ABC of Life

A - Anger- Awareness - Action
B - Blame - Belongingness
C - Commitment-Courage-Confidence.
D - Dedication-Deliver.

E - Ego - Enthusiasm-Energy-Emotions-Encouragement.
F - Feverish-Fail-Faith-Fun.
G - Guru-Grace-Gratitude.
H - Hate-Humility-Hardwork-Happiness.

I - Insecure-Inspiration-Implementation
J - Jealousy-Joy
K- Kind-Kiss(Keep It Simple & Stupid)
L-Lethargy-Lust- Love-Life

M- Mother-Mentor -Music
N - Novel-Naughty
O - Opinion-Opposition-Outstanding
P - Plan-Perfection-Purity

Q - Question
R - Revenge- Revolution-Rainbow
S - Struggle- Smile - Simplicity-Suggestions-Share
T -Tired-Time-Thank-Thoughts

U - Uncomfortable-Upgrading-Understanding-Useful
V - Venom-Vision- Velocity-Victorious
W - Waste-Wonderful-Worthy
X - Xclusive

Y - Youth-Yes+,Yes++:)
Z - Zeal

Check them Out!!!

Chimpanzees use tools more than any other animal except man.
A chimpanzee can learn to recognize itself in a mirror, but monkeys can't.
Zanzibar is the only place where you will find the Kirk's Red Colobus monkey.

Only one mammal can't jump -- the Elephant
The trunk of an elephant can hold up to two gallons of water.
The elephant is the national animal of Thailand.
During World War II, the very first bomb dropped on Berlin by the Allies killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
An African adult elephant eats about six hundred pounds of food a day; thats four percent of the elephants body weight!

A group of Cows is called a murder
Cows can sleep standing up.
A cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime
In the U.S., the milk production per dairy cow is approximately 12,000 pounds.
Humans and cows have the same gestation period, which is about nine months.
Dexter is the smallest type of cow.

There are over 9 million beef and dairy cattle in New Zealand.
Studies have shown that classical music helps cows produce more milk.
Dairy cows can produce 20 to 35 gallons of saliva a day.

There are no Snakes in New Zealand.
The venom of the king cobra is so deadly that one bite can kill twenty people or one elephant.
Snake venom is ninety percent protein.
Most snakes have six rows of teeth.
Sea snakes are the most poisonous snakes in the world.
Snake is a delicacy in China.

In the United States, every year about 15 people die from Dog bites
The largest dog in the world is the Irish Wolfhound.
The dumbest dog in the world is the Afghan Hounds.
There are almost 60 million dogs in the United States
The dog with the largest ears in the world is a Basset Hound named Mr. Jeffries. The dog's ears are 11.5 inches longs, and are insured for $47,800.
A dog by the name of Laika was launched into space aboard the Russian spacecraft
Dogs can't see colors. They're color blind.
Dogs sweat only through their tongues.
Dogs have been man's pet for over 14,000 years
The Basenji dog is the only dog that is not able to bark.

Stories with a Moral

The Bear & the 2 Travellers...

Two men were traveling together, when a Bear suddenly met them on their path. One of them climbed up quickly into a tree and concealed himself in the branches. The other, seeing that he must be attacked, fell flat on the ground, and when the Bear came up and felt him with his snout, and smelt him all over, he held his breath, and feigned the appearance of death as much as he could. The Bear soon left him, for it is said he will not touch a dead body. When he was quite gone, the other Traveler descended from the tree, and jocularly inquired of his friend what it was the Bear had whispered in his ear. "He gave me this advice," his companion replied. Two men were traveling together, when a Bear suddenly met them on their path. One of them climbed up quickly into a tree and concealed himself in the branches. The other, seeing that he must be attacked, fell flat on the ground, and when the Bear came up and felt him with his snout, and smelt him all over, he held his breath, and feigned the appearance of death as much as he could. The Bear soon left him, for it is said he will not touch a dead body. When he was quite gone, the other Traveler descended from the tree, and jocularly inquired of his friend what it was the Bear had whispered in his ear. "He gave me this advice," his companion replied.

Moral - "Never travel with a friend who deserts you at the approach of danger." Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.

The Flies And the Honey...

A number of Flies were attracted to a jar of honey which had been overturned in a housekeeper's room, and placing their feet in it, ate greedily. Their feet, however, became so smeared with the honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves, and were suffocated. Just as they were expiring, they exclaimed,

Moral- "O foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves." Pleasure bought with pains, hurts.

Nine Dream Jobs for the Indian Youth

Job opportunities and compensation packages may be getting smaller...but not dreams. India’s youth are still dreaming big and are willing to walk the extra mile to get their hands on that dream job. But what are the constituents of this aspirational job-chart? Let's check it out.....(ET)

MNC Job

Getting the hotshot MBA degree and embarking on a high-flying corporate career still tops the charts. The desire for the ‘image’ of a management executive, particularly in one of the large corporates or MNC’s still drives many to the hallowed portals of B-schools.“Now, many students are looking at hedging their risks by taking up dual specializations or choosing options like marketing and HR instead of finance.

Investment-banking

The institutional giants of the investment-banking world may have collapsed but domestic banking is expected to come into its own in 2009. Not only are we seeing the horizontal expansion of banks , many banks particularly in the public sector, are expected to ramp their workforce. So while this may be a notch below the MBA, banking is still a job worth reckoning for.

Media and communication

This industry is also increasingly viewed as a savvy option. While appearing on TV screens seems to be the highlight for some, others are content with behind the scenes jobs like production, editing, designing. “However, journalism still seems to be the largest slice of the pie and attracts the most number of people. Many also venture overseas for advertising, journalism and film-making courses.

Engineering & Medicine

The two retain their positions in the top nine though medicine has slipped down below engineering. Even engineering students seem to be getting over the IT fixation and looking at other streams. Design-related careers are also on people’s minds.

Teaching

Making its way from the bottom to the middle of the charts is teaching. While this had definitely been mooted as the last option on many people’s lists, it has re-emerged as something increasingly do-able. The catalyst seems to be the announcement of the revised pay-scales for teachers, particularly at university level. Moreover, there is also scope for careers in education management.

Research

Clinical research and pharma companies are also wooing those who are of a research bent of mind. With domestic pharmaceutical companies investing more in research as well as clinical trials being outsourced from foreign countries, the demand for research analysts, quality control specialists and even marketing is on the rise.

Law

This is yet another profession which has remained on the list but the demand seems to have shifted to international and corporate law. Similarly, with legal process outsourcing increasing in India, the opportunities are galore.

Self-employed

Becoming an entrepreneur is also sufficiently in vogue. In addition to the alumni from many of the top B-schools, even those from smaller B-schools are taking this path. But for many, entrepreneurship is an option only after learning the ropes as part of larger corporates.

Offbeat

A few have taken the tangential path. Offbeat careers include tattoo making, radio jockeying, voice overs, disc jockeying, aroma therapy, nature cure, ethical hacking and choreography.

Come Let's Meet one of the Dynamic Guru Devotee...Man Who Dared To Make the Guru's Vision a Reality

An Interesting Devotee

Mahesh Giriji: Born in Nasik, MaheshGiriji as a young boy of 16 ran away from home and accompanied a Himalayan Swami and thus began his Spiritual Journey. At 25 he became the Peethadheesh (The Head) of Guru Dattatrya Peeth at Girnar in Gujarath. Millions of devotees come to this holy place every year.
In 2002 he met out dear Guruji Poojya Sri Sri Ravishankar and instantly felt enchanted and realised his long search has finally ended. Guruji told him that Swamiji was here in this planet for a very special Cause.He is now an Art of Living Teacher and his USP is organzing & conducting Mega courses; it began in 1000s and now it has reached lakhs....wow man. He is a true source of inspiration to every Guru devotee. When Guruji met him and they spoke about Gurudev's vision for the world i.e "A One world Family through Sangachattvam", Gurudev said that 'I was ready to give it, but there was no one who was ready to recieve it, to make it a breathing reality'. And Maheshgiriji was the only one who could dare to walk the masters words.

Today I was a witness to an absolutely eye opening and thought provoking session conducted by Maheshgiriji in Thane. He is one devotee I have met who is so damn clear about Guruji’s vision and so confident about making the impossible very much possible. His commitment, devotion, passion, dynamism, enthusiasm, conviction, love and integrity towards Gurudev is a benchmark for each one of us. Our beloved Gurudev’s Vision is to see a new India (A New Bharat) by 2014 free of crime, voilence, stress, corruption, pollution, etc but Maheshgiri believes that if we all get together through Sangachatvam we can make Gurudev’s vision come true by 2012 and Gift Guruji a New Bharat that he had dreamt of by creating a Divine society. But how? Now this is a million dollar question to which here are the answers.

For example: The current situation of Mumbai especially after the blasts is like less said the better. All the 4 Ps – Police, Politician, Press & Public are all pointing fingers at each other and blaming each other for the current Mumbai situation instead of holding each other's fingers and fighting aganist the unfortunate occurance. But do you think this kind of an attitude will lead us anywhere, for sure not. So the what’s the solution or for that matter what’s the right attitude that each one of us need to have.

Maheshgiriji says; we need to bear in mind 3 key factors which would serve as the platform from where we can together unanimously make a big positive difference to each individual & to the society as a whole.

To change the “Time” one needs to give “Time”. This means; to see good times ahead, to make a safe, bright, trustworthy & happy society for our future generations we need to give that Quality time from our life। You can’t make a difference outside by sitting inside your house. You need to get out there and

समय को बदलने के लिए समय देना पड़ेगा ।

To see good times ahead one needs to stop looking at the time in your watch.
अच्छा समय आने के लिए अपने घड़ी को देखना बंद करना पडेगा ।

To do good work is not easy. (अच्छा काम करना आसां नही है ) Gandhiji used to say 4 key things for anyone who goes out to do something good for the society will have to willingly face:
Criticism from the society.
Ridicule from your own people, friends & society.
Shouts & Fights
But Finally victory will be yours।

क्यूंकि सच्चाई परेशां हो सकती है पराजीत नही हो सकती।

He also shared a very interesting example of the Mahabharata. During those times; both the Pandavas & Kauravas were asked whether they wanted Narayan on their side or the Sena of Narayan during the war. The Kauravas thought that its better to get a large army of the Narayan so asked for the Sena of Narayana to be on their side during the Kurukshetra war. But the Pandavas, i.e. Arjuna chose Swayam Naryana to be on his side. Why, because he was very clear that if the Lord is on my side there is no way I can lose this Kurukshetra war no matter ho powerful the opposition. This example is a perfect analogy to all the SriSri devotees, isn’t it? When we have our Guru with us any obstacle, challenge or situation we encounter we can overcome it with a smile, what say!

Jai Gurudev!

Magic of the Alphabets

In considering the good handwork of God in our lives, we need to praise Him much more than the alphabets.... see below.

GOD MADE ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL AND FOR HIS PRAISE EVEN THE ALPHABETS.

Although things are not perfect; Because of trails or pain; Continue in thanksgiving; Do not begin to blame; Even when the times are hard; Fierce winds are bound to blow; God is forever able; Hold on to what you know; Imagine life without His love; Joy would cease to be; Keep thanking Him for all the things; Love imparts to thee; Move out of "Camp Complaining"; No weapon that is known; On earth can yield the power; Praise can do alone; Quit looking at the future; Redeem the time at hand; Start every day with worship; To "thank" is a command; Until we see Him coming; Victorious in the sky; We'll run the race with gratitude; Xalting God most high; Yes, there'll be good times & yes some will be bad; but... Zeal waits in glory...where no one is ever sad!

"I AM Too blessed to be stressed!" The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.

13 Amazing Q and A for the Youth by Guruji

Guruji says - There are two types of youth. One is the youth that grows up and gets older and older and the second type of youth is the kind who refuses to get old. What type of youth are you? Tell me. And if you have done ART excel, Young Adult or Yes+ you refuse to grow up. You reverse the aging. Those who are grown up, you make them into children again. If you are the second type of youth, then you are in my category. Are there lots of questions? Good, Good, shoot them!

Here you go......

1. Adults are doing so much of moral policing to us. How do we react when we can see their double standards?
You police them. You know the double standard police don’t have a standing usually.

2. My parents always fight. To find love I look for it in strangers, that’s the reason I have had many boyfriends, still I feel lonely, what should I do?

You know loneliness can produce a lot of creativity. You can come up with nice love songs, write poetry, write novels. You don’t have to read Mills & Boons. You can write one of them yourself. Use your loneliness to bring out more creativity and know that you can never be lonely. There is always some force that is with you. You meditate for a little while and you will know that the loneliness is gone. It cannot be filled by any friend at all. You go from one friend to another. After a little while you will become all mushy mushy. Always wanting something! Instead, you have to go like a lion or lioness. Wherever you are make a contribution to your friends rather that you wanting something from them. What do you say?

3.In case of career selection should I go by my heart or by my brain? Should it be a practical or emotional selection?

Career selection should be through your brain. And your hobby should be from your heart. You know, often many of you choose your hobby through your brain, because someone else is doing it. You think – “Let me also do that hobby”. But, it doesn’t work. Your hobby should be a matter of your heart; where your feelings go. But your career should be chosen through your head, right?

4. Some of our friends do drugs, smoke & drink. When we stop them, they say what’s the harm in trying? We really want to stop them but we are unsuccessful. Please suggest a way to stop them.

Sudarshan Kriya, Satsang. You know if you want to remain young, keep two things in mind. Keep away from alcohol, however tempting it may be as this is something that makes you old very soon. Spirit takes away the spirit in you. And I see enough spirit in you. You don’t need any extra spirit from outside. You are the source of spirit. You know when you get addicted, you don’t get any extra bliss or joy in that, but leaving that becomes so painful. This is the nature of these habits. The habits don’t give you great joy, but you can’t leave it, you become a slave of it. And you see families are ruined, nations are ruined, and communities have been ruined by alcohol.

Today the greatest problem of alchohol is in the Native American community, in America. The community could never come up because the youngsters started to drink so much. You hardly find a scientist, a doctor, an engineer, a politician, a businessman in the Native American community. Why? They have been supplied with so much drink and they drank and drank and they are ruined. So we can’t afford to do that. The greatest youth force is present in this part of the world today, in Asia and you have to take lead and feel that the whole world is your family. Own the world, not just your state or your little whatever.

5. How can I as an individual make a difference.
I think I answered that. As a person keep up your enthusiasm. There will be 100 efforts from many corners to pull down your enthusiasm.

6. How to become the most attractive person on this earth?
Become like me. Keep smiling.

7. Guruji why don’t you ever get angry? What is the reason for it?
I try to, but nobody believes it.

8. Why do bad things happen to good people?

Because they have been foolish. Foolish that you don’t understand that. No bad thing can happen to any good person at all. If you have sown a neem tree then a neem tree will come. If you have sown a mango seed, only mango tree will come. But you don’t know what happened, what you did in the past. You can’t pity yourself. Oh I am so good, everybody one else is bad. Why bad things happen to me. Bad things happen to you because you have been foolish. Not skillfull not intelligent enough so better improve yourself in many ways. And if some bad things have happened to somebody, it must be due to some past mistakes for that you help them. You are there to help those people who are victims, right?

9. How can one person change the world? Is it not better to focus on oneself?
You have to do both. Focus on yourself and also at that time on the environment. Saying let me 1st watch the TV then hear it. Or 1st let me hear and then watch. You will miss out okay.

10 What steps is the AOL taking regarding the corrupt politicians of India?
It’s waiting for you to grow up and become an honest politician.

11. What are your views about teenage romance, sex, relationship etc? If god wanted us to abstain from it why did he create an option?

You know. In the tree they pluck the small mangoes to make a pickle. The little ones are called kairi. If you pluck it when it is kairi, then it can’t become into a mango for mango to grow bigger, you can’t pluck it as a kairi, it will only be an achar (pickle).

So similarly certain things you need to wait for sometime. Then your body, your mind, your environment everything becomes right for it. So there is a particular time, particular phase, in life where you can enjoy this. But if you start doing it much before that then, it’s a lot of strain on your nervous system. Then you see that by the time you are 25 you will look like you are 50 years old. Do you see what I am saying?

So there is a certain biological cycle, biological rhythm in us. And we have to follow that. Honor that. We have 7-year cycle. You will see that first 7 years our mind matures, intellect matures. You can learn a lot in the first 7 years. And next 7 years till you are 21 your emotions mature. So you as teenagers are most emotionally troubled from 14 to 21, is when your emotional body is maturing. But many people don’t grow out of it at all. They remain there even though. They are 28 or 30 or 50. But, their emotional body is stuck at 15 or 16. So they behave in a very immature manner. Not that everybody is immature.

But today we are seeing that youth are maturing much earlier, in their emotional body also, because you see so much TV, soap operas. And you don’t want to be a part of that soap opera, right? You have already experienced that. You feel that you have already gone through that. The media has contributed a lot towards your emotional growth. By 21 you become mature in your physical, mental, emotional and intellectual body in your system. So you should stop becoming mushy mushy. After you are 21, you should stop complaining. And stop playing all those games, those emotional games, you know. Do you get what I am saying. So that emotional maturity has to come in us by 21. It should come to us. But you might get it by 15.

12. What is the purpose of life?
Make a list what is not. Then you will get it. The last thing will get the answer because once you get the answer there will be no question.

13. How do you select your life partner?
I have no experience. I am trying to figure that out still. I haven’t got an answer.

- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Mahashivratri + Oscars - What a Combo!

Yesterday 23rd Feb what an auspicious day it was! A unique combination of Mahashivratri & The Oscars. On one hand I was absolutely excited about the fact that Guruji's Mhashivratri live celebrations from Kollam Kerala is going to be telecasted on Sanskar channel & on the other hand my sister who is a journalist with NDTV 24/7 had visited the slums to interact with the enthusiastic & excited slum kids who were eagerly waiting for the golden moment of the Oscars.


Gurudev on Mahashivaratri : Shivaratri is the day of Lord Shiva. Shiva is the lord of meditation and therefore the lord of awakening. Shiva Tatva means to be awakened. Shivaratri is thus an occasion to awaken one's self from all sorts of slumber. It signifies being aware of everything you have and being grateful about it. Be grateful for the happiness which leads to growth, and also for sadness which gives a depth to life. This is the right way of observing Shivaratri.

We Yes+! voulunteer's from Anjana's team began the day with OM NAMAH SHIVAYA chantings(108 times) followed by Group Meditation with the pious chants of Rudram that is conducted at Bangalore ashram.Thanks to Anjana's laptop & projector, it felt as though we are actually sitting in the ashram for Rudra Puja. In the evevning we then witnessed the live Rudra Puja & shivratri satsang in our living rooms, thanks to our satellite technology for making this happen.

Bawa's Quote : People have been asking me why we do Om Namah Shivaya chanting… and why we do it 108 times.Namah, read backwards is manah, the mind which is directed outwards and confused, dull, etc… you turn the mind inwards, it becomes Namah, and when you go inwards, what do you find? Shiva! The embodiment of Bliss, [...]

A Blog you just can't afford to miss : http://bawandinesh.name

It was a mesmerising expreince of getting introduced to the Kerala dance culture, Meditation by Gurudev, Rudram Chants by the veda boys & pundits & the electrifying satsang bhajans sung by Bhanudidi, Srinivas & Shalini, Dr.Manikandan & Gayatri along with their team. Nihar & the Malayalee girl(sorry i don't know her name) added to the presence with their one liners on the importance of shivratri.


The chantings & bhajans gave birth to purity in the atmosphere which we could experience sitting right in our own living room at home. Guruji's grace was flowing unconditionally. He was in such a different mood yeasterday. Happily dancing to the tunes of the shiva bhajans & encouraging others to dance as well. Now that's our Guru so simple, so cute & natural, so very beautiful. Guruji also asked us to take any 1 Sankalpa which would be fulfilled when we sat for the puja. When you have a Guru like SriSri, there is anyways not much of choice you see...Sankalas any which ways have to get fulfilled :)

Also check out Vikram's Bhaiya's Blog for more :
http://www.vikramhazra.blogspot.com/

Slumdog Millionaire : Hmm! 8 Oscars wow , thats 2 good yaar.And 3 of them bagged by Indians.2 by our very own AR Rahman & 1 by Pookutty the guy from Kerala who incidently also happens to be from Kollam the same place where the shivratri celbrations happened. Cool coincidence na....

It was a good oppurtunity that India got for global recognition. Yesterday we realized that destiny can change for man just in a day, or even in a few hours for that matter. No doubt I was happy to see AR Rahman, Pookutty,Anil Kapoor, Imran Khan, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto on the oscar nights at LA. But it was really nice to see that the way the international people were treating these young budding starts who could not have even imagined in the wildest of their dreams where they are today. This I beleive is God's was of conveying to mankind the message that oppurtunity is awaiting every man - All you need to do is be aware, sincere, honest & humble and capitalize on that oppurtunity. For every Dog has it's own day!

Meet My Beloved Gurudev :)

Poojya Sri Sri Ravi Shankar the founder of the "Art of Living Foundation" whom I lovingly call 'Guruji' is a true source of inspiration for my life. I dedicate these thoughts as an expression of gratitude to my Master!

Come let me introduce you to the love of my life !

What can I tell you about my Guru!
He is a mystery which keeps unfolding himself through
A true embodiment of innocence, mischief & intelligence
Simplicity, beauty, & unconditional love personified.
No words in the oxford dictionary can reflect his magnanimity
For his presence & grace conveys all simply
He taught me to ‘Smile’ no matter what!
All my sorrows, worries & problems, I just forgot.
He introduced the true essence of life through the 3S -” Sadhana, Seva & Satsang”
Along with all the soap operas which he keeps creating as a platform to live them through.

He drilled it in my DNA that Materialism & Spirituality needs to go hand in hand.
And nurtured my attitude towards developing the right “Perception, Observation & Expression of Life”.

He made me aware of how fortunate I was.
And educated me with Simple Knowledge Sutras that serve as catalyst for my growth.
Life now for me is an ideal combination of fun, challenges, opportunities & learning’s.

And as days pass by the truth slowly dawns on me that I am walking on a path that is making a huge positive difference not just to my life, but I am sometimes overwhelmed by the faith that my Master shows in me that yes “I” can indeed be a true instrument of the Divine, of My Guru.

The key Mantra is – “Obey the words of the Master & your Life will be so wonderful that the praises that you receive you’ll surely be flattered.

Key Words: Commitment over Convenience, Undying Enthusiasm over Inertia, Unconditional Love over Worldly Selfish Love, Yoga & Meditation over Crime & Violence.
The choice is completely yours MY FRIEND!