Google Continues to Amaze me.

Today I was searching for 'Ramakrishna Math' on Google and little did I know that I was in for a surprise.  

There is a result called  'Timeline results for Ramakrishna Math'

It lists the results by time, each twenty years and then allows to zoom in on each ten years and to each year also. 

It is a very useful feature to explore the lifeline of organizations and lives of people.

Google is really great in the way it innovates.. Each of us can learn a lot from google about agility and innovation.

Obstacles to learning - How to make learning permanent

I am an avid reader. I read a lot, but lot of it is not sticky in the sense that I forget most of it soon. Though I read some for passing time, some being interesting and some more being necessary. I just came across this  post in Purple Pointr blog. 

He mentions three reasons for it, namely not understanding the words, going too fast and missing some concepts and just reading the theory without application. Now I understand that i've been guilty of these three things which affected my retention of things learned. If we and use this, surely it would be of great help. 

Ofcourse, the best way to get something is to teach it. 

Why should you be an entrepreneur...!!!

A great post on why one should be an entrepreneur and also what it does to you..

Consider this..
Its for those who change the lives of people around them, and in the entire process have their own lives changed. For those whose lives are not the same once they embark on the journey. For those who grow into Superman, Batman, Shaktimaan and Hanuman all in one. Those who seek to attain mastery over their art because they have no choice but to be the best at it for their startups. For those who know that their team’s lives will not be the same once they are done with the startup.

It has this and many more like this.. Read it fully here..
Why you should not be an Entrepreneur [And why I am still an Entrepreneur!]





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iGoogle themes for a cause

Google is an amazing company...
Not just because it makes my life easy by providing the information I require in seconds, but because of their commitment to improve the world...
Visit google.org for their projects other than bread earners which are developed in labs.

Almost every product they have introduced has filled in a requirement for which there was no easy way before, my favorite products include gmail, gtalk, iGoogle, google news, notebook, maps and phone search.. I think each product deserves mention on this list but I should say I am addicted to igoogle.

Today they have announced themes for a cause where they have put up links for donation to various NGO's and charities. Its a great way to profile and introduce the organizations trying to reach people. My interests include education and clean energy.

I would like to introduce a few changemakers they have profiled one in each post.

Ashoka: Founded by Bill Drayton, a Mickensly manager, is one of the best changemaker. Ashoka's job is to make Everyone a Changemaker. It through its 'Global Collaboration Challenge' tries to identify those programs which can make the maximum impact for the society and support them. They select Ashoka fellows and ensure collaboration between them and finally help build the infrastructure for that progress to happen and thrive. Mohammed Yunus, is one of the famous Ashoka fellows. It is not a non-profit organization like others as they think themselves as social entrepreneurs and the societal change as the profit.

My top songs of 2008

My favorite songs for 2008... Except a few all will be worth hearing again and again...

1. My heart is beating - Jalsa
2. Priyatama - Ullasanga Utsahanga
3. Nijanga nenena - Kotha bangaru lokam
4. Nee prashanalu - Kotha bangaru lokam
5. Ok anesa - Kotha bangaru lokam
6. Premani Premani - Ankith Pallavi and friends
7. Eduta nilichindi - Vaana
8. Varaveena - Vinayakudu
9. Hrudayam orchukolenidi - Parugu
10. Nalone pongenu Narmada - Surya SO krishnan

Other variety songs which I enjoyed listening
1. Om Namaste - Ready
2. Love Me - Bujjigadu
3. Dhadak Dhadak - Bujjigadu

Other genre
1. Rayini Matram - Dasavatharam

I tried to put the links of all these songs here, but musicmazaa was not able to fetch them.. Will try to create a playlist and will update the link here..

Update:
This is the gadget


Have a musical 2009...How do you like these songs?

You have a choice - You are Response'able'

Nature wants us to react, to return blow for blow, cheating for cheating, lie for lie, to hit back with all our might. Then it requires a super divine power not to hit back, to keep control, to be unattached. - Swami Vivekananda

This is what Stephen Covey says - Between every stimulus and response, you have time to think, this is you are response'able' and hence you are responsible to whatever you do. If we can utilize this think time to stop hating people, forgiving people and spreading love, the world should be much more lovely place to live.

Terrorism... What to say of it

Just saw the heart wrenching news of terrorist attacks in Mumbar where upto 180 people were killed. Terrorists used bombs, Ak 47s, hand grenades etc as they wished. Our security apparatus completely failed in stopping this.. I dont know when we could stop a terrorist attack. The situation is going out of hand. The situation is resembling anarchy, wherein the terrorists are doing whatever they want.

But what do they want? Is this the only way to get what they want? It really seems that there is no end in sight.. Some miracle should happen and somehow the terrorism should be abolished...

The Mumbai Terror attack is really bad news and making me lose hope in our security....

But life has to go on.. We have to get on with our work... But not without putting up a fight with those heartless, inhuman terrorists who have been so brainwashed that they feel doing that is a great thing.

Hope that the government is able to take the terrorists, know about its workings and bring the perpetrators to book. The terrorists have to have a better way of letting know their problems, their issues than this.. This is not acceptable. Our politicians have to face themselves and ask the question if they are responsible for this by showing nepotism, favoritism and by turning blind eye to corruption which made the lives of all the underprevileged people difficult so that they have resorted to such means. Every MLA,MP to ward memeber should really try to understand his community to see if all the issues are addressed and they should instil hope and confidence that every person need not resort to arms to get simple things done and that it is possible for an honest person to live there. If conditions are so good, there is no way our people could be swayed by the terrorist ideologies. If you ignore the basics of good governance and rule of law, this is what happens. I am not anyway supporting the atocrities committed by the terrorists, but I want to emphasize on the point that it is high time the root cause of the menace be tackled.

Update: Just wanted to add the words said by Thich Nhat Hanh in Shanghai on the 19th of October, after the September 11th tragedy:

”Terror is in the human heart. We must remove it from the heart. The root of terrorism is misunderstanding, hatred and violence. This root cannot be located by the military. Bombs and missiles cannot reach it, let alone destroy it. Only through the practice of finding calm and looking deeply within can our insight reveal and identify this root. Only with the practice of deep listening and compassion can terror be transformed and removed. Darkness cannot be dissipated with more darkness. Only light can dissipate darkness. Those of us who have the light should display the light and offer it so that the world will not sink into total darkness."

Friendship --- My thoughts

I was a bit of loner during my childhood... May be I dreamt a lot and had my own dream world and hence couldnt identify with anyone else... ..

But after seeing, observing and reading about friends, I liked these excerpts taken from various sources

From Dave's blog:

I learned that a friend is someone I trust to be with me when I am at my weakest and most vulnerable. And they are people who, no matter how painful it is to see, are willing to be with me when I am so helpless and weak. If I would trust my life with you, and vice versa, we are friends. It’s not about whether you are trustworthy, or whether you are friendly, it’s the actual act of trust that is the basis of friendship. If I trust you to be truthful, then you’re a friend. If I find I must be careful how I say things, then it’s something other than friendship.

Friendship is not a state of mind, it’s an act. It’s something you do, it’s not about whether you’re good or not, it’s not a reflection of you, it’s a balanced relationship between people. That doesn’t mean it’s always balanced at every moment. Sometimes you “need a friend” and other times it’s the other way. It’s a trust that’s returned.

One of my best friends, when posed with this question answered it this way --- who will not let his friend go away from his life.. and will do any help when he requires.. to be frank
God gives Mother as our best friend.. and we choose a friend almost equal to her

This is the definition of a friend, should show unconditional love like a mother...but it cannot be so unconditional also... But it should be fine as long as trust is retained....

But if a friend does any mistake, it is our responsibility to say it is wrong, make them understand why it is wrong and give chance to correct them... If you always judge how can we love them.. Only this way does a relationship grow strong but not by leaving a friend at the first instance.


Read my latest post on friendship here

Get Beyond Code for free.

I just wanted to inform everyone that Rajesh Setty is giving away his book 'Beyond Code' for free as a gesture for this Thanksgiving. It is a very good book and a must read for every IT professional.
This is the excerpt from the foreword written by the management guru Tom Peters.
"The theory and practice prescribed in Beyond Code are right on. Read it as your life depends on it. It does"
I just started reading it and a few pages I have read have really added to my knowledge...
Go forward download it and read it here . Thanks Rajesh.

varaveena...

Currently listening a song from Vinayakudu called 'varaveena'. It starts with a nice classical tune and is mixed with a nice English bit and is very good to listen. The songs in the movie are very good. Naalo vedane is another good song. The music director is someone called Shyam Prasanna. Listen to the song and enjoy.

Love the lyrics.. So I am copying the lyrics here..

Varaveena Mrudu Paani Vanaruha Lochana Raani

Suruchira Bambhara Veni Suranuta Kalyaani

God !! do u know this cutie pie is an angel

All you got to know is there is some one waiting

you just have to find them,you just have meet them

Nirupama Shubha Guna Lola Niratishaya Prada Sheela

Varadaapriya Ranganaayaki Vaanchita Phala Daayaki

When u find that lovely person

Your heart sings and swings every movement

Thats when you feel,yes this is love(2)

Saraseejasana Janani Jaya Jaya Jaya vaani

Do you what love is all about,love is all about

Do you what care is all about,care is all about

Do u know when Cupid strikes your heart

Do you know when you really feel the love, do u really know

When u find that lovely person

Your heart sings and swings every movement

Thats When You feel,yes this is love(2)

Saraseejasana Janani Jaya Jaya Jaya vaani

Thanks to Cinefolks for the lyrics.

The Aim Of Life

I have wondered many times what is the aim of life? I think everybody would have wondered about this at some or the other point of their life... I turned to our scriptures to find the answers for this question. Eventhough every book talks about 'mukti' or salvation as the ultimate goal of the life of a hindu, I am not satisfied with that.
But for sometime let us accept that it is the aim of life. Then what is the most direct way of reaching god. Let us say that we have to reach God as early as possible. Then if we look at people who have attained moksha, Dhruva is the youngest person. He did it by doing narayana japa. Even 'Bhaja Govindam' written by Shankaracharya was written advising a very old person trying to learn sanskrit to stop doing that and think of God and do his bhajans (Bhaja Govindam). So the fastest and easiest way to attain moksha is utmost dedication to and worship of God. Then why should we go through the usual shodhasa samskaras(birth,...,education..., marriage,... death) in our life? They say that because it is not possible for everyone to give the utmost dedication to God so early in life, hence we need to go through the shodasha samskaras they will understand life and hence they will walk on this path. But if we know the direct path to our destination, why will we choose the other path? We may even argue that the direct path is a difficult path, and that the indirect path is little easier. But the person who marries cannot understand that he is getting attached to one person and is ready to create a web of attachments around himself which will take a lifetime to untangle. So this proves that even this is not an easy path owing to the attachments we will have if we go in this path. Hence it makes sense for us to take the first path only though it feels as if we are losing a lot.

I have said that I am not satisfied with the theory. If the sole aim of a human is to reach God or salvation or mukti whatever we call it and there is nothing else for humans to do here except worshipping God, then why should he create people at all? If God is the one who created us and wants us to reach him, then why should he create us at all? Here people talk about karma siddhanta that we are born because of the papa/punya phalas of our previous birth. Then I ask how did it accumulate its papa and punya, Initally it should have been a blank slate right? Why is he created then? Is it just that Gods wanted to see a game? Doesnt it look strange to be born freely, do what ever we want but being awarded points for being good or bad respectively, and again being born, not freely but with the points we accumulated in the previous game, and this happens cyclically till our good overwhelms the bad and we reach God. Doesnt it seem like a game and we are just coins in His hands? This is the limiting point of the theory. People argue this way too - why do you argue about where you came from, as you know the end point try to reach the end point of salvation. But when I am not convinced of the starting point, how can I be convinced of the end point? Hence I feel that acheving moksha is not the real aim of our life.

Hence I have rejected the claim the aim of our life to do something in other world, which brings us to the logical conclusion of doing something in this world. So what should we do?
we can aspire to become many things. I believe in atleast basic humanity and hence my aim atleast should be -
"In the time of your life, live - so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite variety and mystery of it." This is the least we can do. But the higher thing is leaving the earth better than how we have come here. So we have to do something which adds value to the world, something which can help humanity outside our family, which is service to mankind in our own small way we can. But lets not forget the duty we have to our parents, siblings, spouse and children. We should understand that we should not be just bound by the duty to our parents, siblings, spouse and children, but to venture out and do something so that we can say ' I have helped in making earth better than the way it was when I came into it'
Let me end it with Ravindranath Tagore's quote
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
and Gandhi's quote
Service to man is service to God.

Robert Frost says
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future's sakes.


which gives advice on acheiving it the best way that is uniting what we do to satisfy the duty to our family and that which adds value to the mankind doing what we love to do.

This brings us to the point where we can ask
> What are we doing as a vocation? - this you might get an answer easily as you might be earning somehow
> What are we doing as a avocation? - what is the thing that you love to do? and doing you might answer this easily too...
> How to unite them together to add value to mankind? Answer this and our life is solved. :)

The importance of faithfulness, monogamy and institution of Marriage.

We know that animals are not monogamous, it is the urge to procreate that brings the male and female of any species together, then they carry on with their life and they have different spouses the next time when they procreate. Its only humans that have this institution of marriage and being faithful to one person. I and my friend were listening to Bhagavad Gita discourses by Sri Chaganti koteshwara rao and thinking about answers to this question. After discussing about it for some time these are the conclusions we came to.

1) Historically, if every person was allowed to have as many wives as possible, then he might use his power to take every women as his wife and thus deprive others of not having the opportunity to procreate. Even it looks far fetched, atleast we can easily assume that few strong men can just have all the women in their village at one place and could easily stop others from reaching them. Hence some intelligent fellow might have decided that it is in their best interest to give the first option to choose their wife and then ask the person to be with her only so that everyone can have a chance.

2) The second reason which we thought is that unlike other animals, a human child is very much dependent on the parent for few years and for some time even the mother of the child might not be in a position to fend for themselves and hence the father might have to stay with them to provide the required food and protection. If there was no institution of marriage and monogamy and there was unrestricted sex, then due to the long gestation period and cluelessness of who might be the father for the child, no male might like to fend for the women. Hence some man might have ruled the people about the institution of monogamy and marriage, which assign the duty of fending for the wife and the family on the head of the family. I know this argument would fall flat if we take the love the spouses have into account where there is no question of deserting. But when the mating is unrestricted, then where is the question of love?


It is hence a rule made by the society for its own good and is not mandated by nature. Hence it is with the will of people who are in a marriage that they are faithful. Some argue that what is the problem if people who are not spouses mate with mutual consent. This question seems right but suppose a wife gets involved with some others husband. Her husband gets to know of this and feels hurt and he might quarrel with her, get out of the institution of marriage or commit adultery himself. Hence it is not right. Another question might be, what if both the couples have consenting sex. Even then, if a person is used to doing such things, then surely he is likely to disturb good people and then cause the whole thing to crumble. Then there is emotional attachment to people with whom they mate, which might become problematic with the current marriage. Hence faithfulness, committment and monogamy are important for a good marriage and hence for the good of the whole society which is what the shastras preach as rules.

May be the dependency might have been the main aspect which helped people stay put in a marriage in the initial stages, though love takes over in the later stages. These days, both guys and girls being earning and independent, just come together in attraction and after it fizzles out, they find themselves incompatible and come out of the relationship. There is nothing wrong from coming out of a abusive relationship, but just because they have the independence, it is wrong to commit adultery, have a unrestricted life and come out of marriage. Thus it is imperative that every person has to be faithful and committed to his or her partner.

Avakai Biryani Audio Review

Just listened to songs of Avakai Biryani, a new film produced by Shekar Kammula, directed by Anish Kurvilla. Music is by Manikanth Kadri, a name I have not heard before.. It stars newcomers named Kamal Kamaraju and Bindu Madhavi..

The first song is Adigadigo is nice melodius and calm number and good to listen to.. It is sung by Karthick.. will grow on you as you listen to it more times...

Next one is fast number called Chindesi Chinna Pedda... Has mass beats.. Has lot of excitement... I think it is a good dance number in the film.. It is sung by Ranjith, Rajesh and Tippu

Next song is Maamidi Kommaku, a fast melody sung by the music director and Saindhavi, is quite good but I think the picturization has to add to the song.

Fourth song is Nannu choopagala Addam sung by Karthick and Swetha is a melodius duet and is good and may be become the top song..

Next song is Veerudena sung by Shreya Goshal and Karthick is again a melodius song.. Lyrics are good in this song..

I couldnt hear the other song Nadiche Edu adugulu sung by Naresh Iyer but think it is good..

On the whole there are good melodius songs and might grow on us the more we hear.. The songs Nannu choopagala Addam and Adigadigo are the top songs of the Album for me..

Rating : 3/5

Listen to those songs

Inspiring Lyrics

Yesterday I came across these lyrics in a song. I have heard this song many times but never noticed these lyrics... which mean

Oh boat, keep going without stopping ,
Bowing your head to waves will not shorten the path,
Did you win over the fierce winds and
reach your hearts sweet destiny ..!!!

Written by Veturi in movie Swarnakamalam... Directed by Viswanath. K

పరుగాపక పయనించవే తలపుల నావ,
కెరటాలకు తలవంచితే తరగదు త్రోవా,
ఎదిరించిన సుడిగాలిని జయించినావా,
మది కోరిన మధుసీమలు వరించి రావా...