Posts

Showing posts from June, 2016

The need for Creativity

Image
A child playing with balloons suddenly burst one. Instead of crying or complaining, she simply tied up the balloon into a knot and made a ring from it. She used her creativity to change an unpleasant situation to her advantage. Why is it that children can still be creative and innovative, while as adults we only look for set solutions to problems instead of thinking out of the box? Perhaps it is the years of conditioning and conformation to rules that smother our creativity. Creativity is the mother of all new ideas and innovation. It is that bright spark that leads to development of revolutionary techniques and path-breaking inventions. Breakthroughs in science and technology owe their origins to the creative genius of some people. Just think what would have happened had not Microsoft founder Bill Gates create the popular Windows software? Or what we would have done without the invention of the smart phone or Bluetooth devices? Obviously these devices have originated from t

The overpowering might of the Puri sea

Image
The sea at Puri, Orissa, India, has a mind of its own. Attempting to bathe in these waters, specially at high tide, requires a lot of intrepid energy. For one, you go all spruced up to have a good bath in the sea, towel in hand, sunglasses and hat in place, and leggings all curled up. And then gingerly step into the water, testing it, so to speak. And no sooner you are near the waves, a huge one comes all of a sudden and overpowers you with all its fury and might. You don't know where to look, what to hold on to. You are totally, completely overpowered, and thrown out of gear. Out goes your composure and balance! Floundering in the rush of the waves, you clutch on to dear life by somehow grabbing some sand, or whatever solid is near you. The fury of waves is such that you are totally compelled to succumb to its might. Nothing, repeat nothing, prepared you for such an experience. If there is an overwhelming experience then this is it. It is a worthwhile experience, one

Change your destiny

The easiest thing in life is to wallow in self pity and blame fate for all the bad things that happen to us. Because that way we get an escape route from taking responsibility for the way our lives shape up. We can say "Oh it is my fate, just my bad destiny, etc." But if you really want to change your destiny, you must do something about it yourself. Yes, I know that you cannot totally change your destiny, but you can certainly try to better it. Even fate helps those who help themselves. What you can do to improve your luck: Take responsibility for self betterment. Most of our problems are due to the faults in our own personalities, so if we try to make ourselves better, our luck will also look up. Change your attitude or mindset. If we cannot change things we can at least change our way of looking at them. Try to see the positive side of things. Learn from failure. Accept things as they are. You will see the difference it makes to your peace of mind. Try to reach

Respecting the space of others

Recently, I was travelling in the AC coach of a train with my family, and had to suffer the whims of my co-passengers. There was a large family of about six adults and six children crammed in a 3 AC coach and they made noise equivalent to 20 -30 people. The children were misbehaving and shrieking and the adults made no attempt to quieten them. At 12 in the night, they were merrily shouting, complaining and feasting, when I had to remind them of the time and of the fact that all of us were trying to get some sleep. On our return journey too, we faced people talking loudly into their mobiles at odd hours and disturbing the peace of the journey. This got me thinking. When will we Indians learn to respect the space of our fellow countrymen? We routinely go ahead enjoying ourselves at the expense of others, often totally ignoring the inconvenience of people around us. It seems they don't exist at all so long as they don't interfere with our idea of fun. Personal space? What