Just discovered that MJ passed away. And was in shock for a few minutes.Though I was not his biggest fan, I loved quite a few of his numbers.
More than that, I always enjoyed watching people enjoy his music, swaying to some like ‘Heal the World’ to performing the moonwalk on some others!
Am sure the world will miss you and your music, MJ!
May you find the ‘Neverland’ you so wanted to be in, where children never grow up, in the place you have gone to!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Positive Strokes!
Today’s been an awesome one so far! My friend’s son, all of 9, drew a sketch of a 'finely muscled' Hanuman and gifted it to me, as a return gift. That was enough to put me in high spirits early in the morning!
I was then declared the star performer in a Project Management Preparation Training that I underwent for the last 4 months.
It feels good to receive positive strokes from people, young or old!
I was then declared the star performer in a Project Management Preparation Training that I underwent for the last 4 months.
It feels good to receive positive strokes from people, young or old!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Thinking out of the box!
Puzzle 1: How do you put an elephant in a refrigerator?
Answer:
· Adult: You open the door, put the elephant in and close the door
· 3 year old kid: (with a shocked expression on her face)You can’t put an elephant in the refrigerator! The elephant is big and the fridge is so much smaller than the elephant!
(the adult then convinces her that the fridge will be as big as the elephant or the elephant will be as small as the fridge)
Puzzle 2: How do you put a giraffe in a refrigerator?
Answer:
· Adult: You open the door, pull out the elephant, put the giraffe in and close the door
· 3 year old kid: You open the door and put the giraffe in. The giraffe is thin and can fit in with the elephant because the fridge is big enough to hold the elephant. And since both animals are herbivores, they won’t eat each other.
….and we think we become more knowledgeable and ‘think smarter as we grow’. We pride ourselves in learning the new technique called ‘lateral thinking’ as adults and thinking laterally though it seems to me that the 3 year old really thought out of the box compared to any adult.
Don’t believe me? Ask any adult the 2 questions and I am sure you will get the same answers 90% of the times. Ask a bunch of pre-schoolers the 2 questions and I am sure they will bring in myriad perspectives to these puzzles that supposedly test memory and logical reasoning.
Are we all then born lateral thinkers and does our conditioning ruin our ability to think creatively?
Answer:
· Adult: You open the door, put the elephant in and close the door
· 3 year old kid: (with a shocked expression on her face)
(the adult then convinces her that the fridge will be as big as the elephant or the elephant will be as small as the fridge)
Answer:
· Adult: You open the door, pull out the elephant, put the giraffe in and close the door
· 3 year old kid: You open the door and put the giraffe in. The giraffe is thin and can fit in with the elephant because the fridge is big enough to hold the elephant. And since both animals are herbivores, they won’t eat each other.
….and we think we become more knowledgeable and ‘think smarter as we grow’. We pride ourselves in learning the new technique called ‘lateral thinking’ as adults and thinking laterally though it seems to me that the 3 year old really thought out of the box compared to any adult.
Don’t believe me? Ask any adult the 2 questions and I am sure you will get the same answers 90% of the times. Ask a bunch of pre-schoolers the 2 questions and I am sure they will bring in myriad perspectives to these puzzles that supposedly test memory and logical reasoning.
Are we all then born lateral thinkers and does our conditioning ruin our ability to think creatively?
Food, Conversations and High Spirits
Last Friday, Saturday and Sunday of my life were devoted to Ovation 2008, the Conference of District 82 of Toastmasters. The event saw Toastmasters from various places like Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chandigarh, West Bengal and even Sri Lanka stream into Namma Bengalooru to spend 3 fun filled days with the Bangalore Toastmasters, the hosts for the event.
The highlight of first day of Ovation 2008, according to me, was a spectacular dance performance by the Abhinava Dance Company. I have never ever seen such coordination and such rhythm from any dance troupe in my life!
The second day saw a lot of food for thought, in the form of educational sessions from world renowned trainers – the sessions ranged from how to memorize the names and faces of people, to tips on how to transform ourselves from ordinary to extraordinary, to identifying people’s communication styles and thereby dealing with them appropriately, to name a few.
The second day of Ovation 2008 also provided food for the fun loving souls inside each one of us, in the form of ‘Fun Nite’. It was nice to see people seemingly straight-laced, loosen up and dance away to glory as soon as the first few notes from the DJ console hit the air.
The third day of Ovation 2008 featured the speech contests. I am thankful I was not one of the judges – it would have been a very difficult decision for them to choose the best speakers when most speakers delivered near flawless speeches with aplomb. At the end of the third day, it was time to go home, back to the run-of-the-mill routine that awaited me from next day onwards.
I did pick up a lot of ‘gyaan’ during the 3 days at Ovation. But what will remain deeply imprinted in my mind is the camaraderie of the Toastmasters from Sri Lanka. The entire group knew how to have fun, even in an alien city, and keep the others entertained as well, with their amazing sense of humour, high spirits that never waned and easy going nature.
The event also gave me an opportunity to meet a whole lot of people, while preparing for the event and during the event, and indulge in some interesting, thought provoking conversations with them. I can’t think of any other way to have spent the 3 days more fruitfully than with great company, and chow for thought, stomach and the fun-hungry soul.
Amen!
The highlight of first day of Ovation 2008, according to me, was a spectacular dance performance by the Abhinava Dance Company. I have never ever seen such coordination and such rhythm from any dance troupe in my life!
The second day saw a lot of food for thought, in the form of educational sessions from world renowned trainers – the sessions ranged from how to memorize the names and faces of people, to tips on how to transform ourselves from ordinary to extraordinary, to identifying people’s communication styles and thereby dealing with them appropriately, to name a few.
The second day of Ovation 2008 also provided food for the fun loving souls inside each one of us, in the form of ‘Fun Nite’. It was nice to see people seemingly straight-laced, loosen up and dance away to glory as soon as the first few notes from the DJ console hit the air.
The third day of Ovation 2008 featured the speech contests. I am thankful I was not one of the judges – it would have been a very difficult decision for them to choose the best speakers when most speakers delivered near flawless speeches with aplomb. At the end of the third day, it was time to go home, back to the run-of-the-mill routine that awaited me from next day onwards.
I did pick up a lot of ‘gyaan’ during the 3 days at Ovation. But what will remain deeply imprinted in my mind is the camaraderie of the Toastmasters from Sri Lanka. The entire group knew how to have fun, even in an alien city, and keep the others entertained as well, with their amazing sense of humour, high spirits that never waned and easy going nature.
The event also gave me an opportunity to meet a whole lot of people, while preparing for the event and during the event, and indulge in some interesting, thought provoking conversations with them. I can’t think of any other way to have spent the 3 days more fruitfully than with great company, and chow for thought, stomach and the fun-hungry soul.
Amen!
Monday, May 05, 2008
Freakonomics!
As a part of an internal programme in office, we had to read a book and then donate it to the library. I chose Freakonomics, for the sheer reason of having bought it a year before and not laid my hands on it since.
To the uninitiated, Freakonomics uses tools of economics that interpret real life data to address day to day questions like ‘what makes a perfect parent’ or ‘Why crack dealers live with their mothers’ or ‘whose side the real estate agents are really on’.
I went down to the bookstore to pick up a copy to donate to the library and found two different publications selling the same paperback version for two different prices. I wonder what the authors of Freakonomics would say about this!
To the uninitiated, Freakonomics uses tools of economics that interpret real life data to address day to day questions like ‘what makes a perfect parent’ or ‘Why crack dealers live with their mothers’ or ‘whose side the real estate agents are really on’.
I went down to the bookstore to pick up a copy to donate to the library and found two different publications selling the same paperback version for two different prices. I wonder what the authors of Freakonomics would say about this!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Happy Birthday, Fitness!
We finished one year of aerobics classes yesterday.
Here are some benefits of aerobics that I discovered while googling:
1. The heart increases its blood stroke volume
2. Oxygen is used more efficiently resulting in increased fat burning during exercise
3. More available energy due to greater amounts of ATP and PC for immediate power needs
4. Increased endurance
5. Lower blood pressure
6. Reduced risks in developing diabetes and other diseases
7. Increase in good cholesterol, decrease in bad cholesterol
8. Faster recovery after exercise
9. More efficient cardiovascular system
10. A positive body composition change, more muscle less fat
11. Better chance of maintaining healthy weight later in life
12. Helps in coping with all emotional and psychological stress
13. Enhanced good moods and self-esteem
14. Decreased shortness of breath
15. Decreased fatigue
And there are visible ‘positive’ changes in the regulars of the batch (including your truly) to speak for the benefits they have gotten out of the programme.The 3 day sessions weekly are something to really look forward to especially since our instructor, Mukund, is a bundle of energy and positivity, that he transmits to the entire batch.
Here’s looking forward to celebrating the second birthday of my fitness programme next November end, with a year full of high-energy aerobics lessons with Mukund, in between!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
My Virtual Remains?
I watched a play called ‘Creeper’ this Sunday at Ranga Shankara. I loved everything about the play – from its humour to thepoignant bits, to the very interesting narrative style adopted to tell the story that ‘will have a happy ending’.
The one take home for me from the play was a thought provoking statement by the sutradhaar ‘What happens to my orkut profile after I am gone? What happens to my mail id? What happens to my blog? My mail id will get inactivated sooner or later but what about my orkut profile and my blog?’
Still trying to find an answer to this question….
The one take home for me from the play was a thought provoking statement by the sutradhaar ‘What happens to my orkut profile after I am gone? What happens to my mail id? What happens to my blog? My mail id will get inactivated sooner or later but what about my orkut profile and my blog?’
Still trying to find an answer to this question….
Monday, November 19, 2007
From 'O-SO?' to 'Oh Wow!' in 2.5 hours!
I finally watched Om Shanti Om yesterday! I had promised myself that I would watch the movie and evaluate it myself, unswayed by ‘oh-its-such-aboring-movie’, ‘no-storyline’,’a-waste-of-my-money’ kind of comments।
And O Boy! Did I love it or what! I was completely entertained for every minute of the 21/2 hours I spent in the theatre!
I loved the spoofs, the songs, the special effects, the costumes and yes the storyline too as corny as it might have seemed to some!
But what I loved the most was the red carpet sequence at the end of the movie where every contributor to the movie (right from the Producer to the spot boys) was acknowledged, not just with a you-shut-your-eyes-and-its-gone list of names but their 15 secs of fame in front of the camera! Its not very often that film makers acknowledge the role and contribution of those who toil behind the cameras for months together to create the end product! Way to go,Farah!
And O Boy! Did I love it or what! I was completely entertained for every minute of the 21/2 hours I spent in the theatre!
I loved the spoofs, the songs, the special effects, the costumes and yes the storyline too as corny as it might have seemed to some!
But what I loved the most was the red carpet sequence at the end of the movie where every contributor to the movie (right from the Producer to the spot boys) was acknowledged, not just with a you-shut-your-eyes-and-its-gone list of names but their 15 secs of fame in front of the camera! Its not very often that film makers acknowledge the role and contribution of those who toil behind the cameras for months together to create the end product! Way to go,Farah!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
And now for something completely different….
I had watched a play called ‘Always look at the bright side of life’ by EVAM in July। What kept my usually rather short attention span riveted to the stage was the hour and ten minutes of rib tickling humour and the impressive way in which the dancers moved the props around between sketches, while moving gracefully, without the curtains ever being lowered.
And now EVAM is back in Bangalore tomorrow, the 23rd of September with the sequel that’s titled ‘And now for something completely different’। The title itself seems to promise to me some wacky, rib tickling fun.
I’ll have to get updates on how the play was from some friends of mine, coz I am not in town till Monday. Sigh! I hope EVAM comes back to Bangalore soon with a repeat of this play.
And now EVAM is back in Bangalore tomorrow, the 23rd of September with the sequel that’s titled ‘And now for something completely different’। The title itself seems to promise to me some wacky, rib tickling fun.
I’ll have to get updates on how the play was from some friends of mine, coz I am not in town till Monday. Sigh! I hope EVAM comes back to Bangalore soon with a repeat of this play.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)