Thursday, May 8, 2008
‘बात जो दिल से निकलती है असर रखती है’
आधुनिक युग में, छंद से दूरी, शब्दों की लयकारी को न पहचानने की मजबूरी, और दूसरों को सिखाने या समझाने की मजदूरी ने कविता को पूरी से अधूरी बना दिया है. आधुनिक कविता विशेषकर छंदमुक्त, को पढ़ने या सुनने के बाद, कविता का केवल भाव जेहन में रहता है, उसकी पंक्तियाँ याद नहीं रहतीं...12वीं सदी के बाबा फ़रीद का दोहा अब तक लोगों की ज़बान पर है
कागा सब तन खाइयो, चुन-चुन खइयो मांस
दो नैना मत खाइयो, पिया मिलन की आस
बीसवीं शताब्दी के रघुपति सहाय फ़िराक का शेर जिस पर आचार्य रजनीश का एक पूरा डिसकोर्स है वह यूँ है
मुद्दतें गुजरीं तेरी याद भी आई न हमें
और हम भूल गए हों, तुझे ऐसा भी नहीं
इन शेरो और दोहों के याद करने के पीछे वही चमत्कार काम कर रहा होता है जो एक पंक्ति में यूँ कहा जा सकता है...‘बात जो दिल से निकलती है असर रखती है’
Nida Faazli, Noted poet, in an article.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/entertainment/story/2007/08/070826_vv_nida_column.shtml
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Rare Insights!
Q: Take us through some of the investments that you have made while you have been with Rare.
A: As I see it, the company has an opportunity. You have to figure out how the company can position itself well enough to seize the opportunity.
Q: You are sort of looking at different sectors from hotels to media to lifescience companies. How do you sort of sit and figure out which sectors you want to maximise on or the companies that you want to maximise on? How do you actually spot an opportunity and how much of that is gut and instinct?
A: It is a little bit of analysis and a bit of instinct. A lot of decision-making is largely based on betting on the promoter's ability to seize the opportunity. So, the mental process that you go through is the same. The relative size of companies could vary. So, I guess the mental process is the same.
Q: How many of you actually huddle together and make that decision?
A: Three of us.
Q: Does it work like a debating society at that point? Is there one vote that reigns supreme?
A: Not really. There is a little bit of debate. Typically, we look for companies that have a large addressable opportunity and the rest of the things we document it and discuss it out point by point. So, it really doesn't take much time.
-Rajiv Agrawal, a Principal at Rare Enterprises.
Arthur Andersen
The son of a Norwegian immigrant, Andersen was left on his own at the age of 16 after the death of his parents. He worked during the day as a mailboy and attended school at night. Eventually he was hired as the assistant to the controller of Allis-Chalmers in Chicago where he became intrigued with the work of independent public accountants. He received a degree as a certified public accountant at the University of Illinois in 1908; at age 23 he was the youngest CPA in Illinois. In 1917, after attending courses at night while working full time, he graduated from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in business.
In 1913 at the age of 28, he entered into business for himself under the firm name of Arthur Andersen & Co.
Andersen, who headed the firm until his death in 1947, was a zealous supporter of high standards in the accounting industry. A stickler for honesty, he argued that accountants' responsibility was to investors, not their clients. During the early years, it is reputed that Andersen was approached by an executive from a local rail utility to sign off on accounts containing flawed accounting, or else face the loss of a major client. Andersen refused in no uncertain terms, replying that he would not sign the accounts "for all the money in America." Leonard Spacek, who succeeded Andersen at the founder's death, continued this emphasis on honesty. For many years, Andersen's motto was "Think straight, talk straight."
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Risk, Courage, Ability, Motivation, Purpose
- Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable, than risk being happy.
- The cynic knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.
- Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.
- What is a friend? I will tell you….. It is someone with whom you dare to be yourself.
- One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency.
- However brilliant an action may be, it should not be accounted great when it is not the result of great purpose.
-I liked these quotations from the Sunday Times of India, April 27th 2008.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Lethargy
Sunday, April 6, 2008
लतीफा ...
एक महिला अपने कुत्ते को लेकर जानवरों के डॉक्टर के पास पहुंची और बोली - ''मेरे कुत्ते को कुछ हो गया है डॉक्टर । यह उठ नहीं रहा है .... । कुछ कीजिये। ''
डॉक्टर ने कुत्ते को टेबल पर लिटाया और उसकी जांच करने बाद बोला - ''आपका कुत्ता मर चुका है। उसकी नब्ज बन्द हो चुकी है।''
महिला कुत्ते को कुछ ज्यादा ही प्यार करती थी। वह इस बात को सहज स्वीकार नहीं कर सकी। बोली - ''नहीं, नहीं डॉक्टर साहब, ये कैसे मर सकता है ? आप किसी और तरीके से जांच कीजिये प्लीज।''
डॉक्टर दूसरे कमरे में गया और एक बिल्ली के साथ वापस आया। बिल्ली टेबल पर कूद कर चढ़ गई और उसने कुत्ते को सूंघना शुरू किया। सिर से पैर तक कुत्ते को सूंघने के बाद बिल्ली कूदकर वापस दूसरे कमरे में भाग गई।
''अब ये पक्का है कि तुम्हारा कुत्ता मर चुका है।'' डॉक्टर ने महिला से कहा। महिला ने अंतत: मान लिया कि कुत्ता मर गया है। बोली - ''शायद आप सही कह रहे हैं। बताइये आपकी फीस कितनी हुई। ''''550 रूपये'' - डॉक्टर ने जवाब दिया। महिला को झटका लगा। ''इतना ज्यादा क्यों ? आखिर आपने किया ही क्या है ?''''
देखिये,'' डॉक्टर ने उसे समझाते हुये कहा '' 50 रूपये मेरी फीस है और बाकी 500 रूपये कैट स्कैन के हैं।''
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Life!
"Every major decision point in life usually has multiple solutions — that is what saves us from what would otherwise be a very monochromatic world. Successful people are those who can make career decisions with two things in mind — `Will I be happy at work’ and `Will I be happy at home’. As long as those two questions are answered, things such as what you do or where you work become irrelevant. "
Liked it!
The interview panel did not take kindly to his replying to every question in Hindi. Far from being discouraged, Kela appeared for the written test the following year. His scoring pattern was the same, but he still made it to the interview stage due to a high aggregate score.
“I don’t see how the outcome can be any different this time; how many times will you keep applying with such poor communication skills?” one of the interviewers asked him. “Till such time you refuse to acknowledge the fact that I have managed to come this far despite my weak English,” Kela shot back.
The panelists were impressed by his impetuosity and granted him admission, but with the rider that he will have to improve his language skills within three months or else quit the course. This is just one of the many instances that reveal the fierce determination to overcome adversities in the man who currently heads equities at Reliance Mutual Fund, India’s number one asset management firm overseeing funds in excess of Rs 90,000 crore.
Source of the article
One more such quote
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Purpose in life
किसी महान कार्य के लिए कड़ी मेहनत करने का अवसर दे कर, ज़िंदगी हमें सबसे बड़ा ईनाम देती है
-शिव खेड़ा, जीत आपकी (Hindi version of "You Can Win")
Monday, March 31, 2008
Swaminomics: How the reforms changed Bollywood
Click here for the full article
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Quote-Unquote
Q: If you were still with Morgan Stanley and I sent you a fresh MBA recruit, what will be your advice to him?
A: There are hundreds of smart people who come to my office. What I see is in short supply today is courage, risk-taking, leadership, integrity, patience, faith. I think those are the qualities I would encourage an MBA to develop and discourage this false prop that I'm an MBA and so I have arrived. I can see why Bill Gates or Dhirubhai Ambani did well. These sort of soft, touchy-feely qualities are the ones which are really in short supply today. I don't think education can get you there. I think life can get you there. Yes education is very important but I don't think your life begins once your education ends. I think your real education begins when life starts. So what you do post-education, in your 20s and 30s is very vital.
- Vinod Sethi, one of India's most respected investors.
Monday, March 24, 2008
you must brutally and unflinchingly question
While this may seem the simplest enough line of questioning to follow, it is in fact the most difficult to live. For to be honest to it, you must brutally and unflinchingly question. It is not widely popular, because it is time consuming. You will not arrive at your answers today, or tomorrow, or probably even in this lifetime. It will not seem like focus to many, but it is far more satisfying than focus, for like the tea-taster, you will have tasted 10,000 cups of tea, and spat them out, before you will have found that one perfect and most beautiful brew. You will have sharpened and honed your standards of perfection, of purity, and with each step up the short list, you will have the confidence that comes from edging towards absolute- and not half- Truth.
Why would you want to do it?
Probably because that emptiness you feel from time to time, in the living and the loving of everyday life, is that nagging sense, that this, whatever this is at this point of time for any of you who have felt it, is just not it.
- Taken from an online blog article "The Neti Principle"
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Creativity
"How much are you paid?"
"I have read it written that I'm getting Rs 25 lakhs for a movie. It's under 10, actually. For Roja. I was paid Rs 25,000. I don't like to demand high amounts because I think that will rob me of my creativity. "
-A.R. Rehman, answering to a question about the money he charged. Quoted from an interview that was taken soon after he entered the industry.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Allah
"Hamesha mandir-o-masjid mein woh nahi rahta
Suna hai bachchon mein chhup ke woh khelta bhi hai..."
-Nida Fazli ka yeh sher mujhe bahut achchha laga tha...
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Nida Fazli
If you get time, do have a read of some of his books like Khoya Hua sa kuchh and Aankhon bhar aakaash.
I am giving links to some of his my personal favorites, and the collection as well. But remember, the poems given at the web collections are neither the all of his poems, and nor his best ones. You will need to buy the books to know what he is.
"किरन-किरन अलसाता सूरज
पलक-पलक खुलती नींदें
धीमे-धीमे बिखर रहा है
ज़र्रा-ज़र्रा जाने कौन..."
मस्जिदों-मन्दिरों की दुनिया में
हम्द1
निदा फ़ाज़ली की रचनाएँ
सोच-सोच कर उम्र बिता दी
यूँ हम उम्र तमाम करेंगे
सोच-सोच कर उम्र बिता दी
कोई अच्छा काम करेंगे
कोई अच्छा काम करेंगे
खुद को फिर बदनाम करेंगे
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Bollywood
Bollywood is surely going through one of its best times after 60s and 70s.
The movies I liked in recent past were, and not in order of preference but ramdomness, Rang De Basanti, Black, Iqbal, Chak De India, Life in a Metro, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Omkara, Yahaa, Parineeta, Lage raho Munnabhai, Kabul Express, Black Friday, Gandhi My Father, Parjania... and many ones I'd be missing to see or recall here.
Quote from Jaideep Sahni
- Bollywood Script Writer Jaideep Sahni in an article published in Economic Times, 29th Dec. 07. Jaideep Sahni has written the scripts of movies like Company, Khosla ka ghosla, Chak de India and Aaja Nachle. Since the times of Saleem- Javed, no script writer(s) has got so much acclaim as him.