Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Where the mind is without fear

Today, I had taken a leave on account of falling sick. By evening, I decided to clear some clutter as they were making me angry.
I stumbled upon 'Gitanjali' and it reminded of many years back when fear had no meaning in my life. Although these beliefs were old and hidden deep inside some nook of my mind but they are there. I decided to resurrect these beliefs and well this made me happy.
By the way, this was also taught in our school :-)

Please read through:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

--RabindraNath Tagore

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Popular quotes by Benjamin Franklin

Today, while reading the National Geographic news about the debate about DST(Daylight Saving Time), I reckoned that this was a concept invented by Benjamin Franklin who noticed that the sun rose much earlier than he did and how much midnight lamp he could save if he rose earlier than the sun. That gave birth to the "early to bed and early to rise quote". He was one of the most remarkable thinkers of his time.

His quotes had been taught to children and accepted by people till date. The below are some of the quotes that I find worth sharing.

“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.”

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”

“To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.”

“I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong”

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else”

“Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security”

“Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.”

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”

“When in doubt, don't.”

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

I Predict


I predict there will be world peace
I predict every war monger of the past and present
will be tried for crimes against humanity and brought to justice
I predict truthfulness will replace lying as a moral value
I predict the world will be one and trying to sell passports and visas
will be considered illegal and anyone trying to sell one
will be subject to a free tour of the world for rehabilitation
I predict sunshine will be radiant and air will be cleaner
and water will be purer and rain will be fresher
and soil will be nontoxic and fertile
I predict there will be more slow food
I predict children will know their parents
and parents will know their children
I predict moonlight and romance will reunite and instigate love
I predict there’ll be rose bushes in the front yard and the backyard
and in the marshes and by the roadside
I predict weapons will be banned
I predict Native Americans will no longer live on Reservations or on occupied land
and all occupied lands anywhere will sing the song of liberation
I predict slavery will be abolished in all forms and everywhere—domestic or corporate
I predict conflicts will be resolved with the power of understanding, equality,
fairness and compassion
I predict some people will still pull punches
I predict all religions will be many paths home
I predict all colors will be cherished as the colors of the rainbow
I predict we’ll know our neighbors
I predict the Earth will be our shared home to care for together
I predict we’ll regain our sanity of wholeness
I predict humans will be humans and birds will be birds
and elephants will be elephants and ants will be ants
and earthworms will be earthworms and fish will be fish
and we’ll be all God’s creatures big and small
I predict there’ll still be some monkey business
I predict God will remain the essence of creation
I predict we’ll find God within each of our souls
I predict mutated grown-ups will relearn
the childlike wonder and delight at the mystery and marvel of the universe
I predict in our human hearts we’ll dance to the divine music of the stars
I predict our dreams will live on for a million years
I predict all this will come true—all we have to do
is to make it happen—
you and me!


This is a poem written by Sajed Kamal who teaches a weekend intensive workshop “Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development,” in the fall. The poem was so full of hope that I could not resist including this in my blog. I hope you all like it as much as I have.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Clear the clutter

For a past few days, I have been really irritated because of cold and cough. Somehow, in the last week, I unconsciously decided to sleep for 2 hours at night for five continuous days. The result is known to all. We lose all the immunity and fall sick at the slightest instance of temperature difference. Furthermore i was again irritated that I was going to office despite my noble intention to sleep.

I made up for most of the time Friday night. However, although I was fine from health perspective this Saturday, it did not improve my state of feeling. Then my mom decided to give me a task. She told me to clear all the clutter from my desk and the house.

Knowing my mom, I knew from that look in her eyes that she really meant it. So, unwillingly, I began with all my documents. I had filled up my cupboard with them. Most of them appeared to be complete rubbish. It contained the non-disclosure agreement of my previous employer,old lease and license documents that were invalid, old receipts that would serve no purpose. I cleaned them up. Then I started with the books. Most of them were booklets, handouts, magazines and notes I had collected last year.

When I was done, I found that all the important stuffs could be contained in four files. The entire content of my cupboard was filled with all unimportant stuffs.
Then I began to sort out the clothes and I found that most of them cannot be used, they were too short or had worn out with use. This I could donate to the nearby orphanage.

Then I began with my mailbox. I found that most of the stuffs were all unimportant ones. There were newsletters that had everything to do with the advertisements and enticements rather than the reason that I had initially subscribed for. Then there were mails from people who were not significant enough in my life. Then there were spam mails.I deleted more than 2000 mails today and my mailbox now seems more organized.

I also deleted my social networking account that I had created unconsciously due to peer pressure. This is very important because social networking, although it helps to keep in touch with your friends, can open up a channel of intrusion from people you barely know and people you do not know at all. Sometimes, it really gets abusive.

Guess what??? I am feeling much better. At least I have taken one forward step today aimed at making myself feel happy.

Note: This is important!! All the above is my own experience. You may skip everything that I have written above. Although you all are very busy at the moment, please take 5 minutes to contemplate this. Have you unconsciously created too many clutter that you cannot manage at all? Do you feel irritated throughout the week? Do you get friend requests from people you barely know? Is your wall getting cluttered with all the rubbish facebook applications? If answer to any of this is yes, please take a moment to clear the clutter. We often blame the state of current order for our feeling miserable, but more than often these situations are creation of our own.
Clear the clutter. You will feel better. Are there people you do not want to hurt by declining requests? It is then time that you save yourself. You can make others better if you feel better yourself. Is there anything that had earlier served its utility but now has become a liability? But you cannot let it go because of emotions attached to it? Then it is the time that you overcome all the emotions and let it go. You cannot fully enjoy the present if you cannot let go of the past.

There is a saying that goes like this " What is the use of life when you cannot feel alive?" So, my friends, feel alive , don't feel miserable.


My own experience!! :) Nothing borrowed

Monday, January 17, 2011

Resolutions for past, present and future

1. To be so strong so that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
2. To talk health, happiness, wealth and prosperity to every person you meet.
3. To make all friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
4. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
5. To think only of the best, to work for only the best and to expect only the best.
6. To be just as enthusiastic about success of others as you are about your own.
7. To forget the mistakes of the past and press 9on to the greater achievements of the future.
8 To wear a cheerful; expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
9. To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
10 To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
11. To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but great deeds.
12. To live in faith that the whole world is on your side, so long, as you are true to the bets that is you
13. To love others in the same fashion the way you want them to love you.


All these are not mine. But I cannot acknowledge anybody because I do not remember where I have read this. The point is I read many books and articles and I happen to remember these. Hence I decided to write it down somewhere lest i forget.

Please feel free to add your resolutions if you like this and do post your comments.