Monday, September 5, 2011

Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s teacher


Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s  teacher
(Some critics refute the authorship. But it is an inspiring advice one must read - Murty)


Respected Teacher,

My son will have to learn I know that all men are not just, all men are not true.
But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader.

Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend. It will take time, I know; but teach him, if you can, that a dollar earned is far more valuable than five found.

Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy  winning. Steer him away from envy, if you can.
Teach him the secret of quite laughter.
Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to tick.


Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books.. but also give him quiet time to ponder over the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hill –side.

In school teach him it is far more honourable to fail than to cheat.

Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if every one tells him they are wrong.

Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when every one is getting on the bandwagon.

Teach him to listen to all men but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.

Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is sad.
Teach him there is no shame in tears.
Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness.
Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders; but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob… and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right.
Treat him gently; but do not cuddle him because only the test of fire makes fine steel

Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patience to be brave.

Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order; but see what you can do.
He is such a fine little fellow,
my son.

Abraham Lincoln.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Common sense …or..Lack of It…!

Common sense …or..Lack of It…!

I was returning to Tirupati after attending an usual “emergency” meeting at Hyderabad.. emergency not about the topic of discussion, but we were called at a very short notice. ..! I have reached Kachiguda station after passing through several traffic jams and fortunately could catch Venkatadri express. The compartment was full by the time I got in to my coach. Mine is upper berth. The ‘co-passengers’ are chatting vigorously. One gentleman and three ladies with two kids. By listening ‘accidentally’ to their conversation (which is loud enough to be heard even from the next compartment..!), I became aware that they didn’t have a confirmed ticket at all, but occupied the berths of the passengers who are supposed to board at a different station. They are planning to ‘convince’ the TC…. two kids and three ladies with a huge luggage is enough reason for anybody to show sympathy. The TC came. He promised that he will try to help them if the ‘original’ passengers doesn’t board in the next station.

After TC left, they opened their food boxes and started feeding children around (8 or 9 yrs). They enjoyed playing with food than consuming it. In few minutes, I realized that I will be safe only if I can go on to the upper berth as fast as I can. I got to the upper berth and started reading some book. After few moments, I felt the horrible ‘aroma’ of some non-vegetarian food. They are talking loudly and enjoying the food, while, on the other side the spirits of the dead birds are dancing before my eyes. I took ‘vicks’ from my bag and stuffed enough material to block both my nostrils. It helped to some extent. Their enjoyment continued, while I slowly drifted to sleep.

At around 11.00PM, the ‘original’ passengers boarded the train. They also got convinced with the problem explained by the existing passengers. They decided to share the berths and the left-over bones. Now, the disturbance got doubled. It was about 12.30 am. They are still talking loudly. I looked down at them. The gentleman asked me, “Why are you looking like that. Shall I switch off the light”. I told them, ‘just please talk softly if you don’t get sleep’. He seemed to understand my ‘problem’. They were quiet for some time. They arranged themselves in various positions on the available berths and in the free space between them. I thought that the problem is over and my sleep returned. It didn’t last long anyway.

At about 2.30AM, again I woke up when a loud noise disturbed me. The people below are discussing their childhood experiences with the train journeys and laughing loudly. One girl is excitedly telling how she escaped from TC and traveled the whole distance without a ticket. Another man is telling that he had found some unclaimed bag underneath his berth, and called the railway police to check whether it contained any bomb. He added that, they just kicked the bag out of the train into the darkness. The twist is, after sometime, the passenger from the upper berth got down and frantically searched for his luggage. After listening to it, I became alert. I visually checked for the presence of my bag. It is safe.

The time is about 5.00 am. The coffee vendors and Newspaper vendors entered the scene. The gentleman in the lower berth purchased a news paper, which is filled with positive praising stories about a corrupt politician and his corporate son..! I wondered, why they are wasting their time and money in one go, by buying and reading such nonsense. May be, they are thinking about me in the reverse or may even be sympathetic to me for missing such ‘good’ stuff.

With the first light of the day, all the other people like beggars and physically handicapped people entered the couch, singing some devotional songs with the peak of their voice and some are ‘cleaning’ the compartment, pushing the dust and waste papers from one side to the other.

I descended from the upper berth, got fresh up and had a healthy coffee, free from cholesterol and milk..!

Eventually the train approached Tirupati. The pleasant view of the hills removed all the tiredness due to lack of sleep and I became refreshed with the wonderful morning view of the distant hills. I used my mobile to take some pics and I can share few of the good ones here.

(click on the photos for a larger view)




Monday, August 29, 2011

తెలుగు భాషా దినోత్సవం..!

నేడు తెలుగు భాషా దినోత్సవం..!



(ఫోటో పై క్లిక్ చేయండి )




Monday, August 22, 2011

శ్రీ కృష్ణాష్టమి శుభాకాంక్షలు ..!

శ్రీ కృష్ణాష్టమి శుభాకాంక్షలు ..!

యదిహాస్తి తదన్యత్ర యన్నేహాస్తి నతత్ క్వచిత్....
మహా భారతం గురించి ప్రాచుర్యం పొందిన మాట ఇది. ఇందులో ఉన్న విషయాలు ప్రపంచంలో వున్నాయి.. ఇందులో లేని విషయాలు ఎక్కడా లేవు అని దీనర్థము. అలాంటి మహాభారతానికి మూలస్తంభం లాంటిది కృష్ణుని పాత్ర.

నేను మెడిసిన్ లో చేరిన కొత్తలో చిన్నపాటి రాగింగ్ అయింది. సీనియర్లు "నీకు దేవుడంటే ఇష్తం.. రాముడా కృష్ణుడా " అని అడిగారు. కృష్ణుడు అని చెప్పాను. వాళ్ళు నవ్వడం మొదలు పెట్టారు.. చాలా మంది భార్యలున్న కృష్ణుడు ఎందుకు నచ్చాడు.. అని అడిగారు. నాకు విపరీతమైన కోపం వచ్చింది. ఒక చిన్న సైజు ప్రసంగమొకటి చేసాను. తర్వాత నన్ను వాళ్ళు ఇంకేమీ అడగలేదు...

మాటల సారాంశం :

కృష్ణుడు ఒక తత్వవేత్త. ఒక కర్మ వాది. వ్యక్తిత్వ వికాస గ్రంధాలలో ఎన్ని యుగాలైనా ముందు వుండేది భగవద్గీత. ఒక నాయకుడు ఎలా ఉండాలో, ఎలాంటి ప్రణాళికలు విజయానికి మార్గం చూపిస్తాయో చెప్పాడు. చిన్నప్పటి నుంచి కష్టాలకు ఎదురు నిలిచాడు. చెరసాలలో పుట్టాడు. వర్షపు రాత్రి నదిని దాటుకుని యశోద వద్దకు చేరాడు. తనను చంపడానికి వచ్చిన పూతనను, శకటాసురుడిని.. ఇలా అనేక మంది రాక్షసులిని అంతమొందించాడు. గోవర్ధన గిరిని పైకెత్తి ఇంద్రుని అహంకారం నుంచి యాదవులనందరినీ రక్షించాడు. కాళీయ సర్పాన్ని నియంత్రించాడు. ఇలా ప్రతి సమస్యకు పరిష్కారం చూపుతూ కర్తవ్య దీక్షలో వున్నాడు. తనపై పడిన నీలాప నిందలను సమర్ధంగా ఎదుర్కొన్నాడు. తనను విమర్శించిన వారే పూజించేలా విజయాలను సాధించాడు.

పాండవుల తరపున రాయబారం చేసి కురుక్షేత్ర సంగ్రామం ఆపు చేయడానికి ప్రయత్నిచాడు. మూర్ఖులైన కౌరవులు తనని బంధించడానికి ప్రయత్నిస్తే, విశ్వరూపాన్ని ప్రదర్శించాడు. కురుక్షేత్ర సంగ్రామ ప్రారంభంలో విషాదానికి, ఆందోళనకు లోనైన అర్జునినికి కర్తవ్య బోధ చేసి భగవద్గీత రూపంలో కౌన్సెలింగ్ అంతా సమస్త మానవాళికి అందించాడు. సమస్యనైనా ఎదుర్కునే ధైర్యాన్ని, మానసిక స్థైర్యాన్ని తనకు భగవద్గీత ఇస్తుందని మహాత్మా గాంధీ పలు సార్లు చెప్పారు. వివేకానంద స్వామి కూడా చాలా సందర్భాలలో భగవద్గీతను ఉదహరిస్తారు. స్తిత ప్రజ్ఞత , నిర్ణయాధికారం, కర్తవ్య దీక్ష , మనో విశ్లేషణ ... ఇలా ఎన్ని గుణాలను చెప్పుకున్నా అన్నీ పరిపూర్ణం గా ఆచరించి చూపిన అవతార పురుషుడు. భారత యుద్దంలో అభిమన్యుడు మరణించి అందరూ దుఖిస్తుంటే కూడా , కర్తవ్య దీక్షను.. మరునాడు ఆచరించవలసిన యుద్ద వ్యూహాన్ని ప్రణాళిక చేస్తూ.. మానసిక స్పందనలు, బాధలు కర్తవ్య దీక్ష నుంచి దారి మరల్చకూడదని బోధించాడు. కేవలం ఏడు అక్షౌహుణి (1.53 millions approx) సైన్యంతో పదకొండు
అక్షౌహుణి (2.4 millions approx) సైన్యాన్నిజయించ గలగడానికి నిర్ణయాధికారము... ప్రణాళిక కారణం. అదే స్తిత ప్రజ్ఞతను తన నిర్యాణం సమయంలోనూ చూపించాడు.

గీతా మకరందం సమస్త మానవాళికి భగవంతుడు అందించిన గొప్ప వరం.


శ్రీకృష్ణావతారం నుంచి అరుదైన కొన్ని అద్భుత దృశ్యాలు : గీతోపదేశం , శ్రీకృష్ణ నిర్యాణం.


గీతోపదేశం :



శ్రీకృష్ణ నిర్యాణం:





Friday, August 19, 2011

Sunrise : Sirivennela..!

(Click on the photo for larger view)

(Meaning in English) :

the Veena of Eastern side and on the strings of morning sun...becoming the sounds of woken up birds on the stage of blue skies.. when the rythm of that spelt twitter sound has become the initiator of world.. By making it the holy message of universal act..

(Extract from : Vidhata talapuna... song from Sirivennela.. lyric by Seetarama Sastry.. who else can write like that ?)


Song here from youtube :




Clouds and the Lord


The clouds ... of our wishes...
reaching God of Seven Hills. The Lord of the entire Universe...!

click here to see the album

The photos taken at Alipiri at the footsteps of Tirumala on 18th August 2011 at 9.00 AM, just after a moderate shower. A series of seven photos to show the clouds gradually vanishing... and the Galigopuram emerges from behind .

Is it not that... all our wishes vanish for the sight of God... and seeing God will remain as the only wish.

(Wolrd Photography Day : 19th Aug 2011)

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Independence Day Celebrations at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Independence Day Celebrations at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan



Corruption... in the Minds too.

Dr. T.V. Rao commented on the wall of his facebook about the corruption. It follows :

India is corrupted not only by politicians, business people and Bureaucrats, Even the educated and highly qualified people live by cheating , by groupism neoptisim and favoritism, etc not to mentioned in a civilized society, Many senior professors act as great researchers, much of the money in India is going to drain in the name of research, Majority of the senior teachers are surviving because of the positions they occupy as guides and examiners, Students have no way but praise the teachers or they may fail them. India has many Deemed not to the universities but also deemed to be not teachers. You may reduce monetary corruption but can any one correct morally corrupted people

I've added my comment. I am including it as a blogpost to share with the viewers here.

True sir. As are some post graduates with corrupt minds. They pass exams as they know how to pass exams...! One guy who can not differentiate Salmonella from E.coli gets through the PG practicals. One girl who doesn't open her mouth or manipulates the reactions and the examiners all the time gets through. one guy ...... and the big list of examples. The professors want to appear "good" by passing these 'candidates' . These people, after passing, soon become faculty and "guiding" (spoiling) some more PGs, and will be 'acting' as research scholars. They may even produce false papers. Many hide their ignorance with arrogance. Students hesitate to confront them. Soon they become 'good' teachers... as you mentioned. And also as 'fastidious' examiners.

Dr. Prasanthi added :
Let us remind the beautiful quote of Swami vivekananda " neither money nor name nor fame pays u, it is only the character that cleaves u through admantine walls of difficulties"

I added :
Thank you Dr.Prasanthi for reminding a beautiful quote of the Inspiring personality. Unfortunately, most people do the reverse... without any dificulty they break the admantine walls of character to earn money and fame..!


Dr. T.V.Rao : My friends do not worry for not becoming famous by infamous methods. What really you are only helps in crisis.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Why moon appears bigger : Junior Scientist

Myself and Aditya (now 5 years and always inquisitive) were watching the moon on Saturday (Shravana purnima) and taking the above photograph with my sony digicam.
He asked my why the moon looks bigger when it begins to rise and why it appears small when it reaches up the sky.
I told him that - the light rays travel at an angle and hence the moon appears big when it begins to rise. But when moon reaches high up, the light rays travel vertically, so it appears small.

He pondered over it for few minutes. Then he asked me, 'when it is nearer'.

I told him that he is at the same distance both the times.

He appeared confused and asked, "if he is at same distance both the times, why the rays have to travel at angle"

I explained with some rough drawings. To my relief, he was pacified to some extent.

To refresh my physics, I searched the internet and found so many explanations to answer the illusion...only the 'possible explanations'..! My awareness (and the resultant confusion) is elevated regarding the subject...!
One interesting link is from wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_illusion


Friday, July 22, 2011

One night @ the call center

Just finished reading "One night @ the call center" by Chetan Bhagat.


Good narration. Most people naturally identify themselves in the roles for shyam, vroom et al.


Though the major part of the book is devoted to in depth analysis of the problems being faced by the team members of shyam, the last chapters describe the way out to solve or circumvent these problems.


Almost any of us will be in such situation one time or the other and the mind will thoroughly intimidated by the illusion of helplessness. Most of the time, we know the solution to our problems. But never have the courage to act it out. Most people like inertia. As most often we feel secure in such inertia, rather than working out the solution and face the 'unknown result' what so ever. We constantly seek pleasure in pleasing others...! We fear change. We fear 'disapproval'.


The call from the "God" in the story may appear dramatic. But such 'inner call' always will be shouting at us.

We just don't want to listen to it. So we don't hear it.


Till one fine day ...

Once upon a time

The interesting story received by mail from one of our friends : story about a software engineer, who tried to live out the moral story learnt during his childhood. Read on...
***

Once upon a time,

....there was a software engineer who used to develop programs on his Pentium machine, sitting under a tree on the banks of a river. He used to earn his bread by selling those programs in the Sunday market.

One day, while he was working, his machine tumbled off the table and fell in the river. Encouraged by the Panchatantra story of his childhood ( the woodcutter and the axe )

He started praying to the River Goddess. The River Goddess wanted to test him and so appeared only after one month of rigorous prayers. The engineer told her that he had lost his computer in the river.

As usual, the Goddess wanted to test his honesty. She showed him a match box and asked,

Is this your computer ?

Disappointed by the Goddess' lack of computer awareness, the engineer replied, No.

She next showed him a pocket-sized calculator and asked if that was his.

Annoyed, the engineer said

No, not at all !!

Finally, she came up with his own Pentium machine and asked if it was his.

The engineer, left with no option, sighed and said Yes.
The River Goddess was happy with his honesty.

She was about to give him all three items, but before she could make the offer, the engineer asked her, Don't you know that you're supposed to show me some better computers before bringing up my own ?

The River Goddess, angered at this, replied, I know that, you stupid donkey! The first two things I showed you were the Trillennium and the Billennium, the latest computers from IBM !. So saying, she disappeared with the Pentium!!

********

Moral:
If you're not up-to-date with technology trends, it's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're a genius than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.