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Looking back in Happiness
I was 24 when the plane landed with me but without my luggage in Guyana in 1979. My first move from home and I lost every possession I ever had. I felt light and thrilled – though the loss of my graduation certificate did occupy me for all of ten minutes. Then I reasoned to…
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Advice to a friend going off to university
Last but not least, be kind. Especially to those who have no power to benefit you. They are the most important because the one who has nobody, has Allah and his voice reaches the Throne of Allah even if he doesn’t worship Him. Fear the dua (prayer) of the oppressed for there is no barrier…
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In the meanwhile
I wrote this to cheer up a very dear friend, then realized that maybe more people need cheering up. So, people everywhere, cheer up please. Call your friends, mail them, message them, don’t send them junk – talk to them. Share your goodness, knowing that it will return to you manyfold. And NEVER EVER reach…
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How to kill loneliness before it kills you
First, when they tell you that age in a number and that it is all in the mind, believe me, it is true. You are as old as you allow yourself to feel. This is not a pep talk. This is fact. I am 63 and I know what I am saying. It is your…
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You can never relive the past
Raman and I would discuss the reasons for corruption in our system. Our people, the vast majority of them are good, simple, and have sincere hearts that have learned to become helpless. Every conversation ends with the same refrain, ‘Ah! But what can we do?’ The reality is that if anything can be done, it…
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My life is worth $ 7
On October 20, 2010, I was 55. I released a book on that day called: 20-10-2010-55 which was 55 life lessons that I learnt in my life. I have decided to share those with you (those who read the book please forgive me) and so you will get one every day until we finish them…
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Old friend, here I come
The idea of meeting old friends after decades of having been out of touch is romantic indeed but one that is in reality fraught with danger. Old friends are a mirror in whom you see your own face and the experience is always moving, sometimes frightening. Old friends are markers in the journey of life,…
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Parenting can’t be outsourced
The biggest challenge of parenting is to accept that we are facing a world that is very different from the one we grew up in. This is true irrespective of which country you live in with the additional complexity of a rapid destruction of walls between cultures. The truth is that your solutions don’t work…