Mind of my Stroked Brain

It's a phrase I have come across many times from everyone. "I changed my mind". I have used it many times too... But what do we mean by it? I am sure there are many exceptions to this, but most often it probably means we have chosen to do something a bit more comfortable than the other option. A bit safer than the other option. A bit more familiar than the other option. A bit more confident than the other option. etc., etc. We don't do it very consciously too. I think our minds have that 'safety bias' built in for our protection and safety. But do we need that protection anymore...?  When I had my stroke, I was very unlucky with where it occurred but very lucky with what it did. I mean, yes, it rendered the body very useless but left the mind in very good condition (so I think obviously. I don't know if others will concur 😂) Over the last few years, the left side of the body has been making progress - while it has been painfully slow in absolute terms, it

COP27 begins this week. Every news channel around the world is abuzz with some story about it.  I am guessing from the creative naming that there have been 26 of these earlier. I wouldn't say nothing has been achieved this long, many things have been done. Much more could have been achieved I feel though . One thing it has established (for me) is that the world decided to come together and do something about the situation 27 years back. Prior to that it was probably easier to do anything... One of the key debate in COP is that the developed/ richer countries have to bear the burden and pay the developing/ poorer countries because - well somebody has to pick up the tab right... It isn't a new debate, it has been going on for years. I am not aware of all the details, but the line of thinking and argument I have come across most often is that: some countries had the luxury of taking the lead (due to various geopolitical circumstances) to do their dirty work and got developed and r

I didn't sleep much last night... But for me, ours is a female household. My wife is a few years younger than I am - and very beautiful. We have 2 very beautiful teenage daughters. Occasionally, my mother-in-law stays with us. My mother visits us everyday. Our housekeeper is a middle aged woman and stays with us morning till late evening everyday. Our domestic help is a woman - probably in her early 30s - spends a couple of hours with us everyday. Heck, even our dog is female! Yes - we definitely are a female household. Having an unfamiliar male with us is like letting a cat loose amongst pigeons! An absolute no-no. Luckily, both my nurses/ attenders and women - in their early 20s I am guessing. I am a middle aged male. Usually women nurses/ attenders won't accept middle aged male patients. Either they themselves dont want to - because of the usual apprehensions of the nuisance factor to them or their families will object (if they are young) or their husbands won't allow (i

Giving a like has become quite ubiquitous nowadays - across platforms and media. I have even used it in e-mails sometimes. WhatsApp had resisted for a while until they succumbed to it short while ago. We have a handful of options there as well. Emoticons are everywhere in every platform - several of them to express every possible emotion. But are they really? I feel emoticons have actually stripped us off the ability to actually convey an emotion. I have done it several times and continue to do so as well. But why am I doing it? When I give a like 👍🏼, what am I actually liking (in whatever). Shouldn't I convey what I liked instead of an emoticon. What will the receiver understand? I sometimes have done it as a "consolation prize". "I don't know what I like but I want you to see that I liked it when you count the likes!" Sometimes I have done it as a social pressure (social media pressure actually). "Well, everyone will know otherwise - I better like i

Almost ever country/ nation state has a "defence" minister. I don't know any country which has an "offence" minister. If everyone had only defence, we wouldn't have to worry much isn't it 🙂 This is a bit of a rant. I am complaining against nobody in particular and complaining on everybody in general.... From several weeks, I have been seeing the same kinds of news from across the globe. 1. The imminent threat of a nuclear war: well we don't have to worry do we. We have only defence ministers everywhere . 🙂 Simple Murphy knows that "if something can be used, somebody will". Why are we shocked? We built it didn't we? I mean, it was meant to be used sometime - there was no point building them otherwise. The time to act was before it was built, being built or lying in waiting earlier. What is the point being concerned about it now? Same holds good for everything arms, ammunition, etc. 2. Weaponising energy for war: why is everyone acting

The sculptor received a big stone one morning. An absolutely big and lump of rock. "You can make anything you want with it" was told. The plan was very good. Anything could be carved out of it. A very clear image came to the mind and set to work. Chipping away at it piece by piece. At nightfall, it was time to retire. So sleep set. When dawn came, a very surprising thing happened. The sculptor did not wake up at the same place... Instead, a different sculptor woke up in this place - staring at the stone. Except, this had a few chips taken out here and there. "You can make anything you want with it" was told as usual. What was the plan here? There were a few bits gone, but it was not clear what it was supposed to become. A beast, an animal,, a human, some other material, a statue of something, etc. Nonetheless, there were a few bits done - it was a very huge stone, it didn't matter. So a new plan was envisioned and set to work. Chipping away bit by bit. Nightfall

100% of the people who know me - even very remotely, would know I had a stroke 1-2% of them probably know what a stroke is and what it means. 0.1% probably know which kind of stroke and what happens. 0.01% probably know what that entails and the typical statistical odds of improvement 0% of even extremely qualified and experienced doctors know what can happen and do not predict what will happen. However,  100% of people who genuinely care about me, tell me with 100% confidence that everything will be ok. The math somehow doesn't add up right?