I got this from a friend of mine. It might be some old stuff but it made laugh a lot so though of sharing it through this blog
****
Letter from Banta Singh of Punjab to Mr. Bill Gates of Microsoft
Subject: Problems with my new computer\
Dear Mr. Bill Gates
We have bought a computer for our home and we have found some problems,
which I want to bring to your notice.
1. There is a button ’start’ but there is no ’stop’ button. We request you to check this.
2. We find there is ‘Run’ in the menu. One of my friends clicked ‘run’ he ran up to Amritsar!
So, we request you to change that to ’sit’, so that we can click that by sitting.
3. One doubt is whether any ‘re-scooter’ is available in system?
I find only ‘re-cycle’, but I own a scooter at my home.
4. There is ‘Find’ button but it is not working properly. My wife lost the
door key and we tried a lot trace the key with this ‘ find’ button, but was
unable to trace. Please rectify this problem.
5. My child learnt ‘Microsoft word‘ now he wants to learn ‘Microsoft
sentence’, so when you will provide that?
6. I bought computer, CPU, mouse and keyboard, but there is only one icon
which shows ‘MY Computer’: when you will provide the remaining items?
7. It is surprising that windows says ‘MY Pictures’ but there is not even a
single photo of mine. So when will you keep my photo in that.
8. There is ‘MICROSOFT OFFICE‘ what about ‘MICROSOFT HOME’ since I use the
PC at home only.
9. You provided ‘My Recent Documents’. When you will provide ‘My Past Documents’?
10. You provide ‘My Network Places’. For God sake please do not provide ‘My
Secret Places’. I do not want to let my wife know where I go after my office hours.Regards,
Banta
Last one to Mr Bill Gates :
Sir, how is it that your name is Gates but u are selling WINDOWS?
Saturday 28 June 2008
the soul of music
"If music be the food of love, play on."- Shakespeare
Soul -stirring music is the only language of the heart .
It talks of love and longing , the beauty of life and living .
Music inspires man to rise above the trivials of the ordinary
to that distant shore where beauty beckons all.
Be it the haunting notes of the flute,
the melodious piano ot the enchanting notes of the violin ,
Music enthralls and captivates ,
transcending the barriers of age and time .
Thursday 19 June 2008
My Opinion on I-Phone
I start with a very odd keynote at Macworld . There was nothing said about Macintosh related products at all, which surprised everyone, and probably annoyed a number of people. Clearly Steve Jobs wanted to send a very direct message about the future of Apple.
I wasn’t really that excited about the idea of an iPhone, because I didn’t (and don’t) consider a cross between and iPod and a telephone to be very interesting. I think that how you react to iPhone depends on how you view it. Even though it is a converged device, I think that people still view it through a primary modality: widescreen/video iPod, telephone, or internet device.
As an iPod, there are cool features: the touch screen based interface, the quality and resolution of the display, CoverFlow, the ability to play video. But there also drawbacks, the biggest being the amount of storage being offered.
Most of the coverage that I have read emphasizes the telephone
aspects of iPhone. The iPhone UI works the way that I would like a phone to work. The interface for call management, putting people on hold, the ability to use e-mail and the web browser while on a call, and the visual voicemail feature, are the kinds of features that any mobile telephone ought to have, and just about every other phone UI is clunky in comparison. I know that the Series 60 in my Nokia 6600 does. The ability to seamlessly switch between the Wifi network and the cellphone network is also a big plus, although we didn’t see that in action. Perhaps we’ll see this capability in a future Macintosh as well.
There are a lot of issues around the telephone features. Many people will be unhappy with iPhone being locked to Cingular, although the choice of GSM means that the only additional options in the US would be T-Mobile. Part of this is due to the collaboration between Apple and Cingular on visual voicemail, which is one of phone features that appeals to me the most, since I hate voice mail interfaces with a passion. There’s also a big question around the pricing of data plans, but more on that shortly. As a phone device, there are some scary features. Battery life is a short if you look at being able to fully use that converged device throughout the course of an 8-12 hour day. The battery is not replaceable, which seems to ignore the physics/chemistry of battery wear. As a phone, I think that there are some questions about single handed use, although I think the use case is more for texting than for one handed use while driving (scary). The durability of the screen is also an issue since the interface is completely dependent on the screen.
I personally view the iPhone as an Internet access device. This is the functionality that interests me the most, since it is the functionality that I wish for the most when I am untethered.
The promise of having Safari on a phone and being able to run AJAX apps on that form factor is very appealing, and I was very excited about this until I watched the keynote video. In the video, Google Maps is a separate application from Safari. It’s possible that this is a widget style application, which would be okay, but not great. So from what I’ve seen so far, the jury is out on whether we can really do AJAX on iPhone, which I think is important. Also, there doesn’t appear to be a GPS in the iPhone, which is curious given the promotion of Google Maps. I’m sure there must be some hardware related limitation here, but location information is pretty important to mobile applications.
I also liked what I saw of the mail client, especially support for IMAP, since I do a lot of e-mail. The touchscreen isn’t a real keyboard, but I think it’s a step up from a phone keypad.
Steve demo’ed an iChat like interface to SMS, which is definitely and improvement in my mind. It doesn’t look like iChat was present on the phone, and that’s something that I’d like to see. SMS is cool, but in the US, they charge for those messages, and if you want to have things like twitterbot, you’ll go broke inside of a week.
Many people have pointed out the 2G/3G issues and the uncertainty around Cingular’s data plan pricing. Lack of 3G is definitely disappointing. iPhone would be awesome at EVDO speeds, but it doesn’t look like we are going to get that. My 6600 is on GPRS, and the the speed is definitely an issue. You might have Safari, but if the pipe is slow, that’s not much help. You also want unlimited bandwidth usage, so Cingular’s data pricing is going to influence the success of the iPhone, and I can only hope that Steve Jobs managed to work some deal for iPhone subscribers.
The last and perhaps biggest problem is the third party applications issue. Right now it appears that 3rd party applications will not be allowed on iPhone. All the reports that I’ve read say that users won’t be able to install applications. I’ve had a few conversations in person that suggest that this may not be a permanent situation, but until it changes, this is a problem. Couple this with uncertainty about AJAX support in the iPhone Safari, and things start to look a bit less cool.I was pretty excited about the iPhone. When I was at Apple and the disposition of the Newton division was uncertain, there was a cell handset company that was interested in acquiring Newton, but it didn’t work out. I was really disappointed when that didn’t work out. The concept of the iPhone that we saw yesterday is what Newton should have become, but I think that there are still a few things that will hold the initial iPhone back. I think that all those issues will get fixed in time, but it’s frustrating to see that they weren’t addressed in the initial product
I wasn’t really that excited about the idea of an iPhone, because I didn’t (and don’t) consider a cross between and iPod and a telephone to be very interesting. I think that how you react to iPhone depends on how you view it. Even though it is a converged device, I think that people still view it through a primary modality: widescreen/video iPod, telephone, or internet device.
As an iPod, there are cool features: the touch screen based interface, the quality and resolution of the display, CoverFlow, the ability to play video. But there also drawbacks, the biggest being the amount of storage being offered.
Most of the coverage that I have read emphasizes the telephone
aspects of iPhone. The iPhone UI works the way that I would like a phone to work. The interface for call management, putting people on hold, the ability to use e-mail and the web browser while on a call, and the visual voicemail feature, are the kinds of features that any mobile telephone ought to have, and just about every other phone UI is clunky in comparison. I know that the Series 60 in my Nokia 6600 does. The ability to seamlessly switch between the Wifi network and the cellphone network is also a big plus, although we didn’t see that in action. Perhaps we’ll see this capability in a future Macintosh as well.There are a lot of issues around the telephone features. Many people will be unhappy with iPhone being locked to Cingular, although the choice of GSM means that the only additional options in the US would be T-Mobile. Part of this is due to the collaboration between Apple and Cingular on visual voicemail, which is one of phone features that appeals to me the most, since I hate voice mail interfaces with a passion. There’s also a big question around the pricing of data plans, but more on that shortly. As a phone device, there are some scary features. Battery life is a short if you look at being able to fully use that converged device throughout the course of an 8-12 hour day. The battery is not replaceable, which seems to ignore the physics/chemistry of battery wear. As a phone, I think that there are some questions about single handed use, although I think the use case is more for texting than for one handed use while driving (scary). The durability of the screen is also an issue since the interface is completely dependent on the screen.
I personally view the iPhone as an Internet access device. This is the functionality that interests me the most, since it is the functionality that I wish for the most when I am untethered.
The promise of having Safari on a phone and being able to run AJAX apps on that form factor is very appealing, and I was very excited about this until I watched the keynote video. In the video, Google Maps is a separate application from Safari. It’s possible that this is a widget style application, which would be okay, but not great. So from what I’ve seen so far, the jury is out on whether we can really do AJAX on iPhone, which I think is important. Also, there doesn’t appear to be a GPS in the iPhone, which is curious given the promotion of Google Maps. I’m sure there must be some hardware related limitation here, but location information is pretty important to mobile applications.
I also liked what I saw of the mail client, especially support for IMAP, since I do a lot of e-mail. The touchscreen isn’t a real keyboard, but I think it’s a step up from a phone keypad.
Steve demo’ed an iChat like interface to SMS, which is definitely and improvement in my mind. It doesn’t look like iChat was present on the phone, and that’s something that I’d like to see. SMS is cool, but in the US, they charge for those messages, and if you want to have things like twitterbot, you’ll go broke inside of a week.
Many people have pointed out the 2G/3G issues and the uncertainty around Cingular’s data plan pricing. Lack of 3G is definitely disappointing. iPhone would be awesome at EVDO speeds, but it doesn’t look like we are going to get that. My 6600 is on GPRS, and the the speed is definitely an issue. You might have Safari, but if the pipe is slow, that’s not much help. You also want unlimited bandwidth usage, so Cingular’s data pricing is going to influence the success of the iPhone, and I can only hope that Steve Jobs managed to work some deal for iPhone subscribers.
The last and perhaps biggest problem is the third party applications issue. Right now it appears that 3rd party applications will not be allowed on iPhone. All the reports that I’ve read say that users won’t be able to install applications. I’ve had a few conversations in person that suggest that this may not be a permanent situation, but until it changes, this is a problem. Couple this with uncertainty about AJAX support in the iPhone Safari, and things start to look a bit less cool.I was pretty excited about the iPhone. When I was at Apple and the disposition of the Newton division was uncertain, there was a cell handset company that was interested in acquiring Newton, but it didn’t work out. I was really disappointed when that didn’t work out. The concept of the iPhone that we saw yesterday is what Newton should have become, but I think that there are still a few things that will hold the initial iPhone back. I think that all those issues will get fixed in time, but it’s frustrating to see that they weren’t addressed in the initial product
Thursday 12 June 2008
LOGICAL THOUGHTS
LOGICAL THOUGHTS
- Whenever you find the key to success, someone changes the lock.
- To Err is human, but to forgive is not a COMPANY policy.
- The road to success??.. Is always under construction.
- Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but if you think again, neither does Milk.
- In order to get a Loan, you first need to prove that you have ability to repay back.
- All the desirable things in life are either illegal, expensive or fattening.
- Since Light travels faster than Sound, people appear brighter before you hear them speak. Everyone has a scheme of getting rich?.. Which never works.
- If at first you don't succeed?. Destroy all evidence that you ever tried.
- You can never determine which side of the bread to butter. If it falls down, it will always land on the buttered side.
- Anything dropped on the floor will roll over to the most inaccessible corner.
- 42.7% of all statistics is made on the spot.
- As soon as you mention something?? If it is good, it is taken?. If it is bad, it happens.
- He who has the gold, makes the rules ---- Murphy's golden rule.
- If you come early, the bus is late. If you come late?? The bus is still late.
- Once you have bought something, you will find the same item being sold somewhere else at a cheaper rate.
- When in a queue, the other line always moves faster and the person in front of you will always have the most complex of transactions.
- If you have paper, you don't have a pen. If you have a pen, you don't have paper. If you have both, no one calls.
- Especially for engg. Students : If you have bunked the class, the professor has taken attendance. You will pick up maximum wrong numbers when on roaming.
- The door bell or your mobile will always ring when you are in the bathroom.
- After a long wait for bus no.20, two 20 number buses will always pull in together and the bus which you get in will be crowded than the other.
- If your exam is tomorrow, there will be a power cut tonight.
- Irrespective of the direction of the wind, the smoke from the cigarette will always tend to go to the non-smoker.
- Before borrowing money from a friend, decide whether you need more.
- There are three sides to every argument: your side, my side and the right side.
- An expert is someone who takes a subject you understand and makes it sound confusing.
- Many things can be preserved in alcohol. Dignity is not one of them.
- Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.
- When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.
- Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.Well done is better than well said .
- Everyone makes mistakes. The trick is to make them when nobody is looking.
- Where there is a WILL, there is a WAY, Where there is MONEY, there are many WAYS.
- Where there is MONEY, there are many FRIENDS and RELATIVES.
- Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
Be a Man
Be a Man.......
I am glad to share with you all.......very intresting, wise and thought provoking words even though they are not mine.....These wonderful lines are penned by Rudyard Kipling
I am glad to share with you all.......very intresting, wise and thought provoking words even though they are not mine.....These wonderful lines are penned by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you,If you can trust yourself when all men doubt youBut make allowance for their doubting too,If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way to hating,And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;If you can bear to hear the truth you've spokenTwisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winningsAnd risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breath a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone,And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;If all men count with you, but none too much,If you can fill the unforgiving minuteWith sixty seconds' worth of distance run,Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son! ---Rudyard Kipling
The clock is running
The clock is running
...As i open my eyes,I find the clock is running ,I wish to yawn ,I wish to let it race ahead,But I can’t, because the clock is running.As I reach office ,I find things urgent,as I think about them,I find new things are pressing on,I wish to stop,I wish to take a break ,I wish to smile, But I can’t, because the clock is running.As I reach home I find myself exhausted,As I reach home I find myself longing for my bed,As I reach home I wish to do the things i love,But I can’t ,because the clock is running .And as the clock keeps running ,So does my life,Seconds change into minutes,Minutes become hours,Hours form days,Days turn into weeks,Weeks slip into months,Months pass away as years,And pretty soon it will be over.And then one day I will find myself,With no one around me,With no one to wait for me,With no one to care for me.With no one to cry when I die.
...As i open my eyes,I find the clock is running ,I wish to yawn ,I wish to let it race ahead,But I can’t, because the clock is running.As I reach office ,I find things urgent,as I think about them,I find new things are pressing on,I wish to stop,I wish to take a break ,I wish to smile, But I can’t, because the clock is running.As I reach home I find myself exhausted,As I reach home I find myself longing for my bed,As I reach home I wish to do the things i love,But I can’t ,because the clock is running .And as the clock keeps running ,So does my life,Seconds change into minutes,Minutes become hours,Hours form days,Days turn into weeks,Weeks slip into months,Months pass away as years,And pretty soon it will be over.And then one day I will find myself,With no one around me,With no one to wait for me,With no one to care for me.With no one to cry when I die.
Maths = Moral Science
Maths = Moral Science
A few years back I met a family of three. I went to see them with my mom and was strictly instructed since the kid was the most pampered child in the world I should say something positive about him. During the half hour which I enjoyed the company of the couple I duly noted the activities of the child and marked him as the most terrible child I have ever seen.(And this counts Junior in Problem child).When we were leaving my mom signaled me to say something about the kid. Since I didn"t had any positive I gave the parents two negative about the child. As soon as I stood by my virtue of speaking the truth my mom apologized to them as if I was the most terrible child in the world. The reason I remembered this story because I saw an ad today which said that the kids today are learning D=Don. The ad proclaimed that if we make our children watch Ramayan they will start learning D=Dhanush. Personally I think kids will learn D=whatever as long as it will fetch them marks. How much time today kids have between their school, tuition and home work? Today those who have passed fifth standard have better knowledge than Lalu. (I know this is not fair. Even those who have passed first class have better knowledge than him)Anyways the only subject where Lalujee will be able to challenge them is moral science .Today for kids Moral Science is like maths. It has its own period in the week, its own text book and final exam whose answer they need to cram. The only difference between them is that they can crack Moral science paper without taking tuition.
To sum up :Till the day we don"t stop treating moral science as a high scoring subject in school; Mahabharata will command higher TRP than Ramayan.
A few years back I met a family of three. I went to see them with my mom and was strictly instructed since the kid was the most pampered child in the world I should say something positive about him. During the half hour which I enjoyed the company of the couple I duly noted the activities of the child and marked him as the most terrible child I have ever seen.(And this counts Junior in Problem child).When we were leaving my mom signaled me to say something about the kid. Since I didn"t had any positive I gave the parents two negative about the child. As soon as I stood by my virtue of speaking the truth my mom apologized to them as if I was the most terrible child in the world. The reason I remembered this story because I saw an ad today which said that the kids today are learning D=Don. The ad proclaimed that if we make our children watch Ramayan they will start learning D=Dhanush. Personally I think kids will learn D=whatever as long as it will fetch them marks. How much time today kids have between their school, tuition and home work? Today those who have passed fifth standard have better knowledge than Lalu. (I know this is not fair. Even those who have passed first class have better knowledge than him)Anyways the only subject where Lalujee will be able to challenge them is moral science .Today for kids Moral Science is like maths. It has its own period in the week, its own text book and final exam whose answer they need to cram. The only difference between them is that they can crack Moral science paper without taking tuition.
To sum up :Till the day we don"t stop treating moral science as a high scoring subject in school; Mahabharata will command higher TRP than Ramayan.
I am determined to sleep.
I am determined to sleep.
Personally I love Sunday mornings. The calm atmosphere , the cool breeze, the serenity and the privilege of sleeping through whole morning. Actually I love any morning as long as I don’t have to report to work.Several people may vouch for the benefits of getting up early by saying, “Early to rise makes a man healthy , wealthy and wise” where as the truth is early to rise makes a man drowsy all day. The only benefit I had in home of early rising is that I didn’t had to wait in queue to loo. One minute is a long time depending upon which side of door you are.Very few people understand how getting up late is beneficial. They coax and coerce me to rise early. They call me in morning which I return by making it missed call. Some people just fail to appreciate how much money I save by skipping breakfast. Moreover, If only ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz..... was a real word, then I would kick ass at Scrabble.Personally I find it quite ironical. Few years back my mom spend hours trying to make me go to bed and nowadays she spends several hours making me leave it.
To sum up:Please don’t call me on Sunday mornings. I don’t like being interrupted when I am mediating on unconsciousness
Tuesday 10 June 2008
One Of My Most Memorable Moment In My Life .
When I read the book ‘The monk who sold his ferrari’, somewhere I wished that I too get a chance to go on such a spiritual journey. Last year I came to know about Vipassana . Vipassana is a 10 days residential course where they teach you meditation and other techniques to help you know yourself better. Its completely free of cost. I personally believe in meditation a lot and think our mind has infinite power if we can tame it. Like many other people I also thought that going for a 10-day course where you are completely disconnected from the outside world (i.e. no access to cell phone/internet) is next to impossible but deep down I wanted to go for it. 15 days back I was thinking of going for some 4-day meditation course but then a friend of mine insisted that I should go for Vipassana. He assured me 100% satisfaction from Vipassana. Once again that desire to go for Vipassana became stronger and I started researching about Vipassana online. I read almost all the stuff available online related to Vipassana. I read about experiences of different people from different parts of the world and found one common feedback ” ITS WORTH IT” . 90% of the people who went for the course simple loved it and thought it was one of the most wonderful experiences of their life. Its supposed to be very tough. You have to maintain noble silence for 10 days. You cant even look at each other. They want you to be completely with yourself. Initially it sounds like an insane thing to do but you won’t hold the same view after you are done with the course.
So I had made up my mind that I will go for Vipassana. For some reason I was excited about it. I decided that I will do it very sincerely and try to get the best out of it. I somehow had a feeling that it will have a profound effect on me. I was so happy to read other peoples’ experiences that I convinced my friends also to come with me. My Collegue being a IT – software professional and business man thinks he is the bussiest person on this earth but when Saikumar tries to convince then who can deny so he agreed to come with me :). It was very surprising for his family members to believe that my friend agreed to go for this course and be disconnected from this world for complete 10 days but then everything happens for good.
Vipassana has centers throughout the world. We went to the New Delhi centre which is located in Sohna. This center is 10 years old. You have to report one day before the course starts at around 3 PM. As I entered the center (on May 2, 2008), I was glad to see how beautifully they had made the center. Usually centers are little away from city in a calm place. There was something wonderful about the ambience there. Everybody gets one room each with an attached bathroom. They do believe that cleanliness is next to godliness. Everything was very well managed. Usually people in India don’t expect a center (which is free of cost) to be this clean so it was a pleasant surprise for everybody. I was assigned my room and I happily went and put my stuff there. There is complete segregation of males and females so in 10 days me and my dad never even looked at each other (talking was a distant thing). Noble silence begins at 8 PM on the same day of registration and people want to talk as much as possible from 4 PM (registration time) - 8 PM. They highly recommend that one shouldn’t try to mingle with others during those 4 hours as it will hamper your chances to maintaining noble silence but who listens I talked to almost everyone including girls after the noble silence got over because I was curious to know how was their experience with the course.
One of the most important thing about the course is maintaining noble silence i.e. you can’t talk to anybody there not even through signals. Only if its required, you can talk to your teacher and administrator. They kept telling the importance the noble silence but it was sad to see that people don’t realize it . Lot of people don’t realize that it will be for their benefit and end up talking when nobody is looking at them . I told myself that its for my benefit so I never even got that temptation to talk. I think if a talkative boy like me can maintain noble silence then anybody on this earth can . Its just that we feel we can’t. If you tell any girl/boy about noble silence for 10 days then his/her first reaction would be ” Are you nuts ? Noble silence for 10 days ? Its impossible” But I can tell you from personal experience that once you decide you will be able to do it. The course is no doubt very tough and that’s the reason they ask you again and again if you are mentally prepared to follow the guidelines . Lot of people get scared after reading the code of discipline and decide never to go for it. Before the course begins they ask you to surrender to the technique and its rules (ONLY for 10 days). After 10 days, it will be completely your choice if you want to follow those rules. They believe that in order to get the maximum benefit from the course one should abide by all the rules. This is where most people go wrong. They surrender to the technique just for the heck of it and think they are doing a favor to Vipassana organizers by following the rules. It feels wonderful to see that Vipassana team works so hard and selflessly for people and their only motive is that people get the best out of this course. They have no other incentive at all . I wish everybody understands this and follow the rules very SINCERELY.
At first getting up at 4 am , eating the last meal of the day at 11 am ( don’t read it as 11 pm because you get the last meal at 11 am ) , sitting cross-legged and observing your breath for 10 hours a day seems like the most foolish thing to do on this earth but I assure you that once you give it a shot, you wont feel the same.
On the day of registration as we reached the area near our rooms, it was pretty dark and silent. I found it to be very calm and serene and was enjoying it ,then all of a sudden a voice came from behind “Hey don’t get scared. It should be fine”. I started wondering how differently people can feel about the same thing. From my room’s window I could see peacocks and listen to the chirping of birds.
Now our first day begins and everybody gets up at 4 am (weird huh ?). For the first three days you have to observe and concentrate on your breathing. Almost everybody feels initially that they cant concentrate and their mind wanders everytime they try to observe their breathing and that’s the reality. By the third day, everybody is able to concentrate better than before and for the next 7 days they make you practice the main Vipassana technique. It’s indeed painful. Your legs and body ache a lot since you have to sit for so long. Almost everyday one gets a feeling “Why did I come here ? Don’t I have any other job than just looking at my breathing ?” and one literally feels like running away. My friend told me that he felt like jumping from the boundary wall and run away everyday till the fourth day. They used to ring a bell to signal the meditators that the session has got over. Lot of people used to feel the urge to ring the bell by themselves to end the meditation session I felt a lot of pain and discomfort like everybody else but as other mentioned you have to hold on to it. By the fourth day my pain began to diminish and I started to enjoy the course more. One thing that was common in those 10 days was that I was doing it very sincerely and peacefully because I wanted to feel the joy which others who did it sincerely felt. By the fifth day I started to look forward to it more. Initially I had many questions and conflicts in my mind. We all have some beliefs and when someone tells you about something contradictory then you find it uncomfortable to digest it till you understand the logic behind it and your mind accepts it. With each day I realized that all my doubts were getting cleared.
There used to be three big breaks in a day. I used to go for a brisk walk during all the three breaks. No wonder everybody after the course asked me if I was preparing for some Olympic meet . There was something special in the air there that I never used to feel tired there though I used to walk a lot . I used to be happy there for no reason. Such places are supposed to have lot of positive energy and I could feel it there. It was surprising that I never thought about my work there I used to miss my home and family a lot and was looking forward to go home but at the same time was enjoying each and every day there. I was very inspired by the servers(sevika) there. They used to serve the meditators selflessly with so much of love and compassion that one can see that compassion in their eyes.
Finally the last day arrived. By then I had started feeling what they call as “peace of mind” , real peace of mind. I was full of joy because I felt I have found something which I have been looking for so long. I was happy like anything. Probably everybody could see that happiness on my face. I felt free from all worries. Again and again I felt thankful to that friend of mine who asked me to go for this course and I was equally thankful to the Vipassana people for giving me this Joy. I started thinking how it will help so many of my friends and collegues who have everything but not peace of mind. Now it was time to talk to rest of the people to learn about their experiences. Can you imagine how girls would behave when they are allowed to talk after 10 days ??? All the girls just wanted to speak and nobody wanted to listen. In the cafeteria you could see all the pals just speaking. We realized that though everybody was silent but still we all were observing each other specially each others’ dresses in those 10 days but that’s girls . One girl said to another “Thank God, today you are not dressed up like one AUNTIJI/BEHENJI :P” and she replied “Look at your pajama, it seems you haven’t washed it ever”. It was all in fun and we all laughed a lot. One girl came to me and said ” You know I could keep noble silence just because of you. I was so motivated by you” . Another guy said to the girl standing next to her “You know I was maintaining silence till 7th day then I saw you talking so I thought if this girl can talk then why not me. So I decided that I will talk in a pace how the other person talks to me ” . You have all kind of people around you and its completely up to you whom you want to follow. I found one thing that in a 1 hr session, after like 45 minutes few people would open their eyes to see if others are doing it sincerely and if they see that couple of people have left the room already or not doing it sincerely then they take the liberty to do the same. So when one is doing good, he is inspiring others to do the same and when one is doing bad then he is again encouraging others to do the same. Everybody was very happy on the last day. How much each one of us got from this course depended on how much efforts one put in there BUT everybody got SOMETHING Couple of people came and told me and they were motivated to see me peaceful and sincere all the time. There were pals from Russia, Portugal, California and Singapore also. One Russian girl came to me and said ” In the initial days I used to feel tired after the meditation but then I would see you walking briskly with a smile on your face and I would feel full of energy again” . One 27 yrs old guy used to sit next to me in the meditation hall and he told me “Everytime I used to lose interest in meditation I used to open my eyes and find you doing it sincerely with serenity on your face and would get back to my meditation again with vigor”. One lady probably 28 years elder to me came and hugged me after the meditation. We had never talked before in our lives. I felt she wanted to say something. She didn’t say much but took my number so that we can keep in touch. Next day I got a call from her and she told me ” I want to say something. Till the end of the first say I was so restless and was not able to concentrate. Then I found you doing it so peacefully and sincerely and I was so motivated that all my restlessness was gone and I could do my course really well. I will be thankful to you throughout my life for helping me silently. I could find something which I have been looking for so long. Thank you so much” . I know it looks like a movie with so many things happening with me. My point here is not to boast about how I motivated others but to show how by being sincere and peaceful we not only do good for ourselves but for MANY OTHERS. If you ask me from where I got the inspiration to do it sincerely then I would say “From the people who have successfully done it before”.
On the first day I didn’t know even a single person there but on the the last day I made great friends. On the 11th day just 2 hours before leaving one of my friend’s cell phone and money and creditcards was stolen. Its written all over the place to take care of your belongings . Its surprising to see that thefts can happen in such places too. That friend stays in the same place as mine so he was supposed to come back home with me and my friend. He was pretty low after this incident. He was already going through a financial crunch. Me and my friend tried our best to make him feel better on our way back home but all in vain. I told him ” When you really want something then the whole universe conspires to help you to achieve it”. I really didn’t want him to go back on a sad note. I somehow thought of him as a good friend and really wanted him to smile. He was literally obsessed with his cell phone so it was more painful for him . After we dropped him home, I told my friend that we have to help him financially that day itself since he was leaving for another city the next day. I am blessed to have such friends who have always taught me technically and taught me to bring happiness in others’ life.
Instead of asking “Why” , he said ” why not”. We went home and first thing we did was we went to ATM and withdraw a sum of ***** rupees for him. At no point I wanted him to feel grateful or obliged. I also bought a “good luck” card for him since he was badly looking for an opportunity to go abroad through company . we went to his place and left the stuff with his aunt since he wasn’t at home. Somehow it made us very happy to do that for him . After an hour we got a call from him and he had lot of affection in his voice. He really wanted us to take the money back but we told him we was much more happier than him by doing so and we did a deal that he will bring some stuff for us we he go abroad . After sometime we got the following message from him
“Hi I just wanted to say this has been1 of the sweetest gesture done by anyone. I hate taking anything from anybody but the way you said it, i could feel that you are happy. recently i faced 2 many problems but ur gift reminds me that there are still good things and good ppl left. I shall keep this and make use of this for the good ones bcoz whenever I shall be down it will still remind me wht is gud. Hope u guys reach great heights and successful in u r lifes . all your dreams come true. Even if in future we cant be in touch, i shall remember you as epitome of optimism, determination and how to live life. I wont thank you coz that’s too small a word”
I cant express how much joy I felt after this. I was wondering how by doing small gestures we can bring so much happiness in others’ life. Your gesture doesn’t have to have any monetary aspect. Its just about being little thoughtful. You really feel that you get much more happiness in giving than receiving. After Vipassana I really wished that everybody should experience the joy which I was feeling. It was one of best experiences of my life. Goenka ji (Founder of Vipassana) mentioned during the course that “When my teacher went for this course he was thinking that he would be fired since he took a 10 days leave without notice but when he reached home there was a promotion letter waiting for him. BUT guys ! all of you shouldn’t expect a promotion letter when you go home now. However some of you might get it :)”. Can you guys believe it that when I reached home there were so many great news waiting for me in my mail box. I had never got so many wonderful news in just one day. I truly felt being promoted when I reached home.
Life is Beautiful so smile ….
So I had made up my mind that I will go for Vipassana. For some reason I was excited about it. I decided that I will do it very sincerely and try to get the best out of it. I somehow had a feeling that it will have a profound effect on me. I was so happy to read other peoples’ experiences that I convinced my friends also to come with me. My Collegue being a IT – software professional and business man thinks he is the bussiest person on this earth but when Saikumar tries to convince then who can deny so he agreed to come with me :). It was very surprising for his family members to believe that my friend agreed to go for this course and be disconnected from this world for complete 10 days but then everything happens for good.
Vipassana has centers throughout the world. We went to the New Delhi centre which is located in Sohna. This center is 10 years old. You have to report one day before the course starts at around 3 PM. As I entered the center (on May 2, 2008), I was glad to see how beautifully they had made the center. Usually centers are little away from city in a calm place. There was something wonderful about the ambience there. Everybody gets one room each with an attached bathroom. They do believe that cleanliness is next to godliness. Everything was very well managed. Usually people in India don’t expect a center (which is free of cost) to be this clean so it was a pleasant surprise for everybody. I was assigned my room and I happily went and put my stuff there. There is complete segregation of males and females so in 10 days me and my dad never even looked at each other (talking was a distant thing). Noble silence begins at 8 PM on the same day of registration and people want to talk as much as possible from 4 PM (registration time) - 8 PM. They highly recommend that one shouldn’t try to mingle with others during those 4 hours as it will hamper your chances to maintaining noble silence but who listens I talked to almost everyone including girls after the noble silence got over because I was curious to know how was their experience with the course.
One of the most important thing about the course is maintaining noble silence i.e. you can’t talk to anybody there not even through signals. Only if its required, you can talk to your teacher and administrator. They kept telling the importance the noble silence but it was sad to see that people don’t realize it . Lot of people don’t realize that it will be for their benefit and end up talking when nobody is looking at them . I told myself that its for my benefit so I never even got that temptation to talk. I think if a talkative boy like me can maintain noble silence then anybody on this earth can . Its just that we feel we can’t. If you tell any girl/boy about noble silence for 10 days then his/her first reaction would be ” Are you nuts ? Noble silence for 10 days ? Its impossible” But I can tell you from personal experience that once you decide you will be able to do it. The course is no doubt very tough and that’s the reason they ask you again and again if you are mentally prepared to follow the guidelines . Lot of people get scared after reading the code of discipline and decide never to go for it. Before the course begins they ask you to surrender to the technique and its rules (ONLY for 10 days). After 10 days, it will be completely your choice if you want to follow those rules. They believe that in order to get the maximum benefit from the course one should abide by all the rules. This is where most people go wrong. They surrender to the technique just for the heck of it and think they are doing a favor to Vipassana organizers by following the rules. It feels wonderful to see that Vipassana team works so hard and selflessly for people and their only motive is that people get the best out of this course. They have no other incentive at all . I wish everybody understands this and follow the rules very SINCERELY.
At first getting up at 4 am , eating the last meal of the day at 11 am ( don’t read it as 11 pm because you get the last meal at 11 am ) , sitting cross-legged and observing your breath for 10 hours a day seems like the most foolish thing to do on this earth but I assure you that once you give it a shot, you wont feel the same.
On the day of registration as we reached the area near our rooms, it was pretty dark and silent. I found it to be very calm and serene and was enjoying it ,then all of a sudden a voice came from behind “Hey don’t get scared. It should be fine”. I started wondering how differently people can feel about the same thing. From my room’s window I could see peacocks and listen to the chirping of birds.
Now our first day begins and everybody gets up at 4 am (weird huh ?). For the first three days you have to observe and concentrate on your breathing. Almost everybody feels initially that they cant concentrate and their mind wanders everytime they try to observe their breathing and that’s the reality. By the third day, everybody is able to concentrate better than before and for the next 7 days they make you practice the main Vipassana technique. It’s indeed painful. Your legs and body ache a lot since you have to sit for so long. Almost everyday one gets a feeling “Why did I come here ? Don’t I have any other job than just looking at my breathing ?” and one literally feels like running away. My friend told me that he felt like jumping from the boundary wall and run away everyday till the fourth day. They used to ring a bell to signal the meditators that the session has got over. Lot of people used to feel the urge to ring the bell by themselves to end the meditation session I felt a lot of pain and discomfort like everybody else but as other mentioned you have to hold on to it. By the fourth day my pain began to diminish and I started to enjoy the course more. One thing that was common in those 10 days was that I was doing it very sincerely and peacefully because I wanted to feel the joy which others who did it sincerely felt. By the fifth day I started to look forward to it more. Initially I had many questions and conflicts in my mind. We all have some beliefs and when someone tells you about something contradictory then you find it uncomfortable to digest it till you understand the logic behind it and your mind accepts it. With each day I realized that all my doubts were getting cleared.
There used to be three big breaks in a day. I used to go for a brisk walk during all the three breaks. No wonder everybody after the course asked me if I was preparing for some Olympic meet . There was something special in the air there that I never used to feel tired there though I used to walk a lot . I used to be happy there for no reason. Such places are supposed to have lot of positive energy and I could feel it there. It was surprising that I never thought about my work there I used to miss my home and family a lot and was looking forward to go home but at the same time was enjoying each and every day there. I was very inspired by the servers(sevika) there. They used to serve the meditators selflessly with so much of love and compassion that one can see that compassion in their eyes.
Finally the last day arrived. By then I had started feeling what they call as “peace of mind” , real peace of mind. I was full of joy because I felt I have found something which I have been looking for so long. I was happy like anything. Probably everybody could see that happiness on my face. I felt free from all worries. Again and again I felt thankful to that friend of mine who asked me to go for this course and I was equally thankful to the Vipassana people for giving me this Joy. I started thinking how it will help so many of my friends and collegues who have everything but not peace of mind. Now it was time to talk to rest of the people to learn about their experiences. Can you imagine how girls would behave when they are allowed to talk after 10 days ??? All the girls just wanted to speak and nobody wanted to listen. In the cafeteria you could see all the pals just speaking. We realized that though everybody was silent but still we all were observing each other specially each others’ dresses in those 10 days but that’s girls . One girl said to another “Thank God, today you are not dressed up like one AUNTIJI/BEHENJI :P” and she replied “Look at your pajama, it seems you haven’t washed it ever”. It was all in fun and we all laughed a lot. One girl came to me and said ” You know I could keep noble silence just because of you. I was so motivated by you” . Another guy said to the girl standing next to her “You know I was maintaining silence till 7th day then I saw you talking so I thought if this girl can talk then why not me. So I decided that I will talk in a pace how the other person talks to me ” . You have all kind of people around you and its completely up to you whom you want to follow. I found one thing that in a 1 hr session, after like 45 minutes few people would open their eyes to see if others are doing it sincerely and if they see that couple of people have left the room already or not doing it sincerely then they take the liberty to do the same. So when one is doing good, he is inspiring others to do the same and when one is doing bad then he is again encouraging others to do the same. Everybody was very happy on the last day. How much each one of us got from this course depended on how much efforts one put in there BUT everybody got SOMETHING Couple of people came and told me and they were motivated to see me peaceful and sincere all the time. There were pals from Russia, Portugal, California and Singapore also. One Russian girl came to me and said ” In the initial days I used to feel tired after the meditation but then I would see you walking briskly with a smile on your face and I would feel full of energy again” . One 27 yrs old guy used to sit next to me in the meditation hall and he told me “Everytime I used to lose interest in meditation I used to open my eyes and find you doing it sincerely with serenity on your face and would get back to my meditation again with vigor”. One lady probably 28 years elder to me came and hugged me after the meditation. We had never talked before in our lives. I felt she wanted to say something. She didn’t say much but took my number so that we can keep in touch. Next day I got a call from her and she told me ” I want to say something. Till the end of the first say I was so restless and was not able to concentrate. Then I found you doing it so peacefully and sincerely and I was so motivated that all my restlessness was gone and I could do my course really well. I will be thankful to you throughout my life for helping me silently. I could find something which I have been looking for so long. Thank you so much” . I know it looks like a movie with so many things happening with me. My point here is not to boast about how I motivated others but to show how by being sincere and peaceful we not only do good for ourselves but for MANY OTHERS. If you ask me from where I got the inspiration to do it sincerely then I would say “From the people who have successfully done it before”.
On the first day I didn’t know even a single person there but on the the last day I made great friends. On the 11th day just 2 hours before leaving one of my friend’s cell phone and money and creditcards was stolen. Its written all over the place to take care of your belongings . Its surprising to see that thefts can happen in such places too. That friend stays in the same place as mine so he was supposed to come back home with me and my friend. He was pretty low after this incident. He was already going through a financial crunch. Me and my friend tried our best to make him feel better on our way back home but all in vain. I told him ” When you really want something then the whole universe conspires to help you to achieve it”. I really didn’t want him to go back on a sad note. I somehow thought of him as a good friend and really wanted him to smile. He was literally obsessed with his cell phone so it was more painful for him . After we dropped him home, I told my friend that we have to help him financially that day itself since he was leaving for another city the next day. I am blessed to have such friends who have always taught me technically and taught me to bring happiness in others’ life.
Instead of asking “Why” , he said ” why not”. We went home and first thing we did was we went to ATM and withdraw a sum of ***** rupees for him. At no point I wanted him to feel grateful or obliged. I also bought a “good luck” card for him since he was badly looking for an opportunity to go abroad through company . we went to his place and left the stuff with his aunt since he wasn’t at home. Somehow it made us very happy to do that for him . After an hour we got a call from him and he had lot of affection in his voice. He really wanted us to take the money back but we told him we was much more happier than him by doing so and we did a deal that he will bring some stuff for us we he go abroad . After sometime we got the following message from him
“Hi I just wanted to say this has been1 of the sweetest gesture done by anyone. I hate taking anything from anybody but the way you said it, i could feel that you are happy. recently i faced 2 many problems but ur gift reminds me that there are still good things and good ppl left. I shall keep this and make use of this for the good ones bcoz whenever I shall be down it will still remind me wht is gud. Hope u guys reach great heights and successful in u r lifes . all your dreams come true. Even if in future we cant be in touch, i shall remember you as epitome of optimism, determination and how to live life. I wont thank you coz that’s too small a word”
I cant express how much joy I felt after this. I was wondering how by doing small gestures we can bring so much happiness in others’ life. Your gesture doesn’t have to have any monetary aspect. Its just about being little thoughtful. You really feel that you get much more happiness in giving than receiving. After Vipassana I really wished that everybody should experience the joy which I was feeling. It was one of best experiences of my life. Goenka ji (Founder of Vipassana) mentioned during the course that “When my teacher went for this course he was thinking that he would be fired since he took a 10 days leave without notice but when he reached home there was a promotion letter waiting for him. BUT guys ! all of you shouldn’t expect a promotion letter when you go home now. However some of you might get it :)”. Can you guys believe it that when I reached home there were so many great news waiting for me in my mail box. I had never got so many wonderful news in just one day. I truly felt being promoted when I reached home.
Life is Beautiful so smile ….
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