A lot of advices!!!

Here's something that I received by mail from a dear friend of mine ;) . I thought I should publish it not because of the promises of great fortunes that it made(which I do not believe, by the way) but because of the great messages it conveys...

(The comments are mine)

1) Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully

As I've mentioned in many of my posts, do things not for the reward but for the satisfaction of doing it.

2) Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

Self explanatory!

3)Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

In short keep limits and keep your wits about!

4) When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.

Hmmm..... What can I say?

5) When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.

Look in the eye, you can only do that if you really mean it!!!

6) Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

Oops! !Not something that I'm experienced enough to comment on!!

7) Believe in love at first sight.

I leave that choice to you!

8) Don't laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

Dreams are way pointers. They are your destination. If you don't have a destination, where will you travel to?

9) Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

As always, ENJOY LIFE!!

10) When in disagreement, fight fairly. No name calling.

Happens very rarely!

11)Don't judge people by their relatives.

Every man is unique. Your are not who your parents are or your relatives are. They were not your choice to make. But be sure to make the right one when you can. Friends for instance. They show who you are!

12) Talk slowly but think quickly.

Talk slowly so that you can think twice. Think quickly because too much thinking about a simple matter is sure to screw it up.This article by Steve Pavlina talks about thinking and acting quickly

13) When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

A new tip to me too!!Wonder if it works!!

14) Know that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

Its the effort and the risk you take that gives the return. The better calculated your risks are, the better your chances!

15) Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.

Personally, I never understood why we still do that even though I do know that it was done during the time of the Great Plague.

16)When you lose, don't lose the lesson

Something the winners have mastered and the losers have definitely forgotten
17) Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

18) Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

Now, friendship is something so valuable but we dont recognize it until we lose them. So,enjoy their company while it lasts. And Keep in touch!

19) When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it

Sticking to the wrong path will only make it worse. Better late than never!

20)Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

Something that I realized over a very short time, something like over the past few months, A smile can tell you a lot!

21) Spend some time alone.

As important as spending time with friends. You need your attention. Listen to yourself. It cant each you a lot!

The Paradox of Life

The Paradox of Life

The contemporary world races past at lightning speed with technological innovations being introduced by the second and markets suffering losses in billions of dollars by the minute. Men and women working frantically for a better job, greater status. Children studying for hours on end just to get that little extra mark to be on the top. The question arises, "Where are we racing to?"

In this apparent race of life, we tend to forget the more important aspects of life. Developments take place at any cost, even if it means cutting down your life supply, the trees or poisoning your own drink, the rivers. The magic of the nature that prevailed for billions of years are at a threat of destruction in a few decades. The beauty around us goes unnoticed, the language of nature forgotten and its lessons unheeded.

The concept of knowledge, wisdom and teaching also seems to have taken grievous turns. The world of a child seems to revolve around the marks he scores for a test or his ability to perfectly recall, word by word, the content of his textbooks. However, we forget that life is not about scores or text books but about living together and supplementing others as much as you can. After all, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Emphasis on exams too has dealt a serious blow on the knowledge or rather wisdom gained by a student. The often hectic schedules of exams means that students are dragged along with the flow or dropped off. Those who do manage to hold on often are not able to grasp the concept or message conveyed completely and to contemplate on the same. Children are taught from as "exam point of view" and as this syllabus often has to be strictly adhered to, many of the doubts that come across a child's dynamic mind never find a window of opportunity to be expressed and are put off and so is his natural inquisitiveness.

Younger children are often made 'disciplined'. Certainly, a basic concept of courteousness is essential but beyond that, if a child is bound by customs and 'civility', his natural infinite curiosity on everything will be extinguished. As somebody said, "the greatest achievement of man would be to keep his childish curiosities throughout life" and certainly such and man is sure to succeed in any field that he lays his hands on.

Another related unapparent "flaw" present today, as expressed by the "revolutionary" new teacher in the movie, "Dead Poet's Society" is the "Dangers of Conformity" referring to the tendency of men to 'go with the flow'. Nobody questions the system, until an observer often from outside the system questions it. Once in the flow, one is either unaware of its flaws or are reluctant to express them for fear of retribution and this is one of the reasons for corruption, inefficiency and often unjustifiable traditions. The great men that we often recall from the history and praise have all gone "against the flow". They dared to think beyond what was taught to them and dared to talk about it. Every single famous personality of the past brought to our by few moments of recollection would have at least one revolutionary deed or a concept ,completely unimaginable at the time, to present to the world in their quiver. From the times of Plato and Archimedes to Albert Einstein, Mother Theresa and Abraham Lincon, the examples are numerous. They all have realized that what one is told or taught in not always true or right. The mistakes of the past must not be carried on must be mended. And the first step to that is to find out what is to be mended and this can only be achieved by questioning that which is known.

These concepts have often caught the imagination of many great poets, an example of people who did not forget to take their imagination when they embarked on the journey of life. "The road less travelled by" in the the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost talks about the same. It may be harder to trudge along the road less traveled but would give one the satisfaction of fulfilling desires and trusting oneself and of course of doing something different form the monotony of the ages.

This leads us to another often mistaken and controversial concept, Success. The question, what is success would probably yield as many different answers as the number of people it is asked to but most of them would probably hint that a good job, high status, wealth and fame as their idea of success. And this is what many educationists are trying for their 'disciples' to achieve. However, in my opinion, as is of many others, success should not be attributed to wealth but to satisfaction, the satisfaction that you have done what seems right to you and that you ave contributed to the world. This view of success not only stops you from trampling over others in the frantic race to the mirage but also gives you a particularly pleasant peace of mind and contentment.

To the question," What is the solution to all these problems?", the only apparent answer is to be aware of what one is doing as the saying goes"Look before you Leap". Think for oneself about what others have said, oppose what is not right, learn from the nature, choose your own path, if need be make one, and above all , Think Anew!

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PS. If you find any mistakes,spellings or otherwise, please do tell me.Also, feel free to critisie any point I may have put forward or have omitted.Hope you like it.If you do please tell others about it too.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you might find the essay has many already mentioned points........ and this post being my longest is long overdue......

Onam and a torrent of thoughts......

Its Onam time and time for celebration.... and reflection...
Onam is a time for people to enjoy and part of the festival is getting new dresses and having a hearty special meal with lots of food........
So.... Onam is coming in a few days and Today the city was stuffed.It took 2 hrs to go travel
10 km! Better walk! So, the reflection? The real onam is celebrated as somewhat of a harvest festival and is a time of prosperity even though the stories give different mythical meanings to it.Today's traffic block was due to Onam shopping but the question is "Does that make any sense when everyone buys dresses everyday?"

The Onam Feast or "Sadhya" is a really something to be reckoned with.Some 20+ items of food.... Today I had a modernized versions of it and then realised how refined and balanced the traditional order was.Eating the traditional one was satifying but the new one? It really lacks the charm......

So, the point of the whole post? Think before you follow a tradition... or changing it
Each one has a reason for existance and it might still be valid or not but its our duty to recognize if it is still valid.Keep your wits about......

Signed up for more trouble!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally my test results are out......and know what I got selected......everyone was happy and then after a while I was just thinking about the same and then the real truth dawned on me!!

I JUST SIGNED UP FOR 2 MORE YEARS OF TROUBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.............to be trained to get into more trouble

All in the name of one dream........but on second thoughts....all a man has are his dreams right?

Its that fire within you that drives you to action ......to thoughts..................