Darkness Matters

Don't be confused with the color of the skin. There is nothing dark about dark people. So it is also that there is nothing bright about bright people. Dark people can be equally bright and bright people equally dark.

Darkness is there in all of us. This is maturity. Once you understand this you are in the Mature people's list in reaching by superfast express. Why is there darkness? Darkness arises because we are imperfect. The more so we strive for excellence the more we realize that excellence comes down just as gravity does.

Feedbacks and personal interest

Feedbacks are good. Personal interets are also good. What is bad is wrong feedbacks and high personal interest.

Nature of God?

Once we know that there is God it becomes easier to find him/her/it. Now we come to what is the Nature of God? God is found in water, fire, earth, in human beings, in animals, in insects etc. everywhere. God is more on planet Earth than any other entity in the universe. The word 'God' is the origin of God.

We have also convinced ourselves that God does not have flesh, blood, bones. They don't brush our teeth like we do, neither do they deliver valuable sermons. They are operating 24x7 in all of us. In the living things that surround us, in the non living thing as well. It is just we see them operating and unable to do anything. Every deterioration of a piece of iron is god, everything we breathe and eat is God.

God doesn't look like us. Adieu!

Where is God? - A question that requires more clarity

God is everywhere. We have learnt saying this. The unfortunate thing is that we do not go further than this. We are afraid to explore. This question is so important whether we believe in God or not. God is there in idols, as much as they are in saints and common people. We worship just one form of god. We have taken a portion of his heterogenous composition and called him God. The good part to it is that it works. I prefer saying that God is as much in allah as in idols.

But do you not question what was there before Christ or Buddha. Was there God or was there no God. We interchange saints with God. Saints are part of this cosmos and their teachings make people more tolerant, peaceful, harmonious etc. They are messengers who every time remind us that we are all God's creations.

I prefer to say that God is in water, in the mountains, in yourself and in every other entity in the universe. God does not have flesh, blood nor do they have any form that we can perceptually visualize.

But All Saints are Great as messengers and every time we have philosophical or moral question we go to his teachings. Hindus fortunately have great many gods. We can worship one god or another. We must never forget that we are worshipping one form of God which is a part of the God as a whole. We shall never be able to see god but in nature's creations.

Things both around you and within you are nothing but God. Adieu!

Programming jamming

When anyone other than a computer specialist hears about programming they just want to run away from it. Why? Either they don't have the aptitude and neither the interest to learn programming. They always see programming as something that is outside their view. It is dangerous, one may get lost, and even one may loose oneself in computers, one may loose touch being human, all these things fill our mind.

One must learn to program. This is very important and necessary in today's world. One can start with C programming. The problem of a programme is the problem of dealing with syntax. Why not buy a book and start learning programming. It is a highly necessary tool. Your boss will be impressed if you could help them or do something in programming.

Learn it as early as possible. They are simple if you go step by step. You can always have a check list of the syntax if you are afraid to enter.

Small talk

Have you ever been in a small talk. Small talk ...is talking about others secretively. Trying to form opinions, passing judgements about others. Small talks mostly are only perspective, but it is perspective that counts. People have their own agendas of small talk. Some try to make friends, some want to get along with influential people.

It is difficult for some people to engage in small talk but necessary at times. It is an evil sometimes to engage in it. Small talk is always for the third person singular. Singular you know why, and I hope even you know third person why. Obviously we cannot talk to each other like that. Not even a hulk would bear such a mess.

There are positive aspects of side talk, it increases comaraderie, and understanding. It also increases human relations. The thing about small talk is that it is considered girly. But that is not true even men engage in small talk. All lobbies, all teams and all community, or groups engage in such activity either over phone, or face to face or behind backs.

If you ask me why people engage in small talk is because they feel important to behave in groups. A man has to engage in small talk if he has to belong in the group, or else he will be separated and casted out of the discussion. It is also some form of sacrifice from people to engage in small talks.

Small talks can be good because it leads to consensus in decision making, but not always right. It takes into consideration different views of different people and somehow make the final statement more conducive and hearable to every one.

How do we take emotions as information?

We all have started to do what doctors do. We take all emotions as information. We have devised methods to lessen or increase emotions. Whenever we felt depressed about something, we used to go to doctor and explain our grief. But now we have become so used to information these days that a death in a newspaper is something we least care about.

We have learnt to convert emotions to information. People who treated emotions and other human fallacies in not so far from now where considered to be doctors, psychiatrists, philosophers. But now a days it seems every body in the information age has now become or trying to become something as them.

"O tears" world welcome

Is there God? What he does or doesn't do

It is always better to convince ourselves to believe in God because we live in such a society. God in himself or herself doesn't do things the way we perceive. He does do certain things but most of them are delegated to us humans and animals. He made rules, we are here to make use of them or break them. Seldom we realize that we cannot break his rules but only understand it and use it for betterment or otherwise.

He made the sun, I don't agree, he made earth, I don't agree, he made humans, I don't agree. Humans are just evolutionary. Our predecessors are apes and who knows what the predecessors of apes were. May be this transformation is where God is. How can we say that god made humans? The way we think and the way we act are all miracles but that is not left to god. We made ourselves what we are today. There are miracles like the heart beats, the eyes sees, the nose smells and other things. But giving him the credit or taking some credit away is not how we should perceive God.

How does god look? He doesn't look like us humans. He looks like Allah. Indian Gods are demigods, each one have their own personalities, they have their limitations and they have their deficiencies.

What do they do? God has not made men. Now there is no God, he is busy making many other earths similar or dissimilar to us. Our death and our life will be totally dependent on how we choose to run the planet. There are saints who are worshipped so that they can take us in the right path whenever there is a deficiency of morals. But they too are crippled in these times of technology and science. We expect saints to know many things. That is not true. They are just to unite people. They can talk about compassion, bravery, peace etc. But these things are to be achieved they no longer remain words. They have their followers. These followers ought to incorporate the message in their daily work.

We must not ask saints about how things work, they are there to tell us "How to live?"

Can you memorize?

We have all learnt to memorize things when we were in school and college days. Most books on memory talks about tools and techniques to memorize. Things like pnemonics are common. But that is not memorizing. Pnemonics take away the objective of memorizing. We don't want to remember that S is for Swan, T for tiger etc. We want to remember the meaning of the words. Remembering the list is just the first stage of memorizing. Then we have to remember meanings.

Some people are so good at memorizing and others are equally bad. Why is this? Because memory is not about techniques it is about the food you eat that improves the cognition level of your brain and as like any other thing it takes regular practice. This regular practice is what makes your memory vivid and clear. You are more happier reciting the list in front of others than saying S for Swan and T for Tiger. (Do you realize that we can use S for Swan and T for Tiger as pnemonics for youngsters who are keen in improving their recall)

Memory is very vital and the better you recall the more you are appreciated and better will be the work done. Some say it is the diet that help you improve the memory. It is true. We want to improve the memory 'as-it-is' rather than take the help of any memorizing techniques. Memorizing techniques are only good for competitions.

To keep your memory ask the doctor what is to be done. There are lots of books on memory and articles on the internet to know about memory. We all know that internet is a taxing way for searching information and not so good for its credibility than doctors. At least it has become one.
So put effort to memorize the next time you have anything to do, but don't use techniques.

Information overdose

We are in an age where there is information right on our finger tips. We cannot deny that. All the good and bad information, right and wrong information, important and unimportant information, all are over lapped one over the other.

We must make it clear to ourselves that we have limited time and too much information. What can we do to deal with it. Few things, we can either transfer the information to those who have time and buy their time. This is what we have been doing for the past many years. But since there is overdose we cannot deal the problem with more people. We have to find a smarter way to deal with it. We all know that there is so much information to confuse us. Any layman knows. We are old enough to understand this. Another way is to simply discard the information and come to it only when we require one. We all live in a world where we have to learn to scan things rather than to read things completely.

Most of us are not even well versed in reading, why, because reading takes too much effort and also there are some really smart, bad reading, copy paste articles out there.

We have replicas of the same readings again and again. Now we have rather forgot who was the father of the material, the original inventor. That is why some bad textbooks have so many bibliographies, because that is what we have. It shall take too much of our time to really experience these things. Now we have considered them to be true to what they are saying. That is a strange assumption. People are doing good work but there is lot that still needs to be done.

Games We Play

There are good games, there are bad games. Good games make every body better whereas bad games creates more and more victims. The simplest of all games is 'I win, You lose'. This is also one of the reason for playing games. People want only food, clothing, and shelter and after that they play games.


Every occupation is a game in itself. Let us simply consider sales for example. We follow where the money is and we don't where there is none. There are rules for every game. If we don't understand the game that we are into we shall always have doubts in what we do.

Read again

You must have written a lot for your exams and made notes but have you ever corrected them for spelling mistakes, punctuation, wrong formatting etc. We seldom do it and we assume they are correct. We would want to see examinations taking place on computers at our own leisure. Some exams are conducted as per the convenience of the students. There are no exam centers there is a home PC and you give them the dates.

It looks so shabby when you send emails to your clients with mistakes. There is one remedy for all this. Start proof reading. Proof reading has nothing to do with law or legal affairs, even though their materials are proofread thoroughly.


There should be a short course in schools or colleges to proof read and explain them the significance of proof reading materials. Here they are answer papers. We would sometimes laugh at our own writing if we read them. Proofreading can be done at different levels. It is boring and takes strenous effort and preparation, but still it is always better to do it. We sometimes ask someone else to read the mail we are going to send. This is the simplest form of proof reading material.

So dont' forget going through your materials once again. It will make you a better communicator.

Don't kill skills.

Demand dies but skills don't. If we consider any product in the shop, they are a mix and match of many skills put together. They are very specialized skills and can run only as long as the product or services can run. Skills are the closest to men and women who do them. Ask any craftsmen and he will never give you the secret of his skills. From this we know that how skills are dear tio them.

The only wrong thing we have done is we have divided a skill of a genius into many parts. We have become good at replicating the skills of a genius and produce products and services that one man could build. Just look at your computer. Is it not easy to convince yourself that a genius might have built it. Now look it is so easily being manufactured by incorporating few more hands. We are making and reproducing products every minute and every second.

Skills take a long time to develop and produce great works and services. So 'Don't kill skills'.

Text books over story books

We all hated textbooks. They were only to memorize. They suggested hard work and putting your nose down and not seeing here and there. They were meant to pass exams which in themselves were taxing. But this hate of textbooks has carried over our hate for story books. After all they look similar.

I have a certain reason for not liking story books. Because somewhere they don't make sense why people do what they do. At every point I would have taken a different course of action unlike what the character of the story takes. Unless I am convinced about the previous steps the character takes how am I to trust him in the later stages. Slowly and steadily everybody becomes a person who you cannot trust.

I may be wrong because I have not read many. I have read few wellknown pieces of some stories the first few pages. May be I have no taste for living things in stories. They are too dynamic. Text books aren't so. "I can trust text books I cannot trust stories". The more I read stories the less trust I could place on human beings. I have so shifted back to text books which gives me certainty over uncertainty. I would say further that textbooks give certainty to uncertainty and stories gives uncertainties to certainties. They put us on a steep, long walking rope.

Marriage ended up well

Today there was a marriage near my house in one of the halls. I think no doubt it was a good marriage and my blessings to both groom and bride but the people who were outside the marriage didn't have the civility to keep quite and allow the marriage procession go smoothly.

They were shouting swear words outside the hall and it made the whole marriage efforts dismal. This is not the procession where you want to end up in fights. Some people were entertained by the fight and others were crippled and could do nothing about it, even though their cerebrum said leave the place.

I asked what was going on and there were none who could answer my question. Even they were baffled. Then again there were swear words that people insulted each other. God forbade I think it did not end up in a nasty fight.

We regret marriage processions like this, certainly the parents of the groom and the bride would not have liked the marriage to continue in this way.

Sales up Morale up

Recently, I read "One minute sales person". It is a good book for every sales person and so it is recommended that every sales person should buy one. It will make your wallet lighter by just 125 Rs. For a non-sales person like me it has some very useful observations and aphothegms about sales. Sales are best understood when you start selling. It talks about empathy, it gives advice on how we get referrals, what everyone should expect and all these things at every stage.

It gives talk about presales, during sales, and post sales stages. We mainly as laymen concentrate on 'during sales' and forget pre-sales preparation and post-sales ending. It has simple and ready to use tips and hints that any new comer in sales would require. Why only new comer even veterans can get a hint or two. We all do sales in the same way as if there is a benchmark method. Actually there are no same methods unless we adopt one from others, Mostly we make preparations by ourselves and learn through imitation.

Read it. After all there are very few happy sales men.

Grammar for everybody

Becoming familiar with grammar is very important in today's world. I suggest that everybody must have a grammar book in their bag. Most of us know here which grammar book we are talking about.

Even though it is difficult to learn grammar it is not far fetched to learn some basic things about it. Every office goer who writes emails, letters, etc must have some grammar knowledge. Most of the companies do test the incumbents knowledge of grammar. Because they know that it is necessary. The problems and time gets elongated when we don't know how to write these letters well. Letter writing is a part of every managers agenda. He fails to send letters because they are not well versed with the nuances of language.

We must not shy away because these things matter.

Editing results

Day before yesterday I had appeared for an interview. They had two tests. One multiple choice and the other an article which was needed to be edited. The multiple choice went well, but the second one editing an article did not go as expected. I think sometimes that I went without preparation for such a test.

When they handed me the article I was surprised to receive because I did not expect them to straight away give an article. That must have been their procedure.

Today when I called them back to know the results I was told that I wasn't selected the reason being that the article was not edited to their benchmarking standards. I need to put my nose down if I must succeed in the forthcoming interviews.

Be Editor

Today I had an interview in one of the company which promises to be a good place for editor and editorship. The first test had 60 questions while the other one was one page column which needed editing.

The first test went well, the second test also went well but not that good. I was actually shocked when they gave me a word document and directly told me to edit it. The column could have been simplified but a simple language will make the subject non-technical. Also, I was told that my goal must not be to compress the column but just to find any major and minor suitable errors in it.

I hope that they will give their feedback by next week.

Keyboards

A keyboard is nothing but a tool in the hands of a computer operator to interact with it. Keyboard is just one of the kind of interacting devices. Even though other interacting devices are available, keyboard is the best. It provides wider options than other devices. There are two types of keyboards: DVORAK and QWERTY depending upon how frequent the letters are typed.

One can see printed letters and numerics on the keyboard. Some combination of keys help us to manage advanced tasks. Keyboards are separate in case of a computer but however in a laptop they are together. The mouse is another device used along with the keyboard because it has certain advantages over a keyboard. A mouse is used to carry the blinking cursor on the computer screen anywhere on the monitor or the TV screen, but mostly to press a command button.

Keyboards come in both rigid structure and flexible structure. Even though flexible keyboards are easy to carry they do not give the same experience as the original one.

Learn Corel Draw

You will be surprised as to what Corel Draw can offer. It is a design software that helps you create wonderful designs for various purposes like creating banners, creating postcards, greeting cards, etc.

It is not that hard to learn a few things. The options you have in making things from Corel Draw are numerous and will certainly give you satisfaction at the end of completion. There are other similar design softwares available but this is far the best and moreover it is standard, which means that it is used in many places both officially and for personal use.

It is better to learn it or know someone who knows it.

Computer virus

Most of us have computers. We use it regularly for our routine and official purposes. Computer has taken the form of laptop on some desks. The mobile revolution has spread well but the computer's dream of one house, one computer still isn'ttrue.

Computer supported with net is a powerful tool for those who know how to operate them. Technology is now in the genes of most urban consumers, or as they say the newer generation. People write computer programs, chat with far-off and dear ones, maintain their daily schedule, send mails, and communicate with each other through this electronic medium.

Because of the advances, computers and mobiles have taken a whole new shape. Each and every device is compatible with the other one making them easy to operate and more user-friendly.
We are unaware about how much and how long these technologies will improve our lives.

Eyesight

Those with poor eyesight must take care of their eyes. They must eat green leafy vegetables and fruits. Their eyesight may worsen if they don't take enough care. Eyes are the most precious organ and taking care of it is a time worth investing.

Do regular eye exercise and watch the snellen chart once a week to check how your eye sight is. By doing this regularly you may know your eye sight and consult a doctor henceforth. We generally tend to strain our eyes when we watch Television, or computer or when we stare at something.

We all have different occupations and different needs so taking care of one's eyesight is of utmost importance. You can regulary palm your eyes if needed.

Visarjan

Today is the 11th Day, the day of immersion. There will be many who will be standing by the streets to watch the procession of the idols being immersed into the sea or a nearby lake. Every year there is a grand celebration of this ceremony. We have also noticed that most idols were already immersed before the 11th day. It could be mainly because of the crowd that gathers on the last day and there is also too much traffic on the last day.

Most of the idols are carried on trucks and vans and some of them on handcarts. These idols were made with much passion and perseverance by the sculptor and to see it immersed on the last day is somewhat an emotional experience, which we partially neglect. They start making the idols 5 to 6 months before the festival. Some of them start much earlier. People dance and drummers drum and there shall be lots of joy today.

We wish the festival comes sooner the next year.

Our Own Newspapers

To tell you a few things about newspaper, our newspaper tells us more about affairs farther away from us rather than things that matter to us. It is surely an eyeopener when it discloses reports from real lives. But they are not what we need to know daily. We have still to explore the newspaper and we can make it better.

There are more and more advertisements than columns, agreed they run the show. All reporters and journalists talk about politics, government, entertainment news. They are insufficient. I don't know what else should be there, but it looks that we are repeating the same news again and again and after a few days it feels we are reading the same article. That is one of the reason why most people started reading newspapers at some point in their lives and then have withdrawn to read newspapers because they feel that the reports are repetitive. All have the same underlying truth. It is an opinion that one needs to be more flexible on choice of topics than what the current newspapers do. That is the reason why people are nowadays viewing the internet and slowly moving away from the newspaper culture.

Importance of letter writing

In this technologically wired world we seldom write letters. We prefer writing emails, shorter versions of letters. And the reason it is shorter is because it is more frequent than a letter writing. Letter writing are also on one topic, but the salutation, introductory paragraph and conclusion paragraphs takes away most of the credit.

Emails on the other hand have only one paragraph or at the most two. These paragraphs contain all the components, by components we mean introduction, body and conclusion. People have lost the charm in reading letters because letter writing needs preparation unlike email.

To write better emails we need to practice writing letter. Though this is not necessary. It becomes easier for the one who writes letter. After schooling never have we written any letters to anyone. We write business letters for the office and at the most send emails to other departments. One must practice writing good letters.

Pronunciation for ESP

There are many materials that offer us on how to pronounce words. We, non-native speakers, have always found it difficult to pronounce words in English because we are tongue-tied between three languages: our national language, our mother tongue and English- here we assume that all of us are aware of English.

However, we have caught grip of the language to a certain extent, at least most of them in cities have. Speaking in one language makes things convenient and we become a more empathetic communicator. We are, now-a-days, ensuring that kids go to English speaking schools rather than vernacular medium. Even though it is prevalent in cities the cases of the villages are not the same.

There are many websites that will help you speaking well and make you acquainted with the language. BBC has a wonderful website which you can refer to. English is only going to grow in our country. There is no looking back. If we want to express succintly and well we have to learn this language.

Printers & Laptops

Printers came to the market so that we can take printouts and not strain to see things on the monitor. Working on a paper is a lot more easier than on a computer especially if we have to mark something. Now it seems that we are again switching back to not taking printouts. It seems that we have not made up our mind whether we want a hard copy and a soft copy. It is true that soft copy strains our eyes to an extent, but now a days we have new monitors which do not strain the eye that much, at least that is what they promise.

We have Infibeam's 'pi' and 'Kindle' from the technological world. They promise that they will give us the same experience as reading a paper. We cannot carry computer where ever we go so it is better to have something that is portable. Laptops have done their function well, but they still do not complete the customers requirements. Only office goers need laptop, they are still not within reach of a common man .

There was a news that a new laptop will soon come to the market prepared by Indian scientists that will be both easy to carry and easy for reading. Hope this comes soon. We are all waiting for such new releases, but only if it suits our pocket and our necessity. Papers are here to stay because they don't involve purchasing cost and is quite light on our pocket.

G for Garden

Gardens are one of the most wonderful creations. Nowadays, we don’t visit gardens. Earlier, it was kind of a routine that we used to go to garden and have some fun time there. Every locality has a garden of its own, mostly. The garden near my house has improved due to recent efforts by the locality members.

We have benches all around. We have green grass and small shrubs placed at equal distance from each other. The entire fence of the garden is planted with shrubs having maroon leaves. They just look wonderful for any one who want to visit them in the morning or at any time during the day. There are see-saws and slides at one end of the garden. Most children now-a-days prefer not to come to the garden. I don’t know for what reason.

People generally prefer sitting on the grass rather than on benches. Some have their afternoon meals and evening outings. The green grass that shoots above the soil soothes your eyes and gives you a fresh view. The shrubs and the small plants bear beautiful flowers. I like jasmine and periwinkle the most. The white and violet color flowers are few, but one can find them on the ground without being disturbed by anyone. I tried to pick one of the jasmines and smelled it. I am told they make garlands of these flowers and offer to temple.

Gardens are all alike most of the time, but each garden gives you a new experience. We generally go there to refreshen ourselves.

Half a century

This is the fiftyfirst blog. Already half a century completed. The experience of blogging seems to have run through my fingers for the past few weeks. I am trying to improve the presentation of my blog. Even though the standard version provided by blogger.com is good, I want to enhance the blog with more pictures and articles worth reading.

As mentioned, my blog is hungry to absorb all the things that go under our nose and remain unidentified in our daily lives. I might have tripped off few important and necessary topics. I need a different eye to view the blog to give constructive comments. Every blogger has a different experience when he tries to update his blogs, the comments he gets, and the changes he does thereafter.

I wish to complete 100 blogs very soon.

Edu Websites for zero price

There are so many educational websites that anyone can be surprised. They are all for no price. They must be certainly getting their revenue from advertisements. But still giving them without any price to the reader is certainly something worth applauding.

There are websites on grammar, difficult words, science topics and many more. These websites will fill your kids and your entire day only if you wish to continue with them. They are entertaining as well as educational. We realize how entertainment is important in education too, because text books make boring subjects more boring. Entertainment can be a value add to such services. There are websites even for people going to universities and pursuing higher studies. It is difficult to test which one is right and which one is not. We need a trained eye who can differentiate both.

I hope that in the future they remain for no price. But I feel they will come under some scrutiny and some control, and most of them will be prepaid. Till then you must certainly make use of them, improve your knowledge and test yourself.

Soldiers of yesteryears

We consider soldiers to be disciplined, and disciplined they are, but that was not the case a few hundred years ago. They were barbarians because the king preferred them to be so. They were the most important members in the social structure. The King and all the ministers succumbed to their soldiers more so than any one else.

Managing soldiers was not an easy thing. They were warriors and one must know how warriors behave in times of wars and in times of peace. Young barbarians were more dangerous. So they were generally asked to stay with the older barbarians who knew their instincts well. Soldiers have lost their significance in the recent days since most problems are being solved through consensus and by means of dialogue. But still there were hooligans who want things to be their way.

The Leaders of these soldiers were a political member in the huge gang of men. They could not defy the values the soldiers had. They were the soldiers' voice. They knew their soldiers' nerves and instincts. We all want soldiers, aren't they are brave? They are ready to fight for you and your country. No other sect holds so much respect as soldiers do.

Ganpathi Bapa Mourya

We all know that this week there is Ganesh Chaturthi, and many people are waiting to see the grand idols decorated. Close to my home is a Post office, outside that there are arrays of flower shops all ready for decorating the pandals with flowers. On the first day and last day there happens to be too much traffic. Men and women travel out with their kids so that they can watch the different idols and their different decoration. This time like always there will be lighting, and loud drums played on the first day. It is the only festival that stays for ten days besides Navaratri.

People used to enjoy going out. But the enthusiasm now is slightly down. One of the best things is that news channels present us with most of the big murtis on the television. This spares us the effort we sometimes take to go outside and visit the idols. The decorations are well designed and started 10 to 15 days before the festival day. It was Lokmanya Tilak who started this celebration to bring unity and harmony in the social lives of Indians.

On the 11th day of immersion as we all know the idol is offered to the sea. We enjoy the festival season and remember for days after it has left.

Blogging amidst website

Blogging is not new. They had their existence, and they soon died. Most people now spend their time visiting social networking sites. They put in all the relevant (and irrelevant information). Some networking sites are good, some are not. This is true of all the initiatives men undertake.

I recommend you to create your own blog. Blogs are supposed to be well thought of, but many people don’t show the fondness to do so. Instead of creating personal websites people have switched to blogs. Many blogs are professional or should we say for business use. For a company, we use websites and for individuals we make blogs. We get regular comments on our blog if we wish to have them, thus making it a two way traffic.

There have been many successful blogs and they are minting money after they made it commercial. Even though being commercial hasn’t kept the uniformity of a good blog some have successfully tried to be so. In some cases, the balance has been well maintained. Some commercial blogs have turned very messy. The layout has been totally spoilt and so has the design. It is a personal decision whether to allow such incongruous blogs.

Create your BLOG and share what you have to say.

N for News Channels

N for News Channels

We are aware by now that there are numerous news channels across the country. The name goes on from A to Z, none spared. There are some channels that cater to specific audience but by themselves they don't have much variety in the kind of news they deliver. So, we have general news channels and business news channels. There is a need for news channels that are beyond these two chapters. There are no news for young citizens. We at least expect them to learn something from TV – for so long we have called it ‘Idiot Box’. I deny, it is not idiot any more.

Now-a-days news channels are experimenting by adding half an hour to one hour on topics of their choice. May be, this gives them preparatory time for the rest of the day. News channels have come a long way. Just 10 years back there used to be just one ‘not-so-entertaining’ news channel. Now, all the channels are equally entertaining and as they say professional. The color combinations, the software and the speed with which they show the news are absorbing. There is something synchronous in their operations like an orchestra that goes on to making news being presented so successfully.

This is very unusual for a country like India. News channels have also changed the way we look at the world. We are no different from other foreign news channels. Only one thing seems to be missing is that there are not enough in-depth documentaries on main issues. Only special issues like ‘What happens to the elephant in South India’ etc are shown in the news channel. We need to change this. The documentaries must be inclined towards main issues. We are sparing very little time for them. News are mirrors of the society. They are good, as well as ugly at times. Amongst all these things, however, they have to be applauded for the wonderful service they are doing.

ESP(English Speaking People)

Some of us as English speaking citizens know very less about words and their usage. Most words learnt serve us very little purpose. We continue using the same words even after our adolescence. This is where our growth stops. We ought to realize that words are thinking vehicles and we need to learn more from them and learn them well if we are to substitute our lazy thinking with a spurt of new thinking. Very few of us know what the names of things we carry daily are. A beautiful list is given on the net as ‘Visual dictionary’. It contains nearly 6000 items and names of most of them are strangers to us. When caught up with spectacles, there were types of eye-glasses like the monocles,half glasses,scissors- glasses and the parts of the specs like bridge, rim, lens, nose pad, pad plate etc.

To improve naming things we need to study them so that we can express them clearly. It also increases our knowledge and we can communicate well with other people. In our normal conversation while indicating to these words we use our fingers pointing towards them or use language by trying to circumlocute towards the object without knowing the word.

It is more important to study these words rather than working towards words that are generally given in exams like SAT. These exams test your Latin word strength which we seldom use in our daily conversation. These words are good for writing on advanced topics, but for our day to day easy language we need not learn them. We cannot challenge what is asked in such exams but we can be aware that we need not give more importance to such words in our daily lives but restrict it purely for exam purposes. Agreed, that one must not be partial towards using words, but one must realize that these words we don’t know never seem to appear in our daily banter.

M for Money

Having an itch for money is not a negative view, but a neutral view. After all, currency is a medium of exchange for buying goods and services and clearing off debts. It is true that money can buy us many good things. That doesn’t mean one mustn’t save. During hard times, when you are alone they can save you from going to a further descent. This is a perspective we hold about money and true to some extent. We feel it is sometimes a good thing that some are desperate about their 100 rupee note, because if they weren’t they would not value it and if they don’t value it they would not provide any service to you.

One thing we all like about currency is that it is a common denomination for buying many things. It is a city-man’s barter. It is with this paper note we have innumerable amounts of choices, we can buy food, clothing and shelter. These are the basic things. The problem with currency is we don’t know what to buy and when, that is to say most of the times. Again, most of us are very frivolous about it and buy things in a flicker. We go to the market wanting something else; we see something else and buy something else. We realize that is where the excitement is. ‘Buying in a blink.’

It is the mental security which the smell of a paper note can give you. You feel glad to have a 1000 Rupee note in your pocket. It opens new doors to freedom. The power of currency is in its spending and not in accumulating.

Some things about interviews

To interview candidates is not an easy task. It takes a different kind of pain interviewing candidates who themselves don’t know what they want. Each of them makes guess work about each other. If God forbade, things go well, or each are left behind hurt and painful not understanding each other.

Interviewing many candidates, we usually carry a list of questions that we intend to ask. This is what an amateur interviewer would do. He would run to the internet type ‘most usual questions for an interview’ and then ask the questions in order; he will appear to ask them as if they are originally made by him, no plagiarism. The famous question which would have been repeated in so many interviews is ‘Tell me something about you’. This sentence must have repeated so many times it can audaciously stay as a candidate for world record.

When you ask him how he takes interviews he would call it an art, not within the grasp of a layman. Some may call it a process. But we can’t deny that the interviewee has to agree to what he is saying. They even call such interviews eliminatory process, taken by someone who is still new to the world of taking interviews. Don’t buy such signals they are all here to grill you on a barbeque. At last the interview must feel victorious after he has examined you. Only then you stand a chance of proceeding to the next level. We ought to fear more from preliminary round than the final round. The final round is predictable but the preliminary round not so.

I clean, you clean, we clean

Most of us are no bacterial specialist. But we know one or two thing about bacteria. We know most of them are harmful, some are useful and a very few of them are harmless.

Caution!

Even keyboards have harmful bacteria. Truth is not so pleasing, isn't it? But true.

There are many precautions that we can take to prevent illness. We can wash our hands before having a feast and we can even wash them after we do some work on our computer. This is basic. Follow it and teach them to others also. You will be proud of yourself and save your colleague from an illness.

For this purpose clean the keyboard, regularly with a dry cloth and an anti-bacterial. Buy these few materials to save you from illness.

News papers

We all buy newspapers but am sure that only few of them read it completely. We skim through the paper once and just tend to slumberly run through the article whose headlines just manages to entertain us. It is a very light attitude we have towards reading newspapers.

Newspapers are a poor literate man's educational kit. It tells you everything about the world. Start reading from today for 20 minutes or so for the next 21 days unless you make them a habit. The only thing about newspapers are that the reader cannot demand a topic. Topic is what is given to the reader and many things about it are said. Now this is not the case with any other type of reading material where the reader gets topic specific contents. Ask your children to read newspapers for the same amount of minutes that you read. See what change it brings in their lives. Not only they will be aware of what is happening around the world, they will also be more worldly wise. They will become a good speaker and a conversationalist. They will become better at reasoning and disseminating information. Instead of reading a fiction it is suggested that you read newspapers.

On reading

Reading is not most often we do here in our country. Because reading requires exercise of will power, it soon fatigues us. There are some who read well and read without tiring. But for them we can say that they read only what they can read. There are many levels of reading. Reading for information, reading for meaning and reading for understanding.

Some acquire the habit through their regularity, some work towards it. Most good reader belong to former, because it takes a lot of time working your way through reading. It becomes an easy read when the thing we read is at the same level as the thing we think. Most readers don't like working on their reading skills. There are innumerable reading material now a days. Internet has made reading and mis-reading both famous. The only thing we need to take care is that we are reading the right material. It is always better to choose things that are easy or just about difficult to read, so that your reading style remains firmly ingrained. Sometimes it is better to test yourself reading a harder material so that we don't stay in the same level. This challenges your reading skills.

The more reading we do the better we become at it. This is true for any skill.

Skills you have but don't know

Today sit down with a piece of paper and write down all the skills you have. Put a tick mark beside if you have the skill and put a cross mark beside if you don't.

Generally you require skills to move forward in life and in your chosen business. Let us list down certain skills that most of us are aware of but have not paid any heed to them. Communication skill comes first, then we have leadership skills, presentation skills, any other manual skill.

Now after writing down the skill, put a tick mark as mentioned earlier. Ask someone else to put or self assess. This tick mark or cross mark whatever is it shows the areas you need to develop. Don't take it lightly, they can change the entire course of your life. You will be much more confident. Do this for you and your close ones. They too would realize the wow factor in it. Most people have come up in life because of developing these skills. It may take a while and enough effort to come out victorious but you will soon find yourself as a candidate for the next staircase towards excellence.
skill

Interviewer Vs Interviewed

It seems that more than getting a work clearing an interview is difficult. It is a full time job with no pay. There are so many reasons for not having the interview. Things like the person is not in his place, he has taken off today, he is busy in a meeting, these are common ones. There is a huge barrier between the chap waiting for an interview call and the person who is going to take this interview.

Both come together with different objectives. The person coming for an interview is looking for a high compensation and job satisfaction, while the person who is going to take the interview is looking for a suitable candidate as per the specification he has received. He knows that there are many people in the market who will fulfil the specification. He knows it, that there will be a long queue outside his office who wish to attend the interview and please the panel. When he thinks that there will be queue he sees only 2 to 4 people coming, when he expects none to come he sees all potentially unsuitable candidates lining outside the office.

Both for the interviewer and the interviewed the task is difficult. It is obviously more difficult for the interviewed, because he knows he is the sacrificial goat.

..final on drawing

Drawing seems to have a layering effect. As we go deeper and deeper we tend to make the drawing more and more accurate. This layering effect is also there in writing prose. We decide how much deep we ought to go with this layering. For example, you see geometrical figures whenever you draw and gradually you make some more geometrical figures in each of the figures created earlier and you continue ad infinitum.

Many drawing instructions fail to teach us this. They give huge prose on how to draw but don’t explain succinctly how to draw these figures. They put the burden on practice and practice alone.

With few drawings and really good ones they can put you in the right pedestal on learning how to draw. You must create a one to one relation between drawings that you are seeing and the drawing you are about to draw. What is meant by this is if you are trying to draw landscapes learn it from other landscapes, when you are trying to draw still figures then learn from other still figures. Half done drawings can reveal more than full drawings. Full drawings seem to erase off the elementary part of drawings. But one can certainly learn from full drawings, there is no no to it.

contd...drawing made simple

Recently, while I was going through some old drawings I realized that drawing was never taught the way it is. We are so much obsessed that a house must have a triangle on top of a rectangle it nearly spoils the whole know-how of drawing. Somebody must have conditioned us to draw like that.

Just an hour before if you asked me to draw a tree or a house I would have done the same thing. Drawing a triangle above a rectangle. But now if you ask me to draw a house or a tree I have learnt to take the matter less seriously and draw it as it is. This 'as-it-is' method of doing something is not what we are used to. Be it drawing or any other skill. We are no longer beginners in any skill. We have this notion of knowing before knowing.

So when we see something and try to plot it on a paper we try to or we do change the whole drawing. The truth behind all these is that we must take the drawing as it is. But that too is an art. An art that needs eye-hand coordination skill. And skill can be learnt with practice by taking one thing at a time. Even though we can write an essay on how to draw, is it the same as drawing. I don't think so. Doing is different from learning to do. But by learning to do we can make the doing slightly easier.

The little knowhow of drawing

I know a few people who are masters of drawing or at least close to it. They are, or should I say they were prodigies of drawing; each master in their own art. I haven't seen drawing much but to the little I know, their drawings looked real life, nowhere close to a caricature or comic.

Drawing is an immensely beautiful skill to acquire. Very few are capable of drawing well and at least the population who can draw well is very less. They got sucked into the real world and mostly by this time they might have forgotten drawing. I just assume, but I wish they ought not. Today I tried to make an attempt to draw a village road, it didn't come out well. I wish to improve on it. It is practice and more so right practice. Spend sometime say half an hour or so every alternate days for drawing something you like. See drawings and also see the lines and the deviations that the artist uses while he completed the drawing.

There are methods and laws that govern beautiful drawing like any other skill. It is this transfer of knowledge to motor skills that makes all the difference. We all know that critics of drawing aren't good at drawing themselves. They are critics who do their job. Drawing as an art sounds more inviting than drawing as a method. But the more we learn about any art we come to know that there are techniques behind such arts. The wonderful paintings that I have seen and which very few people have the greatness in them, is certainly enough to draw any amateur into the skilful practice of drawing. Draw something, any thing. You may not know the method but by 5 years or so you will certainly learn to draw well.

Lying

Lying is so necessary, judicious lying even more so. We live in a world where there are more questions than answers. We can't say we don't know or at least prefer not to say we don't know. This one thing adds to lying so much that most of our day pass through crossing this path of lying more than the river of truth.

All previous wise men have always told us not to lie, the thing is they did. They knew the power of lying. People stand on multiple views. The only way we can come out of such a pool is to lie and lie well. Truth has its place, I don't deny but a lie can achieve far more than a miniscule truth. A lie is the bed of wisemen. They breathe and sleep on it. They know lie is more urgent than a truth. This life of urgency is a life full of lying. To find a truth is as difficult as digging a well in the midst of a desert. Sometimes people are digging more truth in order to lie than to disclose the truth.

This raises the age old question whether truth is more faithful or lie. If we dig a bit deeper we can say readily that lie is a more faithful friend than truth is. A chameleon lies, in the midst of danger, to protect itself. Better speak a lie to protect than tell truth to destroy.

My precious bag

My bag is more precious than what is inside it. It has lots of space and things that you want aren't neatly arranged. It follows the 80-20 rule. Vital few, trivial many. Most things are pressed into one compartment and while other compartments are almost empty. I explain this for people who are not conversant with the rule.

Now let us dig a bit deeper and know what is there in my bag. It starts with pocket number 1 the outermost pocket. It contains my house keys. The second pocket consists of umbrella and my diary. Two things wrongly placed together. There is a danger of the umbrella wetting the diary. Then in my third pocket I usually carry a bottle of water sometimes tap water sometimes mineral water. I also carry my lunch at times in the same pocket. Then in my fourth and final pocket I carry coins and a few hundred rupees to bear my expenses while traveling anywhere. I also carry a pen knife. It also has my precious railway pass, my PAN Card and all outdated BEST tickets and train tickets. It contains some pens and that is all there to complete this paragraph and my bag.

There is nothing precious in my bag as such. During traveling I sometimes carry a newspaper.

The mouse in my house

Never heard of anyone writing about mouse. This mouse is special because we don’t intend it to leave our house. Today, as I was reading newspaper I found the mouse having a feast of mustard seeds placed on a plastic lid of a container. I immediately told my mother to throw the seeds off so that we don’t have any chance of a sickness.

Mouse is pretty common in Indian home. There is even a temple in our home country where there are lots of mice and they are considered auspicious. Science has a different answer to it. They say mice can never be auspicious because they are unhygienic and will bring forth sickness and illness to the people in the vicinity. With Ganesh Chaturthi coming nearer, we remember mouse as a vehicle of the lord himself. The mouse is proud to relate itself to the lord. That is the only reason when we are proud being with a mouse.

This mouse in my house regularly eats up my papers as and when it feels. It has destroyed 4 of my precious notepads. I had to bind it later. Is there any remedy for this warfare with the mice which destroys and makes things into bits and pieces? Earlier we thought of buying a rat poison. But that seemed too dangerous both for the mice and our existence. Then we remembered we had a rat catching cage. This too has gone old and doesn’t do its function properly. It needs some rest and repair. Who will repair it? A million dollar question. There are no rat cage repairers and if there was one he would have starved himself to death. There would have seldom any complain to this man. He is required no doubt but in some places where the infest is crowded. People in Mumbai are used to rats at times running in their houses. They see them as harmless. The problem here is that we see them and don’t know them. If we knew the history, geography and science of mice we would have armed ourselves with the latest guns, weapons and ammunitions.

Don’t take these mice easily. The harm they have done to the human race through out the history is more than even a World War has done. The mice were the enemy of the people who tricked Pied Piper as it is to us. Call Pied Piper. He is nowhere to be found.

Physically present, mentally absent

My home has four walls, a ceiling and a floor. Does this sound like your home? If yes, you will find it hard to distinguish between my home and your home. However, I will try hard anyhow. Some have 4 more walls, a ceiling and a floor, while others have still more.

My home has some more things. It has a cupboard to store clothes, a TV set, a computer, a cot and some few drawers where the most obvious things are kept. If you don't find anything anywhere else you will find it in the drawer. There is also a ladder that ends touching the top of our roof. Then I have a shelf with old books. There is a kitchen table where most vegetables are cut made of granite rock and there are also shelves close by with ingredients to make lunch and dinner. There are clothes hanging left to dry.

I am sure that your house looks the same. Just like my post my home short and simple. Thank you for reading.

Why every body carries a file?

Seldom will you see a man of rank or learning will not have their file closely tied to the area near the heart. This is true for all occupation. Some hold file close to them in the office, others hold their bags close to them. Most bags are full of rubbish and I don’t proclaim anyone should carry a bag like school children do. You may now that we are now in the temperament of separating the bag from the children. Their bags are too heavy and we don’t intend to make them old worn-out children as they may be called after 4 to 5 years of carrying the bag.

What is there in the file, everybody is very curious to know? Our file generally has the general rules of conduct during a meeting and the systematizes our time through out the meeting so that we can dispel our wisdom to the other similar men carrying their own files. All files are necessary for a meeting. If your file doesn’t have the answer to the question raised by your rivals, they are of no use, they must fulfill their purpose.

I insist that instead of carrying the whole bag, children carry a file similar to that mentioned above and also carry a rough book, which bears notes of the entire day. I am not the only one who has told this. All men and women, big and small, have directed and tried to raise their vocal chords repeatedly for this rule. Seldom has any parent objected against this case. So file carriers, you have solved your problem by carrying a lean file let us solve the same problem for the younger ones. You carry a file because you don’t want to carry a bag.

Are you reading or are you fooling?

Time and again we have encountered the problem of reading. Most of us know to read, but we don't. We must accept that reading is an active skill. It takes time. It is useful only when it is done. There is no point saying, I know to read, but I don't. Reading is difficult. It is a practice which needs exercise of will. Even I fall into the drowsiness of continuing to read, yet not reading. My concentration drops.

Many of them will agree that this happens. We must not concentrate on the technique of reading but read as it is. Reading is a complex process which only humans can do. Lately with the advent of videos and audios our reading has dropped. It is only because of keeping the business alive that we are reading. So if anyone asks have you read today's paper? You say yes. Satisfied. Don't you think that Videos and audios do that task well. It is a transition phase, reading will die. We are leaving out reading and gradually accepting other more effective channels which are more realistic and don't require that much concentration.

Reading can be done well, but after a stage there is no point if we don't register what we read. This problem is for medical science to tackle.

Motoring for the small

When we drive a car or any other vehicle for that matter, we rely on our skill. We shed our responsibility and allow skill to take over. Motoring or driving as we may call, today there are more motors on the road than people walking. It is felt that the roads were made for cars, rather than for pedestrians.

Countries outside India, or to be more apt, the western countries allow their kids to drive after they complete 16 years. It is legal for them. But here we wait 2 more years to teach them driving. Countries like South Africa follow our method of qualification and allow any individual to drive their vehicles above 18 years. What does this mean and why is it so?

Does it mean that our children are not yet prepared, are they lesser? If that is not the case then we must allow them to drive. Driving is not a skill that takes years of practice, it can be learnt in a meagrely short period of time. One thing it will do is that it will dent their dad's pocket and create more traffics for us making it lesser and lesser viable for us to walk freely on the road. When we say kids are smarter than us, why not give them a chance, something they will truly cherish.

War torn planet

We are all intrigued by the term, ‘war’. We don’t want to be a part of it, and prefer to stay away and unhurt. There are wars fought between two countries and there are also wars fought between factions of groups within a country each demanding their authority over a resource, mainly land. The latter is more dangerous because here we don’t know who the enemy is. They look like us. A civil war can give us all sorts of shocks and surprises. Suicide bombing is one of its kind.

We know that as human race we had gone through the First World War and Second World War. We have read it in our textbooks. We can only imagine how a war prone country looks like after its victory, or after its defeat. Technically, one country has won the war, but if you really see them we can easily judge that both the countries have lost their men, women, children, and resources.

After the second war we know that there was a cold war between giant economies of those days, the American’s and the Russian’s. Each wanted to prove their superiority. They built weapons of mass destruction, as it is otherwise called, to give fear to the opposition and their country men. The cold war ended and even though it statistically produced more death it remains a form of war where there were no arms and ammunitions really used. It was information and intelligence that made one country superior to other. It was their ability to build superior weapons and exhibit them so that both the country men can view and take pride in the advances of military technology. It is the political forces of those days that didn’t want to step back when their counterpart is exhibiting their military power.

We need not experience war, but any source of information will tell us what war actually is and who pays at the end.

Tigers - What I know about them

Let us not forget that the usual habitat of tigers are the forests. We know what we are doing. We are just convincing ourselves by saying that better human survival rate than protecting an animal which does only harm.

As we are building and expanding cities we are encroaching the tigers' habitat. So some may say so what. We must remember the food chain when it comes to understanding the ecology that we are living in. Remember, we are tertiary consumers, some are primary and secondary consumers... Learn once again. Some may say you are not practical. I disagree.

The tiger is our national animal. It must be allowed to thrive in it's usual habitat. There are not many tigers left. If we lose this animal then it will be a shame on us. We will sympathize with tigers but hide our faces behind veils if we continue this brutal killing for its flesh, claws, teeth, skin and what not.

Travel as a part of education

Whether it be traveling locally, or traveling to places outside our country, both have their charms and their challenges. Traveling in the past was always a challenging activity. Meeting different people, with different views and different dialects or languages is not for the timid soul.
It is a better thing to have local knowledge. When we go out for buying something, we interact with people whose daily experience is totally different from ours. We develop ourselves when we meet them. We understand their emotions, their need and desires and also how we can align ourselves to others. It is a complex process of adjustment.
In history it was Alexander, Huan Tsang who traveled. Obviously, both traveled for different reasons. Alexander for conquering other countries, where as Huan Tsang went merely for increasing his knowlege about different cultures.
Traveling, now a days is very job oriented. We forget it is also an opportunity to meet diverse people. New experiences to share, new places to visit, this is traveling as a part of education.

Mobile Phones - How they have changed our lives

Do you remember for how long you have been using mobile phones. Not more than 3 to 4 years. Mobile technologies have changed the life we live. Today I saw in the paper that there is a seperate firm that provides mobile applications at reasonable charges. They charge about R. 7 per week. (Pardon me for not using the latest symbol of a rupee). This is still expensive but not unaffordable.

I know someone who dabbles with Sudoku and whenever time allows he plays. This is just one small application that mobiles provide. Not to say there are videos, reading material, useful train and bus booking sites that provide a whole lot of avenues for us to explore. Companies are fighting for that last penny, say paisa. They want a permanent consumer. They want loyal customers. They are doing whatever they can to hook him.

There isn't much difference between a computer and a mobile phone. Obviously except for talking purpose we use mobile. The size is a big issue. IF we can find the right size that is convenient for certain applications then we would have gently and gracefully solved the problem. Now we see infibeam pi and phi coming to the market. They are intermediates of laptops and mobile phones. Marketers have taken charge of the entire spectrum of pricing while considering these products.

Mobile phones have made our lives simpler. It is we who have made our lives difficult. Don't blame the mobile phones. They are a marvel of an invention and they are here to stay for many decades to come.

Fresh air

Whenever we imagine of fresh air, we automatically think of pollution. As if they are synonymous, meaning one and the same. Due to industrialization in the past few decades, things have never been the same. Previously people indulged in agriculture, now they are setting up more industries in an attempt to change and challenge the life style of the common men like us.

I live in a city. As we all know a city’s life is full of hum-drum. Cars, trucks, buses and lorries rule the roads. Even though there are Euro II and Euro III vehicles being introduced, the disaster caused by the earlier vehicles cannot be put under the carpet. The damage is already done; we are breathing stale air. Now, from here, we can promise to reduce any further pollution that we have spread or at least find an alternative to our daily travel. Trains and Public Transport are better for any city. We usually underestimate the power of such vehicles. Technologies are coming to reduce pollution, but they are expensive, and they cannot be executed without further economical steps. We cannot remove the currently running vehicle with new ones. The task is impossible. How can we consider deliberately the cost incurred due to such a change.

Let us use scooters, bikes, cycles, or walk if the travel is near by. By doing so we can at least face the future generations who will ask us questions for which we have no answers for and already done the damage.

A train journey

We can't avoid the local train living in a city. The Mumbai train especially is the life blood of our city. Our daily journey begins with the train. We reach long and far destinations, within a few tens of minutes. Every office-goer knows the ins and outs of the locals.

The journey begins by going to the station close to your house, where we buy tickets or we utilize our monthly prepaid passes. Before the train arrives, we see the indicator nearly a thousand times. Then all compete to run into the train by pushing and pulling each other. The trains are seldom left empty or with few people. We fight to get our seats close to the windows except on rainy days. Most people with luggage throw their bags on top of the luggage carrier. Only then we are relieved. There are at times small fights and agonies over why some passengers don't get enough place to stand. In a three seater we occupy four people. However, we see now there are trains which have been totally refurbished with new looks. That makes the seating and the standing journey slightly more comfortable.

We pick our bags, people get out and get in at their regular stations, and that ends the journey. It repeats every evening.

How you hope to continue your education when you leave school?

Life is a journey and we are all characters playing our role. To play that role well we need to educate ourselves time and again. Education doesn't stop after schooling. It is a lifetime process.

More and more office goers and even housewives continue their education in some way or the other. Most office goers rely on colleges that offers distance learning program. These programs are useful in the sense it allows you to continue learning while you are working. There are classes on weekends to solve your queries and doubts. It is quite a new phenomenon. Earlier it was not the case. We also have e-learning where the tutor takes classes and we interact with the tutor on lecture days and gain direct knowledge from them. It has reduced the time we meet the tutors. This type of learning has worked very well and many universities are pursuing this kind of learning to its students.

Education is also about gathering new experiences and learning from them. This is called the school of hard knocks. Only by interaction with the world one can learn and remain up to date. Old lessons don't work in the new economy. Priorities change, habits change, lifestyle changes. All these are outcomes of newer ways of succeeding in the profession of your choice. Keep learning and keep learning well.

Electricity in the service of man

We take electricity for granted. We cannot see the possibility of living well without electricity. We need fan, light, tv, whenever we live somewhere. Electricity is a quite recent invention. Earlier people did not use electricity. They relied on oil lamps and hand fans. You might have seen it somewhere. The tradition is still true in some far off villages where they are still waiting for electricity. Electricity is a god's gift that man has accepted and used it well.

From then circa 150 years to now, our life is being run by electricity. I know what happens when there is a break down. We all sweat and we don't forget to curse the distributor. Sorry, but this is true. The use of electricity will only increase with newer appliances like the refridgerator, washing machines, computer, electric cooker, geysers. All these appliances consume electricity. It has made physical labor obsolete.

Kudos to electricity, their inventors and their suppliers.

Suicide - Why attempt it?

We don't need an explanation of what suicide is, do we? We also don't like talking about it. Suicidal attempts happen everyday and this is what life teaches you. Life is full of ups and downs. Suicide is horrific when you hear it. How could one person fall from a roof top, or drink poision, or hang himself or herself to the ceiling.

We need to be aware of all the questions of why people commit suicide. There are tomes and tomes of information available. Who will mine it? Most suicidal attempts are because of societal pressures. Women are more vulnerable to suicides than men are. The reason being women don't have that much freedom to pursue their wishes and ambitions. They have to keep it hidden. That is not case for men in a male dominated world like ours. The demand from occupation and expectations of family members and peers put alot of pressure on the victim. How can she come out? She sees no other way. She cannot leave the hierarchy in which she has been born and brought up and she continues to suffer with a single identity which is suffocating.

There are cases where men poison their family and themselves so that they can peacefully leave this world. Is suicide a solution to all these? We are so burdened with our image that we don't know at times what to do? Whom should we consult? There are psychiatrists who will come to help you improve the situation but he is also an outsider and we cannot rely on the marvels of medical science and some few tablets alone. They don't have cure for all depressions. My only plead to my fellow beings is that don't ever think of commiting to this path. Always consult someone who is your confidante and share your troubles with him or her. This will bring a new outlook for you in your life. Say no to death and yes to life.

We and Cinema

Cinema has affected us in many ways. We look at the world through their glasses. We are soaked in cinema. Quite a lumpsome of the movie freaks go to theatres. Some watch the same movie many times but still relish. Some movies are so good even a pessimistic viewer sees it twice.

Cinema is a well oiled entertainment machinery. After a week of hard work people like to spend some time elsewhere. When we used to go for a movie, the balcony, as it was called then,just costed us 8 rupees. Today we are quite comfortable paying 150 rupees at the nearby multiplex. The looks of the theatre has also changed. Theatres now a days don't come single. They are paired with food, and other entertainment stuffs. It is almost a market by now. People love the overall experience of watching a movie and shopping. Hats off to those brains for making cinema into such a fantastic experience.

We are in transition in the cinema industry trying to weave the past and the future of cinema; we have always done it, but more so now. We see newer and more unfamiliar stories coming. There is no longer a 'formulaic' movieshow where people already know the plot before entering the hall. Some movies are bad, but we cannot deny that they too have put considerable effort making it. We'll never know the audiences' taste. We can only rely on some market research and refer to the past history of an audience's profile and try to predict the success or failure of a movie. Cinema will go on as the top entertaining alternative for many decades to come. There is no looking back. Even though with diverse viewership the share per film will be small, the industry will keep on growing.

Which is better, a city or a country?

It comes to preference. But, both have their own charms. Some people like the atmosphere of a country. The hills, the meadows, the trees, the sweet smell of the mud, the leisure time all are beatific. On the other hand, city life is fast, it is much like a local train. It starts and halts regularly. We do so many things we seldom realize. Village life is preferred by middle-aged citizens, who like the slowness of a country.

One cannot deny there isn’t anything happening in towns. They too are being caricatured into cities. Intelligent bureaucrats and businessmen are eyeing for their next opportunity to make these changes. As we see it, we are making it at a more transient pace than at a swift pace. It is not simple as demand and supply. Supply is huge, every village have acres and acres of land. They are just waiting to be opened for people who want to move there, provided there are facilities for them. People are already buying houses in unknown locations, building small farm houses so that they can separate themselves for sometime from the hectic life of a city.

City life can provide all the necessities and fill our days. Now a days, life moves at a more hectic pace. More and more villages and towns are now being molded to suit city culture and style. Cities have their beaches, offices, schools, hotels, restaurants, parks, museums, aquariums, travel facilities, and other get-aways that village doesn’t offer. But it also has its pollution, its bomb blasts, rising prices of commodities and food stuffs. Cities provide a more viable option. It only says that cities are being preferred over the slow pace of villages. There are more than 65 Lakh villages in our country. It will take an awful time to change them into cities. That will not happen in the near future. Keep our fingers crossed! Stale City air and fresh village air both breathe life into us. They are both sides of the same coin.

Oil Spilling, Oil Spilt.

The thing that I noticed about reading newspaper is that you cannot read an issue and say finished, you will have to track it down daily. Every day there are changes and newer information that reveal their true picture.

Oil spillage in Mumbai coast has far been the most dug issue during recent times. One of the reason may be that we have never faced it before. It seems like a Hollywood movie to all of us. The climax was good, but the response from us wasn't good. No one knows what to do with the spillage. How to deal with it. We have a general tradition in our country that we burn wastes. Can this be burnt? Of course it can. Should we burn it? No, we shouldn't. It will just increase air pollution in the surrounding areas. Then what can be done. I don't know. Then you may ask what is the point of you being educated. I would still say, I don't know.

For the time being let us keep this aside and not try to wash it away with water. The spillage is just too much for volunteers. They can begin the task but cannot finish it. At the most what we can do is transport them to some far off places where there are no people living, where only rats and other rodents thrive. Was it too much to digest? Forget rats, read only rodents. We can also pack them and dump it deep into the sea away from our coast. Most land pollution can be dealt in this way. So take a Khilijia -IV or a Chitra - II and dump the waste in the nearby Antartic.

The life of a rupee

The most exciting life will be when you follow the 1 rupee coin that you just exchanged with that rickshaw driver. Just imagine how the rupee is born, where does it exchange hands. It will give you a marvelous story and will bring you to many surprises and realities. This is a small attempt to demystify the life of a coin

While going to my office, the rickshaw driver asked me 11 rupee. I gave it to him. But have you ever thought what life a rupee leads. The coins are made in the mint. They go to the bank. From the bank a buyer gets it while withdrawing money. He spends it on the rickshaw driver who again either gives to another passenger in case of exchange or buys something from it. The one rupee coin then moves from shop to shop until all the one rupee coin are either exchanging hands with other shops or other buyers. The shop keeper may even deposit it back to the bank or give it to another buyer. Generally if I were the shop keeper I would have kept certain coins with me and deposited others in the bank. Some businesses need rupee so they exchange the coins with rupee of larger denomination. The bank either gives it to the buyers who are in need of the coin or deposit with the RBI. So there are few coins floating and exchanging hands while others are in the bank. As more and more coins are sent to the market the number of coins increase. Whenever coins are more they only circulate there are more coins and people are richer. So they have more disposable income. If enough people deposit coins in the bank then there will be limited coins. All coins goes to the business which are in need of coins like the vegetable vendor and bus ticket collector and rickshaw drivers or taxi drivers. So a small part of the business has more coins. Now what to do with excess coins. At the most it can be given to the bank and exchanged for rupees. The bank then melts the coin and the values remain in records. THE EXCHANGES ARE EVEN MORE COMPLEX. IN THE END EVERYTHING IS IN RECORDS.

Some desirable improvements in my home town

Ask a foreigner who came a decade back and how differently he sees Mumbai. The tall buildings, the plush offices, the jarring traffic, the bridges all this is new to the eyes of a person visiting Mumbai after a long time. His home town has changed its attire.

If you just catch a bus from Bandra and keep your eyes outside through the window you will see wonderfully constructed office buildings, clean and super clean roads which we are not used to, well dressed and modern people. This is not what Mumbai used to be a decade back. Even though it has been a business hub for many outsiders it never saw the yearning from its citizens to improve the town. This is unusual. But there are also places where there are water and electricity problems. Let us not deny it.

The Railways have changed the look of the inside of a train. Ask any train commuter, he will know it and will give you a brief description as to what has changed. The taxis and cabs are not longer yellow and black. There are three different taxi types to meet all types of customers. The cool cab made its way into our city and we seldom realized it. Let us not forget the hospitals, tall towers, that has changed the face of the city.

All in all, there are improvements but they are needed. It is an urgent call.

Young kidney stones

The recent article in today's newspaper I have read is about Kidney stones. There is nothing kind about it. Children as young as 5 to 10 get these stones. How awful! Kidney stones are those our forefathers used to get when our uncles and aunts crossed their retirement age. This is something we must be seriously concerned. Children getting Kidney stones. But how?

The article says our lifestyle and food habits are the main reasons for this dreadful and painful disease. You just can't get away by saying our lifestyle is causing the disease. You have to give reasons. On further going forward the article says "...our salt consumption, lowered intake of milk, obesity and usage of antibiotics has doubled the chances of kidney stones." Despite such posing dangers we continue gulping the information and do the same thing. We just don't change our taste habits. It is an absolute no. Change now, don't wait for that scalpel.

Scooters, bikes are up; cars down

I don't claim to be a futurologist, but as part of a citizen of a metropolitan city like Mumbai I certainly give my thumbs up to two wheelers over four wheelers. It is so clear that there is no further room within the city for 4 wheelers. While a week back I was trying to cross the main road, I had to wait for a long time before crossing it. Even the cars there couldn't find place to steer themselves in such a high density road.

The main road is so full of them there seems to be a dearth of common sense about why people still do buy cars. It provides good privacy when on the road. That can be only one reason. Bikes are not meant for long distance travel. A half an hour ride to a destination is for bikes and scooters but anything longer than that people would prefer car. The whole burden of traffic jam falls on the driver. He is just unable to steer in such a high traffic. Especially if the passengers sitting behind are expecting 'Street Hawk speed' from him.

I may be wrong, but future commutation will be on bikes and scooters. They are hassle free and easily manueverable. So scooters, bikes are up; cars down.

Just Type

Typing is a necessary skill, an untold skill required for anyone working in an office with a computer. Many office goers look at it as a below my level skill to be acquired. Trust me, that is not the case. It is just not the amount of time you save but it also makes thoughts flow continuously without any barrier. My typing was 20 wpm when I started three to four years back. Now it has climbed upto 80wpm. I am pretty happy with the skill that I have acquired. The down part of it is that i have spent too much time learning typing and you don't have to take that much time of yours.

People once good at typing try to increase their speed by forcing them to type more. More is not the name of the game. It is accuracy with speed. Accuracy you can get only when you do the right thing, if however, you are not doing right then it may take more time. I should have expected to reach my typing speed close to hundred by now. But the wrong thing that I did and I don't want you to do. Always see the text you are typing once you gain adequate
accuracy. Never look at the computer nor look at the keyboard. There are many words that repeat in English. Practice typing those words and then you will find a huge difference in your typing speed and accuracy. Moreover, never indulge in typing for hours together. As any part of our body our wrists and fingers too need some rest. Once in pain and you continue doing it, it will mislead you to more mistakes.

The most easy typing is letters. Then comes CAPITAL WORDS. You need separate practice for numerals and then separate for symbols like question mark, exclamation mark, percentages etc. The best way to practice is take a simple exercise and do it without mistake and follow the above procedure. You will always remember me if you do it that way. This is the thing which nobody will tell you and they will only cloud you with more information. The internet gives you websites and websites on typing test and tracking your speed. It is good to take a break during the course of your day and try a hand at one or two. There are also games, play them whenever you are free.

Typing is a skill mentioned not to be taken lightly. Try it and you will enjoy doing it for the rest of your life.

BEST COLLEGES FOR MBA

This is the heart of every MBA aspirant as to which college is the best. I too was an MBA Aspirant and wished to go to the good colleges

Every one knows IIMs are synonymous to Best MBA colleges in the country. How do we judge which is the best college. We take parameters like student to teacher ratio, teacher’s qualifications, word of mouth, placements, library, environment, salary during placements, past history, No of companies visiting the campus per MBA students and so the choices are many.

We also read newspapers where we see every college is trying to make its mark in top 10 or 20 across the country. Mumbai has many good colleges, NMIMS, being the one, NITIE, for engineers etc. Other colleges throughout the country include XLRI Jamshedpur, ISB is making new noise in the media now a days after winning being the top 20 colleges across the globe. But they are not for graduates they are for experienced professionals.

IIPM is also equally roaring after they have advertisement almost every day on the newspaper, claiming to be better than IIMs and how their course produces managers high rank compared to bookish managers of IIMs. They claim that their students are more entrepreneurial. It may be true since they are showing results. Fees is another factor. Day by Day management education is becoming costlier because more and more success stories are being created by these management colleges. CEOs, CFOs, MD are more and more from these colleges. Industry is satisfied by the breed of people these colleges are producing. Also we see that managers for all strata is being produced by these colleges. As they say MBAs are prepared to meet the cut throat competition in the corporate world.

Previously it was by pragmatic approach managers learnt the intricacies of the business. But now with the advent of MBA the teaching is more structured. We must however be aware of the stark reality that all colleges are not IIMs, ISB, there are dark circles in the Management courses colleges produce. Even though some colleges boast of being as good as the top colleges by differentiating their course they still have a long way to go to prove they. The intention is there but the deliverance isn’t.

How to keep yourself fit - awareness column

One need not study an encyclopedia to know how to keep oneself fit. To be fit is to thank God for a strong body. It is the responsibility of everyone to keep himself or herself fit and strong. Our body is a temple and we must take care of its idols.

Many of us know that by getting up early in the morning, jogging and exercising for sometime in fresh air, having a bath are a few simple things to keep ourselves fit. We also become fit by playing games and participating in sports. We will restrict here to only physical fitness. Strong arms, strong legs and flexible back is not all is there in fitness even though they are required. We must not forget visiting doctor every six months or one year and do a medical check up. Even though it may be expensive for now it will surely provide some future relief and a robust body. All kinds of exercise like yoga, calisthenics, aerobics, weightlifting can provide good fitness.

Having good food is another way of keeping ourselves fit. People can’t resist certain food habits. They must visit a doctor and know their dietary plan for once as to what they must have for food. Diet changes with age, occupation, and depends on many other factors. So they cannot be uniform for everybody. A specialist will do the trick. A bad health can ruin our life and make it burdensome. We also know that a healthy mind will only reside in a healthy body. All things apart, from today onwards take care of your health.

Good Manners and what you need to know about it

When we were young our parents and teachers taught us good manners. They taught us how we should behave in front of others, how we should eat, how we should greet others etc. Good manners are like the nut in a cashew. They will always present the best part of you.

The thing about good manners is that we ought not to forget them. Even though there will be some differences in how one part of the world considers good manners from the other part they will always be a boon to any young lad facing the world. All of us like people who behave well and show proper mannerisms. Maybe that is one of the reason why people like some children and hate others. How well you treat people younger and how you treat people older than you on certain occasions is what good manners is all about. One must know how to greet with a smile in case they meet any stranger. All this small small things make good manners and become a part of your personality. Social lives are made of manners.

For those people who don’t know manners of other caste or country there are resources available every where for them to learn. Learning about other culture’ manners will always be a boon. Manners are to human beings what sugar is to tea.

Street Hawkers of Mumbai

We live in a city where Street Hawkers is a common place. They are generally for eatables. They can be for non-edible items also. The Street Hawkers are varied. They range from your daily vegetables, fruits, to garlands. Mumbai as a city is famous for its hawkers. When you go to South Mumbai hawkers are in abundance. It is convenient for all of us to buy food and other items from streets. They make our lives more easy. People shy from getting into a store. This can be because of fear and expectations of a store. This is not true in case of hawkers. We get lovely food across the city from these hawkers. They are not necessarily hygienic but some hawkers now a days are aware that hygiene will only increase their business and attract more customers so they see to it that their food items are clean. Even though they charge a premium for hygiene, people still flock to them and want to buy their vada pav or samosa pav. More businesses are now following the model of street hawkers. Many brands have made their way on the streets, one of them is Energy drink and the other is Jumbo vada pav a recent brand.

Hawkers will always be the life blood of a metropolitan city like Mumbai as they provide affordable, convenient food, any place, any time.

Our duties to the backward communities in our country

We are living in a diverse world. We live amongst ourselves with different religion, different caste, & even different race at times. Some people are more fortunate and some are less fortunate, this is one stark reality of our lives. Why forget Bill Gates who has done so much recently to help the poor of African Countries. He has donated nearly 30$ Billion dollars to countries in Africa and a country even India for development. Even though we all cannot contribute that much we can certainly do something for them. Each of us can contribute in different ways through different channels not only monetarily.

We must understand that money is not the only thing that separates us. Backward communities people have a different lifestyle and it is our duty to teach them the modern ways of living. Make them inclusive to the urban way of living. Because of this backward lifestyle and traditional barriers they are unaware what life can offer them. How societies outside their own live. What is modernization and advancement? They are not even literate. Because they have not found literacy useful. It was not a part of their life. They were mostly farmers, they bred cattles etc. Our duty is to make them aware of the modern world and give them the opportunity to be a part of our lives.

Something like reservation is certainly useful when we consider this problem of different societies living together. People on the other side don’t like reservations but it is a reality that we have to face if we need inclusive growth and increased tolerance. Even private schools have now agreed to impart 25% of their seats to children from the backward, local community. How well it will work is we have to see? This will generate lots of data for future wiser decisions. There is also demand for private industries to consider this option. Whether it will work or not only time will tell. With reservations to women and backward caste we must see that the people in the open category don’t face a problem of choice. This is a great sacrifice given by worthy students towards their peers lying on other side of the fence.

Should games be necessary for school boys?

Why only boys, for girls too it should be compulsory. Games were played by our ancestors to keep them busy and maintain a sense of camaraderie between them. We see young boys and girls who play games are far more cheerful than children who focus only on studies.

Mostly now a days children are glued to their television sets remain a spectator of games. Games bring good health, stronger muscles and bones and increases our immunity to various diseases. Children playing games always have a good appetite compared to other children. That helps in their growth and development.

Now a days with video games coming in, the boys are more used to playing games indoor than outdoor. These games help in proper eye hand coordination but excess of them also can be a drawback. The games are addictive in nature.

We must buy our kids more outdoor games material than indoor games. Some games are dangerous and must be taken care of but there is always an alternative of playing other games. Things like wrestling should not be promoted among kids without proper guidance. They can be harmful and lead to fractured bones.

Sports are what builds a strong harmonious relationship & you will certainly be for games and not against them.

Is life better for us than our forefathers?

Life is better in some areas and in some other areas no. Ask me, why do I say so? The answer is, that with the economy growing people are getting richer day by day; there are more affordable luxury items like cars, Television, mobile phones, washing machines etc and latest gizmos compared to life lived by our forefathers. Now, you don’t need to bend your back while washing clothes. But so is the problem of pollution, birth of new diseases like cancer etc which are causing problems to our livelihood.

As we are becoming more and more advanced material problems are no longer a concern. We are also living longer, we are literate, we can tackle many diseases with the help of latest medical technologies and know hows. With all such advances in science and arts our lives have become more interesting. We no longer have to wait in a queue to use well water or hand pump. The tap is directed into our home provides sufficient water. Even though there are places where water is a scarce resource. But we are trying to fill this gap. With mobile phones we can talk to anyone any where in the corner of the globe. Our advances in technology can make life simpler and make us more productive with the same effort. All these things are the boon which our forefathers were unable to experience.

But there are also cold wars, nuclear bombs, which are making all of us separate, Examples like the recent holocaust at the Taj hotel and 9/11 causes shivers in our spine. We are becoming more intolerant, at least the terrorists are. But with the latest advances in military science we are also able to use intelligence well. There is cooperation despite competitive amongst nations. We will certainly not be able to estimate how our forefathers lived, but as we live we are being exposed to newer and newer things and we are becoming more curious about how future lives will be. Futurologists are predicting and promising a better future, a future where men will only enjoy and machines will do all the work. We will be living in a world of plenty. But there will be famines, draughts, floods, volcanoes, road accidents, newer strains of bacteria and viruses to fight.

Should men learn to cook?

We need to earn our bread and butter, don’t we? But more than that we need to know how to cook. When young we are fed by our parents. As we grow older our mother still feeds us. She makes food with her own hands. She knows the taste, the flavor we like. She buys vegetables and cuts it, puts some masalas and there it is food is ready. It is not as simple as I just told you.

As a social practice boys are isolated from cooking. But if you ask me should they learn to cook? The answer would be yes. But is it compulsory, I would say still say yes. Cooking helps when we go to a remote place and away from our near and dear ones. Learning to cook protects our pocket to some extent. Some places don’t have the facilities of hotel. Some of them really charge a lot, don’t they? True, isn’t it?

For men and young boys it is always better to know simple things about cooking food. They must know what to buy, and how to cook a meal on their own. Simple things like making chapattis, making dals, making toast, and some vegetables will always come handy. In addition to cooking, they also know how to buy vegetables and other things meant for cooking. There are many canned food available now a days. It may not suit the pockets of everybody. It is still in a nascent stage.

Then why do boys refrain from cooking? It is one thing they have been kept away. God forbade, if someone is unhealthy or sick in our house we know it is better to cook food for them. Today with the growing number of hotels most men find an excuse that they need not know how to cook.

So, should boys learn to cook, the answer is an absolute yes. Learning to cook is far more useful than you think. Try to stay for a day or two without your mother. You will always remember her handmade food.