Okay girls, listen up. If you are already in your late twenties, consider yourself not so attractive and are secretly running scared that you will never find a suitable man, then read this twice.

I am neither good looking nor athletic. I have this fear the world is passing by and I will be ignored forever as I am being ignored in my office these days. Tell me what to do, but no diets and workouts please. I just can’t do them.
— A young girl in her 20s

Help! My mom is totally bowled over by this godman, his designer clothes and flowing beard; she is now a part of his cult following. She swoons when she thinks of him, worships the ground he walks and cannot tolerate one word of criticism against him. Is this what finding God is about, becoming a slave to a man? What’s your advice?”
— A bewildered teenager

Mani shankar

Why do I get bad dreams always?”
— Excerpt of a long letter from a teenager.

I pause my series on voice control to answer this. All real power is essentially “You over You”. The real gift is being able to wave a magic wand on your mind and be who you want to be, think what you wish to think, feel only that which your heart loves to feel.

The alpha male of matinee cinema always has a seductively powerful voice. Try as hard as you can, you can’t detect the slightest shade of fear in it. Heroine’s father tells him to go jump?

From the time you wake up, tiny ripples of fear ripple across the living waters of your mind, barely visible below the surface, forming patterns that break and regroup all the time — sometimes taking

Mani shankar

If you were to grade your emotional poise between struggling, coping and mastery, which would you choose? My guess would be somewhere between level one and two — rarely, if ever, level three.

Mani shankar

There are so many pending unanswered questions from the last couple of weeks. Here’s a quick go at a few of them…

Mani shankar

Ok, it’s now time to start wrapping up what has been a long reply to one confused kid. I told you the trick of how to “see yourself” in a moment of madness. In theory, it’s simple — first train your mind to watch itself during normal times, and whenever you feel you are losing control, switch to the trained observer inside.

Mani shankar

This started as a response to a kid who shot his mouth off and blew his dance date — and yes, we have been talking high philosophy, but should never lose focus of the essentials. Simple question — why did he shoot his mouth off? Answer — his mind wasn’t in control. He was too excited. Maybe, he wanted to rush things to the next level. What’s the analysis? In a moment of madness he couldn’t “see himself”, couldn’t “see the other”, or “creatively seize the moment”.