I am in the midst of a crisis. Either crises love me or I love them. Crises are situations of great intensity sometimes emotional, sometimes professional , sometimes financial or even nonsensical.

So there I am counting the pennies in my pocket and staring at the calendar, dreading the days of payments due to turn up.

I am terrified of being in debt and having to beg on the streets. I am staring at a rather bleak picture of what looks like my future.

Have I endured this pain, have I stood up to fight to end like this? I ask myself…to fizzle out inconsequentially at the cataclysm of a unpaid EMI?

I count my good deeds and secretly wish the karmic scales to take in to account all my great deeds  and greater intentions.

My parents, baptized into positive thinking by my own preaching are now not ready to listen to my laments. They instead prescribe me my own medicine. “Think good, feel good and it will be good.”

Forget lean in, I don’t even have a shoulder to lean on!

I therefore sit down to make a list of my skills. After all, years of living has given me my share of skills which I have nearly perfected. It amazes me to think that I know these:

Driving– Have been driving for the past 3 years.Have driven the length and breadth of Bangalore and can for sustenance drive around a few more. Sounds great, looks like I can earn a penny or two doing just that!

Cooking-Making Laddus and cakes- Have been cooking for the past 20 years almost with out a break . Am especially good at making delicious laddus of wheat, gram flour and sooji. My healthy cakes and cookies are sometimes a hit. Also I make great puttu, provided someone grates the coconut for me!

Cleaning– I love cleaning like I can go about singing and dancing as I clean and can leave a place spic and span. I don’t do it often but I guess it’s good enough skill for a living.

Public Speaking– I don’t know about the public forced to listen to me, but I genuinely love speaking to the public, anytime, every time. I can just go on and on about topics if only they are not related to money making, business, mathematics and science. I can do a good job of pretty much everything else.

Writing– Don’t I love writing? I do. I guess I do a decent job of it. I have had the occasion to write speeches for the top to the bottom of the ladder in educational institutions, job applications, resignation letters, notices, circulars, web content and what not. I am pretty cool at it.

Advising– I  have wondered why  nobody ever appointed me as the Chief Adviser or something. Their loss!  I am usually very generous with my advice. Also, a few failures in life have made me wiser.

Planning– I plan, you do. The question is can you?  I can plan time tables, home shifts, job changes, trips, elaborate dinners, kitchen stuff, the future, elaborate cooked up stories, parties except of course, the tax. That’s some planner in me.

Teaching– I can teach, tell stories, crack jokes, act stupid and  in general make classrooms a fun place to be in. I really enjoy being out there with people and whether there is any learning or not ,I make the class believe that something worthwhile is happening. More over, I can cajole and coax my students to do pretty much anything while feeling great about it, like writing assignments.

Imagining– I am blessed with great imagination.I can make mountains out of mole hills and mole hills out of mountains, literally! I can do great stuff with my imagination and I can guarantee that I will  make your imagination run riot too. How about that for a great skill?

Helping– I help friends, relatives, acquaintances and anybody else with a smile. I love doing it except doling out money, now that is one thing I  don’t have. I believe in the dictum help and be helped and it has always worked for me.

Smiling– I am particularly inclined to smile, blame it on my lose facial muscles or my over excited nature. I end up smiling even at the wrong places. However, a good smile well received has many times been a savior in my life.

Sleeping– Blessed with great sleep and brought up with a freedom to sleep as much as I wanted, I have never let this particular talent wane. In the most difficult circumstances, amidst the most difficult people, I keep my sleep healthy and that’s something I can boast of.

Understanding– I am good at understanding people even if they don’t understand themselves. I can make sense of the most difficult people and help them know who they are.

The list is already too long and it’s not even complete!

Jobs, you will tell me are scarce but talents like mine are scarcer. So write to me to grab this house of talents and help your future shine brighter.