My Quotes on Life - I

I won’t create a prelude too much. Here are 7 quotes I’ve come up with related to our lives. The ideas may be somewhat similar to what many great philosophers have written, but the quotes are 100% original.

Quotes on Life!

1.      A man’s character can be recognized by his sense of humour.

2.      Do not hang around in places where you won’t be missed.

3.      Which questions are we comfortable with? The ones we have answers to.

4.      You’re a real man if you can make a woman feel like a real woman.

5.      If you try hard to cut corners, that trying hard does not count. It won’t make you rich.

6.      Performing beyond expectations once will not allow you to perform below par later and get away with it.

7.      What would you rather use to be successful? Your first name or your surname?

These quotes haven’t been copyrighted. So feel free to use them wherever you want. Please credit me for it, though.

I’ll keep coming up with more quotes like these with time. Watch out for them.

Do share your thoughts on my thoughts. ;)

4 Lessons From The UP Results For Us...

UP has SPoken! Neither the then incumbent BSP nor the potential competitor Congress managed to succeed; the SP prevailed! I can’t delve into details of intricate political moves as I’m not qualified enough. So let’s focus on something else.

The Samajwadi Party winning by such a large margin was a huge surprise; it caught a lot of politicians and analysts off – guard. But, obviously, there had to be reasons. This is a case more of the BSP losing the election than the SP winning it.

Mayawati’s and Congress’ losses offer a lot of lessons for Corporate Inc. Some of them are elaborated below:

1.      Be genuine: - Hollow actions and words are easily seen through. The media may have hyped Rahul Ghandi’s visits to various areas in UP. But it was not enough for people to believe that RG was genuinely keen on working towards the upliftment of troubled areas in UP.

If your efforts don’t display genuineness, you can kiss a secure future goodbye. Genuine interest for growth of your organization is a must for success.

 

Rahul Gandhi? NO! Mayawati? NO!

2.        Look at the larger picture: - Mayawati, her sycophants and the Congress were busy slinging mud at each other, while the Samajwadi Party maintained its business friendly image. Congress pointed fingers at Mayawati’s corruption while the latter kept playing the Dalit card, refuting the Congress, etc. In the end, they both lost out mainly because they failed to see the bigger picture. The picture which promised hope and growth to business and common man in UP, something the SP did very well.

If you focus on only what your competition is doing, you’ll lose sight of the bigger picture (i.e. what value you can add for your customers). The cat takes the fish while monkeys are busy fighting over it.

The History of The Yamaha RD350

It may have had a mere 35 bhp, an air – cooled 350 cc parallel twin engine, and a top speed of 160 kmph; but it still is a bike that leaves enthusiasts swearing by its name!

Yamaha launched the RD350 (RD stands for Race Developed) in 1974 with the 350A model. They mated a parallel twin, 350 cc 2 – stroke engine to a 6 – speed transmission, all packaged into an awesome chassis. This chassis was developed from their experience in motorcycle racing, something Yamaha was a part of since 1951.

The Legendary Yamaha RD350 ad.

The RD350 had a top whack of ONLY 100 mph (160 kmph), but it was the way it got there that left riders speechless. Shift into 1^st gear, open the throttle and be off! The RD would throw back the rider and wrench his gut right until she reached her top end. The world would turn into a blur! That unmistakable exhaust note warned everyone around that the RD was on its way and would splatter mud into the face of even the fastest 750. 100 mph was reached in a matter of mere seconds when the rest of the bikes would still be entering their power band. The bike wanted to wheelie in the 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd gears and it took a professional hand to be able to tame that wild beast (not that anyone wanted to tame her; ‘handle’ is a more apt word). The sheer manner in which she reached top speed and left others in her smoke was a journey in itself. That journey left riders grinning from ear to ear (or in my case, screaming inside the helmet with blood pounding between my ears).

An Idea To Get Rid Of Corruption [VIDEO]

How tired are we of corruption? And how much do we do to arrest it? Precious little.

My MBA classmates and I shot and composed this video in the fall of 2009 while we were studying at Bharati Vidyapeeth Management Institute. It's our take on how we can combat corruption without entering the system.

This video won awards wherever it entered a competition - Father Agnels' Institute, IES MBA Institute and others. The video was also applauded by renowned Marathi actor Sachin Khedekar. The following was his take of our video:

"I'm not so concerned about videos which constantly portray the problems we face. I don't want to hear people constantly say "It's not possible", "We can't do anything", "It's always been like this", etc. I want to see a positive sign where we are provided with a solution to such issues. This video is a classic example of such solutions." - Sachin Khedekar.

The team with Sachin Khedekar. The one on the extreme right is me.

We must stand as one against corruption. The process of reducing it (elimination is impossible) will be painstakingly long, but every bit worth it! We must not lose hope. It's important to stand as a united force and oppose corruption. If we do this, we'll fix the problem of rampant corruption without having to enter the system. Forget the saying "Apna kaam banta, bhaad mein jaaye janta (As long as my work is done, the world can go to hell)" and stand as citizens of one country.

5 Awesome Books for Reading!

I’ve blanked out! I’m neglecting my blog! I’m woefully short of ideas & topics, feeling quite blue and appear to finally have HIT the phenomenon called ‘Writers’ Bloc’.

To keep my blog going, I’ve compiled a list of my 5 top favourite books. These books have pretty much moulded my thought patterns and outlook towards life (in & around me).

1.) India Unbound: Arguably the BEST book depicting the India story. The author, Gurcharan Das, analyzes India since the days of Alexander and brings us to speed with the current scenario. Historic, economic, political, social and cultural aspects are looked into to give us an in depth idea as to how India has developed through the ages. The New York Times sums it up best as "Something tremendous is happening in India, and Das, with his keen eye and often elegant prose, has his finger firmly on the pulse of the transformation.” Truly an amazing book which I can (and do) read over & over again.

2.) Predictably Irrational: This book shot author Dan Ariely to fame, and quite deservedly so! We humans are endowed with brains which differentiates us from animals. Hence, we must take rational decisions. However, we humans defy logic and take a lot of irrational decisions. That irrationality, however, has a pattern to it; that irrationality can be predicted! Dan Ariely shows us how through witty experiments and case studies. A must read for someone who wishes to understand human psychology better.

5 of my all time favourites. What about yours?