Write Daily

Writing daily makes you reflect upon your life and the direction it is taking. It also helps you to keep track of the decision you take on a daily basis, decisions that determine the course your life is taking. It makes you think clearly, because to put it down in words, you have to have clarity in your mind.
How to go about it? Well here are some steps suggested here - http://zenhabits.net/write-daily/

1. Commit yourself to writing daily.
2. Set aside time to write
3. Start small
4. Blog or diary
5. Cut off distractions

Hat Trick

Narendra Modi wins for the third consecutive time. This is the fifth consecutive term a BJP-led government was formed in Gujarat. Respects!!

States of Matter

While teaching science to my 9th Standard kid, I realised that there are 5 states of matter - solid, liquid, gas, (these three I already knew), plasma and Bose-Einstein Condensate. Solids have constant mass, shape and volume. Liquids have constant mass and volume and take the shape of the container that is used to hold them. Gases have only their mass constant.

My wife asked me "then what are we"? This set me thinking! Our mass is constantly varying as is evident from our bathroom scale. Our shape is also constantly changing from slightly oval to almost perfectly spherical depending on the success or failure of our exercise-diet regimen. As such our volume is also changing. I realise that we are an altogether different state of matter. I am tentatively calling it the human-state of matter!

Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi passes away!

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Bharat Ratna, the 88 year old Maestro of Hindustani Shastriya Sangeet passed away at Pune after nearly a month in hospital. A glorious era of Indian Classical Music comes to an end with his passing away. He will be remembered for his contribution in popularizing classical music among the masses. Who can forget his "Mile sur mera tumhara ... "!

प्रातः काल के मंत्र

प्रातरग्निं प्रातरिन्द्रं हवामहे प्रातर्मित्रा वरुणा प्रातरश्विना ।

प्रातर्भगं पूषणं ब्रह्मणस्पतिं प्रातः सोमोमुत रुद्रं हुवेमा ।।

प्रातर्जितं भगमुग्रं हुवामे वयं पुत्रमदितेर्यो विधर्ता ।

आध्रश्चिद्यं मन्यमानस्तुरश्चिद्राजा चिद्यं भगं भक्षीत्याह ।।

भगप्रणेतर्भग सत्यराधो भगेमां धियमुदवा ददन्नः ।

भग प्रणो जनय गोभिरश्वैर्भग प्र नृभिर्नृवन्तः स्याम ।।

उतेदानिं भगवन्तः स्यामोत प्रपित्व उत मध्ये अह्नाम् ।

उतोदितो मघवन्त सूर्यस्य वयं देवानां सुमतौ स्याम ।।

भग एव भगवाँ अस्तु देवास्तेन वयं भगवन्तः स्याम ।

तं त्वा भग सर्व इज्जोहवीति स नो भग पुरएता भवेह ।।

समध्वरायोषसो नमन्त दधिक्रावेव शुचये पदाय ।

अर्वाचीनं वसुविदं भगं नो रथमिवाश्वा वाजिना आ वहन्तु ।।

अश्वावतिर्गोमतिर्न उषासो वीरवतिः सदमुच्छन्तु भद्राः ।

घृतं दुहाना विश्वतः प्रपीता यूयं पात स्वस्तिभिः सदा नः ।।

Indian Idol 5 - Sreeram Chandra

Finally we have an Indian Idol who actually deserves to be one. Sreeram Chandra of my city Hyderabad was declared the winner of the Indian Idol 5 contest and was lucky enough to receive the award on India's Independence Day from the hands of no less a personality than the Big B himself. Sreeram has been winning accolades after accolades from the day he auditioned. Not once did he come in the danger zone. So outstanding is his talent that he has already recorded a song in a Telugu movie under Salim-Suleiman which he sang along with national award winner Shreya Ghoshal, even while he was in the Gala Rounds. He is probably the best thing to have happened to Hindi cine-music in a pretty long time.

However, I feel sorry for Rakesh Maini, for I think it was tad unlucky for him to have appeared in the same season of Indian Idol alongside Sreeram Chandra. A great singer though he is, Rakesh is no match for mana Sreeram.

Great going Sreeram! Success at last, and that too, well-deserved success.

As per the recent Global Financial Integrity study by Dev Kar and Devon Cartwright Smith, of 2006, the average amount stashed away from India annually during the period 2002 to 2006 was about One Lakh Thrity Six Thousand Four Hundred and Sixty Six Crores. Mind boggling isn't it? So over the said period a total of Six Lakh Eighty Two Thousand Three Hundred and Thirty Crores was stashed away at various places all over the world, including Swiss Banks. Mind fails to comprehend the enormity of the situation.

Since this is not a new phenomenon and it has been on since Independence it is estimated that over Rs. Seventy One Lakh Crore was stashed away over the 55 years prior to 2002 - 2006 (the period considered in the above mentioned report). That is, 71 followed by an insanely large number of zeroes.

The financial transactions that were considered in this report included proceeds from illicit activities like corruption, embezzlement of national wealth, criminal activity, etc., and proceeds of business that has been transported across borders to circumvent applicable laws and regulations.

There are several methods by which money is stashed away at far off places. Like, under or over invoicing of exports and imports and stashing away the balance at foreign locations. Bribes and kickbacks in various defence deals or civilian contracts is another such method. Transactions that are done abroad but that are not reported here. People refusing to bring the earnings made abroad. Hawala transactions. Besides these methods there appear to be many more methods.

This money, stashed away at various tax havens, is lying about in bank vaults, rotting. If it were to be brought back to India, by hook or by crook, then the state of Indian Economy will undergo a sea-change. So much so, that India will no longer remain a land of poor but will be catapulted to become one of the richest nations in the world!

Source : This Interview of Prof. R. Vaidyanathan, IIM Bengaluru.