An ideal day
Whatever you are doing for a living and whatever it is that you do to live — these are two separate topics — always remember that with time, you’ll disagree with your current position. There are several aspects to this piece of truth but the most valid one that I can come up with is based on the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge, because of its practical form, is transferable. Wisdom, because of its ethereal form, can’t be transferred; it can only be experienced. It took me a long while to understand the difference between the two. Being somebody who is hooked to collecting the most useless information from around the universe, I learned the hard way that wisdom doesn’t reside in trivia. Unlike our lofty notions of how wise folks are different from us, wisdom is usually located in the simplest of activities. For instance, using a toothbrush to clean your teeth is knowledge. Knowing how to be mindful enough to not hurt the inside of your mouth — thus causing ulcers — is wisdom.
I spend a lot of my time musing about these sorts of stuff: the significance of my presence and the conspicuousness of my absence. They say you can’t be in two places at the same time. Well, they are wrong. We are (almost) always scattered, thinking about a million possibilities while our original home (read: body) remains stationary in a lousy meeting. Each one of us is endowed with 24 hours in a day. How we utilize them is up to us. And, no offense to those who are shaping our society with their incredulous commitment to progress, but being busy is not a virtue anymore.
Every single day must be treated with utmost care. There is hardly anything more unique than today. Yesterday was a painful reality and tomorrow is a numb fiction.
Although I like to believe that I do justice to my ‘todays’ by being focused on what I want to do with my time — between 6am and 10.30pm — I tend to fantasize about a life wherein things will be slightly distinct.
5am: Wake up and go for a 6 km jog.
6am: Come back home, brush and do some stretching-yoga-meditation mashup.
6.30am: Brush and take a bath.
6.45am: Prepare a healthy breakfast and have it (don’t depend on missus).
7.15am: Play light music from my 40+ YouTube song lists and get down to work (read: write).
8.15am: Still writing.
9.15am: Continue writing.
9.35am: Stop writing and gets ready for college.
10.00am: Reach class for lecture on Ethics in Journalism. Keep students engaged and hopeful about the future of print media (specifically) and new media (generally).
12.00am: Lecture ends so it’s time to head for the library in the campus. Stay hydrated throughout and have a quick sandwich or something. Read devoutly for the next one hour.
1:10am: Head back home. Check emails and social media-related engagements.
1.45pm: Leave for dance class.
2:00pm: Everybody can dance, right? Dance class goes on for an hour.
3:00pm: Head back home. Have shower and lunch, followed by a short nap.
4.15pm: Start writing.
5:30pm: Stop writing and go for an evening walk with missus.
6.10pm: Leave for the violin class.
6:30pm: Class goes on for 45-minutes.
7.15pm: Head back home and help missus with cooking.
8.00pm: Have dinner without watching anything on Netflix.
8:30pm: Call up loved ones (family, friends and in-laws).
9:00pm: Watch something on Netflix.
10:00pm: Time to read.
11:00pm: Fall asleep.
