Lessons from “The Alchemist”

Paul Coelho , you beauty . Right from the first time i have read the book  “The  Alchemist” , i can still  feel its lessons resonating in me all the time.  There has been  a time where i felt its  an absolute unnecessary thing   to read  a Personality development book because i had always thought who else other than us can lead us in the best possible way  of life. But now i knew i was absolutely wrong . We need a mentor, a mentor who had a better visualization, a better thought and a better experience.

Yes that’s what this book provides you . I have jotted down a few important points which Alchemist like’s to mentor.

1) Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives , but none of about his or her won

2) Books – They tell their incredible stories t time when you want to hear them .But when you are talking to people they say some things that are so strange you don’t want know how to continue conversation

3) People learn early in their lives what is their reason for being . May be that’s why they give up on it so early too. Bu that’s the way it is.

4) Every blessing ignored becomes a curse

5) The closer one gets to destiny the more the destiny becomes that destiny becomes a true reason for being.

6) God created desert so that man can appreciate date trees.

7) Remember wherever your heart is there you will find the true treasure.

8 ) You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny . If he abandons that pursuit, its’s because it wasn’t true love   …the love that speaks the language of the world

9) No heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and Eternity.

10) Every search begins with beginners luck .And every search ends with the victor being severely tested.

11) The darkest hour of the night came before the dawn.

12) Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.

13) Life is generous to those who pursuit their destiny

There are few other wonderful lessons  we can learn from the book  but i didn’t jot them down because they are pretty much big and can be learn’t only with the context of the story .

If you are  into reading books , “The monk who sold his ferrari” and “Always Looking up :Adventures of an incurable optimist ” are two other wonderful master  pieces of life , and i sweetly call them as my “Mentor books”.

Love

There is always someone in the world waiting for someone else, whether in the middle of the desert or in the heart of some big city. And when these two people’s paths cross and their eyes meet, the whole of the past and the whole of the future lose all importance, and there only exists that moment and that incredible certainty that everything under the Sun was written by the very same Hand. The Hand that awakens Love and creates a sister soul for everyone who works, rests and seeks treasures under the Sun. Were it not for this, the dreams of the human race would make no sense.
-Paul Coelho
Beautiful but sounds like a typical fairy tale description. THis would be true if there is only one thing in the world called “Love”. But no Love is accompanied by many other factors in the present day and the tranquility and the serenity are just  a pass. Especially it has been heavily tampered in these days by  people and the societal obligations .  There are many people being misled by this fairy tale description which we regularly see in romantic novels,Indian  soap operas and movie  which always have a happy ending  .

So its important for everyone to  not be misled by this fairy tale of description of love .Just live in a practical zone and be prepared for every possible thing happening to you , that what makes u the best in the future . Work  for the best , prepare for the worst and accept the rest  . A simple psychological reading which can play wonders in life.

PS: That simply doesn’t mean love never has a fairy tale. Its just that people have found a new alternate  for love which is break up . In real there can never be an alternate . In these  days a true love is just a centimeter short of  fantasy. Buy still it can exist , but just beware of the people whom u are with.

Because the heart is the most precious jewel a human has  and there are always people around  to sabotage it and to steal it without bartering theirs.  At the same time not everyone is a thief .

Funny Quotes -Part 2

The  most popular post of this blog is an amalgamation of various funny quotes , in the post “Very very funny quotes to be on your T shirt”.

http://mrprincenov14.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/very-very-funny-quotes-to-be-on-yout-t-shirt/

If you want to know how popular it is from anywhere in the world each time you search for “Very Funny Quotes” in google u will be lead here.

So the second part comes here with a collection some interesting ,cool, funny and “wearable”( for the T shirts) quotes.

1) “I don’t have a girlfriend. But I do know a woman who’d be mad at me for saying that.”

2) I lost my temper, BUT IT CAME BACK!

3)Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly, and for the same reason.

4)Your so boring, if you threw a boomerang, it wouldn’t come back to you!

5)Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult( T shirt)

6)Available for rent(T shirt)

7)If you believe you can tell me what to think, I believe I can tell you where to go.(T shirt)

8)If you can’t say something nice about somebody, then you’ve come to the right place.( Interesting Blog quote)

9)Isn’t having a smoking section in a restaurant like having a peeing section in a swimming pool?

10)Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult(T shirt)

11)”Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”

A  humorous and meaningful favorite Movie  quote

“Me I’m dishonest, and a dishonest man you can alway trust to be dishonest. Honestly it’s the honest ones you have to watch out for, you never can predict if they’re going to do something incredibly stupid”

My Theme Quote

“Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away.”

Quote which touched my heart

God could not  be present everywhere , So  he created parents.

A GOOGLE acheivement

1)18 months and 17,000 clicks.
2)Each time you search with the following words, you would find the blog in top 5 of the Google search.

a)”Very Funny quotes”
b) “prasads hyderabad 4d fx”
c)”amul macho add/advertisement”

3)Not less than 35 views per day .

The Painting.

Gone.

Not forever, but still, almost…

Why walk in, in the first place, if it was only to leave your footprints all over?

I could trade off

All those funny, crazy, silly, and therefore, happy moments,

The lovely evenings,

Everything,

For the sadness that was left behind by the departure.

We think we are happy, perfect the way we’re doing, the way it had been always, that we do not need anyone/anything more and that there is no more space in our scheme of things for anyone else new. Until when someone enters your life, mark their place, linger for a while, make a mark, makes you wonder how you managed without them till now and leaves eventually, only to leave behind a void that cannot be filled. At the end of day, when you recline and think of it all from a strange perspective, all your life is just some holes woven together as in a fishing net.

I know its weird, but sometimes I feel that all of ours lives is one big painting, credited to a large number of artists – the people who come across in our life and leave eventually, all of them contributing a brush stroke, or more – there may be some dark shades as well, but in overall, they add to the beauty of the picture, and they highlight the bright shades as well. We too contribute to many paintings as well. So, to all those on whose canvas I’ll get/had already got a turn with the brush – I am a normal   artist, literally and otherwise, so I cant promise to make your painting a Monalisa, but I’ll try my best not to spill a colour, and to give it my best shot, I mean, best stroke. And to all those who will make my painting beautiful (hopefully)  Please be careful not to leave no smears all over.

So, see you when I see you next.

Note to self: (1) Never get too attached to anything.

(2) Be cold-hearted.

“Oy” Music Review

1) Oy is the title song. Has a cool and pepyy tune but has been horribly mixed with insipid lyrics which gave way to meaningless phrases just to add rhyming. Still its worth a listen ,especialy for the cool humming of the word “Oy”.

2)Saradaga song has been sung by two gifted singer Sunidhi chauhan and Karthik. But the song couldnt live upto the singers . Its a mixed bag  with humdrum tune , if not for the singers this song is not Yuvan Sankars material.

3)Povodhe prema is the pick of the album. It starts with beautiful lyrics blended with  soulful music, its a must have in all your music aids. It starts with “Nanu vadili neda velli pothundha, kannu vadili chupu velli pothundha” and this is an absolute 4 minute super  sweetness and no doubt Yuvan has reserved this song for himself to sing.

4)Anukoledhu is a typical heroine  sung song. Worth a listen , has a a good tune , mostly  apt for the film scenario. Typical lyrics but has the Yuvan Shankar Raja effect which makes it a definite worth listening.

5)Seheri: Starts with an intersting and meaningful lyric and inspiring tune. But  it falls in the middle with an unnecessary meaningless american rap. But it picks up again  with the female singer  and continues with a an interesting seheri slogan and finishes of as a very ear catchy tune.

6)Waiting for You: “Chiru Navvu navvutho nakosam vasthavani” is  the second best song of the album. With heart touching lyrics and  superflous tune , it will really be ringing in the hearts of all those heart breaks  and anxious lovers.  It definitely makes all the love smitten young hearts feel nostaligic! Better you can skip this if you dont want to remember all those sweet love memories,it haunting.

Have fun! Worth a buy or worth a download, especially “Waiting for you”  and “Povodhe prema”

Afraid to diminish, we cease to grow. Afraid to cry, we cease to laugh.

Amazing as it might seem, many people are afraid of happiness. To such people, being at one with life would mean changing certain habits – and losing their own identity.We often decide we are unworthy of the good things which happen to us. We do not accept miracles – for to accept them gives us the sensation that we owe God something. Furthermore, we are afraid we might “grow accustomed” to happiness.We think: “it is better not to taste the  joy, because we shall suffer so much when it is gone.

I have been experiencing a spectrum of emotions in the past one week. Ranging from extreme excitement to extreme bitterness, various reasons owing to this.

Today i was  going through some articles of philosophy, which i generally do when i don’t have anything interesting on hand to do. I have spent around  4 hours today in reading such articles and anecdotes , and i am going to summarize it with some interesting anecdotes taken from Paul Coelho writings.

Here are a few stories about this:

In Moses’ footsteps
Rabbi Zuya wanted to discover the mysteries of life. He therefore resolved to imitate the life of Moses.
For years, he tried to behave like the prophet – without ever achieving the results he hoped for. One night, tired of so much study, he fell into a deep sleep.
God appeared in his dream:
- Why are you so upset, my son? – He asked.
- My days on Earth will end, and I am still so far from being like Moses – answered Zuya.
- If I needed another Moses, I’d have already created him – said God. – When you come before me for judgment, I will not ask whether you were a good Moses, but who you were. Try and be a good Zuya.

Who still wants this bill?
Cassan Said Amer tells a story about a lecturer who began a seminar holding up a 20 dollar bill, and asking:
- Who wants this 20 dollar bill?
Several hands went up, but the lecturer said:
- Before handing it over, there’s something I must do.
He furiously crushed it, and asked again:
- Who still wants this bill?
The hands continued raised.
- And what if I do this?
He threw it against the wall, letting it fall to the floor, kicked it, stamped in it and again held up the bill – all dirty and crumpled. He repeated the question, and the hands continued to be held high.
- You mustn’t ever forget this scene – said the lecturer. – No matter what I do with this money, it’ll still be a 20 dollar bill. Many times in our lives, we are crushed, stamped on, kicked, maltreated, offended; however, in spite of this, we are still worth the same.

That which is funny about man
A disciple asked Hejasi:
- I want to know what is the most funny thing about human beings.
Hejasi said:
- That they always think crooked: they’re in a hurry to grow, then lament their lost childhood, and soon loose the money they need to keep their health.
“They are so anxious about the future, that they neglect the present, and thus live in neither the present nor the future.
“They live as if they were never going to die, and die as if they had never lived.”

Yup now if u have gone through i think u might have a made sense of things. Signing off today!

Worst Part of IIIT B 2009 Admissions

I wonder what the admission body of IIIT Bangalore  think of thousands of enthusiastic aspirants  who apply with for their institution.They just play with the emotions and aspirations of hundreds of average students and they leave them high and dry.

This is my view on How the IIIT B admission body and professors think of  and deal with the process in one of the most unpopular way.

Total around 5000 applicants for 120-130 seats.

They start of saying that they give a waiver to applicants GRE  and GATE  , although they dont give a exact  score of the cut off.  In the 5000  many students with lots of hopes and aspirations  apply for waiver and anxious wait for 30 days long only to find out that just a few made it thorugh the waiver. All the students who have got waiver are only GATE students with mostly above 95% and GRE around 1280  and more.

Now the worse part starts. They conduct an Exam for around 900 students and invite 500 of them for the interview.

The total number of people invited for the inreview are 673 for just around 120-140 seats. Apart form the elite 150 best students very other person comes with lot of hope and aspiration to the interview.

In this 673 poeple invited , around 30-40 people have around 1 or 2 years of experiance in some of the wonderful so called MNCs. Around 50 -60 people have more than 96% in GATE . And around 50 or so college toppers ot top 5% from some of the local engineering colleges.

50+50+40=140 seats, the equations ends here. But you may wonder why the rest 533 have been called.

But , these people invite over 673 people to get enough press coverage , to boast of themselves to the MNCs about their selection process and lastly to show of their infrastructutre to all the aspirants and their parents and give a wicked smile like  if u dont get here u are missing everything in life.

Now about the rest 533 students. Every one comes here  waiting 3 months long for the D day from distant  places with their parents and a glitter in their eyes.

The thing is these people select people on 3 criteria
1)Either you should be having a very strong GATE  score
2)Either very strong academic profile with near to distinction ,around 72-75%(JNTU)
3)Or experiance in top Notch MNCs.

They blough and raise the expectation in thousands of yound minds saying that its a combination of interview,academic performance,communication skills and passion that takes into IIIT bangalore.

Its a complete blough.

People with excellenet communications kills and no GATE or Good academia or not in.

Poeple who worked hard in their projects ,but no good acdemia with  not in.

Poeple who havent fared well in Btech (but still with first class),but developed a strong pasion for Mtech are not in .

But they say they chose according to this criteria for admisions which is a complete blough . With many profesors and directors at such a wonderful level , they dont think about the responsibility they have. Why do they call these many people for interview when they jus select the students on just 3 criteria. Why do they just raise the expectations of many normal students by jus asking them to come to interview after a a very lame exam and send them back? why do they want to play with the aspirations of many young students and their parents.

Ok its enough till here. Now the other side.

All the people who are selected now have a discussion whether to join here or not.

1)A GATE 98 or97% will be thinking of NITS or IIIT
2)Poeple will be thinking wther IIIIT h or IIIT B
3)After attending the interview and getting admission  people from Oracle come and ask  is it advisable to leave the job and come
4)People start saying that i wont have scholarship so i dont think i l go for IIIT B.

This is what people discuss after getting into IIIT B.

and now come the seniors to boast and boost the confidence of IIIT admits and it ends there.

But i seriously ask a question to the admission body of IIIT Banagalore why do they call every person for the interveiw when they already know whom to select. Why do u dissappoint hundreds of average students and parents.

Why cant they give admission to 100 high profile students and 40 average studnets who have good comitment towards Mtech.

No they dont, they take only the best and then boast and leaving the all the rest highly disappointed.

Many reputed institutes like IIIT H , or IITs never do the kind of stuff you people do.

I hate your admission procedure . Itcreate a kind of depresion by doing all this calling people for interview and rejecting them right through and playing with their aspirations for 3 months.

They just take the best , they boast we have the best . Thats it

Why do you think IIIT H calls around 200 students and give sthe admissio for 100.

Why dont u maintain such standards , u call every tom dick and harry showing some bright hope and leave them with a pre meditated intention of just selecting people with best acdemia.

If you have strong concern about the acdemia you should have mentioned it righ that poeple with 70% or more or required.

Its just not my voice its the voice of 533 aspirants and their parents.

Healing Wounds of “Love”

One of my best posts till date! “Wounded in Love”,i have been writing so  much about love these days but what do you expect a 21 year old  to do apart from the regular chores of life! I understand you think something else ,but no more debates, time for some action on cupid!

Those wounded in love, unlike those wounded in armed conflict, are neither victims nor torturers. They chose something that is part of life, and so they have to accept both the agony and the ecstasy of their choice.

And those who have never been wounded in love will never be able to say: “I have lived”. Because they haven’t.

“all is fair in love and war”

Article 1 – All lovers, of any sex, are alerted that love, besides being a blessing, is also something extremely dangerous, unpredictable and capable of causing serious damage. Consequently, anyone planning to love should be aware that they are exposing their  soul to various types of wounds, and that they shall not be able to blame their partner at any moment, since the risk is the same for both.

Article 2 – Once struck by a stray arrow fired from Cupid’s bow, they should immediately ask the archer to shoot the same arrow in the opposite direction, so as not to be afflicted by the wound known as “unrequited love”. Should Cupid refuse to perform such a gesture, the Convention now being promulgated demands that the wounded partner remove the arrow from his/her heart and throw it in the garbage. In order to guarantee this, those concerned should avoid telephone calls, messages over the Internet, sending flowers that are always returned, or each and every means of seduction, since these may yield results in the short run but always end up wrong after a while. The Convention decrees that the wounded person should immediately seek the company of other people and try to control the obsessive thought: “this person is worth fighting for”.

Article 3 – If the wound is caused by third parties, in other words if the loved one has become interested in someone not in the script previously drafted, vengeance is expressly forbidden. In this case, it is allowed to use tears until the eyes dry up, to punch walls or pillows, to insult the ex-partner in conversations with friends, to allege his/her complete lack of taste, but without offending their honor. The Convention determines that the rule contained in Article 2 be applied: seek the company of other persons, preferably in places different from those frequented by the other party.

Article 4 – In the case of light wounds, herein classified as small treacheries, fulminating passions that are short-lived, passing sexual disinterest, the medicine called Pardon should be applied generously and quickly. Once this medicine has been applied, one should never reconsider one’s decision, not even once, and the theme must be completely forgotten and never used as an argument in a fight or in a moment of hatred.

Article 5 – In all definitive wounds, also known as “breaking up”, the only medicine capable of having an effect is called Time. It is no use seeking consolation from fortune-tellers (who always say that the lost lover will return), romantic books (which always have a happy ending), soap-operas on the television or other such things. One should suffer intensely, completely avoiding drugs, tranquilizers and praying to saints. Alcohol is only tolerated if kept to a maximum of two glasses of wine a day.

Final determination: Those wounded in love, unlike those wounded in armed conflict, are neither victims nor torturers. They chose something that is part of life, and so they have to accept both the agony and the ecstasy of their choice.

And those who have never been wounded in love will never be able to say: “I have lived”. Because they haven’t.

Thanks to Paul Coelho for his beautiful insights.

Love and Freedom

I always had a fascination  towards the philosphy of Osho. Beleive it or not i have read his first book “Center of Cyclone” at the age of 14.

I strongly beleive that  people who just want to look at at the world with the other eye will find some strong resonance in his writings for sure. I have a snippet here which i  simplified for those who find it difficult to read the whole of his theory and philosphy.

Freedom is the very essential core of human consciousness:  Love is its circumference and freedom is its center.  These two fulfilled, life has no regret.  And they both are fulfilled together, never separately.

People have tried to fulfill love without freedom.  Then love brings more and more misery, more and more bondage.  Then love is not what one has expected it to be;  it turns out just the opposite.  It shatters all hopes, it destroys all expectations, and life becomes a wasteland, a groping in darkness and never finding the door.

Love without freedom naturally tends to be possessive.  And the moment possessiveness enters in, you start creating bondage for others and bondage for yourself, because you cannot possess somebody without being possed by him.  You cannot make somebody a slave without becoming a slave yourself.  Whatsoever you do to others is done to you.

This is the basic principal to be understood, that love without freedom never brings fulfillment.

And there have been people who have tried the other extreme, freedom without love.  These are the monks, the escapists, the people who renounce the world.  Afraid of love, afraid of love because it brings bondage, they renounce all the situations where love can flow, grow, can happen, is possible.  They escape into loneliness.  Their loneliness never becomes aloneness, it remains loneliness.  And loneliness is a negative state; it is utterly empty, it is sad.

Renunciation is repression and nothing else.  And the more you repress a thing, the more you need to repress it.  And the more you go on repressing it, the more powerful it becomes.  It will erupt in your dreams, it will erupt in your hallucinations.

The conclusion is

Love and freedom are not separate things, you cannot choose.  Either you will have to have both, or you will have to have dropped both.  But you cannot choose, you cannot have one.

See how beautiful it is!