My Fellow Traveller

Continuing the tale of humorous incident and anecdote in my life, I am reminded of a hilarious encounter which I had in the very 1st year of my job... It was the year 2006 and I had come home to attend to some domestic work for few days.... I had booked the return journey to Chennai by the Coramondel Express... 

I boarded the train at my home town of Cuttack... While traveling by train, it has always been my habit of booking the upper berth as it helps me to sleep all the way and  also is of little interference to families traveling in the same compartment who require a bit of more space than singleton like us...As I had just joined job newly and was short on leave, I had planned my schedule ahead which looked no short of the blueprint of a war strategy... All my activity which I had to carry out back at home were listed down with timeline for completing them... So much so that I had few works scheduled which I had to address on the way to the station ! 

As a result you can imagine the state in which I reached the railway station... I was worn out, dog tired and ready to fall down asleep at the sight of the 1st closest place for sleeping... I bid my younger brother adieu at the station and headed straight for my seat... It was a relief for me as I could get a seat in the 2nd A/C Compartment despite last minute booking... The A/C was on full blast and the temeprature (though it was freezing inside) was of the right degree to me given my state of tiredness... I threw my bag on the upper berth, hastily climbed up, fell on the seat and immediately  was fast asleep...

A jerk in the train woke me up.. The train had reached the Bhubaneswar station and some passengers were getting in for the onward journey... I saw a fairly tall, dark and well built man making his way to our section... He gave me a broad grin and immediately I knew that it would be a good journey given the friendliness of my fellow traveller...

The gentleman got talking and from his conversation I came to know that he is a black belt (of the highest category) in karate and is a popular fight master in the Southern film industry... He had come on a short assignment to direct fight sequence in some Oriya movie... He narrated how he was made to slog day and night (for the last 3 days) to complete the fight sequence of some new movie... This may be due to the hefty amount he charged for his trade and Oriya film industry being not so affluent industry wanted to get all work done at one go... He looked completely exhausted and ready to drop down for sleep as much or more than I did...

However, his sleep was short lived as there was some confusion and commotion with some passenger who claimed the seat to be his seat... Both of them were arguing ferociously and in the end went to meet the Ticket collector to settle the matter... I could not bear to keep awake to see the conclusion of the fight (my eyes were already heavy with sleep) and hence I went to sleep... It was almost late evening by that time...Although I had a slight cold, I did not take the blanket due to heaviness of the sleep...

I floated to another world in my sleep and saw myriad of strange images, tale and story (as happens when one is totally worn out and tired) which I could not really comprehend.... Suddenly I heard a thud and sensation of somebody shaking me wildly....

I opened my eyes with difficulty and what I saw in front of me was a incredible sight...

The tough man was standing with his arms in akimbo form in front of me, staring at me with bloodshot eyes and talking loudly...

"What is the matter" I asked dazed and bleary eyed barely able to open my eyes to the broad morning daylight around me..

"Ah... 'whats the matter' the laat sahib asks me" he almost shouted down at me... "the matter is, my most honourable master, is that I have not been able to take even one miserable wink the whole of last night" He was furious and it seemed that he will hit somebody as a logical conclusion to his fury

"But what could I do if you did not sleep... am I to blame" I said innocently

"Blame... no.. no... no... no blame.... you are to be given Bharat Ratna award for your feat" He said sarcastically

"Sir" I said, now irritated and angry... " Would you tell me what is the matter and why did you wake me up so rudely"...

"Now the great Nawab Saheb wants to know why I woke up His Highness" His voice sounded more frustrated than sarcastic

"Come on... I will tell you" He said almost menacingly and threateningly... " It is the thunderous sound of your highness' snoring which prevented this humble servant from having any sleep last night..." He said with a disgust and contempt in his voice which was unparalleled..

"I am really sorry... I had a cold yesterday and also due to the freezing coldness in the compartment I may have snored a bit " I said genuinely apologetic of something on which I had no control

"SNORED A BIT" He thundered down upon me... now Sir says that he snored a bit" He was now getting ready to pulverise me, or so I thought.... " Each snoring was like the blast of canon as that of the late Nizam of Hyderabad from the Golconda fort... and no sir (now he was referring to all others wide eyed passengers around him) it was not like it came at all the time... It came in heavy installments... Sir will unleash his canon on me and when I thought that the worse was over and try to get some sleep, it will come thundering down to wake me once and for all".... He said in a frustrating tone. ... " The whole night yesterday I was trying to get some sleep.. what with all the hard work that I had to do and then the seat dispute.. finally when I thought that I was about to get some sleep.. along came Sir... gentleman and all by his look... bulldozing my entire night's sleep with his royal snoring.."

I was really getting embarrassed and tried apologising but he would  have none of it.. Thats when his cellphone rang and he just kept on saying 'yes' yes' in to the phone... He hung up the phone and said almost like a tragedy character right out of the Greek myhtlogy " Now thats what you all call luck... after Sir here succeeded in spoiling my sleep, my producer at Hyderabad calls me up to tell me that we have a day long shooting for the fight sequence which will take most part of night too.. I tried to reason with him and get today off... But he will have none of it and threatened to replace me with some new comer..." He said almost at the verge of tear... 

"Thank you Sir.. Thank you very much for all you did" He said as Hyderabad station neared.. and he went in to his own old histrionics and lamentation.. This was becoming too much for me... so I just turned and faced my back to him as he went on for another 10 mins till his station came... 

That day I realised what a bad cold and choked up respiratory pasage can do and unwittingly make you the possessor of the deadliest WM(S)D (not Weapon of Mass Destruction) but What My Snoring can Do(? To You) ...   ;)

Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman !

My pre matriculate period was marked by frequent change of school and I got a chance to study in  both English and local vernacular medium schools which has left a trail of happy memories with me...

One of the memorable incident happened when I had come back from The Gambia, West Africa and joined 9th Standard in a local English Medium School in Cuttack..

We had a great English teacher who was a retired person from a reputed English medium school. This gentleman was in to his late 70s but still came to teach us due to his passion and interest in teaching... He introduced us to the realm of serious English literature while he taught us Shakespeare, poem by famous poets and short stories ( all part of our board exam curriculum) with such skills and expertise that we would eagerly look forward to his class each day. His theatrical expression, ability to connect with the students, knowledge of the subject made him a dear teacher to everybody...

Once he was teaching us the famous poem "She Walks in Beauty" by P.B Shelly where the poet goes on to describe the beauty of a female face though flowery comparison and similes...

Pre-lunch he started the poem but by lunch time was only half way through it (what with his detailed explanation of each words of the poem and its real and poetic meaning). He promised to finish the session with his usual question and answer session for the students at the end of the poem...

One of my dear friend by the name Raju had special tiffin that day during lunch as his mother had prepared special food for him as it was his sister's birthday. The lunch consisted of  special preparation (from home) of rice, sambar, chutney with rice cake... Being a food lover he could not resist and had a bellyful of the same without sharing any of it with us. We were surprised as usually Raju was a very jovial guy and shared most of his tiffin with us which we also reciprocated.. But no Sir ! today was different as we watched helplessly Raju devouring the entire stuff in glee...

Post lunch, as is the common experience world wide, is a drowsy affair to say the least... God may have mercy on the teacher who has a post lunch class as you would require more than study matter to keep the students awake (what else could keep them awake... Now that I have awakened your imagination, happy hunting...) Anyways coming back to the main point, that afternoon session, to my memory, was the drowsiest of all the classes that I can remember... Sir was at his lowest spirit due to the heavy lunch and somehow managed to complete the poem... By that time most of the people were already dozing asleep and/or dozing...

Sir started his usual question answer session and Raju by that time has started his afternoon slumber somewhere near the back seat with strict instruction (as usual) for us to wake him up if there was an emergency.. But peeved like we were in his non cooperation in sharing that tasty heavenly food, we decided to make it an exception that day..

Before I come to the last part of the story I must tell you that Raju was one of the favourite of Sir in the class...

In the flow of the session. Sir innocently directed a question at Raju being unable to see Raju clearly due to his (Sir's) failing eye sight; ( he also was considered very Innocent by Sir) thus:

"Beta Raju, now tell me what are the dark features (meaning hair) on a woman's face" Raju , busy in his slumber, did not respond to him and as he (Sir) was repeating it for the 2nd time someone from the fairer sex in the class nudged him ( as is the wont of the fairer sex to be always fair.. ;) no pun intended)...

He suddenly awoke with a start, barely heard the questions and started answering the question assuming the face in question to be his face ( you know how stupid we can become when we suddenly start from the sleep and try to act immediately.. get the picture.. right...)

So read on the fun part for rest of the conversation:

"Hair" Said Raju

"Good" Said Sir

"Eyebrow" Said Raju

"Very Good" Said Sir

"Eye Lashes" Said Raju

"Excellent" Said Sir

"Moustache" Said Raju

Sir was dumbstruck... It was as if a lightning has stuck him.. and that too from his favourite student..

The whole class was laughing uproariously by now... Thats when  when came the final parting shot....

"Beard - which can be partial in case of french beard or full as in beard kept by sadhus" Said Raju showing off his prowess in the way he can go to details in depth...

All of us were laughing holding our bellies and ready to roll on the floor and die laughing...

Sir's face was a face seen to believed... He was livid with rage and started trembling (showing his pale false teeth which was fitting poorly)... In a fit of anger he left our class vowing never to return again...

A few days later we heard Raju has also gone missing and his parent discovered him at some Ashram in West Bengal where he had taken diksha to become a sage... Though he came back (with the "beard" and all) but again we heard he ran off vowing never to return.. Nor did Sir....

The "God Complex"

Yesterday was awake till 1.30 in the night watching this gripping thriller "Malice" on Star Movies. A movie which starts off with young girls being mysteriously murdered in a laid back U.S neighbourhood; actually does quite a twist on its head and provides immense mystery and intrigue to the plot and makes it a totally watchable fair...

Tracy (Nicole Kidman) and Andy (Bill Pullman) are two happily married couple and suddenly one day they bump in to Dr. Jed Hill (Alec Baldwin) who happens to be the classmate of Andy from High School...

However, for me the high point of the movie (no doubt the plot and sub plot were the winners handsdown) was when Tracy had a familiar attack of abdominal pain and is taken to the hospital. The operating surgeon happens to be Dr. Jed Hill who opens her abdomen up. Upon opening the abdomen, they find out that one of her ovary has a cyst and has to be removed. Further examination reveals that the other ovary might require removal (Dr. Hill thinks that it is necrotic and should be removed while his team feels other wise). Without heeding to the team's advice Dr. Hill proceeds to remove Tracy's 2nd ovary.

After surgery, when the 2nd ovary was carefully examined, it was found that it was an absolutely healthy ovary and due to a judgment error by Dr. Hill Tracy could no longer bear children...

Tracy, pushes for a case of medical negligence and charges the surgeon with medical negligence with serious consequence to the patient i.e in this case the inability on Tracy's part to become mother  ever again. A medical board is constituted where Tracy and Dr. Hill's lawyer argues out the case and all the while Dr. Hill calmly listens. Upon inquiry with Dr. Hill's  teacher from Harvard Medical School and reading from his (teacher's) comment in the past on the overall attitude of Dr. Hill in having a "God Complex" in his approach to treating patients, Dr. Hill can no longer holds himself and bursts with extreme vehemence on the lawyer thus:

"Dr. Hill: The question is, 'Do I have a God complex?' which makes me wonder if this... lawyer... has any idea as to the kind of grades one has to receive in college to be accepted at a top medical school. If you have the vaguest clue as to how talented someone has to be to lead a surgical team. I have an M.D. from Harvard. I am board certified in cardio-thoracic medicine and trauma surgery. I have been awarded citations from seven different medical boards in New England, and I am never, ever, sick at sea. So I ask you, when someone goes in to that chapel and they fall on their knees and they pray to God that their wife doesn't miscarry, or that their daughter doesn't bleed to death, or that their mother doesn't suffer acute neural trauma from post-operative shock, who do you think they're praying to? You go ahead and read your Bible... Dennis, and you go to your church, and with any luck you might win the annual raffle, but if you're looking for God, He was in operating room number two on November 17th, and He doesn't like to be second guessed. You ask me if I have a God complex? Let me tell you something. I AM God"

As myself and my wife watched the movie, my wife watched at the screen in utter disbelieve as to whether any doctor could utter such things...

However, the fact of the matter is an increasing percentage of doctors, physicians and surgeon suffer from the "God Complex" which arises from the larger fact that modern medicine has given them enormous power to heal diseases and patient beyond the boundaries of the possible...The gratitude, supplication and reverence which should have humbled these professionals, have wrongly, stoked that "God like" fire in them where they leave under the illusion of being God and playing God... With multiple leaps in scientific and genome discovery, man is in the verge of creating life and playing God... Only time will tell us if he is able to match the compassion and benevolence that comes along with the tag of playing "God"...

Having worked in the health care field for nearly 4 years, I have seen doctors who are a mix of people with "God like Complex" and people who are so humbled by the enormity of their responsibility and power as to make one's selves bow one's head in reverence...

The people who have a mis conception of being God are people who have the least consideration for human life or emotion... Beyond their regular clinical life, they are sheer brutes and ruthless dictators who think that all human dignity and respect is below their stature and they can do to their subordinate anything that they please to do... Such an extension, beyond the clinical realm, makes life of people who work with such demon a living hell... 

Fortunately, I have been blessed with bosses who are great doctors, leaders and human being who have sensitivity to the feelings of not only their patients but also to their subordinates and colleagues. It has been my constant endeavor to stand up strongly against any such tyrant during my career and refuse to be subjected to his whims and fancy as I myself being a doctor do not subscribe to such point of view...

Can Do, Will Teach...

In the course of a person's journey and his evolution, comes a time when man is at a cross road and has to take decision on Which is the best option for him as a traveler...

In recent times I have toyed with the idea of getting fully in to training  and education initiatives in the public health domain... The reasons are many... some of which I will try to put down as:

1. I have enjoyed teaching and structuring new education/training program addressing the 'felt needs' of the audience,
2. The most enduring impact on health status or services can directly be made in the best manner by ensuring that your workers are trained adequately in the work/services that they are supposed to deliver at a community level and,
3. In my opinion (that's just 'in my opinion' totally), the most rapid and swift impact on any intervention can be made effectively through the right training and education

 When I turned to literature, Internet and did some groundwork to somehow 'justify' my feelings ;) I came across some pros and cons of the idea and one the quotation by George Bernard Shaw was something which made me stop and think awhile...

The famous GBS, in one of his famous quotation says (rather humorously though)

" Those who can, do; those who can't, teach'.

Although said in good humour by old man GBS, it made me think...

It has been a universal and rather sad common thread running across all the nation across the world which is this: that the people who take up teaching are the one, who for lack of any other vocation takes to this profession while comfortably oblivious of the fact that it is the job of the highest order which requires to shape the thought leaders of tomorrow, the inspiring generals of our future nations, the compassionate saints of humanity and the sharp scientists who will take world to its new era; in fact the learning institute in that sense becomes the crucible where our tomorrow takes form and shape in the hands of the inimitable artist: the teacher...

Indeed, such is the power of teachers as we have seen through ages: examples of Chanakya, Aristotole and Socrates abounds who have helped shaped our history, destiny and the course of human civilisation...

But the question remains thus: if we do understand so much about the value of teachers and their contribution in shaping future generation, then why across the world teacher and teaching is such a neglected issue. The answer I think lies within ourselves...

Although all of us cherish the value that our teacher gave us, hold on to their ideals and become nostalgic when we mention their name; yet how many of us would really like to venture out to teaching ourselves as a full time vocation...

I remember a small incidence which gets back to me on occasions like these...

We were in The Gambia and I heard a small conversation between my school principal and the head of the training institute for the community (The school was a charitable school run by my community.).. The Principal was complaining about the quality of teachers who come out of the training institute to join the various schools of the community and how appalling was their standard overall not only in terms of teaching but also in their overall conduct and discipline..

The head of the training institute just heard the Principal out, smiled and replied in Urdu...

"Kya karien.. hamarey jaise padhe likhe log apne acche bacchon ko doctor ya engineer banane bhej diya karte hain.. aur jo ghar mein koyee kaam ka na ho.. jo khud padhayee thik se na kar raha ho, shararati ho usse hum training isnittute bhej dete hain teacher ban ne.. (What to do, educated people like us send our meritorious children to become doctors and engineers.. while the one's who do not do so well in studies and are mischievous are sent to the training institute to become teachers)..

However, with increasing demand on teachers (who  more than help you cram up theories and show you easier way to pass your examination) a time has come when there is increasing demand on  those who are good practitioners of the art and are hence increasingly asked to double up as teachers to pass their skill along... As for me, I have realised this new phenomenon (with which I have experimented myself ) hold s a great deal of  practical implications for the organization.. Increasingly I have seen that by working on such an assumption and making it a reality (in a participative manner), the performance of the workforce has gone up manifold with fresh energy being infused in them through the new training and capacity building program...

As for me, the journey of my own evolution and self development has started yet again and as with other such experiences, I will await this experience to enrich me and make me more complete as a person and and as a professional...

 Will end by sharing a quote which inspired me...

The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "apparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people. 

 

K. Patricia Cross

Stay Hungry... Stay foolish...

A long time back I had read the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered to the graduating batch of 2005 at Stanford University.

The speech had a great influence on me not only because of its message but in its simple yet emphatic way that it delivered those messages...Thought would share with you the content of the speech . Find the same produced here in toto...

"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."

Bounty of Tolerance

This whole year has been quite turbulent for the city of Hyderabad; what with the 'T' issue raising its malignant head every now and then, and now the recent disharmony leading to curfew and disruption of normal life resulting out of few intolerance and large amount of petty politics...

In an era when we challenge the league of nations in becoming the next superpower, when India and Indians the world over has become synonymous with such words like success and achievement; such an incident not only paints a sorry pictures of us as a nation living in the Stone Age but also gives us enough food for thought of understanding the real miasm behind the malady...

Tolerance, they say, comes with a society in which each community is aware and sensitive to each other and has weathered harsh time with perseverance and fortitude together to emerge as a mature society and hence gains among other bounties the bounty of tolerance...

I still remember as kid we used to listen to my mom and uncle (especially my younger maternal uncle) who used to recount the turbulent times post independence when there was rampant rioting and unrest... Many of grandma's relative had decide to move to the 'New found Land' (either East or West Pakistan) and were hurt, disappointed and dismayed that my grandpa chose to stay over in the country of his birth and not the country of his 'faith'...

My grandpa was a Deputy Superintendent of Police with the newly formed government... His work took him far and wide in to pockets of trouble within the state to restore law and order... This vocation of his kept him mostly away from home... As the the children were growing up, my grandpa built a house in Cuttack (the house built on a patch of land near my great grandpa's house) where my mom and her sibling grew up...

Rampant communal tension and riots used to break out those days over petty issues and people no matter on whichever side, used to live in perpetual fear of rioting and large scale looting...

Of the many incident that my mother recounted, the account which remains etched in my memory till date was as follows:

It was early 50's and there was a large scale rioting and civil unrest in the city resulting out of some miscreant throwing stones at the religious shrine of other community; rioter from both communities were on the rampage killing each other as if there is no tomorrow and this was their judgment day... With situation growing worse, my grandma alone with 4 kids decided to take refuge in one of our family friend's house close by as rioters reached each area and tried to identify members belonging to the opposite community through local help...

This family friend of ours (whom we fondly called as Mousa meaning uncle in Oriya) was a well renowned public figure in Orissa being an eminent educationist and intellectual of our state.. he also was a puritan Brahmin belonging to the lineage of the pandas ( personal servants of Lord Jagganath)... He provided shelter to the distraught family and assured them of their safety...

That's when a group of hooligans knocked on his door... They had gone up to the house and finding it empty had wrecked havoc with the furniture and belongings in their frustration... Some veiled voice told them that they have taken shelter in the aforesaid gentleman's house...

The mad mob came hurtling towards the gentleman's house... Loud banging could be heard on the front door... The old lady and her kids were mortified with fear and awaited their end...

Everybody in the house panicked.. But our family friend was unmoved and reassured all that everything would be fine...

With such confidence he marched to the front door... He towered over others with authority and asked in a gruff voice " what is it?".... The mob receded a bit knowing him previously and respecting him for his stature and personality...

" we were looking for the family from the other community... we know that they are taking shelter in your house... being a devout brahmin that you are, we request you to hand over them to us... you will be doing a great service to your community..."

" No way would I hand over even a single person to you" thundered the usually calm and composed gentleman... They have taken shelter in my house and for them I am their saviour... Our religion teaches to save those who come to your refuge with all you have... So shall I... If you have to get them, you have to walk over my dead body and get to them" said Mousa almost charged and roaring... " Now if any of you have the guts to kill me, come forward..." He roared like a lion..

The motley mob looked at each other and finding them selves speechless, dispersed and melted in to the streets of Cuttack sheepishly...

The gentleman then requested my grandma and her family to stay as long as they wanted and after many days drove them himself to the Police Colony where her brother was working...

Till date both family keep in touch with each other and come Eid or Diwali we would go to Mausi's (Mausa is no longer alive and passed away when we were kids) house and would get sweet, snacks and Eidi from her... Both the family attend each others wedding and the kids touch the feet of the elders whenever they meet each other (much to the astonishment of people from both the communities)

Such was the example of non-partisanship, secularism and belief in the good of humanity that our previous generations had.. With progressing time, it is expected that we would be notches higher and better than they were and show more of those quality with a universal spirit of compassion...

True we may have achieved those quality theoretically but when put to test such virtues crumble in the face of adversity... Hyderabad may be an indication for us all to introspect and strengthen these values in ourselves.. Only then can we hope to stand united and expect to expose the narrow divisive politics behind such act and hope to cleanse our system..

Let my great country awake.....

Inspiration

Afternoon can sometimes be quite boring especially if it is a hot summer afternoon with the sun blazing outside and everybody cooling their heels inside; the sense of drowsiness and languor that threatens to overtake you... It is at this hour that thought of negativity and pessimism looms larger on the mind's horizon looking for a slight leeway to take over one's entire thinking process...

Today was one such particular day and I decided to tear myself away from it so that I do not take the spiraling route to the dark despair which such thoughts have generally on people..

In such a situation I turned to the best buddy available i.e the internet and googled on hope, optimism and inspiration.. I really got some gem which I want to share with all of you:

" Treat your life as a television set. And when your thought project channels of unhappiness hit the next button on your mental remote. Switch to something pleasant and stick to the happy networks...." Alex Shalman

Have you ever asked yourself what is inspiration?
When the word inspiration is broken down into it's component parts, it simply means "in - spirit".
When you are living "in - spirit" You feel excited about yourself and your life. You have a special connection with all parts of your mind and body.
The question is how can we connect to our spirit at all times to take that actions that make all things possible ?
Below are ten keys to opening your doors to your inspiration.
1. The first key to inspiration is enjoyment. It would take a spiritual master to get inspired about doing the dishes. So find something that really excites you. It can be anything that you really enjoy.
2. The second key is love. When you are actively pouring love into what you are doing, this will guarantee that you are opening yourself to experiencing more inspiration.
3. The third key is to trust yourself. Listen to that little voice inside yourself and know that this comes from heart. This is called intuition.
4. The fourth key is to follow what your intuition tells you. The more you listen to it, the stronger your intuition will become. If you don't pay attention, that little voice gets fainter and fainter until you can no longer hear it.
5. The fifth key is to keep telling yourself "I can". These are some of the most powerful words that you can ever use. When you say this to yourself often enough, you build abridge between yourself and your inspiration.
6. The sixth key is not to listen to anyone that says "no you can't". They might think that they may not be able to, and try to project this negative belief onto you, but remember to keep telling yourself that, "I can! "
7. The seventh key is to believe in yourself. When you are backed by a strong belief in yourself and your dreams, nothing is impossible.
8. The eighth key is to avoid negativity. Ask yourself, do you really need to read the newspaper or watch the news on TV everyday ? Nothing kills inspiration quicker than being surrounded by bad news.
9. The ninth key is acceptance. Accept that on some days you feel much more inspired than on others. This is normal, nobody can be completely inspired every minute of the day.
10. The tenth key is possibly the most important of all. Take action every day, no matter how small a step it seems. Action is the fuel to the fires of inspiration. Make it a daily practise to keep your fire burning. The taking of actions, no matter how small, will fill you with inspiration for taking the next step....