Thatched House

http://morungexpress.com/pursuing-a-hobby/ I have toyed with the idea of changing career in midlife. I am nowhere near it mentally and have no particular area of work in mind. But I am happy that I have started working on a hobby that I have been thinking of for many years. It is the art of making bonsai. Circa 2003, I went for a plant exhibition in Imphal where I was mesmerized by miniature trees planted in pots. The trees were familiar except that they looked old and small. I didn’t know they are called bonsai. As life continued in a hostel, then in the nation’s capital city, I had no opportunity to try my hand at making bonsai. But after life stabilized here in Kohima, I am happy that I can pursue this hobby at last. I have read the theory, watched the videos, and have acquired the tools including the indispensable concave cutter through online shopping. Life can be full of tensions. It can become monotonous. It can become dull. Sometimes, you need to get away. Sometimes, you...

An article for students of North Delhi-ICEU Since June 2010, I have been earning ₹25,000/month; tax free. Nine months later, now I have just over ₹3,000 in my bank account. Every month something or the other always comes up: brother’s college admission fee, travel expenses, cooking gas, rice bag, wedding gift, new clothes, sickness, etc. All this makes it so easy to forget that I’m being paid quite handsomely. I do not compare myself with the Ambanis but I do have colleagues who are getting paid more than me. Of course, I know a person in my office who earns only ₹2,500/month and works as hard as me, but again there are at least 2 other people who are getting paid more than ₹50,000/month. There ends my sympathy for the one with ₹2,500. What attracts people to the Civil Services if not for the fame and money? There are people who want to serve in the administration, but what will be the proportion of such people among the total population of civil aspirants? If in the course of your s...