Monday, September 19, 2011

Manning Modern Retail Conference Insights

I am now working with a cool new company, Criti Inc, and am very excited with the kind of work I am getting to do here; Business Development, encompassing Lead Generation, Sales, Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Marketing Research, SEO and Analytics!
For a little heads up, Criti is head-quartered in Falls Church Virginia and is a part of the large technology group called Creative Information Technology Incorporated (CITI) USA. CITI has been regarded as a reliable technology partner by US government for the last 14 years with a pedigree of working on mission critical projects spanning across many government departments and over 200 countries.
I attended an RAI organized Manning Modern Retailing (MMR) 2011 on the 13th of September, 2011 along with Rashid Shariff, my HOD. He is a fun guy to be around.

The Focus of the event was to create a platform for retailers, consumer goods manufacturers, logistics service providers and management consultants to deliberate on issues at stake and discover road maps for growing volumes in retail through a collaborative approach to packaging and supply chain integration.
While it was an educative and enriching experience for Criti, the expert opinions of the Key Note Speakers strengthened Criti’s belief that given the high attrition and low levels of education amongst the Retail sectors front end sales staff, an intuitive graphical user interface was the need of the hour.
The Experts also bemoaned the lack of Inventory Management amongst small to medium scale Retailers; an issue which our flagship Retail Business Management suite Spectrum is best suited to handle, especially for the SBO and MBO segment. Another highlighted pain point for the Pharmacy sector was the lack of expiry tracking feature for drugs.
The pain points and salient highlights observed by Rashid and I are listed below:
1.                   High Attrition and low levels of Education amongst Front End Sales Staff.
2.                   Absence of Inventory Management amongst Small to Medium scale Retailers.
3.                   Lack of Expiry Tracking Features for Pharmacy sector.
4.                   Various Courses offered by institutions and a growing trend of building skills rather than providing just education.
5.                   Need to introduce Retail as a vocational subject post 10th grade.
6.                   Building name for the Retail Industry by Telling stories about Indian retailers and its customer service.
7.                   Promoting Retail as a viable career choice for masses thus making way for the future manpower requirement needs.


To know more about Spectrum and its powerful features, please visit www.retail-spectrum.com




Thursday, August 25, 2011

My take on Desire

Photo credit-Idea Go @ www.freedigitalphotos.net

Why does a child sob uncontrollably when denied a candy? What causes a lady to skip a heartbeat on looking at fashion magazines, or makes a man drool over the flavour of the month heroine’s photo-shoot? To put it plainly, it is because of the emotion called desire.

Desire is the root cause of all evil, is a common saying. It may well be part of our scriptures. However, desire is not just the cause of evil; it is also the cause of improvement, a cause of action. It is the proportion of desire,  the genesis of it,  and the mind’s will-or the lack of it- to stick to a certain set of ideals which we may have either been brought up with, or have picked up while growing, that makes the repercussions of desire or the path we take to achieve it questionable.


Desire, as mentioned, is the genesis of any action.  
Photo Credit- nuttakit@ www.freedigitalphotos.net


A child cries when desiring milk, a woman sighs on seeing a pregnant woman when desiring the experience to those maternal feelings, a man leers at a well-endowed woman when desiring carnal pleasures. As we age, like most living things, our understanding of the world around us increases. However, the increase in our desires is alarmingly exponential.

A child desires a shiny new toy, just one more than his neighbor. A woman desires the appreciation of the opposite sex, and would be happy if she were to be showered with a little more attention as compared to her best friend, or sister, even. A man desires to earn a little more, just a little more than his competitive colleague.

While these examples may vary from person to person and are not related to just one gender, the crux of the matter is that our desires, as we grow, increases manifold. We desire attention, we crave acceptance, and we seek conformity. Human beings are social animals after all, and same is the case with their desires too.

Most of our desires are social.
Photo Credit- Graur Codrin@ www.freedigitalphotos.net




Meaning, those objects of desire; a new car, a better physique, a higher salary, have more to do with how you will be seen in society, they are carved out of this strong intrinsic need to look good amongst our like. Right since childhood, why, infancy, we are constantly fed values which are conducive to social acceptance. In our childhood, parents lure us with candy; offering it to us if we perform some ludicrous act which they find funny or entertaining like reciting poetry. See how the child learns it’s a give- take world so early in his life? 

Of course, the parents desire to be seen by others as good parents, and hence are coerced into enticing their child to showcase his intellect- and in turn reflect theirs. This public display of the child intellect is sometimes pushed too far by parents, who shove their unfulfilled desires into the helpless child’s throat. The child desires to come across as an obedient child, and this desire, nay, this innate need to please people has led to many a burnout.

A burnout might typically happen in a scenario where the desires were too big, and the desirous person was either not capable of fulfilling that desire, or was required to pursue it.

Unnatural and unrealistic desires sadden us. 
Photo Credit- Ambro @ www.freedigitalphotos.net



A child may want a particular lollipop which another child is passionately devouring; a young adolescent might hanker for his best friend’s bonny lass, while a man might crave for his boss’ job.

However, how many of those unnatural desires last? A child forgets the lollipop, stops crying and starts licking the ice cream his parents have brought; they brought it to pacify him, the need to buy stemmed from a desire to be thought of as a good parent. The child would have stopped crying nonetheless, with or without the ice cream substitute.

The young adolescent will soon fancy another friend’s bonny lass, while the enthusiastic professional eager to step into his bosses shoes might find the shoes too tight a fit.

This is an important lesson one must introduce to children. We have many desires. Most cause harm, some goad us into action, and some are un-realistic. We must identify our desires, understand them, and then act on them.

If desire is the root cause of all evil, then desire is the root cause of all good too.
Photo Credit- Digitalart @ www.freedigitalphotos.net


If it was the perverted desire that led the man to rape a helpless woman, it was the desire for the sense of fairness amongst the authorities that brought him to justice. Inventors desired to be famous, some desired recognition, and others desired the gratification that comes with innovation, while others desired money. Whatever their reasons for desire were, it was desire that led them to inventing new things which have made life so easy for others, for us. 

As Man is a social animal, he has to exist, he has to conform, and he has to behave in a socially accepted manner. Walking around naked if one desires to would call for stern action from the powers to be. Desires lead to action, and every action has a response. As human beings, we are blessed with the powers of deduction, and we would hence do well to identify the desire, understand it, and if it is worthwhile, considering the repercussions, act on it. Some harmful or un-realistic fleeting desires will pass you by.

My take on Desire

Photo credit-Idea Go @ www.freedigitalphotos.net

Why does a child sob uncontrollably when denied a candy? What causes a lady to skip a heartbeat on looking at fashion magazines, or makes a man drool over the flavour of the month heroine’s photo-shoot? To put it plainly, it is because of the emotion called desire.

Desire is the root cause of all evil, is a common saying. It may well be part of our scriptures. However, desire is not just the cause of evil; it is also the cause of improvement, a cause of action. It is the proportion of desire,  the genesis of it,  and the mind’s will-or the lack of it- to stick to a certain set of ideals which we may have either been brought up with, or have picked up while growing, that makes the repercussions of desire or the path we take to achieve it questionable.


Desire, as mentioned, is the genesis of any action.  
Photo Credit- nuttakit@ www.freedigitalphotos.net


A child cries when desiring milk, a woman sighs on seeing a pregnant woman when desiring the experience to those maternal feelings, a man leers at a well-endowed woman when desiring carnal pleasures. As we age, like most living things, our understanding of the world around us increases. However, the increase in our desires is alarmingly exponential.

A child desires a shiny new toy, just one more than his neighbor. A woman desires the appreciation of the opposite sex, and would be happy if she were to be showered with a little more attention as compared to her best friend, or sister, even. A man desires to earn a little more, just a little more than his competitive colleague.

While these examples may vary from person to person and are not related to just one gender, the crux of the matter is that our desires, as we grow, increases manifold. We desire attention, we crave acceptance, and we seek conformity. Human beings are social animals after all, and same is the case with their desires too.

Most of our desires are social.
Photo Credit- Graur Codrin@ www.freedigitalphotos.net



Meaning, those objects of desire; a new car, a better physique, a higher salary, have more to do with how you will be seen in society, they are carved out of this strong intrinsic need to look good amongst our like. Right since childhood, why, infancy, we are constantly fed values which are conducive to social acceptance. In our childhood, parents lure us with candy; offering it to us if we perform some ludicrous act which they find funny or entertaining like reciting poetry. See how the child learns it’s a give- take world so early in his life? 

Of course, the parents desire to be seen by others as good parents, and hence are coerced into enticing their child to showcase his intellect- and in turn reflect theirs. This public display of the child intellect is sometimes pushed too far by parents, who shove their unfulfilled desires into the helpless child’s throat. The child desires to come across as an obedient child, and this desire, nay, this innate need to please people has led to many a burnout.

A burnout might typically happen in a scenario where the desires were too big, and the desirous person was either not capable of fulfilling that desire, or was required to pursue it.

Unnatural and unrealistic desires sadden us. 
Photo Credit- Ambro @ www.freedigitalphotos.net



A child may want a particular lollipop which another child is passionately devouring; a young adolescent might hanker for his best friend’s bonny lass, while a man might crave for his boss’ job.

However, how many of those unnatural desires last? A child forgets the lollipop, stops crying and starts licking the ice cream his parents have brought; they brought it to pacify him, the need to buy stemmed from a desire to be thought of as a good parent. The child would have stopped crying nonetheless, with or without the ice cream substitute.

The young adolescent will soon fancy another friend’s bonny lass, while the enthusiastic professional eager to step into his bosses shoes might find the shoes too tight a fit.

This is an important lesson one must introduce to children. We have many desires. Most cause harm, some goad us into action, and some are un-realistic. We must identify our desires, understand them, and then act on them.

If desire is the root cause of all evil, then desire is the root cause of all good too.
Photo Credit- Digitalart @ www.freedigitalphotos.net


If it was the perverted desire that led the man to rape a helpless woman, it was the desire for the sense of fairness amongst the authorities that brought him to justice. Inventors desired to be famous, some desired recognition, and others desired the gratification that comes with innovation, while others desired money. Whatever their reasons for desire were, it was desire that led them to inventing new things which have made life so easy for others, for us. 

As Man is a social animal, he has to exist, he has to conform, and he has to behave in a socially accepted manner. Walking around naked if one desires to would call for stern action from the powers to be. Desires lead to action, and every action has a response. As human beings, we are blessed with the powers of deduction, and we would hence do well to identify the desire, understand it, and if it is worthwhile, considering the repercussions, act on it. Some harmful or un-realistic fleeting desires will pass you by.


Thursday, July 7, 2011

Losing a loved one, prematurely.

Heavy title, huh?! Phew! I know! I have met many people who have prematurely lost a loved one. A dear friend lost her father, the guy I see in the mirror lost her mother, etc, etc. Losing someone you love is never easy, more so, when the person dies prematurely.

Define prematurely, a skeptic might ask. Well, that skeptic will most definitely be a person who has gotten hit, and gotten hit very hard on many occasions in life, I can assure you of that. As someone who can get into analysisng such kind of scenarios is, by popular vote, either a heartless bastard, or a mad imbecile.

I fall into the later category, and I HAVE gotten hit very hard in life, on many occasions. As this article is not titled "Biography of Kartik" ( which NOONE would ever read anyway!), I will abstain from going there.

Coming to the point, I do have a definition of premature death. Someone you love AND need dying before your need for it hasn't been eclipsed by something or someone else you need more.

Dying has always been a sensitive topic for me. I lost my mum and probably a friend who understood me most in the same year. While mums have the privilege of holding their new born in their arms, I have had the misfortune of holding my mum  in my arms while her life escaped her. Believe me, that's not an easy thought to get out of one's head. Losing a friend on top of that, and in the same year kinda de-sensitised me towards death and the hype surrounding.

EVERYBODY dies. No? And life does not stop. For anyone. It may be your father, your sister, or the Prime Minister. Or maybe, your favorite star even. Death happens. And life goes on.
A dear, sweetheart of a colleague lost a love bird, and she was devastated. While I tried to console her and tell her that this was inevitable, I found my eyes welling up.  I could feel her pain, and the pain of losing loved ones came gushing back. It scared me to commit to anything, lest I feel tha magnitude of pain again. But I realised, and quite quickly, that I am the man, or the person I am not because of the easyships, I faced, but because of the hardships I faced and conquered. Guess that;s life, eh?!

As some uber wise soul said, life is not fair. But then, it's not fair for everyone. That kinda makes it fair, right?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Want Change? Get Puppy!

Change, they say, is the only constant in life. Well, I do agree, but the changes that Cocaine, our newly adopted pet has brought to our lives has been sudden and comprehensive.


  • A portion of our hall had messed up flooring; the spartex tiles were broken and we used to keep the sofa on it to hide the hole in our hall. All was hunky dory and none of us could accumulate the resolve to repair it until Coco came romping into our lives. He started eating the cement and other not to be eaten things from there, and that couldn't do, no siree. Promptly, new tiles were arranged for, masons called to fit them, and voila! The hole in our hall is history!
  • Our dustbin was perennially  overflowing. We are three musketeers; Dayanand, Anant and Kartik. With no woman in the house, except for a god-sent maid, we keep pushing the chores onto each other. Make no mistake, it's no bachelor den, but yes, the house misses the touch of a woman. Again, with Coco in the picture and the prospect of him ingesting garbage was an impossible one, and now the dustbin has been shifted outside the apartments and the garbage is picked up regularly 
  • Cocaine has brought the family closer. While we were tight, the bond that is developing now is even tighter. I used to call my to be sis-in-law once a week, or when I had some work, but now, I call her everyday to ask about what the pup is doing, and what's up with her. 
While raising a pet dog can be a haranguing experience at times- when he pees all over the house, yelps the whole night, feels like biting your nose at 03:00 am, scares you to death by breathing or dreaming funny, or when he builds a lot of guilt in you for being 6 and a half seconds late in giving him his food by looking at you through those lovely, innocent eyes- it is one of the most rewarding one of my life too. 

Love you Coco. 

Friday, July 1, 2011

Puppy Potty Training (PPT)

We love acronyms. Short-forms. Every industry, each domain, and most friend circles have their own abbreviations. EOD. TBD. BFSL. Yeah, writing ' by the days end', 'end of day', today evening' takes considerable more effort than EOD. And EOD's cooler, shows you 'in-depth' knowledge of the domain, so why not?!

Well, coming back to the point, most of my articles of late have been centered around the new pup in our life named Cocaine. How he got that name is a very short story. Anant, my kid cub, kept it. For anyone who does not know, Cocaine is a drug-the bad types. And it's addictive. Anant loves mammals, the barking ones more-so than the Homo Sapiens, and had this justification- Cocaine is so sweet, he is addictive. It won't take an Einstein to realize that Dad was not too impressed by the name. Standing by his side and agreeing was Mr. Godiyal, Dad's old friends and Anant's to be father-in-law. Dad wanted to call him Mahabali (YIKES) and Godiyal uncle felt Rustom was THE name, but Anant and Jyoti-his fiancee- stuck to Cocaine.

Like in most instances, I was called to referee this melee, and I told each party to call him by whatever name they want, and the one he liked, he would respond to. As Jyoti is the one who is mothering Cocaine right now, and she spends the most time with him, he responds to Cocaine and my dad has accepted that now. I kinda like Coco, and he does not mind that word-neither the dog, nor my pop.

He is being potty trained of now. Since I live away from my fathers house, I get to meet Coco only twice a week, and have to deal with making him poo in the toilet a little lesser than the others. The family are at their wits end. they try locking him up in the toilet right after he has eaten, and all he does is yelp up a storm. His yelps are so sympathetic and guilt inducing that they tend to let him out before he can do his business. He then starts running like a wild, erm, dog inside the house and poops in my brothers room!

I will sum up this article by saying that the only difference between raising a child and a Dog is that the process of procreating a child is way funner than the process of buying a dog!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Puppy love

Well, you know you love someone when you miss them. Or do you? I am sure I love Dad and Anant as they are my father and brother. But I don't miss them. I have started living nearer to my workplace while my family stays in Vasai, and while I am sure my dad misses me-asking me everyday if I will be home friday, what time will I reach, and if I will have dinner. I am sure my brother doesn't; we are there for each other in the time of need, but we can;t be called Ram-Lahkan by any stretch of the imagination. But that's cool. We love each other,and that's that. I have never been a real big "Misser", if you may.

 But this critter, the new pup we have brought into our life named Cocaine, I do miss. And that's really something. I had always maintained I wanted to raise a Dog before I raised a kid to see if I was caretaker material. No, I didn't believe the adage cometh the hour, cometh the man. I wanted to have hands-on experience in raising something a little less challenging than a kid.

My peeps know how absolutely petrified I am while holding children, and how tense I am when they are in one of their look here-run there displays. I don't find a lot of difference between drunkards and children, both walk the same walk, talk the same talk, will get angry at the slightest show of resent, think all the worlds a toilet, and there is seldom any use trying to talk sense into them.

My peeps also know of the countless accidents, stitches, bruises and TT's I have had to endure during early childhood, and during adulthood too, for that matter- the latter being the result of poor decision making skills. I am always afraid that something like that would happen to the kids and am extra careful-some would say, too careful- in the company of kids.

Coming back to the Lab retriever we have welcome to our life- Cocaine Dwivedi. The first week has gone by, and I'd say he has settled well into our home. He has also started settling his teeth inside anything he fancies, which is my to be sis-in laws forearms and brothers nose most of the times.

A visit to the good Doctor Dighe confirmed that he was well and truly a thoroughbred, something that my brother was very keen on, and toiled a lot for. He advised us to wait a week for him to get comfy in our home before starting off with the vaccinations as those were a not so pleasant experience for the pup. He also noted that he had a skin affliction which would go away in time,and started Cocaine off on a dose of de-worming. I noticed a few things of note that day:


  • Raising a pup is almost like raising a child.
    • It's as expensive.
    • Children-human and dogs- have their special foods. and yes, they are expensive.
    • Both need constant care and attention.  
    • Both need proper nutrition. Having done a course in nutrition, I knew that for babies. Well, one does not need to be a certified nutritionist to know that babies require good foods, but one is hit with the striking similarity of pup and child nutrition when one nurtures a pet.
    • You don't get a lot of sleep at night.
  • You begin to worry.
I now understand, or shall I say can imagine why my father, over the years, on countless occasions has said, "Son, when you become a father and raise your kid, you will  understand why I worry so much". 

The Vet told me that he had a skin problem, and that was the only thing wrong n my perfectly superb life after that. I was worried if Jyoti would feed him right, and she has a beautiful, all growed up Pom in her house by the way, on top of the fact that she is one of the most caring mammals you'd ever find. I was worried, what if someone stomps on the poor guy, if he eats dirt and gets gastro, and what if he felt scared and I wasn't around? I have always been the protective type, being a man and all, but the level of concern I have developed for Cocaine is unparallel. I had to sit my grown rear down and tell myself that he was in good hands, and that I couldn't control his life, his movements all the time. The prospect of me being the rigid dad flashed past me, and no, I don't want to be the uncool dad, I want to be the cool one.

I may worry, I may let go. I may not miss him that much. But I will never stop loving Cocaine. And someday, when I have a kid, I would love to say to him, "Son, when you become a father...."

Monday, June 20, 2011

Woof! It's a dog!

We welcomed Cocaine, a two month old healthy Labrador into our house yesterday.

Cocaine Dwivedi


Amongst the many classifications of humans, there is one related to dogs; three categories, to be precise. There are some who cannot stand the furry monsters. There are also some who are okay with them. And then, there are Dog lovers.
Off the three musketeers; Dayanand ( Ze father), Anant ( Ze brother) and Kartik ( yours truly), Dad falls into the okay with Dogs, I love all animals category, whereas his sons absolutely adore dogs.
Jyoti
Anant had been planning to own one for almost a decade, and with dad’s impending retirement plan, I joined in to convince dad into letting us keep a pet- a DOG! While we couldn’t quite convince him-he isn’t over the moon-we did manage to eek out an Ok outta him. That was just the push Jo and Antz needed. Oh, Jo is Jyoti, Anant’s beautiful squeeze, his fiancée and soon to be wife. How soon? Well, if you want Anant to turn pale and have a mini heart attack, ask him!


Anyhoo, armed with dad’s wary surrender to our constant pleas, the dynamic trio (Anant, Anant’s tummy and Jyoti) set off on the quest to find the most wonderful puppy in the world. Anant has lived in UK for a few years, and like all students who have spent a few years there expects the people and the infrastructure to be the same as in good ol’ London. So he started scouting for kennel clubs, where he would get the purest breeds, and get to meet fanatical dog lovers like himself. He spent spent    a small fortune in travelling to these clubs and came back disappointed.
‘In London” said Anant, “You don’t call them dogs, and you don’t BUY one! You adopt one, and if you happen to meet a dog and its owner on the street,  and want to inquire about the sex of the dog, you ask, is it a lady, or a gentleman?”
He soon learnt adopting a Dog out here in aamchi Mumbai portrayed we wanted it for free, and the people out here weren't as courteous as them Londoners. But he was determined, come hell or high water, to bring home a Dog, and after toiling for a few days, he got home Cocaine.


There must be a very few people who don't like puppies, and there are some dog haters who don't mind puppies either. This is not without reason. Children, be it piglets, fowls, human or pups, are cute. 


Coco has brought in a lot of happiness- along with a lot of cleaning that needs to be done after it pees all over the house- into our lives, and I will write a fortnightly article on how he is changing our lives. 


I remember saying to a friend that I wanted to raise a dog first and then think of marriage and kids as it requires commitment and care. Well, I think I am ready for the commitment. So all the dog loving girls out there, gimme a holler! ;)







Monday, May 30, 2011

Of Dieting and the Baloney Surrounding it

The first thing you lose on a diet is your sense of humor.

Author Unknown

Bullshit line no. 1- I'm dieting. So no rice for me.

Bullshit line no. 2- Aren't you dieting? What's up with the cheese then, hmm?

Sigh. Guys, what does a diet mean? It's what you eat, day in day out.

What does a healthy diet mean? 
Eating the good things more. Things like raw and fresh fruits, vegetables, curd, etc.
Eating the junk food less.
Having a colourful plate full of different food groups. 
Following a SUSTAINABLE FOR LIFE diet regimen. 
Eating on time, drinking lots of water.
Eating everything, but in moderation.

What does a healthy diet NOT mean?

Forever counting calories.
Staying off rice, cheese, and other supposedly "fattening" things.
Trying to eliminate fat from diet.
Being forever worried and unhappy.

Now, what out of these points did you know?!

I'm guessing, most.

Which do you follow? How many points from a healthy, staple diet do you follow?

Only you know the answer :)
Remember- Moderate exercise, sensible dieting, positive thinking= Healthier, happier you!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Art of Living Day 2

Day 1


A new day, full of learnings. My first impression and the most lasting one of Art of Living (AOL) was it's striking similarity to Landmark forum (LMF) mantras. People who have done LMF will recollect the honouring your integrity, life is NOW, trying  exercise and group building exercises. For those who haven't, well, here is a brief description, which is in no way to be considered as a substitute for wither AOL or LMF.


Honour your integrity- Mean what you say, say what you mean. Honour your commitment, Salman Khan Wanted ishtyle. If cannot fulfill the commitment, have the guts to own up to it.


Life is now ( projected quite nicely through a clapping exercise)- Happiness in life is being in the present. Past brings regret and anger, future brings uncertainty and worry. Live in the present, stay happy.


Trying Exercise- One has to stop trying, and start doing. You can't try to lift a glass, you either can lift it, or you cant. So stop saying I will try to make it, honour your commitment, give it your 100 %, if you can't apologise and restore your integrity. The fact you gave it you all will leave you with no guilt. OR, say you cannot. This can be a long topic, better left for another article :)


AOL too, like other self help-self realisation sessions has it's principles to abide by. If my memory serves me correctly, there are six. Two were discussed. They are:


1. Life is NOW. Live in the present. The present is inevitable.
2. Opposites are complementary to each other and cannot exist without each other. Eg - Joy/sorrow, Peace/Disturbance.


We have been told to remember them and use them in our lives. 
The highlight for me was the sudarshan kriya, which was preceded by a short tutorial and practice of parts of Pranayam ( The controlling of the Life force energy, meaning of Pranayam). 


I was surprised I could sit in a Vajrasan Yogic pose for longer than I though I could, when I ignored the initial discomfort. The Sudarshan Kriya was all it promised- difficult to do, boring at times, energising, tiring and calming. you have to experience it to understand your emotions, and I am not going to delve into mine. If you wanted one good thing you could pick out of AOL, one thing only, the skeptics choice, it would most definitely be the Sudarshan Kriya. Heck, I'll tell ya. I am feeling energised and calmer, and this was my first time. 


This was Day 2 in a nutshell. Cheerios!


Love, 


K.


Day 1

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Enrolled in the Art of Living Course

After having experimented with weight loss diets, wines and women-well at least the first two are true-I have set sail to learn the Art of Living. I used to think that I was doing it quite successfully; living that is. Having then spoken to a dear ex-boss whom I have come to know of as a dear friend, I realised that living and living a full life were as different as black tea and green tea. While Green tea is, IMHO, a better tea for better health, I used the tea example to highlight the stark contrast in the different kinds of living.  With a graduation at Landmark Forum under my belt, I decided to give the Art of Living course a go too, primarily for its much acclaimed Sudarshan Kriya


The course runs about a week, starting today from 19:30 to 22:30. I am fervently hoping I manage to stay awake and don't have a nervous breakdown in those three hours. People who know me know for a fact that when in full flow, I can give any woman a run for her money in the talking 19 to dozen department. I may have a few inhibitions, and as a sweetheart numerously declared, "Pre- Assumptions" about this course. I am my father's child after all, and the apple does not fall far from the tree!


However, regardless of my aspersions, I have recognised this amazing ability of humans to dive head-along into an endeavour without bias or pre-conceived notions, if they want it to happen. I have resolved to go in there with a clean slate and document my learning each day to help others decide if it is the way they want to live. And since I am doing this for the betterment of humankind, the least that YOU can do is read my notes! Off to day one, cheerios!


Day 1



Well, as I have mentioned before, I went to this course without giving it a lot of thought or harbouring a lot of expectations. There are very few people I blindly follow; my hyper inquisitive and analytical mind can only adhere to a belief if my microscopic brain finds sense, science, reason and justification. It believes everything has a reason, and as they say, miracles are things which the science of today cannot explain- miracles are not in any way inexplicable. 

Coming back to the follow blindly list, one of them is Aruna Panangipally. She is a great judge of character, and is a better mentor. Having spent time with her on a professional note- she was my boss- I realised that if she felt AOL would do me good, it would. With that in mind, and as usual, nothing else, I went for day one.

A motley group of 11 participants, two teachers, and two volunteers- an affable middle aged woman who gushed how AOL had helped her, and a cute millenial with a smile to die for was what waited for me in the hall. Like any other  healthy practice- and they say that this AOL part 1 course is a cleansing exercise - we were asked to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, over the counter drugs, caffeine and non-vegetarian food. While my conflicted mind generally agrees with other restrictions, I don't wholly agree with non- veg restriction, and I will write a complete article defending my stand. Of course the preparatin matters, yada, yada, but that's another article. 

We were asked to introduce ourselves to EVERY member of the gang in AOL's unique way. Name, state that I am yours, and a two word phrase which I forgot! Sheesh, if only all these self help endeavours would help better my memory!

The seven layers of existence were then discussed, or atleast I think this was said. They layers I can remember are Body, Breath, Mind, Intellect, Ego, well 5/7 ain't bad!

The four Energisers were discussed, they being Food, Sleep, Knowledge, Breathing. What there re-enforced is the fact that for sedentary lifestyled people like us, 6.5 hours of sleep is adequate. While differents schools of thought might beg to differ, for me,6-7 hours of sleep works, and validation from outside only helps re-enforce that!

An interactive session, a process as they say was tried. Two people were to face eac other and one had to praise the other, while the other had to demean the other. It was interesting to see how demeaning people you didn't know was funny at first, but felt de-energising nonetheless and praising and listening to mostly false praise from a stranger was kinda uplifting.  
The right way to breathe- bloat stomach while inhaling was discussed. they also correctly mentions how the medics exclaimed we weren't breathing to our full capacity- 30 % only- and how more efficient breathing made famour thru pranayama would help solve medical problems, and save the world! While some were breathing correctly, many, including me ruefully agree that in times of stress or physically exertion, this voluntary stomach out when inhaling ujjai breathing would go for a toss. And that would be one of my personal objectives of the course; learning to breathe right at all times.  

The sessions was rounded of with some basis loosening exercises and shavasan. Our assignments were to deeply ponder over two questions:
1. What makes you happy?
2. When are you going to be happy?

I reminded myself not to set the popular answer in my head, and to beware of saying things I knew the instructors wanted to hear. I will be honest. As theose guys said, AOL won't teach you a radical new way of life; there may be things you know of, and are practicising. Guess they will set us on the path of instilling discipline or something. Tomorrow, they teach the Sudarshan Kriya, amongst other things. They asked us to be enthusiastic about the course, and be open. Enthusiastic and open, I shall be. Signing out till tomorrow.

Love,

K

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Mega myth busted: Sachin tons don't win games - Indian Premier League - Cricket Next

For all the assholes who say if Tendulkar scores, we lose. Here, shove this statistic up your ass. Out of 99 international centuries, India has won 53 times, drawn 20 times. Sheesh. Jealous dumb fucks have nothing to show for their life, and have the fucking audacity to wag their stupid ass mother flipping tongues, and mind you, without any statistical evidence at Tendulkar. I am all for everyone is entitled to their opinion. Call him the worst batsman ever. But statistics speak for themselves. And the fact that the players and greats keep saying such great things about the man- am sure you dick-faces aren't better cricketers than them, even if you are better cock suckers- shows much more than what statistics reveal. I will end my rant by saying, I don't disrespect your God- you better not disrespect mine. Oh yes- the proof is linked below, biatches.

http://cricketnext.in.com/news/mega-myth-busted-sachin-tons-dont-win-games/56595-13.html

Friday, April 15, 2011

SSC students of Gonsalo Garcia Orphanage need Lab equipment

Remember the fun we had during those lab practicals in school? Mixing wierd stuff with wierder stuff? Breaking those test tubes, showing off our chemistry knowledge? Lets ensure the kids at GG Orphanage also get that opportunity. Guys, we are trying to buy lab equipment for the SSC gang out there in GG Orphanage. Let's all come together, pool in our resources, from as little as 100 INR, and help those children learn chemistry while having fun! Who knows, in the future, you may be responsible for creating the next Nobel Prize winner!   Reena Singh, a dear friend is initiating this project. She is a determined, sweetheart of a girl who wants to make a difference. Let's help her create that difference. Let's help her create happiness. Let's do our bit guys!   Also, if you guys are interested in part time, in your face so you can see the difference you make, money donations not compulsary social work, contact me. Leave your Email addresses to get the details. Good day.