The Budget and the elephant

It's budget time again. 

Fuel prices are set to go up. Grrr...ok, we know it is inevitable. All the newspapers and news channels worth their salt are abuzz with the recent Budget. Extensive analysis, sectorwise impact analysis of who will benefit and who will crib...the usual stuff. It looks like yet again, our FM has delivered a neatly balanced budget.

But, this post is not about nuances of the budget.

This time around, the guys at Times of India have done an amazing job of presenting the budget. There were lot of tidbits, interesting stories, images from all over the world, lot of images, comparison with economies of the world and even cases filed by people demanding exemption from paying taxes. It was a pleasure to read their coverage. Great job!

The part I liked most was the way they compared Indian economy to an elephant. The front page story reads:

The elephant has been synonymous with India from time immemorial, through history, mythology and belief. For decades, the Indian economy, too, came to be likened to an elephant, but in a pejorative, lumbering sense. Today, as the balance of global power shifts to the East, and India is regarded with awe for weathering the financial storm better than most, the elephant analogy is back – but with the positive attributes of size, stability, solidity and strength. With our economy projected to become the second largest in the world, after China and ahead of even the US, there’s a growing sense that we’re riding a quiet but powerful giant, one that needs to be taken care of if we want it to travel far and carry over a billion people on its back. Just as the elephant-god is worshipped by millions as remover of obstacles and bearer of good fortune, our Budgets are awaited with a prayer that they will lead us to a better tomorrow. Will this Budget make a difference to our lives, will it help the elephant dance?
Shankar Raghuraman | TIMES NEWS NETWORK

To support this theme, the paper had different images of elephants in different settings with appropriate captions.

All said and done, it's time to start working harder. 

You know, we have to earn more to pay to the taxman.

 

More images

Tracking Personal Accountability

It gets really painful to review ourselves, say over the last one year and see that there were so many things that could have been done but were missed out for no reason at all. I am not talking about any huge goals like buying a house or a change of job. It's about very simple and basic things that could have been easily done but we either took it easy or thought it could be done on any day...particularly those simple things that made our lives so enjoyable and joyous....

It could be reading, exercise, developing a habit or even getting in touch with friends. The thought crosses our mind but then gets drowned in the cacophony of so many other internal dialogues. Eventually, it never gets done. And we look back and regret that. The consequence of not doing it may range from negligible to slightly regretful to even painful. 

One such activity (from a really long list) for me was reading books. I was wondering why I missed out and then realized that over the years I have started to look at reading as an activity rather than a habit. I still remember those days when I used to compete with friends in reading maximum number of books. Time & years have really stolen this excellent habit and here I am setting goals for that! A lousy way to lose a good habit, isn't it?


This is just one example. I have many more in my life and so would anyone... Somebody quoted that if we did everything that we are capable of doing, then we will produce amazing results. I was wondering how to get back those good old simple habits...and start some new ones and sustain the initial momentum without losing focus...The best option looked like to start doing it on a regular basis till it becomes a habit again.

And I came across Joe's Goals, a free online tool. that could add some fun and method to doing exactly that.


Here, we can set up such simple activities that we want to do on a regular basis..and one can back there and give +ve marks for having done that or -ve marks for not doing it.


So I promptly set up a set of goals - typically things that I want to start doing, things that I want to continue doing and things that I want to stop doing. Now, scoring +marks & -ve marks makes real sense and what more, I am my own evaluator. All I have to do is to work it on a regular basis. Ten positive things (Start or Continue what is already being done) and five negative things (to stop / never to be repeated - like getting up late etc) and I am ready to score daily.

It gets even more cool that I can tag each of these under categories like Health, Exercise, Habit, Productivity etc. and review them. I can also run reports for a period and I get my score. 

I have decided to put up a graph on this blog (another cool feature) so I can track my progress as an average score over a period. Talking about commitment, huh?

Simple, powerful and amazing! 

Video review here

Facebook opened

From the huge collection of improbable images(courtesy photoshop?) 

here is one, a bit grotesque but it connects...

Pic Source

A trip to Hogenakkal

Memories of a lovely trip...

For a great start

I like this article that emphasises on a great way to start the day.

Hoping to apply immediately and see if it really helps....seems to be a mix of few proven techniques. As usual, parking it here for review later, may be after a week.

How You Start Your Day Counts - Josh Hindshttp://www.GetMotivation.com
 

Whether or not we choose to believe it, for the most part you and I have a clean slate with each new sun rise. Whatever happened yesterday, good or bad is now rooted in
the past.

In the moment in which we now find ourselves, we have the ability to focus in on and do the things which will serve us for the better, or we can give our attention to those things
which will re-ignite whatever thoughts were causing us to remain stuck.

We have a choice, and fortunately, it isn't all that difficult to set the tone early on in your day. Does that mean you're guaranteed not to meet with a challenge early on that will knock you off course or throw you for a loop? Of course not, but in the event that something (or someone) shows up with such an agenda you'll find yourself a lot more
prepared to deal with it and be able to adjust course accordingly.

Here are some simple, but effective ideas you can use to start your day out on a positive note.

Upon waking up, name at least ten people you're thankful for - recount those in your life who've had a positive impact on you. Think of those who have in some way helped to make you the unique person you are.

Don't sell yourself short here. No matter what place you may find yourself in now, you're still an amazing person, with unique gifts and talents. You don't have to believe it, but
it's still the absolute truth!

Practicing gratitude is a powerful thing that helps to reconnect us with our inner power, and the abilities which make up who we are.

Give thanks for your talents and skills - each of us has been blessed with special skills and talents. You may not feel as though you've completely developed all of yours up to this point in your life, but that doesn't change the fact that you've got them.

Think through those things that others compliment you on, those are talents. Don't underestimate all the amazing bits and pieces that go into making you the person you are. As you identify and give thanks for the talents that were bestowed upon you commit to develop them and become more proficient in their use.

Write down your days most important action steps the night before - The simple act of writing down the following days most important tasks will give you a plan to move on the
next day. Keep in mind that you can get the most productive mileage if you'll put your "super tasks" at the top, where you'll complete them first.

For the purpose of this article consider Super Tasks as those things which upon their completion will give you the absolute most bang for your buck. Consider the difference
between a "super task" and say one of lesser importance. A super task might be: calling on a prospective client, while one that doesn't quite hold such importance in the grand
scheme of things might be: cut the grass.

While both are important, and you may very well want to get both done, the simple fact is the first example is going to lead towards a greater reward then the latter. You see, it's
more a matter of separating items which fall into the category of "busy work" versus those which can move us forward at a maximum pace. Another such "super task" might
be to spend time studying your industry or chosen profession.

Review the actions steps you wrote down the night before -As you are looking over the items you wrote down, close your eyes and see yourself completing them and experiencing the wonderful sense of accomplishment for having done so.

After you have visualized yourself finishing the items on your daily action list take a deep breath and begin your day working on and completing them.

Keep in mind that each new day is just that -- an opportunity to turn the page, and implement daily actions that can steer your life in the direction you wish it to go.

You can sail your ship, or choose to remain mired in inaction and float aimlessly, dependent upon whatever life may throw your way. My sincere hope for you is that you will
choose the first option.

- It's your life, LIVE BIG! Josh Hinds

Book: The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom

 

This book is sheer magic in content and style. The first chapter of the book is titled "The End" and the first sentence of the book is "This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun. It might have seem strange to start a story with an ending. But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time"

And the author grips us right there. Right through the story and till the end. The impact  doesn't end when the story ends. That talks volumes about the book.

"This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for." That's the gift that Eddie, a 86 year old war veteran and maintenance man gets which liberates him from his loneliness, guilts, regrets and resentments. He also learns to forgive.

Eddie and the five people who show him the meaning of his life continue to haunt us for a long time. A wonderful story of Eddie that  almost unfolds backwards. Chapters about his birthdays act as touch points, connecting the present, the past and the future.

Eddie leads a seemingly wasted life and as we go along his life, we feel sorry for him. His ambitions and optimism get shattered when he is forced by circumstances to take up maintenance of the park, his father's job and becomes Eddie, Maintenance. The war leaves him partially crippled that ravages him physically. His resentment against his father and his interpretation of events leave him bitter.

When he dies and goes to heaven, he meets five important people of his life. He learns important lessons which could be lessons for anyone. What we think is a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park, gets a totally different meaning when we, along with Eddie rediscover the meaning from a different perspective. Life is actually good that can only be spoilt only by our interpretations. We discover that even a life full of dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret has some meaning for someone, in his case the hundreds of innocent children who enjoy the rides safely because of his work.

His shock of finding that the heaven resembles the place where he lived is real. He meets five people, one by one. Each of them reveal a side of his life that he was not aware earlier. As he sees the new angle, he picks up a new meaning.

The author's brilliance shines throughout the book. Some of the quotes about death, life, relationships and other topics are:

"Death ends a life, not a relationship."

"Lost love is still love. It takes a different form, that's all. You can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.

"Holding anger is a poison...It eats you from inside...We think that by hating someone we hurt them...But hatred is a curved blade...and the harm we do to others...we also do to ourselves."

"Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else."

"All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair."

"No life is a waste," the Blue Man said. "The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we're alone."

"Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know."

"You have peace," the old woman said, "when you make it with yourself."

"Love like rain, can nourish from above, drenching couples with soaking joy. But sometimes, under the angry heat of life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its roots, keeping itself alive."

"Heaven can be found in the most unlikely corners."

"People say they 'find' love, as if it were an object hidden by a rock. But love takes many forms, and it is never the same for any man and woman. What people find then is a certain love. And [he] found a certain love with [her], a grateful love, a deep but quiet love, one that he knew, above all else, was irreplaceable."

The book ends with "Each affects the other, and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one."  

Absolutely true. We are all full of stories which touch each other 'like pebbles in the river'

What's Your Rashee?

"You can see your life laid out inside your mind, but that doesn't mean that you're in the mood to share it -- or even do anything about it. Today is all about reflection, so find the time to take stock"

So reads a typical horoscope for the day. I just love these concoction of one / two liners. I find it very interesting to see the amount of care and love that goes into drafting these predictions for everyone. The wordings amply indicate that the writer of these words really cares about each individual reading them.  

 Sometimes I get a feeling that these statements are not actually written by astrologers. Reading some of the unique combination of words and juxtapositioning images of those astrologers known to me as yet, it's hard to see any link or logic. Of course I am yet to meet any five star astrologer face to face. I have seen a few flashy guys only in movies but otherwise I only know the average guys one gets to see now and then. 

In movies they take care to show these guys dressed in flowing silk robes, so meticulously groomed and sometimes, they look even better than the father's of the lead pair. They always wield so much power over people's lives and bring in sordid twists in the tale in most instances. The murkier the twist in the story, the more polished the guy looks and more lavishly dressed. 

But the point is, these sentences definitely bring to our minds images of  a motivational speaker.

On most days, we get to read words that uplift our spirits. They go all the way in lighting up the reader's mind. Instant focus beams. Considering that they have the limitation of having to use just one sentence or two, the overall effect they achieve is amazing. They bring in a feel good factor along with economy of words.

Even on those rare days when they decide to predict some negative shades, it is done delicately to downplay the overall negativity. There will always be some spring of hope, few positive spots of light, a set of positive strokes at the end of the sentence. It could just bee a simple word that we hear daily but in that particular combination, that simple word manages to give us enough glimmer of hope. A hope that assures us, 'look, you can handle it', no matter what the previous sentence said to you.

 No matter what your rashee is, just read your predictions and cheer up!

There are days

It's proving to be a good week.  A number of huge tasks are getting completed. Nice to start and complete tasks. Feeling the excitement. It's really surprising that the more you get done, you just get into a rhythm and flow. On such days, one can just let loose and get anything done as if nothing is impossible.  Come on, give me more :)

And then there are those days when even the simplest of tasks look taunting. There just doesn't seem to be any more drive left in the mind or the body. Sapping off the inner energy silently.

Have you ever got tired doing nothing? Know how it feels? 

May be the outcome is not that important but on certain days one can ask, so what, let me get over with it. But on other days, it doesn't seem worthy of even attempting to do anything about it.

Weekends are meant to celebrate the week's accomplishments or even planned as a charger for the next week. 

My next week will be charged up. 

I have already decided that :)