An Interesting Day

Today was a very interesting day because I got to witness two very low probability events:

(1) Me and my colleague had booked Uber to go home and the cab number was 7418. When we came outside, we found a car with the number 7419 waiting there and it was just a random private car that happened to have that number....what were the odds of that happening! Let's see, it would be 1/10000 (just read that P(B/A) = P(B) if events A and B are independent).

(2) During my morning walk today (which by itself is a low probability event), I came across this dog I see everyday and thought it was high time to name it. For some reason, I thought of the name Bonzo for it which surprised me that time too since it was not the kind of name I think of for dogs and didn't have any recent reference from where it could have popped up. Then later in office, when I opened the timepass walla paper to read today's Calvin & Hobbes, guess what I found (look at the last panel):

So cool, isn't it! :D


UPDATE: Today also I had two very low probability events happening around me! So I now have a new Douglas Adams-like scientific theory that there are sometimes ripples in the space-time 'fabric' which make it tilt in the favour of low probability events and so at such times, you see many low probability events happening ;)

What Matters Most to Me

I recently had a bit of a health scare (thanks mostly to my hyperactive imagination) and honestly thought this could be the twilight of my life (I love that phrase!). While my reports came all clear, I was really thankful for this experience because it gave me a chance to know in advance what things were likely to really bother me on my deathbed :D

Today I read this TED Talk by Ric Elias where he talks about how being in a near-fatal plane crash made him realize what was truly important to him. You can see the talk here and below is an excerpt from it:

"And I'm bawling, I'm crying, like a little kid. And it made all the sense in the world to me. I realized at that point, by connecting those two dots, that the only thing that matters in my life is being a great dad.Above all, above all, the only goal I have in life is to be a good dad.I was given the gift of a miracle, of not dying that day. I was given another gift, which was to be able to see into the future and come back and live differently."

I could totally, totally relate to everything he said. Feeling like you really don't have much time left in the world can give you astounding clarity on what matters most to you, though you may not have realized it!

Here are the two things that mattered most to me then:
(1) I wanted to be ok for my family and didn't want them to go through the physical, emotional and financial strain that any problem may bring on. I want to stick around at least till my brother becomes a famous author/filmmaker :D

(2) I want to make a difference to this world, even a tiny bit! That was the one very strong regret I felt then...like I had just squandered all the time given to me that could have been used to make a positive change to others. Apart from a brief volunteering stint with Akanksha which I really enjoyed, I have not done anything except monetary donations. I never thought this mattered to me so much but now I know it is going to: perhaps more than personal achievements or experiences even.

I am putting this down here because I don't want to forget it and go back to my old lazy, scared-to-get-out-of-comfort-zone-and-what-will-happen-to-me ways. I have registered to be a TFI volunteer and will follow up with them in the coming week. Hope I do make this a turning point that leads me to a fulfilling life! :)

My role models in this regard are:

• JRD Tata
• Shaheen Mistri, Founder of Akanksha and Teach for India
• Walt Disney

Especially the first two who have many similarities too: both are Parsis for one (a wonderful community who have done much for India); both had very privileged backgrounds and absolutely no need to care for others but chose to do so; both largely owe their foundations to other countries as they didn't spend much of their childhood in India and yet they had this strong drive to do something for this country; and finally, both represent this wonderful combination of excellence balanced with humanity. I love them both for how they have chosen to live their life and the example they have set for many, many people!

I also have a role model closer to my life: one of my best friends Janani! I know for sure I can never do the selfless and super-brave things she is doing but seeing her really helps me get a little more unselfish and braver every time :)

So let me take a leaf out of their books and begin some good work soon! God bless!