KungFu Fighting

Well, not like real fighting, but some nice quotes from Bruce Lee I happened to come across:

• A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.

• Obey the principles without being bound by them.

• All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.

• To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.

• Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.

• Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.

• If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.

At St.Joseph's College

Yesterday we did a talk at St.Joseph's College, on 'Sustainability and Innovation'

This is a new SELCO initiative, launched with objective of sensitizing young adults to the development sector, the underserved demographic, their issues and possible solutions.

While all of us (atleast In India), are at one point or the other exposed to poverty, it's quite amazing how insulated we are from the realities of the poor. Sadly, the disparity seems to be only growing, and the apathy and ignorance in approach from the government keep from any sustainable solutions.  

The sensitization starts from first understanding how diverse their needs are; how rural poverty is different from urban poverty, how the definition of poor in itself needs more attention .......there is the Poor at income of Rs.10,000 to 15,000 pm, the Very Poor at income of Rs.6000 to 10000 pm and the Abject Poor at income of Rs.2000 to 6000 pm, but all clubbed into one bucket. Without the effort to understand and articulate needs, any schemes or solutions remain so only on paper.

Here are some numbers that might even surprise you                     

To enable an initial understanding, we did a role play, of us belonging to the underserved, and the students asking us questions. It was an involved and interactive session targeted at opening a window of thought. 

It was a first even for SELCO, and I was happy to be a part of it. An added nice was that it was at Diksha's college and she and her friends were part of the audience, it was students of economics and environmental science.

Another thanks sent SELCO's way, for yet another new and interesting experience.

Davanagere Benne Dose

This experience I completely owe to Subray Hegde, who was joining me from Hubli, for this visit to Haveri. He calls in the morning to say......don't have breakfast madam, you must wait till I reach.

And then he takes me to this dingy little place called Davanagere Benne Dose.... and man, was it worth it. Simply sinfully delicious.

In fact it was so good, I decided to skip lunch just so we could to do it again in the evening and we did. And these real little hotels that actually go by the name of Davanagere Benne Dose, serve nothing but that. It's that plus coffee or tea. Focus and excel on specialization.

                                         

I tried talking to the chef (in the picture) about the biogas stove I'd visited last month, showed him pictures and all that, but he was like 'we need the firewood flame at this high level, controlled combustion might impact taste, in fact that's why we haven't shifted to gas either'.

If retaining tradition is part of retaining that taste, I totally agree. Going anywhere that part of Karnataka..... a must must do :)

Siddeshwara Temple

We finish our work by 5.30 and are headed back to the hotel, and it had been a really long day, so I half heartedly ask how far the Siddeshwara temple was, ( I'd done a quick browse before leaving ) and Mahesh says 2 kms. That seemed too close to miss. Subray was first like...howda?....ivagaa? ( really? now?) But a little persuasion, and he was on.....

And am I glad we went....I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said it was one of the prettiest and most powerful temples I've seen.

It's 11th century western Chalukyan architecture, and it's even visually just so beautiful. It just seems to talk to you, emanating strength, character and beauty. Creativity at it best. Spell binding stuff.

The 1000 years can be felt through the pillars , the central ones smooth and rounded and the outer ones ridged and octagonal, an interesting contrast

The sanctum sanctorium....neat, beautiful and powerful.... no religious clutter 

That's with Mahesh, our Haveri branch Manager

The level of detail and aesthetic simply stumps you.

Enjoying the serenity and quiet...and isn't he pretty too !!

Visit to Haveri

Actually to Kudala, a village of around 600 houses, 20 kms off Haveri town. Haveri is a small district bang in the center of Karnataka.

                             

This map is coming in here because of a conversation I had with Diksha while I was on the bus to Haveri. She's like, where's Haveri? And I said north kinds... south of Hubli.... kind of north westish of Bangalore. And she's like.......you think I'm Columbus or what? 

The purpose....It's an interesting story. A couple of months back when we had our first Entrepreneur Fund training program at Dharwad, Mallikarjun from this village happened to attend. And that's where things came together for him. The idea of identifying opportunity.

His village had a water based issue, with lots of people having joint aches and other health related problems. Water purification was never an option as the village gets a maximum of 3 to 4 hours of electricity a day and even that at unknown hours. He now saw possibilities.

With colleagues from SELCO, he did a water test, and sure enough they found the flouride content way above acceptable limits (three times higher), and then he started to see the impact of flourosis on many of the villagers there. 

The idea now is to put up an RO water purification system run on solar energy, and that's what this visit was all about. It would be a pilot for us as well.

The need was clear.......... it was now about figuring out the how of it. And I was so happy to see that the entrepreneur was all there, he was starting to see the big picture already, talking of how we should make this a model project which can be replicated all over the district, as it's likely that water contamination is a much larger problem in the whole area. So while I got back at 4.30 this morning, I'm as pumped as him to get to work and get this project going.

And what's more, he is an astrologer, and is very popular in the nearby villages for his astrological readings, and he says his own stars predict tremendous growth for him in this phase, so he's in full on belief frame. That was an added interesting angle.

Some pictures from the visit to Kudala:

This is an electricity based water purification plant (called 'shudh ganga'). Visited three of these as a due diligence on product and technology.  

Just a quintessential rural picture on the way to Kudala

These two little girls were just so cute

 A walk around the village...kind of market survey if you will

Sujatha, this ones for you. It's after a long time that I saw the old kind of bullock carts, with even wooden wheels.

An urdu school in the village

Beyond work, the trip was about Davanagere Benne Dose and a visit to a 11th century temple too, all in a day.... another post on that :)

Mindset - Carol Dweck

My first on the Kindle

I'd actually started with 'Fooled by Randomness', but couldn't go through with it.....kind of too preachy and technical......and just by title, difficult for a person who believes in everything having a reason, and the will being above all, I guess. Hopefully, I'll get back there one day.

Anyways, back to Carol Dweck.

                             

She has an interesting concept here: A Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset

She's a renowned Stanford psychologist with over three decades of systematic research on Achievement and Success.....and what she says in essence, is that the Star, the Champion is Made.......not Born, and it's all about the Mindset. 

And what's best.....this mindset can be adopted, can be changed

A 'Fixed Mindset' assumes that character, intelligence and creative abilities are static and cannot be altered in any significant way. So there's a lot of dependence on talent and innate ability, including intelligence.

A “Growth Mindset,” on the other hand, is looking at constant opportunity to get better, it could actually thrive on challenge, and see failure not as evidence of unintelligence, but as an opportunity for stretching our existing abilities......for learning and for growth.

Out of these two mindsets which we manifest from a very early age, springs a great deal of our behavior, our relationship with success and failure in both professional and personal contexts, and ultimately our capacity for happiness.

There are parts of the book which read like thrillers in synopsis ........it has lots and lots of examples taken from the world of sports, corporate and personal equations. 

It's very factual, and solidly researched, but there are stories that can touch you deep, like with Xerox, where she talks of how Anne Mulcahy took the company from the brink of disaster to a name that's now synonymous with photo copying...this one actually got out the tears.

Strong recommendation to read.....you cannot but look for facets of it reflected in you, which parts of you might be more fixed mindset and which growth.

Especially considering how much we tend to be fixated by this image we have of ourselves, that we don't even think it's possible to change any of it........well, here's seeing how there's always possibilities.

Prime

Dave, 23 and Rafi, 37,  fall in love, and it's as intense, authentic, crazy as only love can be........almost nothing coming in the way, atleast nothing major...... but for the fact that it wouldn't work.

Rafi, (Uma Thurman, who looks simply simply stunning) a divorcee still dealing with the pain of the divorce, soon finds herself so in love with Dave ( Bryan Greenberg). And she works through her insecurities..... of falling in love so soon, and more so, the age difference between her and her new love, through her psychiatrist Lisa (Meryl Streep) . 

There's a skewed situation here, as Lisa as it turns out, is Dave's mom and that brings out a whole different layer of conflicts.... each handled so delicately and genuinely....like no drama, in a situation rife with drama. It's all honest and positive, because it's the underlying feelings that are respected above all other expectations and norms..

The therapist is Meryl Streep, who goes through complex conflicts between her own emotions as a conservative jewish mother........ and her genuine affection and fondness for her client, and how she comes to terms with the situation. 

Streep herself finds clarity and solace through discussions with her own psychiatrist, (Madhur Jaffrey plays her therapist) and they do make for interesting perspectives.

There are precarious situations that are so deftly handled, it brings a smile and a nod.  Sure, there might have been simpler solutions, like Meryl having signed out of the therapy for conflict of interest,  but then we wouldn't have a story.

It's a love story that couldn't be. They had a beautiful last shot, after they part......where what's left is longing, affection and acceptance.

I couldn't make up my mind on whether I loved the end.....or if it could have been different. It made sense, like lots of sense....but then.... pragmatic and practical can be so boring :)

Strong recommendation to watch.....complex realities...in a neat, fun and beautiful frame.

Synchronicity and the Holographic Universe

It's pretty abstract, and even tough in parts, but really fascinating stuff.....

The EF Story

Yesterday, we had an 'Entrepreneur Fund, All Aboard' meet, as we called it.

I've been eating, sleeping, dreaming EF, as it's said. Yet, it was only when I was thinking of how to do the presentation that I started to see so many facets, earlier just taken for granted. 

And it was fascinating, as it was validating some underlying perspectives which were like Aha moments. And that's when I decided to tell it as a story to the team. This was the story slide.

We started in Jan '2015, with a goal of 50 enterprises and 100 Euros (70 lakh) funding.  Renewable energy, underserved segment, huge need, entrepreneur development, giving money.....easy task. The mood was upbeat.

We made a plan, did our end of it, told our branches and field staff what we were looking for. And then the months started to pass.

June.........half way through.......just 2 lakhs done (5 projects), less than 5% accomplished. We were staring into the face of failure. 

When Harish asked if we could do it, I said 'unlikely, nothing was working, we might do twenty lakh at best' and maybe we should consider returning the money.

Fortunately for me, the learnings, the attitude and the subconscious kicked in that night. They conspired to wake me up at 2 in the night to say, No, you can't give up....you have to do it. What makes the story...... is that moment, when I actually got up and sent off an email saying exactly that....'No, no returning money, we'll do it'..... and I had no clue how. 

What it took is that turning point.

It was then about figuring out the how. And figure it out we did, a complete restrategizing.

Understanding what it takes, putting in place a process, a plan of action and getting our feet on the ground. 

That's Jayashree putting stickers for all our enterprises, Bihar, Orissa and Karnataka........and it's been wonderful to see those dots increase.

As of yesterday, we'd done 27 projects (21 lakh spent), and what's more we'd even innovated on financing mechanisms, brought in banks, leveraged our money and enabled a lot more.

We now know we can do it. The energy in the room was palpable. We had a slide with goals for each person on the field, (me included), and before projecting it I asked each of them what they thought they could do, and consistently each of them gave me a number more than what I'd set for them. That's the belief, motivation and zing that makes you want to go to work each day.

And what did it take? ..............A shift in Mind Set. 

Counselling

A buzz word in my head right now

I recall a conversation I had with Navin at Google, maybe all of ten years back when we were talking of how counselling is something that's so beautifully leveraged in the west, and in India we will not only not accept it, but go so far as to look down on those who do. 

A fever, a cough, a cold and we rush our kids to the doctor. A back ache or hypertension and we'll surely go see a doctor. We seem to acknowledge our physical body and it's needs well enough, but we sorely fall short beyond the physical.

The emotional and mental part of us goes through the same exposure and battering as the physical... it needs it's share of looking after.

Apparently, 69% of people think the world would be a better place if people talked about their feelings more. 

All of us hit times in life when we are either uncomfortable or confused with situations, relationships, desires, whatever....leading to emotional disturbances and pain. They would cloud our thinking and being.  Talking about it is a way of becoming aware of the emotions, and aware is empowering. An objective and non judgmental atmosphere with possibilities of seeing other perspectives, enables this, and that's where existential counselling comes in.

'Self awareness' and 'Clarity' can be game changers for 'Well Being'. It's an area that's caught my attention and the more I read, the more fascinating it seems. About how, it's not only the emotions, but as much our awareness of the emotions, and the level of understanding we have of them and thus of ourselves that could potentially decide what we want to be, where we want to be....and, how we want to be.

Know Thyself, Socrates injunction ......  Wisdom of the ages I guess.

The Initiator

Yet Another from Seth

For each person who cares enough to make something, who is bold enough to ship it, who is generous enough to say, "here, I made this,"...

There are ten people who say, "I could have done it better."

A hundred people who say, "Who are you to do this?"

A thousand people who say, "I was just about to do that,"

and ten thousand people who don't care at all.

And all of that is okay, because the person we need, the one we cherish, the one we would miss, is the first person, the initiator, the one who cares.

Thanks for shipping your work. 

Why do we have Windows?

A piece of reading this morning brought back a memory from a Montessori training program I'd done a long long time ago. Our teacher. Shri.Swami was one of the best teachers I've ever ever met, or rather had the fortune to have been taught by. In fact I remember telling him that 'all the questions I'd had, which might have driven me to philosophy in college, got answered more through him than in the two years of hard core philosophy'

Anyways, he'd asked.....'Why do we have windows' ? And folks went...light, ventilation, fresh air and the like....and he was like....."It's to stay connected with Nature"

This is the piece, from the Harvard Business Review, that brought it back:

Looking at Nature Can Help Your Productivity

We all want to be productive, but figuring out how to do it can be challenging. One simple way is to spend time looking at nature on your next break at work. Research has found that gazing at something green – through a window, on a walk outside, or even on a screen saver – can help improve attention and performance in the workplace. Attention restoration theory suggests that natural environments have restorative benefits for us. Because nature captures our attention without requiring us to focus on it, looking at natural environments lets us replenish our stores of attention control. And because our attention is a limited resource that we’re constantly tapping, letting it recharge is essential. So the next time you take a break at work (you are taking breaks, right?), spend it looking at nature. Doing so for even one minute can show benefits.

Good Doctor

25 years, 36,000 postcards: How one doctor’s gesture helped India’s rural poor stay healthy

Excerpts of an inspiring story I saw in the Quartz.

While in his teenage years, a poor village boy in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh wanted to join the postal service. 

But a relative supported him financially and sent him to medical school. That changed the life of Araveeti Ramayogaiah, who became a pediatrician, but decades later, his day-to-day practice became inseparable from the postal service.

For almost 25 years, Ramayogaiah wrote and sent postcards to India’s poor, especially women, telling them about ways to prevent—rather than cure—diseases. 

The inexpensive postcard was Ramayogaiah’s solution to private hospitals, which are typically inaccessible and unaffordable for many of India’s poor.

In all, he wrote around 36,000 postcards to patients, acquaintances and strangers—explaining basic habits like boiling water and washing hands, and how to prevent commonplace ailments like diarrhea.

“He often joked that if doctors in India were to go on a strike for 10 to 15 days, the mortality rate during that period would decrease because doctors wouldn’t be writing prescriptions,” she told Quartz. “He would say doctors are creating iatrogenic (caused by treatment) diseases. First they give medicines, that causes side-effects, so more medicines…and that’s a vicious cycle.”

“These were mostly uneducated women. So the postmaster who would be delivering the letter would read them aloud for them,” 

Araveeti Ramayogaiah.

In 2005, during the twilight years of his practice, he moved from Kurnool to Hyderabad. “He had no possessions like a house or a car,” Devi said. “He was way too simple.”

Ramayogaiah retired in 2008, but his postcard campaign didn’t. He actually took writing postcards full time.

The good doctor died in Hyderabad in September this year at the age of 65.

If you want to read the full story: Quartz - Good Doctor

Feel Good Day

I must have gone to sleep with some kind of an eruption of energy, because I found myself up at 2.30 in the morning, and so wide awake that I got up and did some writing reading stuff

And then, early in the morning....I get this message on my phone

"Hey GM...I was talking to someone last evening and they asked me who was the best manager you worked with at Google, and I took your name without thinking twice "

And it naturally made me feel so so good. Thanks there Annapurna, not just for feeling that way, but for actually pinging me on it. Speaks volumes for you girl.

And it didn't end with that. Yes, retaining bragging rights here....

Yesterday I'd received this scary letter from the Tax department, and this morning I was desperately searching old files to find my tax filing papers ( I'm awfully disorganized on anything investments, banking, tax and the like, so I was searching with fingers crossed and heart in mouth) and I find this letter, and it was an actual physical, paper, handwritten letter.

At this point even the tax papers receded from mind...I was just feeling so nice and so validated. 

Smitha Moganty ( yes, she's smitha too), must say thanks, firstly for doing it in paper and pen, guess the feel and connect for what we grew up with just stays ....and also for picking out the 'trust factor'. With time, I've only realized even more how critical that is to enabling and empowering, and this is great reiteration.

And why I write, is to say how.........if it's true that when you are in low space, all kinds of troubles will piggy back....it's equally true that when you're in good space,  nice things piggy back too.

Life 'Sin punished or Good rewarded' ?

When we were planning the trip to Varanasi, a friend said....'I'll come and see you when you're back, then even my sins will be purified'. (apparently Varanasi is so spiritual, that even second hand, it washes away ones sins ) 

And of course you die there, or get cremated there, and it's moksha, permanent release from the cycle of life.

And that's presumed desirable.

All religions tell us we are born of Sin, and Moksha, Nirvana, Heaven, Jannat...all of these are release from sin.......from Life.

Forget what counts as sin (highly debatable), let's just presume we have committed sin.....some or many....... say even accumulated over lifetimes. What happens to the Good we do? Wouldn't the Good by far balance out the sins?

Doesn't it then figure that life could be a reward for Good done, rather than punishment for sin........and the more good you do, the higher the chances of being allowed to live again?

Life's a reward....not a Punishment. 

That's one way there would eventually be only good on earth.  What say??

Empathy

A simple and neat animated video, on Empathy ( vs Sympathy )

Doubt

As titled, it's a movie that flows from how a doubt can turn to certainty simply based on perceptions and mind set. To such an extent that the principle and the ensuing need for adherence creates a perceived certainty, that becomes bigger than what's right.

Beautifully brings out how Being Rigid, can go overboard and hinder ones very ability to see the other Perspective

 

It's set in the 60's in a conservative catholic school, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as a progressive Father Flynn who is attempting to bring in some modernity and joy into a rigid, rule based system. And Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius, a severe and strict nun, almost bordering on pathologically rigid,. It's an intense and dark portrayal that squashes in its wake the possibilities of change however needed or beautiful.

There is also Amy Adams as sister Jamie, a simple and positive person who is caught in the confrontation between the two. She is high on integrity but as highly influenced by the nun, and it's about the way the truth breaks through for her.

Sister Aloysius hates any inroads into modernity, symbolized by her total rejection of ballpoint pens, and she extends her beliefs into behavior based on even incidental and perceived occurrences. There is one African American student who Father Flynn is supportive of, and encouraging in sport and church, but Sister Aloysius perceives this as improper behavior by adding insinuations of sexual overtures, to a relationship that's based on pure love, and she attacks like a bird of prey.

No attempt of rationalization is even listened to.

Father Flynn's fate is sealed. Right sometimes doesn't prevail under the scanner of rigidity and ruthlessness.

A sequence that stands out even in this grim and powerful portrayal, is that of Viola Davis as the black boys mother and her aspiration, pain, hope and wisdom all come through in that one sequence as she handles a complex confrontation with the principal. She was brilliant, actually outshone Streep in that scene.

It's powerful acting, compelling thought, growing irreverance and merciless planning that takes the film to its logical end of Father Flynn leaving the school. 

The end is when sister Aloysius allows Doubt to enter.

Recommendation........... It's serious, dark, intense, and powerful, so now you decide.

Does removal of what gives us Joy, lead to Unhappiness?

I like something....I enjoy something.....I desire something.

A natural corollary seems to be, if I don't have that something, I will be unhappy....the bigger the thing, the more unhappy.

This, I believe, is a myth.

If our identity and source of happiness is from within, then there's a centering and stability which won't ever take it away..........yet allow for a lot more joy which is limitless

And those are always welcome in life right?

It's like the vipassana space of equanimity....no cravings and no aversions

But does that mean one can't experience the absolute joy of, a walk in the rain,  a brilliant sunshine,  a wonderful movie, a great book, the quiet (or noisy) companionship of a friend,  the feel of a lovers arms.

I think all of those enhance experience, each at its own level. 

The space to be in is where your source and dependency is within, yet you have the expanded ability to joy from the without. That, is to be truly alive !!

Being Rigid

A while back, in a conversation with a friend, the word rigid came up for in depth discussion. Not in terms of semantics, but as concept, as personality trait..... rigid as opposed to flexible.

'Being Rigid' has a nuanced negative to it.....a judgmental feel for sure. If someone tells me I were rigid, I'm fairly sure it wouldn't be meant as compliment, matter of fact, there's likely hidden criticism.

So let's do a little deep dive

Good or Not Good ?

What does rigid bring to mind? Think of someone you know who you think is rigid. What adjectives would we use?

Confident, Clear, Strong, Certain, Authoritarian....and all those are positive, right?

Rigid when backed by 'Principles' is a sure good (principles could be ones own of course).

Let's see what gives it the negative nuance.

It's when a) there's no principles backing the stance and b) when the principles are enforced on another.

No Principles...well obviously doesn't make sense and clearly deserves the negative nuance.

The enforcing on another.....that's the issue. When the strong, certain, authoritarian are not about oneself, but applied as expectation on another, is when it moves from positive into negative. Extreme examples ( just to drive home the point) would be stuff like fundamentalism, honor killing, restricting, controlling etc 

It is the context and way in which it is applied that will really differentiate, if it's positive or negative.

Rigid or principled in leading ones own life. High degree of self awareness and clarity.....surely a space of strength. 

Now, can there be exceptions? And are exceptions weakness or strength? 

What happens when someone you really care for has an opinion or behavior that doesn't fit your principle? Can I see the other perspective? Or will my stand be, I will care until you are on my balance beam. What happens? Enters slippery territory. 

The ability to see the other perspective, to empathize. to let them be, and more....... to yet accept.....that's exception.

And that's really possible when you look beyond.....when there's love........unconditional love. Not to change ones principle, no,.................but to be able to standby, support, be there. That's where it becomes strength. This would be the space of exception as strength......the closest one can come to grace.

A work trip to Hoskote

This trip was to meet with SustainTech, who we're looking to partner under the Entrepreneur Fund. Sustain Tech is a social enterprise, also doing some great work at the ground level.

They make environment friendly, fuel efficient cook stoves.  These small road side dhabhas that we visited used to cook on gas earlier, but have now shifted to these stoves, and apparently, it saves them close to 10 k a month, plus its clean and smokeless. 

That's Chand Pasha, the first dhabha who was willing to try it ( not to miss his talking on the phone as he makes the parathas).

That's the stove, with a geometrically designed chamber, to enable high quality insulation and controlled combustion.

That's Syed Walliuddin another customer (introduced by Chand Pasha) who insisted on giving us free chai, and Narsimha, the field officer and our host for the morning  

It was so interesting, as we're trying to get our basic understanding of how they work and we ask...'din mein kitne log aate honge aap ke paas' ( how many people come eachday) and he says ' pataa nahi madam, kaise ghin sakte hain'............. 'phir bhi, madam, woh kais question hai.... kaise pata hoga' ( don't know madam, how would we know......and anyways, what kind of a question is that, how's it even possible to know?) and his tone sounded so like...what a dumb question to ask.......that it had us in splits. 

We had lovely fluffy, flaky parathas and omelette at Chand Pashas for lunch. I was so focused on the parathas, I did a bad job on Jayashree, sorry J.

This was one of the most warm and pretty welcomes we had, a lovely rose as we got off the car. 

Thanks Narsimha and Reddy, truly appreciated, and definitely wanting to take the partnership to the next level.

Westlife - Seasons In The Sun

Diksha was playing this on her phone this morning ........and it was like a switch to a different layer of being. No exaggeration...... I could feel a certain joy and stillness in the body. Was so nice, I've played it about a forty times since :)

This number....... and Eric Segal's 'Love Story' are for some reason etched together in my mind, and never fail to touch that deep chord........they're the forever ones....

Yet Another From Seth

Bravery is for other people

Bravery is for the people who have no choice, people like Chesley Sullenberger and Audie Murphy.

Bravery is for the people who are gifted, people like Sarah Kay and Miles Davis.

Bravery is for the people who are called, people like Abraham Lincoln and Mother Theresa.

Bravery is for other people.

When you see it that way, it's so clearly and patently absurd that it's pretty clear that bravery is merely a choice.

At least once in your life (maybe this week, maybe today) you did something that was brave and generous and important. The only question is one of degree... when will we care enough to be brave again?

Why some of us don't have one true calling

An interesting TED Talk I chanced upon. And especially so for me, as I took the long path figuring it out.

It's weird how constancy and commitment are expected to go hand in hand. If you are interested in something....... if it's genuine, it has to be forever. If you love someone, if it's genuine, it has to last forever. Really ???

I spent a lot of my growing years being called scattered, unsure, fickle....... and later in life worse,.....escapist, self sabotaging and the like.

Today I know different. I know that until the learning and growth are happening it's massive fun, but when one reaches a plateau, it's time to move on.......I even have a fancy phrase for it.....the need to reinvent oneself every few years, as it's the best possible opportunity for learning and growth. Like being in start up phase forever.

And this is nice validation for sure, especially for those yet struggling with it.

NDTV Coverage - Solar Energy

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/india-matters/india-matters-here-comes-the-sun/389883

Was nice to see how much SELCO there was in it

Sutapa Deb on NDTV Sustainable Energy Challenege UNESCO, United Nations Development Programme - UNDP Ministry of External Affairs, India

Kindle - A Beginning

I was waiting for Sunday for initiation into the Kindle. (it was sitting in its cover a few days now)

So, Saturday morning I put it to charge before going to work, as all these new age instruments need an eight hour first charge, and I didn't want to start and realize I was falling short on charge. Saying how it was all planned and stuff.

Saturday evening was slotted for uploading books which, as promised, Kiran sent me. He asked if I had a wishlist, and I was like.....  you pick and send. I was expecting around three to four books, but I hit bumper, he sent me a long list of over twenty, and it sure was an interesting list of books:

1. Siddhartha: Hermen Hesse
2. Makers of Modern India: Ramchandra Guha
3. How Google Works: Eric Schmidt
4. A Passage to India: E M Forester
5. Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul: Deepak Chopra
6. Mindset: Carol Dweck
7. Toward a Psychology of Being: Maslow
8. Oneness with All Life: Ekhart Tolle
9. A New Earth: Ekhart Tolle
10. I can see Clearly Now: Wayne Dyer
11. The Search: Osho
12. Learning to Silence the Mind: Osho
13. Its All About Change:Osho
14. Collected Works of Rudyard Kipling
15. A Brief History of Time, from Big Bang to Black Holes: Stephen Hawking
16. Fooled by Randomness: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
17. The Virtue of Selfishness: Ayn Rand
18. Fountain Head: Ayn Rand
19. Future Shock: Alvin Toffler
20. Alchemist: Paulo Coelho
21. Adultery: Paulo Coelho
22. Thinking, Fast and Slow: Kahneman Daniel

I was naturally super excited. And while I'd read a few, more than a few I hadn't, and I was itching to get started.

Back from office, I worked at shifting them from mail onto the Kindle, and there I hit my roadblock. I downloaded all, shifted all, but nothing on the Kindle. Third try, I could see them in the Kindle when plugged into the laptop, but open the Kindle, and nothing there. I spent an hour trying, but no luck.

This morning, I figured how a small error ( small, once you know what) was causing the issue. The books were in the Kindle, but in root drive and not the library, so not visible. Showed how a basic error could almost become deal breaker, until you figure your way around. Lesson there.

It's a brilliant feel....great texture and look. Sure, it will take getting used to, but once you've set your mind to overlook the obvious shift from paperback, and focus on the pluses......it looks like a super promising ride.

I've started with 'Fooled by Randomness' by Taleb. The line that caught my attention...'I am convinced after spending almost all my adult and professional years in a fierce fight between my brain (not fooled by randomness) and my emotions (completely fooled by randomness) in which the only success I've had is in going around my emotions rather than rationalizing them'. The preface and reviews sounded high on irreverence and insight, so reading on.

Glad to have the Kindle, and thanks Kiran, for that great start....I know it took effort and time....I'll make it worth it's while :)

Are You Interesting?

This ones from Seth

Are you Interesting?

An interesting person is interesting to us because she combines two things: Truth and Surprise.

The Truth: Not necessarily a law of physics, not necessarily a measurable truth, but merely the truth of experience. "I believe this," or "I see that."

And Surprise. Note that surprise is always local. Surprising to me, the audience. That's one reason that it's said that interesting people are interested—they are empathetic.

Everyone is capable of telling the truth. And everyone has been surprising at least once.

Which means that being an interesting person is a choice. We can choose to show up, to care enough to contribute our humanity to the next interaction.

It's a choice, but a difficult one, because being interesting feels risky. People are afraid to be interesting, not unable to be interesting.

You're not born uninteresting. But it's entirely possible you've persuaded yourself to be so frightened of the consequences that you no longer have the passion, the generosity or the guts to be interesting any longer.

Without a doubt, we need your interesting.

Saarnath

Saarnath is the place of Buddha's first sermon after he attained enlightenment.

It is one of the four holy Buddhist sites of piligrimage, said to have been sanctioned by the Buddha himself. (which is so hard to believe when Buddha's teachings had neither idols nor god)

The tree, representing the place of the first sermon. This tree is from a sapling of the tree in BodhGaya under which he attained enlightenment.

Saarnath is also the place which had the original Ashoka Pillar, of the four lions, which is adopted as the national emblem of India. The lions are said to represent the four fold truths of Buddhism. All that's left at the original spot is the bottom part of the pillar.

                     

The Dhamek Stupa, is one of the most prominent of the Buddhist stupas, was constructed by Ashoka in 300 BC to house the relics of Buddhas teachings, and a tablet with inscriptions of the original teachings was discovered by boring a hole through the Stupa in 1905

      

Matka lassi, was the curtains downing of a 'once in a life time' trip

Janardhan uncle and Kamlesh aunty, huge huge thanks over again....... one of my most memorable trips ever.

Benares Hindu University

The reason we visited the Benares Hindu University, is because my cousins grandmom was one of the first principals there, way back in 1946. And she was apparently a huge influence and role model for my aunt and my mother. So we went.

She was widowed very early, with a two year old son.  She then happened to meet Madan Mohan Malaviya, who was founder of BHU, and motivated by him enrolled in the college. After graduation, she went on to become a lecturer in the same college, and further more to become it's principal.

What a story ....I sure got why she was inspiration.

And it was so wonderful to see her picture on the wall in the principals office, in a long line of principals.... the second from left, K Venkateshwaran.

And dadi, as we all knew her, was also a direct influence on my own grandmother. Also lost her husband at a very young age, and left with a one year old daughter, and when still expecting (my mother). I remember her telling me 'dadi chepaka pothe. naa jeevitham antha kitchen lo chapathilu chesthu undedani' ( if it wasn't for dadi, I would have spent my whole life making chapathis in the kitchen). 

Dadi, who knew Durgabai Deshmukh, the founder of Andhra Mahila Sabha, got my grandmother the job of  hostel warden there, and convinced people at home to let her go work, and that was turning point in her life. She grew to be an independent and confident woman, an inspiration to many, me included. Even after retirement, she lived alone all of thirty two years, by choice, until she passed away two years back. 

This is dadi with Sarojini Naidu, taking the guard of honour in their college, a picture in the BHU heritage hall.

The Heritage Hall of the college........and the two sisters, my aunt and mom.

The heritage hall is another step into history........ old chairs, old fans, old feel....... with huge pictures of Gandhi, Patel, Radhakrishnan, Tagore and others adorning it's walls. You can still feel the air of those times in there.

Gallis of Varanasi

If the Ghats, with their magnificent palaces, the bathing ghats and the ongoing cremations made Varanasi an intense experience, the galli's of Varanasi added an intriguing perspective.

Soon as we got there, Janardhan uncle asks....is Varanasi north of Ganges or South? Oh..Oh..didn't know.....  so got this map from the hotel.   It looked like it was flowing south but I knew Patna where I'd seen the Ganges earlier was downstream, but north of Varanasi, so I really couldn't figure it out. Even on the boat, you realize the river is flowing north, which was weird. 

It just didn't fit. And it took some research to see that it actually flows down from the west side of Varanasi, takes a U turn and then flows upwards on its's east, making Varanasi north of Ganges as also East. Was an interesting twist, pun intended.

The city itself : I've never, ever, seen such narrow galli's...... they just go on and on, bylanes into bylanes, like a maze. They are just three to four feet in width, with old old houses on either side, lots of people, lots of cows and dogs, an occasional scooter and bike too, (when there's no place to even stand on the side at times), and,.......and so so much trash and dung, it redefines dirty.

We stepped into one of those little doors, (who would resist a doorway to heaven), as it also had a benares silk weaving place within, and you step into this haveli.. It is 92 houses in there, and mostly from one family with the rest of the houses being occupied by their workers, benares saree weavers.

That's Kamlesh aunty with the cow, you just have to trust they are friendly, but for the mean looking ones, it's a challenge to avoid. After all, it's not only us humans who have prerogative to moods you know.

When you walk you want to look, no stare, gape, at all the unique sights around, like even peep through those little doors into staircases and rooms which are as fascinating.........but you take your eyes off the path for a second, and there's high chance you'll step on filth and I'm not exaggerating......we did you know, on fresh dung, not once but twice.

If the galli's are mesmerizing, the filth and dung are an assault on the senses and it takes monumental effort to rise above them and see the mysterious beauty and intrigue of the place. But if you do, you'll see it and it's amazing, crazy amazing.

And we walked and we walked........and a lot of it without even footwear, as it was access to the Kasi Vishwanath temple.

The Kasi Vishwanath temple is one of the twelve jyotir lingas, and is said to be the holiest of Shiva temples. It has apparently been destroyed and re-constructed a number of times with the last structure demolished by Aurangzeb, who constructed the Gyanvapi Mosque on its site.

The mosque is also visible in this picture and it's a courtesy Google pic, as we're not allowed to take cameras or phones in.

Kachori and Jalebi, the local favorite, and such a quaint person, he just fit the surroundings so well.

A lot of times I found 'woh kaike paan banaras wala, kul jaaye bandh akal ka taala' playing in my head. Paan is just such an integral part of life there.

I'm standing in this store looking at statues of Shiva to get back as memoir of trip, and Anupam, our cab driver, walks up and says 'paan loge madam?' and I was like 'Abhi?' and he goes, paan keliye koi time hota hai kya?

Walking these galli's is akin to time travel.....it's when you see why Varanasi is the world's oldest living city.