It's been so much time since I last wrote my blog. I feel I have changed quite a bit. I'm aged 33 now. Married. Have an understanding wife and a beautiful girl child named Meadow. My mother and brother lives with us.
As a teenager, I was somehow not OK with the world. I tried to restrict myself to books. I read fiction mostly assuming world was bad; there were no inspirational figures in the realistic world and thought marrying and raising children was a waste of time. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Kafka doses added to them. I tried to enforce the idea with very few of my friends. They now laugh at me when we discuss that renaissance period.
However, everything changed when I was around 28. My dad expired due to a heart attack amidst the Swine flu crisis in the city. It happened right before me and my brother. It was so sudden and it shook our family. A very realistic jolt struck. Things were all of a sudden not the same. Reality struck me. Fiction didn't help. Sticking to myself in my own room with book in hand avoiding everything else made matters worse.
Everyone around reminded me I was the eldest son and was supposed to take over the reins of the family. I did not have the emotional maturity. I tried to find solace from people who had experienced this kind of feeling. My mom was alone. Most of the time crying. I'm not the one who can soothe people and make them comfortable. Suddenly it struck me. We are not sent to this world to be lone. Some of the lives are affected by ours and ours affect some. There's a limit to individuality. There's more pleasure in sacrifice for near and dear. Slowly, the thought of getting married was born. I convinced myself stating it was not a bad idea. I wanted simple down to earth girl who could set me straight, lift the mood of my family and balance everything out like the invisible fluid. My school mate, trusted friend and would be wife was all over my mind. Despite my short comings, she liked me. We convinced our families and got married. All happened in a flash. Very very quickly my daughter Meadow was born. Since then I was not the same person. With her came more joy, responsibilities, apprehensions, fear, sacrifices and the need for mentoring.
Finances added to my woes though I was not like bankrupt or something like that. I though it was a mess and need some shake up. Getting rich was never my agenda. I somehow wanted to sail smooth. I didn't have a clue about finance. Difference between Mutual Fund and a bond. I approached people well versed with finances. Their inputs confused me. They made sound finance very tough. It was clear I was becoming restless.
Trained an Engineer, I thought it shouldn't be difficult to learn on my own but I didn't know where to start. My old habits helped me. When choosing a book or a film, I had the habit of directly exploring the masters minds (The minds which created greatest inspirational characters for me as a teenager). Satyajit Ray, Stanley Kubrick, Tolstoy, Ayn Rand etc leaving the middle men aside. I never realised this old habit would be of such a great help with finance. In one stroke, at the age of 30, I met WARREN BUFFET.
great...will wait for more...
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