Twenty- five Seven

choosing to be happy

August 3, 2026

Today was one of those days where I actually felt happy. After a long time.

Photo by Ann H on Pexels.com

I am happy most days but today, the happiness was different – I felt lighter, calmer and more at peace.

This was all the more significant after the weird experience I had yesterday, where I just froze with fright and, for the first time in my life, felt inept, incapable and stupid. It wasn’t because I didn’t know how to do it, but because I was scared. Scared that if I gave the wrong advice, I would be screamed at.

For the past several days or may be months, I’ve found that what I said wasn’t going down very well with my family. Suddenly from being a person who could solve any problem, I became a bumbling idiot. My content was wrong, my tone was wrong and my timing atrocious. Thus even the most innocuous comment was dismissed as foolish and unasked for. Sometimes it was a mild rebuke but on two occasions it turned into a loud screaming tirade that actually made me feel that I’d committed a heinous crime. Since then, I prefer to keep my counsel lest it be misconstrued.

So we were going to a building which we had never been to before and even though the GPS was on, when we took a little detour, its orientation changed and for a while I was confused. So when Hubby Dear stopped the car and asked me if he should turn left or right, I just froze. I was too scared to answer lest he took the wrong turn ( because of my directions) and then listen to him scream at me for the rest of the ride.

Eventually we did find our way but my self-confidence was shattered. Since when did I become so incompetent?

I found that I was not alone in this shift in family dynamics – many of my friends are in a similar situation when problem solver becomes a problem.

This made me deeply unhappy.

I got up feeling sad and barely went through my yoga routine. Sorry, Saurabh, I could just about do the warm-up before abandoning the session. The walk downstairs didn’t do much to lift my spirit.

But after a delightful afternoon spent in the company of my cousin, left me feeling exceptionally happy. Because she shared with me her experience on choosing to be happy.

THE SECRET OF BEING HAPPY

It is essential, she told me, to identify what is making you unhappy or sad. Write it down and think of what you can do to change it. If you can’t, just accept it and decide that it is not going to get you down. Crumple up the paper and throw it away..

Thus, you should choose to be happy. Because a happy mind makes for a healthy body.

So tonight, I’m going to bed, choosing to be happy.

Ciao,
AMERICANA PERIPLANETA : Newsmaker extraordinaire.

August 1, 2026

There are newsmakers and there are newsmakers. But who would have imagined that the humble, cockroach would have grabbed headlines of our national and city newspapers over the past few weeks!

Photo by Erik Karits on Pexels.com

The student protests in Delhi supported and fuelled by the Cockroach Janata Party dominated the Indian Press in both prnt and television and more insidiously in Social Media powered by Gen Z, masters of the internet and AI. Eventually, their dogeddness proved no match for the stodgy establishment who had to give in to their demands.

The CJP itself was a spontaneous reaction to cock a snook at the archaic system that ran the country, provoked by a casual remark by our Chief Justice that likened unemployed, indolent youth to cockroaches.

And taking advantage of the growing frustration and resentment of the students grappling with paper leaks in the NEET, the CJP stepped in to support and fuel an uprising demanding a foolproof test that could withstand leaks. Slowly, a rumble turned into a full fledged rebellion ending only with the resignation of our Education Minister.

Undoubtedly, our education system needs a major overhaul but it was only this nationwide protest that managed to shake it all up.

But can there ever be a truly watertight, fair system? The NEET itself was designed to offer a level, playing field at a national level enabling students from the entire country to apply to medical colleges in any state.

This led to hundreds of crammer classes mushrooming up and a multi million rupee industry in parallel education. Several families spent a large amount of money sending their children to such institutes in the hope of their children clearing NEET.

However, what really needs to be addressed is accepting that it is ok to fail that becoming a doctor is not the ultimate prize. Year after year, students sit for this examination to repeatedly fail!

Even if the NEET were fair and faultlessly conducted, there will still be many who won’t qualify. Simply because of the disproportionate number of aspirants and seats available. Besides, not everyone has the aptitude to become a healthcare professional.

Scoring a perfect 10 doesn’t automatically make you a good doctor.

WAITER THERE’S A COCKROACH IN MY SOUP! ( well, not exactly)

Just when we thought that we were done with cockroaches, the insect turned up again. This time, it was found in the commercial kitchens of several high profile establishments in Mumbai thereby causing the newly appointed FDA commissioner to shut them down.

Naturally, this created quite a stir because suddenly many people were stranded with their food supply cut off. Many senior citizens found eating at Clubs more convenient than making food at home.

SALUT!

Thus it was that the humble cockroach Americana Periplaneta, the insect that is supposedly unchanged by evolution, made extraordinary news in the last month!

Ciao
SIACHEN – A BATTLE UNKNOWN

July 27, 2026
Image taken from the net.

People know of the Unknown Soldier, generally commemorated in a monument dedicated to all the soldiers who died in a particular conflict. There are several of them all over the world. But how many have heard of an UNKNOWN WAR?

The battles over SIACHEN, a glacier in the northernmost part of India, remain among the little-known battles fought by the brave soldiers of our Indian Army. This was largely because the country was at that time occupied with the Sri Lankan problem.

Like most Indians, I too was unaware of what actually happened in Siachen, around 2000 km away and over 18,000 ft above mean sea level at its highest point, from my safe and secure home in Mumbai

Yesterday, purely by chance I happened to attend an event to commemorate Kargil Day where Lt. General Ramesh Kulkarni who directed the operations at Siachen in 1987 was invited to talk about the book he has written about it.

Why fight over a glacier?

Glaciers are frozen rivers. Barren and desolate, they are of little use to man or beast since living conditions are inhospitable, to say the least. But the Siachen Glacier is of strategic importance to India. Besides, when it melts, the waters feed into the Indus, the largest irrigation system in the region.

what makes this conflict unique
1. Over two major operations Operation Rajiv ( capture of the Pakistani post Quaid) and Operation Vajra Shakti ( thwarting of the Pakistani attempt at capturing Bilafond La), the Indian Army fought its first-ever high-altitude battle where even the guns froze in the cold!
2. With limited resources running short, the soldiers still managed to hold on.
AN EXCITING ADVENTURE

Hearing the general talk about it sent shivers down my spine, and I would recommend this book to all lovers of Military history and stories of courage and adventure. Well written by the General’s daughter, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for him to recall these difficult and challenging days.

I would not like to get into any controversies, hence I request my readers to read the book itself.

Ciao and happy reading,