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.