
Hi Everyone,

Today is a special day for me as I turn 21. I wanted to take a moment to share some of the thoughts that have been running through my mind. It's a strange feeling—I'm not quite sure if I'm happy or sad. When I was younger, I often daydreamed about what I would be like when I grew up.

As a child, I always yearned for the biggest birthday bash. Looking back now, I'm grateful that I didn't have one. I don't think I would have truly enjoyed it. My life has taken a different path than what I had imagined, and while I am genuinely happy with where I am, I can't help but wonder what my 6-year-old self would have done differently if he could see who I am today. What would he think?

Over the past 20 years, I have learned so much about life. It's amazing to look back and realize the blessings I've had and truly blessed to have out standing amazing parents like I do, to be lucky to have the friends I have and to be able to do the things I have done.

TBH turning 21 isn't bad overall you get to do a lot more things, but I guess it's just a reminder that I'm getting older and I'm not a kid anymore, I'm an adult and I have to start acting like one.

> never let the kid inside you die

But above quote always hits me and I go back to acting like a child again trying to enjoy life's simple pleasures.

![young-me](https://i.ibb.co/sCsj03h/Whats-App-Image-2023-07-03-at-11-22-10-PM.jpg)

I do of course realise that 21 is very young but I can't help think of that little boy who used to who used to sit and eat chips with curd (I Know it's a weird combination and I still like it to this day lol) and read big books and wonder what he would think of who I have become?

I hope he'd proud :) cheers, happy birthday to me.

Thank you for taking the time to read my late-night musings. :)


Turning 21


**About the author**

Monika Halan is Consulting Editor with Mint, India's second-largest business daily and a well-known media personality. Monika is the author of the best-selling book Let's Talk Money published by Harper Collins in 2018. She has worked across several media organizations in India and has run many successful TV series around personal finance advice in NDTV, Zee, and Bloomberg.

She is a regular speaker on financial literacy, regulation, inclusion and consumer issues in retail finance.

**My Opinion**:

Do you know why most sports athletes go broke just after few years of retiring ? They almost retire with 250% more than the net worth of a common man. still go broke. The main reason Is Poor Finance Planning!!

They wish to Royally like they used to leave when they were playing, what they forget is they don't have a passive income now!

If you are Someone who almost spends all of the money you have then this book is for you.This book shows how to manage finance, and make money work for you, ie; Passive income..

A famous quote :

> "Don’t let money run your life. Let money help you run your life better."- John Rampton

Our choice of college, company and career are often determined by the amount of money at stake. Throughout our life, whether it's to celebrate our big moments or deal with emergencies, money is a big consideration in the decision-making process.

Yet, we are hardly ever taught about making money work for us. Let's Talk Money is the book that demystifies the world of personal finance and investing for the beginner. This helps us to start viewing the money in those accounts differently.

Now in many homes, they think that investing in Stock MArket is like gambling, but if you have invested analytically and carefully that money can double too, if not that money can be lost too…

Later, the author introduces the concept of the ‘money box’ as the cornerstone for our financial life. These include parking all the money in low interest-earning products such as Fixed deposits, not doing enough due diligence while buying health or life insurance, considering real estate as the best return on investment, seeing equities investment as a short-term quick rich scheme etc...

The things that made this book stand out for me are

Easy narration style helps demystify the different financial products. This can act as a useful guide when you are buying any financial product such as medical cover, life insurance or mutual fund. Provides a structured way to invest according to our goals and ultimately move towards financial independence. This book is a must-read for someone looking to get started on their financial journey.

I recommend reading this book for almost every college student before graduation so that you can get an idea How to manage your finance.

_Kindle Edition: 184 pages_


Let's Talk Money: You've Worked Hard for It, Now Make It Work for You


**About the authors**

Author: Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

- Héctor García
  Héctor García is a citizen of Japan, where he has lived for over a decade, and of Spain, where he was born. He is the author of several books about Japanese culture, including two worldwide bestsellers, A Geek in Japan and Ikigai. A former software engineer, he worked at CERN in Switzerland before moving to Japan.

- Francesc Miralles
  Francesc Miralles is the award-winning and internationally bestselling author of books about how to live well, together with the novels Love in Small Letters and Wabi-Sabi.

Alongside Héctor García, he was welcomed to Okinawa in Japan, where the inhabitants live for longer than in any other place in the world. There they had the chance to interview more than a hundred villagers about their philosophy for a long and happy life

**My Opinion**:

![circle of life](https://qphs.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-0ca71ee424adc10d38e49ee7bc25aab7-lq)
This is the Basic IKIGAi motive,

The people of Japan believe that everyone has an ikigai – a reason to jump out of bed each morning. And according to the residents of the Japanese island of Okinawa – the world’s longest-living people – finding it is the key to a longer and more fulfilled life. Inspiring and comforting, this book will give you the life-changing tools to uncover your personal ikigai. It will show you how to leave urgency behind, find your purpose, nurture friendships and throw yourself into your passions.

They wish to Royally like they used to leave when they were playing, what they forget is they don't have a passive income now!

If ever there was a book to help you step back, slow down and contemplate on the meaning of life, this would be it. The pace is unhurried and that is exactly how you should read the book. Not in a single sitting but over a week or ten days. Savour each chapter, make notes, write things down when they touch a chord. Ikigai helps you understand so many beautiful things in the sheer simplicity in which it's conveyed. In an increasingly cynical world, we all need ikigai.

Please do read the book for INNER-PEACE.

_Kindle Edition: 208 pages_


Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.


**About the authors**

Robert Kiyosaki

Kiyosaki is best known for his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, the #1 New York Times bestseller. Kiyosaki followed with Rich Dad’s CASHFLOW Quadrant and Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing. He has now had at least a dozen books published. A partial list of his books is included below.

**My Opinion**:

When I started to read this book, I thought The cover page has authors photo, I was judgemental about this book. I think I was right in some way because he makes real estate sound so easy where it is not so easy. So, while this book gives you such excellent advice as “learn from failure”, “make profitable deals”, and “work hard for yourself”, it doesn’t actually give you a system or method to make money.

He started to make counterfeit money with a goal to become rich at the age of 9 indeed we can say that he had a great mindset. But this book tells you that you have to learn financial management. where ASSETS are required and LIABILITIES must be avoided. (repeatedly)

This book is clearly directed towards the people who are not smart enough to realize that they should ‘work hard and not give up’ if they want to succeed, but who are smart enough to be able to figure all the rest of the logistics out by themselves.

It encourages you to invest in real estate, and there if you make a loss it teaches how to be not sad about losing the money instead of taking it as a lesson for future investments. It gives you simple explanations of how money works. It will not give you any trading tips, but it helps you understand the things no one teaches us in the school or at home. The financial insights aid you to take action, and be your boss.

> “The love of money is the root of all evil.” &” The lack of money is the root of all evil”
> -Robert Kiyosaki’s dad

_Kindle Edition: 178 pages_


Rich Dad Poor Dad: Assets and Liability management


**About the authors**

Sudha Murty

Smt.Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggon north Karnataka, she did her B.tech in BVB college of engineering specialized in Electronics and electricals. She got her masters in IISC Bengaluru. now she is the chairperson of the INFOSYS Foundation. She is a prolific, excellent writer. Some of her books consist of, Dollar bahu, Mahashweta, The old man and his god. etc…
Smt. Sudha Murty was the recipient of the R.K.Narayan award for literature and the Padma Shri in 2006 and the attimabbe award by the Government of Karnataka.

**My Opinion**:

Three Thousand Stitches a heartwarming, soothing collection of 11 short inspiring stories of Sudha Murty’s life. time flies when you are reading this book.

Two decades ago when she tried to make changes in the DEVDASIS’S life they threw chappals at her, when she went for the second time they threw tomatoes at her instead of taking this as a strict no she took this incident as an improvement from chappal to tomatoes. then she changes her approach, perseveres, and earns the trust of the Devadasis. Slowly, and surely the changes occur at the grassroots. The women march towards a sense of financial independence by starting a bank and send the children to be educated. That was the mindset Sudha Murty had. Like this, she has shown her various courageous, powerful, inspiring short stories in her book called Three Thousand Stitches.

The highlight of this inspiring story is the straight-from-the-heart storytelling style of Sudha Murty. No attempt at weaving together complex and pretentious sentences. Just simple and effective storytelling! I love this! Must read her other books!

_Kindle Edition: 256 pages_


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