A very inspiring speech by Willian Kamkwamba, an african boy who brought electricity to his house and water to his drying fields.

I found this pic on flickr, when i was setting up my flickr account.
It had the caption “The effect of a glam auntie”

Photography is supposed to be creative ! like this one.

I personally love his presentations. Enjoy the video.

The fault is not with the trainer. It is with me. Trying to do effective time management using different techniques was secondary. I later realized, i have to change something more fundamental before attempting any secondary change.

My belief that my efficiency was limited by time, and i cant do much about it.

Immediate use of time management techniques provided only a cosmetic make-up. The true belief showed up very soon. Putting the to-do list in different techniques didn’t help  because, i lacked commitment, energy and love towards my list.

When these three forces dominate,  the vehicle of life moves at a decent speed. It doesn’t really matter whether i use one wheel at the front and three at the back or two wheels at both the ends, when my primary aim is to get the vehicle moving. The techniques taught at the training can only help me accelerate faster through design improvements. But, the fact still remains.

Without the driving force, nothing moves.

I realized that it is very important to check the primary requirements, before i focus my energies on secondary improvements. Without understanding why and how of my activities, and what is really important to me,  planning and prioritization are meaningless.

I could draw an analogy between my personal experience and  the “Personality Ethic – Character Ethic” concept illustrated in “The seven habits of highly effective people” by Stephen R Covey. I strongly recommend this book. It is taking me on a realization ride.

All the trainings try to change my personality ethic which attributes only to my secondary greatness. In tough situations, my original character ethic will surface. When it happens, i am are no longer a consistent performer. The key is to change my character and believe that the change is indispensible. Yes !

There are no Short-cuts.

Personality Ethic will only help me after i achieve Primary Greatness. To reach there, i have to work on my character and my beliefs. In any journey, slight diversions are okay. But, i cant afford to start in the wrong direction !

With this realization, i am trying to better my self.

I would like to end this post with a short video talk on “Belief and Behavior” by Devdutt Pattanaik, who is a thought provoking and inspirational author. He talks about his new role as Chief Belief Officer @ Future Group.

Friends, don’t forget to do introspection! Its important. Else, you will end up moving continuously in the maze of life, reaching no where.

Image Ref : http://spiddlement.wordpress.com/

We begin this New Year with dampened enthusiasm and dented optimism. Our happiness is diluted and our peace is threatened by the financial illness that has infected our families, organizations and nations. Everyone is desperate to find a remedy that will cure their financial illness and help them recover their financial health. They expect the financial experts to provide them with remedies, forgetting the fact that it is these experts who created this financial mess.

Every new year, I adopt a couple of old maxims as my beacons to guide my future. This self-prescribed therapy has ensured that with each passing year, I grow wiser and not older.

This year, I invite you to tap into the financial wisdom of our elders along with me, and become financially wiser.

• Hard work – All hard work bring a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
• Laziness – A sleeping lobster is carried away by the water current.
• Earnings – Never depend on a single source of income. (At least make your Investments get you second earning)
• Spending – If you buy things you don’t need, you’ll soon sell things you need.
• Savings – Don’t save what is left after spending; Spend what is left after saving.
• Borrowings – The borrower becomes the lender’s slave.
• Accounting – It’s no use carrying an umbrella, if your shoes are leaking.
• Auditing – Beware of little expenses; A small leak can sink a large ship.
• Risk-taking – Never test the depth of the river with both feet. (Have an alternate plan ready )
• Investment – Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

I’m certain that those who have already been practicing these principles remain financially healthy. I’m equally confident that those who resolve to start practicing these principles will quickly regain their financial health.

Let us become wiser and lead a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful life.

Image source: BusinessWeek

P.S : Thanks to my friend Anjali, for directing me to this article

I bought 250 gm of potato chips for Rs 45. During the 5 min i spent at the shop, i saw that he could sell 1.5 kg of potato chips. I came back home and enquired my mom about the cost of potatoes. She said that the maximum price she had paid in her experience was Rs 25. I couldn’t resist from making these quick calculations

The calculations shown here are very conservative, considering the sale of only 2 kg of chips per hour.

Rs 36,400 is the profit (Munafa) which the 22 year old boy in the shop makes per month by selling potato chips.

The story is not over here. The raw material (Potatoes & Oil) cost is actually much less than Rs 25, as he buys them in bulk. Potato chips is only one of the items he sells at the shop. There are at least 10 other varieties of chips.  I haven’t included the calculations for other items as i don’t have the data. So, the boy in reality is earning much more than Rs 36,400. Accounting for other uncertainties and losses, he would earn a minimum of Rs 36,400. 

The boy’s profit is more than what an average engineer earns during his first year of job. I don’t intend to insult the education system or the highly qualified engineers in the country. The point i am trying to drive is as follows.

Some smart guys realize the business man in them at a very early stage. They know the magic of Dhandha.

If you start-up your business at the age of 18 after PUC and invest 4 years to make it a profitable business, you are an independent and successful business man by the age of 22. Wah, what a feeling. 

The guess the boy in the hot-chip shop is doing the business for a survival. Some don’t do it for survival. They grow every year, investing in the right areas and build a mighty empire around them. For example, Steve Jobs built “Apple” during the same years of his life and was worth 10 million USD at the age of 22. When ever i feel low, i listen to his commencement speech at Stanford University. Only accomplished people can deliver such great speeches.

Dhirubhai Ambani is an Indian example of such heroes. These heroes don’t mind the initial risks and set-backs. They are very clear about their objective and are highly confident about reaching there. That’s why they are famous. They accomplished what many other people holding 3 to 4 academic degrees couldn’t.

In this thought process, I remembered the movie “Guru” (based on Dhirubhai Ambani’s Life story) by Maniratnam. I would have watched it over 10 times by now. Will watch it once again over the weekend for a dose of inspiration.

I wish i die as a founder of at least a small company or at least a shop, and rather not as a retired employee. Today is not the day. I wish it comes asap (A day of successful business, not death)

There was a couple that used to go to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, "May we see that? We’ve never seen one quite so beautiful."

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke.

"You don’t understand," it said. "I haven’t always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay." My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "let me alone", but he only smiled, "Not yet."

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. Stop it! I’m getting dizzy!" I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, "Not yet."

Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips, as He shook his head, "Not yet."

Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. "There, that’s better," I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. "Stop it, stop it!" I cried. He only nodded, "Not yet."

Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, "Not yet."

Then I knew there wasn’t any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, "Look at yourself." And I did. I said, "That’s not me; that couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful."

"I want you to remember," then, he said, "I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.

I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life.

And if I hadn’t put you back in that second oven, you wouldn’t survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you."

God knows what He’s doing (for all of us). He is the Potter, and we are His clay.
He will mold us and make us, So that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Now that we have understood the moral, lets read a real life story. For everyone who wants to witness the heights of positive thinking, the following article is a must read. (click on the name)

Naga Naresh Karuturi

P.S: Image source – www.firstflush.ee