Count your blessings and thank God

A beautiful message and my thoughts: -

A rich man looked through his window and saw a poor man picking something from his dustbin ... He said, Thank GOD, I'm not poor.

The poor man looked around and saw a naked man misbehaving on the street ... He said, Thank GOD, I'm not mad.

The mad man looked ahead and saw an ambulance carrying a patient ... He said, Thank GOD am not sick.

Then a sick person in hospital saw a trolley taking a dead body to the mortuary ... He said, Thank GOD, I'm not dead.

Only a dead person cannot thank God.

Why don't you thank GOD today for all your blessings and for the gift of life ... for another beautiful day.

​What is LIFE​?

To understand life better, you have to go to 3 locations:

​1. Hospital​

​2. Prison​

​3. Cemetery​

At the Hospital, you will understand that nothing is more beautiful than HEALTH.

In the Prison, you'll see that FREEDOM is the most precious thing.

At the Cemetery, you will realize that life is worth nothing. The ground that we walk today will be our roof tomorrow.

Sad Truth:  We all come with ​Nothing​ and we will go with ​Nothing​ ... Let us, therefore, remain humble and be thankful.Be grateful to God at all times for everything.

P.S: This message reminded me of a Bollywood movie that I saw ages ago where the protagonist of the movie Sanjay Dutt has disability with one of his leg and therefore uses a crutch to walk. One time he had to fight with bunch of hooligans and because of the disability, unlike normal Heroes who he was unable to do so. A distraught, devastated Sanjay Dutt walks into a Church and starts praying, questioning God, why was he born with this disability etc. Then in a typical Bollywood style, Church Bells starts ringing and suddenly Sanjay Dutt notices another person in the Church, who is praying. And that person has both his legs missing.

And, then these words are played from the background and can’t remember. May be a son on these lines.

Taqdeer banane wale tune to koi kami na ki,

Ab Kisko kya mila yeh to Mudaddar ki baat hai.

Somehow, these two lines stayed in my mind. Let me talk a little bit about the meaning of these two lines.

Taqdeer banane wale tune to koi kami na ki,

The one who makes fate, there is never anything lacking from your side (Oh God, you are always just, impartial and neutral). For, example when sun shines, his sun rays are spread everywhere without any distinction or partiality. When a farmer sows his seeds, some seeds fall on rocks and some in the soils and the ones that fall in the soil grow further. So, its interesting to think further. So what makes some seeds to fall on the rock and some in the soil? That's where the minute independence of a Soul comes into picture. It is the desire and action performed by a Soul that creates further situations and reactions.

Going further, we can see that in Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says this,

Bhagavad Gita: 9.29

samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu

na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah

ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya

mayi te tesu capy aham

I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.

One may question here that if Krishna is equal to everyone and no one is His special friend, then why does He take a special interest in the devotees who are always engaged in His transcendental service? But this is not discrimination; it is natural. Any man in this material world may be very charitably disposed, yet he has a special interest in his own children. The Lord claims that every living entity-in whatever form-is His son, and as such He provides everyone with a generous supply of the necessities of life. He is just like a cloud which pours rain all over, regardless whether it falls on rock or land or water. But for His devotees, He gives specific attention. Such devotees are mentioned here: they are always in Krishna consciousness, and therefore they are always transcendentally situated in Krishna.

Ab Kisko kya mila yeh to Mudaddar ki baat hai.

Now, whatever one gets or has, is their destiny (For example a date, place, time of birth and/or death are considered pre-determined and allows no control from any human being. Because of aspects like these, a person is said to be subjected to a Divine being and must accept with whatever he/she is given. And by doing what a person intends to do with life and accepting what he/she is gifted with, this particular person could create for himself a good life in the present and in the future. Muqaddar in this context is like one’s adherence to a pre-determined path for life. And although there are things that a person cannot change or cannot control, good things will still happen if this person will act on what he has control with using good deeds.)

Children with Special Needs

Children with Special Needs

I would like to share this amazing experience of today morning. I was on my way to work  and as soon as I got into the tram and I noticed this young man who happens to be affected by downs syndrome. How do I know? because I studied science, worked in Medical field for few years, I know that they look different from facial features, eyes etc. Then, as though reading my mind and thoughts, he immediately looked at me and smiled beautifully, as if to acknowledge that what I am thinking is true, but that doesn’t bother him. I immediately felt guilty for staring at him. I started thinking to myself. Why did I look at him? Is it because, he is different and I am trying to find some fault? Much to my solace, I realized that the reason I looked at him was because, I was impressed by the poise and charm this young man is carrying, inspire of the disability. No one is perfect in this world. Even the beautiful full moon has spots on him. We need to ignore the spots and appreciate the warm moon light that we get from him. Imagine, someone looking at you in a different way. It takes a great courage to take it and then smile back. Few minutes passed and my stop to get down had come. I looked at Mr.Champion and sure enough he looked back. This time, I smiled at him internally saying him, well done mate, Keep up the good work. And he smiled back and really made my day.

Ultimately, everyone is a Soul and everyone is special. Everyone is having their baggage of past Karma and destiny. We need to acknowledge this fact, respect their difference in the way they learn. we need to encourage them in their growth physically, mentally and also spiritually.

This also reminds me of the son of a doctor that I knew and met few times long time ago. He had this similar problem but, what an amazing memory he had. Once I went to see the Doctor and he was there. He recognized me, remember my name, what dress I was wearing during my last visit and what date and time it was. It was so unique and special to have such a memory and he was so innocent and sweet. Sometimes makes me that, how good it is to have the heart and mind of a child forever.

Once I was listening to a speech from the CEO of a company and during conversation he casually said that, since is Dyslexic, he learns things different than common people. I was impressed with him because, he openly, proudly admits he is different. 

In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna 9.29 says,

samo 'ham sarva-bhutesu,na me dvesyo 'sti na priyah- I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all.

As Prabhupada says "Everyone is God's son. So how God can be partial to one son and, better than the other son? That is not possible. That is our mistake. We write: "We trust in God," but we make discrimination. If you trust in God, then you must be equally kind and merciful to all living entities".

P.S: Find and appreciate the good in everyone especially those kids with special needs. Understand they are special, to encourage and motivate to bring out the best in them and not just show pity (just like this young chap on the tram who is so confident and positive). Now, I look forward to meeting these special Souls.

God's Creation - Nature is Beautiful

To appreciate the beauty of nature which is God’s creation, we sometimes need to take time off. Go off to a place, where there is no worry of going for work, paying bills, reaching targets, impressing your boss doesn’t come into your mind and thoughts. 

Sunset at ISKCON New Govardhana Farm,Murwillumbah NSW

Sunset at ISKCON New Govardhana Farm,Murwillumbah NSW

Sunset at ISKCON New Govardhana Farm,Murwillumbah NSW

Dusk at ISKCON New Govardhana Farm,Murwillumbah NSW

And, at that time when there stillness of unnatural sound of City traffic, cars moving, vacuum cleaner from next door neighbour or the blasting rap music, all that you can hear is the sound of Birds Chirping, occasional sound of Kookaburra which almost sounds like a human laugh or the sound of a Bird that’s like an electric Guitar or simply the rustling of leaves and swinging of branches with the wind – that is the time you become aware of the beauty of the landscape of nature, mountains, clouds and the orange sunlight. I am talking of a recent visit I did to the beautiful Hare Krishna farm community at Murwillumbah a border town at NSW, which is actually a 45 mins drive from Gold Coast, Queensland. There, I captured some of the scenes, beautiful landscape of the farm, while staying on one of the Farm Cottages.

Reminds me of an English Melody and translation called 'O God Beautiful’, written by Paramhansa Yogananda. The original chant called 'Hay Hari Sundara' written by the 15th century Sikh Guru Nanak.

O God beautiful! O God beautiful!

In the forest, Thou art green,

In the mountain, Thou art high,

In the river, Thou art restless,

In the ocean, Thou art grave!

To the serviceful, Thou art service,

To the lover, Thou art love,

To the sorrowful, Thou art sympathy,

To the yogi, Thou art bliss!

O God beautiful! O God beautiful!

At Thy feet, O I do bow!

Rainbow across the valley ISKCON New Govardhana Farm,Murwillumbah NSW

Fourteen Tips for Happiness in Daily Life

Recently I came across an article which details an account of a note Albert Einstein gave to a bell boy in a hotel as a tip. The note reads "A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness." And, this note last year, as reported in the news was sold for $1.7 million at a Jerusalem auction.

Misty Mountains of Murwillumbah, NSW

It is Interesting to note that, Shrimad Bhagavad Gita talks about Happiness in various places. And, in the final Chapter 18 from Verses 36-39 describe about the three kinds of happiness the human beings experience in this world. It’s up to each of us to choose what type of Happiness we want to get and of course' be ready to accept the consequences also.

The first kind of Happiness is happiness in the mode of goodness which in the beginning may feel like, a poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization. The Second one is said to be the happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion. And that happiness which is blind to self-realization, which is delusion from beginning to end and which arises from sleep, laziness and illusion is said to be of the nature of ignorance.

So, did you know that at Harvard, one of the most prestigious universities in the world, the most popular and successful course teaches you how to learn to be happier?  The Positive Psychology class taught by Ben Shahar attracts 1400 students per semester and 20% of Harvard graduates take this elective course. According to Ben Shahar, the class - which focuses on happiness, self-esteem and motivation - gives students the tools to succeed and face life with more joy. Ben, considered by some to be "the happiness guru", highlights in his class 14 key tips for improving the quality of our personal status and contributing to a positive life:

Tip 1. * Thank God for everything you have: * Write down 10 things you have in your life that give you happiness. Focus on the good things!

Tip 2. * Practice physical activity * Experts say exercising helps improve mood. 30 minutes of exercise is the best antidote against sadness and stress.

Tip 3. * Breakfast: * Some people miss breakfast for lack of time or not to get fat. Studies show that breakfast gives you energy, helps you think and perform your activities successfully.

Tip 4. * Assertive *: Ask what you want and say what you think. Being assertive helps improve your self-esteem. Being left and remaining silent creates sadness and hopelessness.

Tip 5. * Spend your money on experiences. A study found that 75% of people felt happier when they invested their money in travel, courses and classes; While only the rest said they felt happier when buying things.

Tip 6. * Face your challenges *: Studies show that the more you postpone something, the more anxiety and tension you generate. Write short weekly lists of tasks and complete them.

Tip 7. * Put everywhere nice memories, phrases and photos of your loved ones *: Fill your fridge, your computer, your desk, your room, YOUR LIFE of beautiful memories.

Tip 8. * Always greet and be nice to other people *: More than 100 inquiries state that just smiling changes the mood.

Tip 9. * Wear comfortable shoes *: If your feet hurt you, you become moody, says Dr. Keinth Wapner, President of the American Orthopaedics Association.

Tip 10. * Take care of your posture *: Walk straight with your shoulders slightly backwards and the front view helps to maintain a good mood.

Tip 11. * Listen to music * (Praise God): It is proven that listening to music awakens you to sing, this will make your life happy.

Tip 12. * What you eat has an impact on your mood *: - Do not skip meals, eat lightly every 3 to 4 hours and keep glucose levels stable. - Avoid excess white flour and sugar. - Eat everything! Healthy- Vary your food.

Tip 13. * Take care of yourself and feel attractive *:70% of people say they feel happier when they think they look good.

Tip 14. * Fervently believe in God *: With him nothing is impossible!

Happiness is like a remote control, we lose it every time, we go crazy looking for it and many times without knowing it, we are sitting on top of it. Or, it reminds me a story of a Musk deer that went running everywhere, asking everyone the source of the amazing fragrance that's coming. Finally, she was so exhausted running everywhere and was about to leave her body when some of the animal came to her and told her, "Look, the fragrance that you are looking for is actually within you. It is coming from your own body and you are not aware of it". So, all through our life, we keep running around and looking for Happiness in the form of New electronic items, Rolex Watches, Ferrari cars and Five Star Hotels but, the Happiness is actually within us. When we turn our focus inward and try to realise that Spirit Soul and Super Soul within our temporary material body made up of earth, water, fire, ether etc, that is the time we get that real Happiness.

Becoming a Technical Leader

“I just finished reading this book - Becoming a Technical Leader by Gerald Weinberg, one of my favourite author”, I said to my friend. “Tell me about it, what does the book say about a Technical Leadership”, asked my friend who looked excited and interested. I was taken back. It’s an amazing book but, where to start and where to fend? How much do I remember of what I read? (Tip: If you sincerely try to answer the questions at the end of every chapter, you have a good chance of remembering what you read).

This book was written by the author, after running leadership workshops for over 20 years. Can you learn leadership from a book? Who is a leader anyway? Do you want to become a Leader? And, why do you want to become one? O.K, you decide to become a Leader but, unfortunately what if you don’t have the Charisma, the Magic charm or other traditional traits of a Leader, should you give up on, the hope of becoming a Leader? This book explains all these and much more.

So, I would like to write briefly about what's in the book and my thoughts on it. The book talks about MOI - Motivation, Organisation and Ideas or Innovation Model of Leadership, against a Threat/Reward Model of Leadership. Talks about an Organic style of Leadership against Linear Leadership. Traditional or conventional ways of identifying a leader are based on opinions of the team members or observers. But, understanding leadership in technical environment is a different ball game and the traditional psychologists fail to take note of this important point. Most of the discussion in the book focuses on the organic models characterized by systems thinking and contrasting them to linear or threat Reward Models. There is also a discussion of Leadership in the Seed sense or Seed Model which is the process of creating an environment, in which people become empowered.

Starting with MOI model, Gerald gives a very simple but profound real-life example of Pinball where he talks about, what makes people excel in the game. For example, I quote from the book “Ormond had no motivation, no push, to learn to play better. I loved this one “Ideas: - My eyes are dim, my legs get tired, and my hands are a lot slower than they used to be. Without ideas, I wouldn’t stand a chance of winning”. And, the actual problem- “Organisation: They didn’t lack push, for they did want to play better. Their lives just weren’t sufficiently organized to learn anything that required a nontrivial effort”. Understanding the problem, managing the flow of ideas, maintaining quality and Faith in a better way. Unlike the threat/reward model, where the number of ideas in the world is limited, there is always a better way.

How Leaders develop? “Leaders are leaders of change–change in other people, change in working groups, and change in organizations. Above all, leaders are leaders of change in themselves. To become a leader, you have to understand how change happens; yet it’s difficult to see change in yourself”. Another interesting concept is the Plateaus and ravines pattern. How does one Improve? Someone said, I can’t do it because, I am not a manager. The story of the village idiot whose antique watch stopped running. He pried it open and found a dead cockroach inside. “No wonder it doesn’t work,” he said, “the manager is dead.”

The book talks about various aspects of Leadership like, myth of the appointed leader, making small changes, the three obstacles, self-blindness (an interesting anecdote of Shirley’s supper (where she thinks, she had only a coffee but, ended up eating more than anyone else).

I also loved these, no problem syndrome. One person describes a terribly vexing problem, but the other merely responds with a callous, “No problem.” And, then the Single solution belief (belief in the central dogma of academic psychology, blinding you to alternative solutions).

Tool for self-awareness: - Importance of a Personal Journal. Developing the idea power: -Creative error, stolen ideas, copulation. The Vision: Career line. It’s not the event that matters, but your reaction to the event. Some real-life examples, like Iris, where success led to pride, which then led to defensiveness. And, Walston’s success that let him be seduced into staying too long with an obsolete system.

People who become innovators do indeed possess a secret key. What is it? every successful technical leader has such a personal vision. Perhaps only children can believe that what they do makes a difference in the world. Satir's Interaction Model: to see what’s going on inside of me, Helping and self-esteem. “Trying to be helpful: It begins with a sincere desire to help, progresses through some muddled communications, degenerates into emotional name calling, and finishes by making things worse”. “If everyone is trying intensely to do good, why do people fail miserably? You may have to succeed one hundred percent of the time to be perfect, but you don’t have to succeed one hundred percent of the time to be powerful”.

Then, there is more about Leadership, where power comes from? Influencing people and the missing ingredient. Power from relationship, technology, Expertise and Keeping power. Problem Solving teams and some team dynamics, decision making, how leaders are appointed etc. Obstacles to effective organizing. Playing the Big Game, treating people as machines, the job of a Leader – is it merely solving problems? Organic Organizing, learning to be an Organizer, looking for crossed wires and the point of maximum suffering was humorous but on a serious note, it gave an important lesson and made sense.

Then, some more stuff like Grading as a Leader, passing your own Leadership tests, learning how to keep everyone cool, Change and a Personal Plan. Small achievements and Importance of Finding the support for the change – a support system which is personal, growth, criticism, recovery. The paradox of problem-solving leadership is that you have to change in order to remain the same.

Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. It is quite insightful, practical, relevant. The real-life examples Gerald gives are not only humorous but, makes the point clear. And the questions/exercises at the end of the chapter are quite valuable to deepen and solidify our learning's.

New Favicon for Urban Yogi and how to add one to yours

I was thinking of a logo and a favicon for my blog and requested one of my friend to create one for me using the letters U & Y and what he came up was quite impressive. It took few minutes of learning and work and I finally uploaded it to my blog.

Let me know your feedback about the Favicon and the logo.

Urban Yogi Favicon

 What is a Favicon?

A favicon is an image or a small tiny icon that is associated with a particular Blog, Web page and/or Web site. A favicon helps as a visual reminder of your Web site identity in the address bar or in tabs.

I used this website (http://iconifier.net/) to generate the .ico extension images, which is quite simple and straightforward.

How to add a Favicon to your blogger blog?

Blogger Admin Page

Firstly, you need an image that you want to use as a Favicon. You can use an existing image or create one by going to so many free or paid website.

Go to Administration Screen > Layout > Favicon > Edit > Choose File > Upload > Save.

And, then in the Layout section, Click the Save Arrangement Button to save your changes.

Click on the View Blog link and your blog is displayed on a new Brower. There you can see your newly added Favicon being displayed.

Address bar

P.S: This applies to Blogs developed using the blogger templates. I am sure, the same holds good for others like WordPress etc. but, the navigation might be different.
The Orange color of U needs to be little bit darker, I think.What do you reckon?.

Happy Chinese New Year - Year of Dog 2018

Happy New Year to all my Chinese friends out there.

The 2018 Chinese New Year begins on Friday, February 16. The celebrations last for over two weeks in China. Interesting enough, like Indian Astrology Chinese base their calculation on the lunar calendar and that's how, it falls on different dates each year, usually between January 21 and February 20.

The celebrations are an explosion of light and sound, involving bell ringing, lighting firecrackers and watching traditional lion dances. Chinese families gather together for a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, and clean their houses to sweep away bad fortune on New Year's Day.

Traditionally, kids would be given red envelopes stuffed with 'lucky money' and positive wishes on New Year's Day. These days, some techie savvy teens now have red envelope apps, so their relatives can transfer cash digitally.

P.S: During my bike ride this morning, I saw few tents and stalls being erected in South Bank area and hoping to get some snaps on my way back home.