Category: Opinions
-
Of breathalyzers and false positives…
At first, I thought that there had been an accident. As I inched my way up the line to the police officer with the flashlight, I realized that I was caught in a RIDE spot check – an Ontario sobriety testing program designed to catch drivers driving under the influence of alcohol. There were flashing…
-
Why Charlie Gard’s life matters
Charlie Gard passed away on July 28, 2017. Click here to read Charlie Gard, an epilogue. My original post is shown below. By the time you read this post, Charlie Gard may have been taken off life-support. Pope Francis and Donald Trump actually agree on something – Charlie Gard’s right to live. Strange are the…
-
Work-life balance – No longer one or the other, it’s both
My mobile phone buzzes, cajoling me to pick it up. I look up at the clock on the cable set-top box, the time is 11:32 PM. I ignore the phone and go back to the TV. It’s Friday night, I am binge-watching the new version of Lincoln Lawyer with my wife. The phone vibrates again.…
-
My Foray Into Minimalism and a Simpler Lifestyle
Last update: September 28, 2024 I want to make sure that I don’t come through as a fake as I write this post. Minimalism, as a lifestyle, is not something that I have ever consciously aspired to. If anything, I would be closer to a Maximalist who believes in the “Life is too short, so, have…
-
When Most of Your Friends Are Millionaires
I sit sipping coffee at my cousin’s 54th-floor condo that overlooks the Chicago Navy Pier. For a second, I consider making myself a Mimosa from the well-stocked bar but quickly reject the idea. It’s not noon yet. Need to stay disciplined, even though I am on vacation. As the tour boats go by, the sun bounces…
-
Eating Raw Leaves in the Name of Nutrition
When the report from the medical clinic referred to me as “obese,” I took a double take. The reference was in the Body Mass Index (BMI) section of the report. My family doctor had suggested a series of preemptive risk avoidance tests at a facility specializing in stress tests and the like. The report included…
-
Five Traits to Yearn, Earn, and Reset Life
At an early stage of life, if you could choose five traits that could shape your destiny, what would they be? Have you ever thought about it? Choices are a way of life. We develop our instincts and start making choices based on circumstances and needs. When I aired this thought with my wife, I…
-
Are Mothers of Children with Life-Threatening Illnesses “Chosen”?
The epidural was a game-changer. It was the first time in 25 years that I did not feel the throbbing unrelenting pain of arthritis in my lower back. I wept with joy. It was the sweetest experience of my life, prior to my daughter Anakha’s birth. The fact that it got rid of those pesky labour pangs, was…
-
Globalization, Through a Wedding
Technically, there is no such thing as a simple Indian wedding. You take the complexity to another level when you do an Indian wedding in Canada, and the groom is American. Throw in remote management by my daughter who was living and working in New York City, the picture is complete. Globalization, through a wedding!…
-
When Your Child’s Student Loan Is Bigger Than Your Mortgage
We did the math. After we picked up half the tab, my daughter’s student loan was going to be larger than the mortgage on our house. It was not a comforting thought — letting your child rack up a debt of that size even before she starts working. My daughter’s first career choice was to…