A 40-Minute Reminder: Gratitude, Grounding, and the Grace of Being Human
This morning, a 40-minute power outage in Sharjah, UAE - my home away from home, brought life to a sudden pause. - No Wi-Fi. - No lights. - No background hum of comfort we barely notice - until it disappears. What could have been brushed off as an inconvenience became an unexpected moment of truth. In that stillness, memory walked in. Memories of growing up with power cuts in India. Of lives that adapted without complaint. Of resilience formed not by choice, but by circumstance. And then came the sharper realization - this is still the lived reality for millions across the world today. That awareness didn’t arrive as sympathy. It arrived as accountability. - A fact check on entitlement. - A reminder of privilege. - A mirror held gently but firmly in front of us. We live in a time where access has blurred into assumption. Electricity, water, connectivity, safety, comfort - these are no longer blessings we acknowledge, but expectations we defend. And somewher...