Yoga dialogues

"You have not done anything, you are not going to do anything. "
"Yoga is not about asana, yoga is all about breath"
"Yoga is not designed to be easy, it is designed to be effective"
"I dont care if this is your last pose, give it your 100%"
"Dont talk to yourself. Experience whatever you are experiencing."
"Think you can do this."
"One extra inch makes a big difference" ('inch' - lowering your back during chair pose, not what you are thinking, you perverts!!)
"The only thing moving inside you is the breath. "

-Yoga dialogues by Gary, my yoga teacher.

Why is Bungee scary??

Anyone who has done the jump before knows this - what is the scariest part of the jump. Guess again, it is NOT the jump. No, period.

The scariest part of a Bungee jump is the wait - the only thought of standing on a pedestal standing at a height of 150ft from the ground makes me shiver. You are even allright till the point you tie the bungee cord on to your ankles. And then you scrawl on to the pedestal, and there it is. That is the point where no one is with you, and you have to do it all!!. it is a point of no return (there are people waiting to make fun of you if you do return!!), and you have to pose like the brave man/woman you are, and that you are equally crazy as any other soul in that adrenaline filled place.

So you go stand in the pedestal, the bungee guide is trying to calm you down and trying to explain that you will happily live ever after, there is nothing to worry about etc. And then you look down, and your legs start to shake, yes, mine were physically shaking feeling a strong protest from all parts of my body - all telling me 'You are one crazy sob..'. And then you hear '1, 2, 3...Bungee' and then you just let go. You surrender yourself to gravity, while experiencing the G force - nothign comes closer to describing how it feels like. But it is silent all over - you mind doesnt think, and all is peaceful for those couple of seconds you make the fall...

Lessons in Stock Investment

1. Don't eat your shit - sometimes, it might seem like a company making profit is a very good sign for the stock price to go up, but it doesnt. (Examples, INTC stock plummeted even after doubling the profit margin). Curb the enthusiasm and play it carefully.
2. Dont be penny greedy, and dollar loser. When buying, look for how much you are gonna lose with a limit order that is may be ten cents lesser than the current market price. But then the stock begins to rise, the order never goes through, and you might have proved yourself to be the biggest fool for losing hundreds of dollars for may be 10 dollars.
3. Penny stocks are very dangerous. It is the closest thing to gambling. You might think that your investment is very less, but chances of the stock bottoming to zero is much higher than chances of the stock bouncing back. Avoid penny stocks at all costs.
4. Make long term investments as part of your portfolio. Think of the long term potential of the company you are investing.
5. Take into account the dividend the company pays every year. Chances are that even though the stock doesnt appreciate, you might be making more money than you could with a stock that doesnt feed you with dividends.
6. Know the company you are investing in. Dont just go in for the market enthusiasm, if you do, be very careful in understanding when the company is going to take the turn for worse.
7. Big investment, big risks, big rewards. Small investments, small risks, small rewards. Might sound very simple, but many people dont remember it.
8. Never buy on margin unless you are capable of letting go of the money and also are capable of repaying the full loan within your capacity.
9. Spread your eggs across nests - have MF investments as part of your overall investments. This is a time tested philosophy for making money without risking much.
10. Beware of Uncle Sam - dont spend all your profits, for, you need money to pay capital gains tax on Apr 15.

Discipline

1. Discipline makes all the difference
2. There are only three ways to greatness - discipline, luck, or a combination of both.
3. All civilization was born out of discipline - if being natural was the best thing to do,  no body would brush their teeth.
4. All inventions, achievements were born out of discipline - if Edison didnt have the discipline to pursue his search for electric light, the world would have not seen an electric bulb from him; if Lance Armstrong didnt have the discipline with his cycling, no history would have been made.
5. The whole life of a man can be split into two major timeslots - the disciplined slot, the undisciplined slot. Decide which one you want to maximize.

Just Kidding around...

Taking a walk in the Kirkland waterfront on the 4th of July, unawares that the much awaited fireworks display on Lake Washington was what was pulling crowd to the lake shore, i stopped to ponder for a minute there. What a sight that is - couples all over the place, people with little kids holding their hands with their little fingers, nice orchestra performing in the open hall in front of which kids were dancing around like they cared about nothing - no thoughts, no worries, no cares about the future - it seemed to remind me of my own happy days as a kid - i had a good childhood i should say.

A big family it was - i had atleast a dozen kids of my age that were close relation, that i played with on a regular basis. We played all sorts of games - we chased around our great grandfather's big house, in the courtyard in front of the house, climb up the gooseberry trees pluck a bunch of gooseberries and eat and did all sorts of things. The house was so big it was a tough spot for hide and seek. My great grandfather was a very famous lawyer in our town, and he was in the electoral college from the town - just about everyone obeyed his command; people just respected him everywhere. He also had a home office where he would listen to the clients, and there was a big hall right next to it. As kids, we were told not to make noise while playing around that area. Well, i remember this - he used to have bottles of sugar candies in one of his cabinets - if we behaved, he would give us candies to eat, somethign we kids craved for very much.

Memory is very strange - while i forget something that happened a week before, i can still smell the candies from decades back. I can still remember those days when i too danced around worriless like i didnt have a tomorrow. It is going to take a lifetime to get back to that.

A star is born

The new tennis heart throb - she really is !!. Well, not as ravishing beauty as Anna Kournikova is, but man, she is stunning + is very talented (something that sets Anna apart). Beating Serena in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 is not trivial, mind you - that too, for a first timer in a major title. Beauty and talent make terrific combination - i was reading her interview some time back, and i was impresssed. The reported asked her what she felt about her being a sexy image in the grass, to which she says, 'When i am in the grass, i focus hard on the game. if you expect anything other than my game, you are going to be disappointed'. She just became my hero(ine) !!. Visit http://www.mariaworld.net/ for more info on Maria.

ShawShank Redemption (1994)

(if you want to see the movie, dont read this - i am hinting on the anticlimax of the movie in this article)

Hmm...what was i doing when the movie was released? i had just passed out of my higher secondary school, stepped foot in college for my under grad. Well, it has taken me 10 years to discover this movie.

Well, let me cut thro the crap - this movie is about a banker (played by Tim Robins) who goes into jail for two life sentences for no crime of his own. He intends to murder his cheating wife, and that is how they show him in the starting of the movie. Very soon, it comes to light that he is innocent. Inside the jail, he develops friendship with a fellow prisoner (played by Morgan Freeman) who can 'get things done' around the prison. It is very nice how they show the 'value exchange' inside the prison - there is bribery from the very basic level (cigarettes for guards) all the way up the food chain. The crux of the movie is how Tim spends his years in the prison, and how he crafts a beautiful plot that brings all events together helping him escape with $350,000 out of the prison.

Based on a Stephen King novel, the movie is amazingly well taken. Tim Robins has played his part very well, and so had Morgan Freeman. Storywise, i think the movie is all about how patient can a man get - how many years does it take for a man to tunell through the prison walls with a small rock-hammer and how much patience the man has for doing something like that over years and years and years. Small incidents like Tim sending mails to the Government asking for funding for his prison library almost every day for over six years shows how much patient a man can get even at repeated failure. Tim's character - i am really impressed. I am reminded of how they show a tiger hunting the prey - sitting down patiently, taking up all the time it takes - and then striking at the right moment. Or the saints in the Indian mythology who sit down in penance for years together, drawing all focus on to the mantra - till the gods appear to grant the wish of their lives. Or the successful business magnets, who are patient through successive defeats and blows to their ideas, and survive to see the light. More than the movie, the character of Tim Robins has influenced my thought process more.

Overall, a very nice movie worth the watch.