As you grow older, you get wiser. Goes the saying. I would say, ‘as you grow older, there are more people who walk into your life and make you wiser’.

Likewise, I would say, everyone who had walked into my life have made me wiser. I will not get into the debate of if I’m wiser today than I was yesterday, but albeit, I’ve gained more experience today than yesterday.

I think I’ll throw layers of cordons to explain it.

The first layer of cordon houses my parents and sisters, who shaped my life during the initial years of my life. I think this is the most crucial phase of life of upbringing and has a lasting impact on my personality. This phase has a crucial 20% (hypothetically) of your life.

Within this circle is my wife, who spend the rest of my life with me. She molds my life, helps in shaping our life, emotionally, socially, and professionally. This is for the rest of my life (80% hypothetically).

I would put my friends, definitely into this first circle. They are the pillars of my life. I was fortunate to have a bunch of friends, who shared the same idiosyncrasies . A couplet from Chanakya explains it best:

“उत्सवे व्यसने च, दुर्भिक्षे राष्ट्रविप्लवे च, राजद्वारे श्मशाने च तिष्ठति स एव बान्धवः” (Chanakya: 375 BCE)

Which means, ‘in celebration, in famine, in rebellion, in the court of the king, and in the cremation ground, the one who stand by your side is a true friend’. And my friends fit to this definition.

The next cordon would have my in-laws, who have a lasting impact on my wife, hence me. I would put my neighbors also into this circle. They can somewhat fit into the definition of a friend, mentioned above.

The next cordon would house my professional circle. My colleagues, clients, vendors, etc. They teach me how to handle situations, how to improve your skill to stay relevant. It challenges your intellectual faculties.

Then the last circle consists of those who visited in my life perhaps once or twice, with no motive or purpose, but have made lasting impression.

To conclude I may say, there must have been hundreds of people I have crossed in my life, I would say all of them must have contributed in varying degrees to make me wiser.