What is Ego?

"What is ego? Ego is the deeply felt sense of being separate and superior. Indeed, it is an emotional and psychological compulsion to see and feel the self as being separate from and superior to the other, the world, and the whole universe. It is that locus point where the sense of individuality is also a sense of alienation, where the experience of autonomy is also one of isolation, and where even the experience of freedom is always shadowed, by a deeper sense, at the core of our being, by a sense of bondage, limitation, and hopelessness."

"I believe that for most of us, the only solution to this evolutionary cul-de-sac, the only way to our own higher development, lies in the context of human relationship, relationship based upon a breakthrough to a shared experience and recognition of consciousness beyond ego - a consciousness in which all parties experience simultaneously their own individual and collective transparency while remaining fully and completely themselves. In this higher We consciousness, we recognize, perhaps for the first time, why ego is the only problem, the only obstacle to the fulfillment of our imminent evolutionary potential."

"As long as the fears and desires of the ego remain the fundamental locus of our attention and the impulse to evolve is but a faint murmur in the background of awareness, nothing less than overwhelming force will bring the ego to its knees. The force of what? The force of impersonal absolute love that sees no other and recognizes only itself. In that love, our own higher conscience is awakened and screams relentlessly for our unconditional surrender without compromise. And it will keep on screaming until we all have finally transcended the need to be separate." - Andrew Cohen

It Couldn't be Done - Edger Guest

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't" but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin on his face.
If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, as he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one we know has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle right in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That cannot be done, and you'll do it.

Merry Christmas - 2008 and Happy New Year - 2009

First time, we had a Christmas Tree at home. In all these years we never kept one at home...Thanks to Adhvik....here is how we all decorated it our own..So, on this occasion I wish each and everyone a Merry Christmas and hope the new year brings peace, cheer, happiness and prosperity to all of you there. :)

Once again - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - 2009 to all of you :)

Amen!!

What excellence actually means?

After you read the below stuff, look at this picture…once again!!

A man once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up. "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage."Where is the damage?" he asked."There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?." The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked. The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not.

"Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside.Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction and excellence.

Rock of Gibraltar

A Complaint

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division (Pontiac is a division of General Motors Inc, that manufactures vehicle types including the sports car, sports coupe etc.) of General Motors:

'This is the second time I have written to you and I don't blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we've eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem.....

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds "What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?" The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it out anyway.

The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fine neighborhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn't start.

The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start.

Now the Engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor.

Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn't start when it took less time. Eureka - Time was now the problem - not the vanilla ice cream!!!! The engineer quickly came up with the answer: "vapor lock”. It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate.

Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution, with cool thinking.

World's 10 most women-friendly companies

US-based Working Mother magazine has recently evaluated the presence and prominence of coloured women in the US corporate world and has drawn up a list of the best companies. The list has been made primarily on the basis of diversity programmes for such employees. The companies were chosen mainly on factors like representation, recruitment and retention of women of colour.

The magazine said it noticed a dramatic increase in the number of women of colour, who are senior managers. The list includes two big American conglomerates -- PepsiCo and Citigroup. According to the magazine, PepsiCo has about 10 per cent employees who are 'women of colour', with seven per cent of them being executives/managers.

Vikram Pandit-led Citigroup has a higher representation of women of colour in its ranks, making up 22 per cent of the total employees. However, when it comes to executives or managers, there are only about four per cent of such people. Other prominent names in the '2008 Working Mother Best Companies for Multicultural Women' list include Colgate-Palmolive (13 per cent), Credit Suisse (14 per cent), Deloitte (16 per cent), Ernst & Young (17 per cent), IBM (8 per cent), MetLife (14 per cent), PricewaterhouseCoopers (16 per cent) and Wal-Mart (20 per cent).

To know more about these companies, read on. . . .

Pepsico (10% employees are women with colour)
PepsiCo is a conglomerate that manufactures markets and sells a wide variety of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages and snacks. The company is headquartered in Purchase, New York while its research and development headquarters are at Valhalla, New York. The Pepsi Cola Company began in 1898, but it only became known as PepsiCo when it merged with Frito Lay in 1965.Indra Nooyi is the conglomerate's chief executive officer since 2006.PepsiCo owns five different billion-dollar brands. These are Pepsi, Tropicana, Frito-Lay, Quaker, and Gatorade. The company owns many other brands as well. The company's net revenue as on March 22, 2008, stood at $8,333 million as against $7,350 million in March 24, 2007.

Citigroup (28% employees are women of 'colour')
Citigroup Inc. operating as Citi, is a major American financial services company based in New York City.Citigroup was formed on October 8, 1998 following the $140 billion merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group. The company employs 358,000 staff around the world, and holds over 200 million customer accounts in more than 100 countries.
On December 11, 2007, Vikram Pandit was named Citigroup's CEO, while Sir Win Bischoff was named chairman. On April 18, 2008, Citi reported first quarter net loss of $5.1 billion, loss per share of $1.02.

Colgate-Palmolive (13%)
The $9.9-billion FMCG major operates in more than 200 countries and handles production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products (including toothpaste and toothbrushes). In 1806, William Colgate, himself a soap and candle maker, opened up a starch, soap, and candle factory in New York City under the name of William Colgate & Company. In 1857, William Colgate died and the company was reorganized as Colgate & Company under the management of Samuel Colgate, his son. In 1928, Palmolive-Peet bought the Colgate Company to create the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company. In 1953 the company was rechristened Colgate-Palmolive Company. The Indian arm of the company announced a net profit of Rs 55.62 crore (Rs 556.2 million) for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, a 10 per cent growth over the corresponding period a year-ago. Its total revenue rose to Rs 412.73 crore (Rs 4.12 billion) for the latest quarter from Rs 360.6 crore (Rs 3.6 billion) in the same period a year-ago.

Credit Suisse (14%)
The Credit Suisse Group is a financial services company, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the second-largest Swiss bank after UBS AG.The Credit Suisse Group is structured in three divisions -- investment banking, private banking and asset management. Credit Suisse was founded by Alfred Escher in 1856 under the name Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA, Swiss Credit Institution). Credit Suisse was recognized as the Global Investment Bank of the Year in The Banker magazine's annual Global Investment Banking Awards published in the October 2007 issue.

Deloitte (16%)
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, often referred to as Deloitte & Touche, is one of the largest professional services firms in the world. Branded as Deloitte, the company is one of the big four auditors, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG. As of 2007, Deloitte has approximately 150,000 employees in 142 countries, delivering audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services. While the full name of the firm is Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu, in 1989 it initially branded itself Deloitte & Touché and then simply Deloitte.The company's revenues for fiscal year 2007 was $23.1 billion, up 15.5 per cent from the previous year

Ernst & Young (17%)
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and one of the big four auditors, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (Deloitte) and KPMG. According to Forbes magazine, as of year 2007 it emerged as the 7th largest private company in the US. Ernst & Young is based in London, UK and the US firm is headquartered at Times Square, New York. The company (partnership) is the result of a series of mergers of ancestor organizations. The oldest originating partnership was founded in 1849 in England as Harding & Pullein. The company's revenue in 2007 stood at $21.1 billion.

IBM (8%)
International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM, is a multinational computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and offers infrastructure services, hosting services, and consulting services. With over 388,000 employees worldwide, IBM is the largest information technology employer in the world. The company is nicknamed 'Big Blue’. The company was originally known as Tabulating Machine Company. It was founded by Heman Hollerith in Broome County, New York.
The company's first quarter revenue for 2008 stood at $24.5 billion, up 11 per cent and its diluted earnings stood at $1.65 per share, up 36 per cent.

MetLife (14%)
MetLife is the short name for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The firm was founded on March 24, 1868. The company, which was a mutual organization, went public in 2000.MetLife is the largest life insurer in the US, with more than $2 trillion of life insurance in force. MetLife serves 88 of the largest Fortune 100 companies. It has a market in more than 12 countries. The company reported first quarter 2008 net income of $615 million, or $0.84 per diluted common share, compared with $983 million, or $1.28 per diluted common share, for the first quarter of 2007. Operating earnings for the first quarter of 2008 were $1,111 million, or $1.52 per diluted common share, compared with $1,082 million, or $1.41 per diluted common share, for the prior period.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (16%)
PricewaterhouseCoopers is one of the world's largest professional services firms. It is one of the big four auditors, alongside KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu.
The company originated in 1998 after merger between Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, both formed in London. PricewaterhouseCoopers earned aggregated worldwide revenues of $25 billion for fiscal 2007, and employed over 146,000 people in 150 countries.

Wal-Mart (20%)
Wal-Mart Stores, an US public corporation, runs a chain of large, discount department stores. Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States. It also owns and operates the North American company of Sam's Club.

It is the largest private employer in the world and the fourth largest utility or commercial employer, trailing the British National Health Service, and the Indian Railways. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962.

Wal-Mart operates in Mexico as Walmex, in the UK as ASDA, and in Japan as Seiyu. It has wholly-owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the UK. Wal-Mart has been criticized by some community groups, women's rights groups, grassroots organizations, and labour unions, specifically for its extensive foreign product sourcing, low rates of employee health insurance enrollment, resistance to union representation, and alleged sexism. It is the world's largest public corporation by revenue, according to the 2008 Fortune Global 500. Wal-Mart's net sales for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009 were approximately $94.1 billion, an increase of 10.2 per cent over the first quarter of fiscal year 2008. Net income for the quarter was $3.0 billion, which is 6.9 per cent above the first quarter of fiscal year 2008. - (Source - Rediff)

Nice thought

The Power of Realizing - "I"

We are never alone. Neither in the womb, nor after birth. The true Self is boundary-less, it is all-pervasive. In terms of existence there isn't any boundary, but at mind, body and speech levels we divide the existence into me, you and them.I have a relationship with body, senses, mind, intellect-these are so close, yet so far from the real-self. Entwined with one another and still separate. We cannot draw a line as to where the body ends and where the mind begins or mind ends and the Self begins.

The mind is a subtle form of matter and the body is the gross form of mind. Mind and matter are not different from one another. A quantum physicist would say that matter and energy are not two different entities. The source of matter is energy alone and matter keeps moving between matter and energy.The mind is invisible but the body is visible. Hence our identification and association with the body is so deep that we tend to see ourselves as body alone.

The 'I' we are associated with, is the illusionary 'I'.The 'I' we know has more to do with mind or body but our real 'I' remains obscure. What an irony that the I doesn't know the 'I'! Knowing oneself is the first step towards making good rapport not only with one's own mind and body but also with the other। This other can be husband, wife, mother, father, brother or anyone. Once we have understood how our mind functions and as we witness the rise and fall of emotions in mind, we are better equipped not to get carried away with these waves of mind.

Explore your inner core, your untapped energy source and rejoice in it.Love and respect your Self and everything will become an echo of the same vibes. Thank this body, this breath and life. Give thanks for every little joy which life brings to you and smile. And smile like you have never smiled before and delve deep within.

Soak your Self in goodness of this moment and let every day begin with it and end with it.Soon you will love this new way of living.When you are strong, vibrant and energetic then you will begin to function as a magnet and you will attract all good people towards you. People enjoy the company of those who enjoy their own company.- Anandmurti Gurumaa

मन भावक :)

जागे है देर तक हमें,
कुछ देर तो सोने दो,
थोडी सी रात और है,
सुबह तो होने दो !

आधे अधूरे ख्वाब जो पुरे ना हो सके,
एक बार फिरसे नींद में,
वोह खवाब पिरोने धो !

क्लिप : जागे ही
ल्य्रिक्स : गुलज़ार
म्यूजिक कोम्पोसेर : अ.र.रहमान
घायक : चित्रा
मूवी : गुरु

Bliss - Osho

People are cowards, don´t be worried about them. Go on your way, go on your way dancing. Remember only one thing: whatsoever feels good is good, whatsoever feels beautiful is beautiful, and whatsoever makes you joyful, gay, delighted, is truth. Let that be your only criterion. Don´t be bothered by others´ opinions. Let this be your only touchstone - whatsoever makes you happy is bound to be true. Ananda ? bliss - is the only criterion of truth.

OXYMORON of the day - “Mummy’s Career”

A sneak preview at my Didi's day :)

From: Kalpana Bhushan (meri bhadi behan)
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 12:24 PM
To: 'Atreya Rayaprolu' (mere jiju)
Cc: 'Neelam Dhar' - (Mein hun na!)
Subject: Total chaos

My driver is on leave today..( as usual di, he never comes....moral start driving your own car)

10:00: Call Nanny.She has to go to school to pick up Adhvik with Randheer's - (di ka pakka mitr) driver.She is travelling,does not take call.
10:01: Call again.She can't hear me.
10:02: Call again.Message conveyed.
10:35: Randheer reaches office.
10:40: Call his driver.Driver is not in office.Will come back only at 11:30.Some begging and pleading and he agrees to come back at 11:20.
11:08 Uncle (di's ke sasurji) calls.He will go and pick up Adhvik.(Mera Bhanja)
11:09: Call Randheer’s diver.He is not required.
11:10: Call Manju (Adhvik ki nanny).Uncle will go and bring Adhvik.Wait at home.
11:12: Call school.FIL coming he will follow the van.
11:20: Calling and calling and calling uncle …no response.
11:35: Call from school.No one has come to pick up Adhvik. Van is about to leave.
11:36: Uncle still not responding.
11:36: Call school to tell them to come till food world so that Nanny can come there and pick up Adhvik
11:37: Call uncle.He is following the van.
11:38: Call Nanny.Cook for uncle.
11:45: Call home to find out if Adhvik has reached.He has,but is cranky.
11:50: Call uncle to speak to Adhvik…mummmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, mummmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, mummmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…and cranky.
12:00: Uncle calls to tell me to pay tatasky bill
12:02: Call uncle to confirm that bill has been payed.

And all this when I am in middle of making two important docs before I leave for lunch...

OXYMORON of the day “Mummy’s Career”!!

Still long time to go....

Don’t Quit - Author Unknown

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Realization

Some how I am feeling a little dull today - reason being end of 18 long months of my PGCBM course. One way I am relieved that I don’t have to keep running for classes (Saturday and Sunday), no more assignments, no more online exams, no more night outs but still I feel a big vacuum surrounding me.....some how I do need to realize that - "Every good thing comes to an end sooner or later but with that end comes another start too!”

Relinquish

Often - I see myself getting attached to people (which I say is quite a good feeling) but at the same time loosing a dear one is what I am scared of – for that matter, we all are scared of loosing our close acquaintances who can be any one – be it parents, sibling, a close pal or may be our pet. We generally tend to fall in our own web of emotions hence inadvertently keep ourselves involved with miseries of life. I don’t realize why people keep enduring their feelings. Why can’t we let our feelings and thoughts go...?

To let go our feelings is not to forget or to ignore them. It doesn't leave feelings of anger or regret. Letting go isn't about winning, losing, giving in or giving up. It isn't about loss or defeat. To let go is to cherish the memories and to overcome and move on and have that confidence in future. Letting go is learning and experiencing. To let go is to be thankful for the experience that made us laugh, made us cry and made us grow. It's about all that we have, all that we had, and all that we will have. To let go is to open a door and to clear a path to set us free.

First Principles for Great Relationships

The quality of your life comes down to the quality of your relationships. With your customers, with your suppliers, with your loved ones, with your self (big idea there). Commit to insanely great relationships (Steve Jobs coined the "insanely great" standard BTW- I adore it) and you'll have an insanely great life. And being a great human connector is pretty easy stuff. Remember, success is all about a precise consistency around fundamentals.The following First Principles are profoundly simple and yet simply profound (and isn't that the case for all great truths?):

Be the first one to say hello (or namaste / Shalom/ Hola etc) when you encounter another human. In other words, be kind first (takes courage because we're all scared of rejection, not being liked etc). Smile a lot. One of the best ways to have someone open up to you. Remember, we make lasting impressions of people within the first few minutes of meeting them. Start with a smile.

Get devoted to using people's names. Really important. Shows that you care. A mark of respect. Look people in the eye when you speak to them. A mark of respect. Become a world-class listener. Get this one right and you'll own the title of "Relationship Superstar". Most people don't listen. Most people are so self-focused they fail to ask good questions when they meet another person. Listening and asking questions shows humility. It shows you are interested. Demonstrates that you are engaged - and not in love with yourself. Most people's idea of listening is waiting until the other person has finished speaking.

Offer sincere compliments. Praise is free. Never miss an opportunity to celebrate and elevate another person, whether at work or at home. You'll connect with the best within them. And then they'll give you their best. Leave people better than you found them.

Treat everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE) like royalty. Behave as if you'll never see them again.

Sure the above ideas are simple. Master these First Principles and you'll get to your mountaintop quicker than you can imagine. The best practice mastery around the fundamentals. Keep it simple. You'll win. And have fun.

Demat details and benefits

In India, a demat account refers to dematerialised account.Just as you have to open an account with a bank if you want to save your money or make cheque payments etc, in the similar manner, you need to open a demat account if you want to buy or sell stocks. So, demat account is just like a bank account where actual money is replaced by shares. The dematerialised account is used to avoid holding physical shares: the shares are bought and sold through a stock broker.

Let's say your portfolio of shares looks like this: 40 of Infosys, 25 of Wipro, 45 of HLL and 100 of ACC. All these will show in your demat account. So you don't have to possess any physical certificates showing that you own these shares. They are all held electronically in your account. As you buy and sell the shares, they are adjusted in your account. It should be noted demat account is a must for trading and investing.

The benefits
A safe and convenient way to hold securities
Immediate transfer of securities
No stamp duty on transfer of securities
Elimination of risks associated with physical certificates such as bad delivery, fake securities, delays, thefts etc
Reduction in paperwork involved in transfer of securities
Reduction in transaction cost
No odd lot problem, even one share can be sold
Nomination facility
Automatic credit into demat account of shares, arising out of bonus/split/consolidation/merger etc.
Holding investments in equity and debt instruments in a single account

Procedure
A depository is a place where the stocks of investors are held in electronic form. The depository has agents who are called depository participants (DPs).

Think of it like a bank. The head office where all the technology rests and details of all accounts held is like the depository. And the DPs are the branches that cater to individuals. There are only two depositories in India - the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) and the Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL). There are over a 100 DPs.The extent of documentation required to open a demat account may vary according to your relationship with the institution. If you plan to open a demat account with a bank, a savings, current and, or other account for which the holder have been issued a check book, such holder has an edge over the non-account holder. In fact, banks usually offer additional incentives to customers who open a demat account with them. Along with the application form, your photographs (with co-applicants) and proof of identity/residence/date of birth have to be submitted. The DPs also ask for a DP-client agreement to be executed on non-judicial stamp paper. Here is a broad list:

A canceled check, preferably MICR
Proof of Identification
Proof of Address
Proof of Pan card (mandatory)
Recent photographs, one and, or more

For proof of identification and, or address self-attested facsimile copies of PAN card, Voter’s ID, Passport, Ration card, Driver’s license, Photo credit card, Employee ID card, Bank attestation, latest IT returns and, or latest Electricity/Land line phone bill are sufficient. While they only ask for photocopies of the documents, they will need the originals for verification.

Important Points
A demat account can be opened with no balance of shares. And there is no minimum balance to be maintained either. You can have a zero balance in your account.
The charges for account opening, annual account maintenance fees and transaction charges vary between DPs.
You can nominate whoever you like by filling up the nomination details in the account opening form. This is to enable the nominee to receive the securities after the death of the holder of the demat account.
When you open an account, the DP will allot a unique BO ID (Beneficial Owner Identification) Number- which you need to quote for all future transactions.
If you want to sell your shares, you need to place an order with your broker and give a 'Delivery Instruction' to your DP. The DP will debit your account with the number of shares sold. You will receive the payment from your broker. If you want to buy shares, inform your broker about your 'Depository Account Number', so that the shares bought are credited into your account. (Source – goggle)

Mere ghar ke guests :)

Koyal ke beche....:)

Mum having a look at the guests.

Feelings - Discourse by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

"Head-to-head communication is through thoughts and words, while heart-to-heart communication is through feelings. People, throughout the ages, have felt that they cannot communicate their feelings. If we could communicate all our feelings through words, then we would be leading very shallow lives. Life is rich because feelings cannot be captured in words! So we use all these gestures - we hug, so that hearts come closer, we give flowers so that feelings are conveyed....

We put all our efforts into expressing our feelings......and still, feelings remain unexpressed."

Unanswered Question?

It has been pouring from last two days. As the raindrops fell heavily on the road outside, I kept hearing the raindrops in silence. I closed my eyes and kept wondering......who actually has the answer to one of the biggest questions which is going in my mind right now........

Is life a compromise? May be someone out there has an answer.......but I don't seem to have one...My mind is blank and what I see its already morning. So the question remains unreciprocated again.........................

A Journey to Marvel

I have been following news updates lately, the two main reason beings:
1) India’s performance in Olympics 2008– which has been really exuberant this time
2) The latest Amarnath land issue which is in vogue these days.
In my following post I am not going to present my view on what is right or wrong - I mean whether the land should be granted (to Shrine Board) or not but my focus will dwell deep inside the history of how Amarnath came into existence. Before going any further, I would like to recite a few lines from the poem “Path of Peace” by “Paul Mc Cann” which goes like this:

Peace is an easy path to tread,
Peace is where our fears are mislaid,
Peace is beginning to restore,
Peace for each man, woman and child,
Peace for the troubled streets gone wild,
Peace is for the old and the young,
Peace in the end will overcome,
Peace builds trust into a lifestyle,
Peace is a friendly open hand,
Peace is a place to understand,
Peace in the end will overcome,
Peace is for the old and the young,
Peace is a legacy to leave,
Peace is when we don't have to grieve,
Peace is and end to all the hate,
Peace is why we negotiate,
Peace for all the victims of war.

Any way let me not deviate more from my path. Here is a brief history of Amarnath.

About Shiva:
The Sanskrit word Shiva - is an adjective meaning kind, friendly, gracious or auspicious. Shiva is regarded as the supreme God in the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism. Usually worshipped in the form of Shiva linga, Shiva - in images is generally represented as immersed in deep meditation.

Location:
State : Jammu & Kashmir
Situation: In Kashmir valley to the north of Anantnag. The base village is
Bailganv (Pahalgam). One has to trek 32 km from Chandhanvari (16 km from
Bailganv) to reach the cave. It is at an altitude of 13500 feet from the mean sea level.

About Amarnath Temple:
Amarnath shrine is about 5,000 years old and is an important part of Hindu mythology. The shrine is located in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and is dedicated to the lord Shiva. Inside the main Amarnath cave lies an ice stalagmite resembling the Shiva Linga, which waxes during May to August and gradually wanes thereafter. This lingam is said to grow and shrink with the phases of the moon, reaching its height during the summer festival. According to Hindu mythology, this is the cave where Shiva explained the secret of life and eternity to his divine consort Parvati. There are two other ice formations representing Parvati and Shiva's son, Ganesha.

History:
According to an ancient tale, there was once a Muslim shepherd named Buta Malik who was given a sack of coal by a sadhu. Upon reaching home he discovered that the sack, in fact, contained gold. Overjoyed and overcome, Buta Malik rushed back to look for the sadhu and thank him, but on the spot of their meeting discovered a cave and eventually this became a place of pilgrimage for all believers. To date, a percentage of the donations made by pilgrims are given to the descendants of Malik. and the remaining to the trust which manages the shrine.

Yet another legend has it that when Kashyap Reshi drained the Kashmir valley of water (it was believed to have been a vast lake), the cave and the lingam were discovered by Bregish Reshi who was travelling the Himalayas. When people heard of the lingam, Amarnath for them became Shiva's abode and a center of pilgrimage.

Amarnath is an extremely crucial centre of pilgrimage and though the route is as difficult to trespass as it is exciting, every annum, millions of devotees from the subcontinent come to pay homage before Shiva in one of his Himalayan abode. For those who journey with faith, it is a rewarding experience, this simple visitation to a cave-shrine, the home of the Himalayan mendicant who is both destroyer and healer, the greatest of the Hindu deities.

The Taste of India :).....Yum Yum !!

Pictures from Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani trip

On the way to Lingmala falls
Best shot of the trip - Love you dude
I clicked that :)
Strawberry fields

Scenic View
Scenic View
Mapro - Panchgani - Preparation of Icecream cones

Footprints of Pandavas - Panchgani

Table Top - Panchgani

Table Top - Panchgani

Elephant’s Head Point

On the way to - Parsi Point

On the way to - Mahabaleshwar

Punch line and its significance

Ever wondered why products/brands or for that matter companies has a punch line associated with its name. The main reason being that punch line helps the marketers to endorse their products/brands. Punch line can be used as a marketing tool and hence can be used for advertising purposes. Punch line can also be defined as the voice of the brand/product or company, which primarily gives out the minimum momentum, thrust or impetus to push the brand in the mind of the customer.

The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product to reinforce the audience's memory of a product/brand or company. Punch line is also called as One-liners, Ad Slogans or Tag lines.

Examples of some punch lines are:

Air Canada - A Breath of Fresh Air
British airways - The Way to Fly
Malaysian Airlines - Going Beyond Expectations
Cathy Pacific Airlines - The Heart of Asia
The Economic Times - The Power of Knowledge
Business Today - For Managing Tomorrow
Business World - Play the Game
NDTV Profit - News you can Use
CNN - Be the First to Know
Adobe - Simplicity at work. Better by Adobe
Microsoft - Your Potential, Our Passion
Wipro - Applying Thought
Sun Microsystem - The Network is the Computer
Infosys - Driven by Intellect, Powered by Values
IBM ThinkPad - I think, therefore IBM
Compaq - Ban jaaye baat
TCS - Beyond the Obvious
Dell - Easy to Buy, Easy to Own
EBAY - The World's Online Market Place
Motorola - Intelligence Everywhere
Amazon.Com - Earth's Biggest BookStore
Windows XP - Do More with Less
HP-Invent - Everything is Possible
Accenture - High Performance. Delivered
Lenovo - We are Building a New Technology Company
Apple Macintosh - Think Different
TCS - Beyond the Obvious
Timesjob.com - If you have a reason, we have the job
Blogger.com - Push Button Publishing
Macromedia - What the web can be
GM – Only GM
Intel - Intel inside
SOTC - You Look the World, We Look After You
Omega - The Sign of Excellance
Jaguar - Don't Dream it, Drive it
Honda - The Power of Dreams
Chevrolet - For a Special Journey called Life
Toyota - Touch the Perfection
Hyundai Santro - The complete family car
BMW – The Ultimate Driving Machine
FORD – Built for the Road Ahead
HYUNDAI - Drive Your Way
HONDA - The Power of Dreams
SKODA – Obsessed with Quality since 1897
VOLKSWAGEN - Drivers wanted
FIAT - Driven by Passion. FIAT
TATA MOTORS – Even More Car per Car
MRF - Tyres with Muscle
CEAT - Born Tough
Speed - High Performance Petrol
Servo - 100 % Performance. Everytime
MTNL - Transparency makes us Different
Nokia - Connecting People
TATA Indicom - Business Without Limits
ITC - Enduring Value
IFFCO TOKIO - The Life You Desire
Epson - Exceed Your Vision
Park Avenue - Play the Lead
DIGJAM - Dressing the World
MICO-BOSCH - The Power of We
Amkette - When Reliability Matters
Adidas - Forever Sport
American Express - Don’t leave home without it
Birla Mutual Fund - The Name Inspires Trust
ICICI Bank - Hum Hai Na
LEE - The Jeans that Built America
Master card - There are some things money can't buy. For everything else there's MASTERCARD
Kotak - Think Investments. Think Kotak.
Ernst and Young - Quality in Everything we Do
Barclays - Fluent in Finance; Its our business to know your business
Standard Chartered Bank - Your Right Partner
CNBC - Profit from it
AT&T - The World's Networking Company
Monster.com - Never Settle
L&T - We Make the Things that Make India Proud
LG - Digitally Yours
Sify - Making the Internet work for you
Alcatel - Architect of an Internet World
Voltas - ACs with IQ
Amway - Better Ideas-Better Life
MS Office 97 - Work Less, Do More
Cell One - The One for Everyone
Canon - Delighting You Always
Philips - Sense & Simplicity
Cantabill - International Clothing
Dolphin - The Affordable Network Service
SBI - With You all the Way
Exxon Mobil - Taking on the World’s Toughest Energy Challenges
Chevron Corporation - Human Energy
Reliance Industries Limited - Growth is Life
British Petroleum - Beyond Petroleum
ONGC - Making Tomorrow Brighter
IOCL - Bringing Energy to Life
BPCL - Pure for Sure
IBP - Pure bhi. Poora bhi
GAIL - Gas and Beyond
Essar corp - A positive a++itude

Fully Alive - Dawna Markova

I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which came to me as blossom goes on as fruit.

The poem is a candle that my soul holds out to me, requesting I find a way to remember what it is to live a life with passion, on purpose. There is only enough light to take the journey step by step, but that is all any of us really needs.

When you have the courage to shape your life from the essence of who you are, you ignite, becoming truly alive. This requires letting go of everything that is inauthentic. But how can you even know your truth unless you slow down, in your own quiet company? When the inner walls to your soul are graffitied with advertisements, commercials, and the opinions of everyone who has every known and labeled you, turning inwards requires nothing less than a major clean-up.

Traveling from the known to the unknown requires crossing an abyss of emptiness. We first experience disorientation and confusion. Then if we are willing to cross the abyss in curious and playful wonder, we enter an expansive and untamed country that has its own rhythm. Time melts and thoughts become stories, music, poems, images, ideas. This is the intelligence of the heart, but by that I don't mean just the seat of our emotions. I mean a vast range of receptive and connective abilities, intuition, innovation, wisdom, creativity, sensitivity, the aesthetic, qualitative and meaning making. It is here that we uncover our purpose and passion.

Jammu and Kashmir - The Special Status

The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir did not join India or Pakistan in August 1947 at the time of the attainment of independence and partition of the sub continent. It was only after the invasion by the tribes, actively aided and abetted by Pakistan, in October 1947 that the government of Jammu and Kashmir headed by the maharaja and supported by the National conference, a popular political organization, signed an instrument of accession with India on 0ct, 1947.

By this instrument of accession Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India on three subjects - defense, foreign affairs and communication retaining other powers that is-there shall be no concurrent subjects and that the residual powers also vest in the state. In view of the peculiar circumstances relating to Jammu and Kashmir, the constitution of India could not treat it on par with other units of the republic and made some special provisions for it and article 370 lays down certain special provisions relating to Jammu and Kashmir. By virtue of these provisions the parliament's power to legislate in regard to the state shall confine to : a) those matters in the union list and the concurrent list which where ceded to the centre by the instrument of accession that is defense, foreign affairs and communication and b) such other subjects as the president may, with the concurrence of the state govt, by order specify as such the division of powers between Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Union is of American type thus allowing the state to enjoy full major of autonomy than any other state.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir was also allowed to constitute a constituent Assembly (as envisaged in the constitution of India) to draft a constitution for itself which was adopted and brought into force on January 26,1957. This Constitution deals with the main organs of the government of the state - the executive, the legislature, the judiciary and provides for certain other related matters such as elections, the official language, the public services and the state flag and the elected head of the state. It thus lead to the appreshion that Jammu and Kashmir is racially free from central control and is a republic within a republic. The Jurisdiction of the supreme court of India (w.r.t the holding of the Assembly election also) was extended to the state w.e.f January 26 1960.The nomenclature of the head of the state and head of the executive was also changed. This lead to the appreshion and fear among the people of Kashmir for the dilution and erosion of the autonomy giving a special status to it.

Life is a…………

Life brings strange feelings at times. There are days when one is filled with moments of immense pleasure and there are days when one questions the mere existence of it. There are moments where there is so much agony, so much pain that one is frozen in horrible dimensions of the world. My mind just wanders between those moments and I at times find myself in abyss of darkness. My difficulty and for that matter- difficulty of every individual - whoever desired to achieve anything worthwhile comes in the movement. We all tend to desire something important in life and if that desire is not fulfilled we get unhappy, depressed and upset. Most of us fail because we never get started or we never overcome inertia or we don’t want to begin anything new.

Life is a moment to celebrate, to enjoy. Make it fun, a celebration, and then you will enter the bliss. Look at life-do you see sadness anywhere? Have you ever seen a tree depressed? Have you seen a bird anxiety-ridden? Have you seen an animal neurotic? No, life is not like that - not at all. Only man has gone wrong somewhere and he has gone wrong somewhere because he thinks himself to be very wise, very clever. Your cleverness is your disease. Don't be too wise. Always remember to stop - don't go to the extreme. A little foolishness and a little wisdom is good and the right combination makes you a perfect human being. - (Some lines of this post have been taken from Osho's Zen Tarot)

How true :)

“Kabhi kabhi Aditi zindagi mein yuhi koi apna lagta hai.
Kabhi kabhi Aditi wo bichhar jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai.
Aise mei koi kaise apne aansu o ko behne se roke?
Aur kaise koi sochle everything’s gonna be ok?

Kabhi kabhi to lage zindagi mein rahi naa khushi aur naa mazaa.
Kabhi kabhi to lage har din mushkil aur har pal ek sazaa.
Aise mein koi kaise mushkuraye, kaise hasde khush hoke?
Aur kaise koi soch de everything gonna be ok?

Soch jara jaaneja tujhko hum kitna chahte hai.
Rotein hai hum bhi aggar teri ankhon mein aansu aate hai.
Gaane to aata nahi hai magar phir bhi hum gaate hai.
Ke Aditi maan kabhi, kabhi saare jahan mein andhera hota hai;
Lekin raat ke baad hi to sawera hota hai.

Kabhi kabhi Aditi zindagi mei yuhi koi apna lagta hai.
Kabhi kabhi Aditi wo bichhar jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai.
Hey Aditi Hasde hasde hasde hasde hasde, hasde tu zara.
Nahi to bus thora thora thora thora thora, thora mushkura.

Tu khush hai to lage ke jahan mein chhaayi hai khushi.
Suraj nikle baadlon se aur baatein zindagi.
Suun to jara madhosh hawa tujhse kehne lagi.
Ke Aditi wo jo bichhad-te hai ek na ek din phir mil jaate hai;
Aditi jaane tu ya jaane na phool phir khil jaate hai.

Kabhi kabhi Aditi zindagi mei yuhi koi apna lagta hai.
Kabhi kabhi Aditi wo bichhar jaaye to ek sapna lagta hai.
Hey Aditi Hasde hasde hasde hasde hasde, hasde tu zara.
Nahi to bus thora thora thora thora thora, thora mushkura.”

Hindi Song Title: Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi
Hindi Movie/Album Name: Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
Singer(s): Rashid Ali

My favourite pictures :)

You need not follow!!

Avoid getting attached to people,
For it pains when you part.

Avoid expecting anything from people,
You won't feel bad when they say NO.

Avoid being angry with people,
For it takes few seconds to destroy the every lasting relations.

Live life on you own terms,
For your set terms help you reach your goals.

Set your own inspirations.
For your inspirations make you what you are!!!

Positive Thinking : The Best Attitude

“Successful men become successful only because they acquire the habit of thinking in terms of success. “ - Napoleon Hill

Often when we have to interact with a group of people, the most attractive and appealing person is the person who is cheerful, has a smiling face and behaves as if he or she is enjoying every moment. Such people have an optimistic outlook on life. They are the ones with a positive attitude. In contrast to this could be the people who are focusing on the negative aspects of everything. Such pessimists, the ones with negative attitudes, do not attract others in the same way.

Having a positive attitude means getting on with the job on hand. It means not brooding over what is gone before, nor fearing too much what might happen in the future. If there is a problem, positive thinkers quickly think of ways to solve it. Passing the buck, blaming other people or circumstances are excuses and alibis such positive people avoid. If such a negative thinker alone cannot sole a problem, he or she seeks help from competent people. To have a positive attitude means not to feel that it is below one's dignity to seek assistance.

Of course, even the greatest optimist cannot smile all the time and feel good. The ups and downs of life cause every one to feel a touch of melancholy now and then, when everything seems hopeless. But developing a positive attitude helps us bounce back from every challenges and difficult experience, ready to face whatever life bring. To get the best out of life, we owe it to ourselves to approach everything - work, friendships and relationships, with a positive attitude. Courtesy - ITC Limited

Nature at its best :)

Vizag beach from aerial view

Flowers

What is Meaning?- John Gardner

Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that pattern that will be your life. Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you.If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account.

Gole ka concept Avoo ke zubani........

Ever wondered why important things in world are round. Hmmmm!!! Avoo, my 2 year old nephew realizes and makes us also realize...why important things in life are GOLMATOL..Avoo keeps singing this rhyme for the whole day and last night when I was going to sleep the lyrics of this rhyme somehow appealed to me.The poem goes like this -

Uper chanda gol gol,
Neeche darti gol gol,
Mummy ke roti gol gol,
Daddy ka paisa gol gol,
Dada ka cheshma gol gol,
Dadi ke bindi gol gol,
Tu aur mei Gol Matol :)

When God created daughters

He took very special care
To find the precious treasures
that would make them sweet and fair....

He gave them smiles of angles,
then explored the midnight skies
And took a bit of stardust
to make bright and twinkling eyes....

He fashioned them from sugar
and a little bit of spice.
He gave them sunny laughter
and everything that is nice....

He smiled when He made daughters
because He knew He had created love and happiness - for every mom and dad.

You look good or you are good!!

Being is desirable because it is identical wih Beauty, and Beauty is loved because it is Being....We ourselves possess Beauty when we are true to our own being; ugliness is in on going over to another order; knowing ourselves, we are beautiful; in self-ignorance, we are ugly. - Plotinus

Some days back a friend of mine said to me," You look good!" I appreciated the compliment, of course, but I also felt a little amused. I almost wanted a reply." What do you mean? I am good." Some people are mostly concerned with the looking good.We should not be content with that.If we want a compliment, we should be good and then others will say "You are good".

"You look good and You are good" - both sentences have a marked difference.Today, it is said that the image has become the person.If the public realtions people can make you look good, you come to believe that you are good.

We should never allow ourselves to emulate or admire images that merely look good.Whether in sports or entertainment or politics, celebrities offer good role modles only when they stand for lasting values. Coutresy (Words To Live - By E.Easwaran)

Writing Effective Project Requirements - By Jim Swanson

Writing effective project requirements is one of the most important stages in any project development. Following article by Jim Swanson throws some light how to write the effective project requirements.
Requirements are (or should be) the foundation for every project. Put most simply, a requirement is a need. This problem, this need, leads to the requirements, and everything else in the project builds off these business requirements.

Importance of Requirements
Requirements are considered by many experts to be the major non-management, non-business reason projects do not achieve the "magic triangle" of on-time, on-budget, and high quality. Very few projects do an effective job of identifying and carrying through the project and all the requirements correctly.

Various studies, have shown that requirements are the biggest problem in projects. Projects fail due to requirements problems, the most defects occur during the requirements phase. Project teams need to do a much better job on requirements if they wish to develop quality software on-time and on-budget.

Furthermore, requirements errors compound as you move through a project. The earlier requirements problems are found, the less expensive they are to fix. Therefore, the best time to fix them is right when you are involved with gathering, understanding, and documenting them with your stakeholders (who should be the source of your project requirements).

The hardest requirements problems to fix are those that are omitted. This really becomes the requirements analyst's dilemma. The analyst often does not know what questions to ask, and the stakeholder does not know what information the analyst needs. Since the analyst doesn't ask, the stakeholder doesn't state requirements.The requirements phase is also considered by many experts to be the most difficult part of any project due to the following:

1 ) Business people and IT people tend to speak different "languages."
2 ) Business: "It has been determined that if we convolute the thingamajig or maybe retroactive the thatamathing, our profitability may, if we are extremely lucky, rise beyond the stratospheric atomic fundermuldering."
3 ) In other words, English is an ambiguous language, and we tend to speak and write in a manner that makes it even more ambiguous, convoluted, and unclear.

Building Valid Requirements

The requirements analyst truly is responsible for the failure or success of the requirements on a project. With that at stake, building valid requirements up front is crucial. The four steps to this goal are: elicitation, analysis, specification, and validation.

Elicitation

The term elicitation is the industry-accepted term for getting the requirements from the stakeholders. Elicitation, however, implies much more than just capturing or gathering the requirements from users.The truth is, one of the surest ways to fail in requirements is to say to your users, "Give me your requirements," then stand back and "catch" them.Why doesn't this work? The stakeholders are experts in their domains. While the analyst probably has more expertise in the IT domain, the two speak different languages. The stakeholders truly do not understand exactly what IT needs to be able to develop an effective system for them.So the only way for a project to obtain comprehensive, correct, and complete requirements from all stakeholders is to truly elicit them. Elicit means to probe and understand the requirements, not just capture or gather them.The reality is that the quality of the requirements depends on the quality of the solicitation of them by the analysts.

Analysis

Analysis involves refining (or analyzing) the stakeholder requirements into system, then software requirements. Analysis is a critical step, that is too often omitted or bypassed in projects.Analysis is the critical transition from stakeholder or business terminology, to system or IT terminology. For example, stakeholders talk about "Monthly Marketing Report," while systems talk about file "MoMktRpt.doc."Analysis involves brainwork, but it is not a magic process (nor is any other part of software engineering, for that matter). Analysis is usually done in conjunction with various modeling techniques. Modeling-creating diagrams using standard notations-allows analysts to more fully understand processes and data in a rigorous manner. This understanding allows them to convert the often non-rigid stakeholder requirements into more concise, rigid system and software requirements.Common modeling techniques include the following:

1 )Traditional systems
2 ) Dataflow diagrams to understand processes and activities
3 ) Entity-relationship diagrams to understand data
4 ) Object-oriented systems:
5 ) UML (Unified Modeling Language) diagrams, especially class diagrams for analysis, but also possibly collaboration diagrams

Specification

The specification sub-phase involves documenting the requirements into a well-formatted, well-organized document. Numerous resources are available to help with writing and formatting good requirements and good documents. For general writing assistance, books on technical (not general) writing should be used. A major resource is the set of IEEE Software Engineering Standards

Validation

Once a requirements specification is completed in draft form, it must be reviewed both by peers of the author and by the project stakeholders in most cases. If detailed stakeholder requirements were written and signed off by the stakeholders, they may not need to participate in reviews of more technical system and software requirements. This presumes good traceability matrices are in place.The specifications are reviewed by a group of people to ensure technical correctness, completeness, and various other things. Often checklists are used to ensure all requirements in all possible categories have been elicited and documented correctly.Validation is actually a quality assurance topic. All documents produced throughout a project should undergo validation reviews.