Month: December 2007
You Can Be Spiritual In Everything That You Do
7 Dec 2007, 0001 hrs IST,Acharya Mahaprajna
Why is it believed that spiritual practice is possible only within traditionally accepted limits and not outside them?
Meditation, observance of silence and physical relaxation are indeed spiritual practices but are speaking, eating, drinking, sitting and standing not spiritual practices?
The following story illustrates this point: Once two kings went hunting, riding their own chariots. One chariot got burnt down, while the horse pulling the other chariot died. Both kings were stranded. But they worked it out. One gave his chariot and the other his horse, and the two were able to return to town. This is called Dagdhashvarath.
The same is true of spiritual practice. In a fragmented or partial form it does not bring liberation. The integrity of spiritual practice is questioned by those who insist that it is possible only in a particular place, at a particular time and through a particular activity and not otherwise. One of the incongruities of life is spending two hours in spiritual practice and the remaining 22 hours in non-spiritual pursuits.
Anuvrat — giving up anything beyond the “I” — implies that there be no incongruity in life from the time one wakes up in the morning till one goes to bed, and there be uniformity of spiritual practice at all times of day and night.
Anuvrat manifests the nature of spiritual practice. In Sanskrit grammar, the word veepsa is used which means Vyaptumichcha, the desire to permeate or extend. In veepsa, saying the same word twice or four times is not considered a fault. It is in this sense (of veepsa) that the words ‘spiritual practice’ have been appended to anuvrat.
Meditation and yoga are necessary but by themselves they do not constitute spiritual practice. You need to remain spiritually alert in whatever you do throughout the day. A man who stayed in our camp recently was very religious.
Earlier, with great faith he would practise meditation and silence for four to five hours daily. But he was indifferent to good behaviour. As a result his family members were angry with him. His behaviour made them shun religion.
A man cannot be religious if his practice turns others away from it. Slowly, though, in the camp, his ideas got transformed. And so too, his life. As soon as he became alert about the connection spirituality had with all activity, he began to infuse everything he did with spiritual insight. All around him became happy.
It is pointless to believe in the possibility of doing meditation if your life is devoid of humane behaviour, if your ideas lack clarity and if you have rigid beliefs. It is a different matter if spiritual practice is viewed in a partial and fragmented manner. Fasting, meditation and observance of silence are means.
The success of spiritual practice will be in proportion to the diminution of distance between means and ends. A sthitpragya — person gifted with unshakable mental equilibrium — discourses on various themes throughout the day, yet he is in reality silent. Remaining silent in anger is not really silence. If it is, then even a heron can be called a meditator. Under this very illusion a sulking son went and sat down in a corner. He refused to eat. He was angry.
Should we call it fasting? Spiritual practice is neither in not doing something, nor in doing something. It lies in inner awakening, no matter whether it is accompanied by activity or inactivity.
Prayer Is A Divine Act Of Absolute Surrender
Prayer Is A Divine Act Of Absolute Surrender
10 Dec 2007, 0059 hrs IST,Sanjukta Bhaduri
Prayer connects us with the Supreme. Many situations and challenges in life help us realise that we are merely playing our role in the stage of life. Nonetheless, in our daily life, we consider ourselves to be the master of both our actions and the results thereof, but we forget that we have a right over our actions but not of the result. We wonder about the result even before any action is taken and thus lose focus.
Prayer is an act of surrender to the Supreme; we stoop in order to be elevated; we bow with utmost reverence, exemplifying utmost humility to the Almighty. The power of prayer is tremendous and helps us overcome the toughest of challenges, hurdles and misfortunes. The principle in life is to put in the best in our efforts and surrender our actions to the Lord for He would take care of the rest.
A prayer is a most pious act. The sheer act of praying is associated with purity; we purify ourselves by praying. The sincerity and honesty with which we pray disappear soon after we end the prayer. We perform our daily duties routinely, very differently from the act of praying. Consequently we tend to become insincere to dharmic principles.
We get back from life what we give to life. Our life involves others also and many a time the helping hand we extend to others is prompted by selfishness. The issue which bothers us is whether we have gained something and if so, how much, from any given situation.
However, dharma stresses on doing what is right and not what is convenient. We ought to do our dharma with utmost sincerity and honesty as well as to help others without any hidden agenda of self-interest.
Prayer is an activity which gives immense satisfaction. While we pray, we feel content and satisfied, but the satisfaction dissipates fast enough. Generally, we pray for our well-being in terms of health, wealth, happiness, peace. Many a time, we look beyond ourselves too. Since we are genuinely concerned about our near and dear ones, we pray for their well-being also. However, we never apply this concept to the wider circle of people in our lives with whom we interact daily or even those we infrequently interact with.
Most often, we camouflage our jealousy with super- ficial expression of happiness, a smile or a few words of appreciation when we learn of the happiness of others. Just as in a prayer, the principle in life is to feel and be truly happy in others’ happiness. Only then can we have a sense of genuine well-being and sustain the satisfaction.
Traditionally, praying has been a daily ritual in most households. It enriches the person, brings happiness and helps us to remain calm and contented in adverse conditions. A life well lived does not necessarily imply living a materialistic, consumptive life; it could also mean living a satisfied, happy, peaceful and enriched life. Thus, understanding the meaning and essence of life and setting right goals and priorities accordingly are essential.
Life throws up both challenges and opportunities. The art of living is to seize the opportunity to transform one’s life into a prayer and using the power of prayer to cut through the challenges.
The writer teaches at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.
Fruits, veggies cut cancer risk
Fruits, veggies cut cancer risk
10 Dec 2007, 0050 hrs IST,REUTERS
WASHINGTON: Just three servings a month of raw broccoli or cabbage can reduce the risk of bladder cancer by as much as 40%, researchers reported this week. Other studies show dark-coloured berries can reduce the risk of cancer too — adding more evidence to a growing body of research that shows fruits and vegetables, especially richly coloured varieties, can reduce the risk of cancer.
Researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, surveyed 275 people who had bladder cancer and 825 people without cancer. They asked especially about cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage. These foods are rich in compounds called isothiocyanates, which are known to lower cancer risk. The effects were most striking in non-smokers, the researchers told a meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research. Compared to smokers who ate fewer than three servings of raw cruciferous vegetables, non-smokers who ate at least three servings a month were almost 73% less likely to be in the bladder cancer group, they found.
A second team of researchers from Roswell Park tested broccoli sprouts in rats. They used rats engineered to develop bladder cancer and fed some of them a freeze-dried extract of broccoli sprouts. The more they ate, the less likely they were to develop bladder cancer, said Yuesheng Zhang, who led the research. They found the compounds were processed and excreted within 12 hours of feeding. That suggests the idea that compounds are protecting the bladder from the inside, said Zhang.
Toshiba to make 128GB flash drive
Toshiba to make 128GB flash drive
REUTERS[ MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2007 04:18:01 PM]
TOKYO: Japanese memory chip maker Toshiba Corp said that it would make flash-based solid state drives for notebook PCs, as it seeks to create new sources of demand for flash memory chips.
The world’s No. 2 maker of NAND-type flash memory said its solid state drives would range in capacity from 32 GB to 128 GB, and that it will mass produce the 1.8-inch and 2.5 inch drives in May 2008.
Zippy, quiet, and boasting a faster boot time than hard disk drives, solid state drives are used in portable devices like tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs. But their high price has prevented them from going mainstream in the PC market.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world’s biggest memory chip maker, and Toshiba’s partner SanDisk Corp already make solid-state drives.
Boise, Idaho-based Micron Technology Inc has also said it would enter the solid state drive market, with mass production to start next quarter.
Dual SIM mobile phone
Dual SIM mobile phone
My work entails frequent travel across the country. I carry two mobiles, one personal and the other, official. Is there any mobile phone that supports two SIM cards, so I can be spared the hassle of carrying two mobile chargers and handling two systems?
Ranjith K Dual SIM mobile phones have now been introduced in India. These support two SIM cards in a single handset, so users can switch between two numbers or networks. Depending on the mobile model, you may use a combination of one CDMA sim card and one GSM sim card, use either both CDMA sim cards or both GSM sim cards.
In India, Spice Mobile launched the first dual-mode mobile phones. It offers two variants, D-88 and D-80. The D-88 Supports both GSM and CDMA, on the other hand the D-80 can support two GSM connections. The D-88 supports 1.3 megapixels camera, with 262K color TFT display, MP3 playback, etc.
Samsung and Tata Indicom have introduced India’s first touch-screen based Dual SIM card phones named “Samsung Duo”. According to Samsung’s Web site, you can use two CDMA numbers or two GSM numbers or one CDMA and one GSM numbers. Duo is a quad band device supporting CDMA 800 & 1900 MHz bands and GSM 900 &1800 MHz band. The handset operates on the Tata Indicom network as well as GSM networks in India and internationally. You can switch between the two networks easily without the need for restarting the handset. Samsung Duo supports two SIM card slots that allow operation of two numbers on Duo non-simultaneously. It, however, supports call forwarding facility on both GSM and CDMA, which facilitates incoming calls from both the numbers. Call forwarding is, however, network-dependent. The specifications are 262K TFT display – 2.2 inch TFT Touch Screen, 1.3 megapixels camera with 10X digital zoom, video recording, MP3 player, Micro SD card slot, support up to 1 GB of external memory, Bluetooth support, handwriting recognition, etc.
For more information about Samsung Duo, please look up the following URL:
M. Sampath
Five skills of creativity
Five skills of creativity
The Smart Crow Never Goes Thirsty by Moid Siddiqui Wisdom Tree
Creativity is the input, and innovation, the output, says Moid Siddiqui in The Smart Crow Never Goes Thirsty ( http://www.wisdomtreeindia.com). “Creativity is non-linear, numberless, and follows no set pattern,” he describes.
It is a tragedy, says the author, that we don’t provide our people with the ‘creativity toolkit’ even as we expect them to be creative. He faults the education system that emphasises the so-called scientific approach.
“More damage is caused, and disservice to creativity is done, by urging students and managers ‘not to be vague’. What they don’t understand is that ‘reality’ is always ‘vague’ at its ends. We encourage our people to be precisely wrong than vaguely correct.”
Siddiqui lists the five skills of creativity, as follows:
Divergent thinking (to move from the focused to the blurred, for obtaining a wider range and a broader perspective).
Lateral thinking (by creating a forced relationship between remote objects, which seem to be unrelated, and thus forging a fusion).
Intuitive thinking (through which you can know the truth, though not know how you know).
Angel’s advocate (by focusing on the positive side of every idea).
Dissection of ideas (the application aspect of creativity to get something done).
The last skill requires the sieving of ideas for attractiveness and compatibility. The criteria of attractiveness include originality, simplicity, ease of implementation and copy protection. Aligning with company objectives and resource availability ensures compatibility.
An appetising guide to creativity!
D. Murali
The first impression
The first impression
Young managers should resist the tendency to get carried away by appearances.
Sidin Vadukut
I recently received an e-mail from a reader of this column who is distraught with her current career situation: “Dear Sidin, I am a big fan of your column and I would like to say that it is clear from your writing that you are an extremely attractive man with a Greek god body and the intelligence to match. I hope the editors don’t think you fabricated that line in my letter. Because it is completely genuine.
I recently interviewed with a company in Mumbai and then accepted their offer. At the time of the interview, I was very impressed with the office and the facilities that I observed during my interaction with their top management. However, after joining I discovered that the company is run by the most miserly people I have ever met. They reuse old fax paper once the printing fades away. Also, the photocopy machine is coin operated. I got duped. Please write a column about this fraud that was committed on me.
Love , Natasha”
If I had a rupee for every time I have heard this story, there would be private wealth management people instead of bank collection agents clamouring outside my door right now. For the truth is that many, many young managers are duped by the spit and polish that they see in offices and office buildings. They are mesmerised by swanky furniture, fragrant restrooms and marble-floored lobbies. Only to find, post-employment, that they have been recruited by the slimiest recruiters possible.
Recently, a friend was puzzled to find out that his offer letter had his name filled in with pencil. After he signed it (in pencil), the HR people immediately photocopied it and then erased it clean to use with the next recruit. And all this in a company which had a three-floor atrium and potted plants and a slowly revolving sculpture of a water nymph in the lobby and so on. Currently, he reuses visiting cards.
Despite our advanced degrees in business and management we are, at the end of the day, human beings who are easily impressed by things like mugs with logos and shiny metal paperweights. Such are the frailties of the human spirit.
Thankfully, for all of you, you have me. I will now quickly guide you on how to measure your potential recruiter, client or business associate based purely on the easily observable items you may spot in their premises. Follow me for a life-changing set of tips.
Item : Shiny lobby with squeaky clean marble floors.
Alert: Why would the cleaners spend so much time soaping and rinsing and polishing? Simple. The boss comes to work every single day. No outstation trips or golfing holidays for him. Which means you will never be able to leave early or come in late. Proceed only if you deeply loathe work-life balance. Caution: Wet Floor.
Item: HR posters everywhere. In the lift. On the walls.
Alert: Looks like a great people-friendly place to work does it? Pshaw! You have walked into a place where HR not only has too much free time, but also copious amounts of money to spend. Expect to go for extensive leadership change programmes and team building exercises, which will normally be scheduled around wedding anniversary time.
Item: Outstanding catering with extensive cuisine choices. Lobby café.
Alert: ‘Go home for dinner with the family? When we have spaghetti bolognese and tiramisu in the canteen? And inch-thick wads of meal coupons? Impossible. You have sold your soul to us. Guahahaha…’
Item: State-of-the-art laptops for everyone along with features-rich Blackberries.
Alert: Wow! They invest so much on infrastructure for the employees, no? No! Instead you will soon begin to loathe both devices and will find yourself leaving them around unattended at cafes and airports hoping that someone would steal them. Also, changing the ringtone (set on Barbie Girl by the cheeky fellows in IT) is against company policy.
Item: Expensive champagne and Cuban cigars adorn the CEO’s lavish office.
Alert: What a sophisticated man! Must be enriching to work under him. Or so you think. In reality, you will soon be reporting to a semi-conscious gentleman who is on a slightly high all day:
You: “So from your perspective, as CEO, I really think that this is an acquisition that will add value to our overall product portfolio, long-term strategy and international expansion plans…”
CEO: “… I am the CEO? Hic!”
So as you can see, first impressions can be pretty risky things to go by. First impressions can be a minefield of career maladies for the gullible young manager. Thankfully, by using these tips you should be able to tiptoe past many of them.
Now, before we close the topic I know there is a burning question in your mind. What sort of recruiter is ideal? How do you know when a job is perfect? When do you know you’ve found the recruiter who will satisfy you for years and years?
Ideally, the interview takes place at a swanky restaurant over dinner. That way, you can knock back a few drinks too. (If the guy offers booze during lunch ask for the offer letter right away. Start work next morning.) You should be able to work from home. This omits the need for an office altogether. It also means that the dress code is a lungi and white banian. Lunch break is as and when you wish. Also, your remuneration should have nothing at all to do with the actual effort you put in. And whenever you need to send in reports to the office, they could send the receptionist to pick it up.
When you come to think of it, that’s a lot like freelance writing. Except for the receptionist. And the money.
Sigh.
See you all next fortnight. Till then you taking the care, wokay?
(The writer, an alumnus of IIM-A, was a management consultant before quitting to work as a freelance writer, author and general handyman. He blogs at http://www.whatay.com)
Reliance third well in Cauvery Basin turns out to be dry
Reliance third well in Cauvery Basin turns out to be dry
Drilling rig moved to Krishna-Godavari asset
——————————————————————————–
Digging for oil
In the Cauvery asset, RIL has no further drilling commitment.
The company struck hydrocarbon in the first well drilled in the block
The second well was abandoned due to a technical snag.
——————————————————————————–
Richa Mishra
New Delhi, Dec. 9 Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) seems to have run out of luck in its deepwater Cauvery asset. The company has been able to strike hydrocarbon in only one of the three wells drilled in CY-DWN-2001/2 (CY-D5). In October, RIL had re-entered the asset to carve out the third well.
Sources told Business Line that drilling activity in the third well which started in October had been completed and the company had not done any hydrocarbon testing. RIL had earlier this year struck hydrocarbon in the first well drilled in the block and had to abandon the second well due to a technical snag.
As on date, RIL has 34 oil and gas blocks in its kitty, and has made about 34 discoveries (both commercial and non-commercial) in India with a success ratio of 60 per cent. The company has drilled over 30 dry wells till now.
Rig moved to KG basin
RIL has now moved the drilling rig to its Krishna Godavari asset KG-OSN-2001/1, the shallow water block where it has already made a discovery. In the Cauvery asset, RIL has no further drilling commitment. Sources said that in these kinds of blocks (CY-D5), called ‘wild cat blocks’, the success ratio is one in 10. Therefore, the company’s strike rate of one in three is not below the international average. The wild cat blocks are new frontier areas.
The financial implications of hitting a dry well would largely depend on the results of the first find, industry analysts say. “If size of the discovery is not very big in the first well, it would not be economically very viable.
Further, if two-three dry wells are drilled in the region, then the accumulated area is limited, thus making the success largely dependent on the size of the first discovery. Besides, the company may be required to rethink its exploration model,” analysts said.
The find in the first well showed there were two zones. In the first zone, as per the initial tests, RIL has found 550 barrels per day of oil and one million cubic ft per day of gas, while in the second zone, it found 31 million cubic ft per day of gas and 1,200 barrels per day of condensate.
RIL has already informed the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons about it. The block is 14,325 sq km in size.
RIL had deployed its rig Actinia to undertake the activity. The third well was altogether a separate geological structure, quite different from what has been discovered in the block.
When it re-entered the NELP-III block, RIL had the option of resuming activity in the abandoned second well.
However, the company decided against it and, based on seismic surveys, decided to carve out another area in the block, sources said. RIL holds 100 per cent interest in the block.
A story of determination
A story of determination
H.S. Narasimha Kumar
DAVANGERE: He is from a barber’s family and helps his father in his profession. But helping his father did not make him slack in his studies.
B.S. Vijay Kumar scored 93 per cent in the second Pre-University Course exam held this year and stood first in his college, DRM Science College in Davangere. He secured the 3035th and 4922nd ranks respectively for medical and engineering seats in the Common Entrance Test.
Vijay, who has been performing well all through his academic life, wants to become an electronics engineer. He continues to assist his father in his profession, as he is yet to be admitted to an engineering college. Vijay does not want to pursue his studies elsewhere as he wants to continue assisting his father till he completes his education and gets a job to take care of the family. He hopes to do his engineering at the Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology (BIET) or at Brahamappa Devendrappa Thavannappanavar (BDT) Engineering College in Davangere.
Father proud
Despite concentrating on his studies, Vijay did never failed to attend to customers at his father’s shop. “In spite of telling him to concentrate on his studies instead of assisting me at the shop, Vijay used to continue to do both with ease. He has scored very good marks right from his childhood,” recalled Somashekarappa, his father. Despite having studied in a Kannada-medium school from the beginning, Vijay has a good vocabulary in English.
That Vijay is an extraordinary boy can be seen, and he has indeed set an example for other children.
ClicksandWrites 
You must be logged in to post a comment.