New Resolutions for 2016

As every year I have set some goals for 2016; some personal and some professional. I will list the personal ones here.

• Lose weight
• Eat healthy including lots of fruits
• Achieve a degree for some teaching subject
• Read some 30-40 new books
• Do meditation and yoga on daily basis
• Visit the Shirdi Baba shrine in May-June

The year is just going to start and I am full of hope and conviction of fulfilling all my goals.I have come to the realization that eating healthy is the key to rooting out all problems.Regular studying and cogitating keeps the mind alert and happy.

 HAPPY NEW YEAR TO MYSELF

Twisty travel tales

The latest in fleecing people of small change is observed in toll booths while driving down the highways.This trend is also seen amongst vegetable sellers,small shops; what we call kirana stores or our neighbourhood grocer's.
I am sure you know what I am talking of.
Yes, the 50 paise or 25 paise candy which is passed on to the customer in lieu of small change with a plea...."chutta nahi hai"
 The height of this practice was when recently I was given a 5/ worth packet of haldiram namkeen at the toll booth! Duh! I was flabbergasted and in the process was speechless. What to do? Accept and drive on or throw it back on his face and face the ire of the other drivers lined up behind me and honking impatiently. Of course you know, it was this psychology the chap was playing upon......................which driver would pick up a fight for such a lowly item during peak hour traffic.

So on I drove, wondering what instructions the Road and Surface Transport Ministry or whoever that implements these toll taxes must be getting? Would my-friendly-neighbourhood-tollgate next supply me with samosas and kachoris and perhaps some sweets to go with them? The conversation would go something like this
Law Abiding Citizen(LAC)-65 ka ticket dena(giving a Rs 100 note), chutta nahi hai
Law Abiding Tollbooth Guy(LATG)- yeh lo, 65 ka ticket and 10 ka samosa, 20 ki kachori aur 5 ki tofee
LAC- eh heh....(gulp)..eh...eh...
LATG- sauce free hai............................enjoy
LAC(wobbling at the wheels)- yeh, yeh...samosa? kachori?
LATG- aage baro...can't you see green light is blinking?
LAC- par chutta.................?
LATG-poore ho gaye.

Period

I am seriously thinking of stocking up on some tiffin boxes to store these toffees,candies,some samosas(maybe),etc when next I approach the toll gate on any journey.Why spoil the fun........maybe I can buy some gulabjamuns to go with it down the road

The Art of Persuasion



We all have had that experience, buying things even when we know it is not really needed. While I won't go into the details of shopping instinct, shopaholics,et al, One thing which we have encountered in this experience(shopping without meaning to) is the sales patter coming from the person behind the counter.
We generally will dismiss his/her talk as 'salesmanship' but do you agree that he has the power of persuasion? He cajoles, argues, and finally persuades you to shell your precious dough.

So what is it that he has that makes you so malleable in his hands?

Obviously he is empathetic and establishes the connect with you quite effortlessly
He enters your world- how? by listening to you carefully
He understands your body language and he patterns his body language to it
He has the gift of the gab- all good businessmen,entrepreneurs, politicians, in fact all successful people have this gift
He understands human emotions; the foibles and frailties, all of it

You may think how all these is possible when we are spending such a short time with him?

Malcolm Gladwell in his book "Blink" gives a very good and logical explanation to this phenomena. In fact he asserts that all of us use this technique called- Thin Slicing. It is the perception our mind has when we first meet a person or situation and  surprisingly, it is 9 out of 10 times absolutely correct!

The art of persuasion depend on thin slicing technique to a large extent and then it is followed by all the effort one puts into it. The quicker and better the bond we establish with the 'customer' the higher and better is the sale quantum.

So next time you buy something needlessly know that you been 'Persuaded' 

            8 things that make me see red!

Coming back from office to see the house littered

Cribbing about workload

Expecting beyond one's abilities

Disrespecting elders

Finding fault in everyone and everything

Using foul language and gestures

Dissatisfied people

Hypochondriacs

The desire to be beautiful

Man or woman, everyone desires to be beautiful. The mirror asserts our image as we grow up and slowly our self image takes a firm shape in our minds.This helps in creating our self esteem also.

You may have noticed that a child spends little time in front of the mirror,but as he grows older the time increases exponentially. Every girl or boy thinks of himself as the most desirable and beautiful person on earth...God's gift to the opposite sex. In some cases self love or narcissism sets in quite early and continues for a long long time.

Whatever be the case the desire to look beautiful is a very strong instinct and we spend both time and money to appear the best. An entire industry runs on this psychology which is exploited to the maximum. Strangely it has nothing to do with age or social strata.How others see us is perhaps equally important and relevant in seeing ourselves in our own eyes.

The only aspect which we tend to forget in this mad rush to be beautiful is the fact that we need to be beautiful from within. There are no cosmetics to do it for us. It's something which we need to work upon on our own. But the reward for it is tremendous; it complements our physical beauty and adds to our personality.

Cleopatra was supposed to be the most beautiful lady in the ancient world and so was Helen of Troy for whom a 10 year war was fought! But the essential difference between the two is cone stood for the bold,courageous and magnetic beauty while the other was the garden variety type. Both enamored, both brought massive destruction yet both remain examples even today of great beauty.

These two aspects of beauty certainly tell us that beauty really lies in the eyes of the beholder 

Managing New Gadgets

Tough job, right? All these days I had thought of myself as gadget-savvy; after all I could work on the computer,run various household gadgets,talk intelligently on newbies coming into the market. Imagine my surprise and shock when I relate the following incident.

 It so happened that last week I bought a camera. This was primarily for my use and sometimes to be used by sonny dear.

No big deal! A small luxury or maybe not even that.....But after buying it I realised that there are more additional attachments which may/will be required later if I have to pursue this hobby, so pehla dhakka.
The second dhakka was that the gadget is too highend for me as it has be manipulated with scores of adjustments!
Third mukka(for now the dhakka has turned to mukka only)- some physics and mathematical calculations required for focus,light and dark shades,etc......Phew!


I am keeping a straight face and persevering with my tinkering, fast approaching a position when I know it will become my son's domain

You understand where all this leading to? Straight out of my hands to new generation sonny. Well i stand defeated and chastened till my next run-in with another gadget


                                                  
                                             

RANDOM THOUGHTS

                                               

The story of Krishna's birth is known to everyone; mothers,fathers and grandparents tell these lores to the children and it is passed on from generation to generation.Similarly Rama's birth and his sojourn culminating in getting Sita back is also another mythology deeply ingrained in every home in our country. Our moral and spiritual education takes on all these stories at its core.

When we look at Rama and at Krishna, we find lots of essential contrasts. Rama is 'maryada purushottam' whereas Krishna is our 'makhan chor' 'raas rachaeita' 'master planner of kurukshetra' 'skillful negotiator' and so much more.

Krishna in comparison to Rama looks a more colorful character and more humane with his faults,his sly ways, his love affairs,marriages and finally his message The Gita. Rama in comparison seems quite dull; more of a follower of rules,conventions and societal norms.His message is never direct but always what he lived for through his entire life.
The modern world can find more meaning to Krishna's teachings as the principles behind it looks more suitable and matching with our current society, it's diabolical ways, the intricate relationships,the overlying and underlying meaning to even commonplace transactions.

We  revere Lord Rama but we love Lord Krishna
We look upto Lord Rama but find ourselves one with Lord Krishna
We rarely can match Lord Rama's call to duty but find kinship with Lord Krishna transgressions
We fear Lord Rama's 'Laxman rekha' but feel happy with Lord Krishna's convulated thinking
But we need both Rama and Krishna, in our lives!