dear diary

You are solving a word-problem and you need to add three 3-digit numbers to arrive at the solution. How do you do it? Do you do it orally or do you quickly pick up your pencil and do the math? Well, I tend to do the latter and I have been trying to get rid of this tendency for a long time. I see people calculate in their heads and come up with an answer even faster. I think it's very cool but annoying too because... why on earth am I not able to do that!!! Habit. Oxford dictionary says habit means a constant, almost automatic, practice acquired by frequent repetition. And I, dear friend, developed this habit of dealing with numbers using pencil and never challenged it. When I calculate by visualizing the numbers while staring at some random object in front of me, I panic. I forget to add the 3 that was carried on the hundredth place and hey, I got the answer wrong! So, I pick up my same-old-pencil and solve it again on paper. Yay! Now I got it right! But guess what, I am late! Intu...

So I travel to work daily by train on a second class ticket. My friend has a first class pass and today she had my handbag with her. Like everyday, she got on the train easily while I had to struggle, as naturally mine was a crowded compartment. The train almost started and I was waiting for the last lady to hop in on the running train and, I was contemplating whether I could catch it! Thoughts cascaded as I stood hesitant and bewildered-- "ok I will have to call her and ask her to wait for me, as I will have to catch the next one. I won't like that, so let's try to catch this one only..." and all these thoughts rushed into my mental space when I could clearly see the train accelerating speedily and it was time to make a choice! I finally noticed the lady who was calling me "Aga chadh, ye!!" She extended her hand and suddenly that gushing stream of contemplation ceased to exist. Now I could only see her, wanting to help me catch the train. I reac...