Saturday, October 25, 2008

Mantra of Life

I have taken this heading of the post from the song ‘what is the mantra of your life’ of the Euphoria Band. It helped me in my journey within.

I am currently involved in the concept known as 'Gap Year'. I am not actually taking one year gap for leisure time. I postponed my joining at CSC to November for giving time to my family before muddling up in corporate world. The introspection and self evaluation comes in this part of time. I am lucky enough to be free from any urgent financial woes by my family. Most of the time is dedicated to introspection and reading books or blogs. The self evaluation time will really help me in attaining long term goals.

I looked back and analyzed both my personal and professional life. My colleagues are coining this time of mine as uneconomic and wasteful phase of my life. The success is seen in very short future context and comparison with others is made often. I do not use this time for touring or part time jobs. The adventure part was of least importance to me. I was learning new and diverse things in mine graduation years although there were fall in grades due to negligence in academics. I feel like collector of the data bank during last 4 years of engineering. There was no synthesis of data in my mind. I give emphasis on my spirituality, philosophy, cinema and books in this period of time. I am walking on less traveled road but like each great tree, life is a plant of slow growth. I really believed in this mantra of life :  Instead of a linear life path, it was like adding a little zig to your zag.

Five point for everyone (Results of Introspection):

1-Saral bano, Sugam aur sadharan nahi (Be simple, not ordinary and effortless in practice).
2- Hum sab adhitiya pehle hain,asaadharan baad mein ( We are unique first then extraordinary.)
3-Aaveg gyan kaa lakshan hai aur anubhuti shaashwat hai (Sprinting of innovative Ideas is the symptom of genius but sensation is eternal)
4-Budhi saager ke laher ke samaan hai,chanchal aur satahi ,par anubhuti samudra tal ke samaan,shaant aur neestabdh (Direct Perception or Intuition has more far reaching effect than logic and reasoning.)
5- Prabhad aur Purusharth sath sath chalte hain (Luck and Hard work goes hand in hand.)

Last word on these ethical lessons which I sense these days was: You pay for your deeds.
I get my mantra of life AND YOU?

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Superheroes of Indian Films

Rajnikant, Mithun Chakraborthy, Mohanlal, Mammoty, Kamal Hassan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan & Chiranjeevi are the prominent superstars of Indian film industry.

First two names are the phenomenon in Indian film industry. They are not even stars of Indian movie industry. Rest of all names in the list is of superstars. But anyone do have clue over superstar and phenomenon. Phenomenon has cast charm over the people without any acting. They are worshiped by the people due to their iconic presence and style on the screen.

Most of the people do not have clue that ‘Mithun da’ has won national award for his acting in prestigious art film 'Mrigayaa'. Now, the commercial movies have made brand image of ‘Mithun da’. Masses know him for his hit films like Disco Dancer, Boxer and Dalal. Most of young people feel his presence in epic roles in Gunda, Loha, Cheetah & Ravanraj. He is virtually style icon of youths coming from down trodden society in north India from past 25 years. For die hard fans of mithun da, read this website.

Rajnikant’ is name of living style to each filmi geek of India. His special technique of igniting cigarette becomes a fashion in his fans. Now, cigarettes are changed by Chewing gums due to dangerous following of successors in public smoking. He is second highest paid actor after Jackie Chan in Asia. He is living legend in every sense.

From past 30 years, both of them are ruling the hearts of Indian people. They have got exclusively fan club and temples dedicated to them. The fight scenes in their movies can make envious to comic super heroes. Law of nature (even gravity) cannot bind their action sequence. Their external beauty and style has attracted heroines from last 3 generation. Also, their action scenes are synchronized with each other in different movies. They are the binding forces of north and south India. Least exaggeration sentence: They are pole stars (2 in same constellation) of great India reel life…………

I was looking for the reason of the rise of these phenomenons. ‘Mithun da’ hails from Bengal and ‘Rajnikant’ start off his career in Tamil movie industry. Tamil and Bengali societies are one of the leading societies in term of reformation with English education. People with western way of thinking forms a small but influential intellectual part in the society. There is no entertainment for common masses. These two rise on such occasion and becomes the role models by their screen roles of rebel hero. They stand against the local mafia, corrupt policemen, greedy merchant and shrewd politician. The violence and struggle life of ‘mean streets’ match the attitude of ‘Rambo’ in the background. They rise as a voice of family, community and society in reel life.

These two mortal gods have been face of India mostly go unnoticed or undisclosed in intellectual society.They are role models for masses. Despite of all these nonsense stuff, just do not forget about real heroes of children: Krish or Mr. India (Big Screen) and Shaktimaan (T.V. Screen)………………………………

Movies for Teachers

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. ~William Arthur Ward

Teacher inspires you to think for yourself. He is friend, philosopher and guide for learning minds. Teachers sometimes need to be reminded about why they teach in the first place. Teachers face stiff test from student in the depth of their knowledge. Shallow people hide in the veils of seriousness while sincere one rules the heart of student.

There are movies which transform your attitude for teaching profession. However, there is a career lesson in films. It doesn't lie in the film, though through viewing. The lesson is: Look beyond MBA, Engineering, Medical and Journalism. Any career you choose today, you can make a difference.

Many movies depict determined teachers using innovative teaching tactics according to need of student. They break the continuum of boring lectures into interactive sessions. One of the best known innovators is Anne Sullivan who persisted in teaching Helen Keller in the movie 'The Miracle Worker'. Anne Sullivan had high expectations for Helen Keller and helped her realize her incredible potential. Film 'Black' is scene by scene lifted from this movie. One fun way for teachers and students to recharge is to watch movies about the real or reel life stories of inspiring teachers.

This is the list of top quality cinema for inspiration to young minds:

Dead Poet’s Society
Good will Hunting
Mona Lisa Smile
Entre les murs
Freedom Writers
To Sir with Love
Ron Clark Story
Finding Forrester
Ciao, Professore!
Half Nelson
Breakfast Club
Dangerous Minds
October Sky
Taare Zameen Par
Jagriti
Sparsh
Rockford
The Miracle Worker
Conrack
Stand and Deliver
The Emperor's Club
•Lean on Me
•Merry Andrews
•Educating Rita
•Mr. Holland's Opus
•Blackboard Jungle
•Good Morning, Miss Dove
•Born Yesterday

•Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Individual success will not be attained by migrating to a particular 'hot' industry, or by securing government jobs. Instead, Teacher inspire the students to realize on two questions: who they really are and work that they truly love. A teacher motivates students to build a new success path for themselves. Result of efforts of teacher will be distinct individuals unleashing a productive and innovative power in their field.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Chandrayaan mission:Indian mission to moon

Chandrayaan I (Sanskrit: चंद्रयान-1, lit: Lunar Craft), is an unmanned lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The mission includes a lunar orbiter as well as an impactor. The spacecraft will be launched by a modified version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
Hrs GMT [05:50-06:50 Hrs IST] on Oct. 22, 2008 is the launching time.
Chandrayaan is the first Indian mission to the moon for undertaking high resolution remote sensing of the lunar surface, aimed at determining the evolutionary process of the moon by studying the mineral and chemical structure of its surface.
I am feeling proud to be Indian.Hope you will too.....

Monday, October 20, 2008

Power of Bhojpuri Language

This post is lifted,plagiarised,edited and compiled from post of the another blog.It is modified from X rated version to teenager suited version.It is confession and reincarnation of Bengali boy turning into fan of bhojpuri language.
Here is detaied account---

"I was a bong. A mach-bhath (fish-rice) ogling, ganguly-worshipping, east-bengal-supporting, dor-baa*a-muttering, pure, unadulterated, 100% quintessential made-in-calcutta bong. I knew only bong gaaalis (swears) and they were sweet, rhythmic , intellectually crafted, usually non-acidic with little or no reference to the women in your family.

And then suddenly one fine hot summer day, way back in the summers of 1998, everything changed. The bong gets introduced to the bhojpuri tongue. I had read Hansel and Gretel 10 summers ago, but it was then that i realized what the two misguided souls felt when they saw the cookie-&-chocolate-house. The bhojpuri tongue was a treasure chest. It was mind-bogglingly awesome. A normal polite conversation in bhojpuri would make you feel that your ass was being verbally whipped to hell and back. Forget the stupid, inane bong insults this was the real deal. The mother of all mother tongues. Who was the idiot who declared hindi to be our national language, if it was upto me it would have been good old bhojpuri. Imagine the advantages of that, 1/6th of the world's population speaking the way Lalu does. Man-o-man would not that be cool.

Wouldn't the usually uncool brown Indians with a funny accent be revered by those hot blond bombshells in those pubs and nightclubs. Forget the coolest of the cool jamaican accents, the bihari accent of bhojpuri is what those ever elusive blonds would fall for. How can they resist a pick-up line that goes :

" denkhiye (stress on the n) sandra babby hum kahe de raha hoo jyaada tem nahi na hai humre pas, nachiyega humre saath to boliye nahi to mandra humra waiting kar rahi hai oo baju me".

Bloody jamaicans with their oh-so-cool "hey maaaaaaaan" lines would have been decimated in seconds. And we blond-ogling brownies would rule the blond's-world with an iron rod, err no i mean acerbic tongue.

bhujla ki naa.. nahi bujhi.. arreee burbak ho kaa??"

Travelogue : Make my Trip


The world is conquered by the travelers. Voyage of Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da gama has changed the course the history .The boundaries are for weak and xenophobic people. The brave wanders without borders. He always led mankind in the frontiers of each field. Nation or society is only misguided by self proclaimed intellectual rusting at a place. Every country falls in dump where inhabitants rest at a place. The world is conquered and ruled by the people who left the home to achieve something. The water of river may be polluted somewhere, but constant flow makes it clean. The water of well appear sweet for some days but become polluted with time. Traditions are always spread by the roaming ambassadors of the culture. Any person or society can only be prospered by coming in contact with each other.

Boundaries of India were extended to Cambodia, Malaysia & Indonesia. Then preachers of Hinduism decided to reside at home. Crossing to seven seas was losing the religion. Orthodoxy was absorbed due to this reason. Muslims, Portuguese, French and British attacked and plunged whole Indian subcontinent. They were travelers and defeated population was idler.

Spiritual Gurus like Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Shankaracharya were first class travelers. They conquered India with their foot and message. Means are secondary but enthusiasm to discover the frontiers is primary .Their biographies of great persons form the history. They are full of travel stories and contact with lost or undiscovered civilization or community. Preachers were foot soldiers of Buddhism, Islam and Christian; they traveled across the globe for their religion without any fear only with light of faith in their heart.

Africa, Australia and America were discovered by few enthusiastic people from Europe. Now India and China are fully packed with people. This is heaviest price for one place dwellers. Spanish, English, French and Portuguese had become international language of previous century. Jews are spread across the world. They were looted and tortured both by Muslims and Christian. The vagabonding of 2000 years makes them realize their ancient glory and need of reunification. Israel was formed in between the heartland of Arabian countries. All Arab nations came together to crush this small country but all of them are defeated in battles. Eminent position in American economic circle is occupied by Jews. Traveling is the international religion of mankind. Unlike religious preachers, Travelers share their experience and find happiness in travel account of others.

Half of world is in books and rest is spread across the globe. Hence, be dynamic as a traveler and static as a reader. Life will be balanced in middle path between dynamics and statics. Each scientist, artist and even mathematician has traveled in search of true knowledge or mentor.Art Tourism provide tours and travel facilities to provide knowledge about richness of art culture and artworks, styles, school existed in ancient India. Indian subcontinent is well diverse in each aspect of culture. Only Europe can match its diversity but not quality.

This post is dedicated to Rahul Sankrityayan for his inspiring book Ghumakkar Shastra. This book is first hand guide to young mind to unshackle the chains of home, friends and family. Be a perpetual free rider in this transitory world.

Novice Travel Guide

Che Guevara is the role model of many youths across the world. Everyone can feel the voice of Latin America in his thinking. A young man pursuing medical course was transformed into revolutionary by a travel. As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout Latin America and was transformed by the endemic poverty he witnessed. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of monopoly capitalism, neo-colonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution. He became the eminent face of communism in 20 century.
Now, compare yourself with him. You will be the person who has not traveled so far yet.But who am I to tell you to do these adventurous things. Simply NOBODY;Stop reading here if you will be stuck in same place after these lines OR just hear what I want to say.

I started reading novels with “Gulliver travels”,"Around the world in 80 days" and "Sindbad the sailor". 'Triyatri' and 'The Motorcycle Diaries' were inspiring movies for me.

Traveling without an open heart is the loss of time and labor. Make yourself free from previous life experiences and relations.Age is no bar to traveling but young time is preferred. When endurance and passion is high, Traveler can push through stones on the road to his personal milestones. Labyrinth of living and earning consumes your energy level with the age;

“Saer kar duniya ki gafil zindgani phir kahaan,Zindgani gar rahe to, Nazawani phir kahaan”
-Ismael Meeruti.

Think out of Box is nice proverb of English Literature. In Hindi literature, “Koop Manduk”: Frog of well is well defined terms for static people. When you stay for long period of time at anywhere, importance of yours is lost. Your observation skill vanishes due to adaption in monotonous condition.The sense of wonder is lost amid surrounding.Immense knowledge can be incorporated from visiting place. Dissolve in local culture and feel the joy. You will truly feel small and ego will be lost on discovering new world around you. This false egotism comes from ignorance. The more you know, you will become modest and wise.

You have not come this far just to applaud beauty of a building and city. Historical and traditional survey perspective is necessary for getting clear image of society and country.
First hand Tips for Travelers:

· Vagabondage is apart not wholesome of traveling. Read and listen (Observation skills) about the people and visiting places.
· Good Hotels, means of transport and food will not be in your service. Make yourself a rough rider.
· Cultural, Linguistic, geographical and wildlife diversity of the region gives a rough idea about the traveling path.
· Observe the nature. They give the feeling of eternity and transitoriness at same time.
· Not stones but contact with people is significant. Talk if you can to locals about their habitat.
· Traveler should neither hope for eternity nor for the fame. His main concern should be walk less traveled road.
· Lonely planet and Discovery travel and livings are best television shows about traveling.
· Do not wait for Travel grant or reimbursement in future.
· Maintain Travel Diary. It will refresh and inspire you and others in future.
· Last but not least, safety is primary concern. Prefer visiting public places and get your timing of tour synchronized with the local customs.

Each of the readers has lived enough life of Mr. Anderson (Matrix). Do not get the bundle of baggage ready in preparation for departure. Get, set and go neo;Currently, I want to read a book named:The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara;Just read the lines from the book....

"The stars streaked the night sky with light in that little mountain town and the silence and the cold dematerialised the darkness. It was as if all solid substances were spirited away in the ethereal space around us, denying our individuality and submerging us, rigid, in the immense blackness."

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Keep the Spark Alive - Chetan Bhagat, Symbiosis, Pune

Keep the Spark Alive

Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program, Pune 23rd June, 2008

Following is the speech by Chetan Bhagat given at the orientation programme for the new batch of MBA students at Symbiosis, Pune.

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?

Imagine the spark to be a lamp’s flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.

To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn’t any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn’t the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won’t be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature’s design. Are you? Goals will help you do that. I must add, don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, life is one of those races in nursery school, where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One last thing about nurturing the spark - don’t take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.

I’ve told you three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don’t go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it’s life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that’s where you want to be.

Disappointment’ s cousin is Frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don’t know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let’s be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don’t. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don’t get literary praise. It’s ok. I don’t look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It’s ok. Don’t let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is Isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There you go. I’ve told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.

Thank You.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Sign of Wise Person

"ज्ञानी निस्प्प्रेह होता है सबसे, किसे से प्रेम , घृणा

निर्लिप्त अनुभव केवल,वह शून्य है मानो धोंकनी के भीतर

खाली ,लेकिन लगातार देता फूँक, सत्य के अग्नि को

ज्ञानी का अनुभव है धोंकनी के साँस, शून्य में से उद्भूत सत्य की ऊर्जा"

-Lao tse

Understanding Nature

Search for unknown is only goal of curious human mind. The inquiry to recognize phenomenon behind each process is part of human behavior from primitive times. The whole pursuit of science is to understand nature in a simple and single theory. Ultimate theory must be able to define each event of this nature and then universe clearly. Current science has taken mathematics as a base to understand the nature around us.

There is mutual relationship among each unit in the nature. Everyone is connected and interdependent on each other for his survival in nature. But each unit is diverse from each other and categorized in different species. Their population must be taken in account with considering the habitat. Currently, million of species plants and animals exist at present. This shows permutation and combination of millions of parameter interdependent on each other on mathematical scale.

Nectar of discussion lies in process not in details. This balance of nature is dynamic in nature. It is propelled in each plant and animal through evolution. Scientists try to explain forming of this complex system through chaos theory. Survival of life in the form of various organisms with the phases of extinction, adaptation and evolution seems to be lucky chance. From our current knowledge, it appears to be chance of very low probability than a well understood process.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Quotes To Son by Father

I was told by my father these two quotes in childhood days.I admire the point taken by these quotes:
लीक छोड के तीन चले ,शायर सिंह सपूत\
पूत कपूत तो का धन सांचे,पूत सपूत तो का धन सांचे\