Deaths in Disgrace

          Do you know that over 800,000 people die due to suicide every year? And there are many more who attempt suicide.  Sickening!  Right?  What’s so wrong with them?  Why were they so despair?  And these lakhs leave millions affected and bereaved.

          If you go back to trace the causes of their deaths there will always be a lacunae.  Such are the innumerous problems, difficulties, challenges, the worst scenarios to deal with that life poses before us.  Considering the 7 billion people on this single life sustaining planet known, the problematic situations they encounter with, the permutations and combinations of these situations they are going to encounter with will definitely be a number that would be gigantic in display.

          Well, that was one pessimistic approach of life.  But is life all worth of only problems?  One should live appreciating the diverse beauty of life.  No difficulty is superlative enough, no hurdle is high enough, and no situation is scary enough to justify this culpable crime.  They are all relative.  Even the architects of the most inhuman practices and men who advocate crime to a level no one else could fathom dare enough to share the same land and air then why do we get such thoughts.  One should get inspired from them as far as holding on to life is concerned.  We deserve to live even if we had to face worst of the worst situations or become worst of the worst mortals in the perception of the world.

          Every other day we woke up to hear the suicidal deaths one time or the other. Be it be farmers, students, employees, actors, people in love, despair, destitution  and the list goes on, the poignancy of suicide has left no community pristine. Through suicides we are allowing ourselves to be the subject of the epitomes of weak-mindedness, incompetence, perversity in the eyes of the world. No tragedy and no trauma in this world can justify this ludicrous and obtuse act of suicide. Life is ineffable. The gamut of opportunities in life are over the horizons.

          Media both print and electronic runs programs and programs, pages and pages of articles sympathizing with the person who committed suicide. And it is a travesty. The government of our country decriminalized the act of ‘attempt to suicide’ under section 309 of Indian Penal Code in regard that it should be seen as a manifestation of a deceased condition of mind, deserving treatment and care, rather than punishment. May be it is not a crime to attempt the suicide but when committed it is definitely a crime. And a crime is something that affects the society as a whole. There is an ample danger of the budding and immature minds reading these traumatic articles and misinterpreting them as sympathy would be conferred on those who commit suicides. Then suicide would be something they would resort to when they lack the ability and skill to cope up the similar problems and situations they face. This is in light of the fact that the second leading cause of death among 15-29 years old globally is suicide.

          People should be intrepid and by intrepid it doesn’t mean false courage and complacence. When we ourselves are not aware of what type of lives we are leading then we should least bother about the society who wouldn’t even have the slightest clue of what we are going through. Criticism is part of the game called life.  To err is human. Some are corrigible and some are not. In case of incorrigible ones we go through penance and reformation and set back on the track of the most beautiful journey ever known. It is as simple as that when we don’t obfuscate the things in life. So let us make ourselves strong and secure laughing through happiness, worrying over problems face the challenges of life. After all there is only one life one can be entitled with and challenges are the ones that help individuals and communities to develop.

          Lastly this stanza from the movie ‘Dead Poets Society’ favorite to most of us, from which we can draw gallons of inspiration from.

                    “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately…

                     I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life!

                     To put to rout all that was not life…

                     And not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived…”

Cockroach Theory-A beautiful speech by Sundar Pichai - an IIT-MIT Alumnus

The cockroach theory for self development

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady.

She started screaming out of fear.
With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.

Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky.

The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but ...it landed on another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.
The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.
In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt.
When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.
Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior?
If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?

He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.
It is not the cockroach, but the inability of those people to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach, that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it's my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.

It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.
More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

Lessons learnt from the story:

I understood, I should not react in life.
I should always respond.
The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.
Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of.
A beautiful way to understand............LIFE.
Person who is HAPPY is not because Everything is RIGHT in his Life..
He is HAPPY because his Attitude towards Everything in his Life is Right..!!

Chanakya – Must Read Story

Once, a Chinese traveler came to meet Kautilya (Chanakya). It was dusk and darkness had just started to set in. When the traveler entered Chanakya’s room, he saw that Chanakya was busy writing some important papers under the lighting of an oil lamp. You know that there were no bulbs or tube lights in those days, since there was no electricity. So, in those days people used to light oil lamps. Chanakya smilingly welcomed his guest and asked him to sit. He then quickly completed the work that he was doing.

But do you know what did he do on completing his writing work? He extinguished the oil lamp under which he was writing and lit another lamp. The Chinese traveler was surprised to see this. He thought that maybe this was a custom followed by Indians when a guest arrives at their home. He asked Chanakya, “Is this a custom in India, when a guest arrives at your house? I mean, extinguishing one lamp and lighting the other?” Chanakya replied, “No my dear friend. There is no such custom.

Actually, when you entered, I was working. It was an official work, pertaining to my empire, my nation. The oil filled in that lamp has been bought from the money from the National treasury. Now, I am talking to you. This is a personal and friendly conversation, not related to my nation; so I cannot use that lamp now, as it will lead to wastage of the money of the national treasury. Hence, I extinguished that lamp and lit this other lamp, since the oil in this lamp has been bought from my personal money.”

It is amazing to see how principled our Acharyas’ (spiritual leaders) were. On seeing such high moral standards of our ancient spiritual leaders, sometimes it feels that we should try to emulate them, at least a little. They had such pure behaviour, pure conduct, pure mind and a pure conscience! Just ask yourself, what honorary title should we give to such men? They had reached such a high intellectual level! When will we learn to be like them? Actually, our current political leaders should learn from them; but unfortunately, no one is ready to learn.

Success secrets of the super rich

They have all made it BIG! Click through to gain pearls of wisdom from these super-successful A-listers.

Warren Buffett:

“Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.”

Bill Gates:

 “It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”

Steve Jobs:

“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Jeff Bezos:

“If you never want to be criticized, for goodness' sake don't do anything new.”

Oprah Winfrey:

“What other people label or might try to call failure, I have learned is just God’s way of pointing you in a new direction.”

Rupert Murdoch: 

“I love competition. And I want to win.”

Richard Branson:

 “My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.”


Donald Trump: 

“Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough. Sometimes you have to give up the fight and walk away, and move on to something that's more productive.”


Mukesh Ambani: 

“I think that our fundamental belief is that for us growth is a way of life and we have to grow at all times.”

Mark Zuckerberg: 

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

Lakshmi Mittal:

“Hard work certainly goes a long way. These days a lot of people work hard, so you have to make sure you work even harder and really dedicate yourself to what you are doing and setting out to achieve.”

Azim Premji: 

“If people are not laughing at your goals, your goals are too small.”

Andy Grove:

“You have to pretend you're 100 percent sure. You have to take action; you can't hesitate or hedge your bets. Anything less will condemn your efforts to failure.”

Jack Welch: 

            “Love the janitor.”

J.K. Rowling:

 “If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

Andrew Carnegie:

“As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.”

Michael Bloomberg: 

“Getting the job done has been the basis for the success my company has achieved.”

Mark Cuban:

 “Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don't do it.”

Henry Ford: 

“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”

Clive Palmer: 

“I realised that in a lot of failures, there is a lot of opportunities.”

Michael Dell: 

“Whether you’ve found your calling, or if you’re still searching, passion should be the fire that drives your life’s work.”

Carlos Slim Helu: 

“When there is a crisis, that’s when some are interested in getting out and that’s when we are interested in getting in.”

Bernard Arnault:

 “I think in business, you have to learn to be patient. Maybe I’m not very patient myself. But I think that I’ve learned the most is be able to wait for something and get it when it’s the right time.”

Aristotle Onassis:

 “After a certain point, money is meaningless. It ceases to be the goal. The game is what counts.”

Ted Turner:

 “I just love it when people say I can't do it, there's nothing that makes me feel better because all my life, people have said that I wasn't going to make it.”
 

Warren Buffett's investments success: 10 lessons to learn

Warren Buffett is undeniably the most successful investor in history. His success is attributed by some to his sharp business acumen, understanding of businesses while others ascribe it to plain and simple luck. Numerous books have been written in an attempt to analyze the factors which lead to his extraordinary success. However, replicating similar results is no cake walk.

Success at Buffett's rate is not a result of following a set formula. It was a continuous process backed by extremely hard work (thoroughly researching every step taken), discipline, perseverance and effective execution play a pivotal role in his success story.

We have compiled a list of key factors which led to Warren Buffett's coveted success.

1. Chalk up a plan
While making an investment, it is important to set a goal. Invest in value and then be patient. Quoting Buffett's famous words, 'the stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.' So once your homework is done and a choice is made, stick to the plan.
2. Invest in value
'Price is what you pay, value is what you get,' said Mr Buffett. Whether it is going in for an investment or making any other purchase, these words ring true. Looking for value is the underlying principal to be followed.
3. Plough back to reap benefits
Retain the earnings and invest it back in the business. The idea is to make the business grow and sustain. If earnings are taken home as dividends from a flourishing business, it does not help the very business which helps your earn, to grow. Dividends are popular but they shouldn't be the only thing one must have an eye on. It is important to track the utilization of funds back into the business to continue growing.
4. Strategize and execute
When it comes to investments, figure out the cash in hand and the fixed income sources one may invest in. The returns must be enough to sustain your current lifestyle. After this is sorted, money can be invested in other options which have a possibility of high returns against high risk. The strategy adopted must ensure that investment options are balanced. As Buffett said, do not put all your eggs in the same basket.
5. Time is money and has to be managed accordingly
Warren Buffett said, the rich invest in time and the poor invest in money. Indeed time is one commodity which is equally distributed to everybody. Tasks which are not related to his investment process were either delegated or eliminated. Time and energy spent on trivial tasks can be channelized on the ones topping the priority list.
6. Develop managerial skills
A manager sets goals for the team and drives them to achieve those. Keeping the team motivated, providing appropriate financial incentives and addressing any other concerns to the team's satisfaction are where managerial skills are tested. Not everybody is born as a good manager but these skills can definitely be developed.
7. Learn. Read. Think
Warren Buffett said that investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Nobody can take away talent from a person. Irrespective of the economic conditions, talent will always fetch proportionate returns. The value does not deteriorate. Hence, it is important to invest in developing ones skills. Staying updated helps in making intelligent decisions. Buffett's wise words- You can't reach success in investment if you do not think independently.
8. Everyday advice
Create more than one source of income. Do not depend on your job alone. Make investments to create a second source of income. Think twice before buying anything. Retail therapy does not really help in the long run. If one continues to buy things which are not needed, there will be a stretch situation someday for making necessary purchases.
9. Investment advice
Diversify the portfolio. It is important to balance investments on basis of fixed income, returns and risks. Also, while taking risks, tread cautiously. Like Buffett said, never test the depth of water with both feet. Only invest in businesses which you understand completely. Remember it your hard earned money invested there and you need to be absolutely sure about how it will be utilized to fetch returns.
10. Be your own advisor
Many people make investment decisions based on other people's opinions. This kind of an investment is the most risky investment and we are not even considering the inherent risk of the option chosen here. The investment option chosen by a friend may be best suited for their lifestyle and future plans. But that does not necessarily make that option a good fit for you. So think for yourself, seek clarity on your goals and then make a wise investment choice. Like Buffett said, a public opinion poll is no substitute for thought.

While we hope that these rules inspired by Mr Warren Buffett help you in making choices, we leave you with the two golden rules quotes by Buffett.
1.Never lose money.
2.Never forget rule number 1.