Thoughts

1. Practise the five-second pause When someone irritates you, pause before responding. Don't allow your first emotion to dictate your reaction. 2. Learn to say no without guilt Protect your time, energy and priorities. You don't have to accept every request or please everyone. 3. Stop proving yourself Don't constantly talk about your wealth, achievements or abilities. Let your actions speak for themselves. 4. Practise active listening When someone speaks, don't interrupt or prepare your response. Focus on understanding their perspective. 5. Be fully present During meals, meetings and conversations, put your phone aside. Give people your undivided attention. 6. Become a lifelong student Read for 20 minutes every day. Explore philosophy, history, science, biographies and subjects that develop your professional skills. 7. Create an environment where people feel safe When someone makes a mistake, address the mistake without attacking their character. Make people comfortable...

There is something powerful about a person who is comfortable in his own company. Someone who can sit in a coffee shop, read a book, enjoy a cup of coffee, and spend an hour with his own thoughts without constantly reaching for his phone. Someone who can listen to music, cook a meal, go to the gym, or simply take a walk without needing someone else to make the experience meaningful. I believe this is one of the foundations of masculine presence. Masculine presence is not about being the loudest person in the room, establishing dominance, or constantly demonstrating how capable you are. It is about developing a strong relationship with yourself. It is about being grounded enough to experience life without reacting to every little thing that comes your way. There are several aspects of this that I want to explore. 1. Be comfortable in your own company One of the most important things we can learn is how to spend time with ourselves. Go on dates with yourself. Have that coffee you enjoy. ...

The strongest man in the room is rarely the one who dominates every interaction. More often, he is the man who does not need to. There is something powerful about a person who is comfortable with silence, who does not feel compelled to respond to every comment, correct every disagreement, or control every situation. He understands that strength is not always expressed through action. Sometimes, strength is expressed through the ability to remain still. This brings us to an interesting concept: masculine containment. What does it mean to be a contained man? A contained man manages his own triggers, anger, anxiety, and emotional reactions instead of allowing them to spill onto everyone around him. He does not match someone else's emotional intensity with defensiveness. He does not immediately react when something uncomfortable happens. He creates a little space between what happens to him and how he chooses to respond. He understands that he cannot control everything that happens aro...

The world doesn't need us to prove ourselves. It needs us to develop depth, cultivate creativity, and give something meaningful back. 1. Stop Proving. Start Creating. There is a difference between wandering through life and living with purpose. We meet different people, attend parties, have conversations, and sometimes find ourselves caught up in what others think about us. Someone might criticize us, challenge us, or feel the need to prove something at our expense. But do we really need to respond to everything? I don't think so. We have to remember that our purpose is the highest thing we have. Every action should, in some way, contribute to that purpose. If something helps us grow, create, understand, or contribute, it deserves our attention. If it takes us away from what matters, we should question why we are giving it our time. I don't have to prove anything to anyone. My responsibility is to understand things more deeply, work on important problems, and give more to t...

  The Real Mark of a Star: Lessons in Kindness, Courage, and Living Lightly from Shah Rukh Khan On Shah Rukh Khan's birthday, November 2, a reflection on some of his most beautiful words and the lessons they offer us about how to live. There are people who become stars because of their success, their wealth, their achievements, or the number of people who admire them. And then there are people who remind us that being a star is about something much simpler. Shah Rukh Khan once said: "If you're a real star, you don't need to prove it in any other way than just being kind." I find this quote incredibly beautiful. Think about what he is really saying. You don't need to constantly demonstrate your importance. You don't need to dominate conversations, boast about your achievements, or make people feel smaller to establish your presence. If you are genuinely a star, let your kindness speak for itself. For me, kindness is fundamentally about giving. You can give ...

I've been obsessed with writing in the past few days and now I recognise that I have to do other things like cooking, cleaning the kitchen and just some chores. I was not very good at the chores but recently, I got this epiphany that it's not always about producing creative work. Sometimes doing the important chores of life is also equally important. During my pause in writing, I came across a song called, Hukum from Jailer 2. I loved the song and everything that it brought. The song had life and certainly a swag to it, like Rajnikanth himself has. Being from Bombay, I never recognised why Rajnikanth was rajnikanth and what was the hype surrounding him. But looking at the song, looking at some performances in award shows made me recognise why he is what he is. I am sure he has honed his craft since years and still does stupendous work even with all the lost hair. He has to be looking young through vfx but he still is a super star. A couple of quotes from him actually inspired m...