http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/ Inspire Minds to Change Lives id http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/04/03/inspiring-story-of-wright-brothers-inventors-of-worlds-first-manned-flight.html   AS A CHILD   Wilbur Wright, the eldest of the ‘Wright Brothers’ was born on April 6, 1867 on a small farm near Millville, Indiana. In 1871, four years later, Orville was born in Dayton, Ohio. His father’s name was Bishop Milton Wright. He was a minister as well as later became a bishop of the Church, in United Brethren. He was a distinguished bishop. Bishop Milton as well as his wife Susan Catherine had four sons – Reuchlin, Lorin, Wilbur as well as Orville, as well as one daughter Katherine.   The Wright household was a stimulating place on behalf of the children. They grew up in an environment where there was at all times much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests, to investigate whatever aroused curiosity. The house of Wright family had two libraries. One was Bishop’s study library, where books on theology were kept, as well as the downstairs library had a large as well as diverse collection. Wilbur as well as Orville’s father was a firm disciplinarian. Both the parents were loving-natured as well as the family was a close one.   First Interest in Flying Wilbur was the third son of the Wright family as well as Orville was the fourth one. When the boys were 11 as well as seven, their father took a toy ‘Helicopter’ on behalf of them, which sparked their interest in flying. Though their ‘helicopter’ was fragile as well as did not survive due to their rough play, it ignited an interest in them on behalf of the hidden world of aviation, as well as ultimately put the man flying in the sky. Over the next several years, the boys tried to build these themselves. They referred to as them “bats”. But the larger they got, the lesser they could fly. The innocent boys didn’t know that a machine with only twice the linear dimensions required eight times as much power. Both brothers were discouraged on behalf of the time being as well as diverted their attention to kite-flying. The Wright family moved from Richmond, Indiana back to Dayton in June 1884. Wilbur was to have graduated from high school. But he left Richmond without receiving his diploma. He was an brilliant student. After returning to Dayton, he rejoined Central High School the next year on behalf of further studies in Greek as well as trigonometry. At the age of 19, Wilbur Wright was hit in the face with a bat while playing an ice-skating game. The injury at first didn’t seem serious. A few weeks later, he began to be affected with nervous palpitations of the heart, which precluded the realization of the former idea of his parents of giving him a course in Yale College. For the next four years, Wilbur remained homebound. He suffered as much from depression as from his vaguely-defined heart disorder. He spent those years at home, caring on behalf of his mother suffering from tuberculosis.   The First Step in the Career Wilbur as well as Orville’s mother Susan died. At that time they were just 22 as well as 18 respectively. Shocked by this event, Orville decided to quit school. He was an average student. He started a printing business with his elder brother. They published a four page weekly: ‘West Side News’. It was on behalf of the first time they introduced themselves as ‘The Wright Brothers’. The business did not do well, so they diverted to retailing, repairing as well as manufacturing bike on behalf of next four years. Later on, the brothers went deep into the business of bicycles. And so Orville invented a self-oiling wheel hub. Back to ‘Flying’ In 1896, Orville suffered from typhoid. While taking care of him, Wilbur read about the death of Otto Lilienthal, a famous German glider pilot. He had made over 2,000 sustained as well as replicable glides. That was a turning point on behalf of the brothers, who got seriously interested in flight again. They read all of the articles on aeronautics that they could get. To get more details, Wilbur wrote to Smithsonian Institution, requesting to provide them published papers on flight. In the letter, he wrote: “My observations… have only convinced me more firmly that human flight is possible as well as practicable. It is only a question of knowledge as well as skill, just as in all aerobatic feats. He requested on behalf of papers, saying that he was about to begin a systematic study of the subject in preparation on behalf of practical work. Wilbur requested Octave Chanute, a civil engineer, who wrote about early aviation experiments, on behalf of his help in gathering still more information. At that time he had been afflicted with the belief that flight was not possible to man. He wrote: “My disease has increased in severity as well as I feel it shall soon cost me an increased amount of money, if not my life.” In the letter Wilbur outlined his solution on behalf of the require to control a flying machine. He described a technique referred to as ‘wing warping’ – which required twisting the surface of each wing to modification its position in relation to the oncoming wind. Chanute as well as Wrights kept up a regular correspondence during the brothers’ process of building a manned flying machine. Together with his brother Orville, a mechanical wizard, they became self-taught engineers.     HISTORY MAKERS   In the year 1900, the Wright Brothers began their first field experiment. They designed the glider to be flown as a kite with a man on board. But it did not have sufficient lift. So, they flew it as an unmanned kite operating the levers through cords from the ground. In the summer 1901, the Wright Brothers built a bigger version of their previous glider. But again its lift dropped short of calculations. They built a wind tunnel to measure the lift data themselves. They built it in the winter of 1901. In the process, they discovered that the commonly accepted coefficient of lift was too high. They also identified a longer as well as narrower wing shape, that was on behalf of more efficient on behalf of flight.   Success At Last The year 1902 was the golden year on behalf of the Wrights. In the fall, they successfully tested a new glider based on their posses measurements. They made an estimated 1,000 gliding flights – some covering distances even more than 600 feet. In the next year, Wright Brothers made another breakthrough. Ship-building literature did not prove sufficient to provide the theory of propulsion on behalf of the propeller, which they needed on their aeroplane. They built the first efficient air propellers. They also built a four-cylinder engine that got the best power-to-weight ratio than anything around. Made Aviation History The Wrights had not even flown the Flyer yet, but they applied on behalf of a patent of their work. On December 17, 1903, at 10:35 a.m., the Wright Brothers made an aviation history. With a few jerky up-and-down movements, Orville flew the Flyer on behalf of 12 seconds. He covered just 120 feet. They made a total of four flights that day before a gust of wind damaged the Flyer. In 1905, the Wrights made the world’s first ‘practical’ aeroplane. It could stay airborne on behalf of more than half an hour. The next year, on May 22, they succeed in receiving their patent on behalf of the ‘Wright flying Machine’. Wilbur made record-breaking flights with their new improved machines near Le Mans, France. In five months of flight demonstrations, he made over 100 flights, that was airborne on behalf of total 25 hours. He ended with a record flight of 2 hours as well as 20 minutes at a stretch. After winning a contract to produce Wright aeroplanes in Europe, Orville got the possibility to shine in Fort Myer, Virginia, demonstrating the worthiness of the Wright Flying Machines on behalf of the U.S. Army. The Wright Brothers astonished the world with their exhibition flights in France, Italy, Germany as well as the United States. Wright Brother’s planes became the world’s first military aeroplanes to be used by U.S. army.   http://www.worldofbiography.com/0023-Wright%20Brothers/ http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/04/03/inspiring-story-of-wright-brothers-inventors-of-worlds-first-manned-flight.html Fri, 03 Apr 2009 06:58:08 -0400 concertina419u http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/03/20/rags-to-riches-story-of-slum-kid.html His story is much more than a celluloid dream script. His is the proverbial rags-to-riches tale, made possible through hard work as well as determination. E. Sarathbabu’s story started in the slums of Madipakkam. Today, at 29, he is CEO of Foodking Catering Services, which has outlets in Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad as well as Rajasthan, as well as has a turnover of Rs. 7 crore. Talking about his days of abject penury when he supplemented his mother’s income by selling idlis door-to-door as well as binding books, Sarathbabu says: “Poverty can never play spoilsport if an individual is determined to win.” It pays to focus With two sisters as well as two younger brothers around, not only food was less, there was no electricity either. “But, I never felt sad as there were no distractions while studying. You can't accomplish anything if you brood over what does not exist. Even when I was requested to stand outside the classroom on behalf of not paying the fees, I used to listen to the lessons being taught inside because of the fact that I understood that nobody — my mother, me or my teacher — was at fault on behalf of the situation I was in,” he philosophises. Sarathbabu’s willpower coupled with his mother’s desire to see her son speak English like the “upper-class” people do, took him to Kings Matriculation Higher Secondary School. While his classmates discussed the good food they ate as well as the new dresses they bought, Sarathbabu was driven by the desire to top the class. And, first he came, always, even scoring the highest marks in school in the Matriculation Board examination. His score of over 1,100 in the Class XII examination made him dream big. He found himself in BITS, Pilani, as well as then at the country’s best B-school, the IIM-Ahmedabad. “At Pilani, I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew. My poor spoken English aggravated that feeling. But, I did not give up; I started reading books as well as practising spoken English in front of the mirror. Today, I think I have made it,” he smiles. “Whenever I feel dejected, I think of my mother. I at all times remember her drinking only water to manufacture sure that her children ate whatever was available. As a child, I used to think she liked water a lot but only later did I realise that it was acute poverty that forced her to fill her stomach with water,” he says. Turning entrepreneur Sarathbabu worked on behalf of two years with Polaris as well as repaid the loans taken on behalf of higher education. When good employment opportunities came knocking, he shocked all by rejecting them. For, he nurtured a different dream: “I know the pangs of hunger as well as at all times wanted to provide employment opportunities.” Today, he employs 250 people. Sarathbabu launched Foodking in Ahmedabad with a paltry sum of Rs. 2,000. “It was a dream come true, when Infosys’ N.R. Narayanamurthy inaugurated my venture in 2006. I introduced my mother to the chief guest as well as her eyes filled with tears of happiness. It is one of the an estimated all memorable moments of my life,” he recalls. His dream is a hunger-free world by creating more job opportunities. How does it feel to be a youth icon? “Positively happy.I trust God is giving me this fantastic opportunity to inspire youth so that they too can create more jobs, bridge the rural-urban divide as well as address social issues as well as manufacture India shine globally.” “I have risen from the bottom. If I can, why can’t you?” says Sarathbabu, who also plans to start a school on behalf of the downtrodden. Having come this far, this unassuming ‘crorepati’ continues to reside in the Madipakkam slum with his wife Priya, mother Deeparamani as well as his younger brothers. But, he does plan to construct a house on behalf of his mother as well as also convert the ‘hut’ — from where he began his journey — into a memorial. http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/03/16/stories/2009031650670100.htm http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/03/20/rags-to-riches-story-of-slum-kid.html Fri, 20 Mar 2009 09:07:08 -0400 concertina419u http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/02/24/resul-pookutty-oscar-award-winner-hero-of-a-rags-to-riches-story.html Resul Pookutty hails from the nondescript village of Vilakkupaara at Anchal in Kollam district in Kerala.   Being the youngest of eight siblings, Resul did not have much ground to complain against deprivations. He used to walk 6 km to school daily. The Government school where he studied used to provide noon meal as well as that used to be the major attraction on behalf of Resul as well as numerous of his friends.   Electricity popped into his village when he left there to join the two-year pre-degree course in a college near his father’s ancestral house in nearby Alappuzha district. Cinema was far from mind, as well as Pookutty tried his hands at numerous things before straying into the world of celluloid. He reared domestic animals, sold milk, later took tuitions to finance college. For a brief while, he dreamt of becoming a doctor, but gave it up when he failed the medical entrance. After graduation in Physics, he joined the Law College, Thiruvananthapuram. However, even then, say acquaintances, sounds seemed to hold a strong fascination. “During a recent reception at the village, Resul said the chirping of birds as well as gurgling of the rivulet had at all times evoked much curiosity in him,” said his brother Baiju. Going to the cinema in conjunction with friends was the favorite pastime. It was only out of curiosity as well as peer pressure that he applied on behalf of the sound engineering course at the Pune Film as well as Television Institute of India (FTII). He failed the first time, returned to Thiruvananthapuram, as well as read up all of the books he could find on sound engineering. In the next entrance examination as well as group discussion, Pookutty passed.   It was his love of physics that made him opt on behalf of sound at the Film Institute in Pune. Those were hard times. It was the scholarship at college that helped me sail through without much difficulty”, Resul said before he left on behalf of the Oscar award ceremony.   Out of college, he worked in Rajat Kapoor’s ‘Private Detective’. A string of films followed. The break came with Sanjay Leela Bansali’s ‘Black’, which was noted on behalf of its sound mixing.   While there has been no looking back, in residence state Kerala, it is only recently that people came to know Pookutty, who has been living in Mumbai with his wife Shadiya as well as two children on behalf of the past decade. “Even the people of Vilakkupara learned about the feat of its son only recently,” said Baiju   Looking back, Resul believes even small things life stood out on behalf of sheer coincidence. His hostel room in Pune had the poster of Danny Boyle’s film, ‘Trainspotting’. And 12 years later when his phone rang, with Boyle wanting to sign him up on behalf of ‘Slumdog..’, the poster flashed in his mind.    Sound engineer Resul Pookutty became the third Indian to take Oscar glory on behalf of India by winning the award on behalf of sound mixing in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.His regret is both parents are not alive to celebrate his Oscar nomination. He is married to Bebin Shadiya as well as they have two children-Ryan, three as well as a half years as well as Salna, one year.   http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/02/24/resul-pookutty-oscar-award-winner-hero-of-a-rags-to-riches-story.html Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:24:12 -0500 concertina419u http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/02/21/srimanth-fights-cerebral-palsy-to-become-karate-champion.html The Indian contingent on behalf of the Isshinryu world karate championships in Pittsburgh, US on June 18, 19 as well as 20 shall include Srimanth Bal of Gujarat. Nothing unusual one would think. Except that Srimanth was a spastic. He was born with quadriplegia a form of cerebral palsy where brain damage renders both arms as well as legs dysfunctional — he had to be tube-fed on behalf of three years. Doctors told them to pray but his parents, Srinivas Bal as well as his wife of Vapi, Gujarat, wouldn’t give up. Surfing the net, Srinivas stumbled upon information that Chennai-based Shihan Hussaini, an 8th degree black belt in karate as well as social worker, was doing pioneering work with children of the Spastics Society of Tamil Nadu as well as that ‘karate therapy’ had worked wonders. Shihan Hussaini was contacted as well as Srimanth, 11, arrived in Chennai in 2003. He was wheelchair-bound; he could barely stand on his own. Hussaini then summoned one of his students Hardik Joshi — a 5th degree black belt from Gujarat — as well as gave him the responsibility of training Srimanth. Teacher as well as pupil went back as well as began, step by step, the laborious training process. It was six months before he could stand on his own. Then he started the basic blocks, hand attacks as well as kicks. Soon, Srimanth began running. He mastered complex katas of Isshinryu karate, leaving even experts spellbound. After five years, when Srimanth came here on behalf of his black belt test, Shihan Hussaini was dumbstruck. “Initially I was apprehensive. The boy looked like a vegetable. But he was a keen observer as well as quick learner.” Srimanth ran the mandatory 24 km non-stop before doing 100 repetitions of the difficult endurance exercises. He also scored excellently in his basics, katas, weapons, sparring as well as self-defence. Now, he is in the Indian team on behalf of the Isshinryu world karate championships — the first such boy to do so.  On Monday, Srimanth held a demonstration of his spectacular recovery as well as amazing talents at the Music Academy where Shihan Hussaini presented mementoes to the parents as well as the instructor. “I just can’t trust it. It is a dream come true on behalf of me. Joshi sir stood by me like a rock. If not on behalf of him, I would not be here today. Perseverance pays, I am an example of this,” Srimanth told media persons. Asked whether he was confident of bringing residence laurels from Pittsburgh, pat came the reply. “Yes. Why not? I am confident of returning with medals.” Said a proud Srinivas: “I just thank God as well as Joshi as well as Hussaini on behalf of their efforts in getting Srimanth on his feet as well as giving him a new lease of life.’’   http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=TOICH&login=default&AW=1235309351140 http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/02/21/srimanth-fights-cerebral-palsy-to-become-karate-champion.html Sat, 21 Feb 2009 08:57:06 -0500 concertina419u http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/31/you-become-what-you-believe-inspiring-speech-by-oprah-winfrey.html Oprah Winfrey’s Commencement Address Wellesley College. May 30, 1997 My hat’s off to you! My hat’s off to you! [crowd cheers: Go Girl!] You all have “gone” girls! I desire to say thank you, Dr. Walsh as well as to the esteemed faculty, to those of you parents–what you have been through, God Bless you–and to the greatest class that has ever graduated from Wellesley. I must say–you are my heart, Dr. Walsh is right. I saw you walking in as well as I started to weep, as well as I don’t consider myself a weeper, but I guess I must be if I started to weep, because of the fact that I know what it takes to get through here as well as I am so proud of all of you on behalf of getting through. You all know this, that life is a journey as well as I desire to share with you just on behalf of a few moments about five things (aren’t you glad they aren’t ten) five things that have made this journey on behalf of me exciting. Five lessons that I’ve learned that if I had gone to Wellesley I could have not made as numerous mistakes, but five lessons that I’ve learned that have helped me to manufacture my life better. First of all, life is a journey. I’ve learned to become more fully who you are as well as that is what I love about this institution, it allows women to come to the fullest extent of their possibilities who they really are as well as that’s what life does–teach you to be who you are. It took me a while to get that lesson, that it really is just about everyday experiences, teaching you, moment in, moment out, who you really are. That every experience is here to teach you more fully how to be who you really are. Because, on behalf of a long time I wanted to be somebody else. I mean growing up I didn’t have a lot of role models. I was born in l954. On TV there was only Buckwheat, as well as I was ten years old before I saw Diana Ross on “The Ed Sullivan Show” with the Supremes as well as said I desire to be like that. It took me a long time to realize I was never going to have Diana Ross’ thighs, no matter how numerous diets I went on, as well as I was not going to have her hair neither except when I bought some. I came to the realization at the end of being in television as well as having the news director trying to manufacture me into something that I wasn’t as well as going to New York as well as allowing myself to be treated less than I should have been–going to a beauty salon, you all know there's a difference between Black hair as well as White hair. That is the one thing you learn the first week at Wellesley: how did you get your hair to do that? What I learned going to a beauty salon as well as asking them, at the end of the news director told me that my hair was too thick as well as my eyes were too far apart as well as I needed a makeover, sitting in a French beauty salon, allowing them to put a French perm on my Black hair as well as having the perm burn through my cerebral cortex as well as not being the woman that I am now, so not having the courage to say, “this is burning me,” as well as coming out a week later bald as well as having to go on the air. You learn a lot about yourself when you are Black, as well as a woman as well as bald as well as trying to be an anchor woman. You learn you are not Diana Ross as well as that you are not Barbara Walters who I was trying to be at the time. I had a lot of lessons. I remember going on the air numerous times as well as not reading my copy in advance of time. I was on the air one night as well as ran across the word “Barbados,” that may be Barbados to you but it was ” Barb-a-does” to me that night as well as telling the story as an anchor woman about a vote in absentia in California, I thought it was located near San Francisco. This is when I broke out of my Barbara shell, because of the fact that I am sitting there, crossing my legs, trying to talk like Barbara, be like Barbara, as well as I was reading a story about someone with a “blaze” attitude which, if I had gone to Wellesley, I would have known it was blasé as well as I started to laugh at myself on the air as well as broke through my Barbara shell as well as had decided on that day that laughing was OK even though Barbara hadn’t at that time. It was through my series of mistakes that I learned I could be a better Oprah than I could be a better Barbara. I permitted Barbara to be the mentor on behalf of me, as she at all times has been, as well as I decided then to endeavour to pursue the idea of being myself as well as I am just thrilled that I get paid so much every day on behalf of just being myself, but it was a lesson long in coming, recognizing that I had the instinct, that inner voice that told me that you require to endeavour to find a way to answer to your posses truth was the voice I needed to be still as well as listen to. One of the other great lessons I learned taught to me by my friend as well as mentor, Maya Angelou as well as if you can get this, you can save yourself a lot of time. Wendy as well as I have had numerous discussions about this, particularly when it comes to men, in spite of the fact that she has a very lovely one right now. Remember this because of the fact that this shall happen numerous times in your life: When people show you who they are, trust them, the first time. Not the 29th time! That is particularly good when it comes to men situations because of the fact that when he doesn’t call back the first time, when you are mistreated the first time, when you see someone who shows you a lack of integrity or dishonesty the first time, know that that shall be followed by many, many, numerous other times that shall at some point in life come back to haunt or hurt you. When people show you who they are, trust them, the first time. Live your life from truth as well as you shall survive everything, everything, I trust even death. You shall survive everything if you can reside your life from the point of view of truth. That took me a while to get, pretending to be something I wasn’t, wanting to be somebody I couldn’t, but understanding deep inside myself when I was willing to listen, that my posses truth as well as only my posses truth could set me free. Turn your wounds into wisdom. You shall be wounded numerous times in your life. You’ll manufacture mistakes. Some people shall call them failures but I have learned that failure is really God’s way of saying, “Excuse me, you’re moving in the wrong direction.” It’s just an experience, just an experience. I remember being taken off the air in Baltimore, being told that I was no longer being fit on behalf of television as well as that I could not anchor the news because of the fact that I used to go out on the stories as well as my posses truth was, even though I am not a weeper, I would cry on behalf of the people in the stories, which really wasn’t very effective as a news reporter to be covering a fire as well as crying because of the fact that the people lost their house [pretending to cry as she said this]. And it wasn’t until I was demoted as an on-air anchor woman as well as thrown into the talk show arena to eliminate me, that I permitted my posses truth to come through. The first day I was on the air doing my first talk show back in l978, it felt like breathing, which is what your true passion should feel like. It should be so natural to you. And so, I took what had been a mistake, what had been perceived as a failure with my career as an anchor woman in the news business as well as turned it into a talk show career that’s done OK on behalf of me! Be grateful. I have kept a journal since I was l5 years old as well as if you look back on my journal when I was l5, l6, it’s all filled with boy trouble, men trouble, my daddy wouldn’t let me go to Shoney’s with Anthony Otie, things like that. As I’ve grown older, I have learned to appreciate living in the moment as well as I request that you do, too. I am asking this graduating class, those of you here, I’ve requested all of my viewers in America as well as across the world to do this one thing. Keep a grateful journal. Every night list five things that happened this day, in days to come that you are grateful for. What it shall begin to do is to modification your perspective of your day as well as your life. I trust that if you can learn to focus on what you have, you shall at all times see that the universe is abundant as well as you shall have more. If you focus as well as focus in your life on what you don’t have, you shall never have enough. Be grateful. Keep a journal. You all are all over my journal tonight. Create the highest, grandest vision possible on behalf of your life because of the fact that you become what you believe. When I was little girl, Mississippi, growing up on the farm, only Buckwheat as a role model, watching my grandmother boil clothes in a big, iron pot through the screen door, because of the fact that we didn’t have a washing machine as well as made everything we had. I watched her as well as realized somehow inside myself, in the spirit of myself, that in spite of the fact that this was segregated Mississippi as well as I was “colored” as well as female, that my life could be bigger, greater than what I saw. I remember being four or five years old, I certainly couldn’t articulate it, but it was a feeling as well as a feeling that I permitted myself to follow. I permitted myself to follow it because of the fact that if you were to request me what is the secret to my success, it is because of the fact that I understand that there's a power greater than myself, that rules my life as well as in life if you can be still long sufficient in all of your endeavors, the good times, the hard times, to connect yourself to the source, I call it God, you can call it whatever you desire to, the force, nature, Allah, the power. If you can connect yourself to the source as well as permit the energy that is your personality, your life force to be connected to the greater force, anything is possible on behalf of you. I am proof of that. I think that my life, the fact that I was born where I was born, as well as the time that I was as well as have been able to do what I have done speaks to the possibility. Not that I am special, but that it could be done. Hold the highest, grandest vision on behalf of yourself. Just recently we followed Tina Turner around the country because of the fact that I wanted to be Tina. So I had me a lovely little wig made as well as I followed Tina Turner because of the fact that that is what I can do as well as one of the reasons I wanted to do that is Tina Turner is one of those women who have overcome great obstacles, was battered in her life, as well as like a phoenix rose out of that to have great legs as well as a great sense of herself. I wanted to honor other women who had overcome obstacles as well as to say that Tina’s life, in spite of the fact that she is this great stage performer, Tina’s life is a mirror of your life because of the fact that it proves that you can overcome. Every life speaks to the power of what can be done. So I wanted to honor women all over the country as well as celebrate their dreams as well as Tina’s tour was referred to as the Wildest Dreams Tour. I requested women to write me their wildest dreams as well as tell me what their wildest dreams were. Our intention was to fulfill their wildest dreams. We got 77,000 letters, 77,000. To our disappointment we found that the deeper the wound the smaller the dreams. So numerous women had such small visions, such small dreams on behalf of their lives that we had a diffcult time coming up with dreams to fulfill. So we did fulfill some. We paid off all of the college debt, hmmm, on behalf of a young woman whose mother had died as well as she put her sisters as well as brothers through school. We paid off all of the bills on behalf of a woman who had been battered as well as managed to put herself through college as well as her daughter through college. We sent a woman to Egypt who was dying of cancer as well as her lifetime dream was to sit on a camel as well as utilize a cell phone. We bought a house on behalf of another woman whose dream had at all times been to have her posses residence but because of the fact that she was battered as well as had to flee with her children one night, had to leave the residence seventeen years ago. And then we took the other women who said we just wanted to see you, Oprah, as well as meet Tina. That was their dream! Imagine when we paid off the debt, gave the house, gave the trip to Egypt, the attitudes we got from the women who said, “I just desire to see you.” And some of them afterwards were crying to me saying that “we didn’t know, we didn’t know, as well as this is unfair,” as well as I said, that is the lesson: you needed to dream a bigger dream on behalf of yourself. That is the lesson. Hold the highest vision possible on behalf of your life as well as it can come true.        http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/31/you-become-what-you-believe-inspiring-speech-by-oprah-winfrey.html Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:50:35 -0500 concertina419u http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/23/life-of-jagadishchandra-bose-great-scientist.html The Parents Jagadishchandra Bose was born on the 30th of November 1858 in Faridpur in Dacca District. Faridpur was a part of India until 1947; now it is in Bangla Desh. His mother Abala Bose was a tenderhearted as well as affectionate woman. His father Bhagawanchandra Bose was a man of brilliant qualities. Early Education As long back as a hundred year ago, Bhagawanchandra Bose started schools in which children were taught in Bengali. Jagadishchandra also received his early education in this school. Jagadish mixed with the poor boys freely as well as played with them; so he gained first hand knowledge of the sufferings of poor people. There was another interesting person in his early life. This was a servant who used to take Jagadishchandra to school every day. He had been a dacoit in the past. Bhagawanchandra Bose as a judge had sent him to prison. After some time the dacoit came out of prison. But how was he to live? Bhagawanchandra Bose was a very good-natured man. So he employed him as a servant. The dacoit used to tell little Jagadishchandra. events of his past life the robberies he had committed as well as his cruel deeds. His adventures made a lasting impression on the boy. Young Bose was all curiosity. He wanted to know about everything that happened around him. What is, a glow-warm? Is it fire or spark? Why does the wind blow? Why does the water flow? He was at all times ready with a string of questions. His father would answer as numerous questions as he could. But he never tried to impress upon his son that he knew everything. If he could not answer a question, he would frankly tell his son so. Thus Jagadish chandra’s parents took great interest not only in his studies but also in everything that shaped his character. In Calcutta Jagadishchandra began a new chapter in his life at the age of nine. He had to leave his hometown. He went to the big city of Calcutta on behalf of further education. He was admitted to Saint Xavier School there. While he was studying at Saint Xavier’s, Jagadishchandra was staying in a boarding house. He had no friends as well as was lonely here. But he was a born scientist. Even as a boy he had numerous hobbles which showed his scientific interest. He used to breed frogs as well as fishes in a pond nearby. He would pull out a germinating plant as well as observe its root system. He had also a number of pets like rabbits, squirrels as well as non-poisonous snakes. Even in Calcutta he continued these hobbies to get over his solitude. He grew flower-bearing plants as well as had animals as well as birds as pets. He did well in his studies as well as was in the forefront. The teachers liked him on behalf of his intelligence. Jagadishchandra passed the School Final Examination in the First Class. He joined the B.A. class in the college. In those days, science subjects formed a part of this course. He was an estimated all interested in Biology (the science of life). But Father Lafont, a famous Professor of Physics, inspired in Bose a great interest in the science of Physics as well as Bose became his favourite student. Even so, Bose was at all times interested in any branch of science. Botany, the science of plants, still attracted him much. In London By nineteen, Jagadishchandra was a Bachelor of Arts. He wanted to go to England on behalf of higher studies. Finally, his good mother permitted him to go. She had saved some money. She also wanted to sell her jewels to meet the expenses of her son’s voyage. Bhagawan chandra Bose prevented her as well as he managed to find the money on his own. At last Jagadish was on his way to England. The year was 1880. Twenty- two-year-old Jagadishchandra Bose stepped into the ship; he was stepping into a new phase of life which laid the foundations of a brilliant future. In London he first studied medicine. But he repeatedly dropped ill. So he had to discontinue the course. He then studied Natural Science in Christ Church College, Cambridge. It was necessary to learn Latin in order to study Natural Science; Jagadish had already learnt it. He passed the Tripos Examination with distinction. In addition to the Cambridge Tripos Examination, he passed the Bachelor of Science Examination of London University also. The Young Scientist  His Own Smith, Too Jagadishchandra Bose was back in India. He joined the personnel of the Presidency College, Calcutta. There was a peculiar practice in that college. The Indian teachers in the college were paid one third of what the British teachers were paid! So Jagadishchandra Bose refused his salary but worked on behalf of three years. This did not continue on behalf of long. His deep knowledge zest on behalf of work as well as cultured behavior won over those in charge of the college. They saw to it that he was given the full salary of the post as well as not one-third. Teaching the same lessons year in as well as year out was very tedious to Bose. His was an alert mind, at all times on the look out on behalf of new ideas. He wanted to do research, to widen his knowledge as well as discover new things. A laboratory is necessary on behalf of research. Many scientific instruments are required. Jagadishchandra Bose had no laboratory as well as he did not have the instruments. But he was not disheartened. For eight or ten years he spent as little out of his salary as possible, lived a very strict life, saved money as well as bought a laboratory! Generally Marconi’s name is associated with the invention of wireless. (This made possible the utilize of the radio.) Jagadish chandra Bose had also conducted independent research in the same field. Marconi was able to announce the result of his work as well as show how wireless telegraphy worked, earlier than Jagadishchandra Bose. So he is referred to as ‘the father of the radio’. In the year 1896 Bose wrote a research article on electro-magnetic waves. This impressed the Royal Society of England (which is famous all over the world). He was honoured with the Degree of Doctor of Science. Bose became famous in the world of science. In India as well as in other countries there was a strong belief that only Westerners could accomplish anything worthwhile in science. Bose proved this wrong concept. He showed that there were geniuses elsewhere too. He visited England again, this time to explain his discoveries to the scientists of the West. Bose needed scientific equipment. But the instruments he needed were not available. But this did not hamper his work. Early in his life he had learnt to manufacture his equipment with his posses hands. The scientific instruments he took to England were those he himself had made. Fame After he lectured at the Royal Society, scientific associations in numerous other countries invited Jagadishchandra Bose. He visited France, Germany, America as well as Japan moreover England. He lectured at several places as well as explained his discoveries. When electricity passes through a man, animal or plant, we say there's a ’shock’. When it is passed through a living being the being gets excited, ‘irritated’. Bose developed an instrument that would show such a reaction of the organism on a graph. When electricity was passed through zinc, a non-living substance, a similar graph was obtained. So he came to the conclusion that living as well as non-living things were very similar in certain reactions. In Paris he gave a lecture on this similarity between the living as well as the non-living world. Have you heard of ‘radar`? This is a very wonderful scientific device. Sailors on the sea utilize it; it is also used to get information about aeroplanes coming towards a place. So you see how useful it is during a war. If the aeroplanes of the enemy endeavour to attack a city, the radar shows their movement. J.C. Bose worked out some particulars of very great importance; these are being used in the working of the radar. When Jagadish chandra Bose again visited England, Cambridge University honoured him as a Professor. Generally, when a man invents something new he declares that nobody can manufacture utilize of it without his permission. If anybody desires to, manufacture utilize of it, he shall have to pay him money, Why? Because the inventor has worked hard as well as he has used his time as well as brains on behalf of his invention. It is not right to manufacture utilize of his work without paying him. An inventor can manufacture lakhs of rupees by just one or two inventions. Bose had invented numerous instruments. They have since been used by numerous industries. When he was offered money on behalf of these he did not take it. He was very generous as well as noble; he felt that knowledge was not any one’s personal property. He permitted any one the utilize of the fruits of his work.  When an outside stimulus is applied to the muscles of a man or a non-living thing (says a mineral), they respond to it. Bose wondered whether this could happen in a plant also. To test this he took a leaf, a carrot as well as a turnip from the garden. He applied the stimulus, i.e., as well as electricity. It was confirmed that plants also respond in a similar way. Jagadishchandra Bose explained this at a meeting of the Royal Society. Challenges When anything new is discovered, there shall at all times be people who question it. The results of Bose’s work, too, were not accepted by all. There were people who challenged them as well as even said that there was not much truth in them. Bose gave a lecture at the Linnean Society next year to a gathering of scientists. He explained with suitable experiments how plants respond to stimuli. Even those who had challenged him could not find fault with his experiments or conclusions. There is an interesting story about a demonstration that Bose gave in England. On that day he wanted to show some new things that he had found out. He had come to the conclusion that plants can feel pain like animals; that when we pinch them they suffer; as well as that they die in a few minutes at the end of they are poisoned. Bose wanted to show experiments to prove these conclusions. A number of scientists as well as other leading men as well as women had gathered to hear him. Bose started the experiments by injecting poison into a plant. The plant should have shown signs of death in a few minutes. On the contrary, nothing happened. The learned audience started laughing. Even at this adverse moment Bose showed admirable calmness. He thought quickly. The poison that he injected into the plant did not kill it. So, he supposed that it would not hurt him also. With full confidence he got ready to inject the poison into himself. At that instant a man got up as well as confessed that instead of poison he had put similar colored water. Now, Bose conducted the experiment again with real poison, whereupon the plant withered as well as died as expected. Jagadishchandra Bose continued his work as well as made new discoveries. He found that plants shrink a little during the night. He found out why plants at all times grow towards light even if they have to bend. He also found out the reason why some plants grow straight as well as some do not. He explained that this was due to the ‘pulsation’ in plants. This pulsation quickens by heat as well as slows down by cold in plants. Jagadishchandra Bose did remarkable work, - as well as scientists outside India had honoured him. Yet there were people who opposed him. As a result even the Royal Society delayed publishing his valuable work in its publications, But nothing could manufacture him give up his work. He was sure that years of research had led him to the truth. So he did not feel that it was very necessary to depend on scientific journals only. He wrote books as well as published them on his own. The Questioning Boy - The Great Scientist Nature had at all times been a source of attraction right from his early age to Bose. There are flowers on plants; flowers give fruits; the leaves drop off; seeds germinate into new plants - we see all these around us. But Bose was interested in these happenings, which to numerous people seem quite ordinary. He requested others questions; he requested himself, too: ‘How do these things happen?’ Not at all times could he satisfy his curiosity. But it was his way to endeavour to find answers to any questions arising in his mind. Scientist And Man Of Letters Jagadishchandra Bose was famous as a scientist. He took laurels to his motherland. But his interests were many-sided. He was especially interested in literature as well as fine arts. The great poet Rabindranath Tagore as well as Jagadish chandra Bose were very good friends. The first time Tagore visited Bose, he was not at home. Tagore left a bunch of champak flowers. This was the beginning of their friendship. Tagore invited Bose to stay with him on behalf of some time. Bose came to an agreement to do so on one condition. The condition was that Tagore should narrate a story to him every day. This is how a number of Tagore’s stories  came to be written. Have you read the story ‘The Cabuliwallah’? It is very fine story; it narrates how a deep as well as strange friendship grew up between a rough pathan as well as a tine Bengali girl. This has been translated into several languages as well as is well known in a number of countries. Tagore wrote this story when Bose was staying with him. Jagadishchandra Bose died in November 1937. To the very end he was busy with research. Wealth as well as power never attracted Jagadishchandra Bose. He toiled on behalf of science like a saint, selflessly. This great scientist is a great example to all. http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/greatscientists/jcbose/index.htm        http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/23/life-of-jagadishchandra-bose-great-scientist.html Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:15:20 -0500 concertina419u http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/16/inspiring-interview-with-larry-page-founder-of-google.html Larry Page, what is responsible on behalf of your early progress in life? How did you get to where you are so quickly? Larry Page: I think I was really lucky to have the environment I did when I was growing up. My dad was a professor, he happened to be a professor of computer science, as well as we had computers lying around the house from a really early age. I think I was the first kid in my elementary school to turn in a word-processed document. I just enjoyed using the stuff. It was sort of lying around, as well as I got to play with it. I had an older brother who was interested in it as well. So I think I had kind of a unique environment, that an estimated all people didn’t have, because of the fact that my dad was willing to spend all his available income on buying a computer or whatever. It was like 1978, when I was six. I don’t think there’s numerous people my age who’ve had that experience, or anyone in general. From a very early age, I also realized I wanted to invent things. So I became really interested in technology as well as also then, soon after, in business, because of the fact that I figured that inventing things wasn’t any good; you really had to get them out into the world as well as have people utilize them to have any effect. So probably from when I was 12, I knew I was going to start a company eventually How do you think you knew at such an early age that you wanted to be an inventor? Larry Page: I just sort of kept having ideas. We had a lot of magazines lying around our house. It was kind of messy. So you kind of read stuff all of the time, as well as I would read Popular Science as well as things like that. I just got interested in stuff, I guess, technology as well as how devices work. My brother taught me how to take things apart, as well as I took apart everything in the house. So I just became interested in it, on behalf of whatever reason, as well as so I had lots of ideas about what things could be built as well as how to build them as well as all these kinds of things. I built like an electric go-cart at a pretty early age. It’s as if computers were the toys of your childhood. Larry Page: Yeah, basically, as well as electronics too. You mentioned reading magazines like Popular Mechanics. What else did you read that might have influenced or inspired you in some way? Larry Page: I read all of the computer magazines as well as things like that, as well as I was sort of interested in how these things really work — anything having to do with the mechanics behind things, either the mechanics or the electronics. I wanted to be able to build things. Actually, in college I built an inkjet printer out of Legos, because of the fact that I wanted to be able to print really big images. I figured you could print really big posters really cheaply using inkjet cartridges. So I reverse-engineered the cartridge, as well as I built all of the electronics as well as mechanics to drive it. Just sort of fun projects. I like to be able to do those kinds of things. You certainly have an aptitude on behalf of it. Is this because of the fact that of your early education or your parents? How do you explain that? Larry Page: Actually, my brother was nine years older than me, as well as he went to Michigan as well. He took residence some of his labs on behalf of electronics as well as things like that, as well as sort of gave them to me. I learned how to do the stuff. I think there were a lot of lucky things like that. You seem to have had no fear of any of this. Where does this self-confidence come from? Larry Page: I think that’s true of kids today as well. If you have access to these things at a really young age, you just become used to it all, as well as it is natural to you. Kids certainly don’t have fear of using computers now. It’s the same kind of thing. If you grow up in environments where you have ICs (integrated circuits) lying around, you don’t have fear of that either. And here you are now, a CEO at what age? Larry Page: I’m 27. Why is it that you perceived the require on behalf of Google before anyone else did? Larry Page: Well, it’s actually a great argument on behalf of pure research because… So anyway… Search engines didn’t really understand the notion of which pages were more important. If you typed “Stanford,” you got random pages that mentioned Stanford. This obviously wasn’t going to work. Larry, you’re a CEO at 27. What challenges or frustrations have you experienced at reaching this station at such a young age? Larry Page: I think the age is a real issue. It’s certainly a handicap in the sense of being able to manage people as well as to hire people as well as all these kinds of things, maybe more so than it should be. Certainly, I think, the things that I’m missing are more things that you acquire with time. If you manage people on behalf of 20 years, or something like that, you pick up things. So I certainly lack experience there, as well as that’s an issue. But I sort of manufacture up on behalf of that, I think, in terms of understanding where things are going to go, having a vision about the future, as well as really understanding the industry I am in, as well as what the company does, as well as also sort of the unique position of starting a company as well as working on it on behalf of three years before starting the company. Then working on it pretty hard, whatever, 24 hours a day. So I understand a lot of the aspects pretty well. I guess that compensates a little bit on behalf of lack of skills in other areas. It appears that it’s people of your generation who have really introduced the so-called “24/7 mentality.” Are you aware of that? Do you think that accounts on behalf of your success?   Larry Page: I think it definitely helps to be really focused on what you are doing. You can only work so numerous hours, as well as I endeavour to have some balance in my life as well as so on. I think a lot of people go through this in school. They work really hard. You can do that on behalf of part of your life, but you can’t do that indefinitely. At some point, you desire to have a family. You desire to have more time to do other things. I would say that it is an advantage being young. You don’t have as numerous other responsibilities. What else are you doing these days? Larry Page: I think I am really lucky. Being in the Bay Area, a lot of my friends have started companies that have been quite successful at different stages. So I go up to San Francisco as well as I hang out with my friends, as well as we discuss their companies as well as all sorts of different things. It is fun, but it is also work in some sense. I think within Silicon Valley there's really a mix of recreation as well as work a lot of times. Where do you go from here? What do you see yourself doing in ten or 20 years? Larry Page: Artificial intelligence would be the ultimate version of Google. So we have the ultimate search engine that would understand everything on the Web. It would understand exactly what you wanted, as well as it would give you the right thing. That’s obviously artificial intelligence, to be able to answer any question, basically, because of the fact that an estimated everything is on the Web, right? We’re nowhere near doing that now. However, we can get incrementally closer to that, as well as that is basically what we work on. And that’s tremendously interesting from an intellectual standpoint. We have all this data. If you printed out the index, it would be 70 miles high now. We have all this computation. We have about 6,000 computers. So we have a lot of resources available. We have sufficient space to store like 100 copies of the whole Web. So you have a really interesting sort of confluence of a lot of different things: a lot of computation, a lot of data that didn’t used to be available. From an engineering as well as scientific standpoint, building things to manufacture utilize of this is a really interesting intellectual exercise. So I anticipate to be doing that on behalf of a while. On the other hand, I do have a lot of other interests as well. I am really interested in transportation as well as sustainable energy. For fun, I invent things on the side, but I don’t really have time to follow up on them. What do they think of people like you at Stanford as well as Michigan? You are extraordinary people they’re sending out into the world.   Larry Page: Well, thank you. It was kind of strange on behalf of me. I went back to Michigan as well as there was all this faculty who wanted to meet with me. It was just very strange, going from a student to that. At Google, especially, we are really lucky. Everybody is our product! Or it’s starting to be everybody. No matter who you talk to, they’re like, “Oh, Google today was great. I found exactly what I needed.” Somehow we’ve done a really good job. People are really happy with our company, as well as we have provided pretty good service. So that sort of transfers onto how people interact with me as well, which is really nice. It used to be that a Ph.D. candidate hoped to have his or her dissertation published in some obscure academic journal. Your dissertation started a company as well as launched you on a career. Larry Page: There are a lot of students at Stanford who have started companies based on their research work. I think Stanford does a pretty good job with that. There is obviously a lot of infrastructure, but also there's an acceptance of it, which I think is good. Is there an expectation? Larry Page: There is sort of a joke that faculty members have to start a company before they get tenure. I don’t think that’s quite true. The faculty are very focused on what is going on in the world, which I think is a good thing. The danger is if you’re not doing research because of the fact that you are pushed into things that are just practical. Larry Page, what do you see as the responsibilities that go in conjunction with success as well as the accumulation of wealth that we are seeing in Silicon Valley today? Larry Page: I think there's tremendous responsibility. If I was not in this situation, my biggest concern would be the concentration of wealth as well as power in a very small number of people. On the other hand, it is lovely to be rewarded on behalf of what you do. There are a lot of things I would like to do in the world that having a lot of resources would really help with. What do you desire to do? Larry Page: I have been really interested in applying technology to transportation. I don’t think that has really been done. Making cars better. There are a lot of interesting systems people have designed that basically are small monorails that jog along sidewalks, as well as that route you exactly where you desire to go. Some of these things are actually quite practical. As a side interest, I have kind of followed this stuff. When I was in Michigan, I tried to get them to build a monorail between central as well as north campus, because of the fact that it is only a two-mile trip, as well as they have 40 full-sized diesel buses that jog back as well as forth. Two miles! So that’s a prime candidate on behalf of new transportation. Is there any reason on behalf of you to go back to Stanford as well as complete your degree? You have taken leave of absence from Stanford to be a CEO. Why bother to go back at all? Larry Page: Well, I think Stanford is a really great place. There’s really, really smart people around, as well as it’s really a fun place to be. Some people from other startups have gone back when things sort of calmed down. So it does happen. There are things I desire to work on that are very speculative, as well as Stanford is a great place to do things like that. I didn’t start out building a search engine. I just said, “Oh, the links on the Web are probably interesting. Why don’t we endeavour doing something with that?” I was pretty lucky that it was a useful thing to do. If you’re doing something you’re not sure is going to work at all, a company probably isn’t the right place to be doing it. Having incredibly bright people around to work with is a really lovely thing. I could see going back on behalf of that purpose.   http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/pag0int-1        http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/16/inspiring-interview-with-larry-page-founder-of-google.html Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:04:51 -0500 concertina419u http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/10/success-story-of-indias-first-visually-impaired-chartered-accountant.html Rajni Gopal is India’s first visually impaired woman to become a Chartered Accountant. Currently working with India’s leading software companies, it has taken Rajani immense grit, perseverance as well as patience to reach where she stands. Rajani Gopal has come a long way at the end of losing her eye sight. She treads on paths that manufacture even sighted people think twice before taking up. Behind this chartered accountant, Veena player as well as social worker, lies a determined woman who has defied all logic when it comes to success. Let’s talk to Rajani Gopal as well as find out more about her. You work with a reputed IT company. Tell us about your job profile. I work in the Finance Department. My profile is to work on Indian & U.S.A. Generally Accepted Accounting Practices. Where were you working before your current assignment? How did you get this break? I was working on behalf of Indian Group of Hotels as Community co-ordinator. I had sent my bio-data to the placement cell of I.C.A.I. as well as that is how I got this break. How have you changed to your work environment as well as how have your colleagues responded. It has been comfortable to adjust to work environment as I am quite versatile on computers. Moreover my work to a large extent is on those applications that extensively support screen reading software. My colleagues respond very sensibly. There is no discrimination of any sort. Now they know when I require assistance as well as come forward to give the same. The work atmosphere is very comfortable as well as friendly. Becoming a C.A. is a tough task even on behalf of sighted people. As a blind person what motivated you to take up this subject as well as how did you manage? That is what numerous told me when I thought of taking up C.A. as a career. But let me tell you, determination as well as commitment can help you accomplish those milestones which seem difficult otherwise. I lost vision in my right eye by the time I completed my graduation. I faced few interviews where my candidature was not considered because of the fact that of my vision problem. I realised that I should have a better education to get a decent as well as dignified job. At this juncture I came to know about Chartered Accountancy. By this time I had learnt to pursue my studies on my own. I thought if I can pursue B.Com on my posses then why not C.A.? Of course, pursuing the course was not easy. It would be difficult on behalf of me to read on behalf of long time. I had to read keeping the book adjacent to my eyes. Commuting was also quite difficult. For a moment my spirits would be shattered. But I would realise that this is not the way to tackle a problem. I shall have to find out ways as well as means of solving this. I would read on behalf of sometime as well as then close my eyes as well as endeavour to recollect whatever I would have studied. This way I was not wasting my time as well as was also giving rest to my eyes, which I needed the most. As far as commuting was concerned, I would prefer to walk short distances, as catching the public transport was difficult. For long distances, invariably I would take the public transport. It was quite risky but I had to take the calculated risk. After I lost vision in my left eye too, I had to look on behalf of means to continue my studies as well as clear my examinations. But the important hurdle was to take that I am visually challenged. This did take some time as I would relate myself with my friends who either had a good job or were happily married. I realised that I should come out of this trauma. Sahaja Yoga meditation came to my rescue. The meditation gave the overall balance which I needed the most. I realised that I should take the situation as well as go ahead, instead of brooding. I came to know about the screen reading software as well as learnt how to utilize computers. My urge to pursue the course was rekindled. I got all of the materials converted to soft copy as well as started studying. For few subjects I took the assistance of volunteers. I also had to learn how to communicate with the scribe, as I was availing scribe facility on behalf of the first time. What are the special assistive tools you utilize on behalf of help at work? Especially when tackling numbers. As I have already mentioned, I extensively utilize computers with screen reading software. My assignment does not include going through any written documents. By using Excel as well as other M.S. Office applications, I am able to manage my job quite comfortably. How did you develop your eye problem? I was prescribed penicillin tablets on behalf of common cold. This was given without test dosage as well as resulted in an allergic reaction which in medical terminology is known as “Steven Johnson Syndrome”. My vision started deteriorating gradually. This was coupled with growth of eye lashes inside the eyes which would constantly itch. I had to visit the doctor an estimated twice a week to get the lashes plucked. But the damage to the cornea was done as well as doctors were helpless. Tell us a bit about your school as well as college days. Early school days were as any other normal child. After the allergy, things changed. Because of redness in the eyes, quite a few classmates would avoid me. I had to hear to lot of sympathies from relatives as well as friends. It would be very difficult to listen. I would endeavour to be all alone by myself. I developed the habit of reading to overcome my loneliness. Initially I would cry as well as weep. As I grew up I didn’t feel like doing that, on behalf of I knew that my parents would be disturbed. I learnt to retain all my emotions to myself. I had very few friends. At my college things were little different. I was matured sufficient to handle the situation. I did have friends who were sensible enough. In fact in the ultimate year of my graduation, my friends would write the notes on behalf of me, get the books from library, on behalf of I couldn’t attend the college due to surgery on my right eye. What kind of support did you get from family as well as friends? There was complete support from my immediate family members. Neither my parents nor my brothers made me to feel at any point of time that I had vision problem. My parents would encourage me in all my ventures as they would encourage my brothers. Even at the end of I lost my vision completely, they would behave as if nothing had happened as well as gave me all of the emotional support. Though I had very few friends, they were quite sensible as well as helped me whenever I needed them most. Moreover they would boost my confidence as well as behave as they would with other “normal” friends. What are your interests as well as hobbies? As already mentioned, I practice meditation-Sahaja Yoga. I enjoy cooking. I play chess. I have learnt to play Veena. I listen to lot of music. I volunteer my services to physically, visually as well as economically challenged students by providing assistance in their studies. Tell us any interesting experience you’d like to share. There have been quite a lot of experiences which have moulded my personality. As my vision deteriorated gradually, I could see the helplessness of doctors as well as my parents. At such heart breaking moments, each mile stone in my education would motivate me to go further. But if you desire to know of any particular incident that changes the course of my life, I feel this is it. Around the time when I lost vision in both my eyes, my father was diagnosed with Leukaemia. It was the prime age of my life as well as with all confusion I was totally lost as well as mentally upset. One evening when I just couldn‘t control my emotions, my brother recommended me meditation. He informed that I should do it with open mind as well as take as hypothesis. I could see within a week that my overall personality was in complete balance as well as I obtained the necessary confidence as well as inner strength which I needed the an estimated all as well as which any amount of external counselling wouldn’t have done. Now I feel, everything that happened was with some purpose as well as has helped me become a better person transfer ahead in life with greater strength as well as confidence http://www.eyeway.org/inspire/int-rajni.htm        http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/10/success-story-of-indias-first-visually-impaired-chartered-accountant.html Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:04:40 -0500 concertina419u http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/06/indra-nooyis-mantra-for-success.html Indra Nooyi’s career at Pepsico began in 1994 as senior vice-president of Corporate Strategy as well as Development as well as she has been credited with shaping Pepsico’s current focus on the convenient foods as well as beverages business, influencing the company’s $ 3.3 billion acquisition of Tropicana, the juice company, in 1998, among other achievements. From her roots in Chennai, where she grew up, Indra Nooyi hitched her career aspirations to a star as well as has emerged as one of the an estimated all recognised icons of corporate success to originate from India, being cited among rankings of global corporate achievers on behalf of the past few years. At the banquet hosted by the Indian organisation, Indra Nooyi was invited to impart her formula on behalf of success, where she elucidated five principals that she has adhered to. Sounding neither pompous nor platitudinous, she expounded her ‘panch sheel’ before a rapt as well as admiring audience, illustrating her counsel with recollections from her life, often mixed with wit as well as humour, at times self-deprecating, yet delivered with aplomb. She began her discourse with the exhortation that “there are no limits to what you can do”, but cautioned the audience not to let others define the concept of success on behalf of them, adding, “not even me.” In Indra Nooyi’s regard, success “ isn’t money, prestige, or power because of the fact that net worth can never define self worth. True success is being happy with yourself, is being fulfilled. And that comes from devoting your time, your life, to doing what you love the most”. The core of the concept of success lies in knowing “what you desire to do in life” as well as those who have triumphed at “figuring out” that issue should consider themselves “tremendously blessed”, she explained. Such advice does not seem simplistic, coming from a business leader with verve, like Indra Nooyi, who reportedly balances as well as blends her corporate role with her other talents that include playing the guitar as well as singing, skills that she presumably developed as part of an all-girl rock band while attending college in India. Indra Nooyi graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Physics as well as Chemistry from Madras Christian College in 1976, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, in 1978, as well as a master’s degree from Yale University in Public as well as Private Management in 1980. Her corporate experiences include positions at Motorola that began in 1986 as well as led to her becoming vice-president of Corporate Strategy as well as Planning in that company between 1988-90 as well as at Asea Brown Boveri, as senior vice-pPresident as well as director of Corporate Strategy as well as Strategic Marketing between 1990-94. In elucidating the attributes of success, Indra Nooyi commenced with the advice, “Aim high as well as put your heart into it,” recalling that while growing up with her sister, her mother who is one of her “greatest role models”, would have them deliver a post prandial speech every night, on what they wanted to be, “whether it was the president of India, prime minister … or chief minister of a state,” following which, she would cast her vote on behalf of the winner, the reward being a small piece of chocolate. On hindsight, Indra Nooyi trusted it was formative in instilling confidence as well as ambition in them. “What’s important is trying to be the best as well as working to get there. And that’s how you fulfil your potential,” she averred. The next rule of success, according to Indra Nooyi, is to “never stop learning” regardless of one’s age, as well as such learning should not be restricted to academic knowledge, but be supplemented with “street smarts” as well as being aware of matters as well as issues in the real world. “Keep that natural curiosity,” she advised, as she described her practice, in her present job, of going on “market tours as well as walking the grocery stores, on behalf of at least half-a-day, a week,” to understand the competition. Another corollary to success, is to “keep an open mind,” said Indra Nooyi, in addressing the Indian-American community. “It’s a multi cultural world out there as well as all of us have to interact with people who are different…Success comes with reaching out as well as integrating with the community…and giving back to the communities as well as neighbourhoods, more than what you took out of them,” she implored. An important attribute of success is to “be yourself,” according to the Pepsico president. In illustrating the rule, she humourously recounted a learning experience when she was a graduate student at Yale University, seeking her first summer job, because of the fact that she had “no money to reside on.” She purchased a $ 50 business suit from the local budget store as well as attended a job interview looking like “the ultimate country bumpkin” in her ill-fitting clothes as well as shod in garish orange snow boots, that her appearance elicited “a collective gasp(of horror) from people there.” When she tearfully consulted her Career Development Counselor about her sartorial snafu, the latter informed her to wear a sari on behalf of her next interview, assuring Indra Nooyi that, “if they can’t take you in a sari, it’s their loss, not yours.” She recalled that she not only wore a sari on behalf of her next interview with a very prestigious management consulting firm as well as clinched the job, but continued to wear them to work all summer as well as “did just fine”. She insists, “Never conceal what makes you.” The central pillar of success rests on three important factors, which Indra Nooyi cites as, “family, friends as well as faith”. Prosperity as well as comforts notwithstanding, “when things look bleak as well as uncertain, it’s your family, friends as well as faith that pull you through….And when I’m wrestling with modification in my life, good or bad, the first place I turn to, is my religion. I tell you, it really helps,” she averred. Invoking the image of the “kalpa taru”, or the wish-fulfilling tree in Hindu mythology, Indra Nooyi expressed the opinion that the Indian-American community is already living that dream as well as that “now it’s up to us to manufacture the best of what we’ve been given.” Pepsico’s president summed up success with simple ideals, perspicacity as well as conviction. http://archives.chennaionline.com/Columns/BigAppleBite/article08.asp Inspiring Video about Indira Nooyi’s Life Click the following link to view a five minute video about Inspiriing Life of Indira Nooyi.     http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=S6kys5-5VAY        http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/06/indra-nooyis-mantra-for-success.html Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:01:35 -0500 concertina419u http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/01/success-story-of-shooting-star-abhinav-bindra.html Some toil on behalf of a place under the sun as well as some are born great. In his case the crown was thrust upon him, on behalf of he never aspired on behalf of one in the first place. “I hated sports,” confesses Abhinav Bindra, who lifted a gun, shot as well as became an Olympic champion – the first in the country’s history. Yet, Bindra did not even exult when the moment arrived. For him, it seemed a ritual. But it was an unprecedented happening in a country where champions are a rare product; virtually non-existent when it comes to Olympic glory. India’s cricket icon Rahul Dravid lavishly acknowledged Bindra’s cool demeanour. “Phenomenal,” Dravid gushed even as Bindra blushed! Shooting was not Bindra’s first choice. He tried golf as well as then tennis. Having failed at both, he pursued shooting, as well as progressed at a rapid pace to reach the pinnacle of every sportsman’s dream. He has carried the sport of shooting from the realm of the rich to the masses. He has given sporting hope as well as dignity a new meaning by ‘shooting’ his way to stardom as well as greatness at mere 26. Hated sports Any fond memories of childhood? “The first 11 years of my life I just hated sports. I never watched as well as never played sports in schools. My parents at all times encouraged me to play sports though.” At the boarding school, Bindra received a letter from his affluent father every second day. “Never mind if you don’t study but play sports,” was one sentence that was common. Shooting now is a “way of life” on behalf of the suave Bindra. He agrees, “For the common man, it is a sport hard to understand.” Even the world body is struggling to manufacture it spectator friendly but the finals, it must be admitted, are at all times exciting because of the fact that of the intense competition. Bindra smiles when you request him if sport is only about winning? “You can’t win all of the time. For me personally what is important is how I perform. The pressure is maximum but I test myself as well as see how far I can stretch myself. One has to retain challenging oneself. There is at all times room on behalf of bettering yourself as well as your performances. Your goal has to be result-oriented as well as that’s why winning a medal is very important.” What separates a champion from the rest? “I think it is the ability to retain testing yourself as well as hang in there a bit more.” That is what separates. It depends on the individual’s ability to endeavour harder as well as to “survive those critical moments to face the pressure.” The nervousness, Bindra stresses, is not a comforting feeling as well as everyone wants to eliminate that feeling as early as possible. “I prepare very hard mentally as well as physically.” For Bindra, an Olympic gold was at all times a dream. “We would come close as well as miss. The expectations were different.” True, there was a certain mystique attached to an Olympic gold medal in India. But he altered it. “When I started any colour mattered. Now it’s happened as well as with that I think the outlook has also changed. Now everyone wants a gold medal. It is not elusive anymore.” High expectations Expectations in India have at all times remained high. Bindra notes, “A sportsman has his posses expectations. The external expectations don’t matter to a sportsman. He knows what to anticipate from himself. To me, values as well as perspective manufacture a huge impact. Winning to me is not important but I hate losing.” A toast of the nation, Bindra is very “proud” to be an Indian. “We are an emerging super power as well as a peace-loving community. Everybody likes us, our values, as well as our development in all spheres of life.” Bindra loves the company of sportspersons. “They give me a lot of joy. I trust Indian sportspersons are an extremely talented group. They have extremely good work ethics.” But what concerns him is the lack of proper planning. “To compete against the best in the world we require to have a clear plan in place, a clear objective, clear goal. Other nations are developing at a fast pace as well as are far in advance of us in every aspect.” Having travelled far as well as wide, Bindra has a few suggestions to offer to improve the state of sports in India. “Infrastructure is the key. Commonwealth Games is a fine opportunity to build a sports culture in the country as well as generate interest in sports outside cricket but I don’t necessarily trust in hosting these major events. I would rather spend the money as well as build infrastructure in smaller places all across India. More as well as more people should have access to facilities,” concludes Bindra, an epitome of humility. VIJAY LOKAPALLY   http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/12/06/stories/2008120651841300.htm        http://concertina419u.cabbycentral.com/2009/01/01/success-story-of-shooting-star-abhinav-bindra.html Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:13:51 -0500 concertina419u