To Lead a Life of Abundance: KrishnaMani shows the way

'E manohara theerathu tharumo ini oru janmam koodi, enikku iniyoru janmam koodi'- (Will I be born again in this beautiful land?) goes a popoular Malayalam song. When poets sing about the beauty of life and all the wonders around, many curse their existence and think about all the bad things that have happened in their lives- miserable childhood, distressing school, uninteresting job, a troubled marriage,  unhelpful relatives and friends, a chaotic society...the list is endless. They look to the media to hear more of such things being reported and it becomes their favourite discussion point.

For the past ten years, KrishnaMani and her team have been telling this is not the way. Replace each negative thought with a positive thought, replace each negative feeling with a positive affirmation, visualise all the good things you want to see in your life and see the magic happening. At Hotel Dunes in Kochi on December 20 and 21, it was again a two full-day session for KrishnaMani which began with the need to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. You are sitting in a chair- who cut the wood, who designed it into a chair, who sold it and how are you able to sit on it, you reached here on time, you may have come in your own car, be grateful you have the car and could drive, today morning you woke up and had a cup of tea or water, how did it reach you. Who all made it happen. You must be thankful to all of them. It could be a planter in a far away tea plantation or a engineer working overtime to ensure drinking water supply to your home.

Power of Positive Thoughts
You hear people complaining about corrupt government officials, bad roads, heavy traffic, inefficient officials, you talk about your child who doesn't study well, lacks discipline, you hear your children discussing how poorly their teacher teaches lessons. First erase all such negative feelings or thoughts and replace it will positive thoughts. Write in a piece of paper every day, my teachers are efficient, they come to class regularly, I respect my father, mother, gurus, all the sages and saints who gave me the wisdom and the strength to face alladversities in life. An affirmation note book written regularly can make miracles in our life. Geetha, a school teacher said her children now write five affirmations every day: I am the best student, I can learn, understand and achieve, I respect my teachers and my friends. Thoughts are like seeds- positive thoughts creative positive results. Thoughts are also like boomerang- it is capable of rebounding as fast as we release it.

Anjulakshmi talked about how this wisdom enabled her to find her perfect match Nishad and with their only son Keshav, continue to be part of KrishnaMani's inner circle and spread the message of oneness and prosperity. Her husband Nishad has spoken earlier about how visualising through a 'mind movie' helped him achieve his dream of owning a brand new SUV.

Life of abundance
Life is abounding- the nature is rich with greenery, with all the fruits and flowers, energy, matter that can continue to grow to meet the needs of more and more people. How many visualise the world that way? Aren't we more prone to talk about scarcity and lack of things in our life, in our country and society. This is where cultivating abundance consciousness becomes important.  If you are not grateful for all the good that has come into your life, how can you continue to experience abundance. How can you feel the abundance when all that we talk about is scarcity and dearth. Be grateful for the wages that you are receiving now, be grateful to your employers and wish for their prosperity, more wealth will flow. Be grateful for the house that you live in whether rented or own, be grateful to your vehicle, to your family and friends who help you, soon more abundance will start flowing. KrishnaMani wouldn't say it's her wisdom, it has come from the Universe, the eternal source, from the sages and saints.

Life is all about balance
For a fruitful life, the panchabhutas- Fire (symbolised by your thumb), Air (index finger), ether (middle finger), earth (ring finger) and water (small finger) should be balanced. Now you understand the importance of folding your hands and saying namaste. So are the seven chakras- the crown, third eye, throat, solar plexus, root...which corresponds to your spiritual thinking, emotions, higher thought, expression, communication, money, wealth, relationshiops, digestion, health and there are several day-to-day actions that can restore the balance- including jogging, walking, clapping hands, simple stretching excercises.

Money Freedom
We have not been born into this world to lead a life of misery and poverty. It is our thoughts that lead to such an existence. What is the harm in saying- ' I love money, let it come in plenty.' You can use it for yourself,well being of your family, you could use it for religious activities, charity,you use it to pay taxes- development of civilisation and society... money is not the root of all evil.

KrishnaJyothi Group
The KrishnaJyothi group is evolving and spreading across the state and country. The number of people who have gained from the wisdom of the sages channelised through KrishnaMani continues to grow. Why wait, join the abundance culture and make way to greater prosperity. Thanks to Vinay, Liju Sunil, Kishore Lal, Shaji PM, Reshma Shaji and all those who make the group happen.

Whatsapp: How it destroys F2Fc

Last week, as we ( my wife Aswathy, kids Darshan and Diyah) spent an evening with our long time family friend Darsana and Pradeep- the topic of Whatsapp came up. All of us were ofcourse ocassionaly, looking at our mobiles for updates.It was actually Pradeep's remarks that ignited my interest in writing this  It is not surprising to see people sitting for dinner at a restaurant and hardly talking to each other but moving their fingers through the touch screen and texting on Whatsapp or FB Messenger or the several other new ones like Hike or Hangouts that have come up.

Now people are no longer interested in your landline number or cell number.Hey are you on Whatsapp? You see its easy to share photos, videos, text with the convenience of not seeing face to face.  A couple broke up only because the wife didn't respond to the husband's message but his screen showed 'blue tick '. So what was she doing all the time? Wait a minute: From where did I get this news? From FB ofcourse!

Then there are couples who pry on each other's Whatsapp messages creating a hell in their relationships. I heard a guy lament, 'all my wife's friends on whatsapp are guys.'

Whatsapp groups
I am in a few Whatsapp groups and if you haven't muted those, it keeps beeping constantly. Some people start of with a 'Good morning' and can be seen through out the day passing comments, sharing pictures and even putting offensive jokes until midnight. Some time back I went a doctor's clinic and lot of people were waiting in the lobby for their turn. Some magazines and newspapers were kept there. Except for an elderly gentleman, none of them were reading but busy texting on their phones and smiling.

And then I heard a guy say in frustration, " I am going to stop this whatsapp. Seriously, It's taking lot of time in useless talk." But he's still there hooked to it.

How Whatsapp destroys language
I fear if I hang on to Whatsapp and FB I may lose  my language skills. This may be the shortest blog I have written and that too very informally-- that's all you need to.

-In Whatsapp  you don't need to write a full sentence: smileys will help up complete a broken sentence- whether its LOL, cryingm a frown or an anguish and there is always the clap and the thumbs up -frequently overused.

- Earlier, they said:  Let's meet over a cup of tea- but now : " Let's meet on Whatsapp"

-Losing perspective: In face to face or oral communication through phone-- as you make a sentence you have the option to clarify it further. But in Whatsapp-- sometimes, that perspective may be lost. You may type something and send, before you blink your eye the other person could reach a conclusion and that could sap a relationship.

Opportunity cost
What would be the opportunity cost of spending time on Whatsapp? All the good things that you can do: Planting a tree, reading a book, spending quality time with your children, spending f2f (face-to-face) time and or even genuinely helping others.

Whatsapp may be a great  (or Gr8) technological revolution but at what social costs? Still lazy to comment on this- pls Whatsapp me!

The Authentic Lil' America

Hey, All ya' hot dog fans, have ya' all heard 'bout lil' America? Well, it's this fast food restaurant right in the middle o' Panampilly Nagar, the fast growing commercial area in Cochin. Anyone who loves hot dogs is gonna love this place!

Well, I went there with great expectation, and to my surprise, it was way more than what I expected. With the cool music in their Jukebox, the baseball glove and the rugby ball on display, the place gives you that kind of feeling you get in a café in the Americas. The graffiti on the main wall featuring major American marks including Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty is quite something (I found myself staring at it for a couple of minutes).

this held my gaze for like, 10 minutes.

So, as you can see, I was pretty impressed by the looks and the vibe, and my next step was to evaluate the food. I bought a couple of hot dogs, some waffles and a slushy. As I took my first bite of the hot dog, I thought: “This place is one of a kind!”

Another impressive feature is their charity programme. Any customer can donate a hot dog, and they'll pin a tab on to the S.O.W, or ‘Some On the Wall’ board (quirky, eh?). When they've got a lot of tabs, they invite children from a selected orphanage, and serve twice as many hot dogs as donated by the customers. Quite noble and quite interesting, I should say.                                                                                                      

Rupam and Arunima Gupta, the brains behind Lil" America

I appreciate the efforts of Rupam and Arunima Gupta, the couple behind this venture. I’m very much looking forward to my next visit to Lil’ America. A nice little restaurant, neatly tucked away at the 5th Cross Road of Panampilly Nagar. This place is a must-visit for all those who are looking for a new taste. Make sure ya’ get the name right…. Lil’ America. Let me spell it out for ya'.                                                                             

L-I-L   A-M-E-R-I-C-A. There you go!

Choli Ke Peechey Kya Hai: It keeps a man guessing!

What's behind a woman's blouse? The Bollywood hit song from Khalnayak of early 1990's jokingly says it's the heart!

Unlike other mammals, human female breasts are now considered more of a sexual organ than a mammary gland that springs into life following child birth.

Desmond Morris, best selling author of Body Watching, Human Watching, Naked Ape...series of books that look at humans from a zoological perspective have already traced the evolution of breast from a mammary gland to a sexually attractive organ in female.

According to Carol Jahne, a writer in The Guardian, UK, the plump bosom in the human ape is an anomoly. No other mammals have a permanent breast. The writer points out that the sex appeal of rounded female buttocks and plump breasts is both universal and unique to the human primate.

The evolutionary process has also wired into female psyche the need to have large breasts and cancer patients and specialists who attended a recent talk show on TV felt they felt most awkward when breasts had to be removed to prevent spread of malignant tumour. This in turn has led to a growing industry for silicone breast implants.

The evolution of the breast as a sex organ has also paved the way for a multi-billion dollar lingerie industry with its market size seen at 1.6 bn to 2 bn pieces worldwide. And the best part is that women and designers are now more keen to come up with dresses that don't fully reveal the bosom but still ensure that men keep guessing and feel attracted! 

When Facebook becomes a window to the world

I was drawn into Facebook partly for personal and partly for official reasons. In fact, I began looking seriously at social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin to actually look at ways to promote the sites I am working for. Initially, I too had a Facebook page with updates done once in a while and basically to further share some of the stories that Commodity Online (www.commodityonline.com), Bulliion Street (www.bullionstreet.com) published.

But now thanks to internet on mobile and my desire to keep up with what my friends and relatives are doing, I now check FB several times a day. Infact, when a small beep comes on my mobile signalling an FB update or notification I am tempted to immediately look into it- Just to find how others have responded to a funny post that I put or an interesting comment or a post I shared.

Still more as an editor who needs to keep track of Indian economy, global economy, markets and commodities in particular, FB as emerged as the best medium. You just need to like a lot of news sites across the world and immediately you have alerts of the best possible news and analysis published anywhere in the world. Some of my recent column ideas emerged from FB posts shared by my friends and some news breaks put by other news media sites.

Now waiting for your turn at a hair saloon, at a doctor's clinic or in any other place is no longer tiring as long as you have net connectivity on your mobile. Whatsapp continues to provide a medium for private communication and among groups. Some of the best and worst jokes, photos and videos are now being shared on Whatsapp.

Infact, when I have to communicate something even if it's a joke or an advice with my son, I find Whatsapp to be a better medium.Sometimes, when multiple messages appear on Whatsapp, Hangouts, Messenger apart from email reminders, your multi-tasking abilities will be put to test. (I sometimes envy my wife Aswathy who has recently attained a sort of stardom after becoming a Zumba fitness trainer and wellness-enthusiast as her mobile is never silent- with f\ans and well wishers wanting to chat and inundated with friend requests from across the globe. And this goes on well into the night until she switches off her data connection!!) As with most stars and celebrites, I told her she may well have to have a public FB profile that's accessible and the other that's private!!

As with any other medium, there are several reports of cyber crimes happening in social media and that's only to be expected with most of the victims being hapless girls and women. However, I feel our cyber laws are sufficiently well drafted to bring all such people to book but more importantly the police now employ the most sophisticated cyber solutions to frame a criminal.

Medium for positive thoughts
FB has also now become a medium for sharing positive thoughts and quotes from scriptures, religious books, philosophers, scientists like Abdul Kalam and gurus such as Sri Sri Ravishankar. It also becomes a vibrant medium to share human interest stories from across the world. Like this one I just read: A Chinese youth whose love proposal was turned down seven years ago by a girl saying he didn't have money to buy two movie tickets and has now emerged rich and bought the entire first day's ticket of a recently released movie. The youth said her former lover called her on hearing this news but was in no position to rekindle the relationship!!!

Or the interesting news that a man in Mumbai filed for a divorce saying his wife had put on weight. However, the Mumbai High Court turned down the plea saying it was not sufficient grounds for divorce.

On a personal note, birthdays, anniversaries, achievements are all for sharing on FB and so is mundane every day activities. For some, a favourite past time is changing their profile picture and cover photo every now and then.

A time-pass
It may appear that most of the activity in social media is being pursued just to while away time but that doesn't mean FB or Twitter can't be used creatively. In fact many politicians let known their views on a variety of topics through twitter and FB. For several others out there in cyberspace but not in FB or inactive in FB, I would only recommend to use these media creatively for their own benefit- businesses are realising so should individuals.

Power Point losing charm as a presentation tool

Thinking of making a Power Point to brighten your presentation before a large audience? Think twice. I have sat through many presentations solely backed by Power Point and found it disgusting. I think it could be the case with most people in the audience.

Last week, our company itself had an investors program in Kochi and speaker-after-speaker tried to use Power Point but with little effect. Some of the tables and points were hardly legible to an audience sitting in the middle to back of the auditorium. Even those sitting in the front rows had to struggle to see the fine print.

I think the problem crops up due to lack of knowledge on how to use Power Point in the first palce.

If you clutter your presentation with too much bullet points, each sentence appears smaller for the audience and hence has to take a lot of strain reading it.

If you are showing data in a table, and if it contains too many columns and rows, it's again a recipe for disaster. Most people may not be able to grasp the figures and understand your argument related to it.

I think Power Point works well in a small audience of 10-12 people in a discussion room provided you don't clutter it with too much words and data.

Pictures and video in Power Point can be effective provided it is very relevant to what you are talking about.Here again, clarity is a must-- if it's downloaded from You Tube or Google, poor resolutiion can spoil the show.

However, I have found many experts who don't use the Power Point at all gaining attention of the audience and with a little bit of humour, they can really keep the audience enthralled.

The benefits of PowerPoint are continuously debated. The term "PowerPoint hell" has been coined for long, tedious PowerPoint presentations that bore the audience, according to Wikipedia.

These points taken from WikiHow are worth noting:

-Don't use too much text in one template. Otherwise it would look too crowded and strenuous to the eyes. Not to mention boring.
-Don't use too many special effects as it can get distracting and annoying.
-Remember the more objects embedded in a PowerPoint, the larger the file. So if you're planning on saving it on a disk, you have to keep the file small unless saving the file on a thumb drive (jump drive) or burning it on CD.

Microsoft Power Point was launched officially on May 22, 1990, as part of Microsoft Office suite.It no doubt helps in creating presentations in no time compared to slides of yesteryears projected on slide projectors which consumed a lot of time and energy to produce. Properly used slide projectors had much more clarity and effectiveness to take the message across to the audience.

India's professional education: Are we Engineering a disaster?

My son now in 10th Std went for a foundation course for IIT-JEE while he was in 8th Std but gave it up after a year.

Many of his friends must be continuing it possibly on parental pressure. India has the largest workforce of engineers thanks to the proliferation of engineering colleges.

I met Arun, a Professor of Engineering while on my way to Chennai last week. He said Tamilnadu has about 500 or more engineering colleges of which only 100 may be of good quality.

When companies do recruitment of fresh engineering grads, they find only one-fifth of them are employable- the rest may not make it to their dream job and end up as clerks or in lowly paid jobs. The system of ranking of colleges by universities themselves has resulted in students and managements focussed on academic merits and not on practical knowledge or innovation, he said.

The IT boom, Y2K, offshore software development all led to a huge requirement of technical talent but now there seems to be an oversupply. This is the effect of Cobweb Theorem at work. Now upto 80,000 seats go vacant in Tamilnadu every year as neighbouring Kerala has also started self-financing colleges.

According to Cobweb theorem in economics, some industries such as education, plantation will attract more investors or participants based on current demand. But as more people start entering the industry, in course of time there will be oversupply or the industry prospects itself may diminish due to various factors. A new potential industry may have evolved by that time, but the pass-outs are not equipped for such a scenario.

Hence there is no reason why people should still run after engineering seats. It was heartening to meet Mr Vijayan Menon today morning on our return trip from Chennai, who has let his daughter to take a break after plus 2, do English orientation programmes and then decide future course of action next year. The other day we met Sucheta Pal, a leading Zumba fitness trainer in Chennai who quit a well-paid job at TCS to pursue her heart's passion- dance and fitness. The fact that her electrical and electronics engineering degree has gone waste or that her initial work in the engineering industry has gone waste did not deter her from plunging into a totally new career.

One of may old friends at college, who has now become an entrepreneur after doing his engineering degree asked me "why you also want your son to join the  engineering bandwagon?"  Surely, the engineers themselves are feeling engineering as a discipline is losing charm.

Earlier we had the screw driver technology- India colloborated with leading Japan, Korean, US firms to get technology and bring semi-knocked down (SKD) or completely knocked down (CKD) kits, assemble them and sell in their own brand.But now manufactures are getting the entire fabrication done in China which is the manufacturing hub of the world.

So why have such a huge engineering work force unless we are investing heavily in R&D that can be patented and sold abroad?. Arun said the sad part is that entrepreneurship is not promoted in the country. The techies who have bright ideas end up plodding all their lives in companies run by lesser educated people who can't understand the importance of technology.

He said there are lot of opportunities in the media industry which now lacks talent but awareness on this is lacking. Or in e-commerce and services sectors that requires a little of entrepreneurship and risk taking abilities.

That's why the title to this blog: Are we engineering a disaster? I remember people like Abdul Kalam and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who have campaigned for more funds for basic scientific research and more courses in basic science which is the need of the hour for India.

Tailpiece: In India, it is not uncommon for children to be forced into certain courses much to their dislike. My wife who had a passion for dance and home science ended up doing pharmacy but has now found her passion in Zumba and has become a qualified  instructor. Shouldn't we leave our children alone to pursue their passions or should we force something that appears to have good job potential?