Ikigai- the Japanese method of finding your life purpose.

A lot of us are still struggling with this question- “What is my purpose in life?” While mechanically following the orders of our seniors at workplace, or just while lazing around on a Sunday afternoon. We are often asking ourselves, “Am I really made for this?” or “Is my job really adding any meaning to my life”.Well, the Japanese seem to have a method to really get the root of this question. They call it the Ikigai.

Ikigai literally means “purpose of life” or something that gets you out of the bed in the morning. It is nothing but a method to really evaluate what is it that is the real purpose of your life. So, what is this method?

The Ikigai is nothing, but the common answer to these four questions :

·        What do I love doing?

·        What does the world need?

·        What am I good at?

·        What can I be paid for?

This can be better understood by way of a Venn Diagram  

 

Sounds Interesting, but no idea how it works? Well, all you need to really do, or rather how I worked around it, is jot down answers to the above questions on a piece of paper in one word, and while jotting it down see which word repeats itself 4 times (the word which is an answer to all four questions). In all likelihood, this is your Ikigai.

So, we what are we waiting for, let try this method today and see if it helps us solve our dilemma!     

'My Raw Self' -- Musings of a Working Mother.

On the occasion of International Women's day, here is a piece written by an incredibly strong Indian Woman, whose words provide deep insight into the importance of personal well being. Reflective, and inspiring, this piece is sure to resonate with every working woman who constantly does the balancing act of fulfilling her dreams and taking care of her family. 

"Women are natural caregivers and relationship builders.However, in todays time, stress, disappointment or negativity is all too common. Women should work towards shifting to a positive outlook, learning from failures, facing their fears and turning weaknesses into strength.

I have been a working mom for over a decade and a half and i was often caught in a crossfire between the needs of my proffession and the needs of my family.I was scared to take my proffessional dreams higher while raising a young family .Personally i have been very fortunate in that my children made me more creative.They completely redefined my multitasking skills and as a result i could deliver much more than expected.Yes,undoubtedly overcoming adversity can be quite empowering.Finding time to take care of yourself may be the bottom of a working moms list but nuturing oneself is the key component to find time to do it all.If your mind is at ease and your body feels good you are able to do much more for your family and achieve much more at work.

To learn and keep learning is the mantra not to forget.I believe that equipment and technology upgrades are not expenses to be endured. They are necessary reinvestments to protect and enhance the value and to keep you at the leading edge of the proffession with international standards and competent colleagues to achieve your ideal destination across the globe.Insight, experience, dedication and all round client care are a few qualities that earns us the position against many.

My life has been mentally and physically demanding. Running in proffession and caring for a family are two demanding jobs that often seem to be competing against each other.Remaining committed even through hard times,to believe in yourself and cherish the blessings of being a women whom God has given incredible power.

I firmly believe that happy parents equal happy children. My life partner ,who respected my opinions and decisions, held my hand when i faltered, and took pride in the smallest of achievment, inspired me to aim higher, he never stepped back from the promises he made and cherished our relationship.He never let his concern or protective instincts interfere with the freedom and space i needed.He has always been there,is there, and always will be there with a gentle heart.It is our virtues and mutual respect for each other that makes us so special.We in the family should stay united and celebrate each others success and also support each others goals and dreams.

And now to sum up and end it all i would say "Success is all in your attitude. Keep it positive."

At this point of life
‘Practically’ I have no aim
And as a matter of fact
For that I have no shame
I no longer want to be
This or that…
I no longer wish to be
Little bit thin or little bit fat
I now only wish to embrace fully
what I really am
I now only wish to do with great love
whatever little I can
I only want to cherish
My ‘raw self’ as such
I want to speak & write
But without a care what others think
If it was dull or bright   "

The Solicitors' Exam - All you need to know

Desirous of qualifying as a 'Solicitor' at the High Court of Bombay ? Want to know what is the exam conducted by the Bombay Incorporated Law Society all about? Here are answers to the most FAQs :





Q. Who are Solicitors? Is their role different from that of Counsels? Are Advocates and Solicitors different?

'Solicitor' is a designation earned by a lawyer who clears the gruesome Examination for Articled Clerks conducted by the Bombay Incorporated Law Society, which is a society affiliated to the Bombay High Court. Strictly speaking this is an English Concept, currently unique only to the city of Bombay. Although the rest of India only has one class of legal professionals- the Advocates - governed by the Advocates Act, the old city of Bombay especially in the Bombay High Court, still has, in practice, two distinct kind of Advocates - the 'Solicitors' and 'Counsels'. Traditionally Solicitors were the legal professionals who did all the drafting and consulting. They almost never appeared before a judge in court. Counsels were the class of professionals who specialised in argument and appearance and did only that. So how this would work is, the solicitors would be the one taking instructions from the client, preparing the pleadings, and would then 'brief' or prepare the counsel to argue the matter in court. So, Solicitors would be the ones doing the drafting and preparation of papers, and the Counsel would specialise ONLY in arguing the matter in court.

Q. What are the requirements to be a Solicitor?
To be designated as a 'Solicitor' one has to do a 3 year Articleship with a Solicitor firm in Bombay (yeah, much like a CA articleship).  The Articles of Agreement can be signed only after completing 3  years of the five year law course or 1 year of the three year law course. The Articles of Agreement have to be submitted with the office of the Bombay Incorporated Law Society, situated at the PWD building of the Bombay High Court. At the end of the 3 years of Articleship, one has to take the Solicitors' Exam and clear it to be designated as a Solicitor.

Q.  What are the subjects and passing requirements ? Is it difficult to clear ?
The Solicitors' Exam comprises of 6 subjects. 1. Practice and Procedure 2. Corporate Law 3. Conveyancing 4. Taxation 5. General Acts and 6. Modern Commercial Laws. There is no fixed paper pattern. The questions are usually a mix of theory, legal and logical reasoning. It tests the practical thinking and problem solving ability of the candidate from a legal perspective. One needs 50% marks in each of the six subjects and an over all aggregate of 60% to successfully clear the exam. The pass percentage of students is very low. Each year around 2% of the candidates clear the exam . So, yes, it is a difficult exam to clear. You have 6 attempts to clear it.

Q. What value does being a 'Solicitor' add to ones legal career? Does it entail higher salaries?
The Exam does go a long way in giving the candidate a broad perspective of the law, especially for one desirous of practicing civil and corporate law. This is not an exam for lawyers who want to practice on the criminal side. The exam teaches one to apply the law to the most tricky situations, and is very useful for someone who wants to master their knowledge and get stronghold over fundamentals. It does provide concept clarity which goes a long way in the legal career and ends up  giving you an edge over the other lawyers, in terms of legal knowledge. Basically, the long term benefits of the exam outweighs short terms results. Monetarily speaking, being designated as a 'Solicitor' does have weightage, but it depends on the firm or company you are working in. Some firms/ companies do not seem to give it the monetary value it deserves, especially if you chose to work as a fresher 'Associate' in one of the top tier firms. But a lot of other firms does give you a slightly higher bonus based on your designation. So, it really depends from place to place.

Q. Do Solicitors only practice non litigation ?
No. It is a misconception that Solicitors only do transactional practice. There are a number of Solicitors who practice in litigation as well. There is no such rule.




P.S. ;- The author is Sugyata Choudhary, an Advocate & Solicitor qualified with the Bombay Incoporated Law Society, High Court, Bombay.

Tiger Zinda Hai is not just another Sallu Bhai film - It is a message.

Tiger Zinda Hai is not just another larger than life ‘Salman Bhai’ movie. It is a message. A meaningful one. It was long since I watched a really good movie. And honestly, I didn’t think Tiger Zinda Hai (out of all) could be one. After all “how good could a typical Salman Khan Bollywood movie be” I thought.  It was just another holiday and this movie happened to be shown on television. Surprisingly, it was so engaging that from the very first scene it kept me glued to my seat. Apart from the jaw dropping action sequences, brilliant cinematography and, of course, Sallu Bhai’s swag, here are some pointers why I’d put this movie in my ‘WOW’ category –

1. Tiger Zinda Hai dares to bring to the audience a fresh perspective to the controversial love hate relationship between India and Pakistan. Tiger (Salman Khan) a RAW agent and Zoya (Katrina Kaif) an ISI agent come together on a mission to save Indian and Pakistani nurses trapped in a hospital in Iraq conquered by ISC (actually ISIS). It brings to life the real spirit of both nations which rest in the heart of their common man. Certain scenes beautifully express the animosity between the two armies, reluctantly so, united for a common mission- peace. In times where the two nations are trapped in the war of words and ego, the movie plays the tune of peace, reminding us that we are all actually victims of a larger scheme of things. 

2. Another plus was the power given to Zoya’s character. Where army and war is generally perceived as a man’s playing field, the film shows Zoya to be extremely sharp, thinking on her feet, strong army woman, who at times, even stole the show from our very own Tiger. While generally in action packed movies like these, the heroines are no more than emotional support for our male lead, Katrina has given a fairly decent performance as Zoya, bringing out the much intended woman power.

3. Lastly, the movie provides us all with an insight into the living conditions in the Islamic State conquered countries and leaves us pondering over how blessed we are to be immune from such atrocities.   It leaves one thinking in the end, that is this earth after all a humane place to live in?

All in all, I am no professional film critic, but I’d give this movie a 4.5 stars any day!

Offline uses of Cryptocurrency- lesser known facts

Unless we are averse to the digital world or have taken to Sanyasa Aashram, we would not have missed hearing about the “Bitcoin”. India, too has a rapidly growing crypto market, even though the regulatory policy continues to remain behind the bush. While we have already heard of Laxmicoin and Jiocoin in the pipeline, start-up crypto exchanges and wallets are making news every day. But does this "online currency" does have possible offline uses? Read on to find out some lesser known interesting facts about Cryptocurrency :-   

o     There are over 800 different types of Cryptocurrency

o     Peach Airlines in Japan accepts Bitcoin as a legal tender- Yes, you can actually buy an airline ticket using cryptocurrency. Japan has legitimized cryptocurrency in 2017.

o      Fidelity Investments allows its clients to use its website to view their holdings of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies held through digital wallet provider Coinbase [1].

o    The founder of this path breaking invention, is supposedly a Japanese individual called Satoshi Nakamoto. He is the 44^th richest person on earth. While there is dearth of information about his personal life or whereabouts, his concealed identity and low profile has caused governments and organizations to raise suspicion about him being linked to some sort of a terrorist outfit.

   

o       You can buy over hundreds of products using bitcoin or various other altcoins at www.overstock.com ;

o    www.newegg.com accepts bitcoin as a payment for digital goods;

o       You can buy airline tickets from Virgin Atlantic Airlines using Bitcoin

o      www.Expedia.com supports Bitcoin as a payment method. So, planning your next holiday?     You can pay using Bitcoin.

o     Dell accepts Bitcoins as a payment option.

o   Many developed countries like the USA have ATM machines that support buy/sell and withdrawal of bitcoin. www.coinatmradar.com is a website which actually shows the location of various bitcoin and other cryptocurrency ATMs throughout the world;

o     There are about 1600 Bitcoin ATMs in the world, and growing in number every day;

o    Monero- is an Altcoin which enables its holder to conceal his/her identity. It has privacy features unlike other cryptocurrencies. It’s price spiked when it was listed on the Korean exchange.

o    Steem is a unique Altcoin. It has a portal called Steemit.com which enables users to earn steem coins by writing articles, blogs or by creating content. It can be traded on any crypto exchange. You can check out more on – www.STEEMit.com

o     Trezor is a hardware wallet which comes handy in storing Cryptocurrencies in physical form, just like money.

o     One can buy/sell cryptocurrency in decimals too. So. Yes, one can buy 0.0005 BTC (Bitcoin) or 0.09 LTC (Litecoin). We don’t need to have millions in our kitty to explore this investment arena.

o     Websites like Bitcoin Zebra, Moon Bitcoin, Weekend Bitcoin and Milli are known as Bitcoin ‘faucets’.  These websites give out Bitcoin on a regular basis for free. All one has to do is visit their website and sign up. They would not be giving out a large amount of Bitcoin, may be a small amount, but they do this to promote Bitcoin. These website thrive as an Affiliate marketing tool.

o    www.coinworker.com pays their user using Bitcoin for completing tasks such as filling up surveys, watching videos etc. This is called microtasking.

o    You can get paid with Bitcoin/ Cryptocurrency instead of fiat currency for offering Bitcoin related services. Example- www.coinality.com. This website contains posts about cryptocurrency related jobs, for eg. Blockchain developers, freelance cryptocurrency bloggers, etc. Check the website for more.

P.s :- This post is purely for study and information purposes and does not promote the buying/ selling of cryptocurrency and/or does not mean to be any investment advise at all.

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[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fidelity-investments-bitcoin/fidelity-allows-clients-to-see-digital-currencies-on-its-website-idUSKBN1AP0AO