Ashwini Bhat

Quote for the day

2009-04-22T12:43:00.001+04:00

Quote for the day: " Four things come not back: the spoken word, the spent arrow, the past, and the neglected opportunity " by Omar Idn Al-Halif

Loss!

2009-04-17T19:11:00.003+04:00

When my father suddenly passed away, I thought I was emotionally strong. Despite knowing that it is the cycle of life, knowing that "the aim of life is death", it still evokes very strong emotions.

Recently, a friend's baby boy, old 2 days, passed away. A normal and healthy baby, gets the milk into his lungs, passes away in sleep! Even, before the parents realised their bundle of joy, the joy had turned to inconsolable sorrow. 9 months of anxiousness, expectations, emotions, joy, and all it lasts is for 2 days as joy and sorrow for lifetime. How can one come to terms with this? I don't know!

Mental Sickness/Psychological disorder

2009-02-12T20:46:00.002+04:00

This is one of my first posts on Counselling though I have much more interest in the subject than depicted on this blog.

Contrary to the popular belief, mental sickness troubles more people than any other physical illness. It is just that the symptoms are not openly visible. Also, the other misconception is that people who visit the psychologist or have been diagnosed with any mental illness are all mad.

What is mental sickness/Psychological disorder?
Mental sickness is just a state of mind, where people tend to show an uncommon behaviour at a given situation. There are many scientific definitions available for the same that are easily available on the internet. The common ones are Depression, over possessive, split personality etc.

What causes Mental Sickness?
Childhood. Any heart ache has its roots in childhood experiences and is very closely related to the family. The cause could be separation, or neglect or as silly as not been given with something. Most common cause is the feeling of “being neglected” and “not given due importance”. The child tries to do things to get attention. When s/he doesn’t get the due attention repeatedly, they start trying new means like shouting, screaming, self hurting to be noticed. Over a period of time when the child doesn’t get what he wants, he gradually finds out ways to ensure that s/he gets what is required.

Most of the time people around this troubled child ignore the symptoms as childhood pangs. And as child starts growing s/he gets used to the system and occasionally exhibits the symptoms or when provoked with a situation that warrants them to.

When is the mental sickness recognized?
There is no specific point at which the problem explodes or recognized. Generally it is some incident or reoccurrence of a similar situation that provokes suppressed behaviour to be exhibited.

For ex., if a child had been neglected in his childhood by his parents, such a child develops the habit of being extremely possessive. And any thing that is important to that child becomes a possession. The thing could be a toy or pet or someone as a close friend. The child will exhibit a completely different behaviour when separated from that important thing. Then for that child having that toy/friend/pet is the only primary aim. S/he can do anything to retain the target in his possession. The possessive behaviour can be in extremes (often exhibited as second personality) and they forget to see if the toy is broken or friend/pet is hurt due to their possession.

What is the cure?
Though there is no one particular cure for mental sickness, these days there are medical remedies available. One important factor in the cure is the Determination and Positive Attitude of the patient to cure himself from the problem. If a person has no determination the medical remedies either become a short term remedy or a quick fix solution that will not completely cure the illness.

Family Support
People suffering from such disorders need an extra ordinary amount of support from the family depending on the problem. In some cases, where the patient exhibits a severe kind of disorder, it becomes a highest degree of punishment to the family and most often the family gives up.

For ex., a person who is extremely possessive, life becomes hell for the person who is being possessed. Generally it is the person’s girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse and has to just do whatever is expected by the patient and nothing else. The patient will neither accept that he has a problem and get it cured nor will let the target/victim go easily. Finally, the victim will get so much troubled by the patient that s/he will not be able to support any more. They will be left with no choice but flee from that patient. This is just one example of an extreme case.

More will follow.

Beginning – The process to come to an End

2009-02-10T21:07:00.000+04:00

Most of the time, we start a new journey or activity with initial apprehensions or reservations along with positive thoughts. As we progress further in the activity or indulge more, we start getting hints if it is going to be accomplished as planned. Initial hiccups and setbacks though are the stepping stones for the success they also decide how well these are addressed and the vibes (positive or negative) they send.

If the stepping stones are not laid properly, it is sure to fail the success one day, isn’t it? Imagine a series of steps. If a couple of steps are not proper, you can adjust with them to move up and down. But if the steps are laid dangerously, they will definitely cause a fall.

Similarly, as we progress in the activity selected, we start realising how soon or later it is going to come to an end. Of course, there will be some major decisions; surprises that might lead you to a decision to end the activity, but most of the times the decision to end will not be a complete surprise. Small, sometimes ignorable experiences/feelings through-out that period will aid the surprise and decision to end the activity.

So, beginning actually is a beginning to an end, right?

Quote for the day!

2009-01-29T14:05:00.000+04:00

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg

Coming Back to blogging

2008-09-01T13:36:00.001+04:00

I am going to break my blog-silence and make a come back... soon.

Transition from Life to Lifeless

2008-04-09T15:00:00.001+04:00

A fraction of second! A fraction of second is all it took to see the person who gave life to me, who taught life to me, lying in my arms, “lifeless”. No time to know what happened, no time to do anything to retain that “life” in himself.

A second before, he was there, full of dreams, thoughts, plans for all the time to come. And in a fraction of second, all those dreams, plans ceased to exist.

The impact of this transition is cruel.

10 minutes after that massive cardiac arrest, we reach the hospital to seek help to keep him alive. And the first thing people around, in the hospital, refer to him as “Body”. Before even the doctor saw my dad, people around, certified him lifeless!

15 minutes later, the doctor certified that my dad is dead. My dad is no more in possession of his life. 8.45AM 9th February, he was declared dead. The day had just begun, signalling the end of my dad’s life.

He did not respond to his wife’s touch, his daughter’s or his son-in-law’s call.

40 minutes later, my dad was lying lifeless in the car, as we travelled to reach home.

4 hours later, the Eye surgeon, cut his eyes, in open. He did not cry out of pain.

8 hours later, the priest referred to him as “preta”. He did not deny. It took 12 days to certify that he is now a soul, resting in peace.

9 hours later, he was put on the pyre. He didn’t complain.

9 hours before, He dreamt, He planned, He lived.

His journey of 58 years ends. Not only His dreams end, but also our dreams with him come to a ruthless end. None of us thought that he would go away, never to return.

All it took is a fraction of second!

Paradoxes of our times...

2007-12-14T12:53:00.001+04:00

We have taller buildings but shorter tempers,
wider roads but narrower view points.
We spend more but have less,
buy more but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families,
more conveniences but less time.
We have more degrees but less sense,
more knowledge but less judgment,
more experts yet more problems,
more medicines but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much,
spend recklessly, laugh too little,
drive too fast, get too angry,
stay up too late, get up too tired,
read too little, watch TV too much,
and pray too seldom

We have learned how to make a living, not a life
We have added years to life, not life to years,
We have been all the way to moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.
We have conquered the outer space, but not inner space.
We have done larger things, but not better things.

We plan more, but accomplish less.
We have learned to rush, but not to wait.
We have more information, but we communicate less and less…

– George Carlin

Realising One's Importance

2007-08-24T08:32:00.000+04:00

You would have heard many a times, especially, when a person has gone, people around start praising the out-going person's good deeds. It could also happen that the person who's praising most would been the one passing critical comemnts all the time! Remember, the old bollywood movies where the step mother's crying over missing son/daugther?

Most of us have the tendency to realise one's potential only in that person's absence - what we call "Missing you" syndrome! :)

I am not talking of the "missing you" syndrome enjoyed by the couples.

I am mentioning about the one's that are more serious. Some examples are:

1. When a manager/company ignores your potential, you tend to think that, if you leave the company, the company/manager will realise your importance.

2. In a forced relation, whatever good you do, the opposite person fails to recognize it. At times you feel, that probably if you leave this relation, your importance will be recognized.

Given any situation, a company or an individual, one will realise the potential if he intends to. He will give his best try or shot, to get the right results. And a person/manager who has his eyes closed to the potential, will not learn even in your absence.

"Out of sight, out of mind". They will just forget you.

Next time, you face a situation like this, try your best, and all the possibilities to prove what's right. After one stage, it's better You realise that the other person is not going to understand your worth and look for other avenues.

Being Tagged

2007-06-28T07:36:00.000+04:00

I have been tagged by Nimmy. Being tagged for the first time, I feel a little odd to write 8 things about myself. I will give it a sincere try.

1. A nature lover, I am and act like a small kid even at the smallest change the nature shows. Be it the first rain of the season, or a slight pleasant weather or a little greenery in the garden I behave as though I am seeing it for the first time! :)

2. People find it surprising to hear me appreciate about them. I find it difficult to appreciate a person's acheivement, in person. I can shower loads of appreciation in their absence to a friend or others based on judgement.

3. I always try to find good in a person I see and try to ignore small things unless they become a threat. I derive this habit from a story from Mahabharat, told by my favorite teacher which, has left a long lasting behavioral tract in me.

Dronacharya, the Guru, tells Yudhishtira and Duryodhana, the eldest of the two
families, to go around the world and see the people. They go and come back. Teacher
asks them what they saw.

Duryodhana replies "I could see ONLY bad everywhere. Everyone has at least one bad habit".
And, Yudhishtira replies "The world is filled with goodness, everywhere. There was not a single
person, who did not have at least one good habit"

4. People interest me. The colorful ways of life, cultures, language, rituals, make me yearn for more. Wherever I go, I try to learn and understand the local life.

5. Simple living, high thinking is what I believe in. Again, this was the same teacher, a Gandhian, who taught me. He taught us English, while he himself knew Urdu and couple of other foreign languages like French and Russian. Being a staunch, old styled Brhamin, he could read verses of Quran, with ease. He was 70+ while he taught us in high-school and continued to do till he was around 85!

6. I don't like fraud and fanatiscm, in any form.

7. Music(specially, instrumental) and dance take me to another world. Like Nimmy, I am waiting for the next birth to be a singer. Hopefully, I will be one! :)

8. I seek and profess "balance". Very rarely, I get obsessive about something and over do it. One miss among them, is sweets. I LOVE sweets.

Now, the best part comes - tagging others. Here I go with my list. I can't force anyone in this list, to continue with this chain, though!

Lokesh Pant: Lokesh is lively and open about his thoughts which he shares in his Open perspective blog.

Apoorv Durga: With his simple but witty remarks he takes people by awe! He shares his Random thoughts on ECM space.

Shishank: Shishank pens his thoughts on PCM Space.

Bharat Sagar: Of dreams and acheivements is what Bharat speaks out in his Living Dreamz blog.

The rules are:
-Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
-People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules. -At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Of perfumes and Magnetic Theory...

2007-06-22T10:57:00.001+04:00

Going by the recent perfume ads, it's purely a modified version of the magnetic law - "Opposites attract".

They show that a woman is attracted by the strong, manly perfume used by men and vice versa. Why?

Because it's innate quality of humans. They expect the innate qualities of a gender when they see in person. A man, for example gets attracted with a faminine perfume used by a woman especially, when he sees other faminine qualities in that woman. The ad's portray this in a very subtle manner. Have you ever seen an ad which portrays a normal woman using the perfume? No. It's always the prettiest female model in the question. And same is the case with perfumes for men.

What's only highlighted in the ad is perfume's fragrance and the law of magnetism. And we forget to see the rest!

Best Blogs in India

2007-06-21T13:00:00.001+04:00

Amit Agarwal has maintained the best blogs in India compiled by him based on certain parameters. It features Nimmy's blog too!

Facts about Relationship

2007-06-14T09:54:00.000+04:00

Any relation has the following four basic points:
1. Love
2. Understanding
3. Responsibility
4. Respect

The levels of the basic points in each relation vary.
For example, you might be close with a friend, but you might think that he/she is not responsibile. You might not show the same level of love to a stranger when compared to your family members.

The levels of these four pillars in any relation are bound to change with individuals. But when we call someone close, like family members, the height of these pillars should be tall for a long lasting relation. If any of the pillar is uneven, then the relation constructed on these four pillars is going to dilly-dally, often.

Every pillar, has it's own importance. And the right amount of it is required in each relation. Again, too much of love with no responsibility will not help in sustaining the relation, for example.

Next time, you have a crack in the relation, which you think is important, check which pillar is going weak and correct it.

Call Center for Farmers!

2007-05-15T12:49:00.000+04:00

I read in one of the articles in India Today. It says that Govt has started a Call Center/Contact center for the farmers! They offer level 1 and level 2 support to the farmers and also provide loans, education etc. They have 14 centers all over India and look forward to increase the number. They have a toll free no. 1551 for the farmers to ask any kind of questions related to farming! A very good move! Hope this grows and helps a lot of farmers!

Weekend sleeping!

2007-05-14T14:14:00.000+04:00

As we complete the week, we look forward for long sleeping hours during the weekend. An article says that this kind of sleep is not going to substitute the lost sleep.

It's like you skip two meals of the day and then during the night you try to eat what you have missed. This is going to cause indigestion. And the same happens when you miss sleep and then yearn to compensate it during the weekend.

Body needs 6-8 hours of sound sleep everyday. That's it. Not more than that. If you inculcate the habit of over-sleeping, then you will lead yourself into the problems of sleeplessness, laziness, headache and so on!

Time to change our belief! Wake up and smell the cup of coffee! Hear the chirps of birds and smell the freshness of the nature at 6.00am in the morning!

Doing Right and Doing Good!

2007-05-11T14:03:00.000+04:00

These are the two terms which are interchanged often.

Doing Right: It's something one is responsible to do and has to commit doing it.
Doing Good: It's beyond one's responsibility, and doing it the right way.

There's a big difference between these two. Use it right next time! :)

World's Worst Attrocities & Leadership!

2007-04-27T12:45:00.000+04:00

I got to read "World's Worst Attrocities" accidentally. The author has tried to explain in subtle way about the horrendous crimes man has committed through ages and some as recently as 1970's.

And most often it were the zealot leaders who, to satisfy their ego and false prestige, lead such attrocities for years.

It reminds me of one thing I had learnt in school. Tools are provided for the convinience of humans. How to use it, is solely dependent on the person who uses it. For eg, Knife is a tool. It can be used for aiding man in cutting blunt things or can be used for negative things like killing/hurting others.

Similarly, if you consider leadership qualities as a tool, it's usage can be done for getting positive or negative results! It's high time man learns to behave himself! :)

Button Rose!

2007-04-27T12:31:00.000+04:00

A beautiful button rose grown at home!

Bienvenue Monsieur et Madame

2006-12-26T23:31:00.001+04:00

Bonjour!

Thats French! :) I didn't know! French, known for their "From French, For French, and By French" still remain the same though change has started creeping in the city of Paris!

Smaller towns still live the true French spirit with very little or no sign of English! French accent and pronounciation is completely different! Interesting!

A few interesting things about French:
1. French are very fast and most often the vowels at the end of a word are not at all pronounced.
2. Pronouncing "R" is very difficult for them.
3. No pronounciation of "H"
4. "A" pronounced as "A"(first swara) of Sanskrit/Hindi
5. "I" pronounced as English "e"
6. "E" pronounced as English '"a"

Aware of "Kundapur Kannada" - a Kannada dialect spoken by a few districts in the north coast of Karnataka. To understand this Kannada you have to where to eat, devour and skip the phonetics! Very similar is French.

Looks like there are many similarities between French and Sanskrit! Who knows if the origin of French also is Sanskrit!

That is a small lesson about French!

Au revoir!

Determination

2006-11-08T11:18:00.001+04:00

Like confidence, you get it by getting it! :)

In my previous post : Secret of Success - Dedication, I had mentioned that dedication gets the best out of you, challenges you to challenge yourself! One thing I did not mention there is one more angle to it – Determination.

Success – excluding exceptions generally stems out of hard work, and hard work requires enough grit and determination.

What’s determination? Determination is that state of mind where you are committed to do/not doing something in some form, come whatever may.

Have you noticed that when you are at the beginning of your determination, it takes a lot to beat the negative forces? And at the end you realize that determination doesn’t come easily. What keeps your determination right is “Constancy in Purpose”.

What is that you need for determination?
- A Strong Cause
- Fear of failure
- A understanding of the positive outcome

Conclusion
Dedication and Determination – Samaparpane and Sankalp(Sanskrit terms) is what we require to excel ourselves to new territories. These two unrealized facts when made conscious to the mind awaken the sleeping spirits!

Secret of Success - Dedication

2006-11-06T10:56:00.000+04:00

Have you observed that when you try to do a true dedication, you always try to get the best!

Examples,
1. You want to buy a gift to your brother/sister after a long time. You try to get the best within your limits!
2. You know that the person whom you love, likes something in someway. You try to acheive that "someway" to your best and surprise them!
3. You challenged a friend that you will score x% in difficult subject in the college and to your surprise you did it!

If you notice, when you want to do/give something to someone with true love, you always excel! That’s dedication!

Dedication, when pure and from deep inside the heart, does wonders to your confidence. It takes you beyond your confidence levels and challenges all the negative energy that surrounds you during that time. Why? Because, dedication is done with some expected results. Dedication is done in anticipation of something that’s very dear to you.

Sometimes, the anticipation is to be honored in front of all your school friends, and sometime it’s to please someone or to get noticed!

Whatever the anticipation, dedication challenges you. Challenges you to excel from the best you have done earlier.

You want to excel in your work? You know what to do! :)

Unpredictable Behavior!

2006-11-06T10:37:00.000+04:00

Human behavior is highly unpredictable. My observation in this regard:

A person who is highly organized, caring and compassionate at office need not be the same in his personal life. And most often they are contrary to what they behave in the office. The vice-versa is true too. i.e., a person very well organized, caring etc in personal life, may not be the same in his professional life. Very rarely you see people who are same at both the facets of life.

This doesn’t mean that a person has to be and will be different. This behavior keeps swinging and might surprise you if you go by one notion.

But, there are certain innate characteristics which a person will carry wherever he is, whatever he is doing. What is innate to a person is completely dependent on him/her. It generally takes a long time to change the innate characteristics even if they sometime embarrass the person himself.

Have you observed this? If not, time to think about yourself! :)

News Views

2006-10-30T10:16:00.000+04:00

The news-paper or the news channels, at least for me have become a dread to read and watch. They just vie to make news. It’s very disgusting to see how hue and cry is made out of nothing.

I really have confusion about what their role in the society is? What are they supposed to propagate?

1.
I saw one leading news channel talking about water pollution in the cities across India. The tests were done by one of the leading water purifier company. And at the end, the host mentioned to use this water purifier for a safer living! How can you guarantee that the water pollution details are not based on vested interests?

2.
They need a small bit of flesh. The moment one finds it, enough stuff is added to make it a Monster and publish to the whole world.

3.
Before even knowing the truth, the matter is exploded in all proportions and maximum possible sizes:
A Car driver who sat on the seat next to the driver seat and drove the car. The news channel for four – five hours in the evening, discussed all possible combinations of it from being a ghost to UFO!
Education minister sends a notice to the Schools that were misusing the licenses and it was floated & bloated that the state is conservative and against the development and blah, blah!

4.
Out of 10-12 pages, 5-6 pages occupy about the wrong doings of wealthy & powerful and the people’s opinion on it.

Very rarely you get to see an article of something positive! Is this what is demanded out of the communication media? Is this news?

Change in Values!

2006-10-30T08:55:00.001+04:00

Looks like we are having a drastic change in our mentality and values!

Very soon, we will see everyone opposite us with suspicion.

You go to a grocery shop you will think he will cheat you.
You go to a launderer he will try to cheat you.
You go to a mall and you know that you are charged exorbitantly.
You go to a cinema hall you know that they loot you.
You think of buying a piece of land for yourself to find thousands waiting to make you a scapegoat!

There will be no service left where you can depend on someone or believe someone. Everyone tries to make the best of what he is getting and give less! Even the so called professionals in these services do it.

Where are we heading to? And, as I have been observing this trend is fast spreading from cities to the towns as well. Is this what we are going to teach our children? The next generation will never know what trust, dependability is!

We will be teaching only to suspect any person we see outside our familiar circle and to an extent within the familiar circle too!

Welcome the Hero - Leander Paes

2006-09-12T15:24:00.000+04:00

Leander Paes along with Martin Damm wins the Gland Slam Doubles. Congratulations Leander!

Thinking - Positive and Negative

2006-09-08T13:24:00.001+04:00

People have a lot of mental blocks. "I think, I can't ..." is where it starts.
Why do we have such a mental block when we want to try something new?

My belief is that "Things work out the way you Think". You think positive, the results will be positive. You think negative, and the results turn sour. Thinking positively or negatively will have to be coupled with hard work desired.

Being positive, doesn't mean that everything will work out as you expect without the necessary accessories like hardwork, thinking, attitude etc. Also, it doesn't mean that you wil be able to the impossible overnight. What I mean is that positive thinking attitude leads a man to think about positive outcomes!

But, coming to the testing teams - they are trained to look for errors(negative). Anything they see first is about something that doesn't work! This also is requried.

But how much and where all? That's where you will have to draw a line.

The Afghan

2006-08-31T10:28:00.000+04:00

“The Afghan” was the book that kept my mind occupied. If you get a chance do read it. It actually has taken away a little of mental peace! The book talks about how the CIA tries to find a major terror plot. :)

Badrinath

2006-08-21T17:36:00.000+04:00

Stories say that Lord Vishnu/ Narayana ousted Shiva & Parvati and occupied this place to do penance. Sri Lakshmi out of sheer love converted herself to Badari tree to protect and provide shade to Lord Vishnu from the nature’s fury.

Reaching Him today is much easier. It could have been possible only to saints like Sri Madhwa Acharya to reach there those days! They should have had mighty powers indeed!

I really wonder how they have constructed these roads with limited equipments. I remember my grandfather had traveled to Badri by road, some 30 years back! The people who work on these roads should be very close to the Lord. Everyone, who passes these roads can’t stop admiring and praising the efforts put by these people. Such is it!

A vaishnava’s dream to see Him and purify his soul. And He doesn’t disappoint! The way to reach Him from Rishikesh is a fulfilling experience! A feast to the eyes! Soothing to the heart! Enlightening to the mind! And a reconciliation to mortal body! The faith will be built in the form of love to an atheist. And to the believer every step in this direction means increase in his faith more than 1000 times.

Badri - you will fall in love with this place. “Swargakke moore genu” – three feet away from the heaven! I feel that you are already in the heaven! The temple is good. Shri Badari Narayan’s idol isn’t very big but his fame has no end! Murti chikkadaadaru keerti doddadu!

Surroundings

The mighty Himalayas don’t stop growing and the clouds after terrible fight, fail to stop their growth. Necks pain to continuously see their heights. Majestically they stand making us realize how small we are and how we should behave!

Alakananda accompanies you through-out. She’s in such a hurry to reach her destination that her speed can reel any one’s head especially when she’s flowing down from Himalayas!
She shows that a delicate, sensitive, fragile river can be strong, threatening, and strapping!
Sometimes she’s a feast to the eyes and sometimes a scare!
Suddenly she looks simple and at once she threatens you to the core with her speed!
She has the capability to withstand the strong wind and change its direction!
She is adorable but you can’t play with her!
She makes sure that you know to respect her and not take advantage of her!

After she joins Bhagirathi at Dev Prayag, she becomes Ganga, the mother of all sacred rivers, who purifies the mortal soul with a single touch! She tries to pacify the ferocious Alakananda not to be so.

Saraswati seen only at one place in Mana village, near Badari deafens one’s ear. Her speed, milk-like water, roaring speed threatens one’s existence! Her force of attraction is such that being at a distance you feel like you are pulled to her and in a millionth of second your existence would have ceased! She would have created havoc, if she had to flow over-ground with these characteristics. Guess that’s the reason she flows underground and reaches her destination!

Traveling to Badri? Read more details here and here.

One Cause of Stress

2006-08-09T16:06:00.000+04:00

I am closely coming to a conclusion about urban stress. My take is that it is indeed lack of patience or having very little patience causing stress!

Agree with me?

Raksha Bhandan

2006-08-09T16:00:00.000+04:00

Ah! One of the festivals I look forward to is today! Raksha Bhandhan – Festival for brothers and sisters. This time I had better satisfaction compared to the last one. I was able to meet many in person! Lovely day!

I feel that it’s not only me, but every sister longs for a brother who is naughty, loving, caring etc (all the good adjectives you can add to the list)! A perfect brother is actually meant not to be perfect! Oxymoron!

Happy Raksha Bhandan!

Education – Meaning and Usage

2006-08-08T10:12:00.001+04:00

Education means:
- “activities that impart knowledge or skill”
- “education is a preparation for life”
- “the result of good upbringing (especially knowledge of correct social behavior)”

The word education is derived from the Latin - educare meaning “to raise”, “to bring up”, “to train”, “to rear” etc.

Today, education means adding more qualifications to ones’ CV. This is like specialist knowledge gained in a specific stream and actually not Education.

Education has kind of stopped grooming a human to prepare for the life, understand sensitivity, proper upbringing etc.

Adding higher qualifications to his/her CV, the more s/he values mental thinking, strategic thinking etc. And such thinking does not have place for - emotional thinking and sensitivity to others’ feelings, warmth etc challenging the essence of human life. We are educating to become more like machines in our thinking.

My observation is that – A person, who promotes such thinking, does have emotional thinking, sensitivity, warmth but that is only at his convenience.

This convenience is a multi-tiered one. Generally it surrounds first – himself/herself, then his immediate family and then a few close friends. Occasionally, warmth is shown for a stranger only when it is known that it’s going to benefit him/her in someway.

Where are we heading to? A land filled with “sel fishes”!

Negativism

2006-07-31T14:40:00.000+04:00

A night’s sleep rejuvenates the body for the next day. Early morning you wake up to read the paper. The fresh-as-coffee mind & heart reads of murders, wrong doings, and everything that is not correct. You start to work with these thoughts.

At work, your colleagues or managers, there will be someone who’ll point out something wrong you did. They never have time to tell something good that you have done. Dejected you are!

You come back home after a tiresome and thankless day. Your family starts pouring in their miseries. You have not done this, why did you forget to get the things of the list I mentioned, etc.

You are no different! You give back the same to your parents, to your spouse, to your kids and friends and neighbors.

In office, we have post mortem meetings most of which talks about what went wrong and how to avoid it. After some debate of wrong-doings some time is given to talk about the good, in a hurry. Though they get documented very few people get back to it for future reference.

Why do we think always of negative things? Why don’t we develop appreciation characteristics? Are we immune to see positive side of life?

I think we see the positive side of life only when we are in dire consequences or when it comes totally as a pleasant surprise.

Seasons of life

2006-07-28T15:47:00.001+04:00

Nature has a constant change.

Rains
Rain comes as a boon not only to the vegetation but also to the people after the hot summer. Tiny drops of water collectively make wonders that all our senses relish.

The smell of mud after the first rain of the season takes you to a mystic world of peace! - an act of cleansing the soul?

It cleans the vegetation of the dust they have been carrying through the other seasons. The rain continuously leases life to the worn out vegetation. The color of prosperity not only is soothing to eyes but also a retreat to the worn out mind.

Winter
Come winter, the vegetation has grown sufficiently well. The atmosphere has enough moisture. The freshness of cool breeze coming from the plants and trees around can never match the latest technology ACs.

Slowly, the plants start shredding their grown leaves. Aging is painful. Dark, gloomy, muted environment – apt time for introspection? The trees which were radiating prosperity now look empty with only the trunk and barks. A show of solidarity to carry-on majestically through thick and thin!

Spring
The nightingale announces the start of spring with its beautiful voice. A pleasant and cheerful environment around that everyone will look forward to. Neither too cold nor very hot.

Colorful flowers blooming and butterflies flying around, birds chirping and children playing! A dream that every human dreams of, once in lifetime – time for fun and reaching out to people!

Summer
One season, kind-of dreaded by most in the tropical region! The life perspires and is at the mercy of the Sun god. The backbone of our life can be excruciating! It reminds of tough times in ones’ life.

Each and every season has its own benefits. And the disadvantages we think of each season are essential elements for the cycle.

Humans try to overcome these disadvantages to the maximum unlike other living organisms.

Most of the living organisms try and modify themselves for the “constant” changes of the environment. And humans modify everything around them except themselves! Soon, there will be a day when the humans will not have any immunity.

Seasons add life to the monotonous existence. Each one of the season signifies the lessons and the stages of life.

We, the intelligent of all the animals on the earth, see the seasons physically. These seasons never happen mentally. Our mind does not grow or change “constantly” according to the seasons. Good or bad, we are trained like that.

Don’t you think that the mind & heart need these seasons? A season for cleansing & growing, one for introspecting, another for enjoying and the fourth for with-standing the atrocities we have made for ourselves.

Serene World!

2006-07-24T19:26:00.001+04:00

The Uneducated Educated

2006-07-24T18:59:00.001+04:00

Recently, I have been seeing many incidents where the so called professionals have been behaving worse than the uneducated. A few samples go below:

1. Our company arranges shuttle facilities to reach its different offices in the town at designated times. People never form a queue. Men always come last minute and will be the first to get into the bus. Women employees are left helpless because they are over-powered physically. Why can't people form queue?

2. Employees had been waiting to submit details to the Tax Consultant. As usual, Tax Consultant came half an hour late. The moment they were in, people pounced on them to be the first to submit their details. Reminded of the beasts fighting for their food in the forest. Why can't we form a queue? The answer came in a little while. Arguments gave way to some sort of queue.

People who stood in the queue awaited their turn while some employees (mostly women) tried testing the patience. Couple of them got their work done and escaped. When people in the queue objected, we got answers from the queue-breakers' to have patience! People who lack the discipline preach patience to others! I was ashamed to see the so called professionals! Fish market it was! No exaggeration!

Why can't we show some decent discipline? This is what we teach our kids - discipline.

3. The bus driver was playing initially was playing english songs and then switched to local language songs. People who boast of self-respect, professionalism, pounced on the driver for performing an act of cruelty! How could they bare it?

The driver said "We will have 50-50. I have already played english songs for a while. Wait for 10 minutes, I will switch it back."

How would people lose their lessons of respect to others? Poor fellow was asked to switch back immediately. Lessons of respect-to-fellow men! We are decent you see!

The moment I think of the egoistic, un-disciplined, "refusing to understand other's view" professionals I feel the uneducated are far better!

Have you seen this beautiful face of professionals? Why don't you share it with me!

Trailer! :)

2006-07-01T18:24:00.000+04:00

I am desparate to share my views about "The Uneducated Educated". Time doesn't permit me to do it now. Satisfying myself with this one-liner!

A few more

2006-07-01T18:19:00.000+04:00

One more comes here!

2006-07-01T18:08:00.000+04:00

Let the pictures speak for themselves...

2006-07-01T17:54:00.000+04:00

For a change! :)

Change Vs Constant

2006-06-02T08:00:00.001+04:00

On an average, research says that a man changes his thinking in six to seven years time. Look back, 7-8 years from now and see how your thinking was and how things have changed for good or bad, now.

I come from a not-so-rural background. When I was studying, jeans was just a trend that was setting in. People who would wear jeans were radical and hi-fi according to us! :) Now, my thinking has changed. A small example, that was. You would have such numerous examples to share.

When new things come, we are reluctant to change. But, when slowly exposed to it everyday, we accept the change to such an that it becomes a part of our life. You will forget that one day you were opposing to change.

Life comes with constant changes. Everyday passing carries a change along with it - season. But, this change is also constant isn't it? This change has a routine. As the days pass, we also change. But our changes are mainly are not constant.

We either believe that "everything will change" or "nothing will change". Gone are the days where we could live in this fantasy. The tough part is that we have to change and probably everyday and every moment. Changes prove to you that how much flexible you are.

Does this mean that everything changes? No. You have to draw a line, where you can change and where you can't.
1. A dry wooden log is not flexible.
2. A growing/tender twig is extremely flexible. It can be bent anyways.

In both cases, we fear extremes. Some basic pillars of life like values (truth, faith, patience etc.,), beliefs should be like wooden log. If you show flexibility in these pillars, your life will shake. And the rest are left to your conscience. You have to change or you might change based on situations.

Root Cause of Problems

2006-05-29T10:38:00.000+04:00

You would have had many heartburns as you had grown.

Your father had promised to take you to a movie in the evening, but he didn't turn up.
Your mom had told you that she will get you a new dress and she did not, on time.
You had asked a friend to pick you up from home to college, but he did not.
You had done well in the exams but did not get satisfactory marks.
You expected the team member to complete a set of job and he did not do it properly.
You had promised a deliverable on Monday to the client and could not fulfill.
And the list goes on...

Krishna says - "expect less".
The root cause of all the problems is expectation. You set the expectations too high at the first go. When the outcomes don't match the high expectation you had set, you are bound to feel the pinch. The pinch you feel could be most often quite sufficient to lead to multiple other reactions or problems.

I was speaking to one of my friend when she had completed 5 years of marriage. I asked her how it feels after 5 years of marriage. Her answer was mind blowing! She said, "After 5 years of marriage, my expectations have become zero" :)

Golden word is that keep the expectations low. When anything better than what you had expected happens, then you are bound to feel more happy.

Setting expectation right is very important when it comes to Management. Be it your peers, client or your supervisors.

These days, Management is looking at setting the expectations low, especially to the clients. This reduces the pain points and helps a healthy relationship with the client.

Case 1: You say that you will give 10 things in 1 month and give 9 things by time. You are going to see the client red.

Case 2: You tell him that you will give 7 things in 1 month and give 9 things by time, client will be very happy that you delivered more than what you promised.

Both the cases, your deliverables were 9 items, but the reactions of the client were totally different.

Which case you would prefer dude?

Listening? Eh! I am Hearing

2006-05-26T07:38:00.000+04:00

How often do we interchange the two words - Hear and Listen! Most of us really don't understand meaning of the two.

Hearing is like a train passing through your ears. Nothing remains, nothing provoked, nothing inspired and of no use.

Listening on the other hand inspires you to think, provokes you to give your 100% and remains in your brain.

How often have you felt a jerk while in a meeting? You would have been "hearing" and still enjoying your own world of thoughts. Awaken by a question asked twice, and you will be a man who doesn’t even know where you are.

Most of the communication gaps arise because of “hearing”. And you know well that Communication Gap is the root cause of verb –failed, lost.

We want to be listened. We seldom are listeners and most of the time, pretend to listen. Pretension is good in short term, but again in long-term it brings back the verb which we hate to see in our life.

For a change, why don’t we start listening? On your marks, Get Set….

Energy and Age

2006-04-20T16:21:00.000+04:00

I accept that age is linked with less energy.

As a kid, you have grown seeing your grandparents treated "specially" more often as though they are disabled. Your mind has registered that if someone's old, he will have no energy.

Probably, because of this we always love to live in "sweet 25". We know that once we grow, we will also see similar fate as we had seen elders in our childhood. I know, You had wished if you could return to your 25!

And dear friend, you can return to your twenty-five - the one that comes with the feelings of ever youth, energetic, enthusiastic, etc. If you want to know, then open the eyes of your mind. Your mind is the Ubiquitous owner of your body. What your mind says is what your body is.

Your mind orders that your body is growing old, and your body shows the symptoms of aging. Let your mind "order" that you are ever young, your body believes it. One word of caution here. Your body obeys your mind's order only when it's beyond doubt!

Got it? Practice it!

Dimensions of Global Project

2006-04-14T08:36:00.000+04:00

Good Read: Four Dimensions of a Global Project on Gantthead.com

Rampant Acquisitions

2006-04-14T07:57:00.000+04:00

These days acquisitions are on a rampant. Every company is trying to improve its solidarity by acquiring in vertical or horizontal way.

The bigger players try for vertical acquisitions so that they spread their risks and also provide one point solution to the customer. For example: Symantec acquired Veritas. Symantec, a high profile in Antivirus software wanted a "solid" platform to increase its market share. Veritas, being a very big player in Storage and backup services was a good hit. Now, Symantec can directly sell its Antivirus to the corporate with Backup, Email servers etc.

* Sun's now marketing hardware with OS (Solaris) package.
* RedHat will sell Linux with Application Server
* IBM will promote WebSphere Application Server with Bowstreet Portal framework

Acquisitions bring many benefits to the corporate like a few mentioned below:
* The client database will increase
* One point for Client Maintenance (Marketing and Sales)
* Products sold as a Stack (License & Support)
* Increased Revenue Generation

Acquisitions also make the world a smaller place. How?
* By making one point entry for all his needs (this might be a little exaggeration)
* His work will be reduced in searching for multiple products sold by different vendors
* One transaction will suffice his multiple needs
* One Company to interact for support and maintenance

Finally, it's going to be one place for the customer, where he can buy all his software/hardware needs. World is asking for it and Corporate is leaving no stones returned in their efforts to help them.

Does it mean that smaller players will be stopped from venturing out? It will never happen. The smaller players will continue to play the part of the game and remain as they are. They will give ways to be acquired by bigger players always.

Technical Vs People Management

2006-04-03T14:37:00.000+04:00

In my previous blog I had mentioned about the desired qualities of a manager and the deficiences. Going forward on the same topic, my observations have been a little painful on this topic.

There's a conception that a person who's a techie will not be a good people manager and a good people manager can't be a techie.

If you have a manager who's a techie but not good at communication or people management, he's excused blissfully as though it's a norm.

If you have a manager who's good at management but not a good techie, he's laughed at and most often the source for poor jokes.

I am sure you would have observed what my eyes have caught? Can't a person be good at both people management and technical know-how? People management can be acquired as much as technical knowledge. Then why's the disparity?

Questioning management

2006-03-31T19:50:00.000+04:00

The realm of management is very wide. Want to get answers to a few questions and confusion the IT world has created.

My focus here is about project management - internal as well as external(client).

A manager (or whatever "name" you give), at onsite does the following or more:
1. Project Estimation and management
2. People Management
a. Internal (project team)
b. External (Client)

What should be the characteristics of a true global manager? Everything concludes with the following:
1. Communication
2. Analytical skills
3. People management skills

The world looks for only the first 2 parameters, more often the second one. Communication for a global manager is vital which at times is ignored.

But what is more disgusting is that the third parameter - People Management Skill is all the time neglected and never comes to the table. Not that people are ignorant about it's importance. So can't reason that "ignorance is bliss". As an individual, a person wants his superior and support team to be extremely good at people management which most often is lacked by himself.

Why is it not considered when a person is promoted to management or recruited? Anyone shares my opinion?

More detailed questions will follow...

QA and Brain

2006-03-05T00:12:00.000+04:00

Have you observed that, generally the person, whom you lookup to, in a group has this habit. During any discussion, he/she puts a question and then himself answers it.

People get attracted not only to those answers but also the questions. Why? Because our brains react only when a question is posed and they become active. When a person puts a question, the brain starts thinking and the question is answered. What do you for the rest of the things? Simple! Put more questions.

Our brains have been partially(3/4) tuned to work only when a question is posed. What do they do when there is no question. Remain Idle.

And, so we have developed our Computers. They work only when there is a request(question).

Does this mean that our brains don't work proactively? NO. The potential of our brains has been tremondously under-estimated. You would be surprised to know that the best person whom you see around uses hardly 1-2% of his brains capabilities. Probably, Shakuntala Devi, uses 10% of her brains' capabilities.

How do we improve ourselves to use our brains' 10% of capabilities? Simple. Force yourself to become Active.

Code Analysis with Eclipse

2005-09-28T08:20:00.000+04:00

Refer to this link to know how Code Analysis can be done with Eclipse Profiler.

Code Analysis with Eclipse Profiler

It is strange, indeed!

2005-09-27T08:59:00.000+04:00

Isn't it strange how Rs. 20/=
seems like such a large
amount when
you donate it to temple, but
such a small amountwhen you go shopping?

Isn't it strange how 2 hours
seem so long when
you're at place of worship, and how
short they seem when you're
watching a good movie?

Isn't it strange that you can't
find a word to say when
you're praying, but you have no trouble
thinking what to talk about
with a friend?

Isn't it strange how difficult
and boring it is to read
one chapter of
the Gita, but how easy
it is to read 100 pages of
a popular novel?

Isn't it strange how everyone
wants front-row-tickets
to concerts orgames, but they do whatever
is possible to sit at the last
row in a holy place?

Isn't it strange how we need to
know about an event for temple 2-3
weeks before the day so we can
include it in our agenda, but we can
adjust it for other events in
the last minute?

Isn't it strange how difficult it
is to learn a fact about
God to share it with others,
but how easy it is to learn,
understand,extend and repeat gossip?

Isn't it strange how we
believe everything
that magazines and newspapers
say, but we question the words
in the Gita and other holy books
of Acharya Madhva

Isn't it strange how everyone
wants a place in
heaven, but they don't want
to believe, do, or say anything
to get there?

Isn't it strange how we send
jokes in e-mails
and they are forwarded
right away,but when we are
going to send messages about God,
we think about it twice
before we share it with others?

IT'S STRANGE ISN'T IT?

PS: Borrowed from forwarded mail.

Time Management

2005-09-14T07:46:00.000+04:00

Remember the toughest time you had gone through? You will recall at least one incidence where you had 48 hours a day and your potential of handling things was quadrupled!

You now find that you have become lazy and are not able to give time to so many things you wanted to do. Why does this happen? Don't we know how to manage time? Nah! We all know it. But... Most of us start our sentences with "But", "If only I"!

The reason is we are tamed to yeild to pressure. We give our 110% only when we have a knife rolling above our head. Remember where it starts? Yes, starts from our childhood. We study 95% of the book only the day before exam. :) These habits have developed into strong roots and become a part of our character! How much ever you try with tips and tricks, they last only till the enthu lasts. It will be at maximum for a week, month or max 2-3 months.

Remember the famous 80-20 rule? 80% of the work will be done in 20% of the time and 20% of the work will occupy 80% of the time!

We are also tamed to give reasons because of this "11th hour rush". "If only I had got time". "I would have done that but for..." We can't imagine the world without if's and but's.

Will we able to re-tame ourselves?

News Capsule

2005-09-13T08:29:00.000+04:00

Remembering collating and reading news in the school? Somehow today I was reminded of doing it. Here goes the news capsule for today! :)

Ebay will be acquiring Skype for $4 billion, both companies announced Monday. Way to go!
More news on Skype buyout
Go Skyping!

SFDC is welll known for its CRM products. Salesforce.com(sfdc) CEO talks about their new product AppExchange.

What if Sania weren't beautiful?. A quick and crisp food for thought!
One more feather in the cap of Sania! Sania jumps to 34th Ranking!

More later!

A refreshing sunday!

2005-09-12T14:45:00.000+04:00

For a change, I got caged and felt happy seeing the cruel animals taking a stroll in the "limited" forest! I had been to Bannerghatta National Park, yesterday. A few rare moments to see the wildlife so close, in their originality! I have visited many zoos earlier but this one was a refresher.

The "grand safari" took us to Bear, Tiger, Lion dens. The rare moments were when:

1. We saw to bears playing and having a “friendly” fight. They were so much engrossed that they did not even bother to know that a huge van was just by their side. For more than ten minutes people were “silencing” each other to watch them play! Finally, we gave up and carefully crossed them.

2. We spotted a Tiger relaxing “royally” in the woods. We were busy taking photographs and the tiger was busy giving different poses. The tiger wanting to give more poses got up and started taking a stroll, just a touch away from us. A Royal walk. There were few kids in the van, who got scared seeing the tiger approaching them so closely, started crying. I don’t know what amused the tiger and it started moving towards the side of the van where the kids were crying. It was searching for ways to reach the kids. Its fierce looks were enough to make the bones shiver! I could not make out if it was disturbed by the “noise” made by children or it wanted to soothe the crying children. Driver took the van back instead of inviting danger into the van!

3. I, for the first time enjoyed seeing the most beautiful bird - peacock dance with its feathers open. Wow! That was awesome! For a moment, I was thinking if all the animals in the park were trained to pose! (Seems a poor joke for you but not for me. He he he) I guess, the peacock had the perfect weather to dance to the tunes of the monsoon. She opened her feathers, saw a few of us, then in slow motion took one round so that people standing in different sides could see her and enjoy. After five minutes of dancing she calmed down. Two minutes later she repeated the dance. It was wonderful!

There was one funny but “real” thing. One board said “Want to see the cruelest animal in the world? Open the door”. Behind the door, I know is a mirror.

You like animals? Take a day off and visit them.

An IT Pro's Reflection!

2005-09-12T13:43:00.000+04:00

Friday, I got to read one article. I will try my best to give the gist of it.

One of the state ministers had called the IT majors to come and “help/adopt” the water clogged villages in Belgaum, Karnataka. The IT majors did not “bother” to help. The sad(!) minister vented out his pain about the “helpless” attitude of the IT majors. In reply, the author was transformed that pain into an article to IT majors.

The author, in his article, talks about the rapid growth, endless money and lifestyle changes IT majors have brought to the society. He accuses that the IT pro’s lag in “giving” back to the society. He says that IT people complain a lot and do nothing on their part. He gives an example about a small company like Kirloskar, when would start its office, it would give back to the society by developing a park or so. But the IT companies take 1000 times more than what they did, from the society and give almost negligible amount, most often an eye-wash, back to the society. I am not pro/against the article. Certain things were true, some exaggerated and many facts hidden.

What I want to come to, is about how much we “give back”. We certainly lag in that. We have the capacity to go to “outings” every weekend but we don’t have the capacity to help more than on “tsunami” a year or more than one “earth quake” a year. We want something of “high” tide as of tsunami to donate. The small things that happen in and around our vicinity don’t catch our eyes.

The giving and taking is a “hot” property for a long debate. So I will leave my questions as they were before and as the topic is.

Devotion

2005-09-08T15:13:00.000+04:00

Devotion means "giving complete attention without expecting anything in return". The first part of the devotion means concentration. Second part talks about selflessness.

Five to ten years earlier, there were few things to be done in life. With the few choices left, then, people would have to concentrate on something and sometimes this would lead to devotion in one of the things they did.

In contrast, today we are heading to 48 hour a day. Even 48 hours seem to be less for the amount of work, attractions and things to be done in a day. Everyone wants to out-do in everything and in a miraculously short duration. Not only that, people started to look down on someone who is going through a normal course for success! People want instant success! I wish there was one such recipe for instant success.

With such rampant for “instant” success, will people ever want to know what devotion means?

PS: I’m definitely not of the opinion that devotion is not meant for today’s world. I believe in Exceptions! :)

Krishna Janmashtami

2005-08-26T10:46:00.000+04:00

Today's Krishna Jayanthi. I read yesterday about one interesting thing. Krishna was born on Ekadashi, Simha rashi, and Rohini Nakshatra day(according to Hindu Calendar). Not every year Rohini nakshatra coincides on his bday. The year all these coincide, it's called as Krishna Jayanti, and when not it's called as Krishna Janmashtami. :) This time it's Krishna Jayanti.

Krishna- had many roles. Known for his love-play with gopika's and Radha, his childhood pranks, killing (samhaara) demons, ruling his kingdom, a wise adivsor to the Pandava's, especially Arjun etc.

Krishna, means different to different people. For lovelorn, Krishna is an idol of love. For the knowledge-seeker He is the knowledge, for the common man he is the Bhagavad Geetha.

For me, Krishna is anything and everything. A messenger of love and peace. He is always with the people who come to him with love. He seeks abundance of love and nothing else. He inspires me for divine love and provokes me to share it. He always guides me and supports me. He is with me always. Yes, I go emotional when it comes to talking about Krishna, the Lord.

I read one interesting story about Him: Krishna passes by Duryodhana's house. Duryodhana for the sake of formality, invites Krishna for food. Krishna replies "Man has to eat in two circumstances 1. when he is hungry and 2. When he is served with love. You never invite me with love and I am never hungry" and moves to Vidhur's house. Vidhur, minister for Kaurava kingdom, and his wife are overwhelmed with Krishna's arrival. Vidhur's wife with happiness and joy, peels banana skin, throws away the fruit and offers him the peel. Krishna accepts it.

Such a beautiful story! He does what he says and he means it. He is committed to his devotees more than the devotees being committed to him!

I am eagerly waiting to celebrate his B'day, what about you?

Google and Skype

2005-08-26T08:24:00.000+04:00

Ever used Skype - the easy call-connector between two internet users? It's a "costless" way to speak to your friends, fiance, business people etc, anywhere in the world. All that you need is a free skype installation, Skype user id/password and speaker set.

I have seen the capabilities of Skype though I could not use it much because of the speed provided by the internet connection I had.They have "nominal" charge packages to call from your skype account to a landline/mobile. The voice clarity is quite good and depends on the speed of Internet connection you have.

GoogleTalk is learning from Skype and is offering a crude version of Skype. For sure you can expect GoogleTalk to follow the suit from Skype and become a rival. Google, Skype race towards next IM Frontier

Talk, Talk, Talk, Till you drop!

Tennis and Media!

2005-08-25T09:45:00.000+04:00

The more you try to run "away" from popularity/publicity, your mind and heart will pull you towards it! Yes, I know, you can see the glamourous tennis star of India - Sania Mirza. (You didn't know that I am a mind reader. Did you? ;) )

Sania has got "all" those things + "Bold & Beauty" to be fit for being a glam doll, role model, AND a Tennis Player. When the publicity reached her head, she fared badly. It was only when people started "advicing" her to concentrate on tennis than publicity, she had to strive hard to get back to playing tennis.

This has not happened only with Sania. History has been repeating itself. Remember when Leander Peas and Mahesh Bhupati had started "shining"? The Lea(n)der pair failed to lead.

Is it that the people fall for publicity, head over heals, OR it is the media that creates the hype. Currently, in India, Tennis is Sania!

Ad's and attraction!

2005-08-25T09:26:00.000+04:00

Yes, Ad's are meant to steal people's heart and mind! And as the days are passing, the ad's especially, visual one's are becoming more and more people oriented.

These days, most of the ad's in the TV are either dominated by the cartoons or by the kids though there a few of them who parade "skin" shows when it is just not relevant.

One recent Ad, that has caught my attention from head to toe is "surf excel- daag acha hai". This cute ad, if you have not watched is about a younger sister and brother(aged 6-7 yrs) walking back home from school. Brother beats the pit containing muddy water, as it hurts his beloved sister.

I'm in love, head over heals, with this ad. Believe me, you will not be able to take your eyes off the screen when you first see this ad!

Wait for the next break that comes in any of the commercial channels to get a glimse of this ad.
Those two kids will steal your heart!

PS: The Ad was released during the raksha bhandhan season!

Festivals and Brothers!

2005-08-19T09:01:00.000+04:00

Today is the auspicious day where a sister prays for her brother or brothers and ties a holy thread to ward off the evils from her brother's life. It's called Raksha Bhandhan! Brother in turn gifts his sister for her best wishes! It's a special day for both, brother and sister!

Though there are different versions and differences in rituals of festival, the jist of it remains the same! Lot of stories go round this special function! One, which appeals me is about the kings and his people going on wars/being invaded. During 1200-1500AD, Kings used to go out of the kingdom to wage war. That was when the sisters would pray for their brothers' safe return. A token of their love and prayer of safety, they would tie a small thread around the wrist of their brother!

Whatever the stories, this festival is for sisters and brothers. And, you bet, I m very fond of this festival! :) It gives me a day to pamper my brothers and have lot of fun with them!

I make the right use of this festival! What about you?

Mind and body!

2005-08-17T08:46:00.000+04:00

Have you read Deepak Chopra's "Quantum Healing"? I had heard of him, but only after reading this book my respect to him has grown tremondously!

Would like to quote a small incident that he has narrated in his book.

Deepak Chopra's(DC) mother had some pollen allergy which she got "only" while in Jammu i.e., the moment she is in Jammu, she got rashes all over her body. Because of this DC's father had to take a transfer to other place than Jammu.

It so happened that, once DC's parents had to go to Jammu for some reason. They boarded the flight to go to Jammu. The flight landed. DC's parents started moving out of the plane. As DC's mother reached the door of the plane to get down, she started turning red with the rashes on her face and all over her body. The flight attendent was taken aback and asked if he could help them with some medicine/cream. DC's father inturrupted and told him about story of rashes and mentioned that Jammu's air had "something" in it that caused rashes to her. Attendent replied back "Sir, we have not yet landed in Jammu. We have landed in Udhampur and next stop will be in Jammu". Listening this, DC's mother's rashes started reducing and wading away!

DC explains very clearly as to what is the reason for certain happenings. Most of the times it is not the chemicals in the body but the thought that makes us fall for disease. What it means is our gutt feeling about anything will take us to that.

Your belief is what carries your body. If you believe that you are as young as 16 at the age of 60, your body reacts to your belief. Going on the same instinct, if you believe that you had enough of life at the age of 20 your body reacts accordingly.

Most often we lack energy, enthusiasm, laziness etc. We accumulate negative energy in mind and body that we forget to see the positive energry store. All this is carried by our mind.

In a day, if you repeat to yourself, 10 times that you are energetic, young, your body starts obeying it slowly. If you follow this day by day, your body believes that you are a body with never ending energy and never getting old.

Thats what our "anscestors" said. They always preached a healthy lifestyle which proved a healthy life. I do agree that their lifestyle may not be exactly applicable to the current situation, but yes there are lot of things which can be taken by them.

Go ahead and believe in what you want to do and see the results for yourself!

Flower Show and laziness!

2005-08-16T09:41:00.000+04:00

Lalbagh! That was the place I wanted to go this Weekend. Ever since the "famous" flower show was opened for public I was planning to see the delightful flowers in variety! I kept on postponing till the last day and I couldn't make it to the show, finally.

Today I read in the newspaper that just on 15th August, 1 lakh people visited lalbagh, highest number in the past ten years! A console in itself! I wanted to see flowers in lakhs and crores but not worry about the growing population of India! I consoled myself!

But, the true reason for not going was "laziness" which in Hindi is well said "chupaake bhi chupaaya nahi jaata". Why are we so lazy? We would like to sit and watch TV and wile away our time but not go out and watch the wonderful nature? A cricket match is more important than a small evening stroll in the mother nature's lap. The smallest of small things have taken to our laziness. Pity us, we talk and talk about the health hazards!

We find it very easy to blame the environment we live in, the pressure at work and what not. But wouldn't take a small step towards being "physically active". Why?

Bowing to the technology!

2005-08-04T07:47:00.000+04:00

Bowstreet Portal Framework! It comes with 2 flavors! One with IBM Websphere Portal and the default one with Eclipse!

Bowstreet, is good and a dramatic tool that can be used for the presentation layer. It helps to configure your page and the business logic, easily based on the login profiles!

...A tremondous time saving RAD tool!
...Highly flexible
...Easy Customization

It's easy to learn too! Anyone who has worked on RAD tool, will be able to pickup in minutes!

Wanna good start? Plunge to http://bowstreet.com/toolsandtechnology/portletfactory/index.html

Happy Learning! :)

My first blog!

2005-08-03T10:18:00.000+04:00

Exciting!

I am not able to match the speed of my mind in writing! Thousands of topics, subjects are coming to my mind randomly. I am sure you did face the same! Okay. I have decided on something, i.e., human behavior.

Have you noticed? We behave well with our colleagues, unknown people and just don't bother about how we behavior with our loved ones!

A small example: You bump on someone on the road, you say "I'm sorry, excuse me". Do you do that when you go and dash your mom! May be Or May Not be.
May be could have been because you are so much used to the formal language outside your house that it comes naturally!
And most of the times, it would be "may not be"!

Why? Why is that we take the liberty to "un behave" infront of our our loved one's? Becuase we love them so much? Or because we take it for granted? Or we understand that it's our right to be as we are? my questions continue...

What say you, pal?