Yesterday, a fellow blogger spoke about time management. Meticulous. Well planned. Good concept. It happens with me. Time manages me. Jokes apart. I will move to a different framework.

Time existed before I was born. It will after I am dead. (I understand time remains as long as space remains. Space is absolute. Time is relative.). Fail trying to manage time.

I will talk about “life management”.

How good are we at this? Let me talk about mine

First five years: Life.what was it ? yeah, mother told I was alive and her proudest asset. Good.

Next ten years: school, teachers, home work, play in dirt, poor grades, no pocket money, school uniform (same blue and white dress for ten years!), bruises all over the body, a fight a week, love from mother, fear of mother and father, friendships which I thought would last life long, my bicycle (gave more happiness than my first car), adventure is running far away from home – come back at 5 pm, get beaten by mother, draw ellipse for a circle, get beaten by geometry teacher, give your homework to your friend after you have shown it to the teacher, get caught, get beaten badly, last day of exams – pour ink all over your friends and enemies, every year……………….

Next five years: college, lecturers, their distrusting looks at me, I passed plus two!!!, movies, movies, and more movies, why do parents give so less pocket money, I am the king of the world , my bike, 80 km per hour speeds on bikes, to be or not be, love, love again, new friends – this time I am sure friendships will last forever (thankfully, retain a few of them), finally baccalaureate……………..

Next five years: love – seriously!, marriage – child marriage, job (finally got it. thought I would never get one), Mumbai, people, groups, crowds, pushing, trains, 513 am train, 1243 am train, home-auto-train-auto-office & office-auto-train-auto-home routine, gumption to challenge the boss and auditors, customer is the king, pay DD charges even when the bank gives it free, work for 18 hours a day, office politics, work is important, but so are para-banking stuff, office romance is popular……………..

Next five years: idealism – what is it, boss is god – I want my next salary, Hyderabad, good morning at 11 am, hyderabad traffic – I miss Mumbai trains, my santro, I drive to office – good, where do I park?, good night – its 9 pm, bank merger, tough time, multinational bank, hey, I am going up the professional ladder, realise I am impatient, new job again, santro has umpteen dents, sell off, Hyderabad traffic – ggrrrhhh!, my Honda, expertise to drive in Hyderabad traffic, customers can be managed – if you cant manage reality, manage perception, love the smell of money, want more, Hyderabad rocks, still good morning at 11 am, but good night at 1 am, stock options, march is the most important month – appraisals happen then, pch..pch, have to give money up…………………

Now: ready for ISB

Have I managed my life. Don’t know. Till date looks like life has managed me.

Coming up: Life Management – balance physical, social, intellectual and spiritual aspects of life

Physical – health and fitness (exercise, play and eat properly)
Social – excellent personal relationships. Contribution to poverty alleviation (thanks to my role of managing microcredit portfolio, I contribute to poverty alleviation in an indirect fashion. Going forward will contribute directly by giving time and money)
Intellectual – good career. Read, think, observe, and interact. Writing and teaching as a chosen activity in ten years
Spiritual – define the purpose of my life.

Will do this. Promise!