Some of my posts on Education

Below is a link to some of my posts on education...



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And here also!






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इस जीने का क्या मतलब था?

‘‘...अपनी ज़िंदगी में तुमने क्या किया?  किसी से सच्चे दिल से प्यार किया? किसी दोस्त को नेक सलाह दी? किसी दुश्मन के बेटे को मोहब्बत की नज़र से देखा? जहाँ अँधेरा था वहाँ रौशनी की किरन ले गये? जितनी देर तक जिये, इस जीने का क्या मतलब था..?...’’


-कृश्नचंदर, प्रख्यात उर्दू साहित्यकार

People with Low Self Esteem

Was today going thru Shiv Khera's 'You Can Win' again. Was compelled to post the features of people with low self-esteem.


I have many relatives who take the world as described in the lines below.

I never realized these traits were due to low self esteem!!



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From Shiv Khera's You Can Win :



People with poor self-esteem judge a person's worth by his possessions, not by who he  
is. They constantly look at what kind of car you are driving, what kind of home you live in,
what kind of clothes and jewelry you wear. They forget that people make things, and not
vice versa. People with poor self esteem place more emphasis on net worth than self
worth. Their lives revolve around ads and fads.


(To continue reading click Read More below)

Three Amazing Posts from Shekhar Kapoor

Was visiting the movie director shekhar Kapoor's blog today... saw three amazing posts there! Giving links and excerpts here!


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Killing your Dreams, reproduced from Paulo Coelho’s blog (with his permission)- it’s amazing

The first symptom of the process of our killing our dreams is the lack of time.

The second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties. Because we don’t want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise and fair and correct in asking so little of life.

And, finally, the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon; we ask for nothing grand, and we cease to demand anything more than we are willing to give.

Full article

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What does a teacher make ?

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

Full Article

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Love, trust and faith in directing
 
Is there communication in absolute silence and stillness ? Is there communication in a sense of being ? Beyond just the simplistic scientific ideas of thought transfer and telepathy ?


I have often felt such strong communication in the presence of absolute Love and trust. Not with just vague ideas of words like ‘Hey I love you” thrown at each other , but....

It’s the essence of all creativity, a huge sense of focussed discipline, followed by a complete letting go. Into moments of absolute faith.


Directing is so much like living. Love , trust and faith.


Full Article

Journalism- A Nobel Profession, or Just Business?

I reckon Arjun Singh as one of the worst politicians India has produced. Was burst into a strong disgust after reading the below lines in Times of India. The article discussed why the Bhopal media never criticized Arjun Singh for releasing Anderson (Union Carbide Chief) 25 years back. How media was made a puppet of politicians during that regime.

-Gaurav.

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Times of India, 11th June 2010


This is the truth of journalism in Bhopal 25 years back. Hardly anyone criticised Arjun Singh in those days. His hold over media was supreme. During his tenure, some 250 journalists were given government accommodation in Bhopal. With a roof over their head, paying paltry sums of Rs 100 as rent for a ministerial bungalow, many became faithful followers. Some weekly papers with ridiculous titles like 'Dum Dum Diga Diga' came into the market and immediately started getting government advertisements. Overnight, one could see people with nothing else to do in life enter journalism, often practicing the yellow variety. But it didn't matter to the chief minister as long as they didn't criticise him. There were more rewards for those who helped him target his enemies.

South Indian Superstar Nagarjun, How He Has Brought Up His Children!

South Indian Superstar Nagarjun, How He Has Brought Up His Children:


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Times Of India, July 11th, 2010


When you sit with a superstar who is the son of another legend (Akkineni Nageswara Rao), you expect attitude and a bristly impatience; what I encounter is a total lack of superstar nakhras and a down-to-earth attitude. “Dad kept life very normal for us. He ensured we worked for whatever we got. We would regularly be sent to our village Denduluru to connect with our origins. When I wanted my own car to drive to college, he insisted I go by the local bus. In retrospect, I must admit I made all my friends in those bus rides, some of them are with me till today!”

Car safety isn't a luxury item

Really liked this article!

-Gaurav
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http://www.overdrive.in/story-blog-blog/safety_isnt_a_luxury_item-1411-0.html



In terms of road fatalities India clocks a shocking 92,618 deaths every year, second only to China’s 107,077 deaths. Compare that to the United Kingdom that has just 3,221 road fatalities despite having more cars on the road. The reasons are plenty - education, infrastructure, emergency services - but it has a lot to do with the cars themselves and how safe they actually are.



Not convinced? I tested the Indica with the now-optional ABS brakes and she takes 12.74 metres LESS to grind to a dead stop from 80kmph. Put another way, when faced with that moment your Indica will take four car lengths less to stop. In the wet you can comfortably double that figure. Not just that, you will retain full steering control giving you a better chance of steering around that cow or tractor.


Full Artcile at    http://www.overdrive.in/story-blog-blog/safety_isnt_a_luxury_item-1411-0.html

Joke

Clever Wife: Suno ji, doctor ne mujhe 10 din aaraam karne ke liye kisee hill station par jaane kee salaah dee hai. Toh bataaiye, hum kahaa jaa rahe hain??

Intelligent Husband: Doosre doctor ke paas!!!

Update

In 2007 I posted 52 posts... Can't believe this year this is my fourth! I m out of availability of computer since year start... and out of availability of time also!  :-)

Meanwhile, some of u i know were visiting this space a bit regularly.. and i have disappointed in recent past.. let u register for email notification so that u remain updated!

:-)


I miss blogging  :-)   !!!!

Aamir: I do what makes me happy

Again, a very long post from me, and that too again on Aamir Khan. I try to keep the posts at this blog very terse, but some of the few posts were so good I could not make them more concise!

Hope u will like these, these posts contain thoughts that touch my soul. I share these to probably touch your soul.

-Gaurav.




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It is to the mind that Aamir Khan ascribes this achievement.

“When you want something with intensity, the mind kicks in and makes it possible,” says the actor. “We don’t realise what a powerful tool the human mind is. I cannot explain how I managed the Ghajini body in just a year’s time. Or the 20-year-old look for 3 Idiots either. Of course, I applied myself to it, did workouts, and ate right. But many people do that, so this was something beyond. I believe that all my mental energies focused on this one desire, multiplying my efforts manifold. And the impossible was achieved!”

Years of intense performances, one super hit after another— what influences the choices of this, one of the greatest actors of our times? Aamir thinks in silence for a moment before he fixes me again with that intense tawny-chocolate gaze. “I do what makes me happy,” he declares conclusively. All my decisions are dictated by that, be it films or my personal life. I may make mistakes but at least the mistakes are all mine. I have never allowed myself to be pressurised by anyone. Even as a child, I was strong enough to resist the fears of people who loved me and go for what made me happy.

“When my mother resisted my decision to start working as an assistant in Bollywood at age 16, I told her I wasn’t stopping my education, I was just beginning it. I was always very clear about what I wanted.”

Dignity, self-respect and a constant sensitivity to others undermine Aamir’s quest for happiness. Especially sensitivity. Aamir smiles with a fond, faraway look in his eyes. “I was Maharashtra No 1 in sub-juniors Tennis. Whenever I would emerge after a game, Ammi would be waiting outside to ask, ‘Jeete ya hare?’ I would invariably have won. She would smile, then get a pensive look and say, ‘Jo haara, uski ammi ko kitna kharaab laga hoga...’ Then she would start worrying about the mother of the guy who lost to me. I guess this taught me to be sensitive to all around.” Aamir is happy, lost in memories. I give him a moment.

This last decade has seen Aamir cross many milestones. The launch of his production house, his first directorial and production ventures, awards for acting, directing and movies, nomination for Oscars and some of his greatest successes, all happened this decade. What has the journey been like?

“As an actor, the last 10 years I have opened up much more, “ says Aamir, breaking out of one reverie into another. “I am eager and more excited to experiment. And, more layered in my performances.” A pause during which he stares out of the window. I am getting used to these little silences and resist filling them up. Gazing back at me.

Aamir says, “Over the last 20 years I have grown to look more and more inwards. As an actor you are taught acting is emoting externally. If you are happy, you smile; if sad, you cry. In real life we are far more complicated than that. Not everyone necessarily smiles when happy or cries when sad. So today, I no longer focus on showing the joy; my effort is to feel it, to feel what the character I am playing would feel. What comes out of me is very complex and layered.”

On the personal front, the decade saw his separation and divorce with wife Reena, mother of his two kids, and remarriage with Kiran Rao. Aamir took four years off from work during which he dealt with regaining his emotional health by being with himself, his children, and even seeking professional help. “I gave a lot of value to my marriage and felt very emotionally damaged when it broke. I was in no state to work in those years. This was also the time I realised however dedicated I may be to work, at the core I need emotional anchoring; being rooted in family is very important to me.”

And that is what he feels he has lost out on in all the intense focusing on work and the various avatars he has had to evolve and metamorphose into. Too little time for family. “I am constantly trying to balance that,” he says. “That’s why I do one film at a time.” True to his word, now right after 3 Idiots, Aamir plans an eight-month break from films soon as the marketing blitzkrieg is over.

If you think Aamir knows outright that he has a winner movie on hand, that’s not true. He confirms. “I make the most impractical decisions. And commercial success is the last thing on my mind when I’m working on a film. My mind doesn’t go in that direction; I just focus on enjoying the process and the work. If I thought of success, I would never have taken up any of my films — Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, TZP, Rang de Basanti, Mangal Pandey or 3 Idiots!”

The years have seen Aamir ease up and chill. He admits to having consciously worked on all troubled relationships in his life, including with media. “I learnt a lot as a result of Taare Zameen Par; that movie changed me and I became even more sensitive to people and their realities. A psychiatrist I met during research for TZP told me all children need Security, Trust & Faith, Dignity & Self-respect, and Love. I realised I need the same things and so does everybody around. I decided to apply this learning to all relationships and this is what helped me understand and interact better with media as well.”

Time has flown as we talk and I have stayed much beyond what I intended. Aamir doesn’t mind and smiles as he walks me to the door. Barefoot in jeans and shirt, he still retains the ‘Rancho’ look. I wonder what he will become for the next film. For, in this actor’s case, he doesn’t walk into or don a role with the help of make-up and acting; he actually becomes it!

कामयाबी नहीं क़ाबिलियत अहम: आमिर ख़ान

आमिर ने कहा, ''हमें वो काम करना चाहिए जिसे करने में हमें मज़ा आता है और खुशी मिलती है और जो बिना किसी समझौते के किया जाता है. सफलता के पीछे कभी नहीं भागना चाहिए.''

The process of creation

We worked for three months in Mumbai. Then Raju stayed with me in the US for 35-40 days. We had a rule. Raju and I would go out on a walk and not come back until we had a scene. The rule was that the scene should make us laugh or cry or should contain some really provocative thought. If it was not doing one of these things, the scene could not be part of the film.




Once while walking at Bandra (a Mumbai suburb), it starting raining heavily. But because of our rule -- that we cannot return untill we had a scene -- we just kept walking and did not return till we had the scene.


-Abhijat Joshi, co-writer of Lage Raho Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots, on how they wrote these movies. Its great to learn their paramaters, and the process!

Renunciation: Article by Shri Shri Ravi Shankar

The renunciant is always creative and always at rest.

There is this beautiful story that is told about Chatrapathi Shivaji. At one time, Shivaji was very frustrated and found running his kingdom a big burden. So he went up to his Guru, Samarth Ramdasji, and told him that he was fed up and wanted to renounce everything.

Ramdasji heard him out and gave him permission to do so. Shivaji was happy at the very thought and immediately relaxed.

That's when Ramdasji said to him, "I have accepted everything. Now I am the king and you are my servant. Will you do whatever I ask you to do?" Shivaji said he would do anything for him. So Samarth Ramdasji said, "Very good. Will you run this country for me?" And Shivaji replied, "Yes, I will run the country for you."

Total renunciation had rekindled his zeal and enthusiasm and henceforth Shivaji ruled happily.

When you are continuously on the job, it leads to wear and tear. You can act when you are tense, but to be creative you need to be relaxed.

Creativity is not an exercise; it only happens when the body, mind and spirit are in tune with each other.

It's like forgetting all the work you have done during the day so that you can sleep at night - nature has built in us this system of retirement.

Retirement and renunciation always rejuvenate the spirit and creation is an inherent quality of the spirit. Anyone who works without retirement can continue doing so without being creative.

For zeal and enthusiasm, you need to be well rested. So, whenever creativity comes, the need to rest also comes.

Working hard and working smart are two different things. You cannot work hard at being imaginative. Yes, pain, struggle and frustration have sometimes brought out creativity in some people, but these are not the only reasons for it.

Millions of people in the world are struggling or frustrated, but they are not creative. If stress were the basis of art, then Lebanon in the past and Iraq in present times would have been the most artistic!

How do we tap into that space from which creativity springs? It springs from a void, and the fastest way to reach that void is through renunciation.

For instance, the purpose of sound is to lead you back to that silence within.

Music is nothing but sculpting the silence. Renunciation puts you in touch with that space of silence within you and becomes an unending well-spring of creativity.

The renunciant is always creative and always at rest.

from the heart

"If you make cinema from the heart it usually works. That’s what all of us involved with Sid did.”

-Ranbeer Kapoor, Protagonist, Wake Up Sid

A Crown of Thorns- Gandhi on 15th Aug 1947

"Today, you have worn on your heads a crown of thorns...... You have to remain ever wakeful on that seat. You have to be more truthful, more non-violent, more humble and more forbearing. You had been put to test during the British regime. But in a way it was no test at all. But now there will be no end to your being tested. Do not fall a prey to the lure of wealth. May God help you! You are there to serve the villages and the poor."

-Mahatma Gandhi, on 15th August 1947, when the ministers of the new government of West Bengal visited him in Calcutta.

Source

Trance, Immeasurable Joy, Absolute Concentration, and Oneness with Being

After exposure to the game for only a few months at the age of 13, (Geet) Sethi got addicted to billiards. “To experience joy, you have to be yourself. I realised that joy for me can only come from what I do with passion. It has to involve me physically, emotionally, and spiritually,” says Sethi. “I have spent countless hours in complete solitude trying to align myself with my natural being. The ultimate experience is the joy of making a full effort in reaching out to the core within. It is the act of staying in the moment that gives immense, immeasurable joy. That joy is not a state of nirvana; it is the result of a moment of absolute concentration. I played for the sheer joy of the moment,” writes Sethi in his book.

The natural state of oneness with being can only be possible when one is present in the moment, according to the wonderful book 'The Power of Now'. Besides conscious efforts, this happens naturally when one loses awareness of space and time in doing what one enjoys doing the most. It is also said that the luckiest man is the person whose hobby and profession are the same, but how many such examples do we come across?


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From an article published in a magazine, I happened to come across it at this blog.

An Inconvenient Truth & Fahrenheit 9/11

Saw two movies recently-

An Inconvenient Truth - By Nobel Laureate Al Gore, on climate change (~1.5 hours)

Fahrenheit 9/11- By Michael Moore, on links between family of Geoge W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden and why Bush attacked Iraq (~ 2 hours).

Both these movies were soul stirring!!! Especially 'An Inconvenient Truth', it's a must see for every person living on this earth!

I've added trailers of the movies in my favorites video bar.

Rahul Gandhi

To his acute awareness of the risk of being assassinated any day: "I believe in building up a group of leaders because who knows when I get killed."

Outlook India, June 1 issue

Bicycle and Rural Poverty Alleviation

For more than a year now I have been working on the concept of increasing the per household bicycle density especially in rural areas in India to foster accelerated growth in rural incomes. Here's a link to that.

http://thebicyclereport.blogspot.com/

Blogging

For last 2 months internet availability has been scarce for me, and that has resulted in a recession in blog postings :-)

Hope in another fortnight would again be able do more frequently what I love very much, i.e. blogging!