Category: Life & Times
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Falling off a ladder – When adversity strikes
Last week my sister-in-law fell off a ladder. It wasn’t a “ha! ha! you fell down,” kind of fall. As the stabilizing bar on the aluminium step ladder gave way, she fell one way while her limbs, pinned under the ladder, went the other. She ended up in a hospital “Emergency” where she remained in…
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Laughter is the best medicine!
Many people believe that laughter is the best medicine — it makes us feel good. It is something that we can share with others over great distances, or face to face in crowded spaces. Guillaume Benjamin Duchenne, a French Neurologist of the 1800s era, first noted the difference between a genuine and spontaneous laugh…
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Where you live should not decide whether you live or die
I was excited. Nearly two years to the day after we received my daughter Anakha’s diagnosis, I came across another child with the same rare condition. Not a nameless statistic in a medical journal, but a real-life little girl, with a name and face. Someone else just like Anakha! Then, out of the blue, I…
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When travel and fitness don’t go together
For someone who travels a fair bit, I have never hit the gym at a hotel. Occasionally, I do check out the hotel swimming pool, mostly to grab a beer by the poolside. I am not proud of it. But, the reality is that I have always struggled with balancing travel and fitness routines. Hence…
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Couldn’t we all just get along?
The past thirty days took me to four places of worship in four different cities. Each one belonged to a different religion – Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu. The church, the mosque, and the temples felt peaceful and serene. I was there during non-worship hours. I did not pray in any of them. And yet,…
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The things vs experiences dilemma
Driving an expensive car was part of my persona, or so I thought. A few years ago when my daughter suggested that I trade in my fully-loaded BMW X5 for a Toyota Prius Hybrid, I resisted. As a mid-level associate in a New York City Law firm, she didn’t care to own a car. It…
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The Bubble Mentality
As a youngster, playing with soap bubbles in the backyard, I would try to blow the biggest bubble, just short of making it burst. I would eye up the bubble and ease off when it looked like it was ready to pop. It worked, most of the time. Back to the present. Most folks that…
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Of Emergency Rooms and Stressful Work Environments
Going into a Hospital ER is a bit like a meeting with your boss and an HR person. You are never quite sure how it is going to go. I had just driven someone, who unexpectedly needed some medical attention, to the ER at the Credit Valley Hospital. It was early afternoon. Hospitals intimidate me.…
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Musings From a Massage Parlour
It started with a Matt Damon film that was being screened at the Toronto International Films Festival (TIFF). The movie was scheduled for noon at Roy Thompson Hall. My wife and I had joined our daughter and son-in-law who were in town to binge-watch movies at the TIFF. The movie, about miniaturizing human beings to…
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I think I know what Mayim Bialik meant
By now, most of you know who Harvey Weinstein is. Or, more appropriately, who he was. But, do you know who Mayim Bialik is? She is the popular star of the TV sitcom “The Big Bang Theory”, former child star “Blossom”, and a Ph.D. neuroscientist who wrote a controversial opinion piece on Weinstein in the…