“I can only meditate when I’m walking. When I stop, my mind ceases to think; my mind only works with my legs.”

JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU

2. Eat healthy. Remember, last year’s diet plan works and it works well.

3. Remember to recharge the spirit—have a moment of silence and prayer to empower the day.

4. Love. Hug whenever the opportunity presents itself even if it means breaking the train of thought.

5. Breathe—especially when situations present opportunities to get stressed. (Patience will be tested this year.)

6. Give myself a break. If I get frustrated, I am going to change my environment.

7. Go for a walk alone, everyday, to clear my mind.

8. Plan. I am going to do whatever I can before I have to even if it is a small action list for a project.

9. Don’t procrastinate. Praise self for not procrastinating until the very last minute.

10. Be flexible. Some days may be conducive to rules and other days may not.

11. Maintain the journal. Sketch and pen down thoughts, whenever the mood strikes.

12. Make opinion count. Be proactive. Don’t make snap judgments.

13. Moisturize without fail.

14. Buy house and make it a home.

15. Sketch … Paint…Embroider…

16. Play

17. Look for alternatives.

18. Teach

19. Do something nice for someone whenever opportunity presents, without expecting anything in return.

20. Be open to change. Think, consider and do.

Here were my goals for last year:

1. Exercise. Get atleast 8-10 hours of exercise every week.

Result: Trained for the 10K race. Had to cancel the race, but lost approx 10 kgs while training for it.

2. Sketch / Paint / Photograph everyday.

Result: Maintaining a pocket sketchbook, in which I sketch and pen down my thoughts, as well!

3. Be aggressive and proactive when it comes to work.

Result: Trying to do so. Have learnt that being aggressive and proactive works in certain situations and in some situations it is better to take a back-seat and observe.

4. Learn to drive a car.

Result: DONE. Still cannot drive alone. Need a companion for support. However, by the end of this year, I have stopped driving any vehicle (due to obvious reasons).

5. Stick to the daily To- Do list. But also, make time for relaxation.

Result: Have made this a habit. Right now, the key lies in not extending the time for relaxation!

6. Use a face toner and cleanser every night before going to bed. Make it a daily regime.

Result: Hmm. Skin changed completely! Instead of getting a glow, I have a haggard look, inspite of all Body Shop lotions and toners used!

7. Eat healthy…drink cold coffee

Result: Started on my own healthy diet plan. When combined with daily exercise, the diet plan works! Reduced caffeine intake (again, obvious reasons) and it is one cold coffee a day…more milk and less sugar and coffee. Also, started consuming more and more fresh lime juice and buttermilk.

8. Go trekking in the Himalayas

Result: Trekked for 60 km in 4 days to Hemkund Sahib and Valley of Flowers. It was an amazing experience, enough to last me till the next trek. The Himalayas are mesmerizing…as always. They make me return there again and again.

9. Visit IIT – K, Kanpur and Lucknow….eat chat

Result: Went to the ADEX 09, the annual design exhibition. Gave a talk titled, ‘ A designer’s Survival guide to working in corporate design teams’. First time for me and it was fun. Ate chat everyday.

10. Go for an after dinner walk.

Result: Going for an after dinner walk, definitely has its advantages. For one, it reduces the time spent watching mindless TV shows and gives me the time to relax and talk with Sameer on stuff not related to our everyday lives. Plus, the weather is almost perfect at 9:45pm and there is no one other than us taking a walk at that time. The frequency of evening walks has reduced but it will pick up again, am sure.

11. Don’t procrastinate.

Result: Difficult to follow. But am on it!

12. Be attentive, focused and prompt. 

Result:But am on it!

13. Make do with the things you already have. Limit shopping expenditure.

Result: Difficult to follow. But am on it!

14. Get the cloth materials lying in the wardrobe stitched and embroider or paint them yourself. ( Lost the embroidery threads.)

Result: Lost embroidery threads and while cleaning up the cupboard, found them at the back. The cloth material is yet to be stitched, because I was not able to find a tailor who could do justice to them (and also I procrastinated).

15. Drink coffee only once a day.

Result: Read result for no 7.

16. Vacation with parents and in-laws

Result: Trekking trip was with parents and other relatives. I am glad that they are in good health (even better than S and me) and proved it by walking faster than both of us during the trek.

17. Get a dental checkup

Result: Difficult to get this done. Sis will be doing it when I go to Nagpur next month.

18. Call up a family member every week

Result:On it!

19. Surprise long lost friends with phone calls.

Result:On it! Instead of calling up people, I have taken to emailing them and staying in touch.

20. Blog regularly

Result:On it, though it is semi regularly!

21. Make greeting cards and write long letters to friends and family

Result:On it!

22. Live by the Rules

Result:On it!

23. Walk in with confidence and a smile

Result:On it!

24. Remember to live in the present

Result:On it!

25. Meditate and pray

Result:On it!

There was also an unwritten, though the most wanted wish that I wanted to come true in 2009. And, by the grace of God it has come true. Results will be out in April, though.

• The creative mind of Rohit Roy is not limited to Acting only, but he made such a nice movie named, “RICE PLATE” as one of the Director in “Dus Kahaniyan”. The cast includes Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah, A Hindu woman and a Muslim man’s journey over a rice plate. It is about the challenge that the woman faces when a strange man claims her plate of rice.
• Dharmendra married twice and has maintained both his wives. His first marriage is to Prakash Kaur at the age of 19 in 1954.His second marriage to actress Hema Malini took place after Dharmendra accepted Islam and changed his name to Dilawar Khan as his first wife refused to divorse him.
• He has recently become active in politics. He was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2004 general elections, from Bikaner in Rajasthan, on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket. During his election campaign, he made an ironic remark that he should be elected Dictator Perpetuus to teach “basic etiquette that democracy requires” for which he was severely criticized.Dharmendra has rarely attended the Parliament when the house was in session, preferring to spend the time shooting for movies or doing farming at his farm house. He has also not participated in any debates or raised any queries.Along with actor Govinda, Dharmendra has been criticised for ignoring his duties as a Member of Parliament.
• Speaking on the occasion Dilip Kumar commented ,“Whenever I get to meet with God Almighty I will set before Him my only complaint-why did You not make me as handsome as Dharmendra?”
• Pandit was always confined to play a typical Indian heroine who could do no wrong and romance the hero according to his convenience.
• Her husband tried to become a Bollywood film star; ultimately he was unsuccessful in acting and in marriage. Reena initially lost custody of their daughter Sanam in the divorce. However, after her ex-husband married a younger woman who didn’t want to raise a child, Reena regained custody.
• Top Bollywood stars like Sanjeev Kumar and Jeetendra proposed to her, but she married Dharmendra on 2 May 1980. After turning down marriage proposals from Sanjeev Kumar and Jeetendra, she met with hot fellow actor, Dharmendra, both were attracted to each other and wanted to get married.

2. My eldest cousin calling me up and acting all ‘Big Brotherly’.

3. Warm, mushy khichadi with papad for dinner.

4. Relaxing foot massage given by S.

5. God has hit the Pause button on the incessant rain.

6. Waking up to find that lunch has already been made by the maid.

7. Lavender flavored aromatherapy soap from FabIndia….relaxes me immediately.

8. Little cushion between the back and chair.

9. Getting a good morning email from P.

10. Bean bag under my legs while I work. My legs sink into the cushioning.

11. A small paper boat made by A and named INS Viraat R22, kept on my desk makes me smile.

12. Good hair day.

13. Regulated weight gain. Though, I need to exercise more often.

14. Pride and Prejudice. Watching the romance between Lizzy and Darcy.

15. Music…instrumental and vocal hindustani classical music

16. Planning for leave

17. Oranges ….love them.

18. Watching a rainbow (well half of it) , while stuck in traffic

19. Watching ‘Ashi hi Banva Banvi‘ while I work. Videos available here: Part 1, Part 2

20. Going home at the end of each day satisfied with how the day has gone.

• moderately expressed introvert
• slightly expressed intuitive personality
• moderately expressed feeling personality
• slightly expressed judging personality

According to the INFJ career indicator, I am in the right field: Design. For details click here.

Some excerpts to understand INFJ:

Excerpt 1:

Idealist Portrait of the Counselor (INFJ)

Counselors have an exceptionally strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others, and find great personal fulfillment interacting with people, nurturing their personal development, guiding them to realize their human potential. Although they are happy working at jobs (such as writing) that require solitude and close attention, Counselors do quite well with individuals or groups of people, provided that the personal interactions are not superficial, and that they find some quiet, private time every now and then to recharge their batteries. Counselors are both kind and positive in their handling of others; they are great listeners and seem naturally interested in helping people with their personal problems. Not usually visible leaders, Counselors prefer to work intensely with those close to them, especially on a one-to-one basis, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes.

Counselors are scarce, little more than one percent of the population, and can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors tend to work effectively in organizations. They value staff harmony and make every effort to help an organization run smoothly and pleasantly. They understand and use human systems creatively, and are good at consulting and cooperating with others. As employees or employers, Counselors are concerned with people’s feelings and are able to act as a barometer of the feelings within the organization.

Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another’s emotions or intentions – good or evil – even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others’ feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor’s remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena.

Mohandas Gandhi, Sidney Poitier, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Goodall, Emily Bronte, Sir Alec Guiness, Carl Jung, Mary Baker Eddy, Queen Noor are examples of the Counselor Idealist (INFJ).

Excerpt 2:

INFJs are distinguished by both their complexity of character and the unusual range and depth of their talents. Strongly humanitarian in outlook, INFJs tend to be idealists, and because of their J preference for closure and completion, they are generally “doers” as well as dreamers. This rare combination of vision and practicality often results in INFJs taking a disproportionate amount of responsibility in the various causes to which so many of them seem to be drawn.

INFJs are deeply concerned about their relations with individuals as well as the state of humanity at large. They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people — a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the world. On the contrary, INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious “soul mates.” While instinctively courting the personal and organizational demands continually made upon them by others, at intervals INFJs will suddenly withdraw into themselves, sometimes shutting out even their intimates. This apparent paradox is a necessary escape valve for them, providing both time to rebuild their depleted resources and a filter to prevent the emotional overload to which they are so susceptible as inherent “givers.” As a pattern of behavior, it is perhaps the most confusing aspect of the enigmatic INFJ character to outsiders, and hence the most often misunderstood — particularly by those who have little experience with this rare type.

Due in part to the unique perspective produced by this alternation between detachment and involvement in the lives of the people around them, INFJs may well have the clearest insights of all the types into the motivations of others, for good and for evil. The most important contributing factor to this uncanny gift, however, are the empathic abilities often found in Fs, which seem to be especially heightened in the INFJ type (possibly by the dominance of the introverted N function).

This empathy can serve as a classic example of the two-edged nature of certain INFJ talents, as it can be strong enough to cause discomfort or pain in negative or stressful situations. More explicit inner conflicts are also not uncommon in INFJs; it is possible to speculate that the causes for some of these may lie in the specific combinations of preferences which define this complex type. For instance, there can sometimes be a “tug-of-war” between NF vision and idealism and the J practicality that urges compromise for the sake of achieving the highest priority goals. And the I and J combination, while perhaps enhancing self-awareness, may make it difficult for INFJs to articulate their deepest and most convoluted feelings.

Usually self-expression comes more easily to INFJs on paper, as they tend to have strong writing skills. Since in addition they often possess a strong personal charisma, INFJs are generally well-suited to the “inspirational” professions such as teaching (especially in higher education) and religious leadership. Psychology and counseling are other obvious choices, but overall, INFJs can be exceptionally difficult to pigeonhole by their career paths. Perhaps the best example of this occurs in the technical fields. Many INFJs perceive themselves at a disadvantage when dealing with the mystique and formality of “hard logic”, and in academic terms this may cause a tendency to gravitate towards the liberal arts rather than the sciences. However, the significant minority of INFJs who do pursue studies and careers in the latter areas tend to be as successful as their T counterparts, as it is *iNtuition* — the dominant function for the INFJ type — which governs the ability to understand abstract theory and implement it creatively.

In their own way, INFJs are just as much “systems builders” as are INTJs; the difference lies in that most INFJ “systems” are founded on human beings and human values, rather than information and technology. Their systems may for these reasons be conceptually “blurrier” than analogous NT ones, harder to measure in strict numerical terms, and easier to take for granted — yet it is these same underlying reasons which make the resulting contributions to society so vital and profound.

…Fin…

“When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up. I wrote down “happy.” The told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

The fishy glitter in his eye became intensified. He looked like a halibut which had been asked by another halibut to lend it a couple of quid till next Wednesday.

A Few Quick Ones “The Word in Season”

Percy continued to stare before him like a man who has drained the wine cup of life to its lees, only to discover a dead mouse at the bottom

He was standing on his left leg. With a sudden change of policy, he now shifted and stood on his right.

A chap who’s supposed to stop chaps pinching things things from chaps having a chap come along and pinch something from him.

The Code of the Woosters (1938)

She fitted into my biggest armchair as if it had been built round her by someone who knew they were wearing armchairs tight about the hips that season.

My Man Jeeves (1919) “Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest”

…now tailors measured him just for the sake of exercise.