Avinash

TRIBUTE TO STEVE JOBS ...

2011-10-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Stanford commencement speech, June 2005.

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” Quoted in The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 1993.

“Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.”

“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” Stanford commencement speech, June 2005.

Sketch - 7 [ Angelina Jolie ]

2011-08-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

Sketch - 6 [ Fighter Plane ]

2011-08-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

Sketch - 5 [ Cat & Mouse ]

2011-07-28T05:16:00.000-07:00

Sketch - 4 [ Tom & Jerry ]

2011-07-28T05:14:00.000-07:00

Sketch - 3 [ Garfield ]

2011-07-28T05:12:00.000-07:00

Sketch - 2 [ Popeye ]

2011-07-26T04:44:00.000-07:00

ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA --- Poetry

2011-07-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

Dil Aakhir Tu Kyun Rota Hai – (Thi Shayari comes when Farhan is heartbroken after meeting his estranged dad)

Jab-Jab Dard Ka Baadal Chaya
Jab Gham Ka Saya Lehraya
Jab Aansoo Palkon Tak Aya
Jab Yeh Tanha Dil Ghabraya
Humne Dil Ko Yeh Samjhaya
Dil Aakhir Tu Kyun Rota Hai

Duniya Mein Yunhi Hota Hai
Yeh Jo Gehre Sannaate Hain
Waqt Ne Sabko Hi Baante Hain
Thoda Gham Hai Sabka Kissa
Thodi Dhoop Hai Sabka Hissa
Aankh Teri Bekaar Hi Nam Hai
Har Pal Ek Naya Mausam Hai
Kyun Tu Aise Pal Khota Hai
Dil Aakhir Tu Kyun Rota Hai

Translated version:

when the cloud of sadness came over,
when the shadow of sorrow waved,
when tears reached eyelids,
when the lonely heart was worried,
I told the heart
O heart, why do u cry
it happens in the world,
the deep silences that are there,
time has given them to all,
a little sorrow is part of everyone's story,
and everyone has got some sunshine,
your eyes are wet for no reason,
every moment it's a new weather,
why do you lose moments like that,O heart, why do u cry..

Pighle Neelam Sa – (This Shayari comes after the trio’s deep sea dive).

Pighle Neelam Sa Behta Ye Sama
Neeli Neeli Si Khamoshiyan
Na Kahin Hai Zameen Na Kahin Aasmaan
Sarsaraati Hui Tehniyaan-Pattiyaan
Keh Rahi Hain Bas Ek Tum Ho Yahan
Bas Main Hoon, Meri Saanse Hain Aur Meri Dhadkane
Aisi Gehraiyaan, Aisi Tanhaiyaan, Aur Main… Sirf Main
Apne Hone Par Mujhko Yakeen Aa Gaya

Translated version:

a thought, that hasn't reached lips,
peeks from the eyes,
it asks for some words-
sometimes from you, sometimes from me..
wearing which, it may reach lips,
and may flaunt holding the arms of voice,
but the thought that it is,
it's just, only, feeling,
as if some smell floats in the air,
smell, that is soundless,
that you know about,
and I know about,
it can't be hidden from the world either,
don't know how a secret it is..

Zinda Ho Tum – (This Shayari comes in the climax)

Dilon Mein Tum Apni Betaabiyan Leke Chal Rahe Ho, Toh Zinda Ho Tum
Nazar Mein Khwabo Ki Bijliyan Leke Chal Rahe Ho, Toh Zinda Ho Tum

Hawa Ke Jhokon Ke Jaise Aazad Rehna Seekho
Tum Ek Dariya Ke Jaise Lehron Mein Behna Seekho
Har Ek Lamhe Se Tum Milo Khole Apni Baahein
Har Ek Pal Ek Naya Samaa Dekhiye

Jo Apni Aankhon Mein Hairaniya Leke Chal Rahe Ho, Toh Zinda Ho Tum
Dilon Mein Tum Apni Betaabiyan Leke Chal Rahe Ho, Toh Zinda Ho Tum

Translated version:

If you are moving with an eagerness in your heart, then you are alive..
if you're moving with the sparks of dreams in your eyes, then you're alive..
learn to live freely like the gusts of wind,
Learn to flow in waves, like a river does..
Meet every moment with your arms open,
Every moment these eyes should watch a new weather,
If you're moving with a bewilderment in your eyes then you are alive,
If you are moving with an eagerness in your heart, then you are alive..

Reference:
Bolly Meaning
Shayarism

Short Story - Bad Temper

2011-07-12T10:53:00.002-07:00

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a

scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one."

Short Story - Fleming

2011-07-12T10:53:00.000-07:00

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to eke out a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow
and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
"I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."
"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
"Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly.
"I'll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education.
If the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of."
And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia.
What saved him? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill.
His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

Short Story - Flower

2011-07-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away.
As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.
He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother.
But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars."
The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose."
He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers.
As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home.
She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother."
She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.
The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's house.

Short Story - Wait For The Brick

2011-07-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and drove the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, "What was that all about and who are you?
Just what the heck are you doing?
That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money.
Why did you do it?"
The young boy was apologetic. "Please mister ... please, I'm sorry... I didn't know what else to do," he pleaded.
"I threw the brick because no one else would stop..."
With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.
"It's my brother," he said.
"He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out his fancy handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.

"Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger.
Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the little boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!

God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us.

It's our choice: Listen to the whisper ... or wait for the brick !!!

Humors & Adages

2011-07-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

Click following two links to get loads of collected Humors and Adages:

Humors & Adages

30 Seconds only...

2011-07-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

MANAGEMENT LESSON !!!

2011-07-06T12:22:00.001-07:00

Once PVNR (PV Narasimha Rao), L.K.Advani and Laloo Prasad Yadav were

travelling in an autorickshaw. They met with an accident and all three of

them died.

Yama Raja was waiting for this moment at the doorstep of death.

He asks PVNR and Advani to go to HEAVEN.

But, for Laloo, Yama had already decided that he should be sent to HELL.

Laloo is not at all happy with this decision.

He asks Yama as to why this discrimination is being made. All the three of

them had served the public. Similarly, all took bribes, all misused public

positions, etc.

Then why the differential treatment?

He felt that there should be a formal test or an objective evaluation before

a decision is made; and should not be just based on opinion or pre-conceived

notions.

Yama agrees to this and asks all the three of them to appear for an English

test.

PVNR is asked to spell " INDIA " and he does it correctly.

Advani is asked to spell " ENGLAND " and he too passes.

It is Laloo's turn and he is asked to spell " CZECHOSLOVAKIA ".

Laloo protests that he doesn't know English.

He says this is not fair and that he was given a tough question and thus

forced to fail with false intent.

Yama then agrees to conduct a written test in Hindi (to give another chance

assuming that Laloo should at least feel that Hindi would provide an equal

platform for all three).

PVNR is asked to write "KUTTA BOLA BHOW BHOW". He writes it easily and

passes.

Advani is asked to write "BILLY BOLI MYAUN MYAUN". He too passes.

Laloo is asked to write "BANDAR BOLA GURRRRRR....."

Tough one. He fails again.

Laloo is extremely unhappy.

Having been a student of history (which the other two weren't),he now

requested for all the 3 to be subjected to a test in history

Yama says OK but this would be the last chance and that he would not take

any more tests.

PVNR is asked: "When did India get Independence ?". He replied "1947" and passed.

Advani is asked "How many people died during the independence struggle?".

He gets nervous. Yama asked him to choose from 3 options: 100,000 or 200,000

or 300,000.

Advani catches it and says 200,000 and passes.

It's Laloo's turn now.

Yama asks him to give the Name and Address of each of the 200,000 who died

in the struggle.

Laloo accepts defeat and agrees to go to HELL.

Moral of the story:
IF YOUR MANAGEMENT HAS DECIDED TO SCREW YOU, THERE IS NO ESCAPE...

Garib Parivar pe Essay

2011-07-06T12:21:00.001-07:00

Ek Ameer Ladki ko School me Garib Parivar pe Essay Likhne ko Kaha Gaya

Ek Ameer Ladki ko School me

Garib Parivar pe Essay Likhne ko Kaha Gaya.

Essay me usne Likha:

Ek Garib Parivar tha,

Pita Garib,

Maa Garib,

Bache Garib.

Parivar me4 Naukr the,

wo bhi Gareeb.

Car bi Tutti Hui SAFARI thi.

Unka Garib Driver Bachon ko Tutti Car me School Chhod K Aata tha.

Bachon K paas Purane N95 Mobile the.

Bache Hafte me 3 bar Hi Chicken Khate the.

Ghar me 4 Hi 2nd Hand A.C. The.

Sara Parivar Badi Mushkil se Aish Kar raha tha :)

An IITian and a Rickshawala...in conversation !!!

2011-07-06T12:10:00.001-07:00

There were two rickshaw-walas vying for our business when we wanted to go to Sankat-Mochan temple in Benaras. I agreed to go with the one who was about 20, seemed like a regular young rickshaw-wala, but I found something interesting about this fellow in his eyes. I was not proved wrong.

He wanted Rs 50, we said Rs 30. We settled for 40.
Here are the highlights of the conversation that ensued while he rode the rickshaw:
"aap kahan se aaye hain"
"Delhi"
"bijness ya kaam karte hain?"
"naukri karte hain"
"kismein"
"internet mein"
"humara bhi kuch wahin kaam lagwa do"
I just chuckled
"main try kar raha hoon engineering padhne kee. achchi naukri lag jaayegi tab"
"achcha?" I asked a little interested
"haan, delhi mein Guru Gobind Singh Indraprashta University mein engineering ke liye apply kara hai. achchi hai woh university"
"haan, achchi hai", I agreed.
"haan, kal hee maine JEE bhi diya"
"JEE matlab, IIT ka?"
"haan, Joint Entrance Examination" he pronounced it perfectly just to make it clear to me what JEE stood for. "mushkil hota hai exam"
"haan, 2 saal toh log padhte hee hain uske liye, asaan nahin hai" I carried on the conversation
"Delhi mein Akaash coaching institute hain na?"
"haan, hai"
"aapne kya padhai kari?"
"main engineer hoon, aur phir mba bhi kiya"
"kahan se engineer?"
"IIT delhi se"
He swung back, surprised, a little delighted, and smiled. "Ok, aapke liye Rs 30"
Swati and I laughed
Swati asked "padhai kab karte they IIT ke liye"
"bas, rickshaw chalaane ke baad raat mein". Then he added "kismein engineering kari aapne?"
"Chemical"
"toh aapki chemistry toh badi strong hogi"
"nahin, aisa nahin hai"
He continued "yeh bataiye....jab Mendeleev ne Periodic Table banaya tha tab kitne elements they usmein?"
Now it was my turn to get surprised. He was quizzing me. I said "shayad 70-80"
"no, 63" he said sharply. "kaunse element kee electronegativity highest hai?"
Swati was laughing, and I didnt try too hard and said "pata nahin"
"Flourine", he said confidently. Without a break he asked,"kaunse element kee electron affinity highest hoti hai?"
Now I was laughing too and said "nahin pata"
"Chlorine. toh aapka kaunsa subject strong tha?" clearly having proven that my chemistry wasnt a strong point
"Physics", I said
"achha, Newton's second law of motion kya hai"
I knew this one I thought, "F=ma" I said
"Physics is not about formula, it is understanding concept!" he reprimanded me in near perfect english. "Tell me in statement"
I was shocked. Swati continued to laugh.
I said "ok, Newtons second law, er....was...."
" 'was' nahin, 'is'!Second law abhi bhi hai!" he snapped at my use of 'was'
Surely, my physics wasnt impressing him either. "yaad nahin, I said"
"Force on an object is directly proportional to the mass of the object and the acceleration of the object", he said it in near perfect english. "aapne mtech nahin kiya?"
"nahin, mba kiya"
"mba waale toh sirf paisa kamana chahte hain, kaam nahin karte"
"nahin, aisa nahin hai, paisa kamaane ke liye kaam karna padta hai"
He said "arrey, rehene do" or some words to that effect. He didnt think too highly of me apparently anymore.
In a minute we reached our destination. We got off and I told him that he must and should definitely study more, and that I think he is sharp as hell. He took only Rs 30, smiled and began to leave. I got my camera out and said "Raju, ek photo leta hoon tumhari". He waved me off, dismissed the idea and rode off before I could say anything more....leaving me feeling high and dry like a spurned lover.

What a ride that was! India is changing, and changing fast.

TOO much technology !!!

2011-07-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

WHY TEACHERS ARE STRESSED !!!

2011-07-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

That's all Women want....

2011-07-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

That's all Women want....

..Plain looking husband

...normal simple ring

...small wedding party

...honeymoon at any place

...small house for the kids to run around

...lovely children

...husband is a family man

...but work hard

...small car for shopping

...another car for kids

...some collections

...shoes for each occasion

...some nice outfits

...a bit of cosmetics

...a bit of makeup

...overseas trip once a year

...more often on domestic trips

...dinners

... Presents occasionally

...finally, some securities.

Excellent wishes !!!! What about the Climax...

Final Stage of Husband after fulfilling those things !!

"BOSS KIDNAPPED" WHAT TO DO?

2011-07-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

Employees of a Company are all worried.
Some are roaming around.
Some are in loud discussions during office time.....

Some Trainees, who had just joined,
notice this and enquire about what happened to a senior employee,
they ask, "What's going on?"

"Terrorists have kidnapped our Boss"

They're asking for Rs.10 Crores (2 MILLIOn US $) ransom,
otherwise they're going to douse him with petrol
and set him on fire.
We're going from desk to desk, taking up a collection."

One Trainee asks, "How much is everyone giving, on average?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"About 1 liter."

How to identify a Software Engineer

2011-07-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

1. He/She never bargains… No wonder things have become so costly!

2. When a cab/bus passes by and you see all the commuters in it are sleeping like they haven't slept for years…

3. Dilbert or Calvin is their favorite cartoon…

4. Words like issues, tracker, raising requests, buzz/ping, compile, delete [unlike erase or rub it off], onsite [n not abroad is what 'foreign land' is called] are the ones that would be used by 'default'…

5. Weekends are holy words… they are like a salvation one seeks for…

6. "Wazzzup", "Hows life?", are few obvious questions one will be greeted with which would be immediately followed by "how's work?"

7. Salaries, work etc are always better or in good shape in other companies than the one he/she is currently in…

8. They don't send or take things… they always forward them!

9. Drinking coffee is the most pleasurable thing they think they do in the entire day…

10.They seek a search engine in just almost everything they do… When I forget where I have kept my things at home the first thing that comes to my mind is "I wish there was a Google search for my room"

11.Mondays are always blue…

12.All of them will have a dream to do something in life and that something would never be what they are doing right now…

Sketch - 1 [ Bunny ]

2011-04-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from Nokia CEO's letter to employees

2011-02-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

There is a pertinent story about a man who was working on an oil platform in the North Sea. He woke up one night from a loud explosion, which suddenly set his entire oil platform on fire. In mere moments, he was surrounded by flames. Through the smoke and heat, he barely made his way out of the chaos to the platform's edge. When he looked down over the edge, all he could see were the dark, cold, foreboding Atlantic waters.

As the fire approached him, the man had mere seconds to react. He could stand on the platform, and inevitably be consumed by the burning flames. Or, he could plunge 30 meters in to the freezing waters. The man was standing upon a "burning platform," and he needed to make a choice.

He decided to jump. It was unexpected. In ordinary circumstances, the man would never consider plunging into icy waters. But these were not ordinary times - his platform was on fire. The man survived the fall and the waters. After he was rescued, he noted that a "burning platform" caused a radical change in his behaviour.

-----
-----
-----

The burning platform, upon which the man found himself, caused the man to shift his behaviour, and take a bold and brave step into an uncertain future. He was able to tell his story.

Reference:
Original article --- Nokia CEO's letter to employees

गब्बर सिंह का चरित्र चित्रण

2011-02-12T01:33:00.000-08:00

1. सादा जीवन, उच्च विचार: उसके जीने का ढंग बड़ा सरल था. पुराने और मैले कपड़े, बढ़ी हुई दाढ़ी, महीनों से जंग खाते दांत और पहाड़ों पर खानाबदोश जीवन. जैसे मध्यकालीन भारत का फकीर हो. जीवन में अपने लक्ष्य की ओर इतना समर्पित कि ऐशो-आराम और विलासिता के लिए एक पल की भी फुर्सत नहीं. और विचारों में उत्कृष्टता के क्या कहने! 'जो डर गया, सो मर गया' जैसे संवादों से उसने जीवन की क्षणभंगुरता पर प्रकाश डाला था.

२. दयालु प्रवृत्ति: ठाकुर ने उसे अपने हाथों से पकड़ा था. इसलिए उसने ठाकुर के सिर्फ हाथों को सज़ा दी. अगर वो चाहता तो गर्दन भी काट सकता था. पर उसके ममतापूर्ण और करुणामय ह्रदय ने उसे ऐसा करने से रोक दिया.

3. नृत्य-संगीत का शौकीन: 'महबूबा ओये महबूबा' गीत के समय उसके कलाकार ह्रदय का परिचय मिलता है. अन्य डाकुओं की तरह उसका ह्रदय शुष्क नहीं था. वह जीवन में नृत्य-संगीत एवंकला के महत्त्व को समझता था. बसन्ती को पकड़ने के बाद उसके मन का नृत्यप्रेमी फिर से जाग उठा था. उसने बसन्ती के अन्दर छुपी नर्तकी को एक पल में पहचान लिया था. गौरतलब यह कि कला के प्रति अपने प्रेम को अभिव्यक्त करने का वह कोई अवसर नहीं छोड़ता था.

4. अनुशासनप्रिय नायक: जब कालिया और उसके दोस्त अपने प्रोजेक्ट से नाकाम होकर लौटे तो उसने कतई ढीलाई नहीं बरती. अनुशासन के प्रति अपने अगाध समर्पण को दर्शाते हुए उसने उन्हें तुरंत सज़ा दी.

5. हास्य-रस का प्रेमी: उसमें गज़ब का सेन्स ऑफ ह्यूमर था. कालिया और उसके दो दोस्तों को मारने से पहले उसने उन तीनों को खूब हंसाया था. ताकि वो हंसते-हंसते दुनिया को अलविदा कह सकें. वह आधुनिक यु का 'लाफिंग बुद्धा' था.

6. नारी के प्रति सम्मान: बसन्ती जैसी सुन्दर नारी का अपहरण करने के बाद उसने उससे एक नृत्य का निवेदन किया. आज-कल का खलनायक होता तो शायद कुछ और करता.

7. भिक्षुक जीवन: उसने हिन्दू धर्म और महात्मा बुद्ध द्वारा दिखाए गए भिक्षुक जीवन के रास्ते को अपनाया था. रामपुर और अन्य गाँवों से उसे जो भी सूखा-कच्चा अनाज मिलता था, वो उसी से अपनी गुजर-बसर करता था. सोना, चांदी, बिरयानी या चिकन मलाई टिक्का की उसने कभी इच्छा ज़ाहिर नहीं की.

8. सामाजिक कार्य: डकैती के पेशे के अलावा वो छोटे बच्चों को सुलाने का भी काम करता था. सैकड़ों माताएं उसका नाम लेती थीं ताकि बच्चे बिना कलह किए सो जाएं. सरकार ने उसपर 50,000 रुपयों का इनाम घोषित कर रखा था. उस युग में 'कौन बनेगा करोड़पति' ना होने के बावजूद लोगों को रातों-रात अमीर बनाने का गब्बर का यह सच्चा प्रयास था.

9. महानायकों का निर्माता: अगर गब्बर नहीं होता तो जय और व??रू जैसे लुच्चे-लफंगे छोटी-मोटी चोरियां करते हुए स्वर्ग सिधार जाते. पर यह गब्बर के व्यक्तित्व का प्रताप था कि उन लफंगों में भी महानायक बनने की क्षमता जागी.

Slow Down Culture

2010-10-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

Author unknown:

An interesting reflection: Slow Down Culture………

It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.

Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to possess a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

Said in another words:
1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil.
2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.
3. Stockholm , has 500,000 people.
4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think so?" Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe named Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week. Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the quality of being".

French people, even though they work only 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 29 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!". This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, perfection, with more attention to detail and less stress. It means reducing rejects and wastage. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous future. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living. It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do.

It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment.

As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this globalized world.

Invictus

2010-08-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

Last week I a saw movie named Invictus. So the first question comes is whats so great about it, I have already seen lots of movies but never wrote anything about them.

To start with....this movie is little different. It start with Nelson Mandela release from prison and ends with Rugby match. Like usual motivational sport movie, this South African Rugby team roses from Ash and proved their mantle. This movie appears more like documentary rather than any commercial one, because it depicts the real story of Nelson Mandela and his great vision to reduce the gap between white and black color people. Through rugby game Nelson wants to unite both races people to accomplish common goal.

In movie, Mandela repeatedly recite following two lines to keep himself motivated and also rugby team captain [and obviously me :) ]:

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus, meaning Unconquerable/Undefeated in Latin, is a poem by British poet William Ernest Henley. The poem was written while Henley was in the hospital being treated for Bone tuberculosis. He was being told worst of prognosis, that his foot would have to be amputated. This poem comes as a statement of what is important in the face of the horrors of life. Henley survived that medical crisis and led normal and active life until his death.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Refer following two links to know more about Poem and Movie:

Invictus [Poem]

Invictus [Movie]

Few Good Lines of Shantaram

2010-02-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts

[82-L]
We are helpless, usually, in the face of it; and the cost of knowing it, like the cost of knowing love is sometimes greater than any heart would willingly pay. It doesn't always help us to love the world, but it does prevent us from hating the world.

[96-M]
'I want everything,' she replied with a faint, wry smile. 'You know, I said that once, to a friend of mine, and he told me that the real trick in life is to want nothing, and to succeed in getting it.'

[99-T]
'Tomorrow,' she said, 'when you go to Prabaker's village, try to relax completely, and go with the experience. Just .... let yourself go. Sometimes, in India, you have to surrender before you win.'

[99-T]
I'd rather be clever that wise, any day. .... If I was giving wise advice ---- which I'm not ---- I'd say don't get drunk, don't spend all your money, and don't fall in love with a pretty village girl. That would be wise. That's the difference between clever and wise. I prefer to be clever, and that's why I told you to surrender, when you get to the village, no matter what you find when you get there.

[184-T]
We can compel men not to be bad, but we cannot compel them to be good.

[249-L]
A politician is someone who promise you a bridge, even when there's no river.

[294-T]
'Nothing, my old friend. Only, is it not true that some of our strength comes from suffering? That suffering hardship makes us stronger? That those of us who have never known a real hardship, and true suffering cannot have the same strength as others, who have suffered much? And if that is true, does that not mean that your argument is the same thing as saying that we have to weak to suffer, and we have to suffer to be strong, so we have to weak to be strong?

[353-L]
You are not a man until you give your love, truly and freely, to a child. And you are not a good man until you earn the love, truly and freely, of a child in return.

[363-L]
You know the difference between news and gossip, don't you? News tells you what people did. Gossip tells you how much they enjoyed it.

[367-L]
Some of the worst wrongs, were caused by people who tried to change things.

[454-M]
It isn't a secret, unless keeping it hurts.'

[557-T]
A man trusts another man when he sees enough of himself in him OR may be when he sees the things he wishes he had in himself.

[716-L]
'These Afghans may not be the best men in the world to live with, but they are certainly the best men in the world to die with!'

[772-T]
A strong men make the luck to happen. A strong man makes his own luck.

[918-T]
Luck is what happens to you when fate gets tired of waiting.

Friendships

2009-11-25T00:38:00.000-08:00

Friends,

Friendship is not about “I m sorry “ its about “abbe teri galti hai“

Friendship is not about “I m there for u “ its about “kahan marr gaya saale“

Friendship is not about “I understand “ its about “sab teri wajah se hua manhus“

Friendship is not about “I care for u “ its about “kamino tumhe chhod ke kahan jaunga“

Friendship is not about “I m happy for ur success “its about “chal party de saale“

Friendship is not about “I love that girl“ its about “saalo izzat se dekho tumhari bhabhi hain“

Friend ship is also an important commitment....

Positive Approach

2009-11-25T00:36:00.001-08:00

Boy v/s Girl Desk

2009-08-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

Boy's Desk :

Girl's Desk :

Marketing Concepts

2009-08-07T21:27:00.001-07:00

This is a very cool way of explaining…
A Professor at one of the IIMs
was explaining marketing concepts to the Students:

1.. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to
her and say: "I am very rich.
"Marry me!" - That's Direct Marketing"

2.. You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a
gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and
pointing at you says: "He's very rich.
"Marry him." -That's Advertising"

3.. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to
her and get her telephone number. The next day, you
call and say: "Hi, I'm very rich.
"Marry me - That's Telemarketing"

4.. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up
and straighten your tie, you
walk up to her and pour
her a drink, you open the door (of the car)for her,
pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and
then say:"By the way, I'm rich. Will you
"Marry Me?" - That's Public Relations"

5.. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks
up to you and says:"You are very rich!
"Can you marry ! me?" - That's Brand Recognition"

6.. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to
her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" She gives you
a nice hard slap on your face. -
"That's Customer Feedback"

7.. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to
her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" And she
introduces you to her husband. - J
"That's demand and supply gap"

8.. You see a gorgeous girl at a
party. You go up to
her and before you say anything, another person come
and tell her: "I'm rich. Will you marry me?" and she
goes with him -
"That's competition eating into your market share"

9.. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to
her and before you say: "I'm rich, Marry me!" your
wife arrives. -
"That's restriction for entering new markets"

My review comments: Jeffrey Archer – Paths of Glory

2009-08-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

Like to share something about this novel.....
As i have read few novels of Jeff... so as usual i expected this would be some fiction....with some interesting and adventurous actions around some fictious characters...

So i started with novel's last cover....some good comments and recommedations...
after that i started with first page ... unable to understood the context of prologue... but continued to read... got deeply involved with the story.... Its like to complete the whole novel in one go.... believe me its one of those novel which you don't want to leave in middle.... but have to go office next day... so left a bookmark... then again started it in evening.....

After around 80% completion i was still believing that its a fiction.... George Mallory may be some fictious character (my GK is not good :) ) .... as i reached near the end of novel.... when George Mallory made second attempt to conquer Mount Everest .... i thought like normal fiction story ... in which hero succeed after facing some difficulties.... George Mallory too will succeed to conquer the Everest.... but guess what comes as a surprise.... he died there .... on his second attempt... i thougt ... what a tragic end.....

But as completed the last chapter.... then i came to know its a real story.... infact the biography of the great mountaineer GEORGE MALLORY...

As a common man... iam expecting some happy ending.... so when his grand-son... conquered the Mounts Everest.... and placed the picture of his grand-father n mother ... on the peek of Everest ... i feel its one of the way ... George Mallory dream fullfilled :)

Its tells that it not always easy to fullfill your dream or desire.... some times you have to sacrifice a lot and prepare a lot to acheive your dream....

So as whole ... this novel is kind of inspiring n motivational book that you always want to keep beside you...

Enjoy reading !!!

An Interesting and Real story

2009-02-02T00:49:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting and REAL story :-

Vivek Pradhan was not a happy man. Even the plush comfort of the air-conditioned compartment of the Shatabdi express could not cool his frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and still not entitled to air travel. It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the admin person, it was the savings in time. As PM, he had so many things to do!! He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to some good use.

"Are you from the software industry sir," the man beside him was staring appreciatively at the laptop. Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car.

"You people have brought so much advancement to the country, Sir. Today everything is getting computerized."

"Thanks," smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a look. He always found it difficult to resist appreciation. The man was young and stockily built like a sportsman. He looked simple and strangely out of place in that little lap of luxury like a small town boy in a prep school. He probably was a railway sportsman making the most of his free traveling pass.

"You people always amaze me," the man continued, "You sit in an office and write something on a computer and it does so many big things outside."

Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naiveness demanded reasoning not anger. "It is not as simple as that my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it."

For a moment, he was tempted to explain the entire Software Development Lifecycle but restrained himself to a single statement.

"It is complex, very complex."

"It has to be. No wonder you people are so highly paid!," came the reply.

This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence crept into his so far affable, persuasive tone.

"Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we have to put in. Indians have such a narrow concept of hard work. Just because we sit in an air-conditioned office, does not mean our brows do not sweat. You exercise the muscle; we exercise the mind and believe me that is no less taxing."

He could see, he had the man where he wanted, and it was time to drive home the point. "Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway reservation system is computerized. You can book a train ticket between any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerized booking centres across the country. Thousands of transactions accessing a single database, at a time concurrently; data integrity, locking, data security. Do you understand the complexity in designing and coding such a system?"

The man was awestuck; quite like a child at a planetarium. This was something big and beyond his imagination. "You design and code such things."

"I used to," Vivek paused for effect, "but now I am the Project Manager."

"Oh!" sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over, "so your life is easy now."

This was like the last straw for Vivek. He retorted, "Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the ladder. Responsibility only brings more work. Design and coding! That is the easier part. Now I do not do it, but I am responsible for it and believe me, that is far more stressfu! My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality. To tell you about the pressures, there is the customer at one end, always changing his requirements, the user at the other, wanting something else, and your boss, always expecting you to have finished it
yesterday."

Vivek paused in his diatribe, his belligerence fading with self-realisation. What he had said, was not merely the outburst of a wronged man, it was the truth. And one need not get angry while
defending the truth. "My friend," he concluded triumphantly, "you don't know what it is
to be in the Line of Fire".

The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization. When he spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek. "I know sir,..... I know what it is to be in the Line of Fire......." He was staring blankly, as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast expanse of time.

"There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the cover of the night. The enemy was firing from the top. There was no knowing where the next bullet was going to come from and for whom. In the morning when we finally hoisted the tricolour at the top only 4 of us were alive."

"You are a...?"

"I am Subedar Sushant from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in Kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a soft assignment. But, tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier. On the dawn of that capture, one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker. It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my Captain Batra Sahib refused me permission and went
ahead himself. "He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put the safety and welfare of the nation foremost followed by the safety and welfare of the men he
commanded... ....his own personal safety came last, always and every time. "He was killed as he shielded and brought that injured soldier into the bunker. Every morning thereafter, as we stood guard, I could see him taking all those bullets, which were actually meant for me . I know sir....I know, what it is to be in the Line of Fire."

Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of how to respond. Abruptly, he switched off the laptop. It seemed trivial, even insulting to edit a Word document in the presence of a man for whom
valour and duty was a daily part of life; valour and sense of duty which he had so far attributed only to epical heroes.

The train slowed down as it pulled into the station, and Subedar Sushant picked up his bags to alight.

"It was nice meeting you sir."

Vivek fumbled with the handshake.

This hand... had climbed mountains, pressed the trigger, and hoisted the tricolour.

Suddenly, as if by impulse, he stood up at attention and his right hand went up in an impromptu salute.

It was the least he felt he could do for the country.

PS: The incident he narrated during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true-life incident during the Kargil war. Capt. Batra sacrificed his life while trying to save one of the men he commanded, as victory was within sight. For this and various other acts of bravery, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the nation's highest military award.

Live humbly, there are great people around us, let us learn!

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain!!!

Good Quotes - 3

2008-11-16T20:02:00.000-08:00

1) "A man who wants nothing is invincible."

2) "Education costs money,but then so does ignorance." - Sir Claus Moser"

3) "A little knowledge that acts, is worth more than much knowledge that is idle." - Kahlil Gibran

4) "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

5) "The only thing I like about the stones that comes in my way is, once I pass across them, they automatically become my milestones."

6)
"If you pray for patience for someone, then give them the opportunity to be patient.
If you pray for courage for someone, then give them the opportunity to be courageous.
If you want that your loved ones stay together, then when tough time comes then stay together." - Evan Almighty (Hollywood film)

7) "Life is finite... it is upto us to decide how you want to go... whether on feet or on knee..." - The Kingdom (Hollywood film)

8) "Increasing Knowledge Increases Sorrow." - Renaissance Man (Hollywood film)
9) "When we are truly ready to receive then what we need will become available."
10) "You should always celebrate disasters, not successes."

Chat with God

2008-10-15T04:13:00.000-07:00

GOD : Hello. Did you call me?

Me: Called you? No.. who is this?

GOD : This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will
chat.

Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am
in the midst of something.

GOD : What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.

Me: Don't know. But I cant find free time. Life has become hectic.It's
rush hour all the time.

GOD : Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets
you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.

Me: I understand. But I still cant figure out. By the way, I was not
expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.

GOD : Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time, by giving
you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the
medium you are comfortable with.

Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?

GOD : Stop analyzing life. Just live it.. Analysis is what
makes it complicated.

Me: why are we then constantly unhappy?

GOD : Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about
yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has
become your habit. That's why you are not happy.

Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?

GOD : Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.

Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty. .

GOD : Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?

GOD : Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold
cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but
don't suffer. With that experience their life become better not
bitter.

Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?

GOD : Yes. In every terms, Experience is a hard teacher..
She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.

Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be
free from problems?

GOD : Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering
Beneficial Lessons (to) Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes
from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.

Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we
are heading...

GOD : If you look outside you will not know where you are
heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you
awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.

Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in
the right direction. What should I do?

GOD : Success is a measure as decided by others.
Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead
is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead. You work with the
compass. Let others work with the clock.

Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?

GOD : Always look at how far you have come rather than
how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.

Me: What surprises you about people?

GOD : when they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they
prosper, they never ask "Why me" Everyone wishes to have truth on
their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.

Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I cant get the answer.

GOD : Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who
you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here.
Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of
creation.

Me: How can I get the best out of life?

GOD : Face your past without regret. Handle your present
with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.

GOD : There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.

Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat. I am so happy to start the New
Year with a new sense of inspiration.

GOD : Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe
your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve not a
problem to resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to
live .

The Law of the Garbage Truck

2008-08-22T00:33:00.000-07:00

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood?

Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly one can get back their focus on what's important. David J. Pollay explains his story in this way….

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean…he was friendly. So, I said, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

'Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did.'

I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, 'I'm not going to do it anymore.'

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe that everything happens for a reason. Never let the garbage truck run over you….

Good Quotes - 2

2008-07-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

1) "Smile when you talk to someone on the phone. Your smile can be heard."

2) "There are four things YOU can do with a mistake: Recognize it, Admit it, Learn from it, and Change it !!!"

3) "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

4) "Don't be serious, be sincere."

5) "Desperate time calls for desperate measure / decision."

6) "A day without laughter is a day wasted."

7) "Promise are mean to be broken."

8) "I am tired of being scared."

9) "Son : Dad why you drive so slow.
Dad : I drive so slow because you are in car with me."

10) "It's always better to have a small percentage of a big success, than a hundred percent of nothing. - By Art Linkletter"

11) "A man who fears nothing, love nothing. If you love nothing, then whats the joy in life !!! - from film -> First Knight"

12) "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently." ~ Warren Buffett

13) "Experience is what you get
when you didn't get what you wanted." ~ Randy Pausch ("The Last Lecture")

14) "Brick walls are there for a reason:
they let us prove how badly we want things." ~ Randy Pausch ("The Last Lecture")

15) "Brick walls let us show our dedication." ~ Randy Pausch ("The Last Lecture")

My review comments -> Ritesh Sharma & Neeraj Pahlajani - Joker in the Pack

2008-06-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

Once again after “Five Point Someone”, a really nice stuff that I enjoyed reading. Again as written by an Indian writer, it is very much comprehensible and especially when used the Jargons in Hindi or some sentences in Hindi .
The funny thing or the irony part is that, I will feel little embarrassed to refer it to my female friend or relatives due to the excessive usage of Hindi abusive language. But in real and practical life people often use such slang languages.
What I really like about this book is how the “Janta or Fighter” class people strive for success in life. It is a sort of motivational book for me that I like to keep with me for whole life or until I achieved the same kind of success after prolonged struggle.
Here the book depicts very clearly, how the personality of a person changed while achieving his/her desired goal in life. The switch from college loafer to MNC’s manager is great, but to achieve this its requires lots of hard work, will power, and people support (in form of family, friend, mentor or stranger).
At the end, this book is doing a great genuine help by supporting the “Manjunath Shanmugan Trust”.

Few lines that I really liked are :
a) Page 168 (2nd last paragraph): … I felt sorry for her, and I wondered again at the price we paid in search of glory.
b) Page 174 (2nd paragraph): “Waqt se pehle, aur kismet se zyada, na kisi ko kuch mila hai, aur na kuch milega.” (Nobody gets anything more than what’s in their fate, or before it’s their time.)
c) Page 188 (last paragraph): … the single biggest factor contributing to our success was ‘being at the right place at the right time’.
d) Page 195 (1rst paragraph): … I looked back and realized that while I had been a successful middle-class dream I had lost Anoushka, the person for whom I had embarked upon the journey to realize the dream.

My review comments -> Chetan Bhagat – The 3 Mistakes of My Life

2008-06-30T23:26:00.000-07:00

The novel is short and sweet. As it is written by an Indian author, and as I am an Indian, the language is more comprehensible or easily understandable.
But if we go by content wise, it does not contain any surprise for me. I already expected that writer is going to tell about earthquake (natural calamity) and riots (man-made calamity), because these two events were one of the few events due to which Gujarat came into news and it effected human life in large scale.
The most indigestible part of novel is, when those 3 friends win over angry mob of more than 40 persons.
At last, it is good novel that let you pass the time without any headache or remorse.

My review comments -> Paulo Coelho – The Witch Of Portobello

2008-06-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

Few good lines, that I really liked are:
a) Page 18 -> "The best way to know who we are is often to find out how others see us."
b) Page 78 -> "God hid the most important things from the wise because they can not understand what is simple."
c) Page 93 -> "What is a teacher? It isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows."
d) Page 105 -> "Music only exists because the pauses exists, and sentences only exists because the blank spaces exists."
e) Page 115 -> "Your wounds will help you."
f) Page 131 -> "When I die, bury me standing, because I've spent all my life on my knees !"

I really like the way, the writer tell the story or biography of the character. It is one of the best way to narrate about someone. "The best way to know who we are is often to find out how others see us."

Good Quotes

2008-05-08T02:03:00.000-07:00

1) "People who say it can't be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it."

2) "Success comes easily to those who don't care for success."

3) "You will have no fear, when there is nothing to loose.
When there is nothing to loose, its mean you love nothing."

4) "Happiness is inversely proportional to Expectation."

"When expectation is high, happiness will be low.
When expectation is low, happiness will be high."

5) "I know I am here to do good to others, and what others are here for, I don't care."

6) "You can't win a person, who let's you win."

7) "To break the rules, you should know the rules."

8) "Love a person, more than yesterday but less than tomorrow."

9) "मन का हो तो अच्छा , मन का न हो तो और भी अच्छा , क्यों कि वोह ऊपर वाले ( भगवान ) के मन का होता है |"

10) "यार तेरी यारी हम इस हद तक निबायेंगे , कि यार का दिया जलाने के लिए खुद ही जल जायेंगे |"

11) "When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."

12) "दर्द जब हद से गुजर जाता है, तो दवा बन जाता है |"

13) "The only thing require for triumph of evil is for good man to do nothing."

14) "It is so simple to be happy. But it is so difficult to be simple."

15) "Every saint had a past ... and Every sinner has a future ..."

Novels that I have read

2008-04-21T03:52:00.000-07:00

1) Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingston Seagull
2) Robin Sharma – The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
3) Abdul Kalam – Wings Of Fire
4) Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen - Chicken Soup For The Soul
5) Sidney Sheldon – The Other Side Of Me
6) Sidney Sheldon – Rage Of Angels
7) Sidney Sheldon – The Best Laid Plan
8) Sidney Sheldon – The Naked Face
9) Sidney Sheldon – Are You Afraid Of Dark
10) Sidney Sheldon – The Other Side Of Midnight
11) Sidney Sheldon – Master of the Game
12) Dan Brown – The Da Vinci Code
13) Dan Brown – Angels And Demons
14) Dan Brown – Digital Fortress
15) Paulo Coelho – Veronika Decides To Die
16) Paulo Coelho – The Alchemist
17) Paulo Coelho – The Zahir
18) Paulo Coelho – The Devil And Miss Pyrm
19) Paulo Coelho – The Witch Of Portobello
20) Jeffrey Archer – False Impression
21) Jeffrey Archer – Fourth Estate
22) Jeffrey Archer – Kane and Abel
23) Jeffrey Archer – The Prodigal Daughter
24) Jeffrey Archer – First Among Equals
25) Jeffrey Archer – Paths of Glory
26) Chetan Bhagat – Five Point someone
27) Chetan Bhagat – One Night At Call Center
28) Chetan Bhagat – The 3 Mistakes of My Life
29) Chetan Bhagat – 2 States
30) Nancy Drew – The Email Mystery
31) Nancy Drew – The Girl Who Couldn’t Remember
32) Nancy Drew – The Case Of Rising Star
33) Michael Chrichton – State Of Fear
34) Michael Chrichton – Prey
35) Hammond Innes – Air Bridge
36) Hammond Innes – The Strange Land
37) Hammond Innes – Campbell’s Kingdom
38) Hammond Innes – The White South
39) Robert Ludlum – The Ambler Warning
40) Robert Ludlum – The Moscow Vector
41) Mario Puzo – The Godfather
42) Mario Puzo – The Last Don
43) Tom Clancy - Patriot Games
44) Ritesh Sharma & Neeraj Pahlajani - Joker in the Pack
45) Protima / Pooja Bedi - Timepass : the memoirs of Protima Bedi
46) Kunal Basu - The Japanese Wife
47) Robert Kiyosaki's and Sharon Lechter - Rich Dad Poor Dad
48) Spencer Johnson - Who Moved My Cheese
49) John Gray - Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
50) Sudha Murthy – Wise and Otherwise, A Salute to Life
51) John Grisham – The Associate
52) Gregory David Roberts – Shantaram
53) Neeraj Chhibba – Zero Percentile
54) Ayn Rand – The Fountainhead
55) Sujata Parashar – In Pursuit of Infidelity
56) Sarah Macdonald – Holy Cow, An Indian Adventure
57) Lance Armstrong & Sally Jenkins – It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life
58) Khaled Hosseini – The Kite Runner
59) Frederick Forsyth – Icon
60) Tim Bouquet & Byron Ousey - Cold Steel: Laksmi Mittal and the multi-billion dollar battle for a global empire
61) Max Arthur – Lost Voices of the Royal Navy: Vivid Eyewitness Accounts of Life in the Royal Navy from 1914-1945
62) Nora Roberts - Rising Tides
63) Nora Roberts - Homeport
64) Jim Collins - How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In
65) Michael White – Beautiful Assassin
66) Michael Connelly – Crime Beat

A nice motivational speech of Steve Jobs

2008-03-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

Check out this link for whole video ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPL_NjBjUWE

This is the text of the Commencement address given by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5Â¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.