Ageing and pace of life

As time is going by, I am ageing in terms of health and stamina and things I could do maybe 10 years ago. Most dont acknowledge and most dont agree with the concept but ageing is part of life. It is best to accept and accordingly tune ones life to enjoy the same.

I have been consistently traveling around 150+ flights for the last 5-6 years both in India and abroad. It has been great from a point of view of business travel and meeting people, going places experiencing the world, but as one ages one starts to think what is the need of so much travel, is it worth it? I have finally decided to end exploratory travel and work on building business in Mumbai and travel to different places for specific needs.

Something I have started over the year is Yoga, I think this is the best thing my wife and my friend convinced me to do. I am not the best Yogic but it has helped me in terms of strength and focus/stamina. The goal is now to keep this going.

What else?? India is going through change with elections being held in MP, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Telengana/Mizoram with Congress making inroads and is finally winning against BJP, but the interesting thing is that BJP vote share has not fallen much. Lots of construction in Mumbai with metro lines, new roads, water works etc. City seems to be completely under construction.
Business front my new venture is still figuring out how to sell specialized cloud services, I am sure I will figure it out, needs continuous push.

The boy of mine is playing tennis nationally and has made great progress. Girl has now turned 12 and is regularly playing Basketball for school. She gets up at 5.30 Am each morning. Wifey is running her financial fund and is commuting to suburbs of Mumbai facing traffic/commute of 1-2 hours each day.

I am trying to slow pace of life, working on specific projects and not random chasing things in life. Trying to get a balance. Next year plan on spending some time doing interesting travel. I am at the mid-point of my life and it is time to experiment with some new places, things, concepts.

Adios,
Shiva

On a late evening flight

These are thoughts on a flight

I am writing after some months. Just finished an exciting trip to Japan and back. It was nice. Met my Japanese partner, and along with them met up with some interesting companies. Mostly in the automotive space. Every time I go to Japan the thing that strikes out to me is the cleanliness and the honesty of the people. I am convinced if I need to buy something and it needs to last sometime, I am going to buy Japanese. The effort they put into their products and service is mind boggling. I have not seen it in any Indian company. Here is all 'Chalta Hai'.

Right now on a flight from Delhi to Bombay, it was a day trip, got up at 5.30AM in the morning and have been travelling the entire day but it was a fruitful, went for some internal discussions. Today in India, the Congress/TDP parties led a no-confidence motion against the BJP led government, completely for optics as BJP has absolute majority in the Indian parliament. It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming elections, it is a real toss up.

Technology is really changing in India, have gotten Amazon Prime membership and one can download movies, music etc onto the mobile device and even without internet connectivity, one can enjoy some nice content. I am sure in a few years, all planes etc will streaming content. The flight on the way from India to Japan had live Satellite TV, I landed up watching the World Cup Football 2018 match. Technology has come a long way and it has a long way to go. Pollution/energy needs are still very basic stuff that tech has to take care of. It too shall change if we give it enough time.

So what is happening around in India - Well Indians who have some money are very pessimistic about India that the country will fail and are leaving in big numbers. Funny enough each time they come to India they get shocked with the kind of wealth being built in India. It is following the China model and people in India in the next 20 years will have crazy money across most strata of society. I think in 2040 it will kick into full gear as a new generation comes up educated. They will be more demanding and will most likely push more. Most of the world would have aged by them and will be looking to Robots to help them out. India will be kicking in high gear despite all our corruption and nepotism.

Most people are trying to find the meaning of life, trying to live healthy etc. Wholesome life. Most dont realize, we are on a time clock, do what the hell gives you a kick keeping in mind that you dont hurt someones sentiments and are not selfish. In my world, eat good food with enough sleep and have some good conversations. Rest just plays out itself, one cannot control or channel it. I was reading some of my posts from 10 years back and it was interesting to see what has changed. Literally nothing except I have gotten 10 years older, kids are growing up and working towards academics, sports etc as it is. I have been trying to do yoga in a small little way no expert but I believe it is a poor mans exercise. Maybe running is a better exercise but for those who are ok doing basic things, yoga works well. I am sure at a senior level Yoga will be mind boggling but that is beyond my physical limits.

Anyways, enough ranting, more to come in some months or years as the case maybe. Keep reading whoever you are.

Ciao,
Shiva

Summer of 2018 in Mumbai

It has been a really long time since I have posted. I believe there are various reasons for the same, mostly the amount of time spent on a laptop/computer has greatly reduced. Most of the work is done via tablets or smartphones and it is difficult to write long posts via small devices.

The Indian summer of Western India is here and it is hot and sweaty. Schools are closed and over-all traffic has reduced. The mango season is in place. Life has picked up a good cadence and days are passing by. It is summer of hope and change.

My little ones have moved into grades 8th and 7th respectively. Both have done well academically. The boy is playing good tennis and has represented Maharashtra in the National Tennis tournament (held at Hyderabad). The girl is also doing her Bharat Natyam and is getting to be more creative each day. Over-all cannot complain. Wife is now running a investment fund and is doing well in her professional life and teaching me a bit or two about shares/bonds/stocks etc. On the business side we had the best year ever and have become a decent brand in what we do. It has been a struggle over the years but the last few years things have started falling into place and now the idea is to find the next set of things to do for growth. I have some ideas and will share.

So what is new in India. BJP is running the country and has won literally all state elections and also has absolute in the national parliament. They are trying to do many things but has have a singular view of the cultural world which irritates and hurts many. Lets see how things shape out in the next national elections (Indian elections are really intriguing and fun). Politics, cricket, movies and good food is what Indian life is made up of.

The affluent are all trying to send their kids abroad to study (USA/Canada/Australia/UK/EU etc) and most of the folks I know dont even make it to national competitive exams like we did. Not sure how does studying abroad make life any better or worse. Most cannot even work in the countries they study so it makes them more frustrated and when they come back their degrees dont have much value in the Indian marketplace. Lets see in a few years we as a family also have to decide where my kids should study.

Travelled alot for work over the last 2 odd years and made some good business deals. Also learned much about the culture of various countries and at the end of the day it is all the same. All trying to make a living and figuring out how to work the least.

Will resume posting again. Hope you enjoy the reads.

Thanks,
Shiva