Dr. Alexander Mantramurti, our beloved former Principal, is one of the best examples to this credo! 💜

‘Time’ly Reflections 😊

Two news items in today’s newspaper caught my attention bigtime!

One is a Jug Suraiya column in the Times of India, where Jug, the eminent journalist and columnist brings out the importance of keeping a daily log, a diary!

When Bunny and I go on our travels to different parts of the world, we keep a daily log, a diary recounting our everyday experiences, what we ate and drank, where we did so, where we stayed, what we saw, paintings and sunsets, and theatre performances.

We make a note of what we spent everyday, and on what we spent it. 

We write down what our responses were to what we saw, and did, and felt, surprise, and wonder, and delight…

Our logs could be a form of revelation, revealing to ourselves aspects of ourselves, of how we see and experience new things, and how we’ve responded to them over the passage of time and travels,

and hence they are ‘mementos of self-discovery’, signs off Jug!

Today's Chennai Edition of the Times of India

In December 2021, when I had given a Diary Writing Challenge over my Status on WhatsApp, many had responded enthusiastically to the Challenge.

Participating in the Challenge meant that,

They should take a resolve to write down their daily diary jottings for the whole year, and I shall also be sending them a diary worth Rs. 500/- free of cost, with free postage as well, anywhere in India.

And yes! if they’ve managed to write down their daily diary for the entire year, I promised to honour their commitment and consistency with a prize money of Rs.10,000/-

So yes! I promptly dispatched twelve diaries to all those who had taken up the challenge from all over India, and the rest – fourteen of them, to our students – hand-delivered in College!

The winner of the challenge – Ganesh Aadhitya S, had this to say about his diary writing –

[Yet another winner of the Diary Writing Challenge is Dr. Nazneen, B. S. Abdur Rahman University]!

Dr. Nazneen's first-day entry!
I find 'A Professor as a Role Model' in Dr. Nazneen

On the 1st of February 2022, Ganesh wrote to me, thus –

Successfully completed one month in the Diary Challenge, sir!

My ‘reflective self’ is having a field day everyday since I ventured into the delightful realm of diary writing. January 6th is my favourite entry!

Sir, as you had so rightly pointed out, I feel accountable to my new companion. Onto February now!

Thank you for this opportunity!

And on 30th December 2022, he had written to me, thus –

Just one more day to go for the Diary challenge to come to an end! What a journey it had been! Thank you for the wonderful opportunity!

Simply put, a diary never judges you. It’s a silent listener and sometimes you need those non-judgmental ears!

Finally, when I got to meet with him at our Office over a long chat, I asked him about his tryst with writing a diary. He had this to say –

Firstly, the small things / the little things in life – that mean a lot to us – but in real life we actually ignore them. Like, a small gesture from some well-wisher, or some little act of kindness. All these form part of my daily diary entry, sir.

For more on the lovely interactions, you may want to look up our past post HERE!

So yes! Coming back,

Writing a diary makes you time-conscious! You start to respect your time and the time of others around you as well!

So what is time-consciousness?

Time-consciousness always involves exercising my choice to do something over something else. In other words, I exercise my choice for doing something instead of something else!

I prioritise!

So before engaging yourself in any task, just ask yourself two simple questions –

Is it a priority for me now?

Is this the best use of my time?

This would help in solving our dilemma and help us do things ‘mindfully!’

For more on the amazing concept of mindfulness you may want to look up our past post HERE!

Browsing through my diary entries of the past few decades, I couldn’t help notice the fact that, I’ve always jotted down even the minute and the hour when I indulge in doing something! 😊

Something that I learnt from my dear Daddy!

To respect one’s time!

Giving y’all snippets from my daily diary jottings to that end –

6th June 1997, personal pages

7th June 1999

8th June 1997

7th June 1997

So yes! when I give my time to something, it means I prioritise doing it, over everything else, and so I wish to make best use of my time – quality time - my heart and soul - doing it!

Yet another reason why, I admire people who value and respect time! 

Their time and the time of others!

Dr. Alexander Mantramurti, our beloved former Principal, is one of the best examples to this credo!

Our Former Principal Dr. Alexander Mantramurti

When you invite him for your programme at 10 am in the Anderson Hall, by all means, you can be rest assured that, without a doubt, he would be there at 9.50 on the dot – ten minutes ahead of time!

You may want to read more on Dr. Alexander Mantramurti, on our past post HERE.

Yet another person whom I greatly revere and admire is the late Dr. Ranjan Samuel who was known for his time-consciousness!

“You don’t have a right to keep me waiting. It’s my time. Not yours”, he used to say!

One added reason why I admire people who have a sense of time on them!

Yes! You simply have no right to steal my time, ain't it? 😊

Yes! When I make an appointment with you, I note it down so sincerely on my diary, looking forward to that appointment or rather commitment with all eagerness, sacrificing on all my other commitments!

So when you don’t have the courtesy to respect my time, I slowly back away from you bigtime! 😊

You may be a bigshot in town, but it ain’t gonna bother me at all!

Cos of the simple fact that, you have disrespected my time! 

My most precious commodity of all time! 😊

I don’t have any regard for you anymore!

In a matter of time, you might be out of my good books as well! 😊

That’s because, I know my priorities! 

If you cannot keep a promise on someone’s time, please do not make one!

It’s stealing another person’s precious time, ain’t it?

As simple as that!

And this is exactly what writing a diary does to your sensibilities, ain’t it?

If you haven’t taken to writing a diary, please take up this challenge of writing a diary at least today! 😊

It makes you cultivate ‘mindfulness’ bigtime!

This takes us to the second article in today’s newspaper -

Well, I was so happy to see an article in today’s Malayala Manorama, where children were given a ‘Diary Writing Challenge’ and they were promised a good Prize money of Rs.10,000/- and Rs.5000/- for writing down their holiday diary.

Today's Malayala Manorama

A noble initiative that helps kids to keep track of their time, especially during the holidays.

Here’s hoping that many other leading dailies would also emulate this lovely gesture.

So yes! Repeating yet again, the importance of cultivating time-consciousness, with the two questions –

Is it a priority for me now?

Is this the best use of my time?

Therein lies the answer to ‘spend’ing one’s time effectively and efficiently!

Yes! You cannot ‘save’ time, but you can resolve to ‘spend’ it effectively and efficiently!

Writing down a daily diary – which implies an accountability unto oneself - is one such creative spending of your time! 😊

Pic Courtesy: Dr.Gift Sironmoney's Home Page

#memoriesfromdiaries