I arrived at 30 at a peculiar juncture of time: global pandemic, nationwide lockdown, being pregnant and confined at home for over 6 weeks. On my 30th birthday, I woke up in an ordinary morning and carried out my ordinary routine of sun salutation sequence followed by meditation. There was a little thing that I…
Have you ever imagined how it feels to find out that you (or your partner) are pregnant? I thought it is the most beautiful thing in the world — until it caught me off guard. When I was holding the pregnancy test kit that turned positive in seconds instead of 5 minutes I thought I…
“If someone isn’t even seeing or hearing you, what they have to say isn’t relevant to the world you live in.” Zat Rana When I finished watching the movie ‘Temple Grantin’, I was engulfed in a mixed feeling of guilt, love, and gratitude. Temple Grandin was diagnosed as an autistic child and only started to speak…
While planning a community meetup with the theme ‘turning struggles into strengths’, I got so confused in the middle of discussions when we were brainstorming the ‘transformation’ part. It’s easy to shine a light at struggle and invite people to talk about it, but how might we empower or enable the transformation into a strength…
When I first met Nicholas, a mutual friend jokingly told me that I should do a podcast with him to hear his interesting story. I looked at the humble young man who didn’t talk much and thought, sure, I was eager to find out what I can learn from him. Sometimes, the smartest person in…
I got to know Lalaina Rackson when she wrote an article citing my quote ’to live a life true to ourselves, we need a strong mind and a breakable heart’. After following her account on Medium, I was impressed that this creator from Paris posted a new piece of content almost every day on the…
When I saw my mum broke down uncontrollably after my uncle’s funeral, I stroked her back gently with a silent thought: grow up, mum. In between the strokes I was engulfed by a deep sense of gratitude that I have a mother who expresses her love freely. It is in the vastness of this love…
While I embraced turning a year older recently, I was secretly wrangling with the fear of not getting my shit together. I didn’t know where I got this idea from, but I have the perception that life should be set before 30, and the clock is ticking mercilessly against my will. I couldn’t understand why…
When I started a café consultancy company with my partners, my vision was to make a name in the industry that I was interested in. I didn’t quite understand the essence of building a business or creating unique value for people. Growing up, I wasn’t exposed to business world. I never thought it would be…
I was on the running track one day, thoughts racing in my head. I could taste fear and anxiety, a sort of existential crisis that wasn’t estrange. I felt that I hadn’t lived up to my best self, I felt that clock is ticking faster as I approached late twenties, I felt torn between choices,…
When I left the company I started end of last year, I knew I was following a path that felt like my path. Even though I was not sure where it would lead, I was ready to find out. I was scared of a blank page, but I knew all that I need to feel…
So, here I am again. I heaved a silent relief on my 27th birthday. Back to figuring out, back to carving my own path, back to creating life. Looking at the post I wrote to commemorate 26 years of life, a sense of amusement surged – who was I trying to impress? I dug through…