Back again...from China.....

5 years of silence is a looooong time, even for some joker like me.....but a friend reminded me that I used to have a Blog, so here I am.

My wife and I have just returned from China and are amused to see Times of India highlighting that Indian rate of growth is higher than that of China. Congratulations to the folks running TOI......

What they do not report is that China is probably 30 years ahead of India in Development, their Army is probably 25 times more efficient, the GDP is 5 times higher than India's, that we are starting from Congress led Zero level and the Chinese have a Communist party 100 times more effecient than anything that we have........ their trains run at 300 kmph with just one accident in 7 years and their Citizens can visit 100 plus countries ( incl. USA) without visa.

Gloating on half a percentage is India and Indians' folly. Self analysis is required, neh.......ESSENTIAL ,

My Prayers...Over-explained...

I was surfing on the net this evening and per chance, I happened to stumble upon a very elaborate translation of a very basic Indian prayer.

"Twamev mata, cha pita Twameva, Twamev Bandhu cha Sakha Twameva, Twameva Vidya, Dravinam Twameva, Twameva Sravasva, Mam Deava Devam."

The translation as I was taught since chidhood is as follows:

(O My Lord)
You are my Mother, and my father,
You are my brother, and my best friend,
You are my knowledge and my strength,
You are my everything, O my Lord"

I feel that translations of anything important should be short and precise. Descriptions should be left to describers. Meanings should be conveyed and points of importance should not be lost. Leave interpretations to those who WANT to interpret. A Prayer should remain a prayer, and should not become a discourse (with some one else adding his/her ideas to it).

Why should there be over explaination between God and me ??? We are at Peace with each other and understand each other. So.... beeeee...it....!!!

Let my Prayers be between me and my God. I do not need middlemen and explainations. Ta Thastu....

Attitude and Your Spine....

Someone recently sent me a joke which is not such a joke after all. It deserves a place in Management books. It goes something like this..

Heineken's CEO went to a bar and ordered a Heineken beer saying he wanted the most sold beer in the world.. He got one.

The next guy to come was the CEO of Coors and said he wanted the coolest beer in the world. He got a Coors.

Next came the CEO of Corona and said in Spanish that he wanted the beer that everyone in South America drank. He got his Corona.

Next came Vijay Malaya of Kingfisher. He ordered water ! All the CEOs were shocked and asked why??? Vijay Malaya replied.."Since all of you guys are not drinking beer, I also decided not to drink one...."

This, my friends, may be a joke...but reflects an attitude and a spine made of SS16 (Stainless Steel of the least corrosive quality), that we all should have to kill competition.

Jai Ho

My Uncle and Numbers...

One day Moses came down from Mount Arafat and gave the world the 10 Commandments.

Then some Mahatma of Christian faith gave us 8 deadly sins (Shoot.. did we not have enough of numbers and things to be scared of? Have you not seen books like 5 ways to riches, 7 things to do to avoid bankcruptcy, 9 things you must do before you kick the bucket, 6 lessons to learn about divorce, 11 reasons to kill your mother in law etc.,etc..)???.

A kind pope thought that 7 was a lucky number and concluded that avarice could be combined with another deadly sin. So, better make it 7 deadly sins instead of 8. Thanks to this Pope we have only 7 Deadly Sins...

As I understand life, there are only 3 deadly sins.

These are lack of education or knowledge, lack of compassion and then lack of drive or motivation.

These 3 deadly sins lead to all other sins that religions tells us about.

I am assuming that your cultural values are in place. So while Culture, Religion etc are in place, these are the three things (knowledge, compassion and drive) that you MAY be in control of..These will set you free...

What you are not in control of should not bother you anyway...right?

Today is 31st May of 2010., It is Baby Chachaji’s birthday (Ravi Saxena, my uncle and well loved one at that)..

I dedicate this post to him. Age is just a number. I pray that for Baby Chachaji and for all whom I know, age come slowly, gracefully and with health.

Those who give love to others, get it back in multiples.

Prayers and Best Wishes.

Namaskaar.

In the Presence of Greatness...

A few years ago, I was listening to nothing in particular on the radio when in a strong, deep and sonorous voice, someone started singing an Italian classic. I don’t understand Italian but was hooked immediately. I later found that the singer was Andrea Bocelli.

I promptly dispatched my secretary to MPH store to get a CD and since then I have been an ardent fan.

One of my few “Publicly Announced” goals for 2010 was to attend a live concert by Andrea Bocelli. As luck would have it, I didn’t have to wait long or travel far to Italy.

While surfing the net, last month, I found that Mr. Bocelli was to perform in Singapore. Further probing revealed that the concert was sponsored and fully booked by YTL, a construction company. Attendance was by invitation only. In other words, if you bought a highly overpriced YTL apartment in Singapore, you will be given a couple of tickets for the concert. Dead end for me since I am in no mood to buy an apartment in Singapore for US$ 2 million.

Now, these big time artists don’t come all the way from Tuscany to Singapore for a single concert. So I surfed further and found that the next stop for the Great Tenor was Hong Kong, before he went to Taipei and then back to Italy.

Good old Hong Kong ! Dynamic Hong Kong! Good food ! After 15 years ! (And Mae has never been there before). I promptly booked the concert seats for Mae and self, booked the flight and the hotel.

On 4th of May 2010 I achieved my goal and heard Andrea Bocelli singing live from less than 15 meters away from where we were seated, right in front of the stage.

Hong Kong exhibition and convention centre was full to the brim. 15 thousand people ensured that not a single seat was vacant. The program was for 90 short minutes.

At 8pm the Master took the stage. From the minute he started, we sat suspended in time, misty eyed and enthralled. There is something about this man. When he sings, you know that you are in the presence of Greatness.

When Celine Dion was asked about Andrea Bocelli, after she sang a duet with him, she commented “If God had a voice, He would probably sound like Andrea Bocelli”. I can assure you that she was spot on the target.

For more that 2 hours, with many encores, the Master had us spellbound.

An experience that I shall never forget. Songs from Tuscan Skies, Vivre, Incanto, Faust and Carmen to name a few.

The simplicity of the man is amazing. Small frame, slim and thin, but with a voice that is as deep as a well and as strong as can be. Bocelli switches from opera music to modern and pop as easily as snapping fingers. Can you imagine someone switching from “Canto della terra” to “Can’t help falling in love with you” (Elvis)?

Friends, listen to his songs. My words are too feeble to describe what I experienced.

For those who would like to visit his web site, the address is :
www.andreabocelli.com

Soon I shall be posting photographs of the concert on my facebook.

Till then...

Ciao

ALL THESE THINGS.....

There was a time when we did not have TVs. We lived and lived well..Then the TV came to India (sometime around 1965-66). There used to be only one channel (Doordarshan) and the trnsmission was in black and white. Only New Delhi had TV, then Bombay (I refuse to call the city Mumbai). The last programme was 10pm news in English. On Saturdays we had Chitrahaar and on Sundays we had a movie. Once a week we had a programme called Fire Ball XL5, a futuristic series. Once a week we had Lucille Ball entertaining us and I loved that show. Then of-course we had the regular Krishi Darshan which we did not understand anything about. I still don't understand what is Kharif ki fasal (???).

We kids used to look at the top of the neighbourhood homes to see which one had an antena. Once we spotted the antena, we would simply walk up to the home, take off our shoes at the door, say Namaste Uncle or Aunty and place ourselves on any square foot of space available on the floor in front of the TV. Knowing the family was not important. The hosts were always generous and never refused entry, even if they had a house full of unknown kids.

Indians like all humanity went on an aquisition trail. After TV came color TV, then tape recorders, then stereos, then computers, then TV had 50 channels, then CDs came then VCD players and then DVD players, then mobile phones and now 3G and what have you...

And now we have the Blackberry and iPod, iPad and iTab.

I must admit that my life has become much more relaxed and convenient because of all the gadgets. I am 53, and I am in touch with work even while I am at the golf course.

Some of my friends lament the loss of simple and good old times when we did not have "All These Things" and were still happy!

I am celebrating the present and "All These Things" and the other wonders that humans will bring in the future so that I can enjoy life and live every moment more than the last one....

Happy Vaisakhi and Happy Every Day of The Rest of Your Life...Enjoy all these things...

The Volcano and Kabir Das...

A volcano has erupted in the Eyjafjallajokull (will someone please tell me how this is pronounced?) glacier in southern Iceland, sending huge amounts of volcanic ash into the atmosphere, which has caused almost half the flights over Europe, (especially Northern Europe) to be cancelled. There may be no flights taking off or landing for the next 3 days.

Naturally, this will have a serious effect on not just the economy of affected countries and destination countries, but also on personal lives. People will miss occasions that they need to be near their dear and loved ones. They may miss business and other opportunities that may never repeat themselves.

Reminds me of what Kabir (Indian mystic and poet) once said.

Kaal kare to aaj kar, aaj kare so ab. Pal mein parlay hoyegee, bahuri karego kab?

Translation : What you may do tomorrow do it today, what you want to do today do it now. What will you do if in a second there may be the end of the world.....
(or too late to do anything)…..?

In the business world, Microsoft’s Bill Gates has written a good book called “Business at the speed of thought”.

Read it friends. And read Kabir too. He was not a corporate person, but who says that management is the exclusive domain of managers? Our mothers managed a full household very well, in time, within budgets and with very limited resources etc...

Shed all procrastination friends. Life is short and time is a wealth that we continue to lose, never gaining…..Go out, work, travel, enjoy…