My souvenirs

When I was a child, I liked social science projects a lot. We were asked to place stickers of places or temples or buildings etc which we like and talk about them. It was social science which created an interest in me for historical buildings and to see different places all over the world. Luckily I am travelling the world now and as I travel, I collect souvenirs too as a token of memory. Here are few of my souvenirs, not all and there are many  more to come this year. 

From Left

1) Mug from cinque terre, Italy
2) The bapistry,cathedral and leaning tower from Pisa
3) Leaning tower from Pisa
4) Ekeko from Peru
5) Lamborghini GT 350 from Lamborghini museum, Italy
6) King Ramesses from Egyptian museum, Turin,
7) Key chain of Ankh, from Turin ( didnt have money to buy the Ankh, so a keychain)
8) Excalibur from medieval  city, Turin
9) Feather pen from Turin
10) Parliament in glass, Budapest. 

Made in Japan

In today's global economy, this book is a must-read for anyone looking for an insight into Eastern management philosophy. Akio Morita needs no introduction. A legend in his lifetime, he founded Sony, one of the most powerful and respected multinational corporations in the world.

This book is an autobiography of Akio Morita and it goes hand in hand with the story of growth and expansion of Sony as well as post World War II Japan. This is a story of young Japanese who dreamt of a great company and went on to establish one with his exceptional vision and intuitive ability. Many of us know the anecdote of how Sony's marketing team was not convinced of the viability of the idea of a device, which can play music when you play Golf and ignoring them Akio asked his Engineers to go ahead. Yes, we know that device by the name of Walkman.

The book starts with the Post World War II Japan, wounded psychologically and physically by the one of the biggest tragedies mankind has ever faced. The problems of rehabilitation, unemployment and recession, then reconstruction, the weakening of 'Zaibatsu' (the family owned Conglomerates) and strengthening of democratic style of management in companies, which helped many more Japanese corporations to come up, is explained beautifully.

Akio talks of the Japanese society and culture. The conservative and strong family-oriented culture reminds of the common Asian heritage we share with Japanese Society. This is really appreciable that such society can grow so advanced scientifically and technologically that it has not only challenged the countries traditionally considered powerhouse of industrial revolution but also taken a lead in many industries.

This book talks of the initial days of Sony in US market, initial problems and numerous complicated lawsuits it had to face. Then, finally being successful in creating a strong brand "Sony" in the US market.

This book tells of Akio as a person and family man. He proves that to have a successful career, you do not need to sacrifice family life. He says at one place that he thought of Sony as one of the children he has to raise. He comes across as a diehard believer in simple living and high thinking. He wittingly tells the difference between a rich man and a wealthy man to a European lady who refers him a better jeweler's shop for his wife. Akio believed in deep-rooted Japanese philosophy of "mottainai", which emphasizes on being skilled and efficient in using resources economically. It is wonderful to know how Japan is so successful despite being a nation with little natural resources. May be that is the reason for inventing smallest and at the same time powerful devices.

This book is a door to understanding Japanese management philosophy and work ethics. Akio in his lifetime made sure that he gets chance to address each new batch of fresh recruits into Sony on the company philosophy and tell what is expected out of them. He created a company culture of `employment for life-time' which he believed helps getting total loyalty of employees.

Akio was from the generation of Japanese entrepreneurs who not only created value and wealth for his company but was able to make `MADE IN JAPAN' brand famous across the world. and this book tells how he did.

My childhood sketches

Since few days, I have been thinking to restart my pencil sketching, which I had left  for more than 13 years. I gave importance to other things than sketching and  hence never could grow with it. I used to like sketching and painting a lot. So in order to start my sketching from scratch, I was searching for my drawing books, pencils and other tools but luckily  found these sketches. It was a good moment to cherish and these left me laughing for sometime. The drawings are so funny and even though, I didnt sketch anything vital, but still counted myself in the league of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo . The funniest were the quotes and signature  LOL.

Flawless

Sometimes I think about the geniuses the world has left behind for the future generations. The people with vast knowledge in their subject had unselfishly passed on their knowledge to the world for greater good. I am not into technology.I feel it has made mankind very lazy and the illusion of escalating us to two steps ahead in reality has dragged us one step down. I should not talk about technology being an engineering graduate from one of the elite colleges of the country and choosing to do so. But my concern is  about the style and path which we choose for living, a happy living.Way back, in around 400 BC, we were introduced to the great man Socrates. A man who gave us the idea to design our path of life. He was the first man to enlighten mankind and showed us an altogether different paths to salvation. His disciple Plato, had written all the teachings and preaching of Socrates in the form of a dialogue. One of his theories, the famous one,'' Allegory of the cave'' when I read about it, I was moved and confused. When I started to wallow in the depth of the thoughts, I was frightened. What if whatever happening is a lie or a dream? This thought occurred to me once when I was a child because there were some instances when I could not differentiate between a the real and dream world. Even now rarely I feel that. I was around ten years old I guess and I told my friend about my thought and he didn't understand what I was talking about. I asked another of my friend, he told me that I have become mad, and just told me that if we are awake we cannot dream. But when I read about this deeper, I could see its uses all around me.The super blockbuster hit movie '' the matrix'' is based on this philosophy mainly and also uses other philosophical ideas too. I was just wondering how could it attain so high rating and got listed to top 250 IMDb movies for some gimmicks. But I realized there was more to it.The high rating is for the soul of the movie. If ''philosophy of matrix'' is entered in Google so many texts appear explaining in detail about many philosophical ideas which are related to  in the movie.

An example, I can think about is in the caste system in India. Earlier people always remained cordoned  in the ambit of caste. They were not allowed to change any rules like, changing religion or marrying other caste people. They were in a shell and that shell meant the world to them. Just like the frog in the well saying. In a detail analysis and thought of the theory, it is said that, the longer you are in the cave, it becomes difficult to accept the reality. Our ancestors have been so long in the caste feelings and rituals that they don't wish  to come out of it. In few orthodox families, the daily practices are never to be changed. they think and believe it is the best thing and till their last breath they follow those routines. Old people don't want to leave their villages and they want to live and die in their ancestral homes. When a child has to leave home for the sake of study or work, they find it really difficult to cope up with situation outside but they cope up with time. Because they have been taken out of their shell earlier. There are so many many examples which fit this theory.

The point of my rambling is simple.I am just wondering how could few people, in fact great people back in 400 BC postulate things which are still valid now? The philosophies of Socrates, Plato, Epicurus and many others, their postulates and theories are flawless and impeccable. Their analysis would have been surely on people of Greece which also comprised Italy. But researching on a small sample people and generalizing it to the world unknown about other population and their behavior.Socrates tells that, the best philosophical advice is given by people who are working and are not much educated.So if that logic is true,  may be in some other parts of the world, people were already following those principles. So many years have passed and changes in Evolution too but  the basic nature of human being has been the same and which is the only reason these ideas are flawless. Same goes with few of the religions like Buddhism which are a path to life than a religion. With time many emotional factors were added to the human beings, and slowly other philosophers like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche came into light but the basics of philosophy by the first teachers is so subtle and important that we cant neglect the ideas.

Third eye

The wait kills, but what we get after the long wait thrills. Many a times we wait for something to get for which we had been craving since long time.The wait may be either for  love or any other materialistic object. And once we get it, It is the moment of  bliss.

I am inclined to any creative thing easily and hence photography is one of them. The inclination was from my childhood I suppose.My father was into photography. We had a Yashica camera and he was really interested in taking pictures.In our library we still have few photography books which were bought in 1980s by my dad to explore photography. But due to some problems and priorities he gave up. I guess it was my source of inspiration.But once I was going through a photography magazine and some articles on it as a part of my random reading,I saw some pictures which were raw, directly from the camera and I was amazed by them.They were really beautiful and it was around four years back I thought of owning a camera and capturing similar pictures.But I had to wait a long time. There were many instances I could have bought, but had other priorities and hence got delayed.Now I finally own an entry level dslr Nikon D5100, which I had purchased recently.  Finally I own it. I am now all ready to venture my hobby through my third eye. 

My Third Eye 

View from my terrace, One of the trial picture of my camera.

View from my terrace 

Awesome Blog Content (ABC) award

For me awards are just like chocolates . Whatever be the mood the chocolate is pleasing to the mouth disconnecting us from all our feeling but bliss. Well the ABC award was a surprise it was pleasing. It felt better and I am basking on it. I should thank Nilu A for the award. She is creative with the recipes and has a lot of variety. I should also thank Indiblogger, because of which I found her blog and I am able to hone my cooking skills. 

Rules of the Award:-

1. Add the ABC logo to your new blog post.

2. Write one word or a phrase about yourself that begins with A, B, C, etc.

3. Nominate some blogs.

4. Leave a comment on those blogs to let them know!

A- Z facts about me!!

A --Affable

B – Bold

C – Cook

D – Dedicated

E – Exuberant 

F – Friends

G – Gentle

H – Hard worker

I – Indian

J – Jovial 

K – Kindhearted

L – Laughter 

M – Mummy

N – Never give up 

O – Obstinate ( sometimes I am )

P – Poet (New version of me)

Q – Quick at understanding anything.

R – Reading (I like to read )

S – Star gazing. ( My relaxed time pass)

T – Tit for tat.( I believe in that) 

U – Undependable on anyone

V – V for Vendetta ( My fav movie) 

W – Work should be done with dedication.

X –Xanthippe thank you for defining Socrates

Y – Young at heart always

Z – Zany ( sometimes)

My Nominees:

aamjunta - http://aamjunta.wordpress.com/

yamini saha - http://www.thevibrantwriter.com/

Mathikel - http://matheikal.blogspot.in/

Elixir of Knowledge - http://www.elixirofknowledge.com/

Gajadhar Dwivedi - http://www.dharmchakra.in/

Brendan - http://brendanantondabhi.blogspot.in/

Jiggyasa- http://shrimaanshrimati.com/

Rayla Noel - http://innerdialect.wordpress.com/

Harsha - http://allresourceupdates.wordpress.com/

Aditi - http://makeitbeayoutiful.blogspot.in/

Shivani - http://shivanidiwani64.blogspot.in/

Mesmerized by Turin

The 2nd biggest city of Italy, Turin, is also famous among Indians as Sonia Gandhi's native place. I felt it to be bigger than Milan and more artistic. Every building in Turin has some architectural importance and hence are  beautiful. The wide roads and gigantic medieval buildings were so much titillating to the eye. I was spell bound with its amazing beauty. In Milan, I could only find the duomo as the major attraction but Turin has so many things. Milan is more into fashion and partying, both of which are not my cup of tea.We went for a day's trip but were drained with the heat and felt one day to be less time to explore it fully. Luckily we went to the famous Egyptian museum, though it was a  disappointment. I felt it did not cover all the aspects of ancient Egypt. I have read few things about Egyptian history and could not find them there. Well, I got the ''Ankh'' as my souvenir. My friends from Egypt too were not so happy about the contents in the museum. Well I was happy to see few things. Turin is also a host to many  companies. On a trip to Italy, it is best to visit Turin at the last since it borders Switzerland and has many trains to other international countries. My few memories of Turin.