Drishti - the vision

I had along awaited the release of Barack Obama's autobiography. His is a remarkable story, as was evident even while it was unfolding. Beyond the cliched historical significance of first black presidency, his journey also stood out for his non-race related struggles, his thin pre-presidency resume followed by his rapid rise into the Presidency and his growth in the job.  I was always curious to know how he must have felt deep down as he first conceived these grand ambitions and then through a combination of hard work and opportunity travelled the road so rarely travelled. Nothing in the usual sense of training could have prepared him for either conceiving or embarking on such a journey, leave aside succeeding at it. So then what made him tick? For long I had felt a connection to his ambitions, his choices and his conduct. Not to suggest any similarities in our aptitudes rather a shared understanding of certain broad principles in life.  He is an inspiration to me pe...

 T.S. Eliot wrote: We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. For those in their mid-30's there is enough they have dreamt, seen and experienced that leads them to see the wisdom of these words. It is by no means the beginning of the journey home, rather more like completing a lap full circle. One develops a familiarity with the patterns, experiences the causalities and starts to come out of the shadows of his/her parents. Many mark this period as the beginning of the mid-life crisis, I tend to think of it more as an "end to parental privilege". In any case, it does provide certain clarity that has the potential to both empower or paralyze depending on what we chose to do with this clarity.  Many years ago, mostly driven by good grades in language courses,  I had begun to harbor ambitions of becoming a writer by avocation. And in those moments I had started this blog. Dorma...