!)

Let's accept it, they don't last beyond January. Okay February for you, because you are so very good.

You've moved past the must-haves and the must-dos for the New Year.

In any case it's just another year, another month, another week and another day.

So here are some things that you could strive to do instead. The best part is that they are not time bound. Just do them to make 2014 better than 2013. Maybe two times better. And just maybe 20 times better. Here are 14 ways.

1. If you do make a resolution, make just one! (For greater tips on that click here: Resolve this...)

2. Find one friend to connect with once a month. Devote all the time to that friend.

3. Find one cause. Just one cause to devote some spare time to next year. The key word here is not cause or devote but time. Money is not a substitute.

4. Start a new hobby. Anything. Something. One thing that you learn from scratch. From zero. From ABC.

5. Live more outdoors. Live less in your screens. (My close friends will ask me to follow this advice myself but... never mind)

6.Take time off from work every two months at least. One day. Or two days. But real time off - rest, recharge and come back whole.

7. Read one book a fortnight. Read anything. But make this a pact you sign with yourself. And stay with it. (and once you read, do share with the rest of the world. It's so easy now!)

8. Watch one movie a month. Make it a comedy. Time off should be spent in laughter - no compromises there.

9. Take time to meditate. Just 15 minutes a day is a good start. More than that is better. Start today. And make it a habit. It's almost like having a shower for your mind every day. And the results will definitely be there to see.

10. Replace one bad habit with a good one. They say habits cannot be changed. They need to be replaced. So maybe.. coke with water? Cigarettes with gum? Coffee with green tea? (Don't give me that advice. I am not taking it! And anyway who says I have to practise what I preach!)

11. For just one minute a day, count your blessings. Just one minute. Just one blessing. No matter how difficult your day is, just one minute a day, this one minute, can make you feel better.

12. Say three nice things about yourself out loud every day! (I can think of 6 but hey! I am modest.)

13. Meet one new person a month - a colleague you don't know outside office, a pal on the net, a twitter follower? (Note not stalker, follower please!)
And finally...

14. Call Mom. Ideally now. Call her cos she is waiting and you'll make her day!

So there you go. Pick anything that suits your fancy. Do it and make 2014 much much, read that as, 20 times, better! Happy New Year again.

To the one who is my friend

To the one… who is my friend...

The one whose house is always open for you
The one whose house is open for you at 3 am

The one who talked you out of stupidity
The one who talked you all the way home on a late night drive
The one who listened while you talked

The one who always had time for you, no matter what the time
The one who was so busy she always had time for you

The one whose sister is now your friend
The one who is your friend’s sister
The one who is your sister

The one who started as a colleague
The one who lighted up when you met her
The one who lighted you up when all was dark

The one who laughed with you
The one who laughed at your follies
The one who laughed with you just becuase

The one who did not let you cry
The one who cried with you

The one who let time stand still till you met again
The one who has been with you since forever

The one who you thought was the one
The one who simply walked by your side
The one who didn’t let you walk on the sidelines

The one who knows when you need a friend
The one who knows when to leave you alone

The one who called back when you called
The one who called when you didn’t call
The one who called because you didn’t call

The one who is there no matter what

The one who is no longer there
The one who is there no matter what no matter when no matter where.

To the one, who is my friend... I am grateful I have you as a friend. May you be as blessed in your friendships.

(And luckily for me there is not one…)

He’s a friend

At no time in the history of mankind have the words, Man is a social animal, been so true.

It’s one clear reason why the Web now is Web 2.0, a content-led interface that is driving the world and more importantly building, rekindling and empowering relationships across distances, literal and virtual. With a plethora of social networking sites that have cropped up on our screens there’s no way you cannot be connected. So one is Tagged, LinkedIn, Facebooked, Orkutted, Twittered and all this, if not in WAYN. If you are not on at least 4 or 5 out of these you are probably anti-social, asocial or just plain technology challenged.

Honestly I am not against this aggressive networking, this virtual, constant holding of hands across countries, with friends and family every minute of the day. It allows me to connect with a whole lot of people with just one ‘status’ message; it gets me answers from a vast network of professionals with just one well-directed question; why, it even lets me know what the rest of the people who matter to me are doing. I feel connected.

It’s just that the connections get a bit too much sometimes. And this is what hurts my conservative sensibilities.

Remember as children we each had our ‘best friend’? As we grew older, we got more discerning and discriminating. Not everybody was a friend. Grammar taught you that you could have only one ‘best’ friend. And as you went on into a cut-throat working environment you knew that there were no friends, there were either colleagues, and/or er, backstabbers! You left friends behind. And caught up with them over weekends.

Till now. Till social networking sites made everyone your friend.

So here’s, say Sameer. You and Sameer have worked in the same organization for a long period of three months. Your conversations with him were limited to a polite smile and an “Excuse me” when you needed passage. You acknowledged him as part of someone else's team but it ended there. Then Sameer disappeared. You did not notice his absence till about two to three weeks later when someone mentioned something about a summer trainee.

Now suddenly you see a ‘dude’ pic of Sameer on your favourite networking site. Sameer has ‘added’ you as a friend. Wow. You feel honoured. Can you refuse? No. Some sites even ask you to say Yes or else “Sameer will think you have said NO”. Oh the shock and horror of it all. That the summer trainee Sameer will think you have said NO, he is not my friend. So you add him as a friend. And you are linked just because of those three momentous months that Friend Sameer spent on the fringes of your consciousness at work.
So summer trainee Sameer is now a friend.

Here’s another gentleman, let’s call him, Kunal. Apparently he has been a colleague a decade ago. So he needs to be added. I peer into his thumbnail picture. Nope. Nada. I don’t recall this person. Don’t recognize him at all. Then vainly I decide that not everybody ages as well as I do (ahem!) and I figure that that bald head with jowls could have been different looking in his salad days. I add him to my list.
Later during a moment of leisure I realize that I honestly don’t remember him. And in frenzied, nail-biting moments I try to figure out what will really happen if I do happen to meet him. I am sure one of those moments is lurking around the corner for me. One dreaded day, Friend Kunal will come up to me and say “I am your friend” at which point, what will I do???
For the first time in the history of mankind, it’s getting difficult to recognize friends.
So here’s my humble (and you may think anti-social) request.
Could I ask all my ‘friends’ on all the various networking sites that I am present on to please, please carry that 1 cm by 1 cm thumbnail photo to identify themselves when we actually do meet?
Now tell me, have you ever done that with a ‘friend’ before???