Happiness in Life by Daisaku Ikeda..

You will never find happiness if you don't challenge your weakness and change yourself from within. True happiness is to be found within, in the state of our hearts. It does not exist on the far side of some distant mountains. It is within you, yourself. However, as much you try, you can never run away from yourself. And if you are weak, suffering will follow you wherever you go. You will never find happiness if you donˆt challenge your weakness and change yourself from within. Happiness is to be found in the dynamism and energy of your own life as you struggle to overcome one obstacle after another. This is why I believe that a person who is active and free from fear is truly happy.

The challenges we face in life can be compared to a tall mountain, rising before a mountain climber. For someone who has not trained properly, whose muscles and reflexes are weak and slow, every inch of the climb will be filled with terror and pain.

The exact same climb, however, will be a thrilling journey for one who is prepared, whose legs and arms have been strengthened by constant training. With each step forward and up, beautiful new views will come into sight.

My teacher used to talk about two kinds of happiness- relative and absolute happiness. Relative happiness is happiness that depends on things outside ourselves: friends, and family, surroundings, the size of our home or family income. This is what we feel when a desire is fulfilled, or something we have longed for is obtained. While the happiness such things bring us is certainly real, the fact is that none of this lasts for ever. Things change. People change. This kind of happiness shatters easily when external conditions alter.

Relative happiness is also based on comparison with others. We may feel this kind of happiness at having a newer or bigger home than the neighbors. But that feeling turns to misery the moment they start making new additions to theirs!

Absolute happiness, on the other hand, is something we must find within. It means establishing a state of life in which we are never defeated by trials and where just being alive is a source of great joy. This persists no matter what we might be lacking, or what might happen around us. A deep sense of joy is something which can only exist in the innermost reaches of our life, and which cannot be destroyed by any external forces. Itˆs eternal and inexhaustible.

The kind of sasfaction is to be found in consistent and repeated effort, so that we can say: Today, again, I did my very best. Today, again, I have no regrets. Today, again, I won. The accumulated result of such efforts is a life of great victory.

What we should compare is not ourselves against others. We should compare who we are today against who we were yesterday, who we are today against who we will be tomorrow. While this may seem simple and obvious, true happiness is found in a life of constant advancement. And the same worries that could have made us miserable can actually be a source of growth when we approach them with courage and wisdom.

One friend whose dramatic life proved this was Natalia Saltz, who founded the first childrenˆs theater in Moscow. In the 1930s, she and her husband were marked by the Soviet Unionˆs secret police. Even though they were guilty of no crime, her husband was arrested and executed and she was sent to a prison camp in the frozen depths of Siberia. After she recovered from the initial shock, she started looking at her situation, not with despair, but for opportunity.

She realized that many of her fellow prisoners had special skills and talents. She began organizing a university, encouraging the prisoners to share their knowledge. You. You are a scientist. Teach us about science. You are an artist. Talk to us about art. In this way, the boredom and terror of the prison camp were transformed into the joy of learning and teaching. Eventually, she even made use of her own unique talents to organize a theater group.

She survived the five year prison sentence, and dedicated the rest of her long life to creating childrenˆs theater. When we met for the first time in Moscow in 1981, she was already in her 80's. She was as radiant and buoyant as a young girl. Her smile was the smile of someone who has triumphed over the hardships of life.

Hers is the kind of spirit I had in mind when I wrote the following poem on
Happiness: A Person with a vast heart is happy. Such a person lives every day with a broad and embracing spirit. A person with a strong will is happy. Such a person can confidently enjoy life, never defeated by suffering. A person with a profound spirit is happy. Such a person can savor lifeˆs depths while creating meaning and value that will last for eternity. A person with a pure mind is happy. Such a person is always surrounded by refreshing breezes of joy.

Importance of consciousness by Osho.

The ability to concentrate is not something to feel blessed about. It is a frozen state of mind, a very narrow state of mind. Useful, of course, useful -- for others. Useful in scientific inquiry, useful in business, useful in the market, useful in politics -- but absolutely useless for yourself. If you become too attuned with concentration you will become very, very tense. Concentration is a tense state of mind; you will never be relaxed. Concentration is like a torch, focused, and consciousness is like a lamp, unfocused.

My whole effort here is to teach you consciousness, not concentration. And this is the point to be remembered: if you become conscious, any moment you want to concentrate on a particular problem, you can. It is not a problem. But if you become too focused with concentration the vice versa is not true: you cannot relax. A relaxed mind can always concentrate. easily, there is no trouble about it. But a focused mind becomes obsessed. narrow. It is not easy for it to relax and leave the tension. It remains tense.

If you meditate. first concentration will disappear and you will be feeling a little at a loss. But if you go on, by and by you will attain to an unfocused state of light -- that's what meditation is. Once meditation is attained. concentration is child's play -- whenever you need to, you can concentrate. There will be no problem about it and it will be easy and without any tension.

Right now, you are being used by society. Society wants efficient people. It is not worried about your soul, it is worried about your productivity. I am not worried about your productivity: man has already too much, more than he can enjoy -- there is no need to go on producing more. Now there is more need to play around more and there is more need to be more conscious. Science has developed enough. Now, whatsoever science is doing is almost futile. Now, going to the moon is simply useless. But tremendous energy is wasted. Why? Because scientists are now obsessed -- they have to do something. They have learned a trick of concentration and they have to do something. They have to produce, they have to go on producing something -- they cannot relax. They will go to the moon, they will go to Mars, and they will persuade people that whatsoever they are doing is tremendously important. It is absolutely useless. But this happens.

Once you become trained in a certain thing, you go on in that line, blind, unless you encounter a "Dead-End " and you cannot go on anymore. But life is infinite. There comes no dead-end in between. That's precisely the reason why its called " Dead-end". Death comes at the very end. You can go on and on and on till you are alive. There is no end to it...

And now scientific activity has almost become ridiculous.
Spiritual activity is totally different. It is not worried about being more efficient; the whole point is how to be more joyful, how to be more celebrating. So if you agree with me, by and by, concentration will relax. And in the beginning you will feel afraid because you will see your skill disappearing, your efficiency disappearing. You will feel you are losing something that you have gained with so much effort. In the beginning it will happen. The ice is melting and becoming water. The ice was solid, something concentrated; now it is water -- loose, relaxed, flowing in all directions. But anytime you need ice, the water can be turned into ice again. There is no problem -- just a little more cooling is needed.

This is my own experience. Whatsoever I say, I say from my own experience -- the same has happened to me. First, concentration disappeared; but now I can concentrate on anything. There is no problem. But I don't remain in concentration; I can concentrate and relax -- whenever the need arises. Just as whenever the need arises, you walk; you don't sit on the chair and go on moving your Legs. There are a few people who go on moving because they cannot sit relaxed -- you will call this man restless!

Legs in perfect order are needed so that whenever you need to, you can walk, you can run. But when there Is no need, you can relax, and the legs will no longer be functioning.

But your concentration has become almost as focused as if you are continuously preparing for an Olympic! Runners in an Olympic cannot relax. They have to run a particular amount every morning and evening; they are continuously on the go. If they relax for a few days they will lose their skill. But I call all Olympics political, ambitious, foolish. There is no need.

Competition is foolish. There is no need. If you enjoy running -- perfectly good. Run. and enjoy. But why compete? What is the point of competition? Competition brings illness, unhealthiness; competition brings jealousy, and a thousand and one diseases.

Meditation will allow you to concentrate whenever the need arises, but if there is no need you will remain relaxed, flowing in all directions like water.

Feel blissful, blessed. What is the point of uttering logical sentences! Utter nonsense; make sounds, gibberish, like birds... Like trees! (At this moment a nearby tree decided, with the help of a passing breeze, to illustrate Osho's words by shaking its branches and causing hundreds of leaves to fall with loud rustling sounds to the ground.) Look! This way! Is this logical? The tree is enjoying. Delighting. Simply shedding away the past.

Delight. Sing. Utter sounds. Forget all logic! And by and by you will become more alive. Less logical of course that is the price one has to pay -- but you become dead if you become more logical and you become more alive if you become less logical.

Life is the goal, not logic. What are you going to do with logic? If you are hungry, logic is not going to feed you; if you need love, logic is not going to hug you; if you are thirsty, logic will tell you that water is H20! It is not going to give you water, real water. No. It simply functions in formulas, maxims.

Look at life, and by and by you will understand that life has its own very logical logic. Be attuned to it and that will become the door for your ecstasy, and you are bound to attain nirvana...

Forward Thinking

A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a loving couple and the boy was the apple of their eyes.

One morning, the husband saw a medicine bottle open. As he was late for work, he asked the wife to cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. The mother, who was preoccupied in the kitchen, totally forgot the matter.

The boy playfully went to the medicine bottle and, fascinated with its colour, drank it all. It happened to be a poisonous medicine meant for adults in small dosages. When the child showed signs of poisoning, the mother took him to the hospital, where he died.

The mother was stunned. She was too terrified to face her husband. When the distraught father came to the hospital and saw the dead child, he looked at his wife and uttered just four words.

QUESTIONS : 1. What were the four words ? 2. What is the implication of this story ? Check with the answers only after you have tried to come up with your own.

ANSWERS:
The husband just said " I Love You Darling ." The husband's totally unexpected reaction is proactive behaviour. He is indeed a genius in human relationships.

The child is dead.
He can never be brought back to life. There is no point in finding fault with the mother. She had also lost her only child. What she needed at that moment was consolation and sympathy from the husband. That is what he gave her. If everyone can look at life with this kind of perspective, there would be much fewer problems in the world.

"A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step." Take off all your unforgiveness, fear, envies, jealousies and selfishness, AND you will find things are actually not so difficult as you think.

Cow Economics....

> TRADITIONAL ECONOMICS
> You have two cows.
> You sell one and buy a bull.
> Your herd multiplies and the economy grows.
> You retire on the income.

> INFOSYS ECONOMICS
> You have 2 cows
> You put both of them on the bench
> And hire another to do the job.

> TCS ECONOMICS
> You have 2 cows
> You tell them that only one will go onsite abroad.
> You ask both of them to fight for the only H1B Visa.
> Both of them die after fighting.

> SATYAM Economics
> You have 2 cows
> You send one cow abroad while the other one stays in India.
> You tell the customer that you will deliver World class milk.
> The cow at the customer site accesses and remotely drinks the milk from India.
> The cow back home in India accesses and remotely drinks the milk from the cow present at the customer site.
> Customer watches this spectacle totally confused and getting worried on what's happening. On probing, the cow says that it will deliver Global milk with the right proportion of milk/water.After 6 months, the cow(Called as Cash-Cow by Satyam) delivers water to the client and disappers from the back door leaving the client gasping with shock.

> HCL ECONOMICS
> You have 2 cows
> You milk them only for 24 hours on just 7 days a week.
> They run away.

> WIPRO Economics
> You have 2 cows
> You train them for two months on how to milk themselves.
> Then u ask them to pull bullock carts.

> INDIAN ECONOMICS
> -------------------------------
> You have two cows.
> You worship them.
>
>
> PAKISTAN ECONOMICS
> ------------------------------------
> You dont have any cows.
> You claim that the Indian cows belong to you.
> You ask the US for financial aid, China for military
> aid, British for Warplanes, Italy for
> machines, Germany for technology, French for
> submarines, Switzerland for loans,Russia for drugs
> and Japan for equipment.You buy the cows with all
> this and claim of exploitation by the world.
>
>
> AMERICAN ECONOMICS
> -------------------------------------
> You have two cows.
> You sell one and force the other
> to produce the milk of four cows.
> You profess surprise when the cow drops dead.
>
>
> FRENCH ECONOMICS
> ---------------------------------
> You have two cows.
> You go on strike because you want three cows.
>
>
> GERMAN ECONOMICS
> ----------------------------------
> You have two cows.
> You reengineer them so that they live for 100 years,
> eat once a month and milk themselves.
>
>
> BRITISH ECONOMICS
> ---------------------------------
> You have two cows.
> They are both mad cows.
>
>
> ITALIAN ECONOMICS
> --------------------------------
> You have two cows.
> You don't know where they are.
> You break for lunch.
>
>
> SWISS ECONOMICS
> -------------------------------
> You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you.
> You charge others for storing them.
>
>
> JAPANESE ECONOMICS
> -------------------------------------
> You have two cows.
> You redesign them so that they are one-tenth the size
> of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
> You then create cute cartoon cow images called
> Cowkimon and market them worldwide.
>
>
> RUSSIAN ECONOMICS
> ----------------------------------
> You have two cows.
> You count them and learn you have five cows.
> You count them again and learn
> you have 42 cows.
> You count them again and learn
> you have 17 cows.
> You give up counting and open another bottle of
> vodka.
>
>
> CHINESE ECONOMICS
> ----------------------------------
> You have two cows.
> You have 300 people milking them.
> You claim full employment, high bovine productivity
> and arrest anyone reporting the actual numbers.

Azim Premji's recipe for success

This speech was delivered at the 38th Convocation of IIT, Madras by Azim Premji, who is the CEO and Chairman of Wipro, an Indian IT-to-HomeProducts conglomerate..

Lesson # 1: Dare to dream
When I entered Wipro at the age of 21, it was a sudden and unexpected event. I had no warning of what lay ahead of me and I was caught completely unprepared. All I had with me was a dream.

A dream of building a great Organisation. It compensated for my inexperience and I guess, also prevented me from being overwhelmed by the enormity of the task before me.

What I am happy is that we never stopped dreaming. Even when we achieved a position of leadership in every business we operated in India. We now have a dream of becoming one of the top 10 global it service companies.

Many people wonder whether having unrealistic dreams is foolish. My reply to that is dreams by themselves can never be realistic or safe. If they were, they would not be dreams. I do agree that one must have strategies to execute dreams. And, of course, one must slog to transform dreams into reality. But dreams come first.

What saddens me most is to see young, bright people getting completely disillusioned by a few initial setbacks and slowly turning cynical and some of them want to migrate to America in the hope this is the solution.

It requires courage to keep dreaming. And that is when dreams are most needed- not when everything is going right, but when just about everything is going wrong.

Lesson # 2: Define what you stand for
While success is important, it can become enduring only if it is built on a strong foundation of Values. Define what you stand for as early as possible and do not compromise with it for any reason. Nobody can enjoy the fruits of success if you have to argue with your own conscience.

In Wipro, we defined our Beliefs long before it became a fashion to do so. It not only helped us in becoming more resilient to stand up to crises we faced along the way, but it also helped us in attracting the right kind of people.

Eventually, we realised that our values made eminent business sense. Values help in clarifying what everyone should do or not do in any business situation. It saves enormous time and effort because each issue does not have to be individually debated at length.

But remember that values are meaningful only if you practice them. People may listen to what you say but they will believe what you do. Values are a matter of trust. They must be reflected in each one of your actions. Trust takes a long time to build but can be lost quickly by just one inconsistent act.

Lesson #3: Never lose your zest and curiosity
All the available knowledge in the world is accelerating at a phenomenal rate. The whole world's codified knowledge base (all documented information in library books and electronic files) doubled every 30 years in the early 20th century.

By the 1970s, the world's knowledge base doubled every seven years. Information researchers predict that by the year 2010, the world's codified knowledge will double every 11 hours.

Remaining on top of what you need to know will become one of the greatest challenges for you.
The natural zest and curiosity for learning is one of the greatest drivers for keeping updated on knowledge. A child's curiosity is insatiable because every new object is a thing of wonder and mystery. The same zest is needed to keep learning new things.

I personally spend at least ten hours every week on reading. If I do not do that, I find myself quickly outdated.

Lesson # 4: Always strive for excellence
There is a tremendous difference between being good and being excellent in whatever you do. In the world of tomorrow, just being good is not good enough.

One of the greatest advantages of globalisation is that it has brought in completely different standards. Being the best in the country is not enough; one has to be the best in the world. Excellence is a moving target. One has to constantly raise the bar.

In the knowledge-based industries, India has the unique advantage of being a quality leader. just like japan was able to win in the overseas market with its quality leadership in automobile manufacturing, india has been able to do the same in information technology.

At Wipro, we treat quality as the #1 priority. This enabled us not only to become the world's first SEI CMM Level 5 software services company in the world but also a leader in Six Sigma approach to quality in India.

However, even today I am dissatisfied with several things which we are not doing right in the area of customer satisfaction.

Doing something excellently has its own intrinsic joy, which I think is the greatest benefit of Quality.

Lesson # 5: Build self-confidence
Self-confidence comes from a positive attitude even in adverse situations. Self-confident people assume responsibility for their mistakes and share credit with their team members.

They are able to distinguish between what is in their control and what is not. They do not waste their energies on events that are outside their control and hence they can take setbacks in their stride.

Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Lesson # 6: Learn to work in teams
The challenges ahead are so complex that no individual will be able to face them alone. While most of our education is focused in individual strength, teaming with others is equally important. You cannot fire a missile from a canoe. Unless you build a strong network of people with complimentary skills, you will be restricted by your own limitations.

Globalisation has brought in people of different origin, different upbringing and different cultures together. Ability to become an integral part of a cross-cultural team will be a must for your success.

Lesson # 7 Take care of yourself
The stress that a young person faces today while beginning his or her career is the same as the last generation faced at the time of retirement.

I have myself found that my job has become enormously more complex over the last two or three years. Along with mutual alertness, physical fitness will also assume a great importance in your life.

You must develop your own mechanism for dealing with stress. I have found that a daily jog for me, goes a long way in releasing the pressure and building up energy. You will need lots of energy to deal with the challenges.

Unless you take care of yourself there is no way you can take care of others.

Lesson # 8: Persevere
Finally, no matter what you decide to do in your life, you must persevere. Keep at it and you will succeed, no matter how hopeless it seems at times. In the last three and half decades, we have gone through many difficult times. But we have found that if we remain true to what we believe in, we can surmount every difficulty that comes in the way.

I remember reading this very touching story on perseverance.
An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money left. They were moving to a smaller house because they could not afford to stay in the present house after paying the doctor's bills. Only a very costly surgery could save him now and there was no one to loan them the money.

When she heard daddy say to her tearful mother with whispered desperation, 'Only a miracle can save him now', the child went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jar from its hiding place in the closet.

She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully.
Clutching the precious jar tightly, she slipped out the back door and made her way six blocks to the local drug Store. She took a quarter from her jar and placed it on the glass counter.

"And what do you want?" asked the pharmacist. "It's for my little brother," the girl answered back. "He's really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle."

"I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist.
"His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?"

"We don't sell miracles here, child. I'm sorry," the pharmacist said, smiling sadly at the little girl.
"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs."

In the shop was a well-dressed customer. He stooped down and asked the little girl, "What kind of a miracle does you brother need?"

"I don't know," she replied with her eyes welling up. "He's really sick and mommy says he needs an operation. But my daddy can't pay for it, so I have brought my savings".

"How much do you have?" asked the man. "One dollar and eleven cents, but I can try and get some more", she answered barely audibly.

"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents -- the exact price of a miracle for little brothers."

He took her money in one hand and held her hand with the other. He said, "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need."

That well-dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specialising in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn't long before Andrew was home again and doing well.

"That surgery," her mom whispered, "was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?"
The little girl smiled. She knew exactly how much the miracle cost ... one dollar and eleven cents ... plus the faith of a little child.

Perseverance can make miracles happen.

Lesson # 9: Have a broader social vision
For decades we have been waiting for some one who will help us in 'priming the pump' of the economy.
The government was the logical choice for doing it, but it was strapped for resources. Other countries were willing to give us loans and aids but there was a limit to this.

In the millennium of the mind, knowledge-based industries like Information Technology are in a unique position to earn wealth from outside. While earning is important, we must have mechanisms by which we use it for the larger good of our society.

Through the Azim Premji Foundation, we have targeted over the next 12 months to enrol over a million children, who are out of school due to economic or social reasons.

I personally believe that the greatest gift one can give to others is the gift of education. We who have been so fortunate to receive this gift know how valuable it is.

Lesson # 10: Never let success go to your head
No matter what we achieve, it is important to remember that we owe this success to many factors and people outside us. This will not only help us in keeping our sense of modesty and humility intact but also help us to retain our sense of proportion and balance.

The moment we allow success to build a feeling or arrogance, we become vulnerable to making bad judgements.
Let me illustrate this with another story:
A lady in faded dress and her husband, dressed in a threadbare suit, walked in without an appointment into the office of the president of the most prestigious educational institution in America.

The secretary frowned at them and said, "He will be busy all day."
"We will wait," said the couple quietly.
The secretary ignored them for hours hoping they will go away. But they did not. Finally, the secretary decided to disturb the president, hoping they will go way quickly once they meet him.

The president took one look at the faded dresses and glared sternly at them. The lady said, "Our son studied here and he was very happy. A year ago, he was killed in an accident. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial for him on the campus."

The president was not touched. He was shocked. "Madam, we cannot put up a statue for every student of ours who died. This place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh, no," the lady explained quickly, "we don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would give a building to you."
"A building?" exclaimed the president, looking at their worn out clothes. "Do you have any idea how much a building costs? Our buildings cost close to ten million dollars!"

The lady was silent. The president was pleased and thought this would get rid of them.
The lady looked at her husband. "If that is what it costs to start a university, why don't we start our own?" Her husband nodded.

Mr and Mrs Leland Stanford walked away, travelling to Palo Alto, California, where they established the university as a memorial to their son, bearing their name - the Stanford University.

The story goes that this is how Stanford University began.
I wish you every success in your career and your future life.

Buddha, Buddhi and Buddhu

Once upon a time there lived 3 people called Buddha, Buddhi and Buddhu.

Buddha was the wise one, he always had the ability to see through things and understand the deeper meaning. He was reflective in nature and always pondered on why things happened in a certain way. He had found his inner peace and contentment in life.

Buddhi on the other hand was more practical and carried out a routine mundane life. He was intelligent but did not spend much time worrying about things which were not part of his immediate priorities.

Buddhu was a total contrast to the other two people. He was a bystander in life, witnessing things, people as well as events as they fled past him. He was totally ignorant about the difficulties, issues and challenges of everyday life.

If we sit back and analyse, everyone is born as a Buddhu, a child is a typical example of Buddhu. He's yet to be exposed to the world outside. He's ignorant as well as innocent.

Education,the spirit of enquiry and curiosity makes the Buddhu to start understanding the world around him and he starts developing into a Buddhi. The more he appreciates things around him and more experience he gathers, greater is the sense of confidence that he develops to face unknown situations.

Now when does the Buddhi transform into a Buddha ? That's a Million dollar question. It sometimes takes a flash of brilliance, it could take a lifetime's effort or maybe, it may turn out to be a multiple-life effort( if you believe in the Hindu doctrine of Karma and rebirth). We may even interpret our promotion to a Buddha as God's reward for untiringly serving the cause of Buddhas and Buddhus. That day marks your enlightenment.

Another important point to note is that, while inactivity characterize the Buddhu and the Buddha, energy, enthusiasm and effort characterise the Buddhi. The Buddhis have the responsibility to support and sustain the Buddhus and the Buddhas of the world. The Buddhis represent the transition of man from ignorance to enlightenment.



God ensures that there is an adequate supply of Buddhi's and shortage of Buddhas and Buddhus for this very reason.


Buddhi's Song : Woods are lovely, dark and deep, I have many more promises to keep, I have miles to go before I can sleep.

This in essence is the Karma Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita.

Its Madras Day...

August 22nd is being celebrated as Madras Day. Being born and brought up in the city, I should say that I continue to be amazed, shocked, surprised, happy, sad on its current state. So, in short its a cocktail of emotions. Madras, one of the 4 Metropolitan cities and the Southern Capital of India can lay strong claim to being the Cultural Capital of India. The festival of music/dance/drama which happens every year for more than 100 years in the month of December/January is supposedly the largest of its kind in the world.

Besides having one of the best school and College networks in the country, the city is synonymous with the Cooumn river which runs right through the middle of the city.

The Central Railway station, Fort St.George, Kapaleeswarar Temple(more than 1500 years old), Santhome church( around 2000 years old), St.Thomas Mount, Life Insurance Corporation Building are some of the city's prominent landmarks.

A hard-working ethic, moderate cost of living, hot-hotter-hottest-humidest weather and a craze for Cricket are some of the other characteristics of this City.

Here's a link from the Hindu newspaper(One of the life and soul of the city), that gives more details about the history of Central Railway Station.

Rehabilitation

This is a rather delicate, ticklish issue which needs to be dealt with deftly and tactfully.

Let me give you you a few scenarios which could qualify for Rehabilitation.

1) A person who has served a jail sentence for committing a grave crime is released and he wants to find his way back into this world. How should the world treat him. Should it look into his bad past and treat him suspiciously and not entrust him with responsibilities or should we hope that the jail would have turned the person into a new leaf and embrace him. ?

2) A village or community is ravaged by a natural disaster like flood, cyclone, earthquake or drought. Beyond attending the most immediate concerns for taking care of survival needs, there arises a responsibility of bringing back this community of people back into the mainstream society so that they can continue to lead life with dignity.

3) There is yet another new kind of rehabilitation which has cropped up in companies now. Its very common for people especially in the Information Technology sector to fake their experience in order to get plum positions and projects. Assume that the company has found out that a person's past is suspicious, but it has found that employee to be skillful & hardworking and he/she had to resort to these unethical means to satisfy dire financial commitments, how should the company deal with this person ? Should the company brush off this issue as an exception, or sideline him for promotions while continuing with him/her or should that person be asked to resign from the company on moral grounds. Will not the company lose a hardworking person in this process ? Where should we draw the line ?

The response of the world under the above mentioned circumstances besides a host of other scenarios, would help us to judge the current state of evolution of humanity and provide a scorecard for showing off to Aliens who visit Earth.

A broad guideline which could be used under these circumstances would be to do something which would make your Mom proud.. !!!

This is an example of LUCK...

When something happens unexpectedly, we term ourselves as being lucky. Say for example, we win a Lottery.Its as they put it " Being in the right place AND at the right time ". Here is an example of LUCK. You see in this photo :Director Vasanth on the left, my dream girl Sneha in the middle and my friend Ram Murali on the right. This was taken on the shooting floor of ABCD, a tamil film released in 2005.

Do u wanna become a VP ?

The dictionary defines Vice as " Wicked, Immoral, evil conducts or habits and corrupt".. Well, in that case, what do we make of the designation called Vice-President in companies. Why dont people in this position think along these lines ?

I never would like to become the VP of any company for the above mentioned reason. I don't mind becoming a WP which stands for Wise President.. I guess that sounds exactly same and means a lot better than the former..

Enjoy the difference.... !!!!!!

Nice Quotes

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." -- Confucius {BC 551-479 Chinese Philosopher}


"The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability." -- Henry Ford

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." -- Henry Ford

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." --
Albert Einstein

"Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm ... As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others." --Audrey Hepburn



"Prosperity is living easily and happily in the real world, whether you have money or not." ---- Jerry Gellis

Its raining 25.....

Infosys, the Indian IT bellweather is 25 years old, the Personal Computer turns 25 this August, MTV, the pop and youth TV channel turned 25 a short while ago. Yours truly turned 25 in January this year..

A quarter century is a fairly significant age in the lifespan of an individual. If things go as planned and lucks favors a person/institution, then 25 years should be a good enough timeframe to build a solid platform for launching into a different orbit.

Its suprising to note that, the difference between a highly successful individual/institution and an abject failure is not significantly different. Its all in that spark which I call as "the taste of success" which induces a kind of confidence and postive feedback. While people who taste success early on get spurred and enthused to reach higher frontiers, those who face failure time and again, often go in a negative spiral and feel pessimistic, risk-averse and shy to try out newer options.

The analogy that I can draw is that of a fissile dormant nuclear material and that of a nuclear reaction in progress. While its amazing to see the amount of energy being unleashed in the latter, we should not forget that the former is equally as capable and just waiting for the initial spark to trigger off a similar reaction. This trigger is what some people call as " Luck ". Being at the right place at the right time.... While luck is important, people should nevertheless not forget that we should be in a position to capitalise and pounce on the opportunities that are presented to us. We should always be student for life and keep our eyes and ears wide open...

The trigger can also be in the form of a teacher who inspires confidence in his student and shows them the endless possibilities that are awaiting them in this journey of life.

A Collosal Waste of Resources

After every flood or drought that affects a particular region in India, it has become the customary practice for politicians to do an arial surveillance of the affected areas. I very much doubt the efficacy of this process and really doubt the purpose it serves. In these days of sky-high oil prices, I feel its much better to get first hand detailed reports of the affected places which would help the person in power to decide on the impact of the disaster...

Formulaes for Life

Performance = motivation * capability
Success = luck * performance
Luck = time * position

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Even if one is very talented and has no motivation to excel, one's performance is going to be very mediocre. A classic case is the IAS, where they select the top but produce very mediocre output when governing India. While the output of IITs and IIMs are motivated by the work environment of America or the high salaries corporations are ready to dish out, thereby leading to higher performance.

Another classic example is that of Amitabh Bachchan, a great actor and all time great of Indian Cinema. At the peak of his acting career, he founded ABCL, a film entertainment company, with a vision to be the Disney of India. Inspite of hiring the top management brains, the company went nowhere. He racked up huge losses that he had to redeploy his basic acting skills to repay ABCL's debt.

This is very important where people through their mid life crisis try to switch careers, retire early to contribute to society, work for NGOs, go back to teaching or social work. Each of these has a specific skill requirement and we have to be humble to reboot our skill acquisition.

As you course correct your life, try something new, we must ensure that our accumulated experiences does not impede the exciting new stuff we are going to try out.