People Watching! - Surprises :)

Ageing society: celebrate or worry Over the years, I have found that walking and people watching has become one of my sources of understanding society at large and these observations are reinforced by the literature that I come across. I doubt many will know that October 1 was the world old people's day. With the reports being published that  India is one of the worst places to retire , the constant rise in retirement homes and rising crimes against older people, seems that unless the policy makers looked upon seriously now, I might be in deep trouble in 2050's :( One of the key determinants of  Ageism  (age based discrimination) can be attributed to the concept of 'Retirement'. The industrial revolution has without any doubt created more jobs and reformed education that it can have the right set of skills to fill its demand of laborers, but unfortunately this phase of being employed and worth is so much woven together. With the rise in rapid urbanization t...

Half-truth or no truth:time to check! In the above mentioned case, the transfer of inaccurate information was evaded only because I was exposed to sound and diverse education systems which aided me to question the available knowledge and discern the source of it. Unfortunately, this is not the case for most of the social media users. Social media has created a whole new way of learning and millions are aware of the danger in being indoctrinated through self-made, self-interpreted and information that is not true. Without any doubt, I always believe that ' knowledge is power' but at the current state in which multitudes source of information had shifted from papers, television, books and classrooms to twitter, Facebook, google, Instagram and Watsapp it is quite questionable. The pace of social media cannot be stopped nor it is possible to restrict the information that is produced but we can ensure that we equip our younger generation to discern what is...

"God has given each one of us 32 teeth, do you know why ?; cos He meant us to be happy all the days of the month and added one more to it so that we can smile extra"... Smile never costs anything ...... it makes us happy; it double and triples when smiled with many and it keeps doubling.... so smile it costs nothing... ZAC... Random Thoughts...

"its peak time in the morning, I chose to get back to my basics , travelling in the public transport. As usual is sat in the first row near to the driver so that i get the view of the driver. During the travel i was able to see a small bicycle being peddled so fast by a small boy with his sister who seems to be elder than him, probably going to work. As this i s summer he should be on a holiday, all he did was chose to drop her sister in the bus stop because she was getting late,,,, it was so emotional to see the kid who was literally breathing so hard, sweating so much, waving his hand to his sister with a strong satisfied smile who was able to catch the bus and go on time. It was even more amazing was the driver too understood the effort of the kid and slowed down a bit to give credit to the small kids accomplishment  ... Sometimes we are so busy that our eyes are glued to our smart lifeless friend, ears tuned to the same,,,, and miss out on these small wonderful happiness that...

Its unusual to have such a weather during this peak summer, but its as usual i get to ride on my scooter. I feel so lucky that my travel never leaves me empty. Its late night and i could spot a woman pushing a bicycle, in which a basket was hooked and in which probably a 5yr was sitting comfortably. Along with her was her husband who was dressed in a typical chennai st yle lungi and unshaved, he was walking beside her, as i could get closer i noticed they were switching turns to push the bicycle late night along the empty road with their chat and loud laughs! Amazing .... All i could learn that is "A happy family needs just well understood hearts" i am sure they will have a matchbox sized house, money to survive for the day but they will have unlimited happiness, their kid gets a night luxury ride and more importantly its a small family but a very happy family....  "Happiness is money free"- Random Lines - ZAC

Expectations: Its one of the most pronounced words and results to be very expressive. But, this very expectation can seed million misunderstanding. I seriously believe that this word is very exclusive for the matured, for the ones who have understood the true meaning and expect things only from within, individuals who are profound in their thinking, one who feels character is the real treasure. How does this seed misunderstanding? When one expects from another and if he/she does not fulfill or if he/she does not do the way the other expected it ends in a sad note. This impact is highly determined by the nature of expectation and the kind of the person who expects. Relationships is often distorted, people often are left down with this very EXPECTATION.People who have really experienced will for sure accept my school of thought. What is the best way to EXPECT? I think the best way of exercising this is expecting things from within. Self competing, i personally feel that expectat...

"Wonder what the title says- read on.... i got to meet this guy who was sharing his testimony, this was not a great extravagant stuff but is quite meaningful. Seems it was the latter stages of a month, he was running out of money, all he had was a rupee and he had already traveled far and has walked enough to reach his home. It was a Sunday and he had that only 1 rupee, he was so hungry didn't feed his stomach nor his soul. As he was walking, his home was past a kebab stall.... as it was evening the smoke from the grill, the display tickled his taste buds.... :( all he can do is just say a word "WISH I HAD THIS .....". He reached his home, he stayed in a hostel as he was working away from his parents. He had a cup of water and was planing to sleep off.. and there he hears his hand phone ringing, it was his friend who asked where he was staying, came to his home and took him to attend the evening service .... and later on took him to his home, to his surprise the ...

I wonder, after this overwhelming transition of technology I come across many are so thickly attached to their gadgets and miss out on this…. It is always fun to watch people, as usual sitting alone in one of the most sophisticated places (airport), many walk around with great taste of aroma, rich looking clothes and of course with loads of confidence … couple of things which g ot my eyes was a young man suited up, walked like a hero with his trolley to the toilet… came out after some minutes with the same walk but there was no trolley… he walked 3 to 4 meters and realized, looked around knowing not I was watching, walked in brought the forgotten trolley back   . An elderly couple should be in their mid-60’s, cuddling and when the time came to get the boarding pass the wife stood and the husband too, the husband said to her wife to stand in the queue and said I will pull the trolley ma….. and the wife replied let me atleast hold my hand bag but he said its fine ma… after that...

"Character"- What is it so special about this? why is it that it matters the most in a person than all the others? Character: As defined by many: Character: Moral or ethical strength or a public estimation of someone, it defines a person. Character is what when it is unseen. It is the most permanent symbol, true character remains the same no matter what the situation is .. It is what many wish to have but not willing to work on it. Changing ones character is the most toughest aspect if the individual is not willing to do. How do i see character as? I am one who has very limited knowledge on the most talked affairs of the world but i never miss on self evaluation , about enrichment of character. Its the most toughest thing because you get knocked up many times because of this. I go with what my office has taught me, they call it the PDR principle.  It is Punctuality, Discipline and Respect.  As my topic says punctuality is the most simplest th...

On a sunday, after the routine high profiled cricket match wit our very own friends, i was riding, a locality where i would say there are bureaucrats, cricket players and rich stay there. I saw a young couple drinking tender coconut, near a mobile dumping kiosk. I passed by them and out of curiosity i slowed down and looked to see my mirror  on what they were up to. After drinking they threw the empty coconut in to the kiosk and walked! Why did they do that? They also seemed to be rich, highly educated. They could have easily left the coconut on the road, it is eco-friendly, no one is watching if watched also no one is going to question them. In a busy world today we tend to forget the smallest things, the dustbins have become basket ball game, each morning most of them try to aim and throw it in the bin but fail and ends up on the road; throw papers all over saying the govt is corrupt, all are doing what difference is it going to make? Its all about attitude..... how we see ma...

GHOR. GHOR..GHOR.GHOR....... Tales of how mothers in India make their kids eat.. one such interaction made my day. I was on a travel to one of the hill stations and was invited to a birthday eve with just 5 friends. As we were chatting, there were four kids and among them one was very naughty and he was the youngest of all. Then came the dinner time, all took our plates but this kid refused and his grandmother with food in her hand was literally begging and promising chocolates, dolls, and the list went on but this kid was not responding to anything and made fuss about the small ulcer in his mouth. One small piece of food he will roll, shout and say its burning, it will seem as if something big is happening. Seeing this I stared at him and did all my tricks but all in vain. His grandma left him and she had her food. After sometime she said "see here kutta if you are not going to have food, please don't call me in the night saying there is this "GHOR GHOR GHOR" noise...

Since my childhood i was so fascinated about social work. I used to help my mother to write reports and take pictures of special children for sponsorship. I always smiled to see others smile, enjoyed playing with them. For almost 35 years she was a social worker but she was not a founder of an organisation but was part of a mission institution. There was no drastic economic development as she had to get the same amount of salary she received till her retirement. After my mother i too studied social work, over the period, after my graduation I was able to meet many NGOs (Non-Government Organisation -charity), volunteer for them, and when i do so it was unpaid. Most of the times i realized that most of the charity here done for free lacks quality or competency. As I got the opportunity to work and meet many founders of NGOs i was quite surprised and questions started within me . Few thoughts that poured in was; 1. As many NGOs have come, there is duplication in addressing the issues...

Long walking, seeing the green, living in a well engineered hut for the cold right on the top of a hill, a view down will feed your mind with the greatness of peace and happiness... This was the hut in which i had spent sometime. It is built with leaves and dry wood.... i was volunteering in a tribal school in which i had the opportunity to teach English and take all the kids to school. The had count of the school stood 25, the school had no doors or walls but  roof and mud floor coated with cow dung to make it even. This hut still has the design in me, it is rested in four stick and over it there is a dry leaf bed is put. The roof is in design of a egg cut vertically and it is placed in a way that the front part of it is placed with taller wood than the back. then the space to sleep is made in a way that there is equal gap in the front as well as in the back. It is so cold in the winter and to avoid it there is a very thick wood which can provide smoke all night. It is plac...

Perceptions - "understanding of a person based on certain circumstances, most of the framed ones are not consistent and has a huge probability to vary.So, it is better to keep the perceptions instead of influencing others towards our own personally built opinions" One of the recent insights from my own experiences paved way for this kind of discussion, should i share my perception about a person to another? Of late i understood that it is of huge danger to share a perception if it is negative in nature. If it is going be positive it is well and good. If it is a negative version it is going to make a huge dent in the amount of positive opinion about that person one has. It is good to learn and understand that perceptions are mere personal and it is to make us understand about a person under specific circumstances. These perceptions can never be consistent as things tend to vary. Perceptions are for us as a person and it depends on how we share it, as people sometimes tend...

Aristotle and his philosophy has always inspired me, be it the organisation of science or about friends; he has always been able to strike some mutual chord of thinking .... As i was reading there were few saying on Aristotle's Ideal Man. I keep reading it again and again and made sure i will be able to mention each and every word when i tell to people about these lines.... "He does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he is willing, in great crisis, to give even his life,-knowing that under certain conditions it is not worth while to live. He is of disposition to do men service, though he is ashamed to have a service done to him. To confer kindness it is a act of superiority, to receive one is an act of subordination..... He does not take part in public displays.. He is open in his dislikes and preferences, he talks and acts frankly, because for his contempt for men and things... He is never fired with ad...

Failure is the most beautiful experience which actually is the best learning tool for success. To support this one of the most loved proverb of mine on failure goes like this " Failure is a classroom where Success is only taught". Failures; why does a man have more number of failures than success? why is it that many are demotivated and a very few who find their place in the history are motivated by devastating failures? Unless we learn from the experience of failure it of complete waste to have experienced one. One should carefully understand that failures is the most painful experience that pins a mark but by doing so it should not stop you from moving on. As for the words by Martin Luther King Jr. If you cant fly;run, If you cant run;walk, if you cant walk,crawl, but make sure you keep moving on. Failures sometimes makes us to crawl but its for sure that it will make you fly when you realize and learn from it the most you can. Never stop because of failure; try it...

“Deep Faith Highest Confidence  Achieving Vision Poor Centered Life"  -Anonymous My job requires loads of reading, while on a routine scanning i came across a vision statement of an charity organisation reading as mentioned above. It was so striking to me and it also made a huge sense of meaning to be implemented. Deep Faith-probable i shall call it as being the positive. Faith believes without seeing, as many say. This teaches me to have a deep faith no matter what the future holds on. I shall still have faith and run with hope. One day or the other i will achieve and taste the fruit of success. That is the reason why many taste failures most of the time and success at rare occasions. Highest Confidence- This never means over confident, it clearly says that we should have a profound level of confidence and make sure we don'd exceed the highest level and jump to the over level. To achieve anything in life we need confidence but make sure we don't get is OVER after ...

Seeing these school kids cross the road was quite amazing, some kind of a random smile. Evening 4 o clock on a highway in the middle of a village down south as we were traveling, a view ahead 70 mts, popped in the road with the hands stretched saying stop. He was a small boy probably 4th STD (9yrs), bag bigger than him, his shorts dropping down and with no slippers crossing the road and  to my surprise there followed 7 to 8 girls like caterpillar, followed by yet another boy of the same age and same description with the same hand signal till the group crossed the road. I don't know why these small boys took the lead even though the girls were way above their age, was astonished by the way these small kids took responsibility in respecting woman - hoping to see a better society tomorrow by seeing these kids in action - on the International Women's day 2013

Why in our lives, things experienced stays longer than heard or being told? giving it an example, we can never forget an experienced lie than a cautioned advise. We get to know the truth only by merely experiencing it and not by just hearing it. Many say this is heights of foolishness not to obey instead to suffer and learn, and to add on to this there are various proverbs in support and also contradict this school of thought. I always vouch for the experience part; learning through experience. Today i am able to share this only because i was able to allow patience in my life. The process of learning through faults. There are many a times i have been told not to do things but i end up doing and continue to suffer for a short span and result in some worthy reflections. I know the consequences of lies cos i have experiences, i know the consequences of true cos i have equally perished with hard truths.I know how to speak to people cos my ears were fed with back talking. I cherish...

What come to our mind when we talk about success, is it related to only smart people probably not to us or is it more relevant to the most successful people. Why is that we never think of big success in our lives why that is so..... There are various quotes on success, probably most read which is to motivate, to forget or to overcome failures.First let me read what success is, Success means getting a positive or an expected or an above expected level of output based on the effective and constant input which mostly is a result in nature. If the above lines are so complicated let me put it as clear as possible. Success is an accomplishment or achievement of an aim or a purpose (google ;dictionary). Perseverance what is this and how is it relevant to success. What is so unique about perseverance, don't let go easy attitude? yes, absolutely right. This is a very important attitude a successful person has.No matter how hard the road is, just get your energy to finish ans accomplis...