Happiness is smile shaped

There is a series of articles on BBC about happiness. Research into happiness suggests that our levels of happiness changes throughout our lives. That sounds pretty obvious. But what is interesting is that most people are unhappiest in there 30’s and 40’s which is the age that I am at. We all start out happy when we are kids, dip to the lowest point in our 30’s and 40’s and then rise back to our childhood levels when we are grandparents.

Personally I can say that I am not as happy as I was when I was Mohan’s age. But then again we tend to only remember the good times and forget the bad times. Its discouraging that i still have more then a decade to cross my forties and get into the upswing of my happiness curve. But I am looking forward to it. My dad and mom seem more happy now then when they were in there forties. I am sure it had a lot to do with me and my sister hitting adolescence at that same time.

Another article suggest that there is a formula for happiness

Pleasure + engagement + meaning = happiness.

Apparently most people get pleasure from loving their work, engagement from their family and friends and meaning from religion or spirituality. When all these ingredients are added in the right amounts, it produces happiness. If we have too much of any one thing, its might lead to sadness. Notice that there is not money in the equation

There is research that suggests that marriage makes you happy and kids don’t. Well they say that kids are neutral in that they give you as much happiness as they make you worry about them. Although I must say that those fleeting moments of happiness are worth the trouble mostly. Then again my kids are only 5 and 1. Lets see how the equation is once they grow up. But the marriage part is surprising, considering all my married friends always complain about how miserable it is to be married. Single life was bliss.. But then again we tend to only remember the good parts right

Socrates’ Fundamental Principles

These are the basic principles of socrates philosophy. I think they are simple yet complete. They embody the spirt of what is good in all mordern religions. Impressive.

• We must always act on the basis of good reasons and good reasoning,
  not out of fear, mere self-interest, etc.
  • We value the opinions of those who know, not the many (hoi
    polloi).
  • The principles on which we rely must stand the tests of time
    and change of circumstances, and the conclusions we draw from them
    must be ones to which we can be constantly faithful.
• It is not enough to live; we must live well, i.e. nobly and justly.
• We must never do wrong willingly, even in requital.
• We must always keep our agreements, provided they are just.

Good Quote about parents

Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them-a mother’s approval, a father’s nod-are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.

-Mitch Albom in “The five people you meet in heaven”

Gandhi`s Satyagraha on 9/11

My uncle wrote this as letter to editor to Time of India on 9/11 and it was published. We need more voices like this in the world to get heard. This is the real “War on Terror”.

CAN MEMOIRS OF ‘MAHATMA`s SATYAGRAHA’ HELP PUT AN END TO TERRORISM?

Sir,

Keeping in view the widespread awareness of our Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi`s Satyagraha on 9/11, it occurs to me that October 2nd, his birthday should be observed as an “AHIMASA DAY”, THE WORLD NON-VIOLENCE DAY.

Let all of us adopt Mahatma Gandhi as our Hero and let the world as a whole and India in particular, his birth place, should observe October 2nd as a “WORLD AHIMSA DAY”.

It took us almost 100 years to get rid of slavery and freedom. It took us 60 years to be self sufficient. How long will it take us to be free of fear of terrorist attacks, war, crimes and all manner of man-made evils ?

It has been proved beyond doubt that any amount of Security or preventive measures only eat away our resources. When they have to strike, they strike in different forms. In all the professions, there is always an element of “PROFESSIONAL RISK”. Whatever prevention you take, if the risk is man-made, it will strike.Then why waste our limited resources on this ?

We, especially the Seniors, can make a great contribution to humanity, at this critical juncture, in deciding whether we are going to live by the force of law or by the law of force. We are united when tragedy strikes us. Why not we be united and challenge those factions who threaten our peace on earth? As peace loving citizens, it is our duty to be vigilant about what is going on in and around us and to be observant to report anything out of ordinary.

Gandhiji`s philosophy of peace and non-violence should be adopted as a way of life by every one.
We have to challenge the various factions of those who attacks on the freedom of the human race, to call a halt to terrorism now and divert our and their energy and treasure in a massive effort to help the human race to solve our other troubles like tsunami, earthquake, AIDS, cancer, etc.

Let us all proclaim that every one on this earth has rights and dignity and matchless value. Every human being bears the image of the maker of this Universe. No one is fit to be a master and no one deserves to be a slave. “War to end War” is not a solution, Non-violence – Satyagraha leads the way as a candle light in a big tunnel of terrorisum.

P.L.Menon
Hyderabad.

rakhee bandhan

IMG_0718.JPG

Originally uploaded by rduv.

My mom substituted for my sister who sent the rakhee from india with them. I wish she was here.

Mohan’s Hip Hop

Mohan’s hip hop video that I uploaded to YT. I also uploaded it the google video but its is still being verifed That is really lame. I dont know why they have to verify every video for a couple of days. They dont say what they are doing as part of the verification either. Lame.

Is “new” India a myth??

This oped piece in NYT claims that the “new” India is a myth created by the western press and the NRI population.

No labor-intensive manufacturing boom of the kind that powered the economic growth of almost every developed and developing country in the world has yet occurred in India. Unlike China, India still imports more than it exports. This means that as 70 million more people enter the work force in the next five years, most of them without the skills required for the new economy, unemployment and inequality could provoke even more social instability than they have already.

I disagree. India has missed the industrial revolution and the benifits from it. I dont think their is any point in competing with the likes of China in manufacturing. This in my opinion is competing to the bottom. Instead we should play to our strengths. I see the arugment often made that only a manufacturing based economy can provide employment to a large portion of the population. I dont think that is true anymore. India can employ a large portion of our people in the IT industry. The article quotes how IT employs only 1.4 million people out of the 400 million work force and hence is not benifitting many people. But its also growing every year at an exponetial rate.

The IT industry claims that their is a shortage of skilled IT works. So I dont think the problem is that IT industry cannot produce enough jobs. I think the real problem is literacy and lack of access to good education to a large section of population. We can invest in that instead of investing in manufacturing. I am sure if you ask any poor, uneducated Indian today, he/she would rather be an IT worker then work in a plant making furniture or toys. IT jobs in general pay much better then manufacturing jobs. So instead of teaching them how to make tables, we should teach them how to use a computer.

Falafels

I made some falafels this 4th of july for my friends who came over to watch the fireworks at creekside park. I got some falafel mix from whole foods and used this recipe from the web for the Tahini Sauce.

Tahini Sauce
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup water (approximately)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Place tahini in mixing bowl and add lemon juice.
2. Slowly stir in the water; you are aiming for a very smooth mixture– it will appear stiff at first but will thin out; add more water if necessary.
3. Stir in garlic, parsley and salt.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour; bring to room temperature and stir before serving falafels.

Cold turkey

Recent research finds that a snap decision to quit smoking cigarettes is actually two to three times more effective than planning ahead for the big day.

In my experience this has been true. Everytime I have tried to stop smoking the most effective times have been when I quit as a snap decision without any planning. (cold turkey). I problem I have is that I quit for a few months and then I go to a party, start drinking which causes me to want to smoke. The pleasure of drinking is enchanced when you smoke. Once I start smoking, it slowly becomes a habbit. I think the trick for me is to not drink alcohol either. Now that is really hard

Read more …

Hyderabad is cheapest metro

Check this out
"Hyderabad was 46% cheaper than Mumbai last year, and according to this year’s survey, it is 43% cheaper"

hyderabad was the cheapest metro in 2003. But with all the real-estate increases, i wonder if this is still true.