Don't just break even
Break Rules,
Break records,
Break through.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Be Free
Being busy is just so easy. Anybody can be busy, or act busy for that matter. Somebody told me long time back that a lot of people are just busy, busy without any work. They don't realize that they are just running on a treadmill, without going anywhere. Work never stops, you do one thing and the other things just pops up. You don't get time, you make time. That's why, what is hard is to be free.
To be able to take time out for people, to help random strangers without looking at your watch, to talk in a tone that doesn't seem rushed, to walk in that easy manner, to enjoy all the little things, despite all the work you have, that is what I call being free, in all its meanings.
Being free is an acquired art. I have had the opportunity to work with some brilliant people, and one thing that I have learned is that no matter how much work you have, you always need to be able to make time for what you consider important. It may be family, friends or some hobby you pursue.
So, make time, pursue what defines you, makes you who you are.
To be able to take time out for people, to help random strangers without looking at your watch, to talk in a tone that doesn't seem rushed, to walk in that easy manner, to enjoy all the little things, despite all the work you have, that is what I call being free, in all its meanings.
Being free is an acquired art. I have had the opportunity to work with some brilliant people, and one thing that I have learned is that no matter how much work you have, you always need to be able to make time for what you consider important. It may be family, friends or some hobby you pursue.
So, make time, pursue what defines you, makes you who you are.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Drawing inspiration from Past
Time and again I have felt that some of the great ideas that we see materializing today have been thought of earlier as well. Unfortunately, they were just ahead of their time earlier. They didn't come into being just because of the fact that the technology at the time was just not advance enough to support them.
We should always look back at past and learn from what has happened. One would be amazed to find out how much of what we see today was envisioned way before even the technology to enable that came into being. Some of the things that would have been regarded as flight of fantasy in Star Trek are what we take for granted these days e.g. the flip phone. Arthur C. Clark envisioned geostationary satellites 20 years before the first one was launched. I wonder how the originators of these ideas would have felt when they saw their ideas materializing.
I think if we look closely enough, we will definitely find many gems of ideas that were discarded by the doubting Thomases and skeptics. There is sure to learn a lot from the rich history that we have.
We should always look back at past and learn from what has happened. One would be amazed to find out how much of what we see today was envisioned way before even the technology to enable that came into being. Some of the things that would have been regarded as flight of fantasy in Star Trek are what we take for granted these days e.g. the flip phone. Arthur C. Clark envisioned geostationary satellites 20 years before the first one was launched. I wonder how the originators of these ideas would have felt when they saw their ideas materializing.
I think if we look closely enough, we will definitely find many gems of ideas that were discarded by the doubting Thomases and skeptics. There is sure to learn a lot from the rich history that we have.
Faults
The faults which we find in others are more or less the faults that we think, maybe subconsciously, we might possess too. It is just a reflection of what we think is wrong. Somewhere inside us we have a fear that we may be guilty of those faults as well.
When a child accuses other of stealing his candy, he feels that given an opportunity he might have done the same. When a husband accuses his wife of cheating, he fears that, given a chance, he would have, or already has, done the same.
It's only when we get rid of these fears ourselves, we rise above blaming and accusing others. Then only do we learn to accept people as they are and forgive. We realize we are one step closer to being content and happy.
When a child accuses other of stealing his candy, he feels that given an opportunity he might have done the same. When a husband accuses his wife of cheating, he fears that, given a chance, he would have, or already has, done the same.
It's only when we get rid of these fears ourselves, we rise above blaming and accusing others. Then only do we learn to accept people as they are and forgive. We realize we are one step closer to being content and happy.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
How should we teach?
It is simply not enough just to teach, but to teach the right way is more important. A friend of mine, who occasionally teaches small children, told me that he came across a kid who although in 4th grade did not understand the concept of multiplication. For the kid, the multiplication was a set of, rote learned, tables. That is what he had been taught and that is what he knew.
Looking back, I wonder, when I realized the concept of multiplication (or division for that matter). When did I come to grasp that multiplication is just the same number of items taken many times and tables are just to make the process of calculation faster. I am pretty sure that I did not realize it myself in the 4th standard as well.
Well, I choose to blame this all on the method of teaching that was adopted to educate me. I was told what happens but not why it happens. I was given the final solution but not the concept. I was given the end but not the means. And so was the case with this kid.
Just imagine, if such is the case with a simple multiplication, then what would possibly be happening for more complex things. Will it be far-fetched to say that our education system is optimized to produce mediocrity?
I think we need to instill the urge of asking questions from the very start in the kids. We need to teach how to look for the key principles than just the solutions. Then only we will have a generation that is ever evolving and erudite.
Looking back, I wonder, when I realized the concept of multiplication (or division for that matter). When did I come to grasp that multiplication is just the same number of items taken many times and tables are just to make the process of calculation faster. I am pretty sure that I did not realize it myself in the 4th standard as well.
Well, I choose to blame this all on the method of teaching that was adopted to educate me. I was told what happens but not why it happens. I was given the final solution but not the concept. I was given the end but not the means. And so was the case with this kid.
Just imagine, if such is the case with a simple multiplication, then what would possibly be happening for more complex things. Will it be far-fetched to say that our education system is optimized to produce mediocrity?
I think we need to instill the urge of asking questions from the very start in the kids. We need to teach how to look for the key principles than just the solutions. Then only we will have a generation that is ever evolving and erudite.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Life, as I view it.
Life is a small word to say but its meaning isn't that small at all. There has been a lot of debate over the meaning of life and, no doubt, a number of wonderful theories have been proposed. And why not, after all so many intellectual people trying to define life. One of the definitions which I like most is "life is not defined by what you did for yourself but by what you did for others".
These words I think reflect the meaning of life in a more elaborate way. Living for oneself may make a man fleetingly happy or give him some material gains but in the long run he fails to make his mark and dies out unnoticed, unmissed and unloved.
Personally I think, that the ephemeral but dazzling life of a shooting star is more meaningful than a immortal but dull and unnoticeable star. It is because the shooting star for all its life time, however small, shined at its full capacity and made a mark in your memory while you can see hundreds of stars daily but do you really differentiate one from other and remember one?
Everybody has his own idea of life, and so do I. I visualize life as a breadth-wise long (virtually infinite) painting with people drawn over it like a crowd. People we know closely are in the front rows of this mob while the distant ones in the painting represent those who are more of an acquaintance. While circles with unnoticeable faces farther back in the mob represent the people which pass before our eyes daily unnoticed.
Further this painting is not static with time i.e. it keeps on changing dynamically. People keep on shuffling between the different rows in the mob. Some come nearer while others fall back. Occasionally some even jump out of the mob to get your full attention before again falling back into the mob and becoming the background. As you notice people and start to know them they move closer to you in the painting while as you forget people they are pushed back in the mob.
Each person in the mob, in himself, is like a book of riddles. More the number of riddles you have solved, more closely you know the person concerned. Some of the riddles are easy to solve while others are really hard to crack, and you never really know the correct answer, for some of the tough ones are the ones which lead to unpredictability of the person. More skilled you are at solving these riddles more the number of friends you make and closer you get to these people.
Having said what I have said, I would like to make it clear that life is not a simple thing to be expressed holistically in words and one has to live it to understand it (or at least get a glimpse of it). But a life with no goal is no life at all.
In India, you can see a lot of people living in road side huts in large towns and cities. These huts are made of nothing but brick and mud and with a roof of plastic sheets and wooden sticks, some of the huts are completely made of plastics sheets and look more like a tent than a house. You can see their children roaming on the roads missing the traffic by inches while their mother in busy doing the household chores on the roadside. God only knows where they go to answer nature's call. The tattered clothes of the children have more holes than threads and you can count on their ribs through the holes. I wonder what is the use of living such a life. On the other hand, what possibly could they do to absolve themselves from this predicament. Their parents didn't have enough resources to send them to study nor did they care about the future of anyone because they had a lot of worries on their present. Regardless, I think it is better to die, trying to improve, than to give up and sit back waiting for the end.
In the end, I will like to make it a point that "life is as you live it". If you want to live it worrying about things that are not under your control then only god can help you, on the other hand you may want to live happily being merry in the sad times as well. It is you who has to make the choice.
These words I think reflect the meaning of life in a more elaborate way. Living for oneself may make a man fleetingly happy or give him some material gains but in the long run he fails to make his mark and dies out unnoticed, unmissed and unloved.
Personally I think, that the ephemeral but dazzling life of a shooting star is more meaningful than a immortal but dull and unnoticeable star. It is because the shooting star for all its life time, however small, shined at its full capacity and made a mark in your memory while you can see hundreds of stars daily but do you really differentiate one from other and remember one?
Everybody has his own idea of life, and so do I. I visualize life as a breadth-wise long (virtually infinite) painting with people drawn over it like a crowd. People we know closely are in the front rows of this mob while the distant ones in the painting represent those who are more of an acquaintance. While circles with unnoticeable faces farther back in the mob represent the people which pass before our eyes daily unnoticed.
Further this painting is not static with time i.e. it keeps on changing dynamically. People keep on shuffling between the different rows in the mob. Some come nearer while others fall back. Occasionally some even jump out of the mob to get your full attention before again falling back into the mob and becoming the background. As you notice people and start to know them they move closer to you in the painting while as you forget people they are pushed back in the mob.
Each person in the mob, in himself, is like a book of riddles. More the number of riddles you have solved, more closely you know the person concerned. Some of the riddles are easy to solve while others are really hard to crack, and you never really know the correct answer, for some of the tough ones are the ones which lead to unpredictability of the person. More skilled you are at solving these riddles more the number of friends you make and closer you get to these people.
Having said what I have said, I would like to make it clear that life is not a simple thing to be expressed holistically in words and one has to live it to understand it (or at least get a glimpse of it). But a life with no goal is no life at all.
In India, you can see a lot of people living in road side huts in large towns and cities. These huts are made of nothing but brick and mud and with a roof of plastic sheets and wooden sticks, some of the huts are completely made of plastics sheets and look more like a tent than a house. You can see their children roaming on the roads missing the traffic by inches while their mother in busy doing the household chores on the roadside. God only knows where they go to answer nature's call. The tattered clothes of the children have more holes than threads and you can count on their ribs through the holes. I wonder what is the use of living such a life. On the other hand, what possibly could they do to absolve themselves from this predicament. Their parents didn't have enough resources to send them to study nor did they care about the future of anyone because they had a lot of worries on their present. Regardless, I think it is better to die, trying to improve, than to give up and sit back waiting for the end.
In the end, I will like to make it a point that "life is as you live it". If you want to live it worrying about things that are not under your control then only god can help you, on the other hand you may want to live happily being merry in the sad times as well. It is you who has to make the choice.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Plagiarism 100%
To state Saurabh's law of "Artistic Acumen Reciprocation" across developed nations and developing nations
"All artistic pieces of developed nations are at all times matched by a corresponding piece of art in developing nation."
The "Authenticity Factor" that relates this is defined below.
Let A be the authenticity factor then.
K = (1 - A) * Art from developed nation + A * Art from developing nation
Where
K is a developing nation dependent constant taking into consideration the technological handicaps.
A is the "Authenticity Index" that ranges from 0 to 1. It is also the inverse of Plagiarism index(P).
'A' should ideally move from 0 to 1, as a nation develops. I was under impression that we were atleast past the 0.5 mark, but following seems to indicate that its still around 0.01 mark.
I hope this is just an out-lier rather than a trend.
"All artistic pieces of developed nations are at all times matched by a corresponding piece of art in developing nation."
The "Authenticity Factor" that relates this is defined below.
Let A be the authenticity factor then.
K = (1 - A) * Art from developed nation + A * Art from developing nation
Where
K is a developing nation dependent constant taking into consideration the technological handicaps.
A is the "Authenticity Index" that ranges from 0 to 1. It is also the inverse of Plagiarism index(P).
'A' should ideally move from 0 to 1, as a nation develops. I was under impression that we were atleast past the 0.5 mark, but following seems to indicate that its still around 0.01 mark.
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