Merry Christmas!

On this happy occasion, here's another of my little secrets:

Every day morning when I wake-up, I remember the love, forgiveness, and compassion that Jesus showed even in the most difficult moments of any human being's life; how He transcended beyond the mortal body and the pain associated with it; and how He remained calm and composed even in the worst times. All true signs of divinity by any religious standards and beliefs.

I gratefully cherish the 17+ years of my education in catholic schools in India and US so far and look forward to more.

Merry Christmas!

Two of the gems from our ancient scripts, in this context:

Ekam Evadvitiyam (There is only one God; there is no second) - Ch. Up. (6.2.1)
Indro Mayaabhih puru-roopa iyate (God, on account of Maya is seen in many forms) - Br. Up. (2.5.9)

Manager's Job Satisfaction

A manager's true satisfaction lies in the number of people she
helped succeed and not in the extent of power exercised or
the number of layoffs authorized. Vishnu Pendyala

Always Attend to the Source

Plants grow when the roots are watered, creation blooms when the
creator is catered to, life flourishes when the parents, ancestors
and God are gratefully remembered. Vishnu Pendyala

Happy Gita Jayanti!

Today is being celebrated as "Gita Jayanti" in US temples.
Here's my little secret on this occasion: Every day morning,
I mentally remember the following Gita sloka along with my
own interpretation of the sloka.

यत्र योगेश्वर: कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धर: ।
तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर् धृवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ॥ 18:78 ॥

My own interpretation (modified from the Updanishad version):

If I can bring to unison (yoga), my senses (horses), body (chariot),
and intellect (God, Sri Krishna), controlled and driven by the intellect, be fit and ready to do my duties (like Arjuna), armed with the right tools(bow, in case of Arjuna), victory is mine (I de-emphasize this last phrase, so that I don't get attached to the result and get dejected later, just in case - victory is best left to God's interpretation).

Also, to me, Sri Krishna represents inspiration, motivation and Arjuna represents hard work, sincerity. One is successful only when both are present.

Responsible Employment

There cannot be a bigger loss to the economy than leaving educated,
qualified workers unemployed. Recovery lies in designing ways to
harness their skills. Vishnu Pendyala

Also posted on Tom Campbell's website

Professional

The difference between a professional and an amateur is the fine print that only a professional reads between the lines in the course of his experience. Vishnu Pendyala

Compl*nt

Complement and complaint both start with compl and end with nt. It is the letters in between that convey a sea change. All people are mostly similar and take birth and die the same way. It is the days in between that make all the difference. - Vishnu Pendyala

States of Mind

The state of mind that seeks sensuous pleasures is quite different from
the mind-state that seeks scholarly, austere and spiritual pursuits and
pleasures. The latter state results in longer lasting happiness, is less
strenuous and more soul-satisfying. Unless practiced and realized often,
the body reflexes don't always fall in line, however. Vishnu Pendyala

Preserving the Purity of Soul

The body eventually merges with the five elements that it came from.
The soul too eventually merges with the divine that it came from, but
only if it retains its purity and does not get mixed-up with the body
that it houses. Body is intrinsically impure, so its physical nature
does not change, but pure soul is extremely vulnerable to impurities.

Cultivating Tolerance

Constant feelings of gratitude, belongingness, and love towards
mother nature, God, and everyone in the world dramatically
improves our tolerance for their deeds. Vishnu Pendyala

Food Fair

Many food items like onion and garlic also are proven to have medicinal
properties and are good for the body. The reason religion discourages
them may primarily be because they are presumed to increase
attachment which causes desire, anger, and such. But in my
experience, the impact of food is far less than the impact of
some external happenings like extreme trauma.

Non-vegetarian food like fish is also very good for the body. But the
other reason religion discourages them may be because of the law
of karma. I saw a documentary somewhere during my tours and travels,
which said that to make a hamburger, it takes hundreds or even thousands
of times of the water it takes to make a salad. This is only about water,
think about the other resources. How much karma should we perform
to pay off that debt to the mother nature? That may be the reason
our ancient scriptures prescribe only foods that grow directly from the
earth (think vegan, in modern times) and discourage all indirectly
produced food.

Here's a forwarded mail I received today about drumsticks:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 10:30 AM
really great though for reasons unknown it was prohibited in hindu religios functions. regards. murthy

--- On Wed, 6/8/05, _ wrote
Scientifically speaking, Moringa sounds like magic. Ounce for ounce, it has the calcium of four glasses of milk, the Vitamin C of seven oranges and the potassium of seven bananas. Memo to Popeye: Moringa has triple the iron of spinach and more impressive attributes than olive oil.”This is an excerpt from the article in the Los Angeles Times in 2000 that made the Western world sit up and take notice of a tree that grows all over India, especially in South India. Whose long, thin, knobbly pods hang from it, like so many drumsticks. Yup, I speak of the drumstick tree or “Moringa”, from the complete botanical name — Moringa Oleifera. Which sounds very similar to Murungakai, the Tamil and Malayalam name for it. Not at all surprising because the drumstick tree is an ancient and illustrious child of India. In the Sutra period, dating back to 800-300 BC, greens have always had a special pride of place, mentioned as excellent sources of nutrition. And among the many mentioned — palankya or spinach and methika or methi — is something called sigruka or shaubhanjana. Which is the Sanskrit name for — the leaves of the drumstick tree.(Sajuna, Sahijna in Hindi, Suragavo in Gujarati, Sujna, Shevga in Marathi, Sigru, Muringa in Malayalam, Sajana in Telugu, Nuggekodu/kai /soppu in Kannada and Munigha, Sajina in Oriya.)Also called the miracle tree which is actually, not an exaggeration when you consider that every single part of the drumstick tree in some way makes this planet a better and healthier place...Mother’s best friendThe Filipinos call it that. And rightly so. Health is everyone’s birthright and food shouldn’t just appease hunger but also nourish and sustain. But in large parts of the world like India, for many people, food and nutrition are often mutually exclusive things. And expectant and lactating mothers and little children are the most vulnerable. Because both need extra nutrition and find it the most difficult to get. So, sadly, almost half our children under three years of age are malnourished and nearly half of the world’s 20-40 million children suffering from the deadly Vitamin A deficiency are in India, and 60,000 go blind every year. 70 percent of our pregnant women suffer from iron deficiency. Both are potentially crippling, even life-threatening deprivations. And ironically, both are completely preventable statistics.Because India is where the drumstick tree abounds. And for little or no cost, it can provide a large part of the vital nutrients that the Indian mother and her children so desperately need but can often ill afford. In just 100 gms of fresh cooked drumstick leaves, a 1-3 year old child will get all its daily requirements of calcium, 75 percent of iron and 50 percent of protein. Just 17 grams of drumstick pods will provide it with all the Vitamin C it needs daily. The same amount of leaves will provide a pregnant or breast-feeding woman with all the protein and Vitamin A, half the iron, over a third of her daily need of calcium and potassium. Mother’s best friend and how!The answer to clean water in a handful of seeds?“Filthy water cannot be washed.” — An African sayingCan you believe that the mammoth problem of providing clean, safe, drinking water to millions of Indians could lie in a handful of drumstick seeds? Water is one of India’s most pressing problems — 80 percent of infectious diseases are water borne and 1.5 million pre-school children in India die every year from diarrhoea. Now, researchers at the University of Leicester in England say that drumstick seeds can help to provide safe, cheaply produced drinking water. Again, ironically, this apparently astounding discovery is a native wisdom that women in Sudan and Indonesia have been using for centuries! Except that we now know how this works. When dried, crushed and powdered drumstick seeds are added to water, the powder binds itself to dirt particles and bacteria. Soon, the coagulated particles sink to the bottom, leaving clear, clean water. Just two teaspoons of crushed seeds will clear 90 - 99.9 percent of the bacteria and all the muck in a bucket of water and one tree will provide enough clean water for a family of 5-6 for an entire year. You do the math on how much that would cost an average Indian household.Nature’s oil wellThe seeds don’t just make excellent and ridiculously cheap water purifiers. They also contain 35-40 percent of oil by weight and can yield more oil per hectare than sunflower or peanuts! You’re thinking — drumstick seed oil?What use could that be?Well, it has such high levels of the do-good mono-unsaturated fatty acid like oleic acid (cholesterol lowering, even anti-cancer) that it is considered equal to olive oil in healthfulness can be used to cook and also in salads. Because it is also odorless, very stable and doesn’t turn rancid, it can and has been used to make cosmetics, soap, even perfume and — believe or not — as lubrication in watch making!The final certificate of quality is the fact that in Ayurveda, it is used as massage oil.Which brings us to the miracle tree bit. Here are only a few of the many other uses of the drumstick tree.Environmentalist: A hardy, fast growing, no-fuss tree, that requires minimum care and watering, the drumstick tree is known to survive temperatures ranging from 48 degree C to light frost, making it perfect for agro-forestry, to green semi-arid and drought-prone areas.Animal fodder: The leaves aren’t just delicious and healthy for humans. They are happily eaten by cattle, sheep and goats, improving the quality of dairy produce from them. Even pigs, rabbits and fish love them!Fertilizer: Cake made from the crushed seeds is a protein-rich, organic fertilizer.Gum: The gum of this tree has been used in calico printing.Nectar pot: The flowers, also very edible and nutritive because they are rich in potassium and calcium, are a good source of nectar for honeybees.Garden decor: Mark Fritz described it as “a tree, with a gnarly trunk and tousled head of foliage that makes it look like a cypress that just rolled out of bed.”Paper maker: The soft, spongy wood is suitable for making newsprint and writing paper.Small wonder then that the National Geographic Society financed one of its explorers, the botanist Mark Olson to collect the world’s 13 Moringa species, because the fear is that many of them. which used to grow in the wild may now be extinct. At last count, Olson had found 12.Nature’s medicine cabinet“You’d think Monsanto or somebody would have patented it by now. We’ve been looking for silver bullets for so long I think they don’t exist.” Ian Bray, spokesman for Oxfam, when asked about the drumstick tree.Trying to describe the drumstick tree’s medicinal properties, I am reminded of that famous opening line in Erich Segal’s “Love Story”. “What can you say about.” A tree whose very part of the tree has been used as medicine? While researching, I have found people saying that Ayurveda uses the drumstick to treat 300 diseases! I don’t have that list but these certainly figure on it — diabetes, asthma, bronchitis, even tuberculosis; dysentery, diarrhoea, colitis and jaundice; urinary and sexual disorders, as a tonic to improve lactation in nursing mothers and as antibacterial agent against all kinds of infections. Modern research is just beginning to confirm many of these medicinal qualities.Drumstick rotisIngredients: 2 cups ragi flour; 1 small onion finely chopped; 1 large cup of washed, cleaned and finely shredded drumstick leaves; 3-4 chilies finely chopped; ¼ teaspoon jeera; Pinch of asafetida; Salt to tastePreparation: Bind all the ingredients into a thick dough. Pat or roll into thick rotis. Cook with a little oil. Serve hot with curds or a pat of fresh, home made butter. You can also add drumstick leaves to chapatis, dosais, adais even vadas to pack in the extra nutrition!

Not Every One Can Get an Opportunity to be a Friend

A lawyer is a friend in need and should be a friend indeed. Vishnu Pendyala

Management Metric: Number of People the Manager Helped Succeed

A manager's true satisfaction lies in the number of people she helped succeed and not in the extent of power exercised or the number of layoffs authorized. Vishnu Pendyala

Take it Easy Policy

The lighter the grip on worldly matters, the easier it is to rise personally, professionally, and spiritually. Vishnu Pendyala

Speech in Sanskrit Sharpens Skills

Sanskrit embodies analytical skills, deep thinking, and other mental abilities needed for an ideal living. Sanskrit is really a way of life. Vishnu Pendyala

Leading is Serving

Selflessly serving the interests of the followers is the best way to be their leader. Take Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King for example. - Vishnu Pendyala

Life is a Rendezvous

Life is all about meeting only the right people as much as we can, being with them, and dealing with the rest. Vishnu Pendyala

The Fine-print of a Profession

The difference between a professional and an amateur is the fine-print that only a professional reads between the lines in the course of his experience. Vishnu Pendyala

Professionalism

When exercised ideally, only power matters, power-wielders do not. Vishnu Pendyala

Divinity is One and the Same

All divine qualities like knowledge, love, courage, and devotion are one and the same. With right practice, one will eventually lead to the other. - Vishnu Pendyala

Government's Primary Duty is to Preserve the Balance

Government should step-in only where the balance of natural forces like demand and supply are tilted excessively in favourof one entity, including itself. Vishnu Pendyala

Sharing Enriches Life

Life is also about sharing the right things with the right people. - Vishnu Pendyala

Religion must be Practised at its Depth

The depth of a religion is unfathomable to those who never see beneath the rituals it prescribes. These are the people who unfortunately are same as aethiests in spite of practising religion, like diabetics, who are always starving for sugar when their blood is full of it. - Vishnu Pendyala

No Better Judge than Conscience

Finally, when all is done, I'm answerable only to me. - Vishnu Pendyala

Happiness is a Responsibility

It is not only an option, but a responsibility to be happy and help others to be happy. - Vishnu Pendyala

Understanding Clears it All

One who knowledgeably understands and accepts every person and situation that comes his way will never be unhappy. What ensues then is an action appropriate for the situation or person, however hard it may be. - Vishnu Pendyala

Soul Music

Sounds that rhyme with natural, internal processes such as breath (like in swinging voice, wind instruments), heart beat (drums), deep longing (stretch in classical music), have the greatest impact on the soul. - Vishnu Pendyala

Winning Strategy

Never argue only to win, even in a court of law. The best way to win is by taking the correct side and doing the right thing. Deceitful rhetoric can atmost leave the other party frustrated without addressing the underlying issue. - Vishnu Pendyala

Suggestives are always better than Directives

Directness can be drastic and sometimes undesirable. Intensity is best when directed inwards. - Vishnu Pendyala
PS: Don't look for the noun "suggestive" in the dictionary, because it is my own invention :).

Antidote to Depression

Devotion is an amazing antidote to depression. - Vishnu Pendyala

Conquering the Enemies Within

Ego, anger, lust and such are excesses, which do not come into play when one is in a submissive, self-realizing mode. - Vishnu Pendyala

స్థాన బలం (Strength of a Place)

Places do have a role. Punjab is known since the time of Karna for its courage and generosity. Dehradun, the place of Drona continues to be known for learning. Singapore, the seat of Maha Meru mountain continues to be prosperous and has one of the best governments. Cuddapah is said to be where Laxmana changed tune and refused to carry Lord Rama and we know what's going on there even today. India has been the seat of spirituality and learning since ages and continues to do so. So, knowledge of a place's history helps. - Vishnu Pendyala

Sacrifice the Results

Learn only for the sake of learning, love only for the sake of loving, and live only for the sake of living. - Vishnu Pendyala, BE(CSE), MBA(Fin.), MS(CE), SMIEEE, SMCSI, DTM

Best Path in Life's Maze

Life can be considered an optimization problem, primary constraints being maximum satisfaction, minimum needs, and minimum stress. - Vishnu Pendyala

Humane Government

"In every way it conducts business, a government should be as humane as humanity itself." - Vishnu Pendyala

Happy Sri Rama Navami!

On this happy festive occasion, may Lord Rama reinforce in us once again, the values he stood for and the exemplary life he led.

Mental Flexibility

Selfless, engrossing activities, not driven by results, like reading and understanding a technical paper, meditation, contemplating on the divine are some of the ways to retain the mental flexibility that we are born with. - Vishnu Pendyala

Self-modificaiton

Nature, particularly human nature is subtle and very deeply rooted. Thoughts, and to a better extent, actions and punishments can only give a direction to the introspection and correction process. Like in research, one has to dig very deep, for a long time into his inner self to change oneself. - Vishnu Pendyala

ఉగాది శుభాకాంక్షలు!

New beginnings are what we all live for, even if we have to dedicate the new innings to our adversaries!
మీకు మీ ఇంటిల్లిపాదికి శ్రీ విరోధి నామ చంద్రమాన సంవత్సరాది శుభాకాంక్షలు!
Hope we'll be able to focus, identify and ward off all our adversaries this year, in preparation for a glorious future!

A Solution to the Inhibiting Mind

The mind, like an ideal mother's love is excessively caring and inhibiting. Only when it is devoted to work, God, or something that is not self, can our true potential be discovered and used. - Vishnu Pendyala

Tools for Self Control

"Time-awareness, constant observation of the inner self, and goal-oriented thinking are good tools to control the self." - Vishnu Pendyala

The Elusive Mind goes after the Elusive

It's human nature to go after the elusive. The fortunate ones who discover the ultimate joy of this characteristic will finally and correctly go after the supreme elusive concept called God, instead of the ephemeral oases of the world. - Vishnu Pendyala

Spirituality Liberates

"Spirituality is a cure to suffering."- Vishnu Pendyala

Pain is Inevitable, Suffering is Optional

"The yogic mind, which unites the body with the soul and the supersoul is also the analytic mind, which can distinguish the soul from the body that can filter out and discard the suffering from the pain." - Vishnu Pendyala

All Religions are for All

"No individual or group owns any religion. All good concepts belong to all humanity, after due credit is given to the originator." - Vishnu Pendyala

It's all a Merry-go-round

"Everything happens in cycles. Matter becomes energy and energy becomes matter. Nothing is lost, or gained. But when night takes day's place, bad laws take good ones', for instance, or death takes life's place, we all know that a cycle has ended... forever". - Vishnu Pendyala

Happiness is embodied in Spirituality

It is not spirituality if its experience does no tmake you happy" - Vishnu Pendyala

Cleansing

"A government must be clean to cleanse its citizens. An unclean system could further smear a person stuck in it, let alone cleanse." - Vishnu Pendyala

Realizing God Every Day

"Courage is seeing God in self and benevolence is seeing God in others." - Vishnu Pendyala

Think Tolerance

"The single most important message of all religions is tolerance." - Vishnu Pendyala

Ambition

"Ambition must be driven by what we can do, rather than by what we can get." - Vishnu Pendyala

The Law of Desire

"Law of Desire: If you want everything, you may get nothing. If you want something, you may not get something or some other thing. If you want nothing (sunya), you will get everything (vi-shunya: vishnu, the God)." - Vishnu Pendyala

Austere Sacrifices

"Purposeful, benign, and austere sacrifices actually enrich the person and strengthen the soul." - Vishnu Pendyala

Economy is about Serving the Needy

"No food is as tasty as eaten when hungry; Nothing proves its true worth until its necessity is felt. The feeling of necessity is what drives the economy. Serving the needy is the antidote to economic downturns" - Vishnu Pendyala

Truth is the Foundation of Existence

"What's the use of building a mansion if its foundations are not laid in concrete; what's the use of grandiose ambitions if they are not deep-rooted in truth?" - Vishnu Pendyala

Evolution of a Philanthropist

"From extreme greed to selfless philanthropy, it is a long journey, possibly comprising of many rebirths." - Vishnu Pendyala

Law: Making, Enforcement, and Interpretation

"Governments should bring out the best persons out of their citizens and may sometimes have to ignore minor imperfections in doing so. Turning citizens into undertrials or ex-convicts for petty reasons, or mere allegations does not do well to anyone." - Vishnu Pendyala

Antidote to Suffering

"Deep knowledge in action is an anti-dote to the innumerable feelings, including suffering, that the illusory mind generates." - Vishnu Pendyala

Some are Different...

"Time and again, a few good men endure all the pain to produce common good for the entire community." - Vishnu Pendyala

True Freedom

"Freedom of the senses is bondage of the mind. Bondage of the senses to the mind is freedom of the self." - Vishnu Pendyala

Gambling

"No one who remembers the rudiments of probability theory will gamble money on the slot machines." - Vishnu Pendyala

Leader

"There is no 'I' in Leader." - Vishnu Pendyala

Connections

"Best professional connections are personally rooted." - Vishnu Pendyala

Economy in Relation to People

"Economy is a good indicator of how many and how well people are being served." - Vishnu Pendyala

Intellect is beyond the physical body

"Intellect and conscience need not have anything to do with pain. Pain is purely physical and need not inhibit the mind." - Vishnu Pendyala
History and the epics give us plenty of examples:
Bheeshma in Mahabharatha gave us the Vishnu Sahasranama lying on a bed of arrows pierced into his body. Jesus did not forget to plead forgiveness for his killers, even when on cross.

Why Patience Pays

"Self-correction is an intrinsic feature of nature's system. Most of the problems waste away with time. We just have to wait with patience." - Vishnu Pendyala