"The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch

Jai Hugs Randy over the podium and tells him "Not to Die"...But can he? He is in his last leg of his life and he has to succumb to pancreatic cancer. He has no choice. Am I telling you a story straight from a Hollywood blockbuster! No I'm not and it is happening in reality (my guess is, it has already happened and Randy would have died!). It's heartfelt to read "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch.

Randy - the flamboyant charismatic professor of Carnegie Mellon University gave the "Last Lecture" as a tribute to his own life. I could not believe this guy can actually search for logic when he is dying. Hats off and my full bow to him. If at all life was too short, I would rather live his life; his thoughts are a life line to so many lifeless soul!

He had so much wisdom all through to tell and it just continued in his death. He showed us "How to dream" more than that "How to fulfill your childhood dreams" even if you are short lived. But your presence is "Long felt" and that's where we want to be "Someday" when we all are in death bed. This book is thought provoking not just to me but to so many people around the globe. He had so much wisdom to share and he did in a way which makes it even more tearful to accept the fact that he Died !

I am a dreamer but not anymore to match Randy's skill of making it happen. We just do not realize the worth of our "childhood" dreams and to the fact I have decided to live up to my dreams. I felt "We die thousand times before we actually Die" but not anymore after you read this book.

He has not gone too far in his death...and these links will justify it !

http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Peace or pace...choice is yours

The process of birth is no less than a miracle and death is an ultimate truth!
Off the late one single question that haunts me very often is " Whatz life all about?" .Vital signs of getting old,uh??!! (Yeahhhhhh, I need those epics which talk about the essence of life :-p!).
Life is exciting, all about making money, thrilling, fun, superb, fantastic, boring...blah blah blah and finally "what"??!! I don't believe in reincarnation, to me, Life is something that happens just once. With this one chance that we all have, We are in a rat race to gain something or the other. True to its sense, life is about achieving something that we all dream off. But wait if that achievement is all about power and money, then think again, how long can you hold on to it?? My quest for the answer as to "whatz life all about" hit a dead end again ....
Suddenly, a simple thing that crosses my mind is the phrase "Peace of mind ". To all my questions I finally arrive at one answer.... "Peace of mind".... and yeah it's "Powerful" ( in the literal sense till the last letter D!). Ultimately if our dreams or achievements or whatever that we are struggling and juggling for in life doesn't give us peace of mind, then I don't think anything that we tried doing was worth the shot!!! Its THE thing that matters at the end ,no matter what!!!
And for me now, a silent wish awaits its fulfillment ..a wish for peace of mind !! As always,its easy said than done .Creating the inner peace needs a lot of sustained effort as one needs to get away with any kind of apprehension.
" God, grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change ,courage to change the things I can , and wisdom to know the difference" is all that I pray for now !!!!

Thanks
Radhika

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World By John Wood

There are words which reflect just what we need to speak to our soul. John has notoriously involved with such a wonderful journey of life...I envy him...certainly there are more than just his experience. He has a point to prove to the human kind which is more human than any other facts that exists to date. I might be exaggerating but that's the way I feel after I read this fabulous experience of love for the job, lust for the wacky dreams he had and the longing to do something simple to the human kind; and that's "Leaving Microsoft to change the world", ladies and gentlemen

If I request you do something little great, I would urge you guys to buy this book. Guess why? Every coin you give to purchase this book will go to fund a girl child somewhere in the northeast region of our country, Nepal or may be it will help to buy a book or 2 for a Cambodian child who craves to learn and live.

Every rupee you donate to buy this will help to chase the dream of a girl to educate herself than being a slave or a prostitute. No that's a fact, let's accept it! As the saying goes "if you educate a boy you educate him alone but if you educate a girl you educate her whole family. Her kids will know to dream, her family will know how to respect and she will know that she has a life and not tears"

It's a fateful moment I felt when I read this book though John has written every positive things in life. It made me think about just one question "What is the purpose of this life?" Is it just buying a yacht and sail far away from the beach or help in some bigger change than that. Certainly there is more to it than what I just told.

Please grab one copy and I assure you, you will not regret !!!!

The book is all about John, the entrepreneur of a special kind who leaves Microsoft and decides not to sell MS Excel anymore to any other country, rather bring smiles to millions of kids across the globe. He has sent a magnificent message to the mass - "Think Big and that's the only way to save this world. Like it or Not "!!!

http://www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/

THE SAINT , THE SURFER AND THE CEO by Robin Sharma

I am not fit to write a review for this book because its not just a book but a bible...Its different for different people when they follow...So I hold no pre-judice but try to carve out what I felt after I read this book.....

Time and again , I am attracted to the literatures that touches human heart...Its not just love between two people which makes our life happy
Its also a bonding that sets the pace of the life to do something good and something more meaningful than getting bogged down by the life's mutinies


My thanks to Robin Sharma who has brought out this book and the moment I read , I had a feeling that I went to my past , to my present and to my future

that's the power of the narration you will come across here...

Its Sensible and Simple and every time you read something about life skills , you will wonder its not that easy to follow

But not after reading "The Saint , Surfer And the CEO"....You will feel happy and you
will definitely be more prepared to embrace life with lot of love
Your perspective towards the people , persons whom you love , pets you like , perceptions you hold for relationship, will eventually change

We have too many emotions floating in this world and all seem to take us no where and that's the biggest tragedy...Be it a corporate office or a common man's house , there is a pattern of emotions followed and not everything makes us feel great

But there is a chance to change this world , there is a chance to keep the vibrance and there is a chance for self- discovery and come back home because we are lost in the materialistic world....We are lost piling up money for our future and spending it back to recover our life ! That's an irony but there is one last chance before we give away and this book is just the right step in that direction


We need Humans not brains to feed this world !!!!!

To be Or NOT to be

I read an interesting article "The Dilemma facing software professionals in this economic climate : To specialize or genearlize"

The author basically took a middle approach to take advantage of both these skills...but I have a different feel for this altogther

Here is why ....


In this era of globalization , we certainly need to be "Slow" and "Master" the art of one skill.Its a kind of reverse engineering which we have to apply to beat the competition .Say for ex: Many software engineers tend to work on many projects , many skills , many people.....Note the word "Many"

What has happened is ,over a period of time we have developed an army of Software engineers who possess "Many" attributes with less capabilities.But if you really want to stand out of this crowd , you need to have that "Few" attributes which these guys lack . And if you observe closely , what they do lack is " Specialization " and "Slowness" to think through the problem

So who ever gets this gets to the top :)

So in effect " We should always try and go upstream than downstream"

Only challenge would be to identify that path of upstream . but once you know , you rule !!!



make sense ?



let me know

A sense of urgency by John P Kotter

I being an avid follower of Kotter's principle will appreciate this book even if it leaves the reader High and Dry. Kotter tends to reiterate the point about how the company's operational strategy makes it big or bad.

If you take the example of any company; its strategy to win is Volatile in the fast changing technologies and Competition. But how much volatility a company can sustain, is a question. If you can survive, it's because there is a sense of urgency to achieve big and Achieve faster. Though at times , a sense of urgency can go wrong. It might create a panic situation in the teams. There are confusions and anger and frustrations. And then the whole system collapses. You might not notice, because the fall is very slow. It might be a day like GM or a year or so like Yahoo. But surely, people at the bottom never appreciated as to why company was rushing through and what was that strategy or the reason for blood rush.

In any case it's not only important to have a strategy, but also create good will at the bottom of the ladder. Because, if they are not happy working on it, you will have a free fall. And that fall will be very dangerous in volatile situations like IT businesses. Remember, neither will you notice that nor will anybody else. It's gradual. And you are busy executing a strategy with a false sense of urgency .

And keep an eye on your company! Is it happening? Is there frustration and anger mixed with Urgency? Then I guess it's time we re-look at why the strategy is causing this.

Kotter also mentions, a true sense of urgency is something which is a feel good factor for most of the people inside the company . No doubt we may not understand everything that has been said by the CEO but there is a sense of belonging to that strategy though it makes little sense. He terms such a kind of act as "Heart - Mind" strategy.

Frankly I did not enjoy this book as much as his other book "Our IceBerg Is Melting". But Kotter has a point to prove and it's common sense that we all agree. "Unless our heart does not sense it, we will not "accomplish" the strategy but "Complete" it '...

Overall, a good read if you can relate the points to the cases that have happened in the industry.

Friends !

Friends are important. I personally believe there is one special relationship people have to maintain outside thier marriage. That relation will last long if it is sincere and honest . They will cherish this for ever ! . Not that people tend to lose interest in a marriage but its rather a different dimension we should set in life. That helps us to see the problem ,if any from outside in. In marriage we tend to seee the problem from Inside out and end up doing things which are stupid and crazy. Take for ex : ria and rian are happily married for 8 years and personally I felt they do not have any issues . I feel they are on the top of the world
Both have a flyin carrier and they are contented ...but they tend to fight for many reasons but they do patch up early. But this gets into a bigger problem of fightin for everyhting. It is in this situation that "One special" person in your life can bring in a fresh perspective in life. He / she will see and feel for your problem and understand what best suit for you to move ahead. If you have found that "Special person"...you are lucky and you can rest assured ,there is always an angel watching you and making you happy :).....but pls dnt spoil that relation. Because , in marriage there is always a buyin and bonding and you can always come back. But if you miss that special person , he/ she will never come back. SO next time you think you found him / her , you know you are very lucky.......if you call that love so it be :)

"When a Man Loves a Woman"

"When a Man Loves a Woman" is a serious Drama and a thought provoking
movie written and released in 1994.

Andy and Meg Ryan are undoubtedly the stars who have put in their heart
to make this movie come out so natural and yet so dramatic.
Andy's way to Propose Ryan and Ryan's way to reciprocate are "the Jewels
in the Crown"!
Andy is a pilot and Ryan is a Budding House Wife (Budding because, its
no easy to be a housewife :) ) . Her alcoholism has ruined her
Childhood, her College days and now it threatens to ruin her Marriage
too...
Andy makes every bit of an effort on the earth to save her, give her the
support and lead her through the toughest times of her life. Yet he will
not come to know what is causing his marriage to sink deeper... Then
there are these 2 lovely and charming kids who do not know the reason as
to why their parents fall apart again and again...
Everything seems to get messy and then Ryan will be sent for a detox
.This is the time she knows will be her last chance to save herself and
her marriage.....
I will stop at this, because if I tell you "The END", you will feel it
as "Yet another Movie" and the subtle message which is brilliantly
narrated will be lost.

And when you come out of the movie, you will know that message -
"Through the good times, through the bad times ... When a Man Loves a
Woman it's for all times."!