Isn’t journey a destination?

माया माया रे, ठगनी माया रे

2011-11-06T12:46:00.000-08:00

Listening to Maya - a collaboration between Indian Ocean and Mohit Chauhan. Song is good, but somehow Mohit Chauhan was missing - I mean, it was more of a guest appearance for Mohit and did not appear to be a collaboration at any stage.

btw माया क्या है

अच्छा सवाल है
एक कहानी सुनाता हूँ, बचपन मे पढ़ी थी, याद नहीं कहाँ .
इस कहानी को कई तरह से सुनाया गया है, कभी कृष्ण सुदामा तो कभी विष्णु नारद और कभी कृष्ण और नारद के बीच हुई बातो के तौर पर.
कही सुदामा पानी लाने की जगह एक लड़की के प्रेम में फँस जाते है तो कही वो खुद एक लड़की के रूप में जन्म लेते है ..

जो हमें ज्यादा बढ़िया लगी, वो कहानी हम आप तक पहुचाते है - अपने अंदाज़ मे, यानी थोड़े फेर बदल के साथ

सुदामा जी को कृष्ण से कहते है , प्रभु हमें भी समझाओ तो सही की ये माया है क्या आखिर.
उनकी जिद के आगे कृष्ण भी झुक जाते है और कहते है माया को समझा नहीं जाता अनुभव किया जाता है. खैर कोई बात नहीं एक बार नदी मे एक डुबकी लगा के तो आओ, फिर तुम्हे बताता हूँ की माया क्या है.
सुदामा जी जैसे ही डुबकी लगाने लगते है, उनका पैर फिसल जाता है. नदी मे एक घड़ियाल होता है जो उनका पैर खीच के उन्हें गहरे पानी मे खींच लेता है और सुदामा कृष्ण को आवाज़ भी नहीं दे पाते, और मृत्यु को प्राप्त होते है.
सुदामा कुछ सोचते उस से पहले ही उन्हें दिखता है की उनकी आत्मा पुनरजन्म के लिए नगर सेठ के घर की और चल पड़ी है. सुदामा जी का जन्म नगर सेठ के घर मे होता है, मगर जब तक वो कुछ बोलना सीख पाते, वो कृष्ण और अपने पिछले जन्म को ही भूल जाते है और नये जीवन मे रम जाते है. जैसे जैसे समय बीतता जाता है , सुदामा युवा होते है, नगर सेठ बनते है और एक सुन्दर सी कन्या से उनका विवाह होता है. जीवन अच्छे से व्यतीत होने लगता है. पुत्र पुत्रियों के अलावा पोत्र पोत्री, प्रपोत्र, प्रपोत्री भी बड़े होने लगते है, और एक दिन उनका यानि नगर सेठ के शरीर का अंतिम दिन भी आ जाता है. मृत्यु के बाद सुदामा को अपना शरीर जलने के लिए ले के जाता दिखता है और वो अपने शोक कुल परिवार से अलग होने के बारे मे सोच कर बहुत ज्यादा दुखी होते है, जैसे ही राम नाम सत्य है का कोलाहल उन्हें दूर से सुनाई देता है, अचानक उनका शरीर ऊपर उठने लगता है. सुदामा यानि नगरसेठ अपने परिवार को जोर से आवाज़ देंना चाहते है, मगर अचानक देखते है की वो तो नदी मे है और कृष्ण उनके बगल मे खड़े मंद मंद मुस्कुरा रहे है, तभी उन्हें सामने से आता हुआ अपना यानि नगर सेठ का परिवार दिखता है. वो सब नगर सेठ के शरीर को जलाने नदी किनारे आये होते है, सुदामा उन्हें आवाज़ देना चाहते है मगर उनका गला रुंध सा जाता है. उन्हें समझ मे आ गया होता है, की एक पल मे, एक डुबकी लगाने जितने समय में वो एक पूरा जीवन जी चुके होते है.

यही माया है.

.

न अपनी खुशी आये, न अपनी ख़ुशी चले

2011-11-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

Listening to an old ghazal of Jauk (contemporary fo Ghalib), sung by K L Sehgal.

लाई हयात आये, कजा ले चली चले
न अपनी खुशी से आये, न अपनी ख़ुशी चले

बेहतर तो है यही के न दुनिया से दिल लगे
पर क्या करे जो काम न बेदिल्लगी चले

दुनिया ने किस का राह-ए-फ़ना में दिया है साथ
तुम भी चले चलो य़ू ही, जब तक चली चले

हयात - Nature, existence
कजा - Death

चिंता ता की कीजीऐ, जो अनहोनी होए

2011-11-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

रामु गइओ रावनु गइओ जा कउ बहु परवारु
कहु नानक थिरु कछु नही सुपने जिउ संसारु

चिंता ता की कीजीऐ, जो अनहोनी होए ॥
इहु मारगु संसार को नानक थिरु नही कोइ

- गुरु तेग बहादुर

अर्थात
राम भी नहीं रह सके, रावन को भी जाना पड़ा - चाहे जितना बड़ा परिवार था - कोई नहीं रोक सका - जो होना था वो हुआ. कुछ भी हमेशा के लिए नहीं है, ये संसार एक सपने जैसा है.

चिंता ता की कीजीऐ जो अनहोनी होइ, अर्थात
चिंता तो उस बात की करो जो की न होनी हो -
This is deep, I like it - He is not asking us to start worrying for things that are not supposed to happen, but asking us to realise that there is nothing like अनहोनी - or "not supposed to happen".
No event can have a tag that "it was not supposed to happen".

Whatever will happen, was actually supposed to happen, and hence not unhonee.
इहु मारगु संसार को नानक थिरु नही कोइ - on this road called world, Nothing is permanent. It will change.

सो इस संसार की हर बात बदलने वाली है, कुछ भी ऐसा नहीं है जिसे देख कर आप कह सके की यह तो अनहोनी थी. जो भी होगा वो तो होना ही था. और जिस बात के बारे मे आपको पता ही है की ये तो होनी है, उसकी चिंता कैसी.

Somewhere it resonates with the Geeta Saar.

or if you relate more with the man who knew too much -
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be.

Cognitive dissonance & BLIND support for Anna

2011-08-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Would Lokpal change everything in your day-to-day life? Any rational thinking person would know the answer, still why there is the kind of BLIND support for the movement
I think the reason is that we want to minimize the cognitive dissonance.

We all have been guilty of promoting corruption in some form of other, but our ego defense mechanism says that no you were a victim, you have always wanted this corruption to end. By supporting Anna you are externalizing this problem of corruption, a malaise that is not being promoted by you but you are a victim.
Think again, how many times you had the choice and still chose to bribe to take a shortcut (remember the last time traffic police caught you when you were on phone; or the time when you had got on to the train on a RAC ticket ; or the time when you took your kid to for admission or ….) You never demanded bribe, but you yielded to take an easy route and promoted corruption. Now the moral values book that you teach your kids, the stand in debates that you take, does not go well with what your actions. This has been troubling you at the back of your mind, and the moment someone (Anna) brings up the issue, you feel caught red handed. Ego self defense mechanism kicks in and says, you are with Anna, you have been a victim who has yielded to corruption because of the corrupt system, now with Lokpal it will all end, afterall it’s the panacea to all kind of corruption.

Gandhi said, Be the change you want to see in the world.
Make a choice not to support/promote corruption in day to day life.

I think once you get rid of your guilty conscience (by self awareness) , you will not be blindly supporting the Lokpal, you will try and analyze have realistic fact based discussion on pros and cons of Lokpal, how to increase its efficacy, rather than blindly support it. You will also be able to make your ego collect the courage to exercise the choice of not promoting corruption.

ग़ालिब

2011-04-12T04:19:00.000-07:00

मुझ से मत कह तू हमें कहता था अपनी जिंदगी
जिंदगी से भी मेरा ज़ी इन दिनों बेज़ार सा है !

उम्र भर देखा किये मरने कि राह,
मर गए पर देखिये दिखलाये क्या ?

पूछते है वो कि 'ग़ालिब' कौन है ?
कोई बतलाओ कि हम बतलाये क्या ?
- ग़ालिब

Behavioural changes and War

2011-03-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Just reading Locust and grasshopper are same species, its just that grasshopper change shape & form and behaviourally on crowding.
Hmm.. So the enviornment and esp crowding has a lot to do with the behaviour - atleast for locusts.

There are behavioural switches in humans as well, maternal behaviour or PMSing behaviour change is something genetically hardwired in human females (this one deserves a separate blog post for sure). The secration of harmonses changes the person so much, tat it is diffcult to believe that you are dealing with the same individual. There are other non violent behaviour changes driven by environment - I am given to understand that we are even genetically hardwired to reciprocate after being given something.

Speaking of hardwiring of human brain, we are hardwired to survive - at all costs. Even if it means killing others. We kill others to ensure our survival with a utter disregard for their right to survive - (eggs or chicken on day to day and other humans during war times). This is not unique to humans, all animals have this trait, which is is a manifestation of life's most basic instinct of Survival.
This fight for survival is at the base of every fight for territory among animals, or wars that humans fight. War waged by western world for democracy in Libiya or Iraq or against AlQuaida is not all about eagletarian objective - deep down it is a fight for resources , fight for ensuring survival.

So this brings me to the question - are some cultures more violent than others - is it possible that they are more violent because of the kind of genepool that they inherited ?Specifically does this mean Islam is more violent due to what they inherited in gene pool. I dont think so.Evolution is a very very slow process. Islam or any religion for that matter has not been around for enough time to have impacted the genepool.
But then why ar so many muslims all over world sounding like fanatics - not only in Afganistan or kashmir,but even in UK or Delhi for that matter? Even more surprising is the fact that the same person who was a liberal is changing .. becoming somewhat more hardened.

Does it have something to do with crowding - or behaviour of mobs.
War too is a behavioural switch - we (or for that matter any other animal) are not fighting at all times. They are fighting in regions where they are threatened for their survival. Afterall we are genetically programmed /hardwired to fight when we are threatened for survivial. The problem is accentuated all over the world because western world tries to put all muslims in one basket. When fighting against AlQaida in Afghanistan, it should be projected as a fight against the terrorist in a particular region, rather than be projected as a fight against the muslim world.
So any religion / any genepool would behave in the same fashion the way current muslim world does, if they are put in the same situation.

Any thing that really sets "them" apart.. anything that makes western world feel threatened from muslims? yes the fact that their numbers have swelled suddenly, that means your genepool would have lower probability of survival over next few thousand years. You may not take a concious call on it, but you are hardwired for it.

So why was there a sudden increase in population?
One of the precipitating factor that I see, is the fact that muslim world was relatively backword/mired in poverty till recent times. and that meant you have to have more kids for a fair chance of having a offspring surviving to give birth to next generation ( or preserve your gene pool). Sudden discovery of oil meant prosperity coming to the middle east, predominantly to muslims in that region. This meant access to medical facilities, better nutrition and better chances of survival. Since muslims were being clubbed in basket, it meant the middle east muslims start supporting other muslims countries (this would increase thier chance of being able to fight back and survive - incase there is a fight for survival).

There have been wars whenever there has been overcrowding, and a fight for resources. The muslims too fight among themselves, shia vs sunni. For that matter I am told among Hindus as well Shaiv vs Vaishnav riots were common in ancient times. Christians to have had spilled the blood of their fellow christians- religion has got not much to do with our cruel ways.
Infact discovery of America / Australia have taken away the overcrowding from the Europe in a big way.

The behaviour of a mob is very different from the behaviour of individuals. During peace times we all trust each other, during a riot - and esp if there is a possibility of you being impacted, your response would change dramatically.

Just wondering what does this mean for
- India, whose population density is among the highest in the world / and overcrowding is making the resources scarce.
- USA/ developed world - whose territory is being claimed by others.

Gazetteer of Ulwur

2011-02-07T06:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.archive.org/stream/gazetteerofulwur00powliala#page/n5/mode/2up
Now this is a wonderful piece of History, written at a time when Alwar was still referred to as Ulwar.

(btw Alwar was formerly known as "Ulwar". This placed it in last position in alphabetically ordered lists, so a king renamed it to "Alwar" to bring it to the top.)

This book happens to have information which I would not ave found on Wikipedia or any other place otherwise.

The future is yours, it belongs to you,

2011-01-29T00:57:00.001-08:00

This beautiful verse was on the best of luck card sent to me in 1998 by my Elder brother.

The future is yours, it belongs to you,
And with faith in God
and in yourself, too,
No hill is too high,
no mountain too tall,
For with faith in the Lord,
you can conquer them all...
And all that you wish for
that is honest and true
The Lord will certainly give to you,
Not always the way you most desire
But always He gives
what you most require.

These words inspire a lot of confidence - "Future is yours, it belongs to you".. kind of makes you feel that whatever you are attempting for your future is already yours, all what you have to do is, just claim it.

I also love the way it makes you prepared to accept the results - even if they are not what you had attempted.
"Not always the way you most desire
But always He gives
what you most require."

Accept what has been the result - don't get disheartened - this may not be what you desired but, it is what you actually required - (As judged by God - so don't question that).

विस्तृत नभ का कोई कोना, मेरा न कभी अपना होना, परिचय इतना इतिहास यही, उमड़ी कल थी मिट आज चली

2010-01-21T07:28:00.000-08:00

मैं नीर भरी दुख की बदली!

स्पंदन में चिर निस्पंद बसा,
क्रंदन में आहत विश्व हँसा,
नयनों में दीपक से जलते,
पलकों में निर्झणी मचली!

मेरा पग पग संगीत भरा,
श्वासों में स्वप्न पराग झरा,
नभ के नव रंग बुनते दुकूल,
छाया में मलय बयार पली!

मैं क्षितिज भृकुटि पर घिर धूमिल,
चिंता का भार बनी अविरल,
रज-कण पर जल-कण हो बरसी,
नव जीवन-अंकुर बन निकली!

पथ न मलिन करता आना,
पद चिह्न न दे जाता जाना,
सुधि मेरे आगम की जग में,
सुख की सिहरन हो अंत खिली!

विस्तृत नभ का कोई कोना,
मेरा न कभी अपना होना,
परिचय इतना इतिहास यही,
उमड़ी कल थी मिट आज चली
- Mahadevi Verma.

I am very impressed by the last two stanzas.
I identify myself with these two stanzas - as a cloud which is here for the timebeing, though not as a "dukh ki badli".

Racism

2009-06-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

Why do we expect foreigners (read whites) to be better than ourselves.
A racist attack in australia is seen as a totally unacceptable, but the similar attack in Ludhiana against Biharis or against people from UP in Maharashtra does not draw as much attention in India.
We can be racist , but they - they can't be. Why not?

Mirza Ghalib

2008-12-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

हज़ारो ख्वाहिशे ऐसी, कि हर ख्वाहिश पर दम निकले,
बहुत निकले मेरे अरमान, लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले

हम वहाँ हैं जहाँ से हमको भी,
कुछ हमारी खबर नहीं आती

आगे आती थी हाले दिल पे हँसी,
अब किसी बात पे नहीं आती

न सुनो गर बुरा कहे कोई,
न कहो गर बुरा करे कोई,
रोक लो गर गलत चले कोई,
बख़्श दो गर खता करे कोई

रगो में दौड़ते रहने के हम नहीं क़ायल,
जब आँख से ही न टपका तो लहू क्या है

हर इक बात पे कहते हो तुम, कि तू क्या है,
तुम्ही कहो कि यह अन्दाज़े गुफ्तगू क्या है

जला है जिस्म जहाँ, दिल भी जल गया होगा
कुरेदते हो राख़, जुस्तजू क्या है

पुर हूँ मैं शिकवे से यूँ, राग से जैसे बाज़ा,
इक ज़रा छेड़िये, फिर देखिये क्या है होता

इस सादगी पर कौन न मर जाये, अय खुदा,
लड़ते हैं और हाँथ में तलवार भी नहीं

जब तवक्को ही उठ गयी गालिब,
क्यों किसी का गिला करे कोई
तवक्को = आस, उम्मीद

निकलना खुल्द से आदम का सुनते आये थे लेकिन,
बड़े बेआबरू हो, तेरे कूचे से हम निकले
खुल्द = स्वर्ग

चाहिये अच्छो को जितना चाहिये,
अगर ये चाहें तो फिर क्या चाहिये
like the fair ones, as much as you like, and if they like you, then what do you want

बक रहा हूँ ज़ूनूँ में, जाने क्या क्या कुछ,
कुछ ना समझे, ख़ुदा करे कोई

कब सुनता है वो कहानी मेरी,
और फिर वह भी ज़ुबानी मेरी

हमको मालूम है ज़न्नत की हकीकत लेकिन,
दिल को खुश रखने को गालिब ख़्याल अच्छा है

कसम जनाजे पे आने की मेरे खाते हैं गालिब,
हमेशा खाते थे जो, मेरी ज़ान की कसम आगे

रात दिन गर्दिश में हैं सातों आस्माँ
होकर रहेगा कुछ न कुछ, घबराये क्या

की वफ़ा हमसे तो गैर उसको जफ़ा कहते हैं,
होती आयी है कि अच्छो को बुरा कहते हैं

मेरी किस्मत में गम गर इतना था
दिल भी या रब, कई दिये होते

इश्क ने गालिब निक्कमा कर दिया,
वर्ना हम भी आदमी थे काम के

केहर हो या बला हो, जो कुछ हो
काश़ के तुम मेरे लिये होते

गालिब बुरा न मान, जो वाअिज़ बुरा कहें
ऐसा भी कोई है कि सब अच्छा कहें जिसे
वाअिज़ = धर्मोपदेशक

रोने से और इश्क में बेब़ाक हो गये,
धोये गये ऐसे कि बस पाक हो गये

गैर से, देखिये क्या खूब निभाई उसने
न सही हमसे, पर उस बुत में वफ़ा है तो सही

चन्द तस्वीर‍ ऐ‍‌ बुताँ, चन्द हसीनो के खतूत,
बाद मरने के मेरे घर से ये सामाँ निकला

बोझ़ वो सर से गिरा है कि उठाये न उठे,
काम वह आन पड़ा है कि बनाये न बने

दोस्त गमख्वारी में मेरी, सअि फरमायेंगे क्या,
ज़ख्म के भरने तलक, नाखून ना बढ़ आयेंगे क्या

हैं और भी दुनिया में सुखनवर बहुत अच्छे,
कहते हैं कि गालिब का है अंदाज़े बयाँ और

पूछते हैं वह, कि गालिब कौन है,
कोई बतलाओ, कि हम बतलायें क्या

कर्ज़ की पीते थे मै, लेकिन समझते थे, कि हाँ,
रँग लायेगी हमारी फ़ाक़ः मस्ती, ऐक दिन

मुझसे मत कह, तू हमें कहता था अपनी ज़िन्दगी,
ज़िन्दगी से भी मेरा ज़ी इन दिनो बेज़ार है

फिर उसी बेवफ़ा पर मरते हैं,
फिर वही ज़िन्दगी हमारी है

मुहब्बत में नहीं है फर्क, ज़ीने और मरने का,
उसी को देख कर जीते हैं, जिस काफिर पर दम निकले

उनके देखे से आ जाती है मुहँ पर रौनक,
वो समझते हैं कि बीमार का हाल अच्छा है

न था कुछ तो खुदा था, कुछ न होता, तो खुदा़ होता,
डुबोया मुझको मेरे होने ने, न होता मैं तो क्या होता

हुई मुद्दत, कि गालिब मर गया, पर याद आता है
वह हर इक बात पर कहना, कि यों होता तो क्या होता

कहूँ जो हाल तो कहते हो कि मुद्दा कहिये,
तुम्ही कहो, जो तुम यूँ कहो तो क्या कहिये

रहिये अब ऐसी जगह, चल कर जहाँ कोइ न हो,
हमसुख़न कोई न हो, हमज़ुबां कोई न हो

Kahe Kabir suno bhai sadho

2008-02-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

साँई इतना दीजिये, जाँ मे कुटुम्ब समाये
मैं भी भूखा ना रहूँ, साधू न भूखा जाये

धीरे धीरे रे मना, धीरे से सब होए
माली सीँचे सौ घड़ा, ऋत आये फल होए

काल करे सो आज कर , आज करे सो अब
पल में परले होएगी, बहूरि करोगे कब

ऐसी वाणी बोलिये, मन का आपा खोए
अपना तन शीतल करे , औरन को सुख देय

माला तो कर में फिरे, जीभ फिरे मुँख माँहि
मनुआ तो चहुँ दिस फिरे, ये तो सिमरन नाँहि

बड़ा हुआ तो क्या हुआ , जैसे पेड़ खज़ूर
पंछी को छाया नही, फल लागे अति दूर

जब मैं था तब हरि नहीं, जब हरि हैं मैं नाहि
सब अँधियारा मिटि गया, जब दीपक देख्या माँहि

माला फेरत जुग भया, गया ना मन का फेर
कर का मनका डार देय, मन का मनका फेर

कबीरा खड़ा बज़ार में, माँगे सबकी खैर
ना काहू से दोस्ती, न काहू से बैर

What is real

2007-09-12T03:22:00.000-07:00

"What is 'real'? How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then "real" is nothing more than electrical signals interpreted by your brain."
Morpheus, 'The Matrix'

Burn your bridges or play it safe ?

2007-07-01T01:39:00.000-07:00

What is the benefit of burning your bridges?
Which decisions call for taking a "burn your bridges" call to be taken ?
Should I burn my bridges or create multiple bridges.

Benefit - The decision gets firmed up, you have no way of backtracking - only way to go is forward.

Which decisions call for Burning your bridges?
I guess situation where
1. The stakes are very high. It is very very important for you - though it may not be so for all stakeholders. You got nothing to loose - atleast compared to what you stand to gain, but other stakeholders may have a lot to loose (or they don't value the rewards as much).
2. The chances of you being successful are low. You are attempting something which is very diffcult, a few setbacks will make you/other stakeholders want to abondon the decision.

Once you have identified that the decison will impact your life/ purpose and by delaying it you are loosing the opportunity, You should you burn your bridges, ie close all your options for return to base. However if you have a lot to loose vi a viz what you stand to gain - you will not be able to burn your bridges.

Very important : Know your purpose. Know the Value of you stand to loose, and what you stand to gain.

If you have a lot to loose - as compared to what you stand to gain (value terms, not monetory terms only), you are better off to take the decision of creating multiple bridges.

जाग तुझको दूर जाना

2007-03-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

Yet another one noted in my diary about a decade back.. dont know the name of the Poet.

चिर सजग आँखे उनींदी, आज कैसा व्यस्त बाना ।
जाग तुझको दूर जाना ॥

अचल हिमगिरी के ह्रदय में, आज चाहे कम्प हो ले,
या प्रलय के आंसुओ में, मौन अलसित व्योम रो ले ।
आज पी आलोक को डोले तिमिर की घोर छाया,
जाग कर विद्युत शिखाओं में निठुर तूफान बोले ।
पर तुझे है नाश पथ पर चिन्ह अपने छोड़ जाना
जाग तुझ को दूर जाना ॥

बाँध लेंगे क्या तुझे ये मोम के बँधन सजीले ?
पथ की बाधा बनेंगे तितलियों के पर रंगीले ?
विश्व का क्रंदन भुला देगी मधुप की मधुर गुनगुन ?
क्या डुबो देंगे तुझे ये फूल के दल ओस गीले ?
तू न अपनी छाँह को अपने लिये कारा बनाना ।
जाग तुझ को दूर जाना ॥

वज्र का उर एक छोटे अश्रु कण में धो गलाया,
दे किसे अमृत सुधा दो घूँट मदिरा माँग लाया ।
सो गयी आँधी मलय की बात का उपधान ले क्या ?
विश्व का अभिशाप क्या चिर नीँद बन कर पास आया ?
अमरता के सुत क्यों चाहता मृत्यु को उर में बसाना ?
जाग तुझ को दूर जाना ॥

कह न ठंडी साँस में अब भूल वह जलती कहानी,
आग हो उर में तभी द्रग में सजेगा आज पानी
हार भी तेरी बनेगी मानिनी जय की पताका
राख क्षणिक पतंग की है अमर दीपक की कहानी
है तझे अगाँर शैय्या पर मृदुल कलियां बिछाना ।
जाग तुझ को दूर जाना ॥

Existence

2007-02-08T02:22:00.001-08:00

Here is one more piece of poetry which was noted down in my diary some 10years back..

Little fly
thy summer’s play
my thoughtless hand
has brushed away

Am not I
a fly like thee?
Or art not thou
a man like me?

For I dance
and drink and sing
till some blind hand
shall brush my wing.

William Blake
Songs of Experience, ‘The Fly’ (1795)

This makes you realize the small pleasures and pains that you come across in daily life do not matter.
And makes one think
Is my life as inconsequential as that of a fly –
well ….
ummmm….
Yes.
At least when you take a macro view.
It’s difficult to accept.

But look at it this way, if you were to find out some information about someone of your stature in society, who would have existed 100 years back, what would you find out? I am not talking about any poet like William Blake, or any big historical figure, but about a common man.
Did that guy matter.. except for his progeny , he is non entity. Inconsequential.

So is the stature in society really what matters. Or is it same as being the biggest or fastest fly?

Or more fundamentally, being known and remembered when you are gone and dead, this parameter in itself is a wrong parameter.
So, for that matter when you are alive, being rich and famous matters?

Probably collecting experiences is what matters..

A part of me feels yes. why?
Well, let me take an analogy, assume you were on a trip to a foreign country - for the first AND the last time (for some reason you know you may never get to come back). It's a beautiful country, but still you end up spending all your time in one room. You get to see nothing but the walls, smell nothing but the same room, and get to speak to no one. How would you feel?
Do you want the same thing when you leave this world?
A part of me feels , may be its not wrong to experience, but it still is of no consequence.
Why ?
Well how different is it from being a fly which has tasted all fruits (or a few for which all flies were fighting) in the in the small market - which the fly thinks is the complete world.
... is it of any consequence?

So, where does this lead us to??
You are inconsequential.
No matter what.
There is nothing to be ashamed of, there is nothing that you can do about it.
And it is fine that way, accept it.
You do not know where you are going. You do not have any control on what will happen to you. (watch documentary on earthquakes, tsunami on national geographic if you have any doubts) And you DO NOT matter.

Realise that you are inconsequential, and so is most of humdrum of your life.

So.
Be aware.
Be aware that not only you but everything adn everyone else as well, is inconsequential.
Do things that you think are right. Follow your heart.
And have fun.
Don’t forget - any day might be the last day for the fly.
Do not worry about what others think about you. You are inconsequential, and so are they as well as their thoughts about you.

आज न कोई दूर, न कोई पास है, फिर भी जाने क्यों मन उदास है

2007-02-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

while going thru my almirah full of old books , came across an old diary of mine, in which I had noted down this beautiful piece of poetry.

I don't remember who is the author of these lines, if you do, please let me know.

आज न कोई दूर, न कोई पास है,
फिर भी जाने क्यों मन उदास है ।
आज न सूनापन भी मुझसे बोलता,
पात न पीपल पर भी कोई डोलता ।
ठिठकी सी है वायु, थका सा नीर है,
सहमी सहमी रात, चाँद गभींर है,
गुपचुप धरती, गुमसुम सब आकाश है,
फिर भी जाने क्यों, मन उदास है ।

आज शाम को झरी नही कोई कली,
आज अंधेरी रही नही कोई गली,
आज न कोई पंथी भटका राह में,
जला पपीहा न आज प्रिय की चाह में,
आज नही पतझर, नही मधुमास है
फिर भी जाने क्यों मन उदास है ।

आज अधूरा न कोई गीत रह गया,
चुभने वाली बात न कोई कह गया,
मिल कर कोई मीत आज छूटा नही,
जुड़ कर आज स्वप्न कोई टूटा नहीं,
आज न कोई दर्द, न कोई प्यास है,
फिर भी जाने क्यों मन उदास है ।

Cracked Pot & moral of the story in corporate world

2006-10-24T01:07:00.000-07:00

This is a story received as a forward.. and my interpretation of the moral of the story.

The Cracked Pot A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.
"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."Each one of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. One should not be afraid of one's flaws. We should acknowledge them, and we too can be the cause of beauty. Know that in our weakness we find strength.
True leaders use these very disparate but very powerful forces for the benefit of one and all. Ultimately the ability to harness the forces and use them to the benefit of all is what sets a true leader apart from a leader.

Moral of the story:
1.The objective defined by the company (Master) and your immediate boss (bearer) may not be same.
2.A crackpot with lesser skills / half the performance might be appreciated / tolerated by your boss - as your boss might be taking ADVANTAGE of him/her.
3.Although your boss may appreciate one crack pot ( the first one), he would not be happy with second cracked pot, and may not tolerate it.

हिन्दी में ब्लोगing

2006-10-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

यह मेरी पहली ब्लोग ऐत्ट्री है हिन्दी में।
बहुत ज्यादा मुशकिल नही है हिन्दी में लिखना।
थोडा समय तो लगेगा हिन्दी fonts का प्रयोग करना सीखने में, मगर उस से ज्यादा समय अपने thought process को हिन्दी में तबदील करने में।

You may give your child your love but not your thoughts.

2006-09-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

I was reading The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, its a book worth understanding – not just reading.
Found this chapter on Children very pertinent.

“Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.”

Invariably parents esp the mother starts treating the child as the extension of self, and tries to achieve what they have not been able to in their lifetime. The parents start deriving a vicarious pleasure from the life of the child. This is how they end up spoiling the child. They were deprived of certain things during their childhood, and they want their kids to have it more than they could have ever dreamt of having in their child hood. Live examples: My wife wants to buy every toy whose name our son, has ever uttered. For mothers it is even more difficult to believe the fact that the child does not belong to her, and just that they are with us – independent individuals who can not be owned.

My job as a father is to expose him to life - gradually. To provide him access to opportunities of realizing his potential, of developing himself.
Walk with him through this process as a friend, till it becomes a self sustaining process.

What do you want in life

2006-09-14T01:13:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me a couple of days back, what do you want in life ?
I dont know what his objective was, probably to get into a more challenging job profile or.. anything for that matter.
The spontaneous answer was make it big in life.

Thats true.
I want to make it big in life.
but should this be the aim?
esp when one knows the futility of it adn believes it does not really matter.
So, is it worth it ?

on the contrary, why not? What's there to loose?
Whatever is there to loose does not matter either.
:-)

NDLS - has missed the train

2006-09-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

If someone has come to New Delhi after few years, he will be amazed to see the growth and development that has taken place.

Flyovers all over the place, Metro reaching out to most crowded bazaars in the heart of city as well as outskirts. Construction on metro is still going on at a frenetic pace to include more places in NCR. Excellent facilities at all the metro stations.

However untouched by this wave of development are the Railway stations of New Delhi.

You may choose to go to any station – New Delhi Railway station or Old Delhi or any other. all of them have are still not still in previous century.

This morning I discovered to my horror how difficult it is to move a physically challenged / sick passenger on wheel chair from platform no 2 platform no 1 at New Delhi Railway Station.

There is no proper cemented route for the wheel chair. The route which is used is made of bricks, and has a lot of pot holes. It crosses the railway track at unmanned level crossing, perfect recipe for an accident. It is of course uncovered, i.e. if it is raining you should be prepared to let your passenger drenched / and brave the pot holed brick laden route, which has a lot of goods carts (rushing for unloading their goods).

Top it all – wheel chairs are not in best shape, finding a wheel chair with both the guide wheels is a task in itself. Further the coolies are not interested unless you are willing to shell out at least six times the official tariff of Rs. 25.( that too only if it is not raining).

This is just one part of the story,

- There are not enough seats for you to wait at the platforms

- No clean toilets

- Very little parking space

- No proper drainage – little bit of rain and you have clogged roads

Passengers here are seen as botheration, not as customers who should be welcomed. Somehow you get a feeling that they think they are doing ehsaan (loosely translated – charity for you), and we the passengers are beggars and not customers. Passengers (beggars) can’t be choosers, jo mil raha hai le lo, haq se mat maango.

Rest of Delhi is much better, and of course you can’t compare it with its cousin Metro rail stations. Get into any metro station you will find the difference. For that matter you can’t compare it with stations at smaller cities either, where the number of passengers is much lesser and the load on infrastructure is much lesser.

Looks like the railway stations in Delhi are still saddled in previous century, late 90s.

Clearly New Delhi Railway station has missed the train – the development train.

Blog thru mail

2006-09-01T06:18:00.000-07:00

The Technology is moving fast. Very fast.

This blog is getting published by dropping a mail to a mail id.

That is if I send a mail to a particular id, it will get published automatically. Great.

Saves me the effort of logging in to the blogger.

It also lets some of my friends evade websense - incase their organization does not allow to blog.

It can also be used for creating an open id, where people can just drop an email to publish their views.

Cool.

Fixing the wrong problem

2006-09-01T03:49:00.000-07:00

I am surprised at the lack of clarity on part of Government of India on the reservation issue.

The problem here is not that historically some castes had been given a raw deal, that is a fact.
Problem that they are supposed to solve is to ensure that individuals of free India do not get punished or promoted because of their caste.

What was the stated objective of doing all this reservation - Equality of status and oppertunities for all Indians.

What are they aiming at, to achieve the stated objective : reserving oppertunities for certain castes.

Can we achieve EQUALITY OF STATUS & OPPERTUNITY for ALL INDIANS thru Caste based reservations ?

For that matter can we achieve equality through reservations?
All Individuals are equal, as long as you have no reservations.
There has to be some way of identifying who should get that reserved seat , and the guy who gets it is NOT EQUAL TO EVERY INDIAN (otherwise you cant identify him).

Mundane example :
A long queue in front of the railway reservation (ironically) counter.
Here the merit is - first come first serve.
No reservations ( ;-) ) for reservation. ie issual of ticket is not based on caste creed colur.
As all people are identified as Indians.
Unless you put in a criteria that sets some people apart, you would not be able to give them special status.

Assume you have been standing in such a queue for last six hours and suddenly an officail in black coat comes out and announces that all people in blue shirts ( or shades of it) will get a preferance and will have a separate queue.
He eloborates the reason for it is that till last week there was a different guy at the ticket issual counter who had a partisan view towards the people in blue shirts. That guy used to send the guys in blue shirts to the back of the queue once they had reached the counter. This guy in black coat wants to avenge for the mistakes of his predecessor, and ofcourse establish equality through this.
What will be your reaction?
Caste is to our society , what a the colur of shirt is to the queue.
The people who had suffered three months or three years back, are not there in the queue, but the people with similar colur of shirt ( or the caste) are there now.
__________________________________________________________________
Now lets talk about something else. About the strategy or the method itself (assuming that the aim was right, is the strategy to reach that aim correct?)

Why are they reserving seats for various scheduled castes and scheduled tribes ( and the list has been growing) .

Why not create reservations one homogeneous block of reservation for all who need reservation as per their logic.
Everyone knows it will not work.
Lets drill down, Why is it a problem?

Stated reason : This will not provide equality for all. (taking from the above example, there are people with royal blue and some with sky blue coloured shirt)
We will not say it is vote bank, and agree to their logic momentarily.

So you identify subgroups. ( Scheduled caste & Scheduled Tribe -two groups)
Does it serve the purpose?
No. ( example : sky blue complete shirt or sky blue collors only)

So you identify sub sub groups ( break homogeneous scheduled caste group into sub groups)

Does it serve the purpose
No. They still want more divisions.
(Same tribe in UP might be more oppressed and in larger number than say in Kerala, you actually need more divisions , as you cant achieve your stated objective)

Where can it actually stop ?
Ofcourse at the individual level - from where you cant break it into any smaller group.

So can you reserve seats for everyone, whose great grand parents were at a disadvantage?
Is this method/strategy implementable fully ? Can you reserve seats for every SC/ST?
_________________________________________________________________
Assuming this process is a time taking one ( as we and our parents have seen it evolve) , let us look at the impact on the society at large ( or the queue discused in our example.)

Those who have merit but are aware that they may loose because of this system will look for places to study / settle where such system is not in place ( natural , if you were in the queue mentioned in the example , you might quit the queue and look for alternate means of travel) .

People will give up faith in the system, and try to break the system. Some youth will get into revolt mode, or worse resort to unlawful methods to success. (if you had a set of like minded individuals in the queue who had no strain of blue/or were in favour of justice , you might try to throw this new guy at reservation counter out of office. OR worse just board the train without ticket and evade / fight the ticket checker)

What do we need?
More oppertunities. And ofcourse Equality. You cant undo what happend pre-independence. Post independence it is goverment's job to ensure that there is no racial discrimination.

The revolution will happen once we have more oppertunities than the people to avail them.
More options for reaching out to where they want to go.

Government needs to focus on creating new oppertunities. And they better do it fast.

You are the guy who'll decide where to go

2005-12-30T17:06:00.000-08:00

These are some of my fav quotes , I am reorganising my blogs, and have moved some of the posts that were on the other two blogs to this one.

"Try Not. Do or do not. There is no try"
-- Yoda, Star Wars

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be."
-- Douglas Adams

"Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait. The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don't count."--Dr. Robert Anthony"

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing."--Abraham Lincoln

Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.
--Ralph Marston

There is just one life for each of us: our own. --Euripides

You have brains in your head.You have feet in your shoes.You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.You're on your own.And you know what you know.You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
--Dr. Seuss

Fair Raise

2005-10-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

A few days back, I had my annual performance appraisal due and was wondering what is happening all around me- some employees are getting much more than I am and some are still languishing.

In last one year, I had received one raise without an appraisal, even without asking for it. Must say it was a real pleasant surprise – it came in an email in month of June & was with effect from October last year. I reckon I got this raise to ensure that this October’s appraisal does not look too high in percentage terms.

but then am I getting, what I deserve?

What is the cost of replacing me?As a business guy I believe every one should get equal to the cost of replacing him/her. If one is not becoming more expensive to replace, he / she should not expect a raise. The business that does not follow this rule will loose out in the market place.

Some of the real hard working & intelligent people are not getting as lesser than what people with lower capability are, because market dynamics, their skill set is in abundance today, and hence cost of replacing them is low.

Since whatever I remember from the HR stuff that I studied during my MBA was not sufficient to carry out a scientific / empirical analysis, I thought of evolving one. Here is what I evolved (Probably this will come in handy incase I need to fight for higher raise or maybe later at a more responsible position) :

Here we go,

Following parameters that need to be taken into account at the time of determining a raise:

1. Competence/ expertise in area of operation - This factor denotes conceptual clarity and is important for the knowledge driven industry where the success of business is a function of depth/ breadth of knowledge. Hence an industry which has scarcity of skilled people i.e. a an industry which has not reached a significant level of maturity, this factor has to be given high weightage. In a mature industry the competence of employee A vs. that of employee B would not be very disparate (one employee would be at 8 and the other at 8.5 in a scale of 1 to 10) . eg of subsegment of industry where this is important - IT Security.

2. Total Number of years of Experience - This factor denotes the maturity of the employee and is important where there is a client relationship engagement. Even if the experience is not from the same industry, a mature person can handle client engagements better than a new joinee. The weightage for this factor is, therefore dependent on the role.

3. Number of years in the same company / same department - This factor denotes the contextual familiarity. A person who has spent three years in the same company/ same department is likely to know a lot about the context / customer behavior/ limitations & capability of organization - hence is likely to make a better judgment / commitment to client.

4. Dependability: This factor denotes quality of work as well as passion. If you have to still vet a document / excel before sending it to client OR if you have to keep on reminding some one of deadlines - he is not dependable. Also it denotes commitment to organisation / to your work. If you understand that although there has been a demand from the customer for a deliverable at a very short notice, a dependable employee will understand the situation and deliver - even if by stretching himself to work late at night. Of course such dependability tests can not happen very often. This factor is very important for profiles that have bursty workload, ie there will be times when there is lot of work to be done at a short notice.

5. Potential : This factor denotes the ability to proactively learn new technologies/ drive new initiatives/ spot new markets or opportunities and exploit these to impact business in a significantly positive manner.

6. Certificates/ Qualification / Pedigree : These need to be given due respect as these represent latent knowledge that can be a significant use to the organization at some point of time.

7. Team Player : If all above are factors are present in good amount but the employee is not a team player, there are chances that the organization will not meet its objective. This factor is is not so important in roles that depend on individual brilliance more than the team output (eg consultant) , but can not be ignored in any case.

These seven factors need to be given weightage depending upon the nature of organization/department ( ie what business you are in, which of these attributes are critical to your business success).

The various employees than rated ( not ranked) on a scale of 1 to 10. The rating to be multiplied by the weightage of the factor ( ie if factor 1 is given a weightage of 12% then multiply the rating of employee by 0.12 to arrive at the weighted rating) Sum total of these weighted ratings across various parameters gives a measure of individual's worth to your department / organisation's success.

This has to be the basis of determining the raise.

I worked out an excel sheet to operationalise this process ( snapshot below)

There will be times when there will be a need to tweak this model.

The deviation from Ideal raise can be used to bring the salaries closer to market rate. This raise now has to be compared with the market rate to tweak it further. eg of a scenarios that would need tweaking: If some one has a high market rate, and raise as per your calculations is far below the market rate - but you still need him for a project ( eg the employee is not a team player/ not dependable however has the certifications that are needed for this project) - you can give him a tactical short term ONE TIME Bonus related to this project milestone and not increase his salary. This one time bonus will ensure that the employee is not leave you till the end of the project, and give you a time to find / groom a more suitable employee. There is also a possibility that the skill set that is having a very high market rate right now may not be as hot, six month down the line ( ie when your project ends) and hence you will be not only saving some amount but also being fair to your workforce. This one time Bonus related to project will also ensure that you as an employer will not be stranded with employee E kind of scenarios where the employee is getting more than the then market rate.

Stop and THINK

2005-08-08T23:48:00.000-07:00

Stop and THINK
Here is Pooh Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. ---AA Milne, Winnie the Pooh

Days , weeks and months passby... and no time to step aside and think. Maybe its not lack of time, but lack of a reason. Maybe I have got used to the bumpy way of coming downstairs.

Dilbert

2005-08-03T00:23:00.000-07:00

This is how I am feeling right now. I am working on a project that we all know will not come to us.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

2005-07-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

I had recd this in a forwarded e-mail, found it worth keeping and sharing.

Stanford Report, June 14, 2005 Text of Commencement address by Steve Jobs

This is the prepared text of the address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computerand of Pixar Animation Studios, who spoke at Commencement at StanfordUniversity, 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 tellyou three stories from my life.

That's it. No bigdeal. 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 allset 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: "Ofcourse."

My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from highschool. 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 workout 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 5c deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one goodmeal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.

I loved it.

And much of what Istumbled 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 mylife.

But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all cameback 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 nopersonal 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 hadgrown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over4000 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, ToyStory, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned 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 whenyou 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 your 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 cancerthat 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 other's opinions drown out your own innervoice. 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 yearsbefore 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: "StayHungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off.

StayHungry. 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.

Blogs - Ultimate Marketing Tool

2005-07-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

I was wondering on how to recover the password for my homepage hosted on rediff homepages - only to discover after couple of hours that there is no way. They seem to have deleted my profile form the homepages database (they are not recognising my username for password recovery) , however I cant create a new id with the old username .. Fianlly decided to go for a new geocities homepage . The only thing that I dislike about geocities is that they take 1/3rd of the width of the page - and makes it very very obvious in a loud voice that this is a free homepage - appears as if they are saying since you cant pay for the homepage take this 2/3 portion my ad.

Anyway even after uploading my content on the website I am not happy - the java script wont run - looks like something to do with the space sharing that i am doing with geocities banner.
On the other hand blogs are very very user friendly - atleast so far they are. I see that they are fullfilling the true need for homepage.

I understand that in order to keep these servers up it costs money - and there has tobe a business case for them to keep it as user friendly as it is today. Well the solution is here :

The blog sites will have to find a way to target the customers in a very subtle way- to keep their business running. Instead of asking a member to put an ad on his website , they can ask a blog writer to review a product - someone whose blog is read more often / is networked. A review is going to carry more weight rather than an advertisement.
This review kind of a mechanism can gain credebility only of there is a body - blog publisher himself that will randomly give the product to be reviewd to a number of participents (not disclosed) form the manufacturer/ marketerer for a fee. Each blogger has to review any one product every quarter in order to remain active /publish his blog.

This way actually the core purpose of marketing will egt served.
Marketing is not supposed to be selling a substandard product by blatantly brainwashing the consumers, but a process which covers entire lifecycle starting from conceptulisation to improvement based on customer feedback. Bloggers can review comment on the product even before the formal launch and these can act as an input for the manufacturer.

This will bring down the cost of marketing to some extent - provided proper segmenting and targeting is done - you give your product for review only to the appropriate blogs / forums /bloggers froma particular part of the world / bloggers from a particular background only. These bloggers are likely to have blog views with like mineded bloggers only - the people whose representative profile has been targeted for reviewing the product.

Even the payment can be based on the number of views actually realised.

This actually helps everyone - gives the Blog publisher a way to make his business viable, gives a mechanism to do it ( forcing everyone to review a product) , bloggers reviewing are happy - because they dont have to pay for publishing their blog , and they dont have to put on stupid ads on their websites. bloggers reading are happy becausethey are sure that there was a fair mechanism and the blogger they are reading the review from has not been paid for reviewing this product. Company selling inferior quality products or companies that have been surviving on might will be the only ones who will hate this. As their model of brainwashing of consumers done by buying adspace/ airtime will not work here. Infact the consumer forums / governing bodies would also be hasppy as this empowering the consumer.

Thats all for today.

Alice in Wonderland

2005-04-27T04:01:00.000-07:00

The story goes something like this...
Alice reaches a fork in the road, and asks the Cheshire Cat sitting on a tree,
`Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
`I don't much care where--' said Alice.
`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
`--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'

You will reach somewhere if you walk - and you will reach somewhere further if you walk further ...and so on.. But when would you reach the final destination? Final destination - the reason for the journey ( is it?) . Final destination - as in a place from where you need not walk any further - a place where the journey ends.
How long do you have to walk to reach the end of the journey? When do you know that this is THE destination.

More fundamental Question : Is there an end to the journey?

If the journey is endless, and you spend your life - and time - which is irreversible, on this journey, then what is the most important thing - journey or the destination?