Thought Catalog 35

To say no when you need to say no, and yes when you need to say yes, you need to remember what you really want. People who are distracted are more likely to give in to temptations. The brain is remarkably responsive to experience. Ask your brain to do math every day, and it gets […]

Universal Basic Income not a Panacea for poverty

Thanks to the proposal for the universal basic income, it has become a topic for discussion as one-fifth population of this country are living below the poverty line. It is entirely another matter that the quantum of income prescribed to stay above this line has historically remained a point of contention among economists and politicians. […]

Thought Catalog 34

We love someone when the importance of his or her needs and desires rises to the level of our own. When people fall in love, no justification for their attachment is necessary. When people fall out of love, the demands for an explanation are insistent. Much of what passes for intimate communication involves admonitions and […]

Voters Yearn to be on Winning Side

We perceive the world not in any objectively accurate sense but through the lens of our own needs, goals, and prior experience. Still, we take a lot of pride in being a rational person. This is evident in our endeavour to get the highest degree of educational qualification from topmost educational gatekeepers — a signaling […]

Thought Catalog 33

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. You can recognize intrinsic motivations more easily in yourself than in others. It can be easy to forget that other people have minds with the same general capacities and experiences as your own. There is an universal […]

Revisiting the Utilitarian Model of Education

“It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparisons knows both sides.”-John Stuart Mill […]

Thought Catalog 31

We often look back on the things we’ve just learned and assumed we knew them or believed them all along. The origin of certain emotional states is unavailable to us, and when pressed to explain them, we will make something up. We are far more likely to believe something is commonplace if we can find […]

When You Choose To See The World Through A Pair Of Tinted Glass

We see things, but fail to observe. We hear things, but fail to listen. We consume things, but fail to absorb. The beauty of morning dews on green grass. The play of colors in the flight of butterflies. The fun in the purposeless running of the kids. Somehow, we are missing these seemingly mundane yet […]

Thought Catalog 30

The beliefs that carried us to initial success may be holding us back in our quest to go to the next level. People who believe they can succeed see opportunities where others see threats. When we do what we choose to do, we are committed. When we do what we have to do, we are […]

When There is Widespread Unpreparedness for The Ultimate Truth Called Death

It was early morning. I received a message about the sudden demise of my best friend’s father. His father(my uncle) had a heart attack. The worst part was that my friend wasn’t there in the city. He was some 1500 miles away on business trip. It took him multiple road & air journey to make […]

Thought Catalog 29

We usually don’t know what kind of car we want until we see it parked in our neighbourhood. We don’t know what we want to do with our lives – until we find a sibling or friend who is doing just what we think we should be doing. While moving up in life, we indulge […]

The Most Important Metric One Should Always Track…And It’s Not What You Think

I have a friend. He is very enthusiastic & optimistic. He comes across as someone who is all charged up & unstoppable. But unfortunately his enthusiasm is usually once a week affair. Even if there isn’t any consistency in his energy, he is more than willing to share his secret recipe – he has taught […]

Thought Catalog 28

The most important metric to track is your personal energy. You can maximise your personal energy by eating right, exercising regularly, avoiding unnecessary stress, getting enough sleep and having something in life that makes you excited to wake up. Running a marathon under four hours might be a goal, but exercising daily is a system. […]