-Vinod-

I wonder what I can do against war
I have never been in the war front
I have never lived in a war torn area
I don’t understand why we have wars

Can I tell war to not happen?
But war is the making of us humans
Conflict and fights are there with all animals
But war is something we also can avoid
Yet we do it.. it happens

If there is a war and we don’t take sides
We are called names
Like peace loving is considered weakness
Talking against war makes you on the side of the enemy
Who is the enemy here ? I don’t know

People lose lives in a war
There is a term collateral damage
We use it only when it happens to others
When we lose our dear and near
We don’t call it collateral damage
It is a lose not a damage
Why are we two faced

People fighting wars are not bad
Not on any side of the war
People creating wars are bad
On both sides

How many deaths in a war
is the cost of a carton of milk
a loaf of bread
of shoes… shirt.. chocolate… a car
I don’t know.. do you ?

How many little children’s death
is the cost of filling the tank in our car
I don’t know.. do you ?

Someone should have done the math right?
But what I fear is we also don’t ask…
We don’t think…
I did not when I filled my tank yesterday

How many deaths does it cost for anything..?
I don’t know Do you…?

Who will go first?
No one wants to win, to be first.
Being alone is scarier than being dead

One of them looked at me and said
“The walk will continue
alone or together”

As human beings we understand mortality
And yet we act as if we are immortal
Animals, we are the same
But we hold a responsibility

We hold the power to destroy the planet
the planet we live…
the only one we can live
And we know it.. we know it well
how irresponsible..

But the world does not care..
It does not have any higher purpose

We humans are such frauds..
The fights we start..
how many lives.. how many unborn deaths
how many smiles squashed
And yet all the silly things we get offended over

one lone planet..
and look at our ego…
our stupidity.. our apathy.. our shallowness
insensibility.. silliness… our insensibility..
All words we created just to define ourself..

We are such a fake…
A fake humancy….

Yes the question is not what we created
but what we destroyed.. or
what we managed to not destroy

In a busy street walking next to a stranger
I forget that I exist
as the pavements end and my feet touch the soil
as my muddy feet decide it is enough
I decide to stop walking

Today I sat down and said to myself
I am just an incomplete explorer
who will never find you
I will live and search for a hundred years
and still not find you

To be honest I don’t even know
if you exist
I don’t know if I exist

Maybe you are my imagination
Maybe I am just an imagination
somewhere in your mind
that is what makes me alive
I don’t exist for me

You may not know this, but today also happens to be the day India won the T-20 World Cup against New Zealand. One of the standout performers in the series was Sanju Samson, who comes from the same state in Kerala that your mom and I are from. That’s just a little trivia for you to remember someday when you look back at this birthday.

But what stayed with me was something Sanju said when he received his award. He mentioned that there were moments when he felt broken because things were not going the way he expected. Yet he continued to push forward. During those difficult times, he reached out to some senior players, and their advice helped him move ahead.

I think there is a powerful lesson in that. All of us will go through rough periods in life. Some people choose to keep everything to themselves, while others reach out for help. Always remember that reaching out for help is not a sign of weakness—it is a sign of strength. It takes courage to be vulnerable and ask someone else for guidance. And when we do, we often discover that many people are willing to support us.

None of us can solve every problem alone. Sometimes we need to trust in the goodness of others. Yes, there will always be people who disappoint us or do things we don’t like. But I truly believe there are far more good people in the world than we will ever have the chance to meet in our lifetime. We are never as alone as we might sometimes feel.

The other day, while thinking about you, I realized something about myself as well. Even if I don’t fully understand every choice you make, or if I don’t agree with every path you take, it is time for me to slowly reduce control. That’s not easy for me, because responsibility and love often show up as control in a parent’s mind. But I will try my best to transition from being a dad who steers everything to someone who sits beside you as a friend—just one member of your personal board of advisors that you can reach out to whenever you want advice.

One challenge parents often have is comparison. We compare with ourselves, with others, and with the world around us. Maybe that is just how we were raised. But life doesn’t really work that way anymore. That said, I will share one thought that comes from comparing my nineteen-year-old self with you today.

When I was nineteen, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. To be honest, I was still figuring things out even in my thirties. I only started making sense of certain things when I realized how much time I had spent drifting without clear direction. I’m not unhappy about my journey, but I do wish I had realized some things earlier.

And that brings me to one piece of advice.

You already seem to have a clearer idea of what you want to do with your life, be it a mix of Theater, ventriloquism, Animation, Voice Acting and that is a wonderful thing. But there is one reality that eventually catches up with everyone: time moves faster than we think. Before we know it, years slip by. One thing that becomes increasingly important as life moves forward is financial independence.

Building good financial habits early in life is incredibly powerful. I learned that lesson much later than I should have. But once I changed and became more disciplined, the results came faster than I expected.

As you pursue your dreams, I’d like you to read a book called The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. It’s a wonderful book that explains how behavior, emotions, and personal experiences shape financial success. No matter what path you choose in life, understanding money and building healthy financial habits will make that path much easier. The book is in my Library.

And remember—if you ever need anything, reach out. I’m sitting in the back seat now.

Drive safely !

I wish you a very happy birthday, Rahi.

No one understands;
but they won’t tell us that

But one thing we can be sure
None of these will matter to you or me

We are living on a petal
and the flower has decided to wilt

There are no petals left except this one
One petal holding us both

Where do we go from here
We cannot go back to where we came from
Such a place does not exist

I will tell you another way.
You can go to sleep
And hope tomorrow will be new
that you won’t remember today
That you will be transported elsewhere
that you will have your own garden
that the whole flower will belong to you

Even better, there is another way
Stop wanting others to tell you things
Make your assessment
write your name on a paper and burn it
Then say that you are reborn

None of these matter
Not to you; Not to me
we exist only in these words
sometime in between the lines
rarely..
always meaning nothing
insignificant

So forget it…

I can tell you,
but you will not understand
it is the flower’s fault
not yours or mine….

-Vinod-

‘so what do I do’ I ask
‘wait’ they say
‘wait.. wait.. wait’
they repeat

‘wait for what’ I ask
they are silent…
‘wait for life’ or ‘wait for death‘
I ask them and they say nothing

By now I am frustrated
I can’t wait no more
I tell them I am human
that I have emotions

They screen blanks at me
I stare at myself in the screens
they stay switched off
I scream at them
they remain blank

‘I am human‘ I cry to them
’yes.. you are human’ they acknowledge
then they go silent again…

we are alone in this world
Each one of us..
we are not talking to each other
We are taking to ourselves..

Life ends
what you see is a tunnel..
Here life is just another passenger
you are its peer

And death killed Life today morning
They tell today is not the day
They are not sure about tomorrow
Some day they say

I say fine…..

-Vinod-

The fact is…
There is no unbroken world
it is always evolving…

Everything that evolves
is both perfect and imperfect all the time

Then what is the challenge?

The challenge is hope
rather the lack of it
people who can make a difference
today feel….beaten…
arm twisted.. lost.. afraid..

But there is something ww forget
something we need to keep in mind

We evolved because people dared
for them dreams made sense
difficult… uphill… but worth it
always worth it…

That is what we need
the hope… the dream..

Maybe the collective takes time
so do it alone…
because the lone fights matter

We are entering a world
where lone fights need to happen
that might be the most powerful

Look around you..
All you can see are lone fighters

Fighters in the echelons of power
on the streets
in companies
at homes
educational institutions
government
society..
everywhere

lone fighters…
alone….

Be a lone fighter…
lone but strong
meaningful… worthy..
we all can…
in our own way

Just one thing for us to remember
we need to fight for those
who cannot fight
we need to be their voice…

Pick the battles
we can’t fight them all….
but be prepared
be prepared to be a lone fighter

-Vinod-