Why does very few of us chase our dreams

Congratulations to Sachin for finally completing his century of centuries. At the end, he said one line that actually inspired me to write this post. He uttered "Chase your dreams as dreams do come true." How true !!
At childhood, whenever we discuss about future, I used to remeber that everyone has some great plans in their minds, all wanted to reach the top of the clouds. But now, after 10-15 years , if we look at our life or the way in which our life is  moving , will we be able to what we have thought sometime before ? In majority of cases, the answer will be No. Why does this happen ?? What prevents one from acting in a way that stops him one from acting bravely so that the dream can be acheived.I contemplated a lot and thought the following reasons :

1. Fear of Failure ->  Even before we start working on something, we start thinking about what will happen if we do not succeed in our endeavours ??Is it the right way to think ?. All great men whom we talk about like Bill Gateas, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Edison, if we look at their life closely then we will realize that they were not afraid of fear of failure , thats for sure.Sorry for mentioning Sachin again, but I cannot resist from posting his one of sayings here "I learn more when I get out at 0 rather than when I score century." Also, my personal experience says that failure teaches us more than success since pondering on the causes of failure gives far better insights rather than when we acheive success. I read somehwere "A person who says that he has never failed in life implies that he has never tried anything new in his life"

2. What will others say ??  -> Why we use to think more about what others will say about us rather than what our conscience and heart says about ourself !! First, we do not want to live the life in our own way , why simply because we do not have enough confidence on oneself, then if we follow others and something happens , we say that it hapened because we heeded on advice of other person.I loved one line in "Rich Dad poor Dad" -> "It is better to be criticized rather than not being talked about at all,atleast you are being noticed". A quote from Mahatma Gandhi to all persons who wastes half their life in thinking that others will laugh at them if they decide to go in the direction in which they want “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

It is beyond any discussion that greater the dream , greater is the effort and greater is chance of failure but shall this stop us in pursuing our dreams. Afterall it is better to try and fail rather than not trying at all.
"If you can conceive it, you can acheive it".On thinking too much before acting, we will create a problem that was never their in the first place.

Our aim shall be to lay the castles in the air and trhen put the foundations under it , but what we are doing , we are building huts and thats below the ground , and what is more regretful -> We are more satisfied by living in such manner.

The main aim for me to write this post is to make one believe that anything is possible. Dream High, Live High and act in a manner such that in later life, you do not need to say that If i woulfd have shown a little bit of more courage at that moment of time, then my life would be different now.Best of luck to all for their endeavours.

What does being successful mean ?

Yesterday night I was just thinking that Am i successful ? The inner voice replied , no you are not . I thought why , and the answer came that What have you done in life so as to be called successful . I said right. At that moment I started searching the list of successful people and top three results (Bill Gates , Warren Buffet and Steve Jobs) made me to ponder more into the subject that what does success really mean ? So in this post I am going to give my views about success .
I always wonder that why does it happen that a more affluent person is also regarded as more successful . Just thinking that why in the list there is no mention of persons like Mahatma Gandhi (contributed in the freedom of nation) , Nelson Mandela , Albert Einstein (whose discoveries changed the world) , etc. I searched further an found their names in the most influential persons but not in successful : What the fuck !!
I simply define success in one line "A person is successful if he/she is satisfied with the life he/she has lived" . Thats it . Nothing to do with wealth , etc.

Lots of points that I want to make here have already been mentioned in my earlier post  
Who will cry when you die

Today Everybody is saying that world is continuously developing , but is it ? Does development mean shifting from 2 room flat to bungalow, from cycle to car , from using Nokia 1100 to Samsung Note , or is it something else because according to statistics that as the world is involved in so called development , there has been continuous increase in mental tension, suicide cases, etc. So what is real development, In my view "Development of a region or country shall be attributed not to GDP , etc but to the increase the number of persons who are satisfied with their living standards" . If this number is increasing , then we are developing else we are going backwards and to talk reality , I believe we are going backwards.
With the development , dissatisfaction comes. Today , everyone is wanting more and more and adhering to unfair means as well for that purpose . The rate of corruption is increasing throughout the world , and who is to blame ?? the persons who are actually involved in corruption?. Well I believe that the far bigger reason is the road on which the so-called modern societies are walking where being affluent is regarded as the only means of being respectful .

For example, The day I decided to leave the lucrative job at RBS and go into teaching line, the first question that was asked to me "How much are you getting paid as a lecturer" , and when I replied that it is less as compared to what I am getting at RBS , 90% started laughing , maybe not on my face but behind my back for sure.Many said "kahe pagla gaye ho , chutiyaap kar rahe ho , etc." Well , nobody has to listen what makes me happy or what are my aims in life, and I started wondering that is money everything ?
Another example , today the first thing that a parent looks while looking for life partner for his son/daughter is that how much the groom is earning or how much dowry can be given, all other things like the nature, compatibility, humbleness, politeness are rated secondary .
Isn't the concept of money overrated.


Thus , its a time of introspection and we shall analyze and ask our heart that what are the things that brings smile to our face in reality , if its money , then One shall go for earning it but if its something else then one needs to rise above the dogmas of society and shall try to pursue it.I will recommend one book "Small is beautiful" by E.F. Schumaker if you liked my post.

"Do not work for money but make money work for you" from Rich Dad Poor Dad

Learn to take responsibility of your life

I believe that all of us must have heard or uttered the phrases similar to "My life is like this beacuse of him blah ... blah .."
But is it really true ? The first response that jumped from my mind is YES but still some part of my mind kept on saying that it cannot be true , so I have no other option except to think more deeply and here I am going to share my feelings.
One shall learn to take the responsibility for his own actions and the consequences. The person who is not able to do that , is revealing to the world that he is a man who is so powerless that he cannot take the responsibility of the things and events happening in his own life , how can we expect him to lead others ? Even if you believe that something such has happened , it is only because you have permitted that person to interfere with your life.
It is the human nature that one wants the credit for something good that he has done and blame others if things do not turn out as expected. In any case , you are the one who has taken the actions so whether the results are fruitful or fruitless , responsibility is entirely yours and not of anyone else. That is why I always use to say "suno sabki karo mann ki".
Similarly one has a habit of criticizing others , but folks remember, "Our opinion of others depends less upon what we see in them than upon what they makes us see in ourselves." Lemme explain , for example
If one says that he/she is selfish or jealous , that means the speaker knows that what is selfishness and the only way of knowing it is this that the speaker himself has acted with selfishness in one or more circumstances. Thus saying about one's character reveals more about yourself than about the other person you are talking about.It is similar to when you point finger at somebody, more fingers are pointed towards you only.
That is why , Abraham Lincoln said "I do not like that person , I ought to know him  more."
Folks, if you agree even to a little extent with my views , go back and analyze your life closely and you will find that whatever you are in life today is mainly due to your actions only and not of anyone else.

Shall changes in the Constitution to be made to give Sachin Bharat Ratna

Today , one of the discussions is going around us that whether Sachin shall get Bharat Ratna Award or not. So why shall I be left behind. So I decided to give my views as well . To begin with I would like to produce a list of all 41 award winners.
List of all Bharat Ratna awardees so far:
1.    Late Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi in 2008 : Karnataka
2.    Kumari Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar in 2001 : Maharashtra
3.    Late Ustad Bismillah Khan in 2001 for contribution in the field of Arts : Uttar Pradesh
4.    Prof. Amartya Sen in1999 for Literature & Education : United Kingdom
5.    Lokpriya Gopinath (posth.) Bordoloi in1999, for Public Affairs : Assam
6.    Loknayak Jayprakash (Posth.) Narayan in 1999 for Public Affairs: Bihar
7.    Pandit Ravi Shankar in 1999 for his contribution in the field of Arts : United States
8.    Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam in 1998 for Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
9.    Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi in 1998 for her contribution in the field of Arts : Tamil Nadu
10.    Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in 1997 for his contribution in the field of Science and Engineering : Delhi
11.    Smt. Aruna Asaf (Posth.) Ali in 1997 for her contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Delhi
12.    Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda in 1997 for his contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Gujarat
13.    Shri JRD Tata in 1992 for his contribution in the field of Trade & Industry : Maharashtra
14.    Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in 1992 for his contribution in Public Affairs : West Bengal
15.    Shri Satyajit Ray in 1992 for his contribution in the field of Arts : West Bengal
16.    Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai in 1991 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Gujarat
17.    Shri Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Delhi
18.    Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1991 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Gujarat
19.    Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedakr in 1990 for his contribution in Public Affairs : Maharashtra
20.    Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in 1990 for his contribution in Public Affairs : South Africa
21.    Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran in 1988 for contribution in Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
22.    Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in 1987 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Pakistan
23.    Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 1983 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Maharashtra
24.    Mother Teresa in 1980 for contribution in the field of Social Work : West Bengal
25.    Shri Kumaraswamy Kamraj in 1976 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
26.    Shri V.V. Giri in 1975 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Orissa
27.    Smt. Indira Gandhi in 1971 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
28.    Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
29.    Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane in 1963 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Maharashtra
30.    Dr. Zakir Hussain in 1963 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Andhra Pradesh
31.    Dr. Rajendra Prasad in 1962 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Bihar
32.    Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy in 1961 for contribution in the Field of Public Affairs: West Bengal
33.    Shri Purushottam Tandon in 1961 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
34.    Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve in 1958 for contribution in the field of Social Work : Maharashtra
35.    Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant in 1957 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
36.    Dr. Bhagwan Das in 1955 for contribution in Literature & Education : Uttar Pradesh
37.    Shri Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955 for contribution in the field of Public Affairs : Uttar Pradesh
38.    Dr. M. Vishweshwariah in 1955 for contribution in the field of Civil Service : Karnataka
39.    Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari in 1954 for contribution in Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu
40.    Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman in 1954 in Science & Engineering: Tamil Nadu
41.    Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan in 1954 for contribution in Public Affairs : Tamil Nadu.
Before giving any thoughts , I will like to say that the only thing that shall be kept in mind before giving the award of this much reputation.
    Has he/she done so much for the country that the person deserves the award .
After thoroughly looking at the list , the first thought that came in my mind is that there are many names on the list (at least 50%) who I personally feel is less deserving than Sachin.(No harm feelings for anybody). One of my friends said “What has sachin done so special , he plays cricket for money, you stop giving him money , he will stop playing cricket .”
Well said , my friend but in that case why Lata Mangeshkar has been given an award ,what has she done so great for the country except singing some great songs that still echoes in our ear like some of Sachin great innings lies visible to us. As far as what Sachin has done so great , everyone knows . It will be waste of time to discuss on that how he makes every Indian forget the differences of rich-poor, religious differences and just give them the chance to celebrate the Indian  Victory, etc, etc , …
So , the other problem that is being created is that the  Constitution does not permit it.Acoording to it “Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honour, given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the highest order.”
In it there is no mention of sports. So even if a person is a legend in sports but if he belongs to India , he is not eligible to receive the highest civilian honour. What the fuck !! Just because the persons who framed the Constitution at that point of time does not thought of sports , does it mean that  it will not appear again in  future. As far as I know , this clause is not under the clauses that cannot be modified at any cost . Every year so many changes are being made to the constitution , what problem can this change create ??  I do not think any. Even the public will welcome it .
To be honest , till now I have got no plausible reason why Sachin Tendulkar shall not be given this honor . If anybody has , do tell , I will love to listen to his viewpoint…

Time utilization

This is the area where most of us fails. Everyone must have heard or uttered the phrases  like "I am short of time" , "24 hours in a day is not enough for me ", blah blah .., Is it actually true,  ? My brother always use to say "Ankit, Always Remember that a busiest person has the most time". I have always wondered that what he means by this statement but after a close look at his life I have understood what message he tries to convey to me. He is a person who is acheiving new milestones every now and then in his career and yet his life is not devoted to work only, he is an excellent badminton player , a very adventurous person at heart who has done all kinds of adventure sports , watches lot of movies, etc.Many a times, I become jealous of him, from where in the hell he gets time for everything. 

God provides us with enough time that if we utilize it in a proper manner then we will never fall short of time.The problem is not of  less time , but the problem lies in time management. Don't believe me , then look at the following :

Here are the calculations for a typical week:

Total available hours 24 hours X 7 days = 168 hours
Minus Average sleep 7 hours X 7 days = 49 hours
Total waking hours = 119 hours
Average time at office or study@IIT 8 hours X 6 days = 48 hours(maximum)
Average time commuting 2 hours X 6 days = 12 hours
Total work time = 60 hours
Total work time as % of waking hours 50% approximately
Free time available after accounting for work time and sleep time = 59 hours.
(calculations are not mine , it is copied from a website).

Are these 59 hours not enough to do all kinds of work. In my view, it is.Thus, time availibility shall never be an issue. Issue is that how we utilizes the time. What we do in these hours impact our life. My leadership guru Robin Sharma wrote "I agree you are busy, so are the ants, its more important what you are busy about."A research at Harvard University proves that "What we are in life is only due to 20% of our activities". I looked at my life , and I concluded for me, even 20% is too much. What I am is mainly due to studies , and I have not devoted not more than 10% of my entire life on studies. So , where would I have been if I would have devoted 20% of my life on studies (?..... only God knows).

In many case , the heart of the problem lies in procastination.It is one of the most dangerous  habits of life and a very common one too. We all devote too much time on things that do not matter to us all for various reasons. For e.g. Nowadays , I am devoting a lot of time on my project , but  am I really interested in that, No, not at all.In future , I do not have any plan to go into technical field, I know this, but still I am devoting my time in it. I have to agree that I am a fearful person. Why is Bill Gates so great ? It is not only due to his great brain, but the greater reason is that He is mentally so strong that he decided to quit school, (A person having such great mental strength is bound to acheive new heights of  success). He knows what he wants to do in life and devoted time towards it instead of wasting it in activities that do not matter to him at all. Imagine that if everyone of us can display this kind of courage and time utilization then what will be the face of World after 20-30 years. No one can even dream. It is very important that "We shall not schedule our priorities but instead schedule our priorities."

The day I have properly utilized my time , I have a goody goody feeling in my heart and feels satisfactory before going to bed. I am sure that must be the case with many of You. So , ask your heart that what you want to do in life and manage your time accordingly , from this moment only.

Be the Change You Want to see in the World

Be The Change You Want To see In the World , one of the most powerful quotations of all time. The wisdom in the quotation is timeless; it is as applicable today as it was in the time of Gandhi when he uttered those words.

As it is said that “The only thing that is constant is the change”, everyone around us talks about that in the world this should be changed, this should be done in that manner, etc, etc. Everyone in India is complaining about politics, corruption, etc. but how many good people are entering into politics. Martin Luther King rightly said that ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’ and this is happening today. The good persons are doing nothing except complaining between friends, family members, etc.

However, not all have realised that for change to take place, they must first change themselves. Do not seek without what we can find within. If we start out with the perception to change the world, then we would fail badly. But if we start by changing ourselves, the change in the world would come naturally and inevitable.

I am sharing a small film with you . Please see it, it is very inspirational. the boy may not know the above quotation by Gandhi or wouldn’t know that he was applying what Gandhi mentioned about being the change. It was a natural instinct that we often see in children; the ability to see things in a simple manner. We adults often complicate things while trying to come out with the best solution. He started out to be the change and in the process, he inspired others to follow suit.

Watch the Video

Starting to be the change we want to see in the world, we would also inspire change in the world which comes from within each individual. Children are our best hope of positively influencing the world to love and care for each other. To put aside differences and to focus on the similarities. Before that, we are still the prime influencing force affecting not only our children but the future of the world that they will be living in.
We must be the change we want to see in the world.

Who will cry when You Die revisited

This is the name of the book by my leadership guru Robin S. Sharma . It is a must read book but here I am not to discuss the book but give my thoughts on the above line .
After reading this line , my heart and mind went into deep thoughts. I asked to myself , Who Will cry when I die ?
At first instance it seemed to be a very simple question but later on complete analysis , I was surprised that it is a very thinking question. So I will like to discuss my thoughts on this matter.
I started thinking with what I am doing now ?? Here by I , I  am referring to majority of today's generation from my perspective.
Take a look at our own generation, especially those of us who have migrated to big cities in the search of big career/money, I have achieved money, career , etc. but still  I feels lonely (and hence, to fill the void in the real world, created virtual identities on platforms like Orkut, Facebook and Twitter or write blogs – sharing ideas while doing really nothing),
We are earning quite decent enough money and live a life of luxury dining in Mac D, pizza hut , etc or shopping and watching or teasing girls(only for guys) in the big malls that keep opening somewhere or the other almost every day.
Let us ask ourselves a simple yet highly disturbing question. After all the education that we have got, exactly how many individuals are going to benefit from our lives or our careers? I think not many. And in most of the cases – even zero. Alas, we do not have time for our parents back home, how are we supposed to have time to do good to others? We are a generation for which success is defined simply in terms of our pay packages and nothing else.

Isn’t it weird that the more the society invests in educating an individual, the less useful he seems to become for the society itself? So, it turns out that a person leaving a simple life may be far more important to the society than the people who have gone to big institutions, have invested lakhs in their higher education and are earning big money for themselves. Why, simply Because his life is not only His life because He is a social person. Whose fault is that? Education? Or society’s? It’s upto the readers to think and decide.

Coming back to the original point, since ours is a generation immersed completely into the race of blind money-making and self-gratification, isn’t it an apt to ask – Who will cry when we die?

Family? Not sure. 30 years from now, many of us will be so cut off from our families back in our home towns, that it seems unlikely that our deaths will be bringing any real loss to them. Parents will already be long gone, and children will most probably have flown off to distant shores like we have in search of even greater money making success.

Colleagues from our offices and our friends of college? Are you kidding me? There may be some friends but for majority I can directly say No. Even for those few friends I have a lot of doubt to be honest.(No offense to any of my friends but I am thinking of a period after 35-40 years or probably greater.) Ours is a generation of job switchers and continuous migration. By the time you become friends with your colleagues, either you have moved on or he has. Sure, a few will obviously hang on with you for life through phone or virtual platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut, but can interacting on these platforms really compete with the face-to-face interactions that people in small places have over a home-made or road side hot cup of tea? Leave crying apart, colleagues and friends will be so busy with their office work; they will probably not even have enough time to think about you. Even the place that you are working in will be filled up by some new guy even before your funeral pyre has lost its heat. The world has become a fast moving place not only in life, but in death as well, you see.

Why is that so? May be because we were so engrossed in making success out of our lives that we forgot to devote some part of it to genuine everyday causes that would have connected the society better on an emotional level. What we did instead was that we shopped and shopped and shopped, we dined in great places (which often charge more for the ambience rather than the food itself), we purchased costly cars and other gadgets - and wrote blogs - and ultimately surrounded ourselves so much by these similar things that the real people from the real world were seldom able to have a chat and say a genuine, warm hello to us face to face. 

And things to which we gave our time, cars, gadgets, shopping, dining, blogs, work, offices, money simply do not know how and why to cry. People know that, and people is what we forgot to really connect with on a more genuine and humane level.
To be frank, We are living in an Age where we have lost touch with humanity and people and we have to accept it . So , I request you to think that what impact will your life have on the generations that follow you . Do not give a chance to yourself to say or regret; "I could have been that kind of a person but never was ."
Discover yourself , reflect on yourself and think that after death , how you will like to be rememebered and start acting accordingly. As Mahatma Gandhi said , "Be the change you want to see and the world will change."
     Remember that when we were born , "We cried , while others rejoiced, why not live our life in such a way that when we die , we rejoice while others cry."

Enjoy Life

Some days back , one of my friends said that "We should never take tension because life is another name for problems. "I totaaly agree with the first sentence but I refuse to accept the latter one.
It totally depends on one's perspective , the same circumstances that is problem for me might be an oppurtunity for you & vice-versa . As it is very rightly said -> "Two persons look through th same windoe, one see the mud, other see the stars."

I have personally noticed that many of us says that we will start enjoying the life only after the day we reach blah-blah  milestone. It is good to have determination but it doesn't mean that you do not value the most important gift given to you by God - "Ability to laugh and enjoy life." Afterall,"success is a journey and not destination."
Some days before , I saw a person near Sangam in my hometown,Allahabad whose physical disabilities is impossible  for me to describe but still he was possessing the divine smile on his face , I could not resist myself and went to ask him the reason , he simply replied Why to cry over things one cannot change , instead try to enjoy the things that you can".In other words, "Many of us cries over things that we do not have , that we forgets to focus on things that we do have."
So , the only thing to get the most out of the life is to look for the positive in each and everything and just dont pay attention to the negatives because "Every problem in itself an oppurtunity." This is one thing that separates the winners and losers. Don't believe me , just listen to words of John Milton (the poetry legend)whose major work came after he was blind , reason given by him "My blindness is a blessing in disguise, As ofnow I do not need to waste time in  other things around me and as a result I can concentrate more on thinking.

This is what a positive attitude can do for one . So just enjoy each and every moment of life because "Yesterday is gone, Future is mystery , Today is gift , that is why it is called present."
Well in my view "Life is another name for enjoyment and oppurtunities and not for problems."

Try for the best , expect the worst

Everywhere I have been reading that always expect the best results for your efforts and the best will happen , but for me this is only good for books and not for practical life . Afterall , life is not a fairy tale that what you expect and you will get it . In my personal opinion we should always mentally prepare always for the worst result .
One of my friends use to say "umeed nahi rakhni chayiye , umeedain tootti hain to bahut dukh hota hain." and I totally agree with him .
As Lord Krishna used to say in Geeta " Work but do not have the desire for fruits . "
Many will say that the only motivating factor for them to work is the successful result , Guys believe me I am no different from you. We all work only to acheive the proper result , what I mean to say that we should prepare ourself mentally that even if the things do not turn out as we have expected , it should not demotivate our spirit.
I have personally noted many times that my friends used to work very hard but if they do not get the desired results , then they becomes very upset and for some days live a life in a manner that the world has come to an end for them.
In the novels "the secret , as a man thinketh , think and grow rich " , everywhere they say that always expect the best results for your outcome , and then they give some motivational quotes about failure like "Failures are stepping stones to success " , " The more you fails , the more successful you becomes " , etc , etc.
But I have not understood one thing that why are you asking person to feel motivated in the beginning then if things turn out wrongly , then give him lectures about failures and other when he might not be mentally prepared to take it because he has become very disappointed .
In my view , it is better to expect the worst so that even if something wrong happens , your spirits are still on a high . If things turn out as expected then It is very good for you , if not then also nothing bad happens .
That is why I always use to say that "Try for the best and expect the worst."

Development

Today , development is a buzzing word , eveywhere it is very common to hear that we are developing at a pace unprecedented in the history, etc, etc.
but Are we really ?? What is the real development ?? What is the aim of development ??
In my view , the development is nothing more than making the life on earth more convenient for those who lives on it , but is it really happening ?? It needs a very careful and detailed analysis and I will like to give my views on various aspects .
As everthing has pros and cons , so is the development , thus we need to have a cost-benefit analysis of it ,  by cost I mean to refer to not only refer to economic costs , but also to social , environmental and other costs , etc.
For example , take Computers : today , it has really made our life easier , although it has some disadvantages like it weakens the eye but all of it are negligible as compared to its benefits , so in my view computer simulates development .
But on thye other hand , take progress in nuclear field , with every passing day , the threats to human life are continuously increaing . Although the supporters say that it will provide a lot of energy , but if we carefully analyze it then we will find out that the problem of nuclear wastes disposal , nuclear power plants are a great threat for us , and afterall Human life should not be compromised at any cost. Thus , Nuclear energy has more pros than cons , so we need to have another look at it . 
The most concerning thing for me with development is the degradation of Human Values , With every passing day there is continuous gap widening between the rich and poor and the struggle for survival is becoming tougher. If we compare the conditions of people living in the developed and under developed parts of the world then we will find out that there is a great difference , one side is on sky and other is below the ground . 
This Dual economy is of no good at all. Today we have become so skeptic of others that before helping them we are thinking twice ; parents being thrown out of house by children , increasing number of divorces , more killing in everyday clearly reflects that feeling of love and sympathy among human beings is slowly and slowly vanishing into thin air . Today more than 50% of the world money is spent on defence , just imagine if that money is spent on the welfare , then out own earth would be a Heaven .
Thus it is my humble request to developed nations and educated persons that it is our responsibility to make the world a better place to live in because You are the Ones that actually dominates the development . Help the other nations so that There is no more dual economy and please focus on other aspects of development rather than strengthening of your defence . The world needs your support.

take the first step

Yesterday I was reading a novel when I came across the lines
"You do not have to be great to start but you have to start to be great."
and I started thinking very deeply about it. It very frequently happens to us that we do not start something because we are afraid that there is no chance to acheive the desired result. It happens to all of us , it is natural but is it the correct way of deciding what to be done or not ?? I feels it is not . As I have previously said that fear of failure is one of our greatest fears and it greatly stops us from reaching to a level we are capable of.
If you want  something to do , just do it by giving your 100% and why to worry about results ? Afterall , God favours the fearless.
Being practical , There may be a chance that you may not get what you actually made attempt to but still this fact cannot be ignored , if you have not tried then anyway you are not going to acheive it so I personally feels that it is better to try and fail rather than not trying at all , afterall you are going to have satisfaction that at least you tried. 
"You are always going to miss 100% of the shots you didn't take."
Remember that
" The journey of thousand miles began with a single step. "
I have personally experienced that once I start the task then everything which looked difficult at the beginning surprisingly becomes easy with time and continuous effort and I am sure that you must have also experienced the same thing. If you have not , then I can only say that "You have not done anything in your life which is worth trying " Sorry but that is true .

So what and for whom you are waiting for , write down what you want to do and
just go and make the first attempt to do it .
Everything in the beginning seems to be difficult but just think that what could be our future if Edison , Bill Gates , Einstein hav not taken their first step . We all have the capability to affect the future and for that you need to have the great desire and the courage to take the first step and continuing your work with great dedication.

Happiness

You must have heard the proverb  Happiness is a journey not a destination .
But how many have actually understood the meaning of this and those who have understood the meaning , how many have really implemented it on thier lives, I believe very few.
I said the sme thing to my friend and he replied "Kahaan se rahu happy, life main itni saari tension hain, unka kya karoon ??"
And I started wondering that he is right , how can you be happy when so many depressing thoughts are always there going on through your mind.
So that is why I say "Happiness and sadness , both are the state of minds and nothing else."
I am posting the picture below that you should once see that if a person really wants to enjoy life , he can do that even in a all kinds of difficulties.

In  the picture just look at their condition…, No place to sleep still they had made some space for the cat and the dog…Water poring from the roof but each one of them have a peaceful smile on their face….. Simple amazing….!

Who does not have tension , everyone from Bill Gates to the beggar , everyone but as it is said, " you cannot control the situations and circumstances , only thing you can control is your attitude towards them . One differnce between the great and the common is their attitude towards the things which they do not want to occur in their life.
For example I know persons who have committed suicides after getting failed in their examination and also the persons who after getting failed were more motivated and today they are very successful in their life. So what separates them , only their mind , their realisation that all these problems are only a part of life and it should not deviate them from their path of life enjoyment .
I was once reading some novel and this line caught my attention , "Life is too short to be sad."
I really loved that line as it is indeed true , you do not know what is going to happen to you the next day ,so just enjoy with whatever you are getting in life , it also means that we should enjoy every moment of life and it should not like be that only once we reaches the goal, we will be satisfied.
I agree that there is too much suffering in the world that it is really difficult to be happy all the time and by doing this we are also increasing the suffering , I am not saying that you should close your eyes towards all the wrongdoings in the world and remain happy because it is also our duty as a man to improve the condition of the world but I only want to say that Whatever you do , do it happily and always from the heart.

Exam

My exams are over , and now there is a doubt of my being 7 pointer , and it made me think that are the exams necessary to judge the performance of students ? Honestly speaking I am perplexed over this question.
There are many students who want to study in their own way(I am one among them), thus I have never understood the use of exams because you cannot judge by exams that his knowledge is less or more , a student performing well in exams does not mean that he is better than less scoring marks.
Also , it is said that Grades(marks) create differences , so there should be no examinations because our output is not the greatest when we work under pressure. Also lot of students are commiting suicides due to their failure in exams or going in mental trauma during the exam days. This is what one part of my mind says but my other part is totally of different view.
You cannot remove exams because in every field there has to be some form of evaluation criteria.Also it is then case in many students life that they study only when exams are nearer,so for them exams cant be removed.
You remove the exams and they will remove the study from their life. In each and every field , there has to be a judging criteria but not always in the form of paper.So something is there in education system that needs to be changed.
The only thing that I can suggest is that the form of exams , its aim has to be performance improvement and not judging of performance, so take exams and instead of giving the marks , try to bring out the weak and strong points of the student and this will help student a lot in his overall development.

Criticizing others

How often we use to say that the other person is jealous of me, or he is selfish , etc .and so on.
Well , my only question to them is -> who gives you the right top say things like that about others ?? I am also guilty of the above accusation, but I totally believe that its totally wrong of anyone to make comments about others. Whenever we make comments, about others , we should remember that characteristic is also a part of us.

Let me make myself more clear, for e.g. whenever we say that the other person is jealous , to make that comment we have to know what jealousy is ,and to know that we have also been jealous of some person for sure in the past, So whatever we say about others (whether good or bad) that is nothing more than the reflection of our own personality traits.
A person who gossips with you , also gossips about you , in absence of you.
So , nowadays I am continuously trying to stop judging people , and showing more respect to everyone , whenever I says negative about anyone , I just says to myself that it is wrong on my part , so at that moment I will think about some good characteristic of that person. Every person is good around you in one or the other way.

Small person talks about persons, average person talks about things and great person talks about ideas.

What you believe is true, only that is true for You. So , if you think nice thoughts about others , the Universe will seem very nice to you.
It is very difficult (but not impossible) to have good thoughts about others, but there are some persons like that who always says good things about others.
At least I know one(He is my friend Uma Sankar Pradhan here @ IIT). and that iswhy I respects him a lot.

My own views about IIT life.

Being a student of IIT, I feel that there is nothing wrong if I express what I feels about IIT.

As we all know, IITs are known throughout the world for their excellence , but is this the only thing that makes them popular throughout the world. In my view , NO.

The first day I reached there I the environment around was such that I started feeling that IIT means technical, I started to fear because I am not that much into technical. But as time passed , I realised that Technical is only a part here(though a very important part) but there is a lot of scope for other activities also. Actually, I believes that IITs are great because it gives you a chance to develop your potential in any field, in any field that you like.

For students like me, IIT is a phenomenal place. The kind of lectures (obviously I am talking about non-technical ones); some of them are really good and it helps a lot in widening your scope and horizon. I will remember the talks of Sanjeev Bikchandani, David Wittenburg, Tony Wheeler, etc. throughout my life because it did leave some amount of lasting effect on my mind.I can't forget that IIT has given me a chance to actually meet with the present German President(Hurst Koehler).

I must also say that the cultural events that are performed here have some class, all the sports are available here to play and enjoy. Thus I can say that IIT is about excellence in whatever you do, do it in a manner that one will remember it. It helps you in recognizing your inner-self so that you can have a great life ahead.

LOVE YOU IIT

Human Potential

3 days before I was talking to one of my friends and he uttered "Ankit Yaar, the given thing is not in my potential. " and I started wondering Is it so? Are potentials limited, the dirst answer that came to my mind is no but still I decided to look deeply why he has commented like that because I must say that he is a tough person, and I found out that although he has tried very Hard but still I believe he could have tried a bit harder  and it is a matter of not trying enough and not potential.Afterall, we own define our limits and nobody else, Don't believe me , then whenever you have time just read about Wilma Rudolph.
I remember that when I was in 12th class, and I said to Piyush Srivastava(2005 All India IIT topper) that I know that I cant qualify for IIT, then he said that Ankit, you can and everyone else can, the person who qualifies IIT are no different from you except that they devote more time to studies.
So that day , I realised that It is only a matter of our Attitude and it has nothing to do with the potential, "Your attitude determines your Altitude."
Whenever we fails, we should take it asd a experience and always give one more effort, whenever We plans to quit, We should ask ourselves a following question
"Have we tried enough before quitting" and I can guarantee that if you are truthful to yourself then the Answer will come No, we haven't.
"A quitter never wins and a WINNER NEVER QUITS."
"Think of the intangibles you value first and let them determine the tangibles."
A person becomes a loser only on the day he quits trying because winners are actually losers who recovered and  decided to give it one more shot.So there is nothing like limited Potential , the potential is limitless, "What a mind can conceive, it can acheive."The only thing required is unlimited effort, So chase your dreams  and keeps on chasing it until the dream is converted into reality or you die, "It is better to die in pursuit of a dream than to die without a dream."
and I am sure that the former will be the reality.

"Our deepest fear is not this that we are inadequate, but it is tah twe are powerful beyond measures. It is our light and not the darkness that frightens us the most."

Thoughts And Actions

Everyday , you will meet many persons about whom you might comment "He talks great things but do not convert it into actions." and starts making fun of him but in my view, this person is better than many beacuse at least He is thinking and talking big, so sooner or later there is a chance there is a chance that he might execute them.
He is better than many who says we believe in reality and thus are afraid to even think Big or doing great things, and believe me thay are also not going to do anything spectacular beacuse there rhinking is not BIG. Afterall "Thoughts covert into actions.", so thinking is the first step for any action.
That is why its said "A man is not known by his family background,education,money,etc. but by the size of his Thinking."
In my personal view , there is nothing wrong in dreaming because it may or may not be converted into reality but if you are not dreaming, then there is no chance for anything to happen.Dreams are the startup for every action.So , to do great things, dream BIG. this is the first step.


Those who dream small, accomplish little ,
Those who dream BIG, only they can accomplish much.

So, persons who say that they live in a practical World and thus do not dreams, i believe that they are the most Impractical persons . It is your dream that makes you to act , Lance Armstrong dreamt to be Tour De France champion, then only he was able to overcome cancer and become the greatest cyclist of all times. When he proclaimed that he will be champion, at that time He was in Bed as he had Cancer so People do made fun of Him but later on he proved his point.The persons who are dreamers, actually only they are who leave a Legacy behind.
I agree that "A smallest deed is better than the grandest intention" but the seedling for that deed is also a thought. "Your thoughts convert into actions."
Every person who does great things has to pass through these stages
1. Ignorance .
2. Humour and criticism.
3. Finally, if you are successful then acceptance.

I strongly recommend all of you to read the book "The Magic Of thinking Big "
by David A. Schwartz.

Is India Really developing??

Few days back, I read in the newspaper that  IPL is now only behind NBA and has beaten EPL in terms of highest paid leagues, but I was confused whether to feel proud of this fact or not.
I was in great dilemma because one part of my brain was saying to be proud of the fact that our nation is capable of organizing events of such large extents and our economy is also one of the largest in the world, but other part says that we also have to remember the great disparity that is existing there in India.
Imagine the contrast, one side in Mumbai we have great buildings, world class shopping malls, etc. but on the other hand we also have the world's largest slum in the same city. I remember last time when I travelled to Mumbai, I can say thatmore or less, I must have encountered twenty four beggars in my 24 hour journey, so is this what you call development.
Post Independence, everyone will say that India has developed a lot, That is only on the paper and facts may fool you also ,thus it is necessary to have careful analysis. In my view, development means overall development, it is a holistic process, not reductionist, In India it is totally reductionist.
Just think , If you take 10 rs. from 10 persons and give it to one person, and project that rich person as the image of the country, then has the country developed in reality, it is actually under-development.In India, still 70% of the children are malnourished, more than 50% of the family does not get proper food to eat, and on the other hand (including my IIT) lot of food is getting wasted.
India may be having world's richest family(Ambani brothers) but I am never proud of the fact because a country is not known by one person or 10% of the people but by the other 80% of the people and at present, there is no development for them.
If you want to see the true India, then just make a visit  to villages in U.P. or Bihar and see how people are living there. we all are very lucky to have such a luxuorious life but they are not.
To see the real deevelopment in the country, I can say that only one solution comes to my mind, Somehow we have to reduce the great difference between the rich and the poor, the great disparity existing between rural and urban area and it is the responsibility of each one of us so that India can become Heaven for each of our countrymen and not for only the higher strata of the society.

PASSION

Passion is one of the most important words , to acheive real success or reach great heights, you have to have passion. my brothers always use to say that if in some book you are reading "Slow and steady wins the race" then just throw that book in the dustbin without any second thought, slow and steady can never help you win in the race of life.To win rhis race, you have to have passion and burning desire to do something great.
To have a passion like Albert Einstein or Sachin Tendulkar, you have to chose a field which you love. "Choose job you love and you never have to work anymore in life." This is actually what separates a person who is dissatisfied and a person who is divinely happy.
Everyone is different, so we all have different interests, it is necessary to find it and live according to it or else our life would be a hell, I am telling you this by my own experience.
Last semester, here I tried to do things for which I am not made for as everyone around me is doing that (Too much of study) and  I went into depression but in this semester I am enjoying myself in the same environment, WHY?? The only reason is that I am living life according to my own will and not according to anyone else.
Life is all about discovering what is inside us, find out our dreams and life is worth enough to spend it in trying to convert that dream into reality rather than living off someone else's life.
We can work with passion only if we are chasing our dream because only in that case, we will have enough motivation to overcome all the difficulties and hindrances that we encounter in the path, or else we will be very easily demotivated and  will quit.
I would like to repeat what I previously wrote ->
"Death is not the greatest loss, it is what dies inside us while we are living."

DONT QUIT

 I read this poen\m somewhere yesterday and I liked it a lot so I just want to share it with you all,






When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow -
You might 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 slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt -
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.



Video reagrding the poem
http://www.thedontquitpoem.com/