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When Was the Last Time?

  • Writer: Isha Dave
    Isha Dave
  • Jul 31
  • 4 min read

If you need pictures to read through this blog your not my audience 🤣


Today, suddenly, I felt like writing this.

because I had a free hour (I didn’t), not because my to‑do list got shorter (it grew), but because in the middle of a very ordinary corporate Tuesday I caught my reflection in a lift mirror and didn’t recognise the person sprinting from one ā€œurgentā€ to another. I asked myself, *What am I doing?* And more honestly: *What am I not doing?*


When was the last time you took your mom out for coffee—just the two of you, no screens, no hurry—sat across from her and let the conversation wander to childhood recipes and the neighbours’ mango tree? When was the last time you chopped onions while she seasoned the dal, and you paid attention to how her hands move, the way she hums without noticing?


When was the last time you looked up at the sky without measuring the moment? The last time you let the wind interrupt your thoughts and rearrange them into something kinder? The last time you let a sunset finish speaking before you rushed to reply with a photo?


When was the last time you called your friends and met without an agenda, no ā€œnetworking,ā€ no ticking boxes—just stories? The kind of stories that detour into *history and cartoons and music*, that unexpected memory of *Calcium Sendoz’s bottle* on a cracked balcony table, and everyone laughing so hard you forgot to check the time. When was the last time you talked for hours and didn’t utter a word—the kind of silence that happens only with people who know your pauses and trust them?


We’re all running so well these days. Efficient. Optimised. Calendar-coloured. We run in neat shoes and speak in bullet points. We’re professional at being professional. But somewhere between quarterly targets and quantified steps, I worry we’ve started outsourcing our tenderness.


I am not anti‑ambition. I love seeing people win, and I want to win too. Money pays for parents’ medicines and weekend getaways, for coffees and cookbooks and train tickets home. But if the cost of success is forgetting what we’re using it *for*, the math stops making sense.


So this is a small, public check‑in from me to me—from Isha to Isha—and an invitation for you to ask yourself the same questions:


When was the last time you made time, not found it? We say ā€œI’ll make it up later,ā€ as if time were a wallet note we can fold and unfold. But time doesn’t keep change. It only keeps direction.


When did you last let love be inconvenient? A long bus ride to see a friend who’s had a rough week. A detour to buy your mom those bangles she pointed at absently. Stirring the pot on the stove for ten minutes longer because that’s how she likes it.


When did you last share something unpolished? The half‑formed poem. The embarrassing story. The way you really feel about the city. Remember how intimacy grows out of imperfect edges, not presentations.


I think of my mother’s laugh—how it starts quietly and then surprises itself. I think of standing barefoot on warm terrace tiles, trading constellations for confessions. I think of friendships that survived not because we were always available, but because we kept returning. I think of how the best conversations hold room for both deep debate and silly detours—history, cartoons, music, Cal, Sim, that old Sendoz bottle—and how that mix is what makes a life feel textured instead of templated.


If you need a practical nudge (I do), try this tiny recalibration plan not a productivity hack, just a way back to yourself:


1. Coffee with Mom (or Dad) this week - Put it on the calendar like a client meeting. Ask one question you’ve never asked before. Listen for the answer beneath the answer.


2. Cook together once - Let the kitchen be slow. Measure spices with your palm. Learn the story behind one recipe.


3. One nature appointment - a sunrise on the terrace, a tree‑lined walk, five minutes of cloud‑counting from your window. No phone. Just weather.


4. Call the group - Pick a day. Meet somewhere unfancy. Bring a memory to the table and see where the evening goes.


5. Practice shared silence - Sit with someone you trust and let the quiet do its work. You’ll be surprised how much it says.


6. *Tell one true story - The kind that takes a little courage. Watch how honesty attracts more of itself.


7. Name what you’re chasing—and why - write it on a sticky note. If ā€œwhyā€ doesn’t make you softer, adjust the ā€œwhat.ā€


We don’t need to quit our jobs or cancel our dreams. We just need to remember that success should widen our hearts, not narrow our days. The promotion matters. So does the person you’re becoming on the way to it. The bank balance matters. So does the balance of who gets your best attention.


Today, suddenly, writing this for Me , I felt the urge to filter my own life—not to remove noise, but to *choose* the sounds I want to keep. My mom’s spoon tapping the pot. My friends interrupting each other. The soft chorus of a city evening out the window. My own breath, steadying.



And if you’re reading this, future Isha, remember that the mirror in the lift wasn’t accusing you. It was inviting you to come back. Success will feel better with your people in the picture. Money will feel lighter when it pays for laughter. Work will feel cleaner when time with yourself and the ones you love is not an afterthought but a first principle.


So—when was the last time?

If it’s been a while, let today be the day you begin again. I will, too.


You made it reading all of this without pictures kudos šŸ˜‡


Drop a comment to let me know your thoughtsšŸ¤“

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8 Comments


Nandita Bajpai
Nandita Bajpai
Jul 31

Loved each and every single word ....much needed article in today's lifestyle

Good job Ishu

God bless you

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Isha Dave
Isha Dave
Jul 31
Replying to

@Nandita Bajpai thanks it means a lot

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Avani Joshi
Avani Joshi
Jul 31

Reading this made me pause, truly feel what life is beyond the corporate world. Beautifully written ā¤ļøšŸ„°

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Isha Dave
Isha Dave
Jul 31
Replying to

Great to hear it @Avani Joshi that’s what my intention was šŸ˜šŸ„° let’s relive what we are missing

Edited
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Vaishnavi Gupta
Vaishnavi Gupta
Jul 31

Kudos Isha, keep writing! ā™„ļøāœØ

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Isha Dave
Isha Dave
Jul 31
Replying to

Thanks @Vaishnavi Gupta 🄰 I try my best šŸ˜Ž

Edited
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Rucha Gaike
Rucha Gaike
Jul 31

Love your article.

Keep them coming ā¤ļø

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Isha Dave
Isha Dave
Jul 31
Replying to

Sure @Rucha Gaike 🄰 you will see it often now šŸ™Œ

Edited
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