Friday, September 20, 2013

The Running Mathematician

Tarun was a brilliant mathematician. He believed in Pythagoras theorem and told himself that eyes, ears, hands, legs can be made to or already obeys Pythagoras laws. He claimed to his near relatives that he can see the Pauli exclusion principle to the maximum. He was laughed at by them but he kept believing in this theory.
One of his friend Shankar said that light was everything. Everyone was attracted to light and light is what matters. To Tarun however, light was only 3.8 x 10^8 m/s.
Tarun was always sidelined by people who mattered. He never could understand this. He thought that the world is fair and even handed. He also believed in black and white principle of China. Then he realised that people were scared to call the world fair and started thinking using grey cells(black and white combined).
Then he started thinking about change in velocity. The acceleration part. Why people wanted to be slow and steady? He could not find an answer to this. He thought let me jog everyday and try to find an answer to this.
He is waiting for an answer . . .

 

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

The Girl in the Beach

The small girl was standing in the beach. It was morning hours. The sun was just out. She felt her heart was at rhythm with the sound of the waves. She had curd diluted with sea water which her mother made and gave her.
The girl had a small bag on her left shoulder. She would pick up shells from the beaches and put them in her bag. She was careful of the type of shells she picked. She had a natural sense of value and would very carefully take out the one needed.
The little girl has become big now. She is a successful CEO. She is well known for the quality and ability to take decisions. And she owed it to the values she learnt herself. The values taught by the type of shell she would pick from the sea.

Monday, September 16, 2013

The Full Circle

The man woke up from his sleep in the middle of the farm. He stood up. Just to see the horizon on all the sides. The earth seemed to be circular. He woke his dog. The dog woke up but could not see the horizon because its view was blocked by the grasses.
The man ran and ran in trying to reach the end of the circle. The dog too ran happily. But the man was unable to reach the end. He began to sweat. Luckily he saw a thin towel lying nearby. He took it and wiped his forehead. He felt cool.
He daily saw the sun moving above him in a circular way. He thought heat was also circular. And because towel made him feel cool, he drew a conclusion that cloth is also circular.
He thought of many such things. And he began to get mad. Then he started rotating about himself. He felt better. Then he thought whenever such thoughts come, he needs to rotate about himself.
It was night time. He slept then knowing that sleep means half death.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

The Rock on the Roadside

The other day when I was jogging, I had to stop and change direction a little because there was a rock on the roadside. To me the presence of a rock is undesirable as it is difficult to remove and causes obstruction for a longer time. The jogging is preferable as it is morning hours and onlookers are likely to be inspired by exercise which is for a healthy lifestyle.
Jogging is a body science and an art. The most important ingredient is the persistence. I was sort of irregular for the last five years. I would do jogging say 10 days a month earlier. But nowadays it is a daily exercise for 30 minutes. My speed is more than 8kmph.
Over the years there are a lot of lessons learnt about exercises, especially jogging. The most important is relaxation. Believe me, relaxation is the key to a healthy exercising.
I am 45 years old now. It is difficult to improve the timing of jogging. Maybe I can improve to 10 kmph speed for 1 hour at the most.
If you are new to jogging, there are some more tips that I would like to give here.
Breathing is a difficult thing. It is advisable to breathe with nose throughout the jogging session. This may mean very slow speed. But it is still advisable to jog at a speed where you can manage with breathing with nose.
If you jog for 30 minutes, do not forget to massage your legs with ointment for 30 minutes.
It is a challenge to make 8 kmph to 10 kmph and that too for double the time. There are weaknesses and obstacles like the rock in the road.

 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The Bell in The Temple

The bell rang in the temple the other day. The speakers were amplifying the bhajan and spread the word of God everywhere. His home a few metres away from the temple, Ravi got up from his sofa. He washed his face and proceeded almost mechanically to the temple. It was a habit and he knew all the verses the priest would sing to the dieties.
Over a few months Ravi got acquainted with the priest. He would talk with the temple priest and got to know a lot about him. The name of the priest was Diwakar Jha. The last three generation of Diwakar were into priesthood. They lived very simple lives and were given monthly allowance by Dharma Society.
There was another person who would come to the temple regularly. He was Vivek Agrawal, the local grocery store owner. Ravi, Vivek and Diwakar would sometimes talk after the Aarti session of the temple. Most of the time they would dwelve on the local political and social situation. But they never criticised anybody but tried to offer positive suggestions.
Today the priest Diwakar looked worried. Ravi and Vivek followed Diwakar silently to each of the dieties silently uttering prayers in their minds. At a convenient time, Ravi and Vivek went to Diwakar and asked why he looked sad.
Diwakar then told that he was threatened by an Income Tax official that temple fund is being used to run Diwakar's house. Diwakar told Ravi and Vivek that maybe 100-200 rupees of temple funds were used but not more than that. "Is it wrong to add funds from temple this way?"
Ravi an expert in finances said that there is nothing called addition. Events are added in memory and conclusions drawn. Finance also acts on events and event addition. Ravi assured Diwakar that he and Vivek were adding events to the life of Diwakar by visiting temple every day. Vivek was a grocer and Ravi would put money in the temple every now and then. Together the three were enough to fight the Income Tax official. Ravi said if the man comes back, ring the bell of the temple loudly.
The ring of the temple bell is awaited . . .

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Remembering History

The other day, I was reading history. The following are some of the points I noted down:-

1) Babur wrote that people in Indian subcontinent were dark, weak and lazy.

2) Akbar was great because he had brilliant men supporting him. Birbal, Tansen, Man Singh.

3) Battle of Plassey altered the course of history. East India Company started waging war.

4) British did what seemed right to them. They did not tolerate indiscipline, though.

5) Simon came on a friendly visit. He wanted to give more powers to provinces. But Lala Lajpat Rai opposed. This opposition could have meant support of two powers in parliament. Needless to say Bhagat Singh too supported Lala Lajpat Rai.

6) Oxford Book of History of India says that Unity was always the hallmark of Indian culture.

Is there any points you like about our history? Please comment here.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Leadership

The other day I bought the book "Principle Centered Leadership" by Stephen Covey.
Leadership is a much needed virtue. Every organisation must inculcate leadership in their employees. Every organisation can inculcate leadership in their employees. Can because India is a democratic country. And democracy is about leadership.
Who is a leader? A leader is 1 in 1000. This definition is correct considering the population in the country.  What makes 1 among 1000? It could be 1 correct answer to 1000 questions.
Unlike popular perception, a Level 5 leader can be shy. Not necessarily the outspoken, extroverted guy the next door. Anna Hazare is a great leader. Definitely a Level 5 one.
A leader needs nerves of steel. In my work area, he should be able to inspire people to work. Work of both types, hard work and smart work. I tell the core issue for inspiring people to do hard work. The center of the problem. The most important issue. And for work which needs smartness,  I say the maximum and the minimum expected. What will happen if you apply for a loan? You may get more than you applied for. Or you will be thrown out.
But of course leaders are not the only one important. The followers may be equally important.  Especially in soft skills areas. Otherwise there may be a noisy scene. And headaches. You may have to take 3 saridons. 2 points. Bhawna Somaiyya ratings !!