Lessons from my experience* – Part 1 of n

1) Being content in life gives happiness. [Make the most of what you have / get]

2) When you pray, don’t ask anything. Just pray. Things will be taken care off for you.

3) Whether it is your friend or relative, trying to see yourself in them, will only result in a troubled relationship. Understand that each and every person is unique.

4) Newton’s third law – for every action, there is an, equal and opposite reaction – holds good for life too.

5) Baranyasam in Vaishnavism is a good thing to follow. Makes you focus on one God and attain salvation.

6) Extending point 5 to real life / day-to-day living, focus on priorities in hand, would help you attain a better position in life.

7) Do not lie unnecessarily (preferable, not to lie at all!). By following this point, you will face lot of challenges & tension but one can stay away from lot of mega troubles, trust me when I say this!

8 ) Being a cynosure, may work for some but may not work for all. Answer this question before you want attention: What are you going to achieve by being a cynosure? If you do not get a convincing answer, move on.

9) One can be happy with life, if the person, treats it like a portfolio. Overall, is everything ok for you? Then, be happy! Do not expect ‘Return on Investment (ROI)’ from every page of your life.

10) Invest, yes invest time, to understand your religion, custom or belief. There would be lessons which one can pick up and use.

11) Humility, empathy and a smile, would win you loads of hearts.

12) Formula to reign Power and Influence among your group (relatives, friends, colleagues or anybody): Help them unconditionally.

13) Smouldering is not a good thing to follow – vent it out, pleasantly.

14) Do not wound anyone by being acrimonious (acid like words). The person whom you hurted would not forget it ever. I mean, EVER!

15) You become, what you think you are!

16) Selffulfiling prophecy works!

17) Each and every person has his/her own sphere of superiority. So, respect everyone. [Can you beg as proficiently as a begger? Can you show perseverance as shown by a begger?]

18) As a dad or mom, you can wish your son to be an Einstein or Sachin in their field / studies, but, understand that your kid has his / her own sphere of superiority. If one is not good in studies, he/she might be good in something else. Instead of putting undue pressure on them, sit with them and understand their needs and work with them to satisfy those – if they are reasonable enough.

19) One who doesn’t respect his wife, carries no respect for himself, vice-versa.

20) Parenting is second childhood.

21) Read Dalie Carnegie’s book on ‘How to win friends and influence people’ once

22) More you suppress once feelings and interest, the more rebellious they become

23) Be respectful and keep parents happy. You are here because of them

24) At 30 you can be arrogant, egoistic and rude to others & make others life miserable, you will not feel the heat at that time. At 60, you will go to the same people or depend completely on them for your day-to-day living, I have seen this happen!

25) If you are selffish with your kids, no doubt, they will not even wink their eyes, when you suffer. What you sow, is what you get.

26) To sustain a good relationship, whether it is with your dad, mom, wife, brother or with relatives / friends, be open to accept feedback & be open with your feedback. Your feedback will hurt them for a while, but you will be rewarded with a good relationship.

27) Beauty might help till 30. Education might help till retirement. Good IQ / EQ / SQ might help a little further. But Attitude (good), can help all the way in your life.

More to come…

[*For all of the above to work - conditions apply ]

Yeh dosti! Karunanidhi & Prabhakaran:

Karunanidhi & Prabhakaran:

I saw in NDTV, Karunanidhi calling himself a friend of Prabhakaran. Head of State associating himself with a terrorist outfit head! Hmm…what an attitude!

Certainly, this kind of statements by a responsible and experienced politician, who is also the head of state, is troubling to me and would keep the morale of military, police and other security forces high! At one end, these forces are trying to save people’s life from this terrorist outfit and at the other end, their own head of state, openly embracing (at least orally) the leader of LTTE.

Good state to be in!

[To whomsoever it may concern - I only saw it in TV, so I don't know if it was edited or Computer Graphics was used to distrote the truth, I am just going by what was shown. If they have telecasted something wrong and Karunanidhi did not make such comments, I would like to apoligize before hand]

Tamilnadu bandh 23 Apr 09

I appreciate that politicians are showing great interest on what is happening in Srilanka. However, I don’t know, whether it is a genuine interest or the usual nature of politicians to draw political mileage (especially during election period!), I don’t know!

However due to their recent action ‘Bandh in TN’, I am inclined to believe that they are trying to draw political mileage only or rather their selfish nature is coming out clearly.

If they are selfless, then those politican parties, which run their own media houses (TV, print and Radio channels) should have gone off air for that one day. Instead, using this bandh, they tweaked their TV programs – instead of showing mega serials, they started telecasting movies!

These political parties will not black-out their channels and bear losses, however, they would want to make the innocent citizens suffer. FYI – 23rd Apr 09, is a Muhurtha Naal (auspicious day) and many people who had their son’s or daugher’s marriage struggled to get things done on time and there was unnecessary tension (safety, relatives could not come on time, taxi & auto walas charging high prices  etc).

Will not ruling parties take into consideration before announcing bandh or anything? 24 hours of notice is not sufficient for civilians to plan & get things in place. Instead of poking their nose into another country’s internal issue, politicians should start to show more empathy towards their own people.

I guess they have lot of free time and that’s why this is happening. Guys, if you are free, I will give you 1000s of ideas and issues to be sorted out.

I am happy about one thing, though there was bandh, there was no major incident in TN. I should sincerely appreciate the police forces and ruling party to have kept an eye on that part, at least!

What we eat is what we are!

Hi all: A close friend of mine has contributed this article on food and the quality it imbibes into us, as we consume them.

I thank the person for bringing this new dimension on food. You may post your comments / thoughts / questions and I would get it answered by my friend.

Article:

Foods are classified into three categories - Saatvic, Rajasic and Tamasic by Ayurveda, the oldest medical science .Saatvic foods include easy-to-digest foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs, light dairy products, grains and legumes, whole foods that are not altered by processing. Foods that are processed, canned, transported long distances, frozen or packaged are harder to digest and create imbalances in the body. Organically and locally grown foods are best because they are fresh and free of harsh chemicals. Easy digestion is the fundamental requirement for good immunity in the body. In general vegetarian diet promotes more Saatvic eating although freshness, processing and certain ingredients do not promote Saatvic qualities. Milk, butter, ghee (clarified butter), fresh ripe fruits, most nuts, vegetables, grains, beans and legumes are Saatvic.

Rajasic foods are foods that make one act in mode of passion. They are hot, spicy and salty foods bitter, sour, pungent and dry.. These foods create sensuality, sexuality, greed, jealousy, anger, irritability, delusion, fantasies, egotism and irreligious feelings. Fried foods, pungent condiments, fresh meat, sweets, fermented foods, brinjal (egg plant), carrots, urad (black gram), onions, garlic, lemon, masur (red gram), tea, coffee, chocolate/any stimulant, betel leaves, tobacco are rajasic foods.

Tamasic foods are foods that make one act in mode of ignorance. They are food are over cooked, impure, more than three hours old, stale, dry, bad smelling, burnt, distasteful, processed, canned frozen etc. It increases pessimism, ignorance, lack of common sense, greed, laziness, depression, criminal tendencies and doubt. Meat, eggs, alcohol, mushrooms are tamasic foodstuffs. Meat tops the list of Tamasic foods. Physiologically, Carnivores have biological features that differ from herbivores. Their intestines are short and digestive acids very strong. The length of the human intestine is three to four times that of a typical carnivore, and digestive acids weaker. Meat therefore takes a long time to process, sometimes exceeding several days and making it more tamasic and accumulating toxins. Onions and garlic, and the other Alliums are classified as Rajasic and to some extent Tamasic, which means that they increase passion and to some degree ignorance.

Rajasic and tamasic foods are not to be used often because they are detrimental to general health, spiritual progress and are also avoided due to their adverse effects on the consciousness of the eater. Saatvic people are focused on the purpose, rajasic people are focused on the result and tamasic people just go through the motions. Even Saatvic foods needs to be eaten in the right quantity and at right intervals as specified by Ayurveda for the foods to be absorbed well and remain Saatvic. For eg over eating, snacking at odd times etc contribute to more Tamasic quality. A popular saying in tamil captures the ill effects of overeating by describing that even nectar can be poisonous to the living entity, when had in excess of quantity.

From a spiritual angle, Krishna describes in Bhagavat Gita that there are three modes of material nature. Every creature is born with an inclination to either saatva, rajas, or tamas. Every living entity has a certain percentage of these qualities. Those who are more Saatvic worship the forms of God, those who are more Rajasic worship power and wealth, those who are more tamasic worship spirits and ghosts. Saatvic foods are foods that make one act in the modes of goodness, promotes the right kind of intelligence – the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and helps stay calm stress free and make the right decisions in life.

Few Bright Sparks

I came to know of these great intellectuals from Marginal Revolution by Tyler Cowen

(as written by Tyler Cowen)

I have been reading / researching on contributions by Indian thinkers – from vedic period to current period. Once I make some progress, I will post it.

Until then, you may read about these great people!

1. Tjalling Koopmans.  He is a father of operations research and certainly worthy of a Nobel Prize, although perhaps in mathematics (if they had one).  His work on optimal routing theory remains central to transportation management and he also laid some foundations for quantum chemistry.  True, he doesn’t really appeal to my inner Austrian but he was an awesome intellectual figure and he also helped us win WWII.  We should all bow down and pay homage to Tjalling Koopmans.

2. Kenneth J. Arrow.  His reputation now far surpasses that of Samuelson’s and he was more philosophical to boot.  Where to start?   He understood his own impossibility theorem better than did the commentators plus he is the father of modern health care economics and that is maybe 1/10th of his total contribution!  People who know him also claim he is the greatest polymath they ever met.

3. Gerard Debreu.  He is the father of general equilibrium theory and also, as a philosopher of time, the real successor to Proust, as he once explained in an interview.  His extremely minimalistic approach to economics is better when it comes from the star than from the second-tier imitators but of course a real star he was.  I think of him as the father of economic science fiction and no I don’t mean that as a snub.

4. James Tobin.  About fifteen years ago I realized he was in fact one of the deepest Keynesian thinkers.  He also proposed the Tobit model and laid the foundations for modern portfolio theory.  He lives in an intellectual world different from my own but he is clearly deserving of his Nobel Prize several times over.

5. Franco Modigliani.  He is one of the guys who could have won more than one Nobel Prize.  That’s one for the Modigliani-Miller theorem (the implications of being able to chop up and carve up assets), one for the lifecycle hypothesis, and perhaps even another for his 1944 article on liquidity preference, which showed the concept was probably not enough to drive the Keynesian model except for the unusual case where liquidity preference was infinitely strong.  Sadly this piece remains neglected by modern purveyors of the liquidity trap idea.

6. Herbert Simon.  Bounded rationality and behavioral economics have already taken the profession by storm; his insights on computation, neurology, and artificial intelligence have not yet been incorporated into the mainstream in an effective manner, so his long-run influence will only increase.

7. Lawrence Klein.  I can’t say I am a fan of his macro modelling approach, but I’ll admit I haven’t spent much time with his work.

8. Trygve Haavelmo.  He pioneered how to attack identification problems in econometrics; among other things without him there would be no Steve Levitt and no Freakonomics.  He didn’t just get the Nobel Prize because he was a Scandinavian.

9. Harry Markowitz.  The father of modern portfolio theory, enough said.

Amazing, isn’t it?  I still think the profession as a whole overdoes theory (even today) and undervalues breadth and real world experience, but these are nonetheless thinkers to be revered.  Arrow and Simon are, by far, the two who have influenced me the most.  It’s also fair to say that GMU economics often extends in other directions, but except perhaps for Herbert Simon these are well-mined thinkers by the rest of the mainstream so not every economist need run in their direction.

Women’s Day Theme

“Gain Identity and come out of oppression through One mind”

Kimi & Ferrari World Champions

Hello world!

Kimi & Ferrari World Champions!!! What a great race it was!!! People a nail biting finish! Until the last few laps how many permutations & combinations  were put into motion. For Ferrari fans a sigh of relief when Kubica overtook Alonso for P3 and Hamilton went down the positions (unfortunately). But tension was back again when Alonso regained his third position and Hamilton was moving up the position. As and when Hamilton upped his position, my heart beat was going up, started sweating….sheesh…..

Atlast with his team’s support and Felippe’s magnanimity and last but the most important one – a near perfect drive by ICE MAN KIMI! What a drive, what an attitude and what a team! Kudos Team Ferrari! Kudos Felippe!

The first person Kimi congratulated was Felippe – that’s what is team spirit. [Other top drivers should learn from this team what team spirit is! Especially one person.... A...SO]

Hello…Hamilton! Are you a rookie?! I don’t think so! He shows maturity in every sense – be it driving or sportive spirit or loyalty to team….! I am learning a lot from you Hamilton!

Keep it up! And looking forward a great season starting in another 145 days!

Aristotelian Ethics!

Ayn Rand was a devoted Aristotelian – the central idea being that there exists an objective reality that is separate from consciousness and capable of being known. Thus she called her philosophy ‘objectivism’. And she applied key tenets of Aristotelian ethics – namely, that individuals have innate nobility and that highest duty of every individual is to flourish by realizing that potential.

[Source: Alan Greenspan's book - In the age of turbulence!]

I find this concept to be interesting and reinforces the concept of capitalism even more. In fact pure capitalism.

If I am correct, for a true follower of objectivism  CSR or giving back to society or collectivism would be an alien thing.

I find this interesting! I guess it would be interesting to explore more!

Taste of Original Works!!!

Guys, I have been reading books for quiet some time and now have started concentrating on non-fictions. Pleasure of reading original works is amazing. For example, “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith (The father of Economics).

Reason being we know how important Economics is, however given the paucity of time, we don’t concentrate on the original or the fundamental theory behind the present day beliefs to appreciate it. But when we do it, the feeling is great!

Experience it, it is nice. Believe me!

Rulers!

I was reading a work written on Dhirubhai Ambani by Gita Piramaal. In that, I came across an excellent line – “We cannot chage our rulers, but we can at least help them learn how to rule us better” – D.A. What a thoughtful statement!

Just a thought in H.O.T!