Man Ni Tarango (The Waves of Mind)

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines religion as, "an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods" and "the belief in a god or in a group of gods". This clearly entails that the whole idea of religion depends on the existence of God(s). No God - No Religion. Second inference of these definitions is that one must "believe" in the idea of "God" for religions to exist. Believing in God gives one purpose, solace and peace. There is nothing wrong in believing in God as long as it keeps the stress away and helps one achieve higher purpose in life. Oh My God! Then, where is the problem? If it were so simple (i.e. believing in God and attaining the peace / ultimate goal), the earth would have been a great place to live! With so many great religions around, almost all seven billion people on this earth would have found at least one religion which gives them peace; which helps them find meanin...

A lot has been written about Stress Management. So, without beating around the bush, let me share a few tips, which can easily allow you to manage stress easily! 1. Live in the Moment: I am writing this blog right now -- that's it! -- My 100% attention on the blog means I can write it as effectively as possible -- without bothering about what happened an hour back or what will happen after an hour. When you focus on "NOW AND HERE", it has two benefits: better concentration and more effectiveness. 2. Do not "Run Away": Prof D M Pestonji, the most renowned expert of Stress Management in India, writes in his famous book: Stress and Coping: The Indian Experience, that there are two possible reactions when one faces stress: fight or flight. Deciding to face a problem and trying to solve it is a fight response. Running away from the problem, or taking a vacation to avoid attending a difficult meeting is a flight response. While the flight response ...

Why do people join the group?! Of course, there are many possible answers. But the one, that is most relevant to us contextually is, that it is impossible to survive without being a part of group--be it in personal life or be it in professional life. Group Discussion - one of the methods of selection for job - is widely used now a days by many employers. The primary reason for testing a candidate by this method is to know if he / she is capable enough to communicate across her ideas in a group. Because as a part of any professional job, one is required to communicate in meetings, presentations and so on. So, it is not enough to be able to communicate effective and successfully in a one to one dialogue (e.g. in interviews), one must be able to communicate well in a group too. Cracking the group interview is generally very tricky, because of its inherent structure - a lot of people are vying for attention at the same time. Let us look at some the "tips" that ca...

"There is no free lunch!"- and FB is offering it--sometimes calling internet.org and sometimes "Free Basics". This so called "Free Basics" is a direct threat to the concept of "Net Neutrality". Here is why: 1. It is a threat to entrepreneurs: When the services, say for example, like WhatsApp, are offered free under this scheme. This will initially please the users for being free, but in long run, this will create a monopoly of WhatsApp as users will not use any competing messenger because they will have to pay data bill to use any other messenger. Thus, any young entrepreneur, who wants to launch a competing messenger will find it very difficult to launch it as no surfer will be ready to try this product for which they will have to pay the data bill. 2. It is a threat to privacy: When one will access the any service under "Free Basics", one will have to visit access the server / website of that service through the p...

'Skills India' is one of the most talked about initiatives of Mr. Narendra Modi. Should it succeed, it will really make India one of the most competitive countries in the world. While a lot has been written about the lack of skills or employability among the graduates of India, I thought it would be prudent to share my thoughts about it too. Hope it will be useful. My effort here is not to indulge in any sort of preaching or advising --rather, I would like to share inputs based on my numerous interactions with practicing managers. Here are the skills, which according my experience, matter in getting a good job / placement:  1. Street Smartness: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the few cricketers who has got a lot of success due to his street smartness. He is unconventional, a good reader of the game, a risk taker and a doer. The same way, today's bosses need people who are quick learners, problem solvers, go-getters and result oriented. So, one of the aspect to remain em...

I have been teaching for a decade now. During this period, I have delivered numerous lectures at various places. One particular topic, on which I have been asked to deliver lectures, has been, something as simple as - "How to face a job interview?". I have a lot of tacit knowledge about it. So, it is time to make it explicit! Here we go: >> Prepare Well: Before appearing for the interview, prepare well. Prepare a five sentence introduction about yourself. It should include, your name, your qualification and current work designation, at the most -- one sentence about family, and any special qualifications or achievements, which are relevant to the post for which you are being interviewed. Do not boast about the achievements of your father or grand father--the interview is about YOUR CANDIDATURE. E.g. my father is an IAS / MD etc. or my grandfather was a freedom fighter. Also make sure to study (not merely surf or visit) the website of the company whic...

The original blog entry is available at http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/god-and-i/start-of-the-spirituality?track=cntshfb It has been re posted here as I would like to update this blog too and why not share my blog entry in both my blogs?? ======================================================================== Hello! I used to write a blog http://www.pathikvariya.blogspot.in/ - it still exists today but I have not updated it for last three years now. Please don't ask what went (right or wrong) during those three years, but somehow, I just stopped updating that blog. But, thankfully, Speakingtree has awakened the blogger in me! And I hope the same speakingtree will - one day- AWAKEN ME TOO! Off late, I have been highly impressed with three sects / religions - Sufism, Buddhism and Jainism. While, I would avoid categorising myself belonging to any particular faith / religion - still for those r...