One Life

That's the poster I wake up to every morning ;-)

• This is your life.
• Do what you love, and do it often.
• If you don't like something, change it.
• If you don't like your job, quit.
• If you don't have enough time, stop watching TV.
• If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.
• Stop over analyzing, life is simple.
• All emotions are beautiful when you eat, appreciate every last bite.
• Open your mind, arms and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences.
• Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them.
• Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself.
• Some opportunities only come once, seize them.
• Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them so go out and start creating.
• Life is short.
• Live your dream and share your passion.
• Stop making excuses.
• Take responsibility. 

Watch 100 Documentaries - Milestone

Documentary - a film or television or radio programme that provides a factual report on a particular subject.

It has a lot of condensed and focused knowledge about a given subject. And with my active subscriptions of hotstar and amazon prime video - there are so many documentaries to explore. I am going to give sizeable portion of my time every week in watching these documentaries. As always, will maintain a list of documentaries I manage to absorb.

Here is to a documented start -

1. Becoming Warren Buffett
2. The Koran: Journey To The Book's Origin
3. Inside Job
4. Origins: The Journey Of Humankind - Spark of Civilization
5. Origins: The Journey Of Humankind - Cheating Death
6. Origins: The Journey Of Humankind - The Power of Money
7. Origins: The Journey Of Humankind - The Writing on the Wall
8. Origins: The Journey Of Humankind - Progress of War
9. Origins: The Journey Of Humankind - Building the Future
10. Origins: The Journey Of Humankind - Into the Unknown
11. Origins: The Journey Of Humankind - The Road Ahead

Read 100 Books - Milestone

This year, I am going to complete a milestone of reading 100 books -

1. The One Thing - Gary Keller
2. Master of the Game - Sidney Sheldon
3. You Can Win - Shiv Khera
4. The Art of Thinking Clearly - Rolf Dobelli
5. Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
6. Liar's Poker - Michael Lewis
7. Flash Boys - Michael Lewis
8. Tell Me Your Dreams - Sidney Sheldon
9. The Doomsday Conspiracy - Sidney Sheldon
10. The Accidental Apprentice - Vikas Swarup
11. Options as a Strategic Investment - Lawrence G. McMillian
12. Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki
13. Men Are From Mars Women From Venus - John Gray
14. Mutation - Robin Cook
15. The Hardy Boys Ghost Stories - Dixon Franklin W Dixon
16. Don't Sweat The Small Stuff - Richard Carlson
17. Mrs Funnybones - Twinkle Khanna
18. Trade Like A Stock Market Wizard - Mark Minervini
19. The Complete Guide To Option Selling - James Cordier and Michael Gross
20. If Tomorrow Comes - Sidney Sheldon
21. Nothing Lasts Forever - Sidney Sheldon
22. The Best Laid Plans - Sidney Sheldon
23. Are You Afraid of the Dark - Sidney Sheldon
24. The 3 Mistakes of My Life - Chetan Bhagat
25. 2 States - Chetan Bhagat
26. Five Point Someone - Chetan Bhagat
27. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
28. Angels and Daemons - Dan Brown
29. Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
30. The Lean Startup - Eric Ries
31. How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
32. Technical Analysis Module - National Stock Exchange (NCFM)
33. Animal Farm - George Orwell
34. Who Moved My Cheese? - Dr. Spencer Jhonson
35. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
36. Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Jules Verne
37. The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham
38. Steve Jobs - Walter Issacson
39. Alibaba - The House That Jack Ma Built - Duncan Clark
40. The Legend of Laxmi Prasad - Twinkle Khanna
41. Learning Pearl - Randal L. Schwartz
42. Learning Python - Mark Lutz
43. Pyjamas are Forgiving - Twinkle Khanna

Amen!

My Dad

The title of my speech is "My Dad". Ok! There is no surprise here. But the last time I jotted down something like this with the same title - "My Dad" was probably when I was in kindergarten. The difference being - this is hand written and it was in the form of a drawing. "Time kaise beet gaya pata he nahi chala" But I can proudly say one thing - the content has hardly changed - My dad is still my Hero.

The earliest memory I have of my dad is that of a person who is your friend in need. I mean he was the go-to person for all those little issues that seemed world war 3 to me then. The biggest freedom we had was that we could talk about anything without even a slightest hesitation. There were no topics off limits and our fierce discussions would go from politics to economics and from science to mathematics. BTW, our latest ongoing dining table discussion is about how to contain North Korea and how Inflation is the biggest enemy not Kim Jong Un. Huh! Donald Trump thinks he is solving world issues.

Anyhow, going back to the earlier times, my most cherished childhood memories with my dad involve playing table tennis when he used to give away that last point on deuce just to see me roar in joy, playing one sided cricket matches in which only I would get a chance to bat, waking up early in the morning for those adventurous walks in jungle turning out to be ONGC golf course, building up logical thinking with those never ending arguments, enjoying those long drives in rainy season and sun and how a little mischief can be so much fun.

I have never found him to be categorically strict. He is always the fun parent you can jump on and joke around with. But I wonder if you witness it in office or not - my dad cherishes being fair and you just can't argue with his logic or justice - never delayed never denied. He is like the Raja Vikramaditya of our house always doing the right thing.

Dad - Thank You! For you taught us how to be honest, kind, hard working and fun at the same time, not by giving boring moral lectures, but by living with the same qualities against test of time - all these years. Also, I would like to thank your decision of sticking with ONGC for so long. We hardly appreciate the stability of job, income and security that is quintessential for any person, house or country to flourish. Ask Pakistan about it.

I know we don't say this often - But we love you dad. On this new juncture, I wish you a very long, happy and healthy life. Don't worry too much about inflation, you will outsmart it. For you have always lived life king size and we will always love the way you are!

Better Start Running

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.

Turning 33

Today is a very special day. It's been a while to my existence. As a matter of fact, let me count it! It's been -

• 1722 weeks
• 12,054 days
• 289,296 hours
• 17,357,760 minutes
• 1,041,465,600 seconds

You know what I have realized -

Life is short, Make it count!

Creativity

I went for a DSN program of Art of Living and I am already bubbling with confidence. Incidentally, this was the very chapter during which the full form of the program was changed from Divya Shakti Nirman to Dynamism for Self and Nation. What a way to go ...

There was one important point touched during the program which was around creativity. We get so bogged down by daily schedules that we give no time to ourselves and in the process creativity takes a back seat.

No matter how busy you are, everyone of us should find time for creativity. This made me wonder that if I have to do something creative - what will that be. I think I will be good at writing a poem which rhymes properly. But I would like the poem to be meaningful and funny. It should convey a message but that message should be hidden in layers of fun, laughter and a beautiful storyline.

Alright that's the plan. I will execute it on one of these days but not today. I have no time at the moment ... No puns intended!

Game On 2017

I have a decent list of resolutions I stole from a news paper article. And I simply love the mix of it. Without further ado, here it goes -

1. Write a letter to your future self
2. Flirt
3. Start a collection
4. Take a survival course
5. Take an online course
6. Commit to a pet
7. Go back to the old ways
8. Go minimal
9. Give up certain words
10. Change your look, drastically
11. Write offline, read online
12. Take part in an internet trend
13. Dare to change
14. Make a youtube video
15. Challenge your palate
16. Start a photo or travel project
17. Disconnect

Amen!!

Domino Effect

A domino effect is a cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a chain of similar events. So you are doing the same thing. But in 1983, Lorne Whitehead discovered that domino falls could not only topple many things, they could also topple bigger things. He described how a single domino is capable of bringing down another domino that is actually 50% larger.

So let's start with a 2 inch domino. And the next domino will be 50% larger , i.e. 3 inches. Let me start giving you some perspective. If you go on in similar fashion, by the time you reach 18th domino, you are looking at the height of leaning tower of Pisa, by 25th we have Eiffel Tower, by 31st domino we have got the size of mount everest and by 57th we will have a domino of the size from earth to moon. Just image, it all starts with toppling a small 2 inch domino.

Getting extraordinary results is all about creating a domino effect in your life. You start prioritizing and doing one small thing right at a time. It will look like a linear progression initially but will soon take the shape of geometric progression. And then, sky is the limit.

Gravity

Quotable quotes from Gravity -

Ryan Stone: Houston, Houston in the blind, this is Mission Specialist Ryan Stone reporting from the Shenzhou. I'm about to undock from Tiangong... and I have a bad feeling about this mission.
[laughs]
Ryan Stone: Reminds me of a story...
[Screams]
Ryan Stone: Never mind, Houston, never mind the story! Ah. It's starting to get hot in here. OK. Alright the way I see it, there's only two possible outcomes. Either I, make it down there in one piece and I have one hell of a story to tell. Or I burn up in the next ten minutes. Either way whichever way, no harm no foul.
[Growls]
Ryan Stone: Cos either way, it'll be one hell of a ride. I'm ready.

Isn't it exactly what life's about? Isn't it true with every journey you undertake? Isn't it correct with every big decision you make? Isn't it like every risk you take? Well, except for one fact, as per hindu culture someday there is an n-th second already decided for you when this holds true - "You burn up in the next ten minutes." So do you really want to care about the outcome? It's always worth the shot. No harm, no foul, cause in your heart you know it for a fact - It'll be one hell of a ride!!

People typically confuse between journey and destination. And in turn what they really want. After reaching their destination - they fail to figure out what to do next. Hence, it is a much better, smarter and enjoyable way to live life on the journey and not the destination.

Don't Quit

There is a very beautiful poem I came across years ago. And there is a lot of truth in every word of this poem. I cannot attribute it to anybody since the only reference I find about this poem is from - Anonymous. Anyhow, here to goes ...

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When are is pressing you down a bit-

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a fellow turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow -

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man;

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor's cup;

And he learned too late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -

The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It might be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit -

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Does it hit home? I bet it does ... somehow, everytime you read it!