Year: 2010

Dr APJ Abdul kalam at Yuva Unstoppable’s [NGO] fifth Anniversary was truly inspirational!

Standard

It was a privilege to hear ex president of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on 16th september at yuva unstoppable’s (ngo) fifth anniversary at Ahmedabad Management Association. i heard him speak for the first time and it was truly inspiring. his talk was peppered with anecdotes and quotes that are worth documenting – In this blogposr, I make an attempt to list his quotes, suggestions and anecdotes:

1. “Small aim is crime”

2.  Suggestion: NGO’s should venture into remote villages and spread literacy

3. Suggestion: Each one should plant 10 trees so that we reach the goal of 10 billion tress by 2020

4. “True leaders back their team in failure and credits them in success”

5. “Dream big and endeavor”

6. Suggestion: one should go to hospitals and visit those patients who have no visitors, doing this will rekindle the kindness within oneself.

I learned a lot and i enjoyed hear him speak and it was a privilege to be on yuva’s guest list. Thank you Yuva!

Also, kudos to Partnership of Microsoft student partner program and Yuva that initiated a Country wide Digital Literacy campaign and I am happy that I am part of such an endeavor that aims to spread literacy among underprivileged kids.

One other attendee has written a blog post on the program. you can read his views (and watch video of Dr APJ Abdul kalam speaking at this event) by clicking on the link below:
http://www.ankurkpatel.com/2010/09/16/to-aim-small-is-a-crime-says-dr-abdul-kalampast-president-india/

– Paras Doshi

Ted Video: The beauty of data visualization by David McCandles

Standard

Being a computer engineer student who finds data mining very fascinating, i enjoy and learn new ideas from such videos. if you are a fan of han rosling, then i bet you will like this video too.

Ted Video: How social media can make history by clay shirky

Standard

How can one make the best use of the social media? Even when it means doing it the way it has never been done before. that was the conclusion that the speaker gave. i think this is the crux of talk. the talk explains the radical changes that have happen in the landscape of the social media in the recent years and the ho it has transformed the way people communicate. gone are the days when media content was generated only by professionals and the fact that media was institutionalized. Today’s Media content is delivered by dilettantes who by no means are professionals. they are common man with a voice and zeal to share knowledge. watch the video to understand the radical change that has happen in recent years in the domain of social media and how sites like twitter and facebook are changing the way we communicate.

Ted Video: A monkey economy as irrational as ours by Laurie Santos

Standard

the video questions the irrationality that we humans tend to show. the speaker draws an analogy between our economy and ‘a makeshift monkey economy’. Surprisingly, monkey reacts in the same irrational way that we do. so she concluded that our irrationality is inherent. The example showed that we think in relative terms rather than absolute. when we are considering profit we tend to play safe but when we are dealing with potential losses we tend to be riskier. we can thus conclude that such behavior leads to financial crisis that we recently faced. people tend to play riskier when faced with potential losses and thus in the process are susceptible to huge loses. such behavior kick starts domino effect in world economy which is hard to anticipate. Watch the video if you are interested psychology, economy, financial crisis, human nature. Speaker quotes ‘man is a species that refuses to accept who he really is’. This line beautifully summarizes what the speaker meant to convey.

Video:

Video: Steve Jobs on How to live before you die

Standard

I saw this video on http://www.ted.com, a repository of talks delivered by world leaders/business leaders/innovators/designers/Entertainment Guru’s. The talks are mind-boggling and they broaden your horizon. i am regular visitor of the site and i proclaim that this ‘awesome’ site has planted a seed of inextinguishable curiosity in me. Thank you TED! i will continue to cherish videos uploaded on this site.

I highly recommend you to watch this video:

UPDATE [4/24/2012]

RIP Steve Jobs

Book Review : Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.

Standard

I am scared of huge novels. i imagine them laughing at me while i try to figure out, how on the earth will i complete this monster. But, after reading shantaran which is approx 1000 pages in size [ plus it has medium font size ], my outlook towards such novels has completely changed. i read it in Diwali vacation ’08. . The description of scenes is picturesque and the language is elegant.

It all started when I read that Johnny Depp had bought rights for some book called shantaram and it roused my curiosity. Let me sketch the outline of the book a bit. The protagonist is a man called Lindsay, who escapes Australian prison and arrives in Bombay on a fake passport. Here he befriends tourist guide prabaker, who finds him a place to live in a slum away from the eyes of the law. The slum is to be the home of Linbaba, as Lindsay is called, for the next few years. while he runs a makeshift first-aid center in the slum, he also engages in criminal activities like smuggling and counterfeiting, and eventually fights with mujhahideen of Afghanistan and acts in bollywood. Lin’s experience in Bombay range from falling in love with the beautiful karla to visiting prabaker’s village where he gets the name “shantaram”, or man of peace. The Book is Full of character’s, each character is a jewel in the crown i.e the novel. The fact that the author who is foreign to India makes an effort to understand the pulse of a complex country and does it in style makes this book a compelling read. The adventures of shantaram never ceases to amaze you. it’s a perfect script that can be translated to a movie.

Must read!

This book review found a place in Rotaract club of nirma institute’s annual magazine Reckon.

Creativity – what is that?

Standard

Creativity is something we define as doing things differently, thinking differently or creatively putting it-“Thinking out of the BOX…”

According to me creativity is not always about painting, writing a novel, it’s about doing things we do creatively. we can be creative when we talk, eat, walk, jump, run, play, read, write. Doing creative things is invariably very satisfying. it’s a confidence booster. i read somewhere that deepest human desire is constantly improving oneself and doing creative things. one more aspect of creativity is that it cannot be measured but it’s something others can sense. so being creative is about being aware of what’s happening around you and doing things the brand new way.

India can win 50 gold medals at olympics!

Standard

It was 11th August 2008, a day on which India’s Abhinav Bindra got first ever individual gold medal in 10m air-rifle event. He has made us Indians proud and has ended a long drought. Bravo! Abhinav…
Though this news makes you happy, the overall performance of India at Olympics is not at all encouraging.
There are no official statistics with me but there is a little doubt that on per capita basis India finishes last in any Olympic tally. Dead last. Commentators blamed our Olympic shortfall on the lack of training infrastructure’s in India, the low priority we put on sports as a society and the Indian physique. But I believe this is not entirely true. Here’s why:
Whatever it is that keeps India from Olympic gold,it certainly isn’t a shortfall in the Indian gene pool. Take any Olympic event and you can see that India is rich in future champions but only if we look in the right places.
If you have visited an Indian construction site,You will find many potential gymnastics champion. I recently saw a man walking across thin planks on the 15th floor of a building. He did this with no safety. Bring that man down 200 feet and put him on a four-foot high balance beam and surely he will dance bollywood tunes on the beam. India could easily field a gymnastics team from our construction sites.
Now, Take the rickshaw pullers, living on a high protein and carbohydrate diet of dal and roti, these men transport riders in 40-degree weather for 14 hours a day, seven days a week. Take the best among them and train them for Tour-De-France as training for Olympics. Who would you think will have a harder time switching places- rickshaw pullers or lance Armstrong? My bet…Mr.Lance…
Our fisherman sail three months of the year in the hardest monsoon conditions.Brutal rain don’t hamper these rough-and-tough sailors. Take the best of these men and train them for three years and they will be formidable Olympic contenders.
Likewise we can bet on men and women working at the construction sites, They can be seen lifting pounds of brick and dirt onto their head…watch there motion…they can win us weightlifting medal.
Each year,the best American athletes go to train in Colorado 5,000 feet above sea level as high altitudes makes the lungs stronger. If we take our best and train them in Leh, 14,000 feet above sea level, imagine what supermen and superwomen we may develop.
The Indian countryside and cities are replete with future Olympians. These men and women train daily in the hardest of conditions with simple diets. Without a doubt, with proper training and infrastructure,these men and women will add to our Olympic golds.
It’s a shame that world has missed 100 years of Indian Olympic prowess; it would be a travesty if the world misses another 100 years.

[This Article was Published in ISTE nirma’s Annual Magazine]

Book Review : Funda of Mixology – ” what bartending teaches that IIM doesn’t..” by maniak dhar

Standard

“what is this life if full of care,
We Have no time to stand and stare….” – william henry davies.

This is what our condition has become. We often don’t get time to follow our heart’s desire. How many of you are tired of rat race and want to quit n follow your heart’s desire? If so,then this book is for you. This book will rejuvenate your spirit. This novel will inspire you to carry your life to extremes!
A young man from IIM working in a private firm is tired of his corporate life. He dreams of leaving his job and writing a novel and pursue a career in journalism. He is tired of the corporate culture and the blind race to climb the corporate ladder but is enjoying the financial freedom. He was bemused. And one day he gets a chance to pursue his desire. His company is downsizing and is paying two year salary for those who wish to leave. So he gets interested in the proposal and is seriously considering the option to leave his job and follow his desire. And then there are series of events which completely changes his life. He does not quit his job, writes a novel which is soon going to be published, climbs the corporate ladder, proposed his lady love, leave’s his habit of drinking and is much happier and satisfied…all this within a year!! Amazing, huh?? I bet.

I am sure this novel will change your outlook towards life.

[This book review was published in Rotaract club of Nirma Institutes Annual Magazine]

Chandrayaan Budget : 400 crores!! can India afford a Moon Mission?

Standard

For Moon Mission, a space vehicle (Chandrayaan) will revolve around Lunar surface to collect various information. It’s cameras and sensors will be looking for elements such as 222-radon, 210-plumbum,Magnesium,Aluminium,Silicon,calcium,,iron,uranium and Thorium. These minerals are what everyone from US to Japan is looking for on the moon. With earthly minerals and energy resources fast running out, scientist believe that by the middle of 21st century ,man should be able to mine the moon and use its abundant helium-3 as fuel to be used as energy source.

The Moon is estimated to have about one million tones of helium-3, which scientist believe, could be the fuel for the future, and is scarce on earth. It is estimated that 40 tonnes of helium-3 is enough to generate the total power requirement of the US for one-year!! .One area which seems to be seriously considered is mining of helium-3 and bringing to earth for use in fusion reactor to generate electricity.

Once believed to be wasteland, lunar surface is now believed to be capable of supporting life. After the American mission ‘Clementine’ found traces of water-ice at the moon’s poles, scientist guesstimate that more than 10 billion tones of ice exist there. This Lunar ice can be used to produce lunar water. This water can be used to irrigate lunar land or can be used in cooking. As scientist say, that is all fiction. But the lunar-ice can be used as fuel (by breaking it into liquid hydrogen and oxygen which are most powerful chemical propellants) for communication satellites in orbit between moon and earth.

All this will take years to fructify, but advanced countries are already developing the towards such ends. International treaties prohibit any country from colonizing the moon, but once mining of the moon becomes technologically feasible, India is convinced that pioneers will work out treaties to suit their own interests. So we should be there to stake a claim when the others land their Bulldozers!!.

Published in ISTE’s Nirma University Chapter’s annual magazine.

Related articles