டாக்டர் கலாம் - புத்தகம் படிக்கும் பழக்கம் பற்றி

புத்தகம் படிக்கும் பழக்கம் பற்றி டாக்டர் கலாம் அவர்கள்  "விழிவேள்வி"  புத்தக முன்னுரையில் சொல்லியிருப்பதாவது:

"...மாணவர்களை நான் ஏற்க வாய்த்த உறுதி மொழி எனக்கு நினவு வருகிறது 

1. என்னுடைய வீட்டில் பூஜை அறை அல்லது பிரார்த்தனை செய்யும் இடத்துக்கு அருகில், 20 நல்ல புத்தகங்களுடன் ஒரு சிறு வீட்டு நூலகத்தை ஆரம்பிபேன்.



2. என்னுடிய வளர்ந்த மகன் மற்றும் மகள் 2௦ புத்தக நூலகத்தை, 2௦௦ புத்தக நூலகமாக மாற்ற எடுக்கும் முயற்சிக்கு உறுதுணையாக இருப்பேன்.



3. என்னுடைய வளர்ந்த பேரன் மற்றும் பேத்திகள் 2௦௦ புத்தக நூலகத்தை, 2௦௦௦ புத்தக நூலகமாக மாற்ற எங்கள் குடும்பம் உறுதுணையாக இருக்கும்.



4. தினமும் ஒரு மணி நேரம், நானும் எங்கள் குடும்ப உறுப்பினர்கள் அனைவரும், எங்கள் வீட்டு நூலகத்தைப பயன்படுத்திப் படிக்கும் பழக்கத்தை இன்று முதல் தொடர்ந்து செயல்ப்படுத்துவோம். 



5.எங்கள் வீட்டு நூலகம் தான் எங்கள் வீட்டுப் பரம்பரைச் சொத்து; எங்கள் வீட்டு அறிவுக் களஞ்சியம்.



6. இந்த முயற்சிதான் நாட்டில் ஏற்படப்போகும் அறிவ்வு புரடிசிக்கு அடிப்படி ஆதாரம்."

எத்தனை வளமான சிந்தனை இவை!

New Year 2011 - Heads Up #5

Many of us buy gifts for ourselves, thanks to the flooding festive offers!

As you enter 2011, you may want to carry one essential and powerful tool with you: its called Forgiveness. Its a forgotten art of forgiveness!



How much ever happy we be, but it we carry grudges and mental poisons, whereever we go, life is going to be disastrous. Its like growing a fruit tree among filth.



We never realize that by not forgiving we hold on to our negative past and negative people. Life is meant to be fast forward!  Lets move on; lets move forward and not backward.



There is every reason for us to not forgive those people or incidents; but, but, can we devote sometime, and explore, invent and devise enough reasons to forgive the past.



We are better off, we are alive today probably because someone has forgiven us someday but they did not tell us.



So, think of all those people - it could be your relatives, neighbours, your family, especially your parents, your colleagues, someone very stupid, your friends, your well wishers, and including yourself.



Religions teach us this principle already - but to me its a common sense thing. Forgiveness is unassumingly simple and powerful tool that every time you apply, it will transform your life.



Forgiveness is good for your health. Forgiveness makes your more beautiful.



If for some reason, you cannot reach out to the person, forgive him mentally and you get transformed.



Go, find more than enough excuses on why to forgive someone.  Go, make new year yours!



 

More malls on Bannerghatta Road

Bangalore gulps every landscape available to it. Two more malls are coming up on the Bannerghatta Road.



One is Gopalan Innovation Mall near to Jayadeva junction. Another one is Royal Meenakshi Mall opposite to Meenakshi Amman Temple.




View Larger Map




View Larger Map

The Beethoven Experience

Having listened to Maestro Ilayaraja's How To Name It and Nothing But Wind, I kind of know how symphony sounds like. And his recent contribution has been Thiruvaasagam.



I often wanted to listen to Mozart and Beethoven. You would have probably read science articles on how listening to Mozart music improves brain skills!

 

I always wanted to listen to Mozart and Beethoven, though I do not know how to appreciate their greatness. 



Yesterday, I gifted myself with a collection of Beethoven's symphonies and started listening to them!



I will research to understand the music better.  No matter what, its repeated listening that helps understand any classical music. Those legends did not have the "commercial pressure" that our current musicians have. The genius in music can be interrupted thoroughly only by experts. For common man, its music for soul.



Some useful links:

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/343504_learning-how-to-appreciate-classical-music

http://www.ehow.com/how_7369084_listen-symphony.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/beethoven/

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Beethoven+String+Quartet&aq=f

Google and your mind

There is a lot of research on neuroscience that Google focuses on. I am impressed by the depth of the topics on neuroscience, mind, brain, cognitive science etc covered in Google Tech Talks (link).



Most of these videos run between 50 min to 65 min. And they are very technical. There are several other topics shared under this link. I am sharing some of the neuroscience related topics below:

DeClutter!

Today is the day I fixed for decluttering the several stuff I have at home. Every house "stores" a lot of unwanted things; and we keep them close to our heart without using them. There  is a hidden opportunity for charity - but we should not be disposing waste stuff in the name of charity.





One will undergo mental conflict before deciding to 'give away' something.



If you have not used an item for last 6 months, dispose off.

If you know that you will not use it for next 6-12 months, dispose off.



I did one today, and was able to find a lot of items that I thought I will use and never used.



This will help one live a close-to-minimalist life!  Try it.

 

ஆ ராசாவும், வெங்காயமும்

 ஆ.ராசாவும், வெங்காயமும்



பார்க்க சாமானியன்  போலிருக்கும்

தோல் உரிக்க உரிக்க கண்ணீர் வரும்



பேராசை வெள்ளத்தில் ஒன்று 

பெரும் மழை வெள்ளத்தில் ஒன்று 



அலை வரிசையில் சிக்கியதொன்று

விலை வரிசையின் உச்சத்திலொன்று





பதவியிலிருந்து இறங்கியதொன்று - சிலர்

உதவியால் விலை குறைந்ததொன்று





இரண்டும் நாட்டின் விவகாரம்

இரண்டில் ஒன்றில் உண்டு ஈரம் 



பையன் ராசா மாதிரி இருக்கான்னு - இனி

கொஞ்சவா முடியும்?

இது வெறும் வெங்காயமென்று

சொல்லவா முடியும்?



பாமரனுக்கு என்ன தெரியும்?

பாவம் அவனுக்கு மறதி அதிகம்.

தேர்தல் வரும் வேளை

வெளுத்து எல்லாம் பாலாகும்.



 written by Ganesh Subramanian

Vani Jayaram song

Recently, happened to watch interview of Vani Jayaram, an amazing singer among us who has sung in almost all the Indian languages. She has a very mesmerizing voice. I bought a mp3 collection of hers and listening to her voice during drive. A sample song of her magical voice; the lyrics of this song a gifted one; and my all time favorite Sridevi.

குமுதமும் விகடனும்

குமுதமும் விகடனும் - பல தமிழர்களின் வாழ்வில் ஒன்றிப்போன வாரப் பத்திரிகைகள். ஜன ரஞ்சக பத்திரிகைகள் வகை. இருந்துமே போட்டி போட்டுக்கொண்டு பற்ப்பல இணைப் பத்திரிகைகள் நடத்தி வருகின்றன.  தொடர்கள் புத்தக வடிவு எடுத்து சிறப்பு விற்பனை ஆகின்றன.

பெங்களூரில் ஓரிரு தினங்கள் தாமதமாகவே கிடைகின்றன. விகடன் கையில் கிடைத்து விட்டால், யார் பேசினாலும் காதில் வாங்கி கொள்ள மாட்டேன். பிறகு வாரம் முழுக்க உக்கார்ந்து படிப்பேன். ஆனால், சில மாதங்களகாவே சினிமா நெடி ரொம்ப தூக்கல்.  படித்து  விட்டு ஓரமாக போட்டு விடுகிறேன். ஒரு theme-ஏ இல்லாமல் வார வாரம் காகித கழிவுகள்!  ஒரு கிலோ kurkure packetஐ full meals க்கு வாங்கியது போல இருக்கிறது.

தயவு செய்து கொஞ்சம் தரத்தை முன்னேற்றுங்கள். அட்டை படத்தில் சினிமாவை தவிருங்கள். சினிமாவை மீறிய விஷயங்கள்  உலகில் நிறைய உள்ளன.

Happy Christmas

Wish you a happy Christmas! Photo Note: Bought 2 mega size candles today.

Way to download Youtube videos

Yesterday I found a way to download Youtube Videos through a free software.  Youtube has a wealth of information.  Thanks to YouTube, knowledge is truly free.



The tool name is FreeCorder (link).  You can play the Youtube vidoes and then save it as FLV and various other file formats as MP4. I was able to download both from Firefox and IE.



It is supposed to take the Youtube video URL and give me choice to download in different formats.  It worked in IE but not in Firefox.  (Firefox was probably suspicious about uncertified apps!).  IE did not care, it just prompted me to run a Java Runtime and I was able to download.



Alternatively, irrespective of IE or Firefox, if you have played a video from youtube, this software tracks it, and you can download from there.  Ensure, you play the full video if you wanted it full.  This tool also have video format converter.



I started downloading very good videos of Anthony Robbins and Google Tech Talks from Youtube. The quality is very good. I hope to convert them into DVDs.





 

New Year 2011 - Heads Up #4

Theme for 2011

New Year 2011 - Heads Up #3

What a man can be!

  Met this man in Lalbagh. He brings biscuits for stray dogs everyday. I can never imagine someone getting surrounded by stray dogs. What a thoughtful action he has been doing!

Lalbagh on a misty morning

New Year 2011 - Heads Up #2

Looking back at 2010, I had satisfied life. I was happy most of the times. I moved away from several 'past things' of mine and moved towards new. I am happy for taking several decisions consciously and having done it. I lived almost every day with my heart. I was grateful to myself than anybody else for choosing the path I decided to walk. Being my own critic, I am aware what I need to change. Thats up for 2011.

New Year 2011 - Heads Up #1

This year, I have two choice to pick my character traits. One is what Benjamin Franklin practiced. Another set is what Brian Klemmer preaches.  I love them both.



Benjamin Franklin Virtues

•  TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

•  SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

•  ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

•  RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

•  FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

•  INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

•  SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

•  JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

•  MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

•  CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no un-cleanliness in body, cloths, or habitation.

•  TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

•  CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.

•  HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.



Read more: http://artofmanliness.com/2008/02/24/lessons-in-manliness-benjamin-franklins-pursuit-of-the-virtuous-life/#ixzz18upmiO39  (this Read more link appeared automatically when I copied from their site J I am just retaining it giving them the credit )



Character Traits of Compassionate Samurai

The character traits of Compassionate Samurai are Commitment, Personal responsibility, Contribution, Focus, Honesty, Honour, Trust, Abundance, Boldness and Knowledge.  I have already ordered the book from Flipkart and expecting the delivery in a couple of days. It’s a new year for myself. 



Tony Robbins Value System and Rules

As a NLP practitioner, I see value in values and defining my own rules to have unlimited power. 



What is my finally approach then?

•         My theme for 2011 is to live the life of “Compassionate Samurai”

•         My Value system for 2011 will be that of Compassionate Samurai

•         My rules will be defined according to those values

•         My tracking system will be similar to that of Benjamin Franklin

This is my sharing for all my beloved ones.

Shankar Bidari

Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari visited St.Pauls School's sports day event.  Sir was late to the event. The kids were frying on the hot sun. The teachers and parents took shelter in shamiyaana shade.

Swamiji Darshan

Visited Siddaganga mutt for a community service activity and got an opportunity to get blessings from the Swamiji. The 103-year old sage is running about 100+ institutions educating the poor children right from primary education to engineering college. 

Tamil Books

Nothing beats the great feeling of shopping!  But I enjoy the best when I buy books. Very few souls can understand buying books is an investment!



These are the tamil books I bought in the Bangalore Book Exhibition

Swimming: The best cardiovascular exercise

Swimming is known to be the best cardio vascular exercise.



Our cardio vascular system



Our cardio vascular system is made of blood, heart and blood vessels.  Various cardio vascular exercises help the system work in an optimal condition



Benefits of Swimming



Swimming helps in growing the system big, supply more oxygen and nutrients effectively.  This also helps in eliminating the waste in our blood stream.

Becoming an early riser

Becoming an early riser is important thing.



here is how:



Learnt from my dad



Created a need



Sharing with friends



Personal benefits







Some reference links

• Zen Habits: 10 Benefits of Early Rising and How To Do it


• Art of Manliness: Never let the sun catch you sleeping

Notebooks (Not E Books)

I started carrying pocket notebooks during my college days. I still stick to the practice. I am always fascinated by the idea of carrying notebooks for several reasons:



1. They are handy



Notebooks are easy to carry. You cannot have an excuse not having space in your bag or car. You just a pocket. In some cases, you can even hold in your hand ever.  I used to get old diaries as a "gift" but ended up using only 10% of the pages.



2. They are cute



Every stationery shop sell these cute notebooks. Some are branded and some are local names. Traditionally Eagle has been a familiar brand for most of us. Nowadays, a lot more designs, coloured, quality papers are available in market. The fancy covers are very attractive.



3. Instant ideas



Its a bad idea to capture only phone numbers and email ids in the notebooks. Notebooks are not E-Books. They are to capture instant ideas. Everyone gets idea bubbling almost every hour, but we let go most of the time because we are busy with current activities. Some thoughts come to us waiting to be born and actionized.  But we orphan them.



4. A manly gadget



I dont think a modern IPad or a netbook can replace this cute little friend. Carrying a notebook with a friendly pen is a great combo and together make a manly gadget.



5. They are cheap



Can you believe, the notebook I saw today costs just Rs.5 with 80 pages!  Staples (opp to Shoppers Stop) has good collections of notebooks.



6. Now its a habit



Any practice continuously executed becomes a habit.



Some online references

• The pocket notebook of 20 famous men


• Minimalist notebooks: make your own notebook. (onebag.com)

Coffee Day

Got a special gift from my sister. A Coffee Mug and Coffee powder. Thank you, dear! A perfect way to start my day!

Something philosophical here for everyone: God created two people - one to give and another to receive!

Be the giver always, most of the time!

Nature from Terrace

Enthiran Movie

Review

Enthiran movie is a very good entertainer. The one-line story is how a robot meant for constructive purpose can be misused. And what if a robot gets feelings and start thinking?  The real hero is the technology. Shankar has extensively exploited the animation technology. Though anybody could have done the role, Rajni Kant has been too good for his age. He looks fresh and young. Comedy is name sake but more attention could have been paid. Aishwarya too fits the character.



Already a 3-hr movie, its really challenging on what all can fit to satisfy all sorts of audiences.



Music is excellent; but the lyrics are too 'engineering'.



Few glaring errors

• In the first few reels, the spelling of 'neural schema' was misspelt as 'nueral schema'.


• In the fire accident scene, the robot saves the fire victims. The metal robot can withstand heat, but how can a man lifted by the robot can withstand the heat?


• No one would release a robot in public without formal approval. Every researcher knows it.


• A dismantled robot is a E-Waste. No body would dump such an e-waste like a vegetable waste.


• The robot has been too choosy on when it would fly. 


• With his sensors, the robot could have sensed the Vaseegaran Rajni among his army men. 

Its not known how much of writer Sujatha's work has gone into the movie. Some credit could have been given in all the interviews and in the title cards for the late legend.

Flashback & Piracy





Its an open secret, that pirated DVDs are available in all CD shops without exception. Once in a while, SUN TV News show how Rajni kant fans patriotically prevented piracy.  The SUN family may passionately recall how his family men broadcast Mudhalvan movie few years back in Madurai.





The Theatre





My first visit to Jayanagar INOX. No crowd at all. Tickets were easily available only 1/4th of the hall was occupied. We also learnt that it would take another 2 months for the JP Nagar INOX (Bangalore Central) start functioning.

Two Indian Books

I broke the convention of buying similar topics books today.



I bought two books by Indian authors in Crossword taking advantage of the Penguin Fest offer. Got a 25% offer.



One is Middle Man by Sankar (yet to find the online review)

Another is Amartya Sen's The Argumentative Indian. (Read amazon review here)



Looks like Middle man was later became a movie by Satyajitray

Populist promises

Tamilnadu govt's populist promises to woo the voters are back as the elections are fast approaching. The last election, the CM had announced free colour TV's (but no commitment on uninterrupted power supply). Happened to see 5 lorries of 14" colour TV's outside Govt Boys High School.



I recently travelled through several villages and there are no differences between them - no good roads, no basic amenities for the public.



School kids have to wait for the buses which are not in good condition.



How can a colour TV quench the poor's thirst and hunger?

Next 13 years

Someone at my age of 30 told me that that age was a turning point for many. Whether he meant it for me or a general observation, his words influenced me someway. I started interpreting everything from that perspective.



But is not age. Its our thinking frame.  There are several inactive people at young age and several other active people at 80's and 90's.



I am putting myself in a 13 year frame starting this Nov 1st to make each and every day very significant in my life. At the age of 50, when I look back, I would have made myself very proud of what I lived for.



To be so, I need to be different, think differently, do differently.  I need to stop doing what is not useful. I need to stay away from people who are not sincere. I need to stop wasting time. I need to define clearly what I wanted in my life and make each day count. I need to acquire new skills.



I need to come up with detailed plans for physical, mental, spiritual, financial, recreational goals.



I am already on the job and the past 3 days have been excellent!

Old school visit

Visited my old school St. Mary's matriculation school after 23 years. What a terrific experience!  < This blog will  be updated>

This lie is a coincidence

My blog entry on 'language distorted the world' should have been actually titled "Everyone speaks lies". I am pleasantly surprised to read the book review in TOI on a book titled "Why we Lie". Visit this link



This book is about the psychology behind lying.



And this lie is a coincidence and its a true lie :)   Can I someone explain this coincidence?

 

Language distorted the world

When our ancestor tribals needed a mechanism to communicate, language was born. But language itself an incomplete tool because our men could not get enough of the language. Perceptions, understanding, communication of the same topic is different for different people and finally we all have our own worlds of this whole world.

I would say, we are speaking lies, hearing lies and interpreting lies and nothing true.

Till we see world's invisible powers (like electricity), we carry a different perception and different set of language.

And above all every human is a bundle of emotions.

As you read this blog, your perception of the world is very miniscule, because you are influenced by recent events and knowledge and do not have the whole reality.

So, dont take anyone wrong, dont take anyone right.

What will you celebrate?

What will let you celebrate if you were given an opportunity?  The moment itself.  The sunshine. The wind. The amazing art of breath. The life. Everything.



Its madness that we celebrate every year, meaningless functions, that are out of context. Every Indian, every religion, every sect has a bunch of days for themselves to celebrate just add some colour to their lives.



Celebrate this moment.

Man in sewage water, neck level!

Today, I happened to notice the overflowing sewage water

God comes to court

Its very strange. God gave you the space and you are giving space to God now. 

To me, the whole Ayodhya Verdict episode is untimely. The legal machine is too slow. We do not penalize anybody even if we know somebody is wrong. We allow things to go out of context and pass it on to the next generation to solve.

When the first verdict date was announced, holidays were announced due to fear of violence. We celebrate Independence Day amidst lakhs of police security.  Court should think about the inconvenience to the whole society when such a verdict comes on a weekday. Chaos across the country!

I was listening to the SPACE Music today. This whole world is yours. This whole world is mine. Own it. Take responsibility. Why fight for a small piece of land for your stardom? If you have rebel in you, fight against corruption, fight for the less privileged. That alone is divine. Your hunger for power never ends. We have lost countless lives through our internal wars. For name sake, you will chant "Eshwar Allah Tere Naam" on Gandhi Jayanthi - but do you know the meaning?





The whole world is converging. Our cultures are converging. Our attitudes are converging. Our religions are still various. We need just one religion for our country. It is called Love. With out understanding the true meaning of love, your claim as a Hindu, Muslim, or Christian, its baseless. Your understanding of God is not that of a supreme power. God is your psychological tool. You are using "it" for your own strengths and weaknesses. The real God is within you and it is Love. The real God is also outside you - its Nature.

Sept 6: உலக கதிர் தினம்

உலக கதிர் தினம்

என் அன்பு தம்பி கதிர்க்கு,

பிறந்த நாள் வாழ்த்துகள்.

ஏதோ ஒரு மூலையில் பிறந்து, எங்கோ வளர்ந்து, அழகாய் ஒரு இடத்தில வந்து சந்தித்த பொழது கூட தெரியாது, நாம் இப்படி ஒன்றி போவோம் என்று.

சில சமயம் நினைத்துக் கொள்வேன் - உன்னுடைய வாழ்க்கை ஒரு ஹீரோவின் வாழ்க்கை என்று. எவ்வளவு கஷ்டங்கள் வந்தாலும் எழும்பும் பெரிய சமுத்திர அலையை சந்திக்கும் தீரன் போல புகுந்து வெளி வருகிறாய். உன்னுடைய எளிமை, உன்னுடைய யதார்த்தம், உன்னுடைய timing, உன்னுடைய sense of humour, - எல்லாவற்றுக்கும் நான் எப்பவும் fan (தமிழில் டைப் செய்தால் பேன் என்று வருகிறது).

நீ உன் வாழ்கையை full size க்கு வாழ்கிறாய்  என்று நான் சொல்லுவேன்.

பெரும்பாலும் உன் சொந்த முடிவுகளை நீ எடுப்பாய் என்றாலும், ஒரு அண்ணனாக என்னை மதித்து கலந்தாலோசிப்பது என்னக்கு பெருமை.  நீயும் கிர்த்தியும் வாழ்வில் மிகவும் சிறப்பாக வருவீர்கள்.

உன்னுடைய பிறந்த நாளை முன்னிட்டு Sept 6 தினத்தை உலக கதிர் தினமாக அறிவிக்கிறேன்.



அன்பு அண்ணா,

கணேஷ்

NLP is beautiful

I feel struck by the amazing field of NLP and its techniques. The more we understand and apply the good and powerful things in our life. VERY FEW PEOPLE APPLY IN THEIR LIFE, WHAT THEY LEARN. I am very fortunate that "I do" things. I see many around me handicapped by their own thoughts, and not able to move a bit in their life.  My entire evening was in love with NLP and I woke up this mid night to read more on it.  And it was raining heavily. A deadly combination! At this moment, I am in total control of my life - and I feel that sense of power. I want to reach out to people and tell them what it looks like. Guys, life is not living someday in future. Its living now - not just today. 

Pondering now...

• What different question should we ask ourselves to stop the corruption?


• If India continues to figure out with their new problems every single day, how we protect ourselves with the enemies outside?


• I wish I sleep only 2-4 hours everyday. Waking up 2 am or 3 am these days.  Something creative is running in my mind. Something new and fresh waiting to be born out of my shell.


• எந்திரன் படம் செய்ய செய்த செலவை துணியும் உணவும் இல்லாத மக்களுக்கு செய்தால் என்ன?


• If you keeping buying new houses as an investment, what will you answer to the future generation who are already homeless for various reasons?


• Did our parents had lesser problems in brining up compared to what we face with our kids?


• I say our mind is God. What else could be?


• The default state of mind is happiness. Why do we still pursue one?


• If TOI can stop publishing Bangalore Times and Bangalore Mirror, tonnes of papers can be saved and also trees.


• Why do we dont have negative music awards for our music directors who gave some junk songs?


• If my kid blogs now, what would she say about me?


• The world we see now through our filters, is not real

My August Month

Let the whole world know that the August is not an non-auspicious month. Because its my birth month, I have attached a lot of significance to this month.  I gain "power" around this month and live like a happy man. This month is like a new year beginning for me. But I am going to extend that amazing feeling to other months from now on. I have lost the concept of day-and-night, and see life days as one stretch period. Nature may be teaching us divide-and-conquer through day-and-night concept - but as my life is taking an interesting shape, day-night-day format is gone.

Can someone get me a mind-to-blog transmitter?  So many things to share, and I am not able to provide you an hot and unedited version of it.

 

MG Road Saturday

Visited MG Road for a weekend visit.  The car parking area on the Residency Road has scope to be a multi-level car parking. A lunch at Brindavan Hotel - still providing the traditional lunch for the past several years.  The Caurvery Emporium still hosts highly crafted sandal works. I used to buy a lot in the past for gifts but I am saturated with the collections. The rich and foreigners still throng there for purchase and rest for sight-seeing. The recent hot thing on the MG Road is not the metro rail but its mock. The mock version looks very cute. [Photo to be posted soon here] The LakeView hotel, LB Publishers are back on the road with rebuilt new look. LB Publishers has taken a new avatar with 3 floor bookshop and got a new name too {will post the same here}.  Gangarams bookshop, my all time favorite bookshop was not crowded but a home of several books. Mr.Atmaram of Gangarams is very hospitable to every customer and he remembers me still. In the general section, the middle-aged lady employee in the billing section has been working there for past several years doing the same job. What could have been the motivation for her?  In MG Road's Favorite Shop, the shop owner recognized that we both lived in same location in Chennai ten years ago.



Otherwise the discipline on the MG Road is still old.

Director Bala

After a very long time, I re-read Director Bala's Ivan dhaan bala autobiography. His childhood days in his village have been so bad that no one would have imagined that he would rise to fame to make movies like Sethu, Pidhamagan, and Naan Kadavul. His story has been beautifully put together and an inspiration for anyone who like to have a second lease of life. His story is all about will-power of a man who has been rejected in his life in several situations. Very inspiring story. But look at Mr.Bala - no body would say that he has the formulated looks of a famous director or an intellectual.

Power of Choices

I was amazed at the amount of choices that I have to respond to any event.





I am currently engaged with a social community whose leader and subordinate are 'hot head' people. The subordinate is very old and the Secretary is of my age group. The leader takes (self-) pride in all that he does but does not get enough recognition from the community. He is a combination of his old age, experience leading a group in some factory, religious (not spiritual - yes, there is a difference), and dominating leadership but forward thinking mindset. The subordinate engages and disengages and is an unpredictable personality.



Yesterday, we got into a verbal dispute and thanks to various tools and mechanisms I have, I was under control. They are:





a) The Secret scroll  that begins with "I promise myself, that nothing can disturb my peace of mind"

b) The belief that I am an "Inverse Paranoid"

c) A powerful strategy - Never React, But Respond



The leader was screaming but I was calm. After the meeting, I left the place quiet.



The first thing I did was recalled the incident and wrote a long mail, edited and reworded clarifying that the statements / opinions of the leader were not necessarily meaningful.  The email was so neat and I was able to express in a very authentic way all that I wanted to explain. I was very happy about that.



The incident did not leave my mind, I was trying to reframe (a NLP Technique) the situation. I had some revelations about it. My mind was wavering on what I need to do next. Here is the list of choices that was revealing itself one after the other throughout the day.



a) Write a letter to subordinate explaining how the Secret Scroll helped me

b) Write a letter to subordinate explaining all that I have accomplished so far and also attach the "Thanks, Bye" letter

c) Attend the next meeting and submit the "Thanks, Bye" letter in presence of everyone

d) Visit the leader's house directly, speak in a friendly manner, and after a chit-chat, give him the "Thanks, Bye" letter

e) The MOST EMPOWERING ONE - Continue to do what I was doing.  Because, there are only limited number of people in the community leadership to support the initiative. I will complete my term which ends in next year April.



Another conviction I have is "Be the change, before asking for the change". Being an Inverse Paranoid, I am handling this so-called-negative-situation in a more empowering way. I dont think otherwise will do it in the same way as mine. That way, I am unique. I am really moved by the power of choices I have.

Inverse Paranoid

Today I have learnt this new phrase "Inverse Paranoid" - such a powerful term and much more meaning it has. A paranoid is one who fears that everything is happening for his bad. An Inverse Paranoid is one who believes that "the world is conspiring to make his life good". What an Idea, What a powerful belief this can be. 



Some how as we grew, we forgot that our natural state of mind is happiness. But when we are grown, we think we have to do something to be happy. Instead of 'being happy', we keep doing something 'to become happy'.



So, tell yourself that you are an 'inverse paranoid' and have the conviction that everything is happening for your good.

3 books from Flipkart

I have ordered 3 books from FlipKart, the first two I have received:

• Connect The Dots


• Dont Sprint The Marathon


• Bite of the Mango

Connect The Dots is a sequel to the Indian writing bestseller "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish".  This book covers 20 entrepreneurs in our country who does not have an MBA!



Dont Sprint The Marathon focuses on children upbringing without forcing them to too many vocational courses. I have not read it completely. I am yet to get close to the theme.

Bite of the Mango is yet to reach me from Flipkart. It is a biography on Mariatu Kamara who is a UNICEF Special Representative and survivor of the civil war in Sierra Leone. I read about her in Tamil weekly Vikatan's interview and was touched by her story. During her girlhood her hands were cut off by rebels, and was physically abused. She also gave birth to a boy that died after 10 months. She spent some part of her life as beggar and was later rescued by UNICEF. This girl now has "The Mariatu Foundation seeks to provide a much needed refuge for women and children. Through the opening of a home and eventually homes in Sierra Leone, the Mariatu Foundation will offer healing programs and assistance in the resettlement and reintegration of abused women and children into loving and supportive communities."



When I read Mariatu's story, I could feel the pain in my hands. I felt like saying "Sorry" to her on behalf of this world for the injustice. Somehow, I am reminded of Bhopal tragedy court verdict that is nothing for a penalty or punishment. I think we as a society should be saying Sorry to many.

Nemo having fun

This morning, our home pet "Nemo" was having fun in the aquarium by playing with his reflection. 



I often wonder what is in a fish's brain? What do they think through out the day and night?  The TV is exactly opposite to him. Will his behaviour be very different if I had let him in a running water (river or sea)?



Hey great, I googled (who else would I ask) for these answeres. Some say, fish have brain and their memory last for 3 seconds. Some say they can feel the pain also. If so, why do we kill the fishes?!



This website (link) has created a java program to animate and show how the world looks like above the water surface as seen by a fish!

Black and Red

I am very much fascinated by Black and Red combination these days. Its a lethal combination and serves as an inspiration for me. After this whatever I saw was black-and-red.

I bought a pen recently from Staples which of this combination.  I had a new glass frame which is also of this combination.

World Environment Day

Today is World Environment Day!



The world has been witnessing the erratic climatic changes periodically. We also witness different weather moods through the day. The recent Laila storm had its impact on Andhra, Tamilnadu and also partially in Karnataka too.



Dad said it was raining through out night. When we left for the railway station at 5.30 am, the entire city was "wet". The breeze was very pleasant. While returning from I decided to stop at Lalbagh. Lalbagh was green and wet where health freaks were flocking the entire landscape. But it was very scenic and have a panoramic view of Lalbagh. There is a free distribution of sapling in Lalbagh at 10.30 am. I only wish Bangalore gets more beautiful with colourful trees planted in an organized way.



Morning Times of India was a eco-friendly paper with news printed on recycled paper. The whitish paper with a green tint was a treat to read.





Few things put me off when I go around the streets:



a) The pourakiramas (garbage collectors) set off fire for dry leaves, papers etc to minimize their 'work' load

b) Garbage and debris dumped in vacant lands. The land owner should be levied penalty for spoiling the environment



c) Hanging flags, loose advertisement posters, banners



d) Construction materials dumped along the platforms for months



e) There is no implementation of the ban on plastic bags. Its only on paper. Any garbage dump you see, you would find atleast 70% of them comprise the plastic bags.



Through this blog, I recall Mr.Theerthagiri with whom some of us worked wiith 15 years back. He was a rubber stamp maker, an asthma patient, a thin framed personality. He was very good at heart, and always wanted to help less privileged. He was also part of Arivoli Iyakkam (அறிவொளி இயக்கம்), a literary movement in Tamilnadu.We were part of one of the June 5th World Environment Day celebrations.