Have always sensed how much powerful words can be and how important it is to be mindful and thoughtful in the choice of words. Words you speak write or share Can influence the world around you Think well speak well and do well After all the choice of words and how you use it rests with you. Here are few words I sense a resonance in every alphabet.
Very nice article by Late Khushwant Singh. Preserve this . 😊
How To Live & Die
I’ve often thought about what it is that makes people happy—what one has to do in order to achieve happiness.
1- First and foremost is good health. If you do not enjoy good health, you can never be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct something from your happiness.
2- Second, a healthy bank balance. It need not run into crores, but it should be enough to provide for comforts, and there should be something to spare for recreation—eating out, going to the movies, travel and holidays in the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money can be demoralising. Living on credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one in one’s own eyes.
3- Third, your own home. Rented places can never give you the comfort or security of a home that is yours for keeps. If it has garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow and blossom, and cultivate a sense of kinship with them.
4- Fourth, an understanding companion, be it your spouse or a best friend. If you have too many misunderstandings, it robs you of your peace of mind. It is better to accept the differences than to be quarrelling all the time.
5- Fifth, stop envying those who have done better than you in life—risen higher, made more money, or earned more fame. Envy can be corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others.
6- Sixth, do not allow people to descend on you for gossip. By the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip-mongering.
7- Seventh, cultivate a hobby or two that will fulfill you—gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or listening to music. Going to clubs or parties to get free drinks, or to meet celebrities, is a criminal waste of time. It’s important to concentrate on something that keeps you occupied meaningfully.
8- Eighth, every morning and evening devote 20 minutes to meditation or introspection. In the mornings, 10 minutes should be spent in keeping the mind absolutely still, and for listing the things you have to do that day. In the evenings, five minutes should be set aside to keep the mind still and 10 to go over the tasks you had intended to do.
9- Ninth, don’t lose your temper. Try not to be short-tempered, or vengeful. Even when a friend has been rude, just move on.
10- Above all, when the time comes to go, one should go like a Person without any regret or grievance against anyone.
Or simply a clarity of illusions in the reflections.
Savvy
Was watching the reflections of sunlight dancing on this patch of water on the window sill of my terrace one evening. I was mesmerized by the fleeting cloud it had captured and its amazing colours that held my fancy for a long while…
The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man. And even as each one of you stands alone in God’s knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.
Kahlil Gibran…
One of my favorite writers with profound words of wisdom.
I had been introduced to his books as a teenager but have revisited his works especially ‘ The Prophet ‘ many times just to soak in the learnings.
Learning is best done in willingness & curiosity to explore the beyond.
Teaching is best done in understanding the learnings and the learner.
Learning never stops it is like a river that flows…
The teacher creates curiosity for learning takes you to the river banks of knowledge and then allows you to quench your thirst, assimilate the learning to expand your horizons of learning.
1. Intelligence Quotient (IQ): this is the measure of your comprehension ability”, solve maths; memorize things and recall subject matters.
2. Emotional Quotient (EQ): this is the measure of your ability to maintain peace with others; keep to time; be responsible; be honest; respect boundaries; be humble, genuine and considerate.
3. Social Quotient (SQ):
This is the measure of your ability to build a network of friends and maintain it over a long period of time.
People that have higher EQ and SQ tend to go farther in life than those with high IQ but low EQ and SQ. Most schools capitalize in improving IQ level while EQ and SQ are played down.
An individual with high IQ can end up being employed by a person with high EQ and SQ even though the person has an average IQ.
Your EQ represents your character; your SQ represents your charisma. Give in to habits that will improve these three Qs but more especially your EQ and SQ.
EQ and SQ make one manage better than the other.
Pls don’t teach children only to have higher IQ , but also to have higher EQ and SQ.
Now there is a 4th one :
A new paradigm
4. The Adversity Quotient (AQ):
The measure of your ability to go through a rough patch in life and come out without losing your mind.
AQ determines who will give up in face of troubles and may abandon their families.
*To parents*:
Expose children to other areas of life than academic. They should adore manual work (never use work as a form of punishment), sport and art .
Develop their EQ, SQ and AQ. They should become multifaceted human beings able to do things independently of the parents.
*Finally*, do not prepare the road for the children. Prepare the children for the road.
I am saddened when I come across the mention of race by color. I am saddened that still people are called black or white or brown or yellow.
We are called out for the shades of our skin, when the truth is, we are so much more. We cannot be confined or defined by narrow eyes.
The fact is, people, see colors differently, and they may not see all the same colors while seeing the same things. There is research on how our individual brains react differently to different wavelengths of light.
Technically speaking the colors we see is an illusion created by our brain. We are not yet certain exactly how animals see perceive us and in which colors.
Why then this prejudice in words to describe life. Humanity knows no color or creed.
Why are we still resorting to identify people into boxes, giving way to mental pictures, and conformity? We are capable of liberating ourselves to see the bigger picture.
A dance article recently published an article that sends out a message of how Misty Copeland is a black dancer who succeeds.
Yes, we have an unequal world filled with all the ‘isms’ and the issues they bring along. It is unfair and discriminatory and biased in so many ways. Not just in race, but in species, gender, age, weight, height, class, creed, caste, religion, status, authority, education, power, and wealth.
Yet the inner light of the being surmountable all odds. And life shines through the heart of the movements.
The world must come together, as it is time to release these frames of false convictions and find in itself the ability and strength to support one another in the power of life that’s beating within us all.
Let us see beauty and talent in all colors and not attribute efforts and success to any color by birth.
When we remove reference of being a particular color we bring to light the truth of the soul and the spirit of freedom to be.
In that light, everything is illustrated in the illumination from within.
Today’s post is a compilation in collaboration, My reader and good friend for many years now Ashok Subbarao and I share our views in a collaborative way. He suggested if we could do a post together. And sent me his article. And I added my contemplations. So his prose and my poetry interweave in these words ahead.
Living on the Edge
Are we the cause of all the suffering We are not only the cause We are the reason For the ‘State of Earth’ today.
We have breached all laws of nature We have plundered and massacred Not only our own But innocent voiceless sentient beings.
Our crimes are heinous Our ways unethical Morality or humanity It is completely missing.
The Plundering Humans
The continuous growth of consumerism and the insatiable hunger for more and more utilities and luxuries to fulfill the simple necessities of life have made countries plunder nature’s precious resources. So much so that humans have grown so selfish to uproot green cover of forests and waste life-giving water that nature started showing signs of decay in the form of various natural calamities. This was not an act of revenge but as an intrinsic part, nature to balance and sustain itself.
Yes, life can be lived with simple food, basic needs, and uncluttered living as the rest was provided by nature itself and that too, totally free.
However, man’s greed knows no bounds. With focussed developments in the era of industrialization and in the present age, the technological advancements to boot, man’s demands kept increasing, and these
are what a human being thinks are his basic needs.
Across the world today. Our acts are turning violent Our actions correlate To the price, we all must pay!
We speak without kindness We act without empathy We are ruthless and hopeless. Without integrity and trust.
Tilting natures precious balance By our callous and self-serving ways. Our earth has taken a toll Bearing patiently in witness mode.
The rising temperatures across the world is a result of felling forests for newer colonies, roads, factories, offices, multiplex and what have you; thereby increasing the need for air conditioners which provide relief inside a house, but the amount of energy and power that is sucked out and throwing of heat in the atmosphere is creating more heat.
I would not be surprised when the day is not far when there would be so much heat that the AC compressors too would burst. What will we do then? But humans are so naive and adamant without care.
Man has broken every law of nature Now nature needs to self-repair Humankind must change their ways Seek ways to maintain and sustain the earth.
Centuries of abuse and neglect Nature has no time to be silent It’s truly now or never. Nature must begin to equalize.
Just being human is not enough We must practice our humanity Else the wrath of nature Can no longer be contained
Our ways had got out of hand Life was getting unbearable And so beyond control And way beyond hope.
The only solution is for countries worldwide to totally ban the destruction of forests in the name of development, introduce more public transport so that people stop buying more and more cars which emit gases in the air and encourage people to plant more trees and reverse materialism. This could be a small beginning in restoring balance, for nature will remedy itself.
Today the earth is revolting in its own sweet way and proving to humankind that if they do not amend their ways to sustain, the planet will render us humans as not just powerless, and perhaps the entire existence of humans can be erased. Nature along with is splendor accompanied by other sentient beings will reclaim their space. It is a simple way of nature saying “Hello Mankind I am alive too!.”
In the madness of being modern The malady of our times Values and ethics were trashed Respect and regard were binned.
Stress and tension Anxiety and panicking Sleeplessness and fatigue Plaguing the world over.
Materialism and indulgence Hitting an all-time high In greed apathy and indifference. We took our world for granted.
And vis-à-vis the present pandemic called Covid-19, I cannot but remember the three monkeys as depicted in the picture. See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Speak No Evil a message given by Mahatma Gandhi the apostle of peace.
And it is so ironic that today, we have to cover all the three with a mask. Can we shed the artificial mask that we have been wearing for so long and promise mother earth to behave more sensibly and wisely? Probably we might be pardoned and some semblance of sanity may return to our lives.
Now nature has put humans in cages Animals and birds roam free Roads are empty, rivers are cleaner Pollution has given way to purer air.
While mankind is locked down Nature is restoring to sustain herself Truth is its the only way left to survive! There is perhaps no other way!
My artwork . Art of the heart. Created from few drops of water.
When I chose to study arts many years ago I chose it because I loved arts I was drawn to it just as much as I was drawn the physics of artistry or the philosophy of science. I wanted to understand more, I always felt there is so much to contemplate and discover for oneself, to discuss and reflect with one another.
Today having joyful engaged with many professional paths in my career over the years in both mainstream and offbeat tracks, I am voicing what’s in my heart.
Speaking from the Indian perspective
in those days, arts was a stream not taken by the so-called achievers, it was not for those who wanted to study management and have mainstream careers. It was way to become a future teacher or an artist. Not too many career options were thought to be open for the arts graduate. It was often ignorantly assumed that those who did not do well in Math and Science subjects will end up with the arts.
I knew then how wrong it was to segregate people into water tight compartments and more so to differentiate between subjects as unimportant and unnecessary. Unlike the times today, where every field of study has great scope… arts was given a frivolous status.
Thankfully over the years from literature to performance art from entertainment to edutainment, the range and the scope of art and its application grew to encompass a lot more.
Education suddenly realized the holistic approach to education and started integrated methods of education. With awareness came the realization that nothing exists in a vacuum.
There is interdependence in between various subjects and there are areas that are common to two different pathways. And in the intermingling new thoughts emerge and evolve in time.
Truly so, arts is interwoven in the tapestry of life and living. The way we are, the way we move and chose to flow with life everything is part of an artful flow . For life is an art in itself.
Today more than ever this very art is making life bearable.
There is a sudden leaning towards the arts, to poetry, paintings and prose, to dance and music, there are takers for all things’ art.
Perhaps as a means of entertainment, to simply sense the finer things of life in the interim period with nothing else to do. But art and its application has so much more to offer, in every season, to lift us from our banal mundane existence and creatively enrich and empower our hearts and minds with engaging experiences.
Trust art, to always deliver beyond the apparent.
Every day make sure to laugh, sing and dance, and see the beauty in every beat of a living heart, and that’s a step to tuning yourself to healing yourself and the world a little more.
To write is to express life from your perspective. To read is to understand life from another perspective.
Both interweave in the joy of expression and explorations Of discovering the truth of life in the magic of words.Respect to the writers & readers who can spread unspeakable joy And leave a positive impression through mere words.
To the writers who have mastered the art of story telling Keeping the world safely engrossed in these troubled times Gratitude to all those who write and share with care Ensuring to share words and thoughts And make the world feel a little better than before My deepest appreciation For, in the darkest of spaces Even a little light of positive words & verses Leaves the place a little more lit. And every word can leave a lasting impression!
There are many types of feedbacks given and solicited in a typical corporate environment.
In the art of management the topic of critical appraisals and sharing feedbacks is a nerve wracking process on both sides. For the truth is feedbacks at work take not only a whole lot of in- depth analysis, but it takes courage and common sense deliver. And often they can be the toughest of conversations to have.
Are you feeling uncertain about how to confront a feedback session.At work there will be time where you might have faced a feedback session .
If you have been the one who is giving feedback to your team or a member of your team here are six tips that can help you master the art of giving feedbacks.
Prepare
Keep the perspectives clear of what was expected and agreed upon earlier and the issues that is evident. Give a clear picture of what has been observed to the receiver. Remember you are addressing the work issues, dont get personal.
Proper time and place
Ensure you are slotting a feedback time that is mutually least distracting.
This will ensure there is the required focus and necessary attention to the discussion at hand.
Ask and listen well
Contrary to what is understood about feedbacks time the reviewer needs to hear more and speak less often to deliver objective feedbacks to resolve issues.
Avoid letting your own ego from taking too much space. Instead Inquire more into why certain things are not going well. Speak less ask more open ended questions and let them speak and ask for feedbacks and own up to their mistakes. That way you will not be crushing egos but resolving issues you are facing as a team .Avoid bombarding. Be empathetic but assertive.
Sandwich
Choose your words and sentences well.Feedbacks and critical analysis involves being mindful of the words you choose and conveying the criticism in a well meaning way so that you are not directly attacking the receiver. This will ensure they are able to digest and understand what is going wrong and not stagnate by becoming defensive.
Remember it is not a war of egos and ensure you avoid making it one .
Be clear & concise
Vagueness is not going to resolve anything. Be objective in your feedback . If someone is a perpetual latecomer then mention specifically how many times they are late in the last month .
This will make them more accountable and lead to ownership and better productivity at work.
See the Bigger Picture
When you giving feedback address the issue and do not attack the person’s character. Try your best to see things in the larger frame . Avoid being petty and leave your own ego aside before you begin.Remind yourself always to envision the bigger picture. And remember that it is not personal.
Feedbacks in general can be a very valuable tool for companies.and there are many types of feedbacks.
Have you given or received feedbacks recently.
What are your expectations and experiences on feedbacks?
Savvy Raj 
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