What goes inside an IT company - Very funny..:-)

What goes inside an IT company :-)

Shall I invest in the stock market?

I frequently encounter this question from my friends who are new to the world of investing. They see the wave of bull markets.... the markets were at x levels when they just started there career 3 years back and now the market seems to have galloped to x+x levels.... isn't it great?

Well I want to tell, "You do not need to ask me. You need to ask yourselves. After all it is your hard earned money." But since they are my good friends, it is my duty to guide them as well. If I am not able to encourage them in investing then I should not discourage them as well. Also I should not leave them in the limbo which the above answer is going to get them into...! The real friends do not leave you in confusion, they help you get out of the confusion.

For this sake of my friends and many other innocent people like them, I have compiled this list of questions which one needs to ask before putting their hard earned money in stock markets:

1. Can I afford to lose all of this money?
2. Can I afford to survive without this money?
3. Do I need this money for any emergency in future?
4. Do I need this money to sponsor the education of dear ones?
5. Do I need this money to purchase a house?
6. Do I need this money to pay my house/car mortgage?
7. Do I need this money to sponsor a marriage?

Don't invest if answer to Q. 1 or 2 is NO and the answers any of other questions is YES...!

The list is not exhaustive.... the only point it serves to make is "don't invest the money which you cannot afford to lose". Stock markets are unpredictable. The markets punish the amateur & uninformed investors most heavily. Go to market as if you are going on a war.... "fully prepared and protected....".

Pros and cons of diversified portfolio

In my last post I mentioned that one should have diversified portfolio. However like everything, a diversified portfolio has its own pros and cons. The biggest benefit is resistance in bearish markets. i.e. in bearish markets a diversified portfolio protects you from losses. Just like all stocks do not perform well in bullish markets, all stocks do not fall in bearish markets. Also the extent of rise and fall is not the same. Due to this reason the portfolio is protected by its nature to a large extent. e.g. if you have a diversified portfolio, you might be suffering loss in IT sector, but at the same time those losses might be well balanced by real estate sector stocks. This way your capital will be more secure in a diversified portfolio than a non-diversified one.

You should have a properly diversified portfolio. The diversification strategy further has its own levels of granularities. One broad diversification strategy is as below:

Diversification example

Level 1	Level 2	Level3	Level4
Stocks
	IT
		Infosys
		TCS
		etc etc
	Real estate stocks
		HDIL
		GMR
		etc etc
	Other sectors
Mutual Funds
	General (not sector specific)
		GenMF1
		GenMF2
		etc etc
	Sector specific
		Real Estate MFs
			REMF1
			REMF2
			etc etc
		IT MFs
			ITMF1
			ITMF2
			etc etc
	etc etc
Debt
	Govt Bonds
	Company bonds
	etc etc
Metals
	Gold
	Silver
	etc etc
Real Estate
etc etc

The above diversification strategy is just to serve as an example and is not exhaustive. Besides it may not be practical for everyone to follow depending upon the investment budget.

The example is just to show that there are different levels of diversification depending upon the requirements and budget.

The biggest advantage of diversification as I already mentioned is the resistance to losses in case something goes wrong in one area. e.g. if stock markets are not faring well you might be guarded by your investment in metals or real estate. Also if a particular sector in stock market is not performing well, it might be counterbalanced by other sectors.

However the biggest advantage of the diversified portfolio is also its biggest disadvantage. The portfolio is resistant to shocking losses. At the same time it is resistant to spectacular gains also. It is like an huge elephant - spread so much that it is hard to move in any direction. e.g. during bull run in stock market, the people invested in momentum stocks in a particular stock segment might be getting spectacular returns on their investment. However your returns will be lesser as compared to them, because your portfolio is diversified no only in stock market, but also out of stock market. Also your stock market investments are also not fully in the same stock segment which is moving. The portfolio is spread across segments. Also within the hot segment which is moving spectacularly, your investment is not fully in the stock which is moving fastest. Hope you got the point.

However you should not be discouraged. When it comes to money matters, you should not only think of potential gains, but also protect your money from potential losses. After all it is your hard earned money! The wisdom is to build your profile like an elephant than like a horse... because in long runs horses burn out but elephants keep going on and on....!

Investing : what you need to keep in mind.

With better incomes and better living styles nowadays, most of us feel the need to invest our hard-earned money so that it can grow with time and be of help in need rather than lying idle in the bank accounts. The irony is that many of us are amateur investors without any investment background. As a result we end up burning our fingers due to lack of guidance and understanding of market. First of all we need to understand that the investment is not a game and not all investments are profitable. You might be tempted to invest by seeing stock markets soar all over the world, but few days after putting in your money in the market the markets suddenly crash. Your investment is reduced to half of its value in a span of few days. You have no choice other than to book losses ! As a result you go out and sell your stocks with heavy heart. But few days after the markets start moving northwards and the same stocks which you sold are again in demand....! Many of us have experienced it. How can we safeguard ourselves from such disasters? The answer is through proper homework, patience and proper investment strategy. Few of my friends lost money in recent bull run followed by the bear run due to subprime crisis. They booked losses ... and now the same stocks that they sold are gaining their old value. Seeing this I compiled this list of some points to be kept in mind while investing. The list has been compiled both through my experience as well as help from web and investment books. Since most people invest in stock market nowadays; the list has been compiled keeping the same in mind. However it holds true for other forms of investment as well.

Hope it be helpful in avoiding disasters, my friends faced....!

Diversify
Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Don't put all your money in one stock. Also, don’t only put is stock market. Invest in real-estate, gold, Fixed deposits, bonds as you can afford.

Do your homework
Analyze the company’s financial reports carefully before investing. Same goes for the other investments. E.g. if you are investing in real estate, analyze carefully the future prospects of price appreciation.

Set goals & limits
Determine the price (high target price or low stop-loss price) at which you're willing to sell. Analyze interest rates to decide what return you want.

Don't invest money you can't afford to lose
Invest only the money you can afford to lose. Do not invest money which you need to pay your bills, medical expenses, education fee of your kids etc. etc.

Don't be greedy
Do not be greedy. When there are bullish markets, the general tendency in the public is to buy stocks at higher prices and not to book profits. People invest in market based on hot tips. This should be avoided. Invest reasonably in such markets and book profits time to time. It is said, bull comes by stairs, and bear goes through the window. i.e. bullish markets take their own time to come, but when the fall comes, the market falls rapidly.

Avoid Acting On Impulse

Don’t buy stocks based on rumors or hot tips or due to dramatic price fluctuations. Keep point #2 always in mind. If a stock is good to invest in today, it will be good to invest in one month from now , and it will still be good to invest in one year later. Else why would you buy it? Take your time to do your homework. Enter the stock only when you are convinced about it.

Invest for the long-term

Invest in good stocks or investment opportunities for long term. The stocks keep fluctuating, in short term. Do not mind these fluctuations. Besides, investing for long term attracts tax benefits also.

Keep tax planning in mind
Long term investments in stock market are tax free. Similarly the gains from real estate deals are tax free if they are re-invested in real estate.

Track your portfolio for surprises
Always keep an eye on your portfolio for surprises and shocks.

Don’t hesitate to book losses.
All your stocks and investments won’t fetch money. Book losses when the company is not performing well consistently and reinvest the money in some better stock.

Love Tragedy...!

एक गूंगा लड़का एक बहरी लडकी से बहुत प्यार करता था
जब भी लड़का गाना गाता तो लडकी भावनाओ में बह जाती.
उसका चाचा जो अंधा था, उसने उन्हें प्यार करते हुए देख लिया.
उसने ये बात उसके बाप को बता दी, जो की लंगडा था.
उसका बाप ग़ुस्से में भागता हुआ बाहर आया.
उसने सायिकल निकाला, स्कूटर स्टार्ट किया और कार लेकर चला गया.
उसने वहाँ पहुँच कर ग़ुस्से में चाक़ू निकाला, और फायर कर दिया.
दोनों तीर लडकी के जा के लगे और लड़का मर गया

Love Story of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy , in Sudha Murthy's words

It was in Pune that I met Narayan Murty through my friend Prasanna who is
now the Wipro chief, who was also training in Telco (TataMotors). Most of the books that Prasanna lent me had Murty’s name on them which meant that I had a
preconceived image of the man. Contrary to expectation, Murty was
shy, bespectacled and an introvert. When he invited us for dinner, I was
a bit taken aback as I thought the young man was making a very fast move.
I refused since I was the only girl in the group. But Murty was relentless and we all decided to meet for dinner the next day at 7.30 p.m at Green Fields Hotel on the Main Road, Pune.

The next day I went there at 7o’clock since I had to go to the tailor near the hotel. And what do I see? Mr. Murty waiting in front of the hotel and it was only seven. Till today, Murty maintains that I had mentioned (consciously!) that I would be going to the tailor at 7 so that I could meet him…And I maintain that I did not say any such thing consciously or unconsciously because I did not think of Murty as anything other than a friend at that stage. We have agreed to disagree on this matter.

Soon, we became friends. Our conversations were filled with Murty’s experiences abroad and the books that he has read. My friends insisted that Murty was trying to impress me because he was interested in me. I kept denying it till one fine day, after dinner Murty said, I want to tell you something. I knew this as it. It was coming.
He said, I am 5′4″ tall.

I come from a lower middle class family.
I can never become rich in my life and I can never give you any riches.
You are beautiful, bright, and intelligent and you can get anyone you want.
But will you marry me?

I asked Murty to give me some time for an answer. My father didn’t want me to
marry a wannabe politician (a communist at that) who didn’t have a steady job and wanted to build an orphanage…

When I went to Hubli I told my parents about Murty and his proposal. My mother was positive since Murty was also from Karnataka, seemed intelligent and comes from a good family. But my father asked: What’s his job, his salary, his qualifications etc? Murty was working as a research assistant and was earning less than me. He was willing to go dutch with me on our outings. My parents agreed to meet Murty in Pune on a particular day at 10 a.m sharp. Murty did not turn up. How can I trust a man to take care of my daughter if he cannot keep an appointment? asked my father.

At 12 noon Murty turned up in a bright red shirt! He had gone on work to Bombay, was stuck in a traffic jam on the ghats, so he hired a taxi (though it was very expensive for him) to meet his would-be father-in-law.
Father was unimpressed. My father asked him what he wanted to become in life.
Murty said he wanted to become a politician in the communist party and
wanted to open an orphanage. My father gave his verdict. NO. I don’t want my daughter to marry somebody who wants to become a communist and then open an orphanage when he himself didn’t have money to support his family.

Ironically, today, I have opened many orphanages something, which Murty wanted to do 25 years ago. By this time I realized I had developed a liking towards Murty which could only be termed as love. I wanted to marry Murty because he is an honest man. He proposed to me highlighting the negatives in his life. I promised my father that I will not marry Murty without his blessings though at the same time, I cannot marry anybody else. My father said he would agree if Murty promised to take up a steady job. But Murty refused saying he will not do things in life because somebody wanted him to. So, I was caught between the two most important persons in my life.

The stalemate continued for three years during which our courtship took us to every restaurant and cinema hall in Pune. In those days, Murty was always broke. Moreover, he didn’t earn much to manage. Ironically today, he manages Infosys Technologies Ltd., one of the world’s most reputed companies. He always owed me money. We used to go for dinner and he would say, I don’t have money with me, you pay my share, I will return it to you later. For three years I maintained a book on Murty’s debt to me.. No, he never returned the money and I finally tore it up after my wedding. The amount was a little over Rs 4000. During this interim period Murty quit his job as research assistant and started his own software business. Now, I had to pay his salary too! Towards the late 70s computers were entering India in a big way.
During the fag end of 1977 Murty decided to take up a job as General Manager at Patni Computers in Bombay .. But before he joined the company he wanted to marry me since he was to go on training to the US after joining. My father gave in as he was happy Murty had a decent job, now.

WE WERE MARRIED IN MURTY’S HOUSE IN BANGALORE ON FEBRUARY 10, 1978 WITH ONLY OUR TWO FAMILIES PRESENT. I GOT MY FIRST SILK SARI. THE WEDDING EXPENSES CAME TO ONLY RS 800 (US $17) WITH MURTY AND I PULLING IN RS. 400 EACH.
I went to the US with Murty after marriage. Murty encouraged me to see
America on my own because I loved travelling. I toured America for three months on backpack and had interesting experiences which will remain fresh in my mind forever. Like the time when the New York police took me into custody because they thought I was an Italian trafficking drugs in Harlem. Or the time when I spent the night at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with an old couple. Murty panicked because he couldn’t get a response from my hotel room even at midnight. He thought I was either killed or kidnapped.

IN 1981 MURTY WANTED TO START INFOSYS. HE HAD A VISION AND ZERO
CAPITAL…initially I was very apprehensive about Murty getting into business. We did not have any business background .. Moreover we were living a comfortable life in Bombay with a regular pay check and I didn’t want to rock the boat. But Murty was passionate about creating good quality software. I decided to support him. Typical of Murty, he just had a dream and no money. So I gave him Rs 10,000 which I had saved for a rainy day, without his knowledge and told him, this is all I have. Take it. I give you three years sabbatical leave. I will take care of the financial needs of our house. You go and chase your dreams without any worry. But you have only three years!

Murty and his six colleagues started Infosys in 1981,with enormous interest and hard work. In 1982 I left Telco and moved to Pune with Murty. We bought a small house on loan which also became the Infosys office. I was a clerk-cum-cook-cum-programmer. I also took up a job as Senior Systems Analyst with Walchand group of Industries to support the house. In 1983, Infosys got their first client, MICO, in Bangalore .. Murty moved to Bangalore and stayed with his mother while I went to Hubli to deliver my second child, Rohan. Ten days after my son was born, Murty left for the US on project work. I saw him only after a year, as I was unable to join Murty in the US because my son had infantile eczema, an allergy to vaccinations. So for more than a year I did not step outside our home for fear of my son contracting an infection. It was only after Rohan got all his
vaccinations that I came to Bangalore where we rented a small house in Jayanagar and rented another house as Infosys headquarters. My father presented Murty a scooter to commute. I once again became a cook, programmer, clerk, secretary, office assistant et al. Nandan Nilekani (MD of Infosys) and
his wife Rohini stayed with us. While Rohini babysat my son, I wrote programs for Infosys. There was no car, no phone, and just two kids and a bunch of us working hard, juggling our lives and having fun while Infosys was taking shape. It was not only me but also the wives of other partners too who gave their unstinted support. We all knew that our men were trying to build something good.

It was like a big joint family,taking care and looking out for one another. I still remember Sudha Gopalakrishna looking after my daughter Akshata with all care and love while Kumari Shibulal cooked for all of us. Murty made it very clear that it would either be me or him working at Infosys. Never the two of us together… I was involved with Infosys initially.

Nandan Nilekani suggested I should be on the Board but Murty said he did not want a husband and wife team at Infosys. I was shocked since I had the relevant experience and technical qualifications. He said, Sudha if you want to work with Infosys, I will withdraw, happily. I was pained to know that I will not be involved in the company my husband was building and that I would have to give up a job that I am qualified to do and love doing.

It took me a couple of days to grasp the reason behind Murty’s request.. I realized that to make Infosys a success one had to give one’s 100 percent. One had to be focussed on it alone with no other distractions. If the two of us had to give 100 percent to Infosys then what would happen to our home and our children? One of us had to take care of our home while the other took care of Infosys.

I opted to be a homemaker, after all Infosys was Murty’s dream. It was a big sacrifice but it was one that had to be made. Even today, Murty says, Sudha, I stepped on your career to make mine.

You are responsible for my success.

Steve Jobs' speech at Stanford University

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, 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 5¢ 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.

Thank you all very much.

शायरी......

तुम आ गए हो , नूर आ गया है...!
तुम आ गए हो , नूर आ गया है....!
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चलो अब तीनों picture चलें .
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अगर तेरा पयार पाना है,
अगर तेरा पयार पाना है,

वाह वाह वाह !

अगर तेरा पयार पाना है
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तो मेरा पयार screw driver है ...

दुनीया गोल है......!

चूहा बिल्ली से डरता है , बिल्ली कुत्ते से डरती है, कुत्ता आदमी से डरता है , आदमी बीवी से डरता है, बीवी चूहे से डरती है...! दुनीया गोल है......!

Really SOLID one.....!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got this good piece from a social networking site where a student reminisces memories of one of her teachers:

Well the atmosphere was of youth fest and everyone was on their toes to run away..but K.T Sir was determined to finish teaching solids so that he could finish the lesson. but i am my partner were too bugged to listen to him and as we were sitting on the second last bench we removed a book and wrote all possible nonsense in it..i wrote something and my partner burst out laughing loudly..sir saw us and came to ur bench..he asked us what were we upto..so we said that we r copying whatever he has written on the board..so he picked up the book in with we were writing..he went through it and it was completely blank(we were writing in the last page....then he went back to the board..and started off..."anujaji aur sowjanyaji..please come and sit here..u see were r studing solids here..u i the board chalk everything is soild..then u must understand how important it is..u must pay SOLID attention in class casue ur portion is increasing in a SOLID speed..if u dont pay SOLID attention u will have a SOLID problem writing the exam..then there will be SOLID decrease in ur marks..father will give u SOLID thrashing..at home parents will also give SOLID thrashing..then with the SOLID fall in performance..then if u continue with this SOLID drop in performance u will get a SOLID leaving certificate.. ur life will become like SOLID..so closely packed..no energy to move..so pay SOLID attention now..or u will get SOLID thrashing from me!!!"......how can he think of so many sentences...sheesh...there were atleast 15-20 SOLIDS in the speech......hehe

Bihari spake english.

Laloo, Rabri and their son were returning from south by train.

Laloo was occupying the lower berth, Rabri the middle berth and his son
the topmost berth in the train compartment.

The train stopped at one of the stations on the way back and the son
asked Laloo to bring him a Cadburys chocolate.

When Laloo and his son returned they found that a South Indian who
couldn't understand hindi had occupied his son's berth.

Upset and angry, Laloo called the Ticket checker & asked him to help.

The Ticket checker said that he could not understand Hindi or Bihari so
it would be nice if Laloo explained the whole situation to him in
English.

Laloo explained,
"That man sleeping on top of my wife is not giving birth to my child."

Punjab policeman and his wife

A Punjab Policeman notices his wife stealing Rs 500 note from his pocket
Says to his wife"I caught u red handed"
Wife take him to the corner and says"Ghar ki baat hai 100 rupey may nipta lo"

Somethings are more valuable than money!

Today I was watching "kya aap panchvi paas se tez hain" hosted by Shahrukh Khan. I have seen few episodes of KBC as well hosted by SRK. Whenever I see him in such shows, I am thrilled and shocked at the down to earth nature of this God of Hindi Film Industry. The person who charges in crores and the person who is the most sought after personality of this industry; mixes so well with the common people that he seems one of them. As someone pointed out in one of the polls, about difference between Amitabh Bachhan and SRK - when someone is sitting in front of Amitabh Bachhan in hotseat , he feels a great respect for him. It is like sitting in front of a great professional . But if you are sitting in front of SRK, the experience is as if you are sitting in front of a friend. I haven't seen such attitude towards life in any other celebrity. His career makes him hero in reel life, but his attitude towards life makes him real life hero in hearts. True, somethings are more valuable than money. SRK's attitude is one such example.

Man's search for meaning...

He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.

-Nietzsche

"Man's search for meaning", I read this wonderful book by Viktor E. Frankl around one year back. It is really great and meaningful book. I revised the concepts which the book teaches, in my head, and this time those things made more sense and lot of other things became clear to me. The meaning is some motive, achieving of which makes us live this life. This might be making your business a success, or bringing up a child, or writing a book etc etc. For example Roy Kroc's life's meaning was creation of a great franchise - McDonald's; and that of Colonel Sanders' was the selling of the chicken recipe discovered by him and which laid the foundation of KFC. The meaning of the Ayn Rand's most famous hero Howard Roark was practice of Modern Architecture. Give a moment and think about the meaning of your life....!

In case you are still struggling, then recall something - something that keeps you going. Something that compels you live this life despite all the odds and worries you face .... Something which prevents you from committing suicide in the worst of the situations. This thing is so important that the life will seem worthless if the hope of achieving this is lost. It is said "the hope sustains life". I would rectify it a bit - " the hope of achieving of life's meaning sustains life" e.g. The hope of "creating a great franchise" might have sustained Roy Kroc's life..... The hope of selling of the chickens prepared by him, might have sustained Colonel Sanders' life, The hope of "creating a masterpiece" sustains many artist's lives.... File in this blank : [The hope of "_________________" sustains my life......!]. You may have to try it again and again till you find the most appropriate phrase that fits in over here. Keep trying, don't stop ... Like all the matters of heart you will instinctively know when you find your phrase.

This meaning of life is really very powerful. Look at this sentence in case you have found that phrase. This tiny little phrase in blank line is your meaning of life..... imagine a little phrase making you live for so many years ..... and see around yourself ... Imagine as many people with whom you have met so far or you can see around you - you friends , colleagues, parents, siblings, spouse, children - everybody around you ... there are these are many phrases ..... all these bodies, consciously or unconsciously, are living because of those tiny little phrases......!

Now the million dollar question which I am thinking about right now is - what happens if the meaning of life is fulfilled? Guess when one meaning is fulfilled another one is created by itself or one needs to create another one. For otherwise one should cease to live once the tiny phrase is fulfilled. This is what I think about. Your opinion might be different. My opinion is based on observation which we encounter sometimes in our lives. Many times the sole motivation of some parents in lower income section is to live is to see their children getting educated and getting into job. They may be suffering from dire illnesses. But something keep them going for years after years. And when the child for whose education they were waiting gets his college degree and gets a job, these parents suddenly become incapable of fighting their disease. With time they become more and more ill and then their lives are over. Same person who fought the same illness for decades, is now incapable for handling it for few months....!

One needs to keep reinventing this meaning once one meaning is fulfilled. We do it unconsciously, year after year, for whole life. But if we do it consciously, we will be more in charge of our life. If every rediscovered meanings of our lives are higher than the previous ones we will end up with a the life of the same quality... a life worth remembering and worth cherishing. In case rediscovered meanings of our lives go southwards compared to our previous meanings you will have a life which is worth regretting at the end (or few years worth regretting at the end) ... the power is in our hands.

Finally how can we discover this meaning ? Viktor E. Frankl answers this as well:

We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways:

1. by creating a work or doing a deed;
2. by experiencing a something or encountering someone;
3. by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering.

Giving some more of Viktor E. Frankl's quotes from the book:

When we are no longer able to change a situation - just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer - we are challenged to change ourselves.

Those who know how close the connection is between the state of mind of a man - his courage and hope, or lack of them - and the state of immunity of his body will understand that the sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect.

It is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future... And this is his salvation in the most difficult moments of his existence, although he sometimes has to force his mind to the task.

A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the "why" for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any "how."

Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

When we are no longer able to change a situation—just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer—we are challenged to change ourselves

Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him - mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp.

It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

Man is capable of changing the world for the better if possible, and of changing himself for the better if necessary.

Set me like a seal upon thy heart, love is as strong as death.(Cf. Song of Solomon 8:6)

We have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips.

Some links:

http://www.phoenix5.org/books/Frankl/FranklMenu.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27s_Search_for_Meaning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl

The rat race called the “pursuit of happiness”

Life is strange. By the time you really want to live it is the time to depart from the world. As someone correctly said, “Most of us die with the music still inside us”. Whole life we are stuck in a strange rat race - pursuit of happiness. Not realizing we need not pursue it …. it is within us.

When the man is a kid, he thinks - “one day I’ll be big boy and will be happy”. Time passes and he grows up and becomes a teenager. He is dissatisfied and feels alone. He doesn’t want to study or play. He sees his mates - everyone seems enjoying. He sees some of his friends have got girlfriends and boyfriends and are enjoying. He again thinks, “One day I’ll also have a girlfriend and I will be happy then.”.

Time passes, and suddenly he comes across a charming and beautiful teenage girl. He feels blissful and starts seeing her quite often. Things seem wonderful, and he feels on the top of the world…. the stranger gradually graduates to aquaintance, then to a friend, a close friend, best friend and ultimately to girlfriend…. But in a few days the fights start happening between both of them. These fights disturb him. The cool and charming girl start looking dumb to him. She seems to be too demanding and incompatible to him….. he is again in a mess. He realizes that the girl is not suitable for him and love is not essentially beautiful.

He thinks a lot during sleepless nights and unrestful days. He is sad now. Now he wants a stable life without love. He seeks to surpass his friends through the fierce competition. He is on a rampage. He concentrates on higher studies to find a enviable job which would bring immense happiness to him. He is hard working and intelligent. He is a consistent topper and one day he realizes the medium of his happiness…. he is hired by a top MNC company at a respectable position. He would be happy now….. he th inks.

Things are wonderful in the new company. New career, new place, new terminology of business world…. everything is exciting. But in some days he realizes something is still missing… he is not feeling happy. The boss is too demanding and the colleagues are little politicians in the mask of professionals. He feels cheated and feels dumb. He changes jobs and shifts career to other domains… things are wonderful in the beginning everywhere but same old story repeats again and again.

His friends also seem to be concerned about him, but noone has time to listen to and understand him. He feels the need of someone who can really understand him and care about him and is with him forever. He thinks one day when he is married, he’ll be happy man. Time passes and he get married. He starts enjoying hi new life. At last there is someone to listen to him and with whom he can share all his happiness and the sorrows. His wife is caring and wonderful. She takes a lot of his worries from him. He feels he should be happy now. But he sees his friends and neighbors… everyone is settled and has kids. They go to picnic on weekends and enjoy their evenings with kids in park. Grass seems greener on their side. He feels restless. He thinks one day he will have kids and he will be happy.

In another couple of years he has a kid….. but now he does not seem to have time for himself. He is busy in taking care of his wife and his kid. The kid takes almost all the time which he should have right upon. He thinks one day the kid will grow up and he will be happy . The kid is 16 in some years. But now he has to deal with the problems which all parents face with teenage kids. He is unhappy again. He thinks one day the kid will be married and he will be happy. In the due course of time the kid grows up and get married also. He should be hapopy now … but something is missing. His son does not seem to respect him anymore. His daughter in law doesnt want his son to stay with him or to see him.
He is old now. He and his wife remain sick….. he wants to enjoy but he is not able to move freely. He is dependent on medicine and doctors. He reflects back and goes to his childhood memories. “The things were wonderful at that time” - he thinks.