Childhood is perhaps the best part of my life.
Seeing the neighbor's kids play rekindled old-time emotions and grey notions in me, that pointed out that childhood innocence is best - so untouched and so unanticipative. No apprehensions, no hatred, no love, no emotions so rigid, such simplicity all gathered to form the ultimate happy part of life ! Childhood is a divine gift I would say.
Growing up is perhaps the most painful part, and even more painful than that is perhaps the revelation that we go through !
Wednesday 29 October 2008
Wednesday 22 October 2008
TRUE FRIENDSHIP – FILTERS
In ancient, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem.
One day one fellow met the great and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?".
"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test.".
"Triple filter?".
"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and...".
"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?" .
"No, on the contrary...".
"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really." "Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
Lesson: Well we can always participate in loose talks to curb our boredom. But when it comes to you friends its not worth it. Always avoid talking behind the back about your near and dear friends.
One day one fellow met the great and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?".
"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test.".
"Triple filter?".
"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and...".
"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?" .
"No, on the contrary...".
"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really." "Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
Lesson: Well we can always participate in loose talks to curb our boredom. But when it comes to you friends its not worth it. Always avoid talking behind the back about your near and dear friends.
Saturday 18 October 2008
Everything Happens For The Good
There was once a King who had a wise advisor. The advisor followed the King everywhere, and his favorite advice was, “Everything happens for the good”. One day the King went hunting and had a little accident. He shot an arrow at his own foot and was injured. He asked the advisor what he thought about the accident, to which the advisor replied, “Everything happens for the good”. This time the King was really upset and ordered for his advisor to be put in prison. The King asked his advisor, “Now, what do you think?” The advisor again replied, “Everything happens for the good”. So the advisor remained in prison.
The King later went on a hunting trip, this time without the advisor. The King was then captured by some cannibals. He was taken to the cannibals' camp where he was to be the evening meal for the cannibals. Before putting him into the cooking pot he was thoroughly inspected. The cannibals saw the wound on the King’s foot and decided to throw him back into the jungle. According to the cannibals' tradition, they would not eat anything that was imperfect. As a result the King was spared. The King suddenly realized what his advisor said was true. The advisor also escaped death because had he not been in prison, he would have followed the King on the hunting trip, and would have ended up in the cooking pot.
Friday 10 October 2008
Dr. Randy Pausch's last lecture
I have been very deeply inspired by Dr. Pausch's last lecture. The video has been widely circulated and viewed by almost everyone in the fraternity. I decided to set down in writing my favorite parts from the speech. I could think of no better place than my blog.
Quoting Dr. Pausch:
Remember brick walls let us show our dedication. They are there to separate us from the people who don’t really want to achieve their childhood dreams. Don’t bail. The best of the gold’s at the bottom of barrels of crap
Get a feedback loop and listen to it. Your feedback loop can be this dorky spreadsheet thing I did, or it can just be one great man who tells you what you need to hear. The hard part is the listening to it.
Anybody can get chewed out. It's the rare person who says, oh my god, you were right. As opposed to, no wait, the real reason is... We’ve all heard that. When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it.
Show gratitude. When I got tenure I took all of my research team down to Disneyworld for a week. And one of the other professors at Virginia said, how can you do that? I said these people just busted their ass and got me the best job in the world for life. How could I not do that?
Don't complain. Just work harder.
Be good at something, it makes you valuable.
Work hard. I got tenure a year early as Steve mentioned. Junior faculty members used to say to me, wow, you got tenure early. What's your secret? I said, it's pretty simple. Call me any Friday night in my office at ten o’clock and I'll tell you.
Find the best in everybody. You might have to wait a long time, sometimes years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.
Be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity
So today's talk was about my childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and some lessons learned. But did you figure out the head fake? --- It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.
Watch The video here :http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Quoting Dr. Pausch:
Remember brick walls let us show our dedication. They are there to separate us from the people who don’t really want to achieve their childhood dreams. Don’t bail. The best of the gold’s at the bottom of barrels of crap
Get a feedback loop and listen to it. Your feedback loop can be this dorky spreadsheet thing I did, or it can just be one great man who tells you what you need to hear. The hard part is the listening to it.
Anybody can get chewed out. It's the rare person who says, oh my god, you were right. As opposed to, no wait, the real reason is... We’ve all heard that. When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it.
Show gratitude. When I got tenure I took all of my research team down to Disneyworld for a week. And one of the other professors at Virginia said, how can you do that? I said these people just busted their ass and got me the best job in the world for life. How could I not do that?
Don't complain. Just work harder.
Be good at something, it makes you valuable.
Work hard. I got tenure a year early as Steve mentioned. Junior faculty members used to say to me, wow, you got tenure early. What's your secret? I said, it's pretty simple. Call me any Friday night in my office at ten o’clock and I'll tell you.
Find the best in everybody. You might have to wait a long time, sometimes years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.
Be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity
So today's talk was about my childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and some lessons learned. But did you figure out the head fake? --- It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.
Watch The video here :http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Thursday 2 October 2008
Jodhpur Muslims help temple stampede victims
Jodhpur Muslims help temple stampede victims (Oct 2, 2008, Hindustan Times)
From ferrying victims to hospitals, to spontaneously queuing up for blood donation, the Muslim community in the city was one with its Hindu friends after Tuesday's stampede at the Chamunda Devi temple. At least 186 devotees died in the stampede tragedy at Mehrangarh Fort on the first day of the Navratra festival. The death toll went up to 186 as several families who had refrained from bringing the bodies to hospitals for post-mortem on Monday, reported the deaths at police stations. " As per records, 186 deaths have been confirmed," divisional commissioner Jodhpur, Kiran Soni Gupta said.
Muslim youth were seen attending to patients prior to the arrival of family members and queuing up for blood donation. Close to 3.5 lakh of Jodhpur's 13 lakh population are Muslim. "We are all creations of Allah who doesn't differentiate between Hindus and Muslims,'' said 22-year-old college student Arif Mohammad, one of the first to reach the site with his classmates Raju Khan and Sadiq Khan.
"In solidarity with our Hindu brethren who have lost family members,we have decided not to celebrate Eid on Thursday,'' said Sadiq in a choked voice. The majority of taxi drivers are Muslim and they did not charge for taking victims to hospitals. "It was our duty. Religion can't divide us on such a tragic occasion," said Mohammad Sadiq, a taxi driver.
Muslim tailor, Hindu clerk and police transform lives (Oct 1, 2008, Hindustan Times)
The struggling Muslim tailor and the Hindu school clerk met in the backdrop of the deadly communal riots in Mumbai 15 years ago, a quick friendship was struck that would transform the lives of thousands of others. As death swept through Mumbai's poverty-choked underbelly of Dharavi, India's largest slum, Waqar Khan, 24, ran into Ramchandra Korde, 54, both weary after witnessing violence between communities who live there elbow-to-elbow. Both struck a close friendship that expanded into a mohalla (neighbourhood) committee, Mumbai's most prominent signpost of religious amity - in a sprawling city within a city that has not seen a single religious skirmish over the past 15 years. The experiment that was undertaken to ensure peace between Hindus and Muslims is now helping combat terrorism and its aftermath.
Moral of the story: Cooperation of people with the police is the biggest weapon again terrorism, especially in a country where the neighbourhood beat constable, the frontline soldier against terror, has become all but a relic. The experiment in Mumbai - like community policing experiments in other parts of the country (see box) - shows how people can prevent terrorist attacks with close interaction with the police, and prevent a violent religious flare-up. "Every time there is any kind of tension, we're on alert. Around 100 of us start moving around in the neighbourhood, quelling rumours and initiating a dialogue with youngsters in mixed groups,'' said Khan.
The story began with one police officer in 1988 in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi outside Mumbai, as BJP leader L.K. Advani had started talking about his rath yatra. Tension spread. Suresh Khopde, then deputy commissioner of police, set up 70-odd mohalla committees. "The idea was to just break the prejudices and get the members of the two communities to interact... once in 15 days,'' said Khopde. It worked. Four years later in 1992-93, even as Mumbai burned twice after the Babri Masjid demolition, Bhiwandi, despite a history of communal riots, was calm. Not a stone was thrown. Khopde's experiment became the subject for social scientists. "The signal to field officers is to do better community policing and to engage with people . It's the only way to keep a tab on a city of 14 million," said AV Parasnis, Maharashtra' s secretary for law and order.
Khopde, now Additional Commissioner of Police (north region), is convinced that a similar initiative will help the city fight terror. Khopde has expanded mohalla committees in his area in western suburbs to enrol 30,000 Mumbaikars. "Our access to what is happening in a locality is so much better today,'' said Jayant Hargude, inspector of communally sensitive Malvani, in Malad, who reports to Khopde. And half the battle would be won if attitudes changed, Khan said. "I think everyone in our community wants to know why and how youngsters are being seduced towards terror."
Decisions direct to destinations
From ferrying victims to hospitals, to spontaneously queuing up for blood donation, the Muslim community in the city was one with its Hindu friends after Tuesday's stampede at the Chamunda Devi temple. At least 186 devotees died in the stampede tragedy at Mehrangarh Fort on the first day of the Navratra festival. The death toll went up to 186 as several families who had refrained from bringing the bodies to hospitals for post-mortem on Monday, reported the deaths at police stations. " As per records, 186 deaths have been confirmed," divisional commissioner Jodhpur, Kiran Soni Gupta said.
Muslim youth were seen attending to patients prior to the arrival of family members and queuing up for blood donation. Close to 3.5 lakh of Jodhpur's 13 lakh population are Muslim. "We are all creations of Allah who doesn't differentiate between Hindus and Muslims,'' said 22-year-old college student Arif Mohammad, one of the first to reach the site with his classmates Raju Khan and Sadiq Khan.
"In solidarity with our Hindu brethren who have lost family members,we have decided not to celebrate Eid on Thursday,'' said Sadiq in a choked voice. The majority of taxi drivers are Muslim and they did not charge for taking victims to hospitals. "It was our duty. Religion can't divide us on such a tragic occasion," said Mohammad Sadiq, a taxi driver.
Muslim tailor, Hindu clerk and police transform lives (Oct 1, 2008, Hindustan Times)
The struggling Muslim tailor and the Hindu school clerk met in the backdrop of the deadly communal riots in Mumbai 15 years ago, a quick friendship was struck that would transform the lives of thousands of others. As death swept through Mumbai's poverty-choked underbelly of Dharavi, India's largest slum, Waqar Khan, 24, ran into Ramchandra Korde, 54, both weary after witnessing violence between communities who live there elbow-to-elbow. Both struck a close friendship that expanded into a mohalla (neighbourhood) committee, Mumbai's most prominent signpost of religious amity - in a sprawling city within a city that has not seen a single religious skirmish over the past 15 years. The experiment that was undertaken to ensure peace between Hindus and Muslims is now helping combat terrorism and its aftermath.
Moral of the story: Cooperation of people with the police is the biggest weapon again terrorism, especially in a country where the neighbourhood beat constable, the frontline soldier against terror, has become all but a relic. The experiment in Mumbai - like community policing experiments in other parts of the country (see box) - shows how people can prevent terrorist attacks with close interaction with the police, and prevent a violent religious flare-up. "Every time there is any kind of tension, we're on alert. Around 100 of us start moving around in the neighbourhood, quelling rumours and initiating a dialogue with youngsters in mixed groups,'' said Khan.
The story began with one police officer in 1988 in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi outside Mumbai, as BJP leader L.K. Advani had started talking about his rath yatra. Tension spread. Suresh Khopde, then deputy commissioner of police, set up 70-odd mohalla committees. "The idea was to just break the prejudices and get the members of the two communities to interact... once in 15 days,'' said Khopde. It worked. Four years later in 1992-93, even as Mumbai burned twice after the Babri Masjid demolition, Bhiwandi, despite a history of communal riots, was calm. Not a stone was thrown. Khopde's experiment became the subject for social scientists. "The signal to field officers is to do better community policing and to engage with people . It's the only way to keep a tab on a city of 14 million," said AV Parasnis, Maharashtra' s secretary for law and order.
Khopde, now Additional Commissioner of Police (north region), is convinced that a similar initiative will help the city fight terror. Khopde has expanded mohalla committees in his area in western suburbs to enrol 30,000 Mumbaikars. "Our access to what is happening in a locality is so much better today,'' said Jayant Hargude, inspector of communally sensitive Malvani, in Malad, who reports to Khopde. And half the battle would be won if attitudes changed, Khan said. "I think everyone in our community wants to know why and how youngsters are being seduced towards terror."
Decisions direct to destinations
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