Stop Existing and Start Living..

If you are smart, you can survive in this world..
If you are super-smart... you can live comfortably...

If you are dumb, you will be forced to sit and watch as the world hurries by...

Now why the world hurries is a Million dollar question.. I am reminded of the story of the hare which was sleeping under a cocount tree when all of a sudden, a coconut fell nearby,the hare starts running thinking that the world was going to end... Along the way he starts telling other animals about how the world was going to end. Hearing the hare mention this other animals also join him in running away from the forest and soon all the animals in the forest start running(just to be on the safe side !!) not knowing exactly why others are running.. I get a similar feeling that most of the people in this world are just existing without knowing their true purpose .. !! And they too are going about rushing through the daily motions of life without sparing a moment to see what they are doing..

We need to stop existing & start living !!!

One thing Uncle Sam needs to learn...

This year(2006) in October, United States anticipates its 300 Millionth baby. Its interesting to see that the US celebrated the arrival of the 200 Millionth baby in November, 1967 which is approximately 40 years ago. So, it takes nearly 40 years to increase the population by 100 million.. Grow up folks.. Here are some statistics that would put you to shame..

India( my proud Motherland...) ushered its Billionth Visitor in May, 2000 and the current estimates of the population as of 2005 stand at around 1.103 Billion(courtesy : United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Population Division (2004)) which means that we have managed to add another 103 Million citizens on this planet in 5 years flat.. Howzaat !!!

I have to admit that I am a baby when it comes to Baby-Economics. I have to grow up and understand the compelling logic behind my countrymen that is prompting them to have such pride and confidence in nurturing these human armies..

What fails to strike me is the fact that for the same resources, if there are more people to fight for, what should happen as a natural consequence is a dilution in quality. So, I will have to dig more to find the reason for preference of quantity over quality.

Is Mr.NarayanaMurthy a Hypocrite ?

The founder of Infosys is now India's well known figures in the world. His personal fortunes run into Billions of dollars and India does not tire showering praises on the founding father of Indian IT industry.

Now coming to his personal life, he's got a son and daughter. Akshata is 26 and has completed her MBA at Stanford and Rohan, 22 is doing his PhD at Harvard. Does Murthy influence his kid's decision in any way.. Not really. As a father, he's ensured that his kids received the best in class education that the world could offer.

Thereby he's ensured that if at all their kids would be interested to join his company, it will not be at the entry level. By waving his magical wand, in one stroke, his kids become eligible to join the top ranks of any MNC. Unlike the coding warriors(software programmers) of his company, his kids would be working out of plush offices. I am not green with envy on seeing his kids enjoy a better standing of living when compared to their father, all I want to point out is that, if Murthy really felt great value in growing through the ranks of a company, he need not invest so heavily in providing an Ivy-League education for his kids so that they will escape the wrath of having to face the computer monitors for over 100 hours per week as experienced by 50,000 + employees..

So, what applies to employees will not apply to kids.. Its all about affordability and Economics in action.. !!!

Its all about life..

Saw this interesting debate about life on c-SPAN TV. The topic was about whether we as human beings are right to exterminate other's lives. What are the ethical issues that we need to contend with when it comes to stem-cell research, Abortion as well as Euthansia or mercy killing. These have been rocking America for long and the solutions to these issues must factor religious sentiments and feelings too since it involves life. !!

My take on the subject is as follows : Ideally speaking every individual has different opinions and perspectives about living in this world. So, it would be nice if every person makes a choice( as soon as he's old enough and mature) so that it leaves no room for discussion or debate. The idea that I am proposing is something along the lines of a " Will" that people normally prepare before they depart from this world giving instructions on how to share his/her wealth. So, here in my case, the individual should go about elaborating his wishes on how the world should treat him in case

1) He/She is afflicted with a permanent disease for the rest of his/her life.
2) He/She slips into coma.
3) He/She meets with a serious accident.

The point is, if the individual so desires that his kith/kin do not spend their fortunes on saving his/her life, then that money can be put to a better use elsewhere. Ultimately, the right to life rests with the individual and not decided by people around him/her.

There are a group of people (Pro-Lifers) who argue that we are not right in adopting mercy killing techniques. The point that they are missing is, these people consider the physical body to be precious and hence they find it very difficult to let go of it. Should I call them possesive? Yes.. More importance should be given to the values and principles cherished by the individual. These are more permanent in nature and can be transmitted and preserved in this world. Once we are aware of what is it that a person stood for in life, we should imbibe those qualities, if found worthwhile and admirable and let that person die gracefully. We are in that way, freeing up precious resources(Hospitals, doctors,equipments, Money,Research Scientists) and diverting them for better causes.

Freedom and Happiness

Read this profound statement somewhere.


Doing what you like is Freedom...... Liking what you do is Happiness...

Now there is plenty of freedom in this world. We have 192 countries at last count which are members of the United Nations.. I mean the Freedom at the geographic country level, not at the personal level...

What about happiness. Not sure whether there are any such data which quantifies this ?? Again, this is very subjective and a subject of perception.Is being happy an inherent detriment for progress ??

Came across this other quote which goes like " There are 2 types of men in this world: reasonable and unreasonable. All the progress in the world can be attributed to the unreasonable man.. ". May be these people question the existing set-up and strech boundaries as well as imagination causing progress..


Also read some time back that Indians rank pretty high on the Happiness index even though they are not economically well endowed. Goes to show that there is much more to happiness than money..

Anyone game for WAR ??

I have read in history that Switzerland never participated in any of the World Wars and was a neutral country. That's brings me to an interesting question. Do the Swiss maintain an army at all ? How difficult is it to attack them ? Why does'nt anyone think about it.

Yes, I have definitely heard about the Swiss Army Knife, but not much about the Swiss Army !!!

Just think about it. We could possibly lay our hands on the safe Swiss banks, beautiful Hill stations, and Swiss Chocolates too.. Not bad....

Settle Down in Life .........

This is an oft repeated expression meaning that one has to get his feet grounded. But looking at it diferently, it does bring with it a loss of innocence and getting a serious, mature and sober approach to facing life. This also typically means a lack of mobility and an in-built resistance for change citing various reasons. Lets face it.. I do appreciate that people need to be responsible,cultured and well-behaved but all this should not be at the cost of losing your innate curiousity, humor and enthusiasm which characterise every human being. Embracing change should be imbibed in us, early on in life.. We should constantly try and analyze ourselves to see whether we are getting into some cozy comfort zone and pull ourseleves out of it. This way, we consciously veer away from our favorites and do not assume certain things for granted since we otherwise run the risk of getting addictive and obsessive. We should constantly strive to convert our weaknesses to strengths and vice-versa.

If we like doing something, try to avoid doing it more, if we don't like doing something, coax yourself to doing it more. CHANGE is the only thing which is constant

I like BATS.... they hang-out and more importantly, unlike human beings, settle up in life......