What I do for living is more important than how much I earn

Money may be the husk of many
Things, but not the kernel
It brings you food, but not
Appetite
Medicine but not health
Acquaintances, but not faithfulness
Days of joy, but not peace or happiness

We are living at the dawn of an info-millennium. Our lives, powered by superb communication, fabulous electronic gadgets, powerful computers, speedy transport, and extraordinary healthcare, too have changed a lot; for the better or for the worse, it is debatable. Mouthwatering restaurants, fabulous supermarkets, refreshing beverages, magnificent multiplexes, gorgeous multiscrapers, cool outfits, splendid 3D games, movies loaded with special effects, excellent music, and beautiful books; have undoubtedly affected the way we make sense of this world we live in.

It appears that there is a kind of rat-race going on. Cut-throat competition exists in almost any field today. People have a lurking sense of insecurity; insecurity of getting a desirable job being the most prominent. But, simultaneously, people in India have a pervasive tendency to follow the crowd; they literally and not only metaphorically, act cowardly, they wish to play safe. The increase in number of software engineers reaffirms this phenomenon. Irrespective of one’s branch of engineering, the prospective engineer cares the least to make sense of what he learnt during these four years, he simply takes a software job and then life is decided; everything is over. It is the strong fear of failure that grips all of us, people do not want to experiment even things in which they have a high probability of success. What if I fail in this venture? What if I will come in the eyes of people, then I will be called a failure? People justify this by arguing that one should be pragmatic as well but in essence all these are defense-mechanisms, they are just the latent manifestations of their lust for materialism, their reluctance to do something novel, and their indifference to intrinsically interesting but not lucrative things. They are lured by this seemingly glamorized but inherently enigmatic and depraved world.

Take for example, why am I writing this essay? Is it because it can help me earn a lavish internship at one of the most prestigious college of the world or is it because it is about an issue which is close to my heart, about an issue which I feel so strongly about, which innervates my feelings.

It is true that every man is ambitious, everybody dreams of becoming a billionaire, wants fame, a big bungalow, a big luxury car, maids, servants, attendants, a fun-loving comfortable life. But, this crave for material benefits have deprived us. The world has become selfish and as Swami Vivekananda propounded, “One who is selfish is immoral”; the world has become immoral. Ends matter more to us than the means to achieve them. We forsake knowingly or unknowingly all our values (if any) and do not even question ourselves whether what we did was ethical or not; just our ends should be met.

Take a familiar setting like an academic setting. Grades/marks earned at the end only matters to us not the toil which we put in. We don’t acknowledge the effort our teachers have put in; we don’t try to appreciate how researchers have made marvelous discoveries and how tactfully they have invented wonderful gadgets. It is a selfish world, students read to get grades, teachers seldom put efforts and teach merely to complete the course, caring the least whether anybody is following their lectures or not. It is not that grades are not important, studying for grades is justifiable and is a reasonable benchmark to measure excellence but forsaking the valor, indifference to novelty, reluctance of finding trivial things on our own, cheating in examinations, copying assignments, bunking classes, the “Copy and Paste” culture; this is where futility creeps in. This was not the purpose of setting up these institutes of learning. Except the software industry, the research scenario in India is gloomy. We still look to other countries for technology. Why? It is because of the pervasive “Me Too” approach. Whatever novel ideas the scientists elsewhere generate, we wish to work on them rather than trying to think afresh. Whatever little research that is done, it is done not with the spirit of uncovering things and understanding phenomena but the ulterior motive is to publish because publishing papers will get more grants, more money to spend on. It is called the “Publish or Perish” phenomena.

In short, we have succumbed to this rat-race. Most of us are running so fast that we sometimes forget not only where we’ve been but also where we’re heading towards. We tend to dismiss those dreams of ours which are not in coherence with the rules of the world, following which can make us separated from this crowd, following which is not very lucrative. We don’t want to come out of the comfort zone. The thing is that we see, perceive and weigh everything with respect to its market value. Anything which is intrinsically interesting but doesn’t have a market value is immediately shunned. Unfortunately, most of our dreams and ambitions fall in these categories and are repressed. Everybody wants his/her child to be nobody but a doctor or an engineer or a MBA. Nobody wants them to be a painter, a scientist, a philanthropist, a social-awakener, Bhagat Singh, Gandhi. Why? To answer the cause of this attitude is straightforward. It is because money has sort of become like an anchor in our life. Today, the amount I earn decides my social status, it decides how broad my smile is, it decides the girl to whom I’ll get married and it controls the things I am interested in. People deliberately generate an interest in software engineering because this will fetch them money and money is the thing which only matters. No doubt, money is inevitable in one’s life but then it becomes futile after a threshold is achieved. Money in the need hierarchy, according to Abraham Maslow, a renowned psychologist can help us fulfill our basic physiological needs (hunger, thirst etc.) and some safety needs (needs for security, stability and order) but it seldom has a role to play in fulfilling our higher needs for self-actualization, our esteem needs and our belongingness and love needs Money can’t buy the happiness a scientist gets in conducting experiments; it can’t buy the satisfaction of helping a needy to cross the road; it can’t buy the flush of energy you feel when you are thoroughly engrossed in your work and realize that you have forgotten your lunch/dinner; it can’t provide you the contentment at the end of the day when you have put your level best effort to work out things; it can’t buy the pleasure of sketching/reading; it can’t buy you the zealous feelings during a morning walk; it can’t buy you the saturated state when you play with your full vigor; it can’t buy you the melody; it can’t buy you the sweet sleep at the end of the day. The truth is that life has its pleasures and beauty in small things, most of which are free- the fresh air, water, friends, smile and the list goes on. “Success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration”. The feeling of saturation when you put in your level best has no parallel. The guide is to listen to your heart’s call, introspect pragmatically whether your earnings if you choose your intrinsic interests will fulfill your basic physiological and security needs and then get set for work. A feeling of satisfaction after this resolution ensures the lighted path to bliss. It is because life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way. “Following what has meaning, soul, passion and spirit for you, following the dictates of your own awareness and blissfulness, trusting your own inner guru; and walking your talk” is the well-known law of two feet.

In a nut shell, choosing a job/path strictly on the basis of what the gains are and not taking into account one’s intrinsic interests are, is an irony. Some people may call it a pragmatic strategy but this is not a far-sighted strategy. It will create detrimental chaos at some point of time. This is a the reason behind the increasing number of suicides these days in the working class; the surge in number of people visiting psychologists reporting depression, dissatisfaction and frustration; the growing cases of corruption, scandals, forgery in our country.

If you had to look back on your life what would you remember?
The promotion? The performance bonus?
The plaque in the conference room?
It doesn’t take supreme intelligence to know what really matters.
And yet, you do little besides look in the distance and sigh.
Wouldn’t it be tragic to realize too late
That you didn’t see the trap, that you didn’t recognize
The two words that are the biggest curse of humanity…
Maybe someday?
It takes little to RECLAIM your life
Otherwise life would cut like a knife.

"Nature" is what we see -
The Hill - the Afternoon -
Squirrel - Eclipse - the Bumble bee
-Nay - Nature is Heaven -
Nature is what we hear -
The Bobolink - the Sea -
Thunder - the Cricket -
Nay - Nature is Harmony -
Nature is what we know -
Yet have no art to say -
So impotent Our Wisdom is
To her Simplicity.

Emily Dickinson

Love and Genes Can Beat Poverty -Study 5/26/2004 1:41 PM Wed May 26, 6:15 AM ET Add Science - Reuters to My Yahoo! LONDON (Reuters) - Love and genes can overcome even the most abject poverty, according to a study into the effects of environmental factors on child development. The study of 1,116 mothers and their five-year-old same-sex twins in poor households in England and Wales found that poverty did not have to be a life sentence and the right combination of parental care and genetics could triumph over adversity. "Children in our study experienced more than just poverty as measured by family income level, Julia Kim-Cohen of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College in London wrote in the May issue of the journal Child Development. "Living in the poorest neighborhoods, their homes were rated as being overcrowded, damp or in disrepair," she added. The study differentiated between twins sharing all the same genes and those sharing only half. It showed that genetic makeup does play a role in the ability of children to rise above their poverty and not suffer behavioral or cognitive setbacks, but it was not the whole answer. "The warmth, mental stimulation and interest that parents pay toward their young children can make a big difference in their children's lives," Kim-Cohen said. Fellow researcher Terrie Moffitt said they only studied mothers because in many of the poorest households the father was absent, so trying to look at both parents in families where the father was still present would have skewed the study. "The main point of the research is that neither genes nor poverty can determine a child's fate," Kim-Cohen said.

It is a real inspiring stuff, read it in class 6th or so,
Just had a feeling- some words/sayings remain immortal
not because they say a new thing but because they say
the same old thing in an entire new fashion.
Hindi writers like Kabir,Premchand, Ramdhaari Singh Dinkar,
Sumitranandan Pant and the list never will end.

But, we people do not even care to look what these
great men have done rather we are too much fascinated
by the writers in the west. I do not want to say that
we should not read them but one should also marvel on
the great achievements of one's own culture.It is
debatable but I think I can convince you that there
are lot of things you need to explore more about Indian literature.
I say Indian and not hindi because I don't want to categorise
India by Hindi rather languages like Oriya, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali
etc. are also equally enriched in terms of literature. I mean,
literature is an inherent part of society.
In hindi this saying is aptly called"saahitya hi samaj kaa darpan hai"
meaning "The literature is the true reflection of the society".

JO BEET GAYI...
                   (Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachhan)

                  Jo beet gayi so baat gayi|

                  jivan main ek sitara tha,
                  mana, veh behad pyara tha,
                        veh doob gaya to doob gaya,
                        amber ke aanan ko dekho,
                  kitne iske taare toote,
                  kitne iske pyaare chhoote,
                        jo chhoot gaye phir kahan mile,
                        par bolo toote taaron par,
                  kab amber shok manata hai,
                  jo beet gayi so baat gayi|

                        Jivan main veh tha ek kusum,
                        the us par nitya-nichhwar tum,
                  veh sookh gaya to sookh gaya,
                  madhuwan ki chhati ko dekho,
                        sookhi kitni iski kaliyan,
                        murjhaayi kitni ballariyan,
                  jo murjhayi phir kahan khilin,
                  par bolo sookhe phoolon par,
                        kab madhuban shor machata hai,
                        jo beet gayi so baat gayi|

                  Jivan main madhu ka pyaala tha,
                  tumne tan-man de daala tha,
                        veh toot gaya to toot gaya,
                        madiralaya ka aangan dekho,
                  kitne pyaale hil jaate hain,
                  gir mitti main mil jaate hain,
                        jo girte hain kab uthte hain,
                        par bolo toote pyaalon par,
                  kab madiralaya pachhtata hai,
                  jo beet gayi so baat gayi|
                  mridu mitti ke bane hue,
                  madhughat phoota hi karte hain,
                        laghu jivan lekar aaye hain,
                        pyaale toota hi karte hain,
                  Phir bhi madiralaya ke andar,
                  madhu ke ghat hain, madhu pyaale hain,
                  jo madakta ke maare hain,
                  ve madhu loota hi karte hain,
                        veh kacha pine wala hai,
                        jiski mamta ghat pyaalon par,
                  jo sache madhu se jala hua,
                  kab rota hai chillata hai,
                  jo beet gayi so baat gayi|

Vande Mataram (in Bangla: বন্দে মাতরম Bônde Matôrom) is the national song of India. The song was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in a highly Sanskritized form of the Bengali language. The song first appeared in his book Anandamatha, published in 1882 amid fears of a ban by British Raj, though the song itself was actually written six years prior in 1876.

सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम्
शस्य श्यामलां मातरं .
शुभ्र ज्योत्सनाम् पुलकित यामिनीम
फुल्ल कुसुमित द्रुमदलशोभिनीम्,
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीम् .
सुखदां वरदां मातरम् .. वन्दे मातरम्

सप्त कोटि कन्ठ कलकल निनाद कराले
द्विसप्त कोटि भुजैर्ध्रत खरकरवाले
के बोले मा तुमी अबले
बहुबल धारिणीम् नमामि तारिणीम्
रिपुदलवारिणीम् मातरम् .. वन्दे मातरम्

तुमि विद्या तुमि धर्म, तुमि ह्रदि तुमि मर्म
त्वं हि प्राणाः शरीरे
बाहुते तुमि मा शक्ति,
हृदये तुमि मा भक्ति,
तोमारै प्रतिमा गडि मन्दिरे-मन्दिरे .. वन्दे मातरम्

त्वं हि दुर्गा दशप्रहरणधारिणी
कमला कमलदल विहारिणी
वाणी विद्यादायिनी, नमामि त्वाम्
नमामि कमलां अमलां अतुलाम्
सुजलां सुफलां मातरम् .. वन्दे मातरम्

श्यामलां सरलां सुस्मितां भूषिताम्
धरणीं भरणीं मातरम् .. वन्दे मातरम्

Though a major aspirant for being the national anthem of India, Vande Mataram was eventually overtaken by Jana Gana Mana, which was ultimately chosen. The choice was slightly controversial, since the Vande Mataram was the one song that truly depicted the pre-independence national fervour. The song was rejected on the grounds that Muslims felt offended by its depiction of the nation as "Ma Durga"—a Hindu goddess— thus equating the nation with the Hindu conception of shakti, divine feminine dynamic force; and by its origin as part of Anandamatha, a novel they felt had an anti-Muslim message (see External links below). There is some controversy with Jana Gana Mana also as it mentions some areas as part of India which are now no longer with India. However, in recent times, there has been much more of an acceptance of the historically passionate patriotic cry and, for example, famous Muslim popular music composer A. R. Rahman has released an album with the same title, which had become a resounding success.

"Cleaning Lady"

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz.

I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:

"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times.

She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended,

One student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant.

They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello".

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

Just a clarification, this is a real story which I read in a book along with children at "Prayas". It's a nice one and I think the moral of the story is to say that some morals should be there in the bloodstream. I mean that this moral should be innate.

I read this inspiring news and this set me on fire, made me feel what wonders can success do in one's life. Topping the exams and coming in the limelight means a lot; it boosts your morale and gives you a new purpose of life.

This particular example is a perfect answer to guys like Hitler and Churchill who advocated slaughter of the physically and mentally challenged. We also have a lot of things to learn from them. I feel that we do not recognise our potentials to the full( or probably do not want to); we have everything but we do not use anything instead those who do not have takes it as a challenge and show us our mediocrity.

Hats off to Govind, chaapte rahon

Gilvester

Sunday, May 28, 2006 (Kollam):

A 15 year old in Kollam suffering from a congenital physical disability has scored a remarkable 95.2 per cent.

Govind never really expected much from his Standard X CBSE results. He suffers from a congenital physical disablity.

But despite his disability he's managed to score 476 out of 500 marks, which is 95.2 per cent. The secret, he says, is in keeping a cool head and regular study.

Govind cannot sit straight for over an hour and can't write fast. He gets exhausted after walking a short distance and often, his schoolmates carry his bag for him.

No different

But his parents Ravi Kumar, a psychiatrist and his wife Jaysree, who's an ophthalmologist, have ensured that he never feels like he's any different from the other kids.

"We have never interfered with his studies, allowed him to do whatever he wants. There was no tuition for him, only encouragement from our side," said Ravi.

Like his sister Parvathy, a second year MBBS student, Govind also wants to study medicine. But its not just books for the boy.

He loves football and Wayne Rooney is a hero. He is also a carnatic vocalist and spends time reading thrillers.

Not one to rest on his laurels, for Govind, these results mark only the beginning of a journey that will take him to much greater heights in life.

If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research.
--Brian Foley ( Molecular Genetics Dept.University of Vermont )

I found this signature on an on an online newsgroup and it just changed my mood instantaneously. I am not aware why I am not able to do anything substantial since many days. Research appears to be difficult(atleast to me on my first venture).

It just amazes me that how tiny findings have changed the world completely and still there are many puzzles whihc are left for all of us to find out.
Another thing which lets me to think of the classical "Nature or Nurture" problem. Will all problems be solved if Ramanujam would have been alive till today? or any person who is motivated and applies his/her mind could crack?
I am in affirmation for the second option.

Go in for watching " Good Will Hunting" just to explore more about these issues.

" The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it"

How true and how profound?
I'll say more after your comments.

Why should you sneeze and why should you cough?

why should you smile and why should you laugh?

Why should sulk and why should you sigh?

Everybody does it, thats why thats why.

Why should you love and why should you hate?

why should you suffer and blame it on fate?

why should you weep and why should you cry?

Everybody does it thats why thats why.

Why should you always sleep in the night?

why should you always try to be right?

Why should you live and why should you die?

Everybody does it thats why thats why.


Source:
http://halfhearted-funny.blogspot.com/2006/04/evam-indrajit.html

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

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

- Rabindranata Tagore

CComb your life by smiles not tears,
Count your life by friends not years

How profound these words are?

I

Two roads diverged in yellow wood, and I
I took the one less travelled by
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

How true? How profound?
It appears that it is a fundamental streak in human nature not to take risks, follow the crowd and do the things in the sterotypical ways.

more to write but feeling sleepy.

Now, finally the time has come. The time to imbibe all the energy so as to put in my level best for my project- the SURGE program.

The project is on a phenomenan called " codon bias" and hey it starts from tomorrow.
Common monu, you can do it.

I just have one feeling now- that there are many things to discover and they will be discovered in the same way as the old have been discovered. By old, I meant the phenomenal discoveries.

In the end, I have only one desire- to put into my level best and try to the best of my ability what really is strange about codon bias and yes what application we can think of. We have heart transplants, somebody would have thought about it. There are all kinds of things that could be done but what it needs is constant motivation.

yes, I can do it.

Story of a Mother with one eye
Son's Statement:

" My mom only had one eye. I hated her... she was such an embarrassment. She
cooked for students & teachers to support the family. There was this one day
during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to me.

I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me?

I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out.

The next day at school one of my classmates said, "EEEE, your mom only has
one eye!"

I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear.

So I confronted her that day and said, " If you're only gonna make me a
laughing stock, why don 't you just die?!!!"

My mom did not respond...

I didn't even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I
was full of anger. I was oblivious to her feelings. I wanted out of that
house, and have nothing to do with her.

So I studied real hard, got a chance to go to Singapore to study.

Then, I got married.
I bought a house of my own.
I had kids of my own.
I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts

Then one day, my mother came to visit me. She hadn't seen me in years and
she didn't even meet her grandchildren. When she stood by the door, my
children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited.

I screamed at her, "How dare you come to my house and scare my children! GET
OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!"

And to this, my mother quietly answered, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have
gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared out of sight.

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house in Singapore.
So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip.

After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out of curiosity. My
neighbors said that she died.

I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me
to have. "

Mom's Letter:

"My dearest son,
I think of you all the time. I'm sorry that I came to Singapore and scared
your children. I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion.
But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I'm sorry that I
was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up. You
see........when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost
your eye. As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with
one eye.

So I gave you mine.

I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my
place, with that eye. With my love to you,

Your mother. 

Staying in Summers

One thing is clear to me-whoever wishes to stay in the summers over here is definitely an aspiring active creature who wants to do something good in his life. Also, one can ejoy those things which we normally are not able to avail off during the semesters.

I am entitled to do a research project in the SURGE program here at IIT Kanpur. Initially, it is a feeling of pride in my bosom but I just look forward to it not only as one another thing but a thing which I will try to pursue to the best of my abilities.

Things are becoming tough. Lot ost higns to do- but my prime focus should be on the project.

I have just gotten up. Time to bathe and get back to work. Common monu, you can do it.

Have a nice day.

test

Too often we don't realise
What we have until it's gone.

Too often we wait too long to say
" I'm sorry. I was wrong. "

Sometimes it seems we hurt the ones
We hold dearest to our hearts.

And we allow stupid things
To tear our lives apart.

Far too many times we let
Unimportant things get in our minds.

And by then, its usually too late
To see what made us blind.

So be sure that you let people know
How much they mean to you.

Take the time to say the words
Before your time is through.

Be sure that you appreciate
Everything that you have got.

And be thankful to the little things
In life that mean a lot

Yesterday, a fourth year student, Shailesh hung himself to death. Why, only because he got a 'F' in a course he was doing for the third time. It is the second incident of suicide in the past 5 months.

I do not understand how one can be so sensitive on one hand and one can be so heartless on the other. It is such an acute feelign of uncomfort that it fills the whole heart with paina and distress.

I don't know whether he did was right or wrong but definitely, the system has many flaws. I agree we got to excel but see studying to become a database is not the thing which should be envisaged from us. The faculty here behaves as if we are all thieves, we are useless. No one tries to understand us and motivate.

The faculty should enthuse a spirit in the students so that we get interested. Although, we should also be responsible but I think they have to play a big role. Faculty here teaches as if they have only one job- to distribute grades, exactly in the same way as a vendor sells vegetables in the market. It is such a bad situation that we can't help.

Students are so naive and soft when they come here but in the end what they become- negligent to studies, hard-hearted and merely a database kind of thing. Why?? was this the purpose to come to IIT? These three magic words transforms the expressions of any third person but it changes everything.