Haven't been blogging in a long time but here is an update to what I have been reading lately

1. Paradox of Choice by ???
Awesome book. Must read for indecisive people. Talks about the oppurtunity cost of thinking too much about the oppurtunity cost.

2. The Next Great Bubble Boom by Harry Dent Jr.
Had to read it coz of its cheezy title. It's a primer on demographics economics. Some very interesting statistics and patterns about history of stocks. But does go a little overboard trying to predict life 50 years from now.

3. Seven Habits of Highly Effective people by Stephen Covey
Excellent!!!
Had heard about it for a long time, finally got to read it. Highly Recommended.

4. Laws of Success by Napolean Hill (Audio book)
Very inspiring. Nothing new that one doesn't know. But the examples he gives from the life of successful figures makes it very motivating.


Wish List
1. World is Flat by Tom Friedman
2. The Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid by Ck Pralahad
3. The eighth habit by Covey
4. Intimacy by Osho

The Art of Dying Young ...

Age is considered a function of time. It is calculated as chronological time from birth. May be that concepts needs to be revisted. How about age as a function of lifestyle or daily habits? What if their is a lifestyle that can keep us younger for a long time.

So here are my 7 daily habits of living young.

1. Reduce stress: Stress ought to be the number one factor in aging. Work stress, traffic stress, money stress, shopping stress, minimum-payment-due stress, what-to-do-on-longweekend stress. The way out of it , ACCEPT LIFE. Let things be. Accepting does not mean, not doing anything about the things you don't like.. but first being okay with the way things are. And giving up that there is something wrong.

2. Eat right : Diet is a billion dollar industry. Atkins, south beach, weight watchers ..you name it , it seems everyone and their cousin has a book on diet. The key point that is missed is listening to your body. Everyone is not the same, and if you listen to your body it is giving you signals all the time what works and does not work for you. So observe what the body is telling you and eat accordingly. (And don't forget those vitamins)!!

3 Meditate: First came IQ and one's success was related to his intelligence. And then Daniel Goleman introduced us to Emotional Quotient or EQ and his theory that success depends a lot on being able to deal with a variety of circumstances and people without affecting your emotional state. But recently it was realized that this is not enough. With a record number of CEOs behind bars for fraud, its seems that there is more to success than IQ and EQ. This missing thing is been coined as spiritual quotient or SQ. Its about the values like inner peace, making a difference, living in the present moment. While you don't need to have the SQ of Dalai Lama , you can definitely add more peace to your life by taking on some form of meditation like yoga, spiritual reading, breathing exercise to your schedule.

4 Work Out: In todays world our time is divided into doing things, that what we have to do(powerpoint, documents, spreadsheet) and then things what we want to do (blogging, messaging, youtube, orkut). Either waus we spend 80% of our non-sleep time sitting in one place, glaring at those 1280 x 800 dots. Take a break from that. Go work out. Whether it be some sports, rollerblading, going to gym.. give your body a change that it deserves. And top it with some form of stretching,yoga or pilates or just POCD (plain old clubbing and dancing).

5 Indulgence : Have a passion. Indulge in that everyday. Be it music or cooking or just meet a good friend for dinner. Indulge in doing something you enjoy immensely without a reason. Just as a celebration. A celebration of being alive and everything that is good.

6. Do a good turn : It has been scientifically proven that the hormones released by hate and jealously causes diseases. On the other hand the chemicals produced by love and activities that makes a difference causes positive effect on the body. So do something good everyday, help someone for no reason and your body will reap the benefits for years to come.

7. Appreciate and acknowledge: Last but not least, before going to bed appreciate what went well during the day. Too much of our life is spent on complaining what went wrong and we often forget things that went well but could have gone wrong. And the amazing family and friends we have. So list atleast five things that you could be thankful for. Remember iff you can't come up with five, there is something wrong with you not life.

So stay young till you live and then die young. Thats what i plan to do. And then here is what life looks like

Parking on South Beach 12$
Cover charge to get in the club 15$
Rum and Coke at the bar 8$
Being ID by the hot bartender : Priceless!!

There are some things money can't buy (and feeling young is definitely one of them...)

ODD

Since last few days I have been feeling little lonely, and not able to focus on things. Yesterday it reached to a point that I could not get any work done. So I decided to go to a doctor and have this checked out. Here is how the conversation went

Me: Hello Doctor!
Doctor: Hello there! How can I help you?

Me: Well for last few days, I am not feeling very well. I mean not physically, but I cannot really concentrate on anything. I just spend time surfing on the net.
Doctor: Lets see, what has changed in your lifestyle lately?

Me: Nothing really. I still enjoy my work, go to gym regularly, keep myself creative. Infact my life should be better. I have found an amazing group of friends lately and we keep in touch regularly through Orkut
Doctor: Orkut!!

Me: Yes you know that site where you can scrap, sent messages just keep in touch
Doctor: Yes I know what Orkut is. Tell me more about your activites on Orkut

Me: Umm ... I signed up about a 3 weeks ago. Initially I used to log in once a day, now I log in almost 3-4 times a day...
Doctor: Aha!! I think you have ODD!

Me: ODD?
Doctor: You are lucky, we caught it at an early stage.

Me: Caught it?? You are scaring me doctor!!
Doctor: Well, see if you can identify with this. You log into orkut every 2-3 hours. You do that anywhere you can find internet .. friend's place, office. Hoping that someone has scrapped you a note. You look at the scrap count and it looks the same as the last time. You still check the scrap anyway thinking may be you don't remember the count correctly. When you find really there are no new scraps you get disappointed. You feel lonely.
And then you still do the same things two hours later.
Me: That sounds like me...
Doctor: You have at stage one of ODD

Me: What is this ODD?
Doctor: It stants for "Orkut Deficiency Disorder"

Me : Disorder?
Doctor: Don't worry, one in three orkut users have this

Me: So now?
Doctor: We will start with therapy. You should make someone your Orkut Buddy. Thats someone who is willing to support you. And next time you feel like log in to orkut just call your Orkut Buddy and talk it through with him/her. Your buddy's job is to talk you out of login to orkut.

Me: Wow
Doctor: There are other therapy optins. You can find a local chapter of Orkut Anonymous. Or you can join Orkut Watchers. Basically you get n number of logins per week depending on your stage and as long as you are within that limit you slowly get out of the disorder.

Me: What if all this does not work?
Doctor: Then we go to medication. There is something called an Orkut patch. You put that on the fingers of your right hands that way you cannot type your password any more or use the mouse.

Me: I am afraid that won't work. I am a software professional.
Doctor: Well than we can use Frozac. Its a new blockbuster drug for ODD. By law I have to let you know that the side-effects may include you doing the same things again and again, talking stupid in front of your boss or customers and getting fired from your job.

Me: Thats sounds a lot
Doctor: Well the drug basically reduces your IQ by 100, so you are dumber and don't feel the nedd to log into orkut

Me: What if my ... umm ...I mean someone's IQ is already less than 100
Doctor: Don't worry, it won't make your IQ in negative

Me: Nice!!

phone ringing

Doctor: Opps that must me my Orkut buddy. I have to take this one... Get an orkut buddy. See me in two weeks.

Brief theory of time..

I believe our notion of time is flawed. Time has been represented as something that moves from left to right.Although this is good for charting, the problem comes when we start relating to time like that.That it is linnear. That it flows from past to future and we are somewhere in the middle called present.Lets take one at a time.

Past. Past exists only in mind not in reality. There is no past for trees, birds and cows. Past is a function of mind, a function of memory. It is just a charge stored in brain (just as in hard disk). As such it has no bearing in the present. The fact that one failed at a math test10 years ago has nothing to do with how he is going to do in the test today. Unfortunately we dont relate it that way.We say I am not good at maths. We bring the memory into today as if it is reality. Most people are living todaythe life of an upset four year old. Relating to life with the event that had happened in their childhoods.

Present. Present is the only real thing. Now is the only moment. For everyone except humans they only deal with now.They are only bothered with the current moment. Even little kids who haven't yet been taught this concept of time live in present. Hence they enjoy their every moment and give it fully (compared to adults who wait for the weekend).

Future. Future again,exists only in mind not in reality. It is the imagination of how things would be someday.There is no future for trees, birds and cows. Only humans do. But there is an awesome thing about future. It gives you energy. Imagine how you felt when you heard the news of new job or met someone interesting. Well nothing has happened yet but the mind creates a future and you are different right now. Compare this to a time when you had done something wrong and were waiting to be found out. Life is such a drag. Create a future from fear or greed and it will give you negative energy. Create a future from love and abundance and it will give you positive energy, that will drive you towards intention.I think being able to create a future is the most amazing gift that humans have.

Every moment is the start of the rest of life. It has nothing to do with how the life has been so far. Life can be created as desired free from the past. From the future of love and abundance.

We should have a different representation for time. Suggestions welcome.

More reading


Just finished reading
Love,Freedom and Aloneness by Osho Rajneesh

For all the weird stories and skeptism I have heard about Osho, I have to admit I am impressed by this book.
He definitely is an amazing orator and his thoughts are very interesting. Definitely a good read

Terminator 4 : The Orkut day

For last two day I have been trying to create a login into Orkut (with the help of great efforts of a friend). Still unsuccessful. I was about to give up when I had this vision...

"Its 2010 AD. Lot of changes happened in last 5 yearsin the world of communication. First the phone companies vanished. Nobody wanted to pay for phone service. We had free VOIP.
Next it was discovered that cell phones causes brain cancer. Cell phones were banned except for military use.
In meanwhile the power of Google, Skype and Orkut kept on growing. They bought out most of their competitors and were the only players left in the market. So now most of the communication in the world was using gmail (the term email was no longer used since gmail was the only mail provider), skype calls and posting messages on Orkut. We didn't even need a TV. You could find everything on Google Video.
And then the last straw was broken in 2009. An virus named KANK infected Google , Orkut, Skype servers all overthe world. It was so malicious, people lost all their entire history of messages and communciations. Banks went bankrupt, businesses went out. There was chaos. Brink of World War 3. Only this was fought in cyber space.
Orkut was able to protect 10% of their data. Google and Skype lost everything. There were various conspiracy theories. Some say this is the new form of terrorism. Called cyber terrorism. Other believethat the virus spread by Orkut to win the internet space.
Whatever the case may be, now the only form ofcommunication left Orkut. Posting messages their is the only way to reach someone other than meeting them in person. The world is divided between Orkut haves and have-nots.
Because of the limited space that Orkut was able to quarantine they are not giving any more logins. Even 90% of the existing logins were lost. Last month NASDAQ and BSES started trading Orkut ids.The current price is 753,000$ per login. Unfortunately you have to go physically to Wall Street or Dalalstreet to buy one as there is no more online trading.
India has emerged as one of the new world superpowers.Most young Indians had Orkut id. In todays world one who can communicate has power.You need Orkut id to apply for a job or even to starta business. It has become the new social securitynumber.
Orkut security has been increased due to the threat of virus and record high identity theft in this era. One now needs fingerprint and retina scan to get in.
In 2006 I was almost close to get one. I still remember that day. And then I gave up. Ahh, so close.
Anyways I have to leave now. I am going to a friendsplace. The president is going to post his national address on orkut. We are going to all get together and read his message at my friends place. Later."

Back to Blogging


I am back to blogging after a long time (inspired by someone who wrote a 3 page blog after watching a movie).
Last few months I have been busy reading books. I never enjoyed reading as much.

Books I just completed,

1. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Amazing
This book gives you the tool to find peace in face of anything. My first new age book, and I am so glad I read it. Thanks to Bharat, Christina and George for recommending it.

2. 80/20 Principle ...Richard Koch
Great.
I had read this book in 1999 and it had a big influence on my life. Read it again, everytime I pick up this book, I find something new. Another amazing book. A very different perpespective of life.

3. The Way of the Peaceful Warrior
Average.
Nothing new and a long unwinding story. The only thing is this book was written more than 20 years ago. Probably the first one to bring forth these values.

4. The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T Harv Eker
Very Good.
Straight talk. I did resist it earlier as a publicity stunt, but after I attended his 3 day seminar and read it again, it made a lot of sense. Has definitely changed my relationship to money and my view about myself.

5. Spead Wealth by T Harv Eker
Good.
I got this book only because its by T Harv. Although it has some good stuff, nothing earth shattering.

6. The Little Black Book of Connections by Jerome Ditter
Good.
Again straight talk no B.S. A lot of insights into the world of Networking

7. The Heart of the Soul by Gary Zukav and Linda Francis
Very Interesting.
A breakthrough concept about energy, emotions and feelings. Although I loved his concept felt little incomplete as he does not suggest what to do with it. May be I missed it, will read again.

8. The Next Investment Boom by Mark Shipman
Very Good.
Although the tittle is misleading. Should rather be technical analysis for dummies. I never liked technical analysis before but now I enjoy it.

Currently Reading
1. The Alchemist
Recommended by someone who's opinion I trust. Very slow, finished first chapter. Hopefully it lives upto its expectation.

Future Reading
1. J Krishnamurti
2. Heidi Klum's biography
3. Seat of the Soul
4. The World is Flat

TODO list - 100 things

I believe every one should have a to do list. 100 things want to do/be/have in life.
Here is mine (in progress ...)

1. Fly a helicopter.
2. Fly a helicopter through mountains.
3. Speak in front of more than 1000 people.
4. Be a good swimmer.
5. Drive a porsche
6. Go back to school and organize a fashion show.
7. Host a party.
8. Big celebration for mom/dad's anniversary
9. Have my own condo in a city.
10. Have a vacation home in the mountains.
11. See Tokyo
12. Travel with parents to Nath Dwara.
13. Watch a basketball game live
14. Travel to Europe.
15. Become a VP.
16. See Dubai
17. See Vegas
18. XXX :)
19. XXX XXX :D
20. Own a company.
21. Sell my company for a large sum of money.
22. Be financially free.