Make your life colorful than ever.

Make your life colorful than ever. You just have one life. You don't want to spend your entire life, worrying about a dream which you sold to yourself.

Imagine that you're relaxing on a Sunday evening at home and fiddling with your TV remote. You accidentally switch to a television channel where a show like American's got talent or BGT is being streamed. And you see a young handsome man with colorful flowers printed on his shirt walking into the stage. He won't answer to the questions asked by the judges and will not give an introduction about him and his act. The judges will tell him to start his act. You will see two men bringing a canvas?and paints and placing them in the middle of the stage. The young men starts painting a picture of sunset at a mountain valley, the rich greenery around, a river flowing down from the mountain and beautiful flowers in the bank of the river. Then he paints a beautiful butterfly sitting on the flower. Judges and the audience in the gallery are all on the heels and are clapping.?

The judges, audience and you who watched the show, first thought that it is a beautiful picture of a sunset in the mountain valley. Later you understood that there is a river as well. Then the flowers and the butterfly. All this was painted in less than 3 minutes. Then you see the painter leaving the stage and the butterfly on the picture flying away. People who enjoyed the show till the end realize that the show is painting and magic together. Your life could be one such show which will be for a very short period of time. So, do you really want to sacrifice all your joy for a dream, which you sold to yourself.

You and your spouse can arrange 30 lakhs and?can buy a flat for the same amount, but you will pay that as down payment for a flat worth one crore. You will purchase a SUV worth 30 lakhs,?when there are small cars available for the amount you pay as down payment. Neither you nor your spouse can take care of your toddler and will pay for day care. Day care will keep your toddler happy and healthy. But he/she will miss your love and affection. Then you want your kids to study in an expensive school along with the kids of those affluent neighbors. You will set target that you should have X amount of money for your girl child's wedding, Son's?education and for your retirement. Therefore, you will sacrifice your happiness to meet the set targets throughout your life. A dream that you sold to yourself that your life is meaningful with lot of wealth.?

Often the above said targets are set by your parents, your relatives and the society. This target will make people achieve things. But many will fail in some way or the other. It leads to sordid relationships and even divorce. Or your grown-up children will abuse your hard earned money. It is because they lacked your love, affection and care during their childhood. Their attachment with you is very much limited. Or they have got into some unhealthy habits and you were unaware of it. This is not an issue faced only by the upper middle class. Even those who struggle to buy home worth 20 lakhs and small hatch back will have these problems.

Work life balance shouldn't be defined as time you spend at workplace and home. Instead it should be more about how you spend your time at home. Do you take your grown-up children to place of worship at least once a month? Do you go for movie, shopping and even to your son/daughter's dance class, at least once a month? Do you all sit together to watch a cricket match in TV at home? Do you go to hospital along with your spouse, when your spouse can drive alone and knows the city well?

If you come across your spouse, brother, sister, mother or father shouting at you often, then please understand that they have come to a saturation point due to this mechanical life and the stress. Be good to them, make them feel comfortable and don't vent out your sob stories.

Let me tell you all that there is a mass layoffs happening across the globe.?The reason for companies downsizing is pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine. These layoffs will have ripple effect on economy. These layoffs and soaring inflation will adversely affect domestic consumption. Globally interest rates are going to go up. So, things are going to be tuff for everyone.

The experts are worried that the advent of Automated Intelligence will take away millions of jobs. In March this year, tech world's prominent minds like Twitter CEO Elon Musk and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak wrote letter asking world leaders to stop AI development for six months to determine the risks arising from AI, and to see if the effects are going to be positive. Many are worried that the AI will be used for racial discrimination, targeting and spying. They are worried that AI is going to fast. Many countries including India is trying to bring regulatory frame work for AI, but they just have a vague idea of what it is going to be.

It is true that the AI will take away many of our jobs. I am not an expert, but I have done little bit of research into the capabilities of Copilot, BARD and Chat GPT. They can do coding, they can compose emails, write poems, can handle at least 80% customer calls, chats and emails. But I don't think all of us will depend on AI to express our views on LinkedIn . LinkedIn will not stop creator mode just because some machines will do our part. On any day, the AI cannot beat human capabilities in writing, coding and in solving problems. It can only enhance our capabilities and efficiency at work. May be, people like Elon Musk want another six months to develop their own AI systems.

People had similar worries when Computers came into market, they were worried when machines like JCB came into market, etc. They say that the next generation of AI will be super capable and will beat human. Such super capabilities will create more mess and thus creates more job for human. There are going to be more advanced technology which will probably replace even the AI. So, stay calm, and brush up your skills. Even loosing job will not be the end of your life. Be positive and don't strain yourself too much to retain your present job.

I would like to end this newsletter with some happy news. Every women employee in both public and private sector in India are entitled for 26 weeks (6 months) of paid maternity leave as per the amendments to Maternity Benefit Bill 2017. NITI Aayog, the think tank of union government wants to increase it from six months to nine months, said V K Paul a NITI Aayog member on this Mother's Day. NITI Aayog wants both private and public sector to work with NITI Aayog to increase maternity leave from six months to nine months. Ladies in corporates and feminists, please pressurize your bosses to work with government. And help others to avail the benefits which they are currently entitled for.?

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