Life in Bangalore

  Power of the index cards: I first read about the index card in a book on presentation skill… I forget the name of the book ;  This book was about the use of the 3-act play to create presentations; RobertMcKee -  the hollywood playright is a king on this concept; 3-act play consists of act-I , act-II , act- III Act- I is the opening ,setting Act-II : the body : Act-III : the closure;   So the author asks to construct the presentation in the above manner ; And the main themes or bylines to be recorded in the index cards;   And then once all cards are done :  you shuffle the cards ; literally - to determine the sequences;   Many of my speeches in Toastmasters  are ordered this way;  I write and write and write Like a story ; and then perfect it; perfect it ; perfect it; Linking the opening to the conclusion; To deliver speech in a matter of 7 minutes;   is it not? Coming back to the index cards , Ryan Holiday has written an article on itself;   In my MBA

  Ten Commandments of Engineering :   😊 TEN COMMANDMENTS OF ENGINEERING 1. Thou shalt heed thy calling, which is to make an aid to decision and not a work of art which pertained but to itself.   2. Thou shalt not confuse form with substance for a little insight is worth many data.   3. Gild not wild guesses with refined analysis.   4. Cast not words into the shape of numbers for the sake of worshipping these numbers into equations which yield no truths.   5. Thy words must have depth, scope, and clarity, but the greatest of these is clarity.   6. Confound not thy fellows with long words of doubtful meaning nor use many words for few ideas.   7. Know that there are many things which cannot be put into the shell of a nut nor into a table nor yet a mathematical formula.   8. Thou shalt not ride thy philosophic hobby horse up and down between the lines of an argument.   9. Put not thy burden on the shoulders of others by demanding judgements on ill co

  Henry David Thoreau: Till recently : I have not sought out  for gurus  or mentors in my life; rather I was preparing myself for  the guru to arrive  But now, I can proudly say that found I one in : Henry David Thoreau ; Thoreau  holds  a master black belt in simplicity:  reducing life to its essentials;  I have read his book Walden for over 5 times now; full readings ;  now I need to read it more in chapters and chew it and chew it and chew it and digest it like the Drum-stick stub dipped in the sambar (Indian Curry);😋😋😋 Oh man! :  Thoreau  : you are a master of philosophies of Eastern, Chinese ,Greek and Roman;  who learnt the classic literatures in their own original language rather than in translations;  and all this hailing from the land of the consumerism : USA:  Thoreau 's lessons are a whiff of fresh air !!! this man makes a mockery of the modern day living : railroad etc.,  not to denigrate them :  but to emphasize the fact that just because you can commute faster

  Power of the written word: Reading the ideas directly from the source ,the classics;  there is an important paragraph in Walden where Thoreau talks about the importance of the written word rather than the spoken word… He calls that Orator's words can be transient as it can be carried away by the mob frenzy; while the written word is eternal as it has no such illusions; what a powerful thought process! Another article that I came across : Aytekin Tank : on the habits in the Medium website : Tank says that for him the morning exercise works and then as he enters the office : he picks on an important problem and starts dumping in his thoughts on paper for an hour.  Also he says that for the first 5 minutes or so nothing goes perfect but after that the stream of consciousness kick in and thoughts and patterns emerge;  this is the brainstorming I am talking about; and then Tank follows this by organizing the thought into a useful form such as email ; powerpoint or a document;

  On writing well: By William Zinnser Key points: The most importance sentence in the article is the first sentence! William Zinnser You have to personalize it!  Create humanity in your writing! Use Roget's Thesaurus to get the apt words! Confidence, Enjoyment, Integrity and Intent are the values of the Writer! Be an entertainer while you write!  Have humor peek at the end like a snap! If the process is sound ,the product will take care of itself Do not worry about the tyranny of the final product;  the first draft always sucks; you got to write ; re-write ; re-write;  In fact the first draft should suck ; use the editing as a tool to refine you content;

How to find your Voice   Yesterday I got an excellent phrase from the medium ; -  Write to express and not to impress; yes ; I need to take this to the heart; be creative to express and not to impress; too often I find myself doing things to impress others not myself! now but my urge comes about the need to impress others of what I do ; is it not?  Yes; that’s where the phrase : write to express than to impress; express yourself  - through writing recording , painting ,drawing, archery sports ; even work ;  Try to express yourself use it as a means of exploring yourself; be creative in the ways that you do things ; create something new; keep creating okay; no issues; good , bad ugly; keep creating ; the beauty is keep doing it; yeah; you have to keep doing it again and again and again; and then a some point you will get your voice ; you will see your voice; hear it;    it is like what Ira Glass talks about;  you have to keep doing it; doing it ; polish it; polish it; u

  Ego! Ego Ego burning bright! - Douse it! Ego Ego Rock solid! - Crush it! Ego Ego Thick as Syrup - Dilute it! Ego Ego Powder form- Sublime it! The "I" is the source of all Troubles Go beyond The I

  Role of Manager : from SBIOA news bulleting   ·        Knows intricacies of business well ·        Buffer : who percolates vision to team & translates into execution ·        Inculcate behaviors : Safety, Quality, Integrity, Trust ·        Owns responsibility for the mistakes of the Team ·        Improves knowledge and Skills of team ·        Identify meaningful opportunities for Team ·        Help identify the essence from complexit Resolves Conflicts Amicably

  Principle : Ray Dalio Better to have decision making system rather than forecasting system ;   How does this decision making system work? Statistics Based: Collect Data => Fit Data into regression (Data Model using training) =>  Test on data model (using test data) => validate model =>  use real-time data => decision; Principle based: Define Principles(based on statistics) => Analyse => Decide ; Compare both decisions and verify;

  Success is an inside Job Success is an inside job;meaning,  Don’t do anything just  for fame, money, power, position ;  When you put yourself together, world comes together; Put yourself together; What is that one thing you can do everyday about Life, so that if I do it, everything else becomes unnecessary or easy? Spiritually connect with yourself everyday!   Though Contemplation; and meditation! Keep posing questions through journaling! Contemplation Answers will come! Yeah answers will come Solitude; Stillness; Silence; Learn from books; Which authors? ·        Henry David  Thoreau; ·       Arthut  Schopenhauer ·        Erwin  Schrodinger ·        Albert  Einstein ·       Swami   Chinmayananda ·        Sri M ·        Werner  Heisneberg ·        The  Upanishads ·        Thirukkural ·        Tamil Literature Read one of those books every day  Just one paragraph  Make a note of some wholesome thought  This is how you can put yourself together

  Source : Vijay Govindarajan From < http://www.forbesindia.com/article/pre-budget-2015/vijay-govindarajan-we-need-big-bold-ideas/39689/1 > Thinking  Outside the Box: The idea of game-changing innovation came to me while I was watching a Rajinikanth movie:  In the climax, the villain  kidnaps the heroine in a Mercedes-Benz. Top speed 220 KMPH The police give chase in Indian  Police Jeep 1970 model !!!…Top Speed unknown…not for security reasons... :-)  just because ..speed gun has lower threshold limit to measure : 7 KMPH…   Meanwhile, Rajinikanth enters here in this scene…rather I should say makes an entry!!! …..comes airborne from somewhere nowhere…  Fans in theater go berserk…coconuts are broken….Milk sachets are out…. An Encore…is being asked for…. Now Rajnikanth is onto his business….jumps on to this vehicle …that does not need any fossil fuel to run…can go through even narrow alleys and ramp up on the mountain… does not even maintenance … Yes! Rajnikanth is on the saddle

  Asanas are different from exercise Yoga Guru - Dinesh Kumar Exercise is a movement of the body alone; In Asanas , you need to coordinate breathing along with Body movement;  Even if you do not get the full movement - posture That is fine As long as you coordinate breathing with the movement!

  Success is peace of mind John Wooden “Success is peace of mind;  Peace of mind is :  An outcome of the self-satisfaction in knowing  You made the effort to do your best To become the best that you are capable of”

  The Human Machine Arnold Bennett On ambitions  70% of ambitions are not realized at all 90% of realized ambitions are fruitless! Ambitions are easy -  As to be ambitious involves Greed, Envy, jealousy Which are abundant in supply And even those ambitions that are attained - They result in disappointment Because they were chosen without knowledge of Real value Or without knowledge of what they cost!  So what to do? Have an ambition -  To live life strictly according to commonsense  During the next 24 hours And such a disciplined brain  Will show the unnecessaries of most ambitions!

  Letters from a Stoic Seneca Mortality Now is the time to reflect that Not only all things are mortal But that mortality is subject to no fixed law Whatever can happen, can happen today

Letters from a Stoic Seneca And wherever I am, I carry my own Meditations and pondering in my mind Some wholesome thought Ponder in my mind some ‘Wholesome’ thought ; As you sit for 30 minutes  Take one thought  Take One Idea  Take one problem  And ponder about it in a wholesome way; Arnold Bennett    talks about this in the book  The Human Machine Concentrate the brain for a given time  Exclusively upon a good resolution -every day! For example, when you enter a confrontational situation, The frictional tone occurs in the mind And there is the voice; But this can be overcome - How? The regular daily concentration of the Brain,  For a certain period of time On the non-frictional tone! This is what my daily blog is about!!! My daily consumption of some wholesome thought!

  Letters from a Stoic Seneca Life is well enough furnished - But we are too greedy about the furnishings Something seems to be lacking  And always lacking It is in the power of any (wo)man to despise all things, But of no (wo)man to possess all things!

  It is not the natural hunger that cost us dear, But our solicitous cravings! Letters from a Stoic Seneca A small amount is enough to satisfy Nature For Nature has limits On the other hand, we have cravings driven by Artificial  ‘Thirst’ that has no limits For example, the financial wealth needed: The goal-post keeps moving in the craving Man’s frame of reference Wanting more and more Playing more and more Without realizing:  How can you hit the goal when You yourself are moving the goal-post? Until you grow old - tired and weak And then realize the pointlessness of the whole game played!  Use Bio-mimicry, to imitate Nature And Learn from Nature To have the limits set!

  Truth Everyone - Be Scientific or Spiritualists are in search of Truth But truth is highest level of Intelligence - That I cannot hope to comprehend with my Intellect alone; As Jiddu Krishnamurti says : Intellect is merely thought ,  Functioning independent of emotion While INtelligence is capacity to feel as well as to Reason   All I can do is to put up my perspective vision of Truth Line up the Principles aligned to it And conduct myself through the day to align with my principles My notes systems earlier with Zettelkasten and now with daily writing Is in a way my approach to construct hierarchy of mental models Interlinking of topics- both science and spiritual  And at some point , I hope and can only hope All the hierarchy will lead up to the Root - The Truth!