Self-Improvement

First published in The Hindu, 1st December 2024 Though most of us associate exceptional oratorical skills with passion, a facility with words and proper intonation, there’s another facet of effective communication that doesn’t garner much attention. We can emphasize a…

First published in The Hindu, 4th November 2024 As you down your morning coffee, do you also solve Wordle? When you go for your morning run, do you take a slightly different route every day, soaking in the sights and…

First published in The Hindu, 6th October 2024 Most readers will vouch that they read a book for the sheer joy of reading. But what about rereading a book? What propels some people to revisit pages to journey again with…

First published in The Hindu, 8th September 2024 You’re a student at a prestigious liberal arts college, majoring in Economics. The course work excites you and you strive to be a diligent student. Soon after class, you head to your…

First published in The Hindu, 1 June 2024 In their brilliant book, Metaphors We Live By, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson claim that metaphors are not just figures of speech but impact how we think and behave. In fact, they…

First published in The Hindu, 4 May 2024 Failure. The very word stings. Because failure has strong negative connotations, including scarring us permanently, we tend to avoid it at all costs. However, none of us started off believing that failure…

First published in The hindi, 2 March 2024 Though the idea of babies being born with a “tabula rasa,” or blank slate has been discredited by psychological research, this construct, that was championed by philosopher John Locke, resonates with the…

First published in The Hindu, 03 Feb 2024 Being amiable, adaptable and accommodating are prosocial attributes that are generally positively regarded. But like all good things, if they’re taken too far, they can be detrimental to a person’s wellbeing. Though…

First published in The Hindu, 30 Dec 2023 Most parents hope that their kids “fit in,” be it with a peer group or the larger community. This desire to be accepted extends into adulthood, so much so that we might…