My Personal ‘Seven Habits’ ❤️
from this Particular Day’s Personal Diary Entry!
18th July 1996 ❤️
#memoriesfromdiaries
This personal diary entry of mine, that dates back to more than a quarter century ago – 27 years ago – to be precise, assumes a lot of significance for seven reasons in particular.
Today while discussing Atwood’s ‘Journey to the Interior’ in my II MA English Literature class, I particularly highlighted one line,
‘Have I been walking in circles again’,
and in this context, I presented Nietzsche’s idea of ‘eternal recurrence’, that he puts forth so eloquently, in Aphorism 341 in his The Gay Science, - considered to be one of his most personal works as well.
I then asked the class, to think and ponder upon their own five lovely habits that they do as a routine, each day of their lives, something that helps us to nurture and to cherish our sacred personal space!
Felt so happy when many were able to give their own good habits – including meditation, reading books, cultivating their personal space, etc.
In the same vein, me thought of presenting here in this particular post, my own ‘seven habits’, that I’ve nurtured and cherished over the years – something that has helped me greatly in my life, thanks to God, to my parents and my teachers.
On an aside, let me give you a quick flashback - After my HSC, I tasted (not wasted you see) 😊 Chartered Accountancy for a year at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India’s Nungambakkam main campus.
Well, after majoring with some pretty good marks in Math, Phy, Chem, & Bio, I was pretty keen on doing either Journalism or Literature!
However, since a few of my immediate family members were shining in the field of Accountancy, and after having paid a visit to their Firm, I was coaxed and cajoled into trying my hand at Chartered Accountancy.
And that’s how pavapetta me ventured into Chartered Accountancy. 😊
Well, everything about Chartered Accountancy was quite new and exciting for me!
We had two classes of two hours’ duration each – 7 to 9 am, and 9 to 11 am, at their Main Campus in Mahatma Gandhi Road, Nungambakkam.
We had some experienced professors who handled classes for us.
It was quite exciting to know and to learn about Mercantile Law - about the contracts pertaining to indemnity and guarantee, about Business Mathematics, Economics, and the Fundamentals of Accounts, from such veteran Professors.
I had this tendency – call it a quirk or an idiosyncrasy – to jot down anything and everything that was said by the Professor, onto my exclusive lecture note book! 😊
So the first point for this post is this – the habit of note-taking that I had imbibed over a period of time, thanks to my parents and my dear teachers.
Hence, every lecture was equally exciting for me! Not only because of the lecturer, you see, but also because I had set myself a little challenge – the challenge of transcribing!
Transcribing to a tee, the lecturer’s words – word by word - on to my lecture note book, which was quite a challenge that I so dearly loved! 😊
On this day also, I had made copious notes of the Professor’s lecture. He was talking about ‘Presentation of the Subject!’
The second habit is the habit of reading the day’s newspaper.
The Indian Express was my favourite newspaper even back then, because some really good writers like Shobhaa De, Tavleen Singh, Arun Shourie, Harry Miller, Shekhar Gupta, etc. were part of the renowned columnists who wrote such admirable, highly engaging columns regularly in the newspaper.
We used to take ‘paper clippings’ of their lovely articles, and paste them on to a separate note book, in those ‘Pre-google’ days! 😊
The Editorial Page in The Indian Express was such a beauty.
The third is the exciting habit of writing my daily diary.
I so love jotting my daily narrative in my own sweet style, onto my diary. 😊
‘My Accountability Partner’, as Pavithra had so beautifully pointed out!
The fourth habit is, NOT to indulge in over-writing at any cost!
Or in other words, never to ‘over-work’ over and over again, 😊 on a word that you’ve wrongly written down on paper.
I was taught in school by my teachers, and at home by my parents, that over-writing is not a good habit.
It’s quite human to make a mistake while writing.
But that doesn’t mean you’ve to be guilty about it.
To err is human!
To avoid over-writing is... er.. um.. divine!! 😊
“When you make a mistake in your writing, make sure you strike it off – but just once”, my parents and teachers used to tell us quite often.
Something that I so gratefully remember and practice in my life till date.
In graphology, again, over-writing meant, the person cannot be trusted or relied upon!
One gentle horizontal strike-through across the word meant that, you are open and honest about your mistakes, and bold enough to admit it as well. You can be transparent and relied upon!
The fifth habit that I cherish till date, is the habit of buying books.
On this particular day, I got three books from Prof. Ramaraj, at a subsidized rate, you see!
The sixth habit that tags along with me even today, is to write down all my expenses for the day – to keep myself accountable for my money!
The seventh habit that’s quite irresistible for me even today, is, going to the barista and having my tea / coffee at the nearest bistro! That’s the time for me to unwind you see! That’s the time I take off from my daily grind, and do some reflections and ruminations about the day!
Coming back,
One interesting line I’d written on this day,
‘Victor Annan gave me a message to be telegraphed’.
Well, the word telegraph might sound quite anachronistic today, by all means!
Victor Annan was my room-mate.
He was such a loving brother who was waiting for the right time to get into teaching, which he used to say, was his passion.
In fact the very next year, in 1997, he got into teaching at Pondicherry University. You may want to check his lovely profile HERE on PU’s website.
Coming back,
Dear reader, just by reading one day’s diary entry from my personal diary, you would now be in a position to try and analyse my character, my habituated actions, my daily routine, and a slice of my personality, ain’t you?
Just one day’s diary entry is enough to reveal such a lot about a person’s character traits, ain’t it?
The same with an author or a poet as well!
Just one paragraph from an author, just one dialogue from a character, just one line from a friend, just one stanza from a poet, can help us decipher and decode a lot about their tone, their tenor, their mood and their temperament.
Well, again – the same applies to a memoir or a diary or an autobiography as well.
They help you study the life, the character and the personality of the writer in such vivid detail - their likes and dislikes, their oddities, their quirks and their idiosyncrasies, etc.
One reason why we teachers suggest that you read great memoirs, autobiographies and diaries.
Indeed, Steven Covey has given us his own ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’.
But wait…
I would suggest that,
When you regularly jot down your diary entry, every day, you can easily decipher and decode for yourself your own strengths and weaknesses, and find out your own ‘seven habits’ that shape your sweet personality and your character!
So why wait? Start working right away, on your ‘sweet seven’ habits!
Best wishes to thee! 😊
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