Anatomy of Crisis from TOI.

Over the past several weeks, TOI has sought to bring you a sense of the tectonic changes in the global financial order, and their impact on economies and people. In our 'Learning With The Times' series, we have traced the origins of the meltdown—in the US sub-prime loan crisis—as well as the reasons for the spread of fear to stock and credit markets around the world. As the situation assumes grave proportions, even in India, investors and to an extent depositors are hitting the panic button. Many don't follow business closely and are spooked by economic jargon. That doesn't mean they don't want to know what's happening to their money. We therefore invited economist Abheek Barua to explain as lucidly as possible the unfolding crisis, and what it means for all of us.

If your palms start to sweat whenever you see the business headlines or flip to a business channel, you might draw solace from the fact you share these symptoms with millions. Investors across the world are in a state of absolute panic. As they dump risky assets like shares and rush to safe havens like gold and government bonds, stock-markets and currencies across the world keep falling.

The origins of today's crisis can be traced back to mid-2007 when three things became clear. One, low income or sub-prime US households that had borrowed heavily from banks and finance companies to buy homes were defaulting heavily on their debt obligations. Two, the size of this sub-prime housing loan market was huge at about $1.4 trillion. Three, Wall Street's financial engineers had packaged these loans into really complicated financial instruments called CDOs (collateralized debt obligations). American and European banks had invested heavily in these products.

However, no amount of financial engineering could protect investors from one simple and irrefutable principle—if these housing loans turned 'bad', the instruments that were based on these loans would lose value. CDO prices started plummeting as defaults on US home loans rose. Falling prices dented banks' investment portfolios and these losses destroyed banks' capital. The complexity of these instruments meant that no one was too sure either about how big these losses were or which banks had been hit the hardest.

Banks usually never hold the exact amount of cash that they need to disburse as credit. The 'inter-bank' market performs this critical role of bringing cash-surplus and cash-deficit banks together and lubricates the process of credit delivery to companies (for working capital and capacity creation) and consumers (for buying cars, white goods etc). As the housing loan crisis intensified, banks grew increasingly suspicious about each other's solvency and ability to honour commitments. The inter-bank market shrank as a result and this began to hurt the flow of funds to the 'real' economy.

To cut a long story short, today's financial crisis is the culmination of these problems in the global banking system. Inter-bank markets across the world have frozen over. Indian banks are in the middle of a severe cash crunch. Wall Street blue-chips like Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch have been acquired by other more 'solvent' banks at bargain-basement prices. Lehman Brothers, which had survived every major upheaval for the past 158 years, went bust. Panic begets panic and as the loan market went into a tailspin, it sucked other markets into its centrifuge. The meltdown in stock markets across the world is a victim of this contagion.

Some questions need answers at this stage. Why are the sensex and the rupee getting hurt so badly by the woes of the American and European banks? Their presence in India is minuscule compared to the nationalized banks or the bigger private banks. A glance at Indian banks' balance sheets would show that their exposure to complex instruments like CDOs is almost nil.

A word, 'globalization', and a phrase, 'risk aversion', should explain why India has not been spared the contagion of the US and European banking crisis. Global investors are seriously concerned about the prospect of a great upheaval, if not a complete collapse in the banking system in the developed world. This, they fear, would affect all financial transactions in the near term. Going forward, this disruption could trigger a global recession (that is about 3% growth in 2009 for all economies put together). Agencies like the International Monetary Fund have endorsed this view.

The upshot is that the global investment community has become extremely risk-averse. They are pulling out of assets that are even remotely considered risky and buying things traditionally considered safe—gold, government bonds and bank deposits (in banks that are still considered solvent). Emerging markets like India have over the last few years offered spectacular returns but have always been considered 'risky'. It is not surprising that they have got the short shrift in the flight to safe haven.



Does India deserve to be treated differently? Are we the victim of irrational 'herd' behaviour where differences across economies are getting blurred in this mad rush to safety? Yes and no. It is true that our economy depends more on domestic rather than external drivers, a fact that we keep touting endlessly. However, it is also true that we have embraced 'globalization' fairly enthusiastically over the past decade-and-a-half.

This, from an economic perspective, means two things. For one, we depend more on external markets to sell our goods and services. In 1995-96, for instance, we sold 9.1% of our goods abroad. In 2007-08, we sold 13.5% of our goods to foreign buyers. It also means that we depend more on external funds to support our growth.

In the last fiscal year alone, we borrowed $29 billion from foreign lenders and got $34 billion of foreign direct investment. A global recession would hurt external demand. 'Risk-aversion' among international lenders could limit access to international capital. Both India's financial markets and the real economy will be hurt in the process. Suddenly, the 9% growth target does not seem that 'doable' any more; we should be happy to clock 7% this fiscal year and the next.

The sell-off in the stock markets is not entirely the effect of global contagion. To a degree, it reflects anxieties about our prospects of future growth. The blood-letting in the financial markets is unlikely to stop soon. Governments and central banks (the RBI's counterparts) are trying every trick in the book to stabilize the markets. They have pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into their money markets to try and unfreeze their inter-bank and credit markets. Large financial entities have been nationalized. The US government has set aside $700 billion to buy the 'toxic' assets like CDOs that sparked off the crisis. Central banks have got together to co-ordinate cuts in interest rates. None of this has stabilized the global markets. Thus, it is impossible to predict when the haemorrhage will stop and what will stem it.

That said, history tells us that financial crises end as suddenly as they start. I would not be surprised if by early next year, the worst of the mayhem is over. The wounds that it leaves behind could, however, take much longer to heal.

Know your past!

Any tourist spot will have a rich history to cherish.
The people who are enthusiasts to seek for adventure or travel around will definitely want to get more information about the places they visit.

I guess this novel idea has stuck upon the creators of storytrail. They have worked upon to get as much intricate details to know about in and around places of Chennai.

Also for the enthusiasts who dont want to spend much bucks but to know the new places or myths behind them the blog site will be of some help. Blog

Teach India!

Riding on their successful campaign of launching - Lead India to create social awareness among the people, the times of India has come up with yet another brilliant initiative Teach India to make India shine even better. I guess this initiative comes due to a survey conducted recently by their TOI team, wherein they have found a reality that the student to teacher ratio in India is less than compared to other countries including china (though they are far more populous than us). With the advertisement of Lead India initiative bagging several awards in the recently concluded Cannes Festival, and the huge response to Teach India, we can even more firmly say that India is shining brightly.

Just for you!

Was searching for perfect lines for the art I tried my hands long time back. I felt nothing else can go together with the picture, so thought of posting my artistry immediately!



Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.

Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.



Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.



Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favourite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms. The mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly and screaming inside that little body

And when I kiss you goodnight I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for
nothing, except one more day..............

Now you can find me in google too!

I came across this interesting piece of article which is really thought provoking. In an era where ecommerce holds a strategy for B2B or C2B businesses. It is really tough for the customers remember your website if it is lengthy or tough to remember. Here comes a rescue for that. Go through this interesting article for more info.
Google Search replaces Ads

Henceforth my business card is

Ticketless Travel :)

You thought software guys have big bucks and ticketless travel is a far cry for them right ? I am one who proved you wrong :)

I happened to have a quick snack one evening at Ascendas, an expensive ice cream, cheesy steamed corn and concluded with an iced milk shake. Just an hour of chit chat with friends over the snacks and whoof goes about 500 bucks! But then who cares hmmm ??!

My plan was to get back to office (my bike was there and I had got to Ascendas with my friend on his bike) and get back home. Office being just two stops away from Ascendas, Tidel park to be precise; I decided to take the train to reach the office. Accompanied by my colleague, I reached the station and thankfully a train pulled off almost immediately. In the panic to not board the ladies compartment, I almost forgot that there is one thing called a TICKET to travel by the train! But then, my colleague was keeping her cool, being a regular traveller herself, and pointed fingers towards the ticket counter. The queue before the ticket counter was a small (!! where the hell is everyone going at that late hour huh!) one with 20 people in the line!

So now the situation is get the ticket and miss the train...hmmm...I quickly weighed the pros and cons and decided to opt to travel without the ticket and boarded the train ! Just two stops, just two minutes but it looked like two decades and I was already waiting near foot board to jump out of the train immediately it reaches the station. Finally, the train reached my stop and there I was, quickly getting out of the training and running to catch the lift as if the flight will take off any moment...

Once I reached the outside of the station, I sighed a big relief and my panting became normal. I was standing in a new world (only the same old area but I visualized differently).

Finally, I managed to get away with a ticketless travel and avoid the embarassment of getting caught, fined and who knows there would have even been a news on the next day...all tamil dailies flashing the interesting story about a software team lead's ticketless travel !!

How 911 affected me!!

This incident happened when I was bound to fly from Chicago to New Jersey in the year'07. The flight was scheduled at 6:45am and I was already late to the airport thanks to the traffic. My cousin barely succeeded in getting me to the airport on the scheduled boarding time.

When I reached the airport, I was visibly able to watch a big queue standing as in our railway reservation counters. (Only difference is, this is for security check to board a flight). Seeing this, my hope to catch the flight died off. Still I kick started my spirit and asked for a boarding pass. The clerk clearly told me I won’t be able to catch this flight and it is better to opt for the next flight. I had to get to my office and just could not afford to take half a day leave. But I was left with no other option than to catch the next flight which was scheduled at 8:45am. So I had to make up excuses to my boss on the inability of coming to office for half a day. After collecting the ticket, I joined the big queue.

When I was about to be allowed for security check the Lady Security officer looked me head to toe as if looking at an alien and asked me to give my passport. Going through my passport and me for a couple of times and asking a question of which part of India, she wrote "SSSS" on the boarding pass and punched a star in that. I was wondering what is happening and but I kept my cool thinking it would be a normal procedure. After that I entered the normal security check line but she stopped me abruptly and asked me to wait in a separate area. I was getting tensed wondering what the heck is happening?

After that an officer came and asked me to meet a officer and told me " What have you done sir to get caught today? I was completely perplexed with this question and told him the only word "Nothing". After looking at my worried face (which I wanted to keep coz I dont know what lies ahead) he told me that this is a kinda routine to catch few people in random and pass through this rigorous test after the 911 incident. Today you have just become the scape goat.

Ok, then made up my mind to do whatever they asked me to do. First they asked me to remove all the accessories am wearing. Thank god they didn’t asked me to undress! After that I was asked to stand in a room surrounded my glass walls. I guess it is scanning the entire body for finding anything susceptible in the body. After I came out they asked me to open the baggage I had. They didn’t even touched my bag as if am carryin ammunition. I had a bottle of water which they asked me to throw it off. Just minutes before I had bought that but I couldn’t explain anything.

Then they saw the lappy in my bag and asked me intriguing questions as if it was stolen. They scanned the laptop too. I don’t know how it senses the contents inside. Finally they relieved me saying “Sorry for making you go through this check”

I thought for a moment, "For bookin your timesheets, why do you guys unnerve innocent people!!”

After the final check, I was relieved and had to gulp down a heavy load of water to get myself feel relaxed.

Loving with open mind

Loving kindness is a meditation practice that was taught by the Buddha to help us develop the habit of selfless or altruistic love. It is a truly universal practice which need not be associated with any particular religious concept. Loving With Open Mind

Even the Greatest Men Have A Negative Character!

Ever wondered the Gentleman of Cricket (Mr. Clive Lloyd) has got a bad character! He is loved by many people in his country but he failed miserably in his personal life. Go through the article to know more about.

CliveLloyd

SuperStar Rajini Kanth in CBSE TextBook.

To Rajini Fans,

Yet another milestone reached by the star. Check out the link for more information.
Superstar in CBSE

Inflation!

If you open any newspaper or tv channels these days, the one news which is very much talked is about Inflation. "Inflation percentage is getting higher and higher every day", "Commodity Price Index is getting increased", "Bush blames on China & India for inflation" so on.

Finance minister says that lot of measures have been taken in regard to this.
Next few days you will notice following headlines.

"Reserve Bank of India has increased the CRR (Cash reserve ratio). "
"The export of steel, cement has been controlled."
"Housing Loan rate has been increased."

If you are not sure on how this controls inflation. Check the site published by RBI with the intention of teaching the children, the very basic concepts about money. But this is really helpful to understand the very basics.

Inflation

Microsoft World Telescope.

When Google released the realistic 3D view of our earth in the name of product called Google Earth , guess the guys in Microsoft conducted a brainstorming session and thought why we can't release a product in the similar lines. The result is Worldwide Telescope

Check the article in Newyork times NYTimes

Short Quotes

Started writing quotes who knows in the future when i become famous, the future generation might use them for reference ;)

Cocoon

Butterfly has to break its cocoon to spread its wings properly, if you become sympathetic and help during the struggle then it will never fly at all.






Heaven!

There are so many things beautifully lying around the world. Still our eyes searches for non existent heaven.












Boomerang

Life is like a boomerang when you spread positive attitude, you will receive the same. May be not immediately, coz it has to travel sometime right?

Why Men Doesn't Cry!

There are many unsolved mysteries in the world. At times, we don't even look further into the why's and how's of the simplest things in life or even things around us? Every human being on this planet has entered this world in order to solve atleast a handful of these mysteries. Like everyone else, my friend wanted to probe into something as simple as why men hardly ever cry? Do they ever cry? Are they stone hearted? Or is there something scientific?

We had lot of speculation and debates about men crying. Finally we found out that the men cried when they watched movies like Gladiator and Lion King! But on a serious note, men do cry and yeah, they do cry for 'real' reasons.

The idea of men crying may be look like a total turn off for most women. No woman could really appreciate her man crying for every reason she cries. But if she sees her man crying for a real reason like "when she is leavin him alone". It will definitely have a deeper impact in her. However, here comes the stereotyped notion of women who can't stand the thought that men cry at the drop of the hat.

Why this is happening?

Society has forced a deep impact in influencing the gender roles played by men and women. Girls are allowed to cry but boys are restricted from revealing their emotions.
In most cultures, it is more socially acceptable for women to cry in public than men, but this is certainly not true for all human cultures.

Most men have cried but away from the public view. Men feel that like picking one's nose in private, crying is also an extremely personal affair. Men in general have cried at the loss of a loved one, leaving your loved ones and moving to a different country, loss of job & the death of a loved one. Like the certain inevitable truths in life, the reasons for shedding a tear are justified and it no longer remains a taboo if a guy cries for the right reasons in public.

Final advice to men: After reading this don't use this as a weapon to emotionally wreck women. Once the woman finds this, then the relation is doomed, no need to say!

Young Entrepreneurs of Rising India!

When Thomas L. Friedman told that The World is Flat. I was wondered what made him to say that. I was overjoyed when the inspiration for that statement and to write a book on that, came from our own Mr.Nilekani. When he told that "the playing ground is being leveled". I said to myself, Indians are making waves in the world!

Hei! Do you know that there are many more Ambanis and Narayana Murthys, who are making waves and the interesting point to be noted is that they are younger than me. So thought of posting a blog about them coz they made me feel very humble as well as pride that they are Indian! They are infact really drawing a great inspiration to me. Hope you too will have a similar kind of experience!

1. Sarath Babu of Food King
2. Suhas Gopinath of Globals Inc.

After going through the above weblinks, I somehow got hooked to the monitor searched for more such persons. When I was searching for them, I stumbled upon a nice blog specifically written to show the world, about these guys who are creating waves. Hats off to the author, who is doing a wonderful job of spreading light. Entrepreneurs

Funny Pointers about Flirt!

Oopsy to post this blog at this very Old Age! Trying to bring back the lost young days. Haha!

10. Flirting is an attitude: A good flirt is self-confident and not afraid to take risks. Be enthusiastic and positive, it works!

9. Start a conversation: The best opening line is saying hello. Talk about the surroundings, ask a question, ask for help, state an opinion.

8. Have fun: Be playful, light-hearted and spontaneous. Show your vulnerability.

7. Use props: Never leave home without a prop. Props are natural conversation starters. They encourage conversation and others will be compelled to start talking to you. Great props include: dogs, kids, unusual jewelry fabulous scent, a sweatshirt with your favorite passion, interesting unique item, hats, or an enticing book or newspaper.

6. Be the host: Change your behavior from the role of guest to host. You are not the passive person in waiting, but rather the welcome committee.

5. Make the first move: Move closer to the person you want to meet. Say hello!

4. Listen: You have two ears and one mouth because you should listen twice as much as you speak. Listening is a true art. Your flirting partner will be drawn to you. Everyone loves to be heard.

3. Eye contact: Make eye contact, but please look your partner in the eye gently (no more than 2-4 seconds) and then glance away. Dont stare; it’s a turn off.

2. Compliment: Compliment your flirting partner. The best compliments have the element of surprise. The "flirtee" will know that you really noticed them. Remember, your compliments must be honest, sincere and genuine. When you receive a compliment the best response is merely, Thank You!

1. Smile: It is contagious. It will make you so much more approachable. A smile lights up your face and draws people to you. You will be a people magnet.

Try it! ...........................this is the reason why luv is RARE and precious!

New Planet named after an Indian!

Cheer up Indians! for the rare honour of Indian being named after a planet. It really proves that India is shining!

Check this link.
Pattazhi

A different Blog!

Ever wonder a famous tycoon of Indian cinema will start a blog site to reach the millions of fans. I was caught by a surprise when I came to know about this from a newspaper. It mattered to me most since I want to know the percentage of addiction he has on the world of Web. I'm keeping your fingers crossed right. Ok I shall give few questionairre, make a guess.

1. He is the famous cine star of Indian cinema.
2. He had setup a production house with the starting letters of English alphabets.
3. His child married to one of the beautiful damsels in the world.
4. He anchored the famous quiz show in television which got the highest TRP rating in those times.

Still wondering who that guy is, It is none other than Mr. BIG B of Indian Cinema. Amitabh Bachan. Check out his cool web site to know more details.

AB

Collage!

Most of the people are taking the photographs and cameras are available in mobile phones etc. But still we find that the expressions are limited coz the enjoyable moments are not bound together. So the collage comes to the rescue. Use this one of good sites to share your beautiful moments to your loved ones.

CollageSW

Really Interested to be a scribe?

Some of my friends are right now doing a wonderful activity of being a scribe to those who need the help of others. I don't know how many know that there is a online website for registering yourself in carrying out such a great wonderful activity. Thought of sharing with you all. Please go through the same and if interested, pl register yourself and let the society praise you for your wonderful service.

Scribe

Russian Stories for kids!

Since most of my friends are married and even have kids who has the capability to understand what their parents say, I thought of writing one about them.

Mostly kids love playing, singing rhymes and talkin to dolls and grandma's stories.

I dint had a much chance since i stayed away from my native. But the moment my parents take me to my native, i love every day stayin there. In fact once the trip comes to an end, i would even cry to my parents that am not coming back.

Those were the wonderful days in my life. Mostly the kids will love to hear stories from grandma since they will explain them with so much enthusiasm.

For those who want to tell the stories pl go through this link.

Russian Stories

Bryan Adams 11

One of my favourite rock star has released a new album named 11, this March 27th. The songs are pretty good and it has hit the charts in top 5 in many countries.

According to an interview with Adams on Canada AM, the title 11 was chosen because it is his eleventh album of completely original material, outside of live or compilation records, but including soundtrack.

Check out the cool website to know more details about his new album Bryan Adams

First draft of Darwin's Origin of Species goes online

Most Comprehensive work of Darwin "Origin of Species" has been published online. So if you are a person who is interested in biology, then here you go

Darwin Online

Stress Buster!

Last two weeks, life was thrown out of gear for me. Getting infected with chicken pox and bedridden for most of the times. Not able to move out of the room.

Further to that giving that pain to my dad who is now suffering in my native place. Why he got infected with that? The reason for showing the care and affection to me! Now he is feeling very sick not even able to go to nature's call since bleeding happens. So worsen the illness has become.

Sometimes the life gives you lot of pain and stress. How to bust the stress is more important.

My way used to be hearing music, drawing or watching movie (any crappy movie).

Some people throw whatever things they get to vent their stress or shout loud or cry or drink or smoke. The reason for the same and how to overcome is mentioned in the link. Hope it will be useful to some extent.

Stress Buster

God keeps reminding me.

Visiting that Raghavendra temple in Bangalore is almost more than a routine for her. She has not seen him ever before in the temple.

He was sitting on the floor with his closed eyes, folded legs and locked fingers in 'Gnana Mudra'. He looked strange and different with a turban on his head and the very long flowing beard. Some thing was there in his face that attracted her. She could not understand what that was.

She finished her 'darshan' and came out; she saw the man was walking in the corridor. Again something was happening in her, she could not understand what was that. She was telling herself, "a poor old man. I have to help him". She ran to him, gave rupees ten in his hand and forced him to accept. He smiled, expressed a reverence like a 'prasadam' by keeping it in the forehead and thanked her by keeping the hand in prayer position ('Namasthey').

As she came out, she saw the man was getting into his Mercedes Benz, she was perplexed, shivered and ran to him and said, "Sir (Ayya!), Please forgive me, I did not do this to insult you. By seeing your dress and appearance, I thought you are struggling in life and offered you the money. It is a blunder. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Please give me back that money. I am sorry".

The man with the fake beard and turban laughed and replied her politely, "Ammaa.. There is no mistake of yours. It is the other way. The creator is again and again reminding me through some body, "You are nothing. You are not special. Everybody is equal in front of me". He keeps on sending this message again and again and today you happened to be a medium. That's it. Thanks a ton". His hand again went to prayer position, expressed gratitude to the lady and he went into his car.

When the lady realized the man was none other than Super star Rajini Kanth - Asia's number one paid actor, he has left the place.

She did not know what to do. With tears in her eyes, she was starring at the direction that the car went.

- From Dr. Gayathri Sreekanth's "The Name Is Rajini Kanth – A biography"

Radical Thinking: What You Can Learn From the Timeless Philosophy of Socrates

During his lifetime Socrates wrote nothing down. Yet his wisdom has formed the bedrock of western philosophy. Socrates was viewed as a great teacher. But he did not claim to be a teacher. In fact, he frequently said ‘all I know is that I know nothing’. By all accounts Socrates was both poor and ugly. Yet in a society that placed tremendous value on beauty and wealth, people of all classes were magnetically drawn to his teachings and enigmatic personality.As he wrote nothing down, there is some dispute about what Socrates actually said. But, from the writings of Plato and others, we can gain a few glimpses into the character and ideals of this ancient sage and unique philosopher.

The Socratic Dialogue
Perhaps the most arresting feature of Socrates’ legacy is his unique method of teaching and arriving at the truth. Socrates didn’t claim the truth is this or the truth is that. He sought to question students in a way that would lead them to arrive at the truth themselves. Socrates frequently claimed to know nothing. Yet, if Socrates knew nothing, why were people so eager to hear him talk? The reason was that Socrates was able to make people reconsider their own ingrained ideas; Socrates had a way of making people think for themselves and consider truth from different angles.This method of conversation incurred the ire of some people; they were not happy that Socrates was able to show the limitations of their thinking. Yet, the genius of the Socratic method was that he never had to directly tell people their inadequacies; they came to realise it themselves.

Independence of Thought
One of Socrates most admired traits was that he did not follow popular opinion. He questioned every orthodox belief and decided independently if it was worth pursuing. Socrates looked at issues from both perspectives; he did not allow himself to be tied down by religious, political, or social conventions.This independence of thought and mind was particularly powerful given the forces of conformity predominant in Greek society. The importance he placed on independence of thought can be seen by his response to his trial and death. Socrates had numerous opportunities to flee; however, he didn’t wish to flee — he felt that escape would weaken his philosophic independence.Socrates was also non dogmatic; he had friends with both Oligarchs and Democrats. At the same time, he had enemies in both parties; Socrates would never moderate his words to curry favour with others.

Interest in the Welfare of Others
Socrates spent most of his time wandering the streets of Athens, talking with people interested in discovering more about life. Socrates was a great teacher, because ironically he didn’t have an agenda to teach. He was not interested in imparting a certain dogma or attracting followers. He wanted people to think for themselves and consider the real nature of life and truth. As Socrates said to one student.”If you take my advice, you will give but little thought to Socrates but much more to the truth.” [1]Socrates was not just a great talker, but also a great listener. It is this balance which set him apart from ordinary teachers who want only to lecture others.

Fear Not Death“‘The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows”- Socrates [2]The authorities felt threatened by the popularity and independent nature of Socrates and sought to have him silenced. The result was a travesty of justice; however, Socrates was able to meet his death with an enviable equanimity. Not only did Socrates maintain a philosophic calm, he also bore little anger or ill feeling to his judges who had unjustly tried him. He magnanimously said:”I am not angry with my accusers, or my condemners; they have done me no harm, although neither of them meant to do me any good; and for this I may gently blame them.” [3]It is easy for a philosopher to talk about the unreality of death, but the real test is how we respond when faced with it ourselves. The equanimity of Socrates suggests he lived the ideals he spoke of.

Self Control
Socrates once visited a palm reader. The palm reader looked at his hands and said to him: “so many undivine qualities you have: anger, pride, lust…”. His followers were furious — how could she say this about the great saint, Socrates?Socrates replied, “Wait, let us see whether she has anything else to say.” The palm reader continued, “Yes, he has these qualities, but, he also has them under his complete control.” Like all people, Socrates had negative emotions and qualities but he was able to prevent them from controlling him.

Tolerance of Others
Socrates married Xanthippe, who was renowned for her irritating behaviour and quick temper. Socrates didn’t get upset about his wife’s negative qualities. Instead he saw it as an opportunity to develop tolerance, patience and humility. Socrates even made a joke of it saying, “As I intended to associate with all kinds of people, I thought nothing they could do would disturb me, once I had accustomed myself to bear the disposition of Xanthippe.” [4]

Outer Appearances Do Not Matter
It is said even by his admirers that Socrates was ugly. Reports suggest he was short, fat, and had a big nose. Yet, despite his unflattering looks, many eagerly sought his company for his wisdom, counsel and inspirational views on life. Despite an ugly outer countenance people saw in Socrates an inner beauty. As the aristocratic military genius Alcibiades said of Socrates “His nature is so beautiful, golden, divine.”Socrates paid little attention to outer form. This doesn’t mean he could not appreciate beauty; however, as a true philosopher, it was his duty to see beyond the outer form.

Know Thyself
It is said that Socrates once visited the oracle of Delphi, where he was told the most important task in his life was to know his real self. To know the real self is perhaps the ultimate goal of philosophy. If we don’t know who we are, how can we solve the mysteries of life and help other people?For Socrates knowing thyself was more than a mere intellectual quest. It was an idea that shaped his life and inner attitude. He was never satisfied with accepting outer appearances and conventional wisdom, but always strove for a deeper understanding of his real Self.Above all, Socrates taught us not accept our existing thoughts as true. Step back and reevaluate the truth and veracity of your opinions and beliefs. Seek to know your real self and seek truth. It is a lofty philosophy, but one that has retained an enduring appeal and fascination through the ages.

Tejvan Pettinger is a member of the Sri Chinmoy Meditation Centre. He lives in Oxford where he works as a teacher. He also offers mediation classes as a community service and updates a blog at Sri Chinmoy Inspiration a collection of articles on meditation and self improvement.

Thought for the day!

Disclaimer: Don't take risks when you are half minded and your reputation is at stake.

:-)

Its been claimed that its 25 years since :-) was used for the first time. It is believed that twenty five years ago, a Carnegie Mellon professor Scott E. Fahlman was the first to use the three keystrokes (":", "-", ")") to represent a smiley in a message.
Since then the messaging industry has added so many emoticons, that it seems almost impossible to send a computer message without using an emoticons.
The creator of the original ASCII emoticons :-) and :-(, with a specific suggestion that they be used to express emotion, was Scott Fahlman; the text of his original proposal, posted to the Carnegie Mellon University computer science general board on 19 September 1982 (11:44), was considered lost for a long time. It was however recovered twenty years later by Jeff Baird, from old backup tapes.


19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)
From: Scott E Fahlman

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark
things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use

:-(

Who is perfect?

A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration. All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony and to partake of the festivities and celebrations. A wonderful time was had by all.

The bride was gorgeous in her white wedding gown and the groom was very dashing in his black tuxedo. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true. A few months later, the wife comes to the husband with a proposal: "I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage." she offered. "Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together."

The husband agreed, so each of them went to a separate room in the house and thought of the things that annoyed them about the other. They thought about this question for the rest of the day and wrote down what they came up with.

The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists. "I'll start," offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill 3 pages, in fact. As she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husbands eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing" the husband replied, "keep reading your lists."
The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. She neatly placed her list on the table and folded her hands over top of it.

"Now, you read your list and then we'll talk about the things on both of our lists." She said happily.

Quietly the husband stated, "I don't have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect the way that you are. I don't want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn't want to try and change anything about you."
The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.

In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don't really have to go looking for them.

We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise.
Why waste time in this world looking for the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us, and see the wondrous things before us?

I believe that WE ARE HAPPIEST WHEN we see and praise the good and try our best to forget the bad. Nobody's perfect but we can find perfectness in them if we change the way we see them.

Music of Life! Real Life Story.

At the prodding of my friends, I am writing this story. My name is Ms.Mildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des Moines, Iowa . I've always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons-something I've done for over 30 years. Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical ability. I've never had the pleasure of having a prodigy though I have taught some talented students.

However I've also had my share of what I call'musically challenged' pupils. One such student was Robby. Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single Mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer that students (especially boys)! begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby.

But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student. Well, Robby began with his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor. As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel But he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.

Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him.
At the end of each weekly lesson he'd always say, 'My mom's going to hear me play someday.' But it seemed hopeless. He just did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up.

She always waved and smiled but never stopped in.

Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons.

I thought about calling him but assumed because of his lack of ability, that he had decided to
pursue something else. I also was glad that he stoppedcoming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching!

Several weeks later I mailed to the student's homes a flyer on the upcoming recital. To my surprise Robby (who received a flyer) asked me if he could bein the recital. I told him that the recital was for current pupils and because he had dropped out he really did not qualify. He said that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing 'Miss Hondorf I've just got to play!' he insisted.

I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying that it would be all right. The night for the recital came. The high school gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and relatives. I put Robby up last in the program before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece.. I thought that any damage he would do would come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my 'curtain closer.'

Well,the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked like he'd run an eggbeater through it.
'Why didn't he dress up like the other students?' I thought. 'Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?'

Robby pulled out the piano bench and he began. I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen Mozart's Concerto #21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys, they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimo to fortissimo. >From allegro to virtuoso. His suspended chords that Mozart demands were magnificent! Never had I heard Mozart played so well by people his age. After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo and everyone was on their feet in wild applause.

Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy. 'I've never heard you play like that Robby! How'dyou do it? ' Through the microphone Robby explained: 'Well Miss Hondorf. Remember I told you my Mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer and passed away this morning And well ... . She was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special.'

There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening.

As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care, noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil.

No, I've never had a prodigy but that night I became a prodigy. . . Of Robby's. He was the teacher and I was the pupil for it is he that taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don't know why.

Robby was killed in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995 And now, a footnote to the story.

Thank you for reading .....

The Master Says" As a trainer walk every day into session with the passion to help, who knows there might be Robby in your class"

Weakness is Strength!

A 10-year-old boy decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.

"Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"
"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept
training. Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first
tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match.

Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. "No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue."

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he
dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?" "You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm."

The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

"Sometimes we feel that we have certain weaknesses and we blame god, the circumstances and our self for it but we never know that our weakness can become our strength one day. Each of us is special and important,so never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain, just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it!"

Wanna Freak yourself!

Last weekend when I was watching Star world, I came across a magic show - Mind freak by Criss Angels. To be frank and honest he will make you completely freaked out.
I saw the first of Criss angel's show when i was in US and the show was introduced to me by my room mate saying it will truly freak you out. Definitely it freaked me out completely that I became a fan of him. After that I have lost watching his shows due to our own rules of CAS.

When I again saw this show thought of introducing these guys amazing quality of making you believe that they are supernaturals.



The other guy who has this amazing power is David Blaine. When I saw his show of ripping his heart out, I was spellbound by the fact that how he could managed to do that.

Here is the video

There are some more guys who are truly creating their own world of magic.
1. David Copperfield
2. P.C Sorkar - He is considered the father of indian magic.
3. Gopinath Muthukad.

Heard that Houdini is the master craftsmen in this art. But we never had a chance to see his.
If you get a chance watch the movie "Prestige" you will definitely able to appreciate how much hardships they are putting for a few minute trick.

Thought for the day!

When we are faced with a very difficult situation we have a choice: we can either be resentful, and try to find somebody or something to blame for the hardships, or we can face the challenge and grow. The plant shows us the way, as its passion for life leads it out of the darkness and into the light. There is no point fighting against the challenges of life, or trying to avoid or deny them. They are there, and if the seed is to become the plant we must go through them. Be courageous enough to grow into the plant you are meant to be.

An interesting reflection. :Slow Down Culture

From an Indian in Sweden:
It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.

Globalized processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to possess a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

Said in another words:
1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil.
2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.
3. Stockholm, has 500,000 people.
4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned
companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%.This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!”

This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit. In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this globalized world.

Award for me!

Got an award for excellence last friday. Thought of sharing with you all.

How my partner has to be.

Since am in the ages of going to enter the next phase of life I had dreamt of how my partner has to be and even had funny discussions with my friends and colleagues. But no one was able to give a clear cut definition on how you have to live.

Thought everyone is learning lessons in life. So I went through googling to find out anyone has written like that. Found a good article. Our Relationship Making it Stronger

It answered most of my doubts. Hope it will be useful for you too. Waiting for the partner to implement :)

I believe that [everyone] is the keeper of a dream - and by tuning into one another's secret hopes, we can become better friends, better partners, better parents, and better lovers.
Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ), O Magazine, June 2003

Tirupathi Trip

What is so special about a trip to Tirupathi. Every devotee is going to have a darshan of one of the richest god in the world. So you might think what is special in that?

Specialty is it was an unexpected trip and I walked all the way to the top of the hill to get a glimpse of god for few seconds.

The trip is unexpected because I went for a customer visit to see how the integration with DP and PlanVisage can be implemented. This happened all of a sudden because Plan Visage President met our chairman and made a business tie up. So he has asked someone to look into the integration part as they wanted to go live by Feb 1st.

So packed my bags and went to the customer place early morning without knowing what the actual agenda is?

After a flurry of discussions, presentations and meetings, I was relieved at 6pm. I asked the customer to book a return journey ticket so that I can reach home that night itself.

Customer gave an alternate suggestion that to visit Tirumala, since Plan visage president and his colleague is going there. After initial hesitation (since I don’t have any clothes to change) I agreed to the plan since I considered as a bad omen to disagree.

So the trip started at 8.30, went to market and bought some clothes and we reached the bottom of the hill at 9pm.

After that driver asked us to get down and showed the way how to get to the top. I was pretty amazed that we have reached the top so quickly. Only then I began to realize that we had to walk all the way to top.
This change of plans happened coz the President of Plan Visage has prayed to god that he will come by walk if the sale of their product becomes successful.

Another Surprise! So we started the journey by walk. It was cool night and there were not much of people. The journey started with very much vigor but we lost the same after few hundred steps. We gasped for breath and the legs are aching a lot, but still we didn’t took rest as time is running fast. So our friend suggested an idea of buying a Glucon D orange and mixing the entire pack in a bottle of water. It worked and we got rejuvenated ourselves.

The entire walk came around 3500 steps spanning across 14 kms and reached the top at 12pm midnight exactly.

It was a nice trip.

Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

How to be a good listener!

To listen to someone is a tough job and if the person happens to be really boring then it will be like thinking of getting yourself out of that place. What happens if that boring person happens to be your boss or your subordinate. Here are some tips to create a patience in you.



How to be a good listener

A different birthday Celebration.

This time I planned to celebrate with a difference. After seeing the film "Mozhi" I wanted to do something really in that fashion. My friends really helped in making my wish come true.

Normally when my parents tell me to go to temple and get some blessings. I never heed to them. Now they are in faraway place and I don't have anyone to tell this do that do this etc. Eventhough people will say you have to become independent but there is a limit in everything which I guess will be correct. So thought why should I not fulfill their wish. So here it goes how my party went.

On that day I had a marriage of my friend to attend. So my buddies said we shall celebrate your birthday in a different manner by going to his marriage and other plans. I made only one obligation that to visit a orphanage at any cost. They said they will try our best.

So we went to attend the marriage. Groom and us are meeting after six years. It was a nice reunion. After the marriage we went directly to college where we studied. Took photos and exchanged our memories in each and every place. It was a nostalgic memories on how we are now. we never even thought we would be when we entered the first year.

We saw one professor who told my friend "you will not come good in the future" when he tried to bunk the class since the class was literally boring. He wanted to go before him in his car and wanted to boast how far we have come successful and wanted to see how his face turns. But we changed the opinion since he was with some of his colleagues.

After the college visit we went to hotel where we used to have lunch during the weekends coz the hostel food sometimes really sucks. The food tasted like heaven like how it used to be.

Then we went to tea shop where we used to have evening snacks and sat there for half an hour drinking cool drink and coffee.

After that we took a little nap and then we went to Udhavum karangal and donated some amount. We didnt play with the children since they were all busy playing themselves and we dint want to spoil the environment.

Then my friends said we shall go to temple and have archana on your name. We went there and had a good darshan close to the idol and everyone felt relaxed and delighted for able to get a good view.

Dedicated to my friends who made a wonderful day!