Friday, August 29, 2008

We too need A CHANGE

Just look around :
  • Floods in Bihar – a natural calamity or a man-made catastrophe for being irresponsible to our environment ?
  • Jammu and Kashmir – the state hit a new low
  • Communal violence in Orissa
  • Tata Nano project is a project of international relevance. It may our own ‘Ford T model’. But politicians will not allow the project to go beyond personal egos and look at common good.
  • There are other pockets of problems, such as the sign-board issue raised in Mumbai, etc. !!

    What is the root cause ? I think it is failure of our Political Leadership.
    Whose fault ? Our fault. We were irresponsible ; else incompetent politicians would not have been our leaders.
    Solution ? this is not easy. We need to be responsible. Need to feel empowered. Need to wholeheartedly accept Gandhian values such as non-violence, Satyagraha.. BE proactive.
    We can not wait for next election ( panchayat/municipal/state/national) to punish one set of politicians to be replaced with another set in their musical chairs.

Camel Race in Jordan

Camel in Middle East is more than a mere animal.

This animal is so much an integral part of desert life.

Among other things, camel used to the main source of transportation, till cars entered the scene.Check out the link for info on Camel race in Jordan, ME

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/index2.php?option=com_gallery&id=528709&img=0&mment=p

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Let us live frugally

The author has defined frugality as
•Acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner.
•Resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services, to achieve a longer term goal.

We can still live well, but yet be frugal

Master calls it CEILING ON DESIRES... we owe it to this world, to our future generations and to ourselves

For the full article: http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080821/OPINION/619066641/1080

Olympics trivia

McDonalds in China
Ø Has focused on the traditional menu
Ø Offer Corn Cup with Happy Meals
Ø Condiments, different, reflecting local spices
Ø Focussed on traditional menu, emphasizing on beef, as beef is a luxury to many in china, and suggest success and virility !!!

A city in USA is planning to ban setting up new fast food joint.
World has tried to reduce the number of smokers through persuasion, but failed miserably.

Mac went ahead with aggressive promos, trying to get more customers and increasing consumption from existing customers :)

It is our choice - to eat or not to eat, junk food !

London 'School of Life'

The Maser says EDUCATION IS FOR LIFE... ( not for living)
We study...end up working and making a life.. but, we forget 'life' or 'art of living'.

Now a group of artists, writers and intellectuals has launched a new "university" in London, to help those too tied up with work to appreciate the finer things in life, like art, books and travel.
  • 'a chemistfor the mind' to dispense 'cultural solutions to everyday ailments'
  • operates out of a small shop in Bloomsbury, an arty district in central London
  • has a large free lance faculty
  • will cover subjects such as Life, work, family and politics
  • faculty will draw ideas from philosophy, psychoanalysis, literature and art. will try to discover what Plato, Shakesphere, Tolstoy and Freud had to say on compassion, empathy and self life
  • also on topics such as importance of punctuality, what books to read, etc.
How beautiful ! God bless them

Monday, August 18, 2008

Relationships

India lost the cricket match. No action at Beijing... Oprah show continue to be relevant.
  • Guest spoke about the integrity of her partner, over and above honesty...'her partner oozes integrity', she says !
  • She also took the discussion to capture the essence of a relationship: rise to a SPIRITUAL level

A Value System that cuts across all cultures and all relationships...

Saturday, August 16, 2008

My Raksha Bandhan message

Repeat : Satu Makela-Nummela of Finland, a 36-year-old mother of two, won the women's Trap gold medal in her maiden Olympic appearance.

A new online survey by Bayt and YouGovSiraj
- collected information from more than 2,600 women across MENA
- 41 percent of working women in the MENA region feel they have a lower chance of being promoted than their male colleagues
- nearly 50 per cent feel that they receive less pay than their male counterparts.
- nearly 30 per cent said that they were dissatisfied with their jobs

A feature in NDTV showed how some working women have opted out of their jobs and chose to be a Home-maker. They feel it was their choice. They were happy about it
(In fact, this is a new segment being tapped by the malls!)

Ultimately it is the question of proper evaluation of options, clarity on priorities and then, making a choice.

Oprah show carried an interview with Shriver. An important message was women should take out time for themselves. ( I would add, also MEDITATE)

"Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe" Oprah Winfrey

Mother of two also wins a gold

Satu Makela-Nummela of Finland, a 36-year-old mother of two, won the women's Trap gold medal in her maiden Olympic appearance.
  • "It is amazing," said Makela-Nummela. "I did not believe I would win today.
  • "I could not concentrate in the final because I was thinking of home. But it's good I did not think of the results or who was breathing down my neck.
  • "That made sure I was not under any pressure."

She is having best of both worlds !

Abhinav Bindra

India wins first ever solo Olympic gold, says a report in this part of the world. Some other points were inspiring ...:

  • "It's the best feeling of my life," said an elated Bindra, a winner of India's highest sporting award, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (sports jewel), in 2001.
  • "I was just trying to concentrate on shooting, I was not thinking about making history.
  • "For me life will go on. All my life I have just been punching holes in a blank piece of paper target". I think that is the secret behind his success... Focus and Descipline
  • "But I sincerely hope this win will change the face of Olympic sport in India. In our country, Olympic sports are not really a priority, I hope now they will get more attention." Indeed, we need to go beyond Cricket. Jeev Milkha Singh, Vishy Anand, etc deserves more from us, the sports-crazy nation !

You can check out his blog from my list of blogs ...(http://abhinavbindra.blogspot.com/)

Happiness

HAPPINESS !!! We all want to be happy. But how many of us are truly happy…? One of my senior colleagues would say, ‘happiness is a state of mind’. Indeed, but how many of us are aware of it ? How many of us are able to reach that level too… ?

Happiness is key to longer life, says a report. How many of us want long life ? What we want is ‘happy life’ – long or short ! Some excerpts from the report:

- Happiness does not heal, buyt protects against falling ill. ( Acc to Ruut Veenhoven of Rotterdam’s Eramus Univ)
o I always believed in this. I feel, if we are mentally low, higher are the chances of falling ill. Perhaps our immune system is linked to ‘the state of mind’. I have personally experienced this more than once.
o At the same time, once ill, then I go thru some kind of internal cleansing. This is because I end up reading spiritual books and listening to devotional music.
- Growth in material wealth loses its charm and does not add to happiness once the threshold level of $ 10,000 a year per head, is reached.
- Happiness can be bolstered by friendship & human community. Also, freedom, democracy, rule of law etc.

So, BE HAPPY !!

If you want to transform the world, to promote all-round prosperity in the country, pray that "All people should be happy." – Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Leaders in India Business Forum 2008

If leadership is your area of interest too... check out this




http://www.leaders-india.com/?gclid=CIjp2MGFk5UCFRLRugodd3lDgw

Friday, August 15, 2008

Happy Independence Day

Greetings to all Indians, in India, outside India, and all people world-wide who understand INDIA

Dr Singh next PM?

Sonia Gandhi would have surprised many a politician by clearly indicating Dr Singh would be Congress' prime ministerial candidate. It is an unusual announcement, for Congress especially, even before the elections ! Mrs Gandhi has always surprised by her smart moves.

Dr Singh has the image of a 'Mr Clean'. India, known for its brain-power, truly deserves an educated person to be its PM. But, though Dr Singh can not be expected to become a 'politician', we expect him to be an aggressive Leader. For this he need not be a 'politician'. He exhibited some streaks of that right aggression in taking a stand in the nuclear issue, indicating he was willing to risk the survival of his government. He can count on the experienced people and more importantly the young brige, including Rahul Gandhi, Pilot, Scindia, etc.

He needs to be a strong Leader

Monday, August 11, 2008

Life at K

11 Aug 08 :

All TV channels went overboard to talk about the fantastic success of Abhinav Bindra ( I am proud of his achievement, as per my earlier posting). After dinner, good old maggi noodles, I kept surfing the channels.

The movie on Star Gold was one of those movies I wanted to see, but had not been able to... The Morning Raga. The story was fantastic. Shabana and all other senior actors did a great job. But the lead pair were not as good. The photography and the choice of location, awesome ! Music was good too. Well narrated...

The main strength of the movie was its story-line. Story of the lady who had to endure the loss of her son and her good friend. Also, the guilt of the 'responsibility' for her friend's death. It was also the story of another ABHI, the lead actor !

We all get stuck with past and find it impossible to overcome it and go forward. Indeed, Master rightly says, FORGET THE PAST, LIVE IN THE PRESENT

Abhinav Bindra

The hero is back home....
News channels have been chasing AB ( 'AB' has a magic !) right from airport to Rashtrapathi Bhavan and thereafter...
AB has earned a new nickname, 'MONK' ! I continue to be impressed by his composure. A true winner !

11 Aug 08

We won all earlier golds in team event, hockey. Yes, a team sport… Great!
To achieve as a team is indeed more important than to win as an individual, a la Japanese Management funda...

While the hockey team failed to qualify and as the cricketers went down to Sri Lanka or Ajantha Mendis, someone else did India proud.

Abhinav Bindra has won India’s maiden gold in an Olympic individual event. While the world around him went crazy, he remained cool as a cucumber. That was just cool!

The best wishes of a billion people are with Abhinav for his future success.. . .

Sunday, August 10, 2008

With a little help from my friends on NDTV

I had observed the rushes of the program earlier and wanted to see it. Why ?

Aamir is an active blogger !
Amir is a good actor. He is a great artist…
He takes a stand as a responsible citizen
His ensures even his ads clearly has his unique stamp of identity – whether coke and titan earlier.. or titan and Samsung now..
He has the guts to make a film such as Taare Zameer Par

I do not experiment with films, esp in theatres. At home, you can just walk away/switch off if bored. When I checked on T-Z-P among my friends, everyone gave ‘five stars’.
As I sat through the movie, there were so many occasions I struggled to keep my emotions under control. Very few movies have ever made such an impact on me. Hats off to Amir!

The movie captured the struggle of a dyslexic child. Also, that of his family… Just sit back and reflect on our childhood. Every one of us suffers from some form of dyslexia… Only the degree varies. We push our child to be the No.1, a Sachin ( in cricket) or a Hrithik, as Amir rightly said. But, then every child is unique. Every child is actually God’s gift…( till he grows up :))

As one of the panelists said, WE SHOUD DISCOVER OUR CHILD

Interestingly, 15 % of world population suffers from (not disability), but gift of Dyslexia.
Few names of dyslexic people who were lucky to blossom into higher levels of greatness:
Ø Picasso, Beethoven, Da Vinci,
Ø Carl Lewis, Richard Branson, Agatha Christie
Ø Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise.

Indeed, the challenge is to accept, through love/understanding help the child to achieve self confidence… then achievement is automatic.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Daily Inspirations

Take time to look around. . . it is too short a day to be selfish

Surfing the tv channels, stopped at Oprah Winfrey Show. Guest was Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love : One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia.

She writes. "I wanted to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two."

Her Change Your Mantra
  • Write down happiest moment of day... everyday ! ( Self affirmations? )
  • Refine... ( set bar higher ?)

Learning

Oliver Wendell Holmes, "a mind once exposed to a new idea will never return to it's original dimensions." Powerful thought there.

When you are exposed to a new idea in a book that you read, whether you really get that idea consciously or not, you are not the same person you were before you picked up that book. At some level, you have changed. You see the world a little differently. You have grown.

So read for a change. Stay hungry for learning. Always be curious. And keep raising the bar.

Source : Robins blog

Friday, August 08, 2008

DID YOU MEDITATE TODAY?

Aug 29, 2008

"Meditation increases your vitality and strengthens your intelligence; your beauty is enhanced; your mental clarity and health improve. You acquire the patience and fortitude to face any problem in life. So, meditate! Only through meditation will you find the treasure you are seeking." — Mata Amritanandamayi

"Meditation gives you an opportunity to come to know your invisible self. It allows you to empty yourself of the endless hyperactivity of your mind, and to attain calmness. It teaches you to be peaceful, to remove stress, to receive answers where confusion previously reigned." — Dr. Wayne Dyer


08/08/08 !!

MEDITATION



Meditation is a favourite topic.

One of my fav quotes on mediation is Dr Deepak Chopra's : India gave meditation to the world, but today how many Indians practise it ?

Got this forward from a friend, titled SOLITUDE

Most people have never practiced solitude. Most people have never sat down quietly by themselves for any period of time in their entire lives. Most people are so busy being busy, doing something-even watching television-that it's highly unusual for them to simply sit, deliberately, and do nothing.

Catherine Ponder points out, "Men and women begin to become great when they begin to take time quietly by themselves, when they begin to practice solitude." And here's the method you can use.

From jet-setter to everlasting love, achieve it all, just by simplifying your life.

Do you ever wonder how successful people always seem to get so much done, but also have time to do the things they love? Do you often wonder "how do they do it?"

Now imagine yourself living the life YOU'VE always dreamed of; stress free and truly happy. This dream, can become a reality, and it's as simple as removing the clutter from your life and taking control!

To get the full benefit of your periods of solitude, you must sit quietly for at least 30 to 60 minutes at a time. If you haven't done it before, it will take the first 25 minutes or so for you to stop fidgeting and moving around.

You'll almost have to hold yourself physically in your seat. You'll have an almost irresistible desire to get up and do something. But you must persist.

Solitude requires that you sit quietly, perfectly still, back and head erect, eyes open, without cigarettes, candy, writing materials, music or any interruptions whatsoever for at least 30 minutes. An hour is better.

Become completely relaxed, and breathe deeply. Just let your mind flow. Don't deliberately try to think about anything. The harder you "don't try," the more powerfully it works. After 20 or 25 minutes, you'll begin to feel deeply relaxed. You'll begin to experience a flow of energy coming into your mind and body.

You'll have a tremendous sense of well-being. At this point, you'll be ready to get the full benefit of these moments of contemplation.

The River of Ideas : The incredible thing about solitude is that if it is done correctly, it works just about 100 percent of the time. While you're sitting there, a stream, a river, of ideas will flow through your mind. You'll think about countless subjects in an uncontrolled stream of consciousness. Your job is just to relax and listen to your inner voice.

At a certain stage during your period of solitude, the answers to the most pressing difficulties facing you will emerge quietly and clearly, like a boat putting gently to the side of a lake. The answer that you seek will come to you so clearly and it will feel so perfect that you'll experience a deep sense of gratitude and contentment.

Trusting Yourself : When you emerge from this period of quiet, you must do exactly what has come to you. It may involve dealing with a human situation. It may involve starting something or quitting something. Whatever it is, when you follow the guidance that you received in solitude, it will turn out to be exactly the right thing to do. Everything will be OK. And it will usually work out far better than you could have imagined. Just try it and see.

You must learn to trust yourself. You must develop the habit of listening to yourself and then acting on the guidance you receive.

Action Exercises : Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

1. Select a specific time and place to sit quietly and practice one full hour of solitude. Don't put it off.
2. Take small periods of silence and solitude during the day, especially when you feel overwhelmed with problems or responsibilities.
3. Take action immediately on the ideas and insights you receive while in solitude. One good idea can save you months and years of hard work. The key is trust.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Hamster


One of the joys in life is PARENTING... one of the joys of my son, is his pet... or pets. First it was to get his fish tank. Once it landed, then it was for his next one. First it was demand for a dog. ( One of fondest memories of late childhood is my petdog, FUSSY)
I was familiar with dog, cat, fish, birds, etc as an pet-option. Was not familiar with a Hamster!! As a pair of hamsters become part of the extended family ( Vasudevakom kudumbakam!), I explore the world of hamsters...
  • Hamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 18 species, classified in six or seven genera.

  • The name hamster is derived from the German word Hamster

  • They are used as lab animals, as 'easy to breed' !

  • They are most active around dusk and dawn, which has led many people to mistake them for being nocturnal. Their diet contains a variety of foods, including dried food, berries, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables. In the wild they will eat any wheat, nuts and small bits of

  • fruit and vegetables that they might find lying around on the ground, and will occasional eat small insects such as small crickets or mealworms. They have elongated fur-lined pouches on both sides of their heads which extend to their shoulders, which they stuff full of food to be brought back to the colony or to be eaten later.

These info are from internet... The couple have been named Akbar and Jodha ( this is better than Amir Khan's dog's name... what is there in a name?)














Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Quit Smoking

Superstar Shahrukh has resolved to quit smoking... why ? For the sake of his children. Great !
He was earlier criticised for smoking in films & outside. May be, he would have 'inspired' many of his young fans to flaunt a cigarette qand got addicted.... They will, most likely, not quit along with him !!! Neverthless, 'better late, than never' !

We have a responsibility for the world around us...

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."- John Quincy Adams

Saturday, August 02, 2008

friend

"Who is a friend? It is someone with whom you dare to be yourself"- Frank Crane

Interesting !