Do something nice

Well, this post is a bit late considering Christmas got over a few days ago, but being generous and nice neednt always be associated only to Christmas. You can start it, do it and should do it at any point of the year.

Here is one B-E-A-U-tiful idea of being nice, generous, make your brain work too and make the people a little surprised and happy and give you that goody-goody feeling.

"The Generosity Game

The following concept, created by John Stoner (and monitored for the Institute by Matthew Mezey) has many similarities with the Random Kindness approach.
Here's another possibility, close to my own heart: the Generosity Game! It's my own project, and you can see the website if you haven't already (at http://www.generosity.org).
For those who haven't seen it the idea is this:
You do something good for someone, and you do it anonymously. For example, you could pay the toll of the car behind you at a tollbooth. One thing we've done is go to a wonderful bakery, and buy a treat for the next person who walks in the door after we leave. Be creative!
And you pass on one of these cards to the person you do it for. On one side, they say
'It's Your Turn.'
On the other, they give these instructions:
'This is for you! Now it's your turn: go do something good for someone else. Do it anonymously. Pass on this card.'
So, you see, the card passes itself on! Someone is the recipient of your good deed (and the card), goes and does something for someone else, passes on the card. Then that person has some good thing done for them (and gets a card), and they do something for someone else ... isn't it great?

Anyway, I've found that doing this a lot does open your heart in a particular way. It opens your heart to being generous with others as a part of your life, and it opens your mind to what resources you can bring to that generosity.
Honestly, I've been very weak in taking it on as a personal practice. But the few times a week (or month) that I do it myself have turned my attention more towards what I have to give. Which I'd say is a positive thing.
"
http://www.generosity.org/download.html

Go ahead, do something nice and make the world a happier place to live in and help someone smile today :)

An object of ......

Seen on a gtalk status message about a quote from a friend's sister: "I am not an object of amusement"...

And my friend's response: "Poor thing, little does she know"

My opinions

Seen on a blog: "My opinions may change intermittently, but not the fact that I am always right!"

When friends walk away

http://justamotheroftwo.blogspot.com/2006/11/when-friends-walk-away_11.html

The juice of Life

Have you ever tasted the juice of life?
Blood: The real 'juice' of life!

Tastes real good too! :)

Capacity

Seen on a Mumbai autorickshaw: "Capacity : 3 Idiots"

Losing it all

Dec 10 should go down in my history as a day of losses. From losing a lot to losing it. I have never before said so many goodbyes to so many people ever on a day. On other occasions, I know that the byes are temporary till we meet again somewhere, but this time some of the goodbyes are just that, Goodbyes. I may never get to see some of them ever again. It feels bad to know people so well and then lose them all.

After leaving the IIM, I was on my way to attend a wedding ceremony of my roomie in Indore and on the way saw something horrible: A head on accident of a lady with a bus. The girl's legs were stuck in the vehicle and while her head was on the ground and I saw a pool of blood. Nobody was even helping her and I am not sure if she will live or lose her life. Though the fault was of both the lady and the bus driver, I am sure, the way the Indian police and society works, the driver will be blamed 100% for the accident. A sad state of affairs.

After coming back from the wedding, I came to a guest house and put on the tv. I watched a song on tv for the first time in 6 months. I felt lost watching tv. I couldnt relate to anything on tv. I didnt know so many new channels, I didnt know the songs, the actors and actresses or the movies to which the songs belonged. All the advertisements were new and nothing I had watched before. It felt strange and felt totally out of sync.

I think I have lost my head too. This is the first time I am having a homesick feeling for a few days now. Never before have I had a homesick feeling beyond a day or two. Maybe it is the effect of the gtalk status messages my friends put up "home!", "Want to go home", "Back to Bangaluru" or the fact that I am tired of saying goodbyes and actually want to meet some people I know back or that I am tired of packing full international load baggages with so many unnecessary overheads I am still carrying around which I couldnt dump at home or a potent combination of all these.

The one most important thing I have learnt in my MBA is losing/sacrificing, all kinds, from sleep, friends, family, music, decent food, tv, movies, interesting subjects, hobbies, etc and coping up with the losses and moving on. I guess the end of MBA just reinforces that lesson for me.

Embarking on another nomadic life

Its yet again time to keep moving. From all the way to Philippines to Mumbai to Indore and now back to Mumbai for 5 or 6 days and then to Bangalore for another 5 days and then finally to home after 6 nearly months(out of which more than 3 have been in India itself and still not able to visit home even when my mom was bedridden for a couple of months). The last time I stayed at home was for 72 long hrs. Home time for me cant be counted in weeks but in days and nights only. Don't know how long this time its going to be... Don't want to be too short or too long.
Have two exams the day after, the night marriage of one of my dear roomies to attend, some sleep if I can get some and then an early morning flight to Mumbai.

As always is my case, my regular life is usually the leisurely break before the hectic packing, travelling and staying in new places, synchronising the many events dependent on so many people and events. And today I heard a person in front of me sighing and saying "I went home only in October and it has been so long". Three things happened immediately: my blood boiled, I felt sad and also pitied the person's ignorance.

Imagine them considering themselves as unlucky. Sigh...I think I know how lucky the person really is.

Know your enemy

If your enemy is superior, evade him. If angry, irritate him. If equally matched, fight, and if not split and reevaluate: Sun-Tzu.

Continous obsolescence

While I was walking on one of the Mumbai suburb roads last month, all of a sudden I smelt something that I hadn't smelt for more than a decade. That smell was of freshly made atta (powdered wheat) at one of the atta making shops. I remember going to a shop and grounding atta when I was in Mumbai in 1999-2000. Ever since, I have never done it and I don't even recollect seeing a shop that makes ground atta with that curious looking long mechanical machine. As a kid, I remember countering my dad on many occasions when he used to argue that during his days, he used to carry many kgs of wheat to the atta maker and get them back ground. That he used to work so hard and not have all the luxuries we have in our times. I used to hit back saying I too have done that. Now, looking back, I could be making the same claim to my kids, the problem is I don't think they will even understand what I am talking about. With all the commercial atta available in ready made packs of various sizes, the need of buying raw wheat or getting it from the ration shop and then grounding it with instructions of the coarseness of the powder (more like the short/medium/long when we guys go to the barber and instruct) has stopped by my family and many other middle class people. It is hard to even see these shops in the cities now.

Found this related article about the flour milling occupation written last year:
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/26/stories/2008102658640300.htm

Do feel free to add things that you once used to do as a kid and now our children can't even understand the things if we start claiming those things we did.

The Karate chop

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1231454/Killer-whales-Death-karate-chop-deadly-tactic-used-orcas-sharks.html

All time best CVs

http://www.businesspundit.com/10-most-epic-cvs-of-all-time/

Here's a sample. At No.10 is Rambo.

Other good ones are Yoda, Pamela Anderson and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

10. Rambo

Previous Employment

US Army Green Berets, Nutjob Mercenary, Snake Seller, Jungle Tour Guide. 

Reason for Leaving Previous Job

Apparently my personal kit of an M2 Browning machine gun, 4000 rounds of ammunition, 12 inch machete, pepper spray, 8 grenades, a handaxe and a small box of tissues, was considered a ’safety hazard’. On top of this, my  jungle-pattern combat facepaint was apparently ’scaring fellow employees’. In any case their facilities were rubbish – there was nowhere to land a helicopter, for example.

Greatest Achievement:

Medal of Honor, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Black Lung, Vietnam Service Medal, 10m Swimming Badge, Advanced Knot-Tying Badge, MTV Cribs Most Homely (for my jungle hut in Thailand) and Nutter of the Year 1988. Did I mention I have killed over 17,000 people?

Personal Qualities

Knowledge of over 23 ways to kill a man with my bare hands; can operate any military vehicle or weapon (including helicopter and tank); expert escape and evasion skills; very good at applying facepaint; extensive collection of bandanas; extremely sensitive.

Ambitions

Eventually I hope to move away from military-based suicide missions and into the softcore porn industry – both as a producer and star. Basically, instead of using guns to create holes, I’d like to fill holes with my… 6 years as a POW does cruel things to a man…

Special Requirements

12 Vietnamese POWs for my personal amusement (and to keep my interrogation technique in great form), my bandana washed and ironed every evening, and a lifetime subscription to Butterfly Collector Weekly – oh, and a helicopter landing pad is definitely a dealbreaker.

The world map

A broken heart

Some of life's choices

The message of AIDS

http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=386

What AIDS has done to her, we need to do the same to the planet...

Just married

One of the best just married descriptions I have seen: "Two of us trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time"