Bala karthiga M

My Dearest Manu,

Today is your ‘last day’ of nursery, a small milestone in the grand story of your life.

Years from now, you will have many such days: the last day of school, he last day of college, the last day in a city, the last day with certain people. Each will mark both an ending and a beginning.

Today, I want to give you something that will last beyond this moment: a guide you can return to whenever you need direction, strength, or a reminder of who you are meant to become.

The Power of Looking Back & Moving Forward

Manu, every ‘last day’ is a mirror and a map.

It shows you how far you’ve come and where you might go next. Learn to pause and reflect. Not to dwell, but to understand.

It is both a mirror and a map because it reflects where you’ve been and hints at where you could go next. Most people rush past these moments, eager to move forward, but wisdom comes from pausing.

Learn to reflect, not to dwell.

Understand, but don’t get stuck.

Nostalgia can be a beautiful teacher, but a terrible prison. I say this because if you’re not careful, nostalgia can turn out to be a double-edged sword. It can be a warm light guiding you toward the lessons of your past, or it can be chains that bind you to what once was.

Use nostalgia as a teacher, not a home. Appreciate the past, but don’t live there. Remember baby, growth happens in forward motion.

Keep a journal, even if it’s just a few lines each day. Writing helps you see yourself more clearly. Your thoughts become lessons, your lessons become wisdom. Self-awareness is your greatest compass in life.

The world moves fast, but wisdom comes from stillness. Take time to be alone with your thoughts. Listen to them, challenge them, refine them. Clarity is the rarest form of wealth.

The past is a library of wisdom, the present is a chance to apply it, and the future is a story you get to write. Learn from your yesterdays, live fully in your today, and step boldly into your tomorrows.

Friendships & Relationships

The people you choose to surround yourself with will shape your world. Your friendships and relationships will either elevate you or drain you, push you forward or pull you under. Choose carefully.

Seek friends who uplift, who inspire you to be better, who bring light rather than shadows. True friendships are built on shared values, not convenience. They are rooted in mutual respect, not obligation. The right friends will celebrate your wins, stand by you in losses, and challenge you to grow. They will not envy, manipulate, or keep score.

Beware of those who constantly see themselves as victims; they will pull you into their storms. Watch out for performative kindness. It often masks hidden agendas.

Real kindness is steady, unwavering, and does not demand repayment.

The best people in your life will give without expectation and love without conditions. Be that kind of person for others, and expect the same in return.

When it comes to love, choose wisely. A life partner should complement your soul but also align with your mind.

Passion fades; shared values endure.

Never mistake possessiveness for love or drama for depth.

Love should make you feel both safe and free, not caged or controlled. The right person will add to your life, not consume it.

Understand the power of boundaries. They are not walls to keep people out but filters to let the right ones in. Guard your time, your energy, and your peace. Not everyone deserves access to your heart, and that is perfectly okay. The most meaningful relationships will respect your space, honor your growth, and walk alongside you. Not ahead of or behind you, but beside you.

Surround yourself with people who make you better, who challenge you, who love you as you are but also push you toward who you can become. Relationships should nourish, not deplete. And remember, the most important relationship you will ever have is the one you build with yourself.

And among the deepest, most unshakable bonds you’ll ever have is the one with your little brother.

Chinnu will grow into his own man, but he will always look to you in ways no one else will. Be his guide, his safe place, and his fiercest protector….even when he’s 50.

Siblings are the only people who walk with you from the beginning to the end, so honor that bond with love, patience, and unwavering loyalty.

One day, when Daddy and I are no longer around, he will be the one who remembers your childhood laughter, the parents you both shared, the happy family we built for you guys, your secret languages, and the unspoken love only siblings understand so take care of each other, always.

Strength of Mind, Strength of Spirit

Confidence without competence is an empty promise. It may fool others for a while, but it will never fool life. True confidence—the kind that makes you unshakable—comes from mastery. And mastery is earned, not gifted. If you want to be respected, valued, and truly free, become excellent at something. The world bends to those who are exceptional. Competence will open doors that charm and luck never will.

So how do you become highly skilled? The formula is simple but not easy:

Learn deeply, apply relentlessly, refine endlessly.

Read voraciously. Observe those who are ahead of you. Find teachers, but do not worship them—extract their wisdom, then carve your own path. Most importantly, put your knowledge into action. Thinking about doing something is not the same as doing it.

Most people collect ideas like trinkets; the rare ones use them as tools.

Your body and mind are the foundation of everything you will accomplish.

A weak body leads to a weak mind. A restless mind leads to an unstable spirit.

Train all three.

Stay physically strong: your energy levels determine how far you can push.

Move every day, whether through yoga, weightlifting, running, or anything that keeps you agile.

Your discipline in movement will spill over into every other area of your life.

Meditate. Not for spirituality, not because it is trendy, but because it is the sharpest weapon you can have.

The ability to sit in silence, observe your thoughts, and detach from impulse is what separates the powerful from the lost. When your mind is trained, no external chaos can shake you.

Confidence is not shouting. It is not arrogance. It is not posturing. Real confidence is quiet, because it does not seek validation. It is built on a deep knowing: “I have done the work. I am prepared.” Speak with clarity. Think with precision. Master something difficult. Move with purpose. Let your competence do the talking because the most powerful person in the room is never the loudest, but the one who doesn’t need to prove anything at all.

Taking Action & Recognizing Opportunities

No amount of thinking, reading, or planning can replace doing. The world rewards those who act, not those who wait for the perfect moment. Perfection is an illusion; readiness is a myth. Start before you feel ready, because no one ever truly is. The ones who achieve great things are not necessarily the smartest or the most talented, but the ones who move while others hesitate.

Mastery is not a single leap; it is a thousand deliberate steps.

Remember the 10,000-hour rule.

Excellence is built in increments.

Small, consistent effort compounds into greatness. The difference between those who succeed and those who don’t is simple: the former keep showing up. Even on the days they don’t feel like it. Especially on those days.

Train yourself to see what others overlook. Life-changing opportunities rarely announce themselves. They often come disguised as hard work, unexpected introductions, or challenges that seem too big. Most people avoid discomfort. But if you lean into it, you will find doors where others see walls.

Keep side projects. They are more than hobbies; they are playgrounds for innovation and self-discovery. Your greatest opportunities may come from something you started just for fun.

And start building your network early: relationships, like skills, compound over time. Surround yourself with people who push you forward, not those who keep you comfortable.

The world is in constant motion. If you stand still, you fall behind. The only way to shape your future is to act. Not tomorrow. Not when you have more experience. Now.

The Mindset Pitfalls to Avoid: Strength Begins in the Mind

Blind ambition is a fire without direction. Tt burns hot, but eventually, it consumes itself. Many people chase external milestones: titles, wealth, recognition, without ever asking why. They work themselves to exhaustion, only to realize that achievement without fulfillment feels hollow. The happiest people are not the ones who collect the most trophies, but the ones who find joy in the pursuit itself.

Think of the overworked executive who spends decades climbing the corporate ladder only to feel empty at the top. Or the athlete who wins gold but falls into depression afterward because they never considered what comes next. If you chase goals blindly, you will always be running, but never arriving. Let purpose be your compass. Let ambition serve it; not the other way around.

Never Fall into the Trap of Victimhood

Victimhood is a comfortable prison. It gives you permission to stop trying, to blame the world, to wait for someone else to fix your problems. But here’s the truth: the moment you believe life is happening to you, you give away all your power.

Bad things will happen. People will disappoint you. You might get passed over for opportunities you deserve. It’s unfair, but dwelling on unfairness won’t change it. Instead, train yourself to ask a single, powerful question in every difficult moment:

“What can I control?”

No matter what life throws at you, there is always something within your control: your response, your attitude, your next step. The ones who succeed are not the ones with the easiest path, but the ones who refuse to let obstacles define them.

Take A.R. Rahman, a man who could have easily let tragedy define him. He lost his father at a young age, forcing his family into financial struggles. He could have given up, accepted that life was unfair, and settled for mediocrity. Instead, he used pain as fuel. He worked relentlessly, honed his craft, and became one of the greatest composers the world has ever known. He didn’t sit around waiting for opportunities. He created them.

Had he chosen bitterness over growth, the world would have never heard Roja, Bombay, or Dil Se. He didn’t let his hardships become his excuse; he let them become his motivation.

Life is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.

The Illusion of Being ‘Busy’

Being busy is a socially acceptable form of procrastination. People fill their schedules, jump from meeting to meeting, answer emails at midnight—all to feel productive. But motion is not the same as progress.

Imagine two writers: One spends months outlining, researching, tweaking their notes, but never actually writes. The other writes one page every day. In a year, the first writer has a stack of unfinished plans. The second has a finished book.

Most people are the first writer. They mistake effort for results. The world will tell you to hustle, to grind, to always be doing something but deep work beats endless work. Focus on what truly moves the needle. Ask yourself:

• Is this task getting me closer to my goals, or just making me feel productive?
• Am I measuring my success by outcomes or by how ‘busy’ I look?
• If I stopped doing this today, would anything actually change?

True productivity comes from doing less, but doing it better. Learn to say no to what doesn’t matter so you have the energy to say yes to what does.

Emotional Strength & Kindness

True strength is not in how loudly you can fight back, but in how deeply you can remain unfazed. Kindness carries the most power when you are hurt, betrayed, or angry. It is easy to be kind when life is good. The real test is when someone wounds you….will you react or will you rise?

But let me be clear: kindness is not weakness. Being kind does not mean tolerating disrespect. It does not mean allowing others to take advantage of you. Stand firm in your self-worth. The world respects a woman who is both compassionate and unyielding. Be the one who forgives, but never forgets. Be the one who helps, but never at the cost of her own dignity.

There will be moments when people misunderstand you. Some will try to manipulate you. Others will mistake your warmth for naivety. Let them. The world underestimates quiet strength. Use that to your advantage.

The secret to becoming wise is simple: listen more than you speak. Empathy and curiosity will make you powerful in ways brute force never can. Everyone you meet has a story, a battle they are fighting. Seek to understand before you seek to be understood. The more you listen, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you grow.

And if you ever wonder whether kindness is worth it, remember this your energy is your legacy. Long after people forget your words, they will remember how you made them feel.

The Strength of Your Spirit & Training Your Mind

A weak mind trapped in a strong body is still a cage. A sharp mind housed in a weak body is still a limitation. True power: the kind that bends reality to your will—comes from strengthening both. Your spirit is the bridge between them.

Your mind is the lens through which you experience the world. Train it well, and life becomes an endless playground of possibility. Leave it untrained, and even the smallest challenges will feel like insurmountable obstacles. If you can control your mind, you can control everything.

Meditation: The Superpower of Stillness

Most people live in reaction mode, chained to their thoughts, their emotions, the noise of the world. Meditation is the practice of breaking those chains. It is not just about closing your eyes and sitting still. It is about sharpening your awareness until your thoughts obey you, rather than the other way around.

Even five minutes of silence each morning can rewire your brain. It teaches you to observe rather than react, to create rather than consume. A still mind is a deadly advantage in a chaotic world. The greatest leaders, the sharpest minds, and the most successful people whether warriors, scientists, or artists, have all understood this: clarity is the ultimate weapon.

Yoga: Mastery Over Mind and Body

Yoga is not just stretching. It is not just fitness. It is mastery. Every pose, every movement, every breath is an act of control over your own being. Strengthen your body, not for vanity, but for endurance, for vitality, for command over yourself. A weak body tires easily; a strong one moves through the world like an unstoppable force.

Your posture, your flexibility, your balance….all of it influences your energy, your focus, your confidence. A slouched back leads to a sluggish mind. An open chest, a steady stance….these create presence. A strong body carries a strong spirit.

Movement: Energy in Motion

The most successful people understand that their mind operates at its peak when their body is in motion. Stagnation is death. If you want clarity, if you want success, move your body. Run, lift, stretch, fight. Whatever you choose, let movement become a daily ritual.

Look at history’s greatest minds—Leonardo da Vinci, Nietzsche, Tesla—they all walked for hours, understanding that thinking happens best when the body is engaged. Strength is not just about survival; it is about showing up to life with energy, with presence, with power.

Breath: The Hidden Key to Mastery

Your breath is the single most powerful tool you have, and yet most people never master it. Shallow breaths create shallow thinking. Deep breaths create depth. When you control your breath, you control your emotions. When you control your emotions, you control your decisions. When you control your decisions, you control your life.

Before battle, warriors steadied their breath. Before performing, artists calmed their nerves with breath. The secret has been in front of humanity for centuries, yet few truly understand it. Breathe deeply, fully, with intention. This alone will change your life.

The Unshakable Spirit

Strength—real strength—is not about brute force. It is about presence. A powerful spirit is unshaken by storms because it has trained for them. A disciplined mind does not break under pressure; it sharpens. A well-trained body does not tire easily; it moves with purpose.

If you master your mind, your body, and your spirit, you will walk through life like a force of nature. Unstoppable. Unshaken. Unbreakable.

How to Be a High-Value Woman

My love, you are in nursery now, and soon, you will step into kindergarten. It feels like just yesterday you were learning to walk, and now, you run toward the world with curiosity and confidence. Every time I look at you, I see the makings of a high-value woman….not because of what you will achieve, but because of who you already are.

A high-value woman does not need the world’s validation to feel worthy; she knows her worth. She does not wait to be chosen; she chooses herself every day. She walks with quiet confidence, not because she needs attention, but because she is deeply secure in who she is.

True femininity is not about being soft, nor is strength about being hard. You can be both gentle and unbreakable, kind and firm, graceful and powerful. Strength does not mean never bending it means bending without breaking. True power is knowing when to stand your ground and when to walk away.

One day, the world will try to tell you what a woman should be. It will place expectations, labels, and pressures on you. But my love, you do not have to fit into any mold. You can lead without force, influence without manipulation, and succeed without losing yourself.

You will meet people who mistake kindness for weakness; prove them wrong. Be kind anyway, but never at the cost of your self-respect. Set boundaries without guilt. Walk away from anything that dims your light. Protect your peace as fiercely as you chase your dreams.

A high-value woman leaves every space better than she found it. Whether through her words, her actions, or simply her presence, she uplifts, inspires, and creates change; not by demanding power, but by embodying it.

And my love, I already see this in you. You are powerful, you are radiant, and you are enough….exactly as you are.

Life is long, but it moves fast. Today, as you step into a new stage, know that you are already capable of greatness. This letter is just a guide; the real journey is yours to walk. I will always be here, cheering you on.

With all my love,

Amma