Vuja De!

 In the past.

January every year would be like…

Yea…It’s the beginning of a new year! My heart is filled with hope and my head is brimming with exciting plans and goals for the next 12 months.

April to December every year would be like…

The months have passed and the soaring balloon of hope has settled down tamely in a corner. The fancy organizer with neatly laid out plans has begun to look like a long list of missed milestones. And the eternal optimist has already turned her gaze to the upcoming new year for redemption.

Enter Vuja De!

January 2024

It’s the beginning of a new year. My heart is filled with hope and my head is brimming with plans and goals for the next 12 months.

Déjà vu?

Yes…however, this time the recurring “early-year phenomenon” has a twist. The familiar feeling and the wisdom (of many years) of knowing what lay ahead (or not) in the year is being replaced by Vuja De!

What’s Vuja De, you ask! Vuja de is about experiencing something familiar with fresh eyes and being open to new possibilities. It is about having a fresh perspective.

As the French novelist Marcel Proust wrote, “The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes”.

And that’s the broad theme of what I learned in 2023 thanks to the most courageous career decision of my life so far — i.e. Taking a sabbatical!

A year that threw light on seemingly obvious things that I did not see before.

So, here are my lessons:

To look at familiar situations and see them anew. — So many times, I had passed through the lanes and by-lanes of my city and walked by remarkable and not-so-ordinary buildings without giving them a second glance. Little did I know the importance of their role in the city’s history and its development. Since I got involved with Khaki Tours and her tribe (as a passion project) last year, there is now a renewed interest in not just what’s visible on the facades but, an appreciation for even the stories hidden behind the walls and in their crevices.

By the way, Mumbaikars, did you know that the hills in Mumbai are older than the Himalayas?

Lesson №1 — Be curious. Go deeper. Broaden perspectives.

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To go beyond the obvious and question the default. — There were some narratives that I kept telling myself about what I was capable of. And over a period of time, these repeated stories became my reality.

Last year, after a career spanning 25 years, I finally garnered the courage to take a sabbatical. It was a leap of faith. It was like airdropping into an unfamiliar territory. Thankfully, I quickly made friends with pause and reboot. They in turn introduced me to someone I should have known earlier — my default mindset.

This sabbatical also opened my eyes to know that there are many ways and means to lead a fulfilling life that do not hinge only on my work identity or the label I display on my LinkedIn profile. The age we live in today allows us to lead a portfolio life. A life that allows us to focus on multiple interests as opposed to focusing on a single job/profession like in earlier days. In a nutshell, Portfolio Life = A life in which you can earn a livelihood + A life that provides a sense of joy + Learning opportunities + Opportunities to give back to society.

I am slowly discovering what that life looks like for me but the process is still in the WIP stage. However, I am glad I at least have the luxury to embrace it.

Believe me, the portfolio life will be the future of our life. The sooner we embrace it the better.

“Because you deserve rest, relationships, and a rewarding career — not someday, but today. After all, you only live once.” — As right said by Christina Wallace, author of the book — The Portfolio Life

Lesson №2 — Do not travel through life on automatic pilot.

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To look within and reimagine what more is possible — If last year you had told me that I could be a storyteller sharing Mumbai’s untold tales from the past, I would have laughed it off. But here I am today, hosting walking tours through the streets of Mumbai in my free time. I have unlocked within me a potential that hitherto I thought was unthinkable. Up until now, History and Storytelling were topics that piqued my curiosity through books. But now, I am not only making history come alive for travelers through stories but importantly, I am giving back to my dear city (albeit in a small way) by showcasing its rich heritage and culture.

Lesson №3 — Be courageous. Be comfortable with the uncomfortable. Growth happens only outside our comfort zone.

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To look at old, entrenched challenges as if I am seeing them for the first time. — In life, we are faced with problems that sometimes have a recurring theme. In my case, it was committing to many goals at the same time and realizing only a few.

I have now learned to address this issue “a bit” differently.

For instance, I now take one small change (in habit/routine) at one time. Not be ambitious with picking more than one at the same time. Regularize that one piece as part of my daily schedule strategically. Proclaim it to my family members. Ask them to pull me up if I fail. Request them to become my reminders and cheerleaders. Give it all. Be patient with me, the process, and the outcome. Gradually, over time, expect that one small change to become a part of the muscle memory as I start to see the benefits. And then only move to the next one.

Lesson № 4 - Step back, pause and look within to uncover the broad theme of all the challenges in your life. Take one tiny step at a time to address that broad theme. As someone wise said, “There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.”

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Equipped with these learnings the same old me with a fresh perspective, and abundant hope but only a few goals/plans is looking forward to 2024!

Wish you all a “fresh start” to the new year!