Being Confident versus Showing off

One lazy afternoon we were driving to Kanha, the Tiger Country. The conversation was typically desultory. It some how veered towards the topic of being cocky or showing off. I was ribbing off my 13 year old on being a show off only to be rebuffed that I did not know the difference between "being confident" and "showing off".

This is how he explained the difference between the two -

"Main kar sakta hoon" - is being confident.
( "I can do it")

"Main hi kar sakta hoon" - is showing off.
("Only I can do it")

I marvelled at his take on the issue and drove on.

The Reunion - A Heartwarming tale

Here, let me share with you this little heart warming tale so beautifully portrayed. Amazing blend of an old world charm, immense grace, friendship and technology. Truly amazing!

Here, check this out.

Note
I have occassionally noticed that the the You Tube video does not display. Some technical glitch or may be I am yet to breach the digital divide. Nevertheless, in case the video does not show up here is the link to it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHGDN9-oFJE. Further, you may also watch it by typing - "Google Search : Reunion" - in you tube. There we go....!

Discharging Ones Duty Responsibly

I have a simple take on setting the affairs of the country right.

On a micro level, if everyone starts doing his or her designated duty with a sense of responsibility things are bound to work. Just doing ones duty correctly is bound to bring a phenomenal change in the way things run. Yes, occasionally, it may throw a few glitches but then, in general, things will start moving in an orderly, systematic manner consistently. And what is more, this simple philosophy applies in every walk of life.

Let me explain. If a teacher goes about teaching his or her subject (primary duty) with a sense of responsibility, he is bound to make a positive difference in the lives of his students. Now, if the students in turn pay attention to what is being taught (primary duty) by the teacher, things will definitely take an upward swing. Let us take this conjecture forward. If the principal of the school, goes about his job dutifully, he would be fair in appraisng the teacher (a part of his duty) there by promoting excellence. 

The same hold good on the macro level as well. If all the organizations and their sub units carry out their designated duties properly, sloth and corruption - ills that plague our country will be things of the past. Orderly traffic (primary duty of traffic police), good policing (primary duty of the police department), good governance (primary duty of the government), effective health setup (primary duty of the department of health) can all actually happen, if, at the individual level we start doing our duty the way we should. 

What a difference would it make to our lives and the quality of life? 

Imagine, just imagine.     

Look around. The  success story of any nation that is stable, strong and powerful will always have - "discharging ones duty responsibly", a recurring leitmotiff inherent in its people !

What have I got on my own

Sometimes, well quite sometimes you hear an eminently hummable number that hither to was unknown to you. You hear it once and then here it again and again ! And before you realise you get hooked to it. I guess you know what do I mean. 

Here, let me share with you the number that is now a days constantly on my lips. Well, it is called "What have I got on my own" by Trini Lopez. I hope, like me, you too would appreciate the beauty of the lyrics and be enthralled by his near hypnotic vocal timbre. 

Folks and all those of you who liked it, here is another number called "The Lemon Tree" by Mr Lopez. 

Long Live Trini Lopez!

And Long Live You tube !

Club 180

Club 180, our club organised a badminton tournament for the kids of the station from 30 Aug to 01 Sep. The tournament witnessed a decent turnout and saw some memorable matches. Enthusiastic kids and proud parents came in numbers for the finals. It was fun organising the same for our kids. Have a look at some snaps of the event -

Little ladies with their coach smashing their way around 

Rahul and Chris (runners up doubles)

                                                      Rahul (winner singles)

Parul (runners up sub junior girls)

The players with their prizes

Inspirational Stuff

The other day, I was leafing through books at the library and chanced upon "The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management" by one Hyrum W. Smith. Generally, such books fail to find favour with me. However, a little poem at the beginning of the book had me rivetted. The poem, the author says, is inscribed on a sun dial at Wellesley College and goes like this -

The shadow by my finger cast

Divides the future from the past.

Behind its unreturning line,

The vanished hour, no longer thine..

Before it lies the unknown hour,

In darkness and beyond thine power.

One hour alone is in thine hands,

The now on which the shadow stands. 

The Sun Dial

Inscription at the Sun Dial

I did some googling around and found out that Wellesley College is in US and was founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant who were "passionate about higher education of women". I visited the college's website (www.wellesley.edu) and was impressed by what I saw.

No, I am not in the good College's pay roll !

Presently, I am wading through the book and  I must admit Mr Hyrum. W. Smith has not disappointed me. Alas ! he doesn't pay me either.  

The Lamb’s Got A Kick | Uttam Sengupta

At last in a week that was rife with sad and depressing news here is a success story that would indeed warm the cockles of the heart.....our own Koh Panyee Football Club! The news is indeed brilliant and has come at the right time.
The Lamb’s Got A Kick | Uttam Sengupta

Words of Wisdom

Here is a collection of some inspirational quotes, thoughts and words that help me keep my bearings in the pell mell of today's life.

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good."  - Anonymous

After the game, the king and pawn go into the same box.
                                                                - An Italian Proverb

The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? 

                                                               - An Arabian Proverb

I've seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives
                                                               -Tracy Chapman

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.
                                                               - Chico Xavier

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.”
                                                               - Kahlil Gibran

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
                                                                - Ralph Waldo Emerson

There'll be two dates on your tombstone
And all your friends will read 'em
But all that's gonna matter is that little dash between 'em..."
                                                                - Kevin Welch

Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays.
                                                                - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Use what talent you possess:
the woods would be very silent
if no birds sang except those that sang best.
                                                               - Henry Van Dyke

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well." 

                                                               - Martin Luther King Jr.  

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
                                                               - Albert Einstein

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
'Tis the set of sails and not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.  

                                                                - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

"Come to the edge."
"We can't. We're afraid."
"Come to the edge."
"We can't. We will fall!"
"Come to the edge."
And they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.

                                                                    - Guillaume Apollinaire

The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

                                                                     - Lao Tzu

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.

                                                                     - Ayn Rand

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world which is within our reach.

                                                                     -Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes

                          

Tiger Country

Life was becoming a little mundane what with the same cycle of events repeating day by day and the Missus and the kids were itching for a break from the routine. After a lot of dithering and googling about the possible destinations (read short and sweet) from Jabalpur it was destination Kanha that emerged victorious.  Panna, Pench and Khajuraho were left to be conquered some other day. 

The Missus and the kids joined their heads and managed to book a Safari online (Tala Zone). Faxing a letter to the office of District Forest Officer, Mandla pleasantly confirmed an accommodation at the Forest Guest house at Kanha.

Off we went on a bright sunny afternoon after the kids were back from their schools. The drive became fantastic the moment we escaped the chaotic traffic of Jabalpur. We covered a distance of 150 km in about 2hr and 45 minutes – thankfully before the kids could commence a fight. 

There are countless hotels, properties that pass away as resorts and guest houses that flank the road as one approaches the Tala Zone of Kanha. Unfortunately, the accommodation at the forest guest house was a let down and so we hunted out a cosy little place complete with a pool for the kids to frolic around and burn some energy.

No sooner does the night fall, Kanha settles down. The gentle quietness of the night engulfs it. The all pervasive quietness is only shattered by the occasional jungle cry from the  woods nearby although it is not uncommon to encounter a SUV ferrying in some bone tired tourists hitting base late in the night. 

Next day we were up and about at 430h and embarked upon the jungle Safari by 530h. Here have a dekko at the charms that left us spellbound at Kanha ! 

The Safari

Here tigers tread

A morning at Kanha !

A herd of deer

And the one that believed in "Ekla Chalo re"

Getting Comfy

My first tiger sighting

Up close and Personal

An elephant calf

The Sabbatical

The last two months passed by in a jiffy. It was a sabbatical of sorts interspersed with some frenetic travelling - Jabalpur - Jhansi - Orcha - Agra - Fatehpur Sikri - Agra - Gwalior - Jhansi - Jabalpur and then Jabalpur - Patna - Jabalpur and finally Jabalpur - Mumbai - Pune - Mumbai - Jabalpur !

Nothing pleases me more than to go on long drives with the family and explore the places. The drive to Agra and back was liberating. Almost Cathartic ! Even as Junior was busy camping, rappelling, navigating with the help of stars (ahem), rock climbing with his friends at the Summer Camp at Panchmarhi, I, the Missus and the little lady hit the roads. Some careful planning and tying up loose ends helped making the trip fun and memorable.

The Little Lady and the Taj Mahal

 

Missus at the Taj Mahal

The Little lady with the mirror - her best friend !

At Jhansi - on the way back

A Vintage BMW at Gwalior Palace

Forts never fail to fascinate me. Their architecture and the size always impress me but what makes me awe struck is the fact that such edifices were erected with remarkable foresight and precision without the benefit of today's engineering tools and equipments. This trip took me to Orcha Fort, Agra Fort, Gwalior Fort and the Jhansi Fort. Simply amazing !

    

Amarkantak

My apologies to the religiously oriented folks but the high point of a trip to Amarkantak is the drive. Period.

The drive, as it progresses, presents one with a rich vista of the Central Indian landscape - winding roads through the great plains with undulating barren hills further behind; the odd shepherd sitting beneath a tree even as his herd of sheep glean the fields, clusters of huts at the many little known villages with vermilion smeared small temples, the pulsating village haats with the usual pell - mell as one needles one's way out to be greeted by a long caravan of bullock carts.

Soon the plains and the barren hills make way for the green hills and acres and acres of forested land close in at the road as it meanders it's way up to Amarkantak. Often long stretches of the road is flanked by neat rows of Gulmohar and Sal and together they make a lovely green tunnel as one passes by soaking in the sights and smells of Madhya Pradesh.

     

High Five !

The clapping, the tense moments, the surge of the adrenaline, the planning and the strategy and then coming out victorious after a grueling set. Loved it! Tell you what it is a great feeling to do a high five with the kids and their mommy after the match.

Winner Singles (Badminton) Jabalpur Station 2013

Winner Doubles (Badminton) Jabalpur Station 2013

  

A Veterinarian's Prayer

Guide me in medicine. Please let me find the tiny, dehydrated vein of the ancient kitty when I am asked to perform euthanasia under the emotional eye of her owner. I ask for this first, Lord, because it is my single most common reason for prayer, so let's start there.

Lord, help me be a good doctor. Not even a great doctor like House, MD, but at least a doctor who will not space out and miss the glaringly obvious stuff that every veterinarian should know.

Lord, let no other doctor look at one of my medical records, shake her head and think, "What an idiot."

If I do make a mistake, please let the lesson find its way firmly into my memory and not onto Google reviews or Angie's List.

Grant me patience and understanding

Grant me a future that includes someday not having to work on weekends. And until that day, I beg you for a few Saturday shifts that are not completely insane.

When the anal glands express erratically, may their contents find my coat and not my face or hair.

It is not lost on me that the truly wonderful pets seem to have a significantly greater chance of getting an incurable illness at a young age. If these pets have memorable names (Professor Snacks, Captain America, Chipper Donut, Jabba Bear, etc.), live with children and have delightful owners, their long-term survival rates are even worse.

While I do not seek to understand your reasoning for this, and I am grateful for those pets that seem to be too bad to die, I would really appreciate it if more of the great ones could live nice, long lives.

Give me self-control

Bestow upon me the strength to eat heartily from the holiday veggie trays that clients send and to merely sample the brownies.

And when my strength fails (as it will), please guide me to be more reasonable in my goals and aim at least not to eat the entire batch before the technicians know the baked goods have arrived.

Make smooth my dealings with staff.

Please make me the kind of veterinarian other people enjoy working with. Please let the technicians and receptionists like me for the right reasons, and if one or two of them decide not to like me, let that be for the right reasons, too.

Also: Might I request to be scheduled to work when the staff training meetings involve free lunch—and off when they do not? Speaking of schedules, please smite the technician who calls me at home early Saturday morning when it is not really, absolutely, without a doubt, critically necessary. Smite him good.

Give me wisdom in handling clients

I thank you for all the wonderful clients you send into my life each day. When it comes to those few who are less wonderful, help me to recognize the cases that I should refer away immediately. In extreme cases, feel free to strike me with an illness so I am not in the building when the true nightmare cases come in. If I were able to choose between getting pneumonia or getting sued, I'd take the former.

When I call the mean owners to check in on their pets, let my call go to voicemail. Likewise, please do not let the mentally unbalanced breeders find out where I live. I don't want to have to choose between moving and changing professions.

Finally, please give me the wisdom not to ask any pet owner when she is due unless I am absolutely, 100 percent sure that she's pregnant.

Amen

Kind Courtesy - Dr AndrewRorak, DVM,MS, DVM Newsmagazine

KarmaTube: The Koh Panyee Football Club

How very often we give up, bogged down by the circumstances. We rave and rant. We curse and let go the time and the opportunities that come our way. Here, watch this truly inspirational video! It is a video that shows our indomitable spirit and the innate fire that we all have to bring in a positive change.  Sadly, in the rumble and tumble of life we lose the fire. Come let's find the fire within us!

KarmaTube: The Koh Panyee Football Club

Be The Change

Last evening, my wife led me to "Karma Tube" - a site that is a storehouse of some truly inspiring content that is relevant and so apt for the times that we live in. Here is a video from Karma Tube that I like to share with you.

PS- The stray visitor who stumbles at this post is passionately exhorted to find time to visit the site Karma Tube. Sharing happiness and positivity actually multiplies them.

Enjoy!

Video from KarmaTube