Palmistry

I really wanted to write something this weekend, but did not know what...I think I am trying to start a routine to write atleast 1 blog a week, specially on saturday(well I actually started writing this on saturday, but then with few phone calls on and off, had to finally give up and am here finishing it up on sunday)...So here is a short one(atleast I am thinking it is going to be short, before I start writing) on palmistry...

In one of my previous blogs, I had mentioned about astrology fascinating me, well I used to be and still sometimes am very interested in palmistry, and that interest started long before my interest in astrology. Reading the palms and interpreting the nature of the person or some major events in a person's life had been something which I used to do a lot, specially during my high school and 1st few years of my undergrad college...I remember buying a pretty big book on palmistry around my 11th grade and reading it and trying to understand the meaning of different symbols and lines which can occur in individual's hand..My interest had grown so deep into that book, that I would spend my major time reading that instead of my 12th exam books, finally my younger sister found out about it and she literally hid the book, and gave it back to me again when I was in college...During my 11th grade, I would read the books and try to observe my palm and interpret the meanings of various lines..It was during that time I experienced, that though some believe your future or destiny is not written in the lines of your hand, I could still see the lines changing when I was changing, thus motivating me to do something better in my life...I had read somewhere, that, if you choose and concentrate on one particular line atleast for few weeks, you can observe the changes in it and I totally believe that, since I have personally experienced it...Lot of my school and college friends, would show me their hands and ask me what I think about it..I would try to tell them with the little knowledge I had..Some of them felt it was true and others did not...Well, lines only by themselves cannot be used to totally predict the life of a person, but they can still tell a lot about them. My obsession with palmistry had grown to such an extent, that I would actually try to get a glimpse of the hand of any new person I meet, so as to atleast know the true nature of a person...Palmistry has never disappointed me, there were times when I thought it was all "mithya", since it predicted that some of the people whom I thought were so emotional and good, but palmistry predicted them otherwise, actually turned out to be mean and hard hearted...I had almost stopped practicing palmistry when some of my close relatives told me, it is not a good thing to do and it builds up some bad karma, so I should never see people's hand when they ask me to..So now I have stopped seeing or predicting people's hand, but make few exceptions now and then.....

Lessons to be learnt by Alok Kejriwal

Recently came across an article in Times of India by Alok Kejriwal, regarding the Apple vs Samsung Battle and lessons learned.  It was quite a fascinating read, can be found  here

Below is the summary of the 5 lessons Alok talks about:

> Inspiration not imitation

 
Lesson: Inspiration is what creates value. Imitation is what reduces value. Inspire yourself in your business and the world will respond!

This is quite an interesting point, considering I am recently reading a book called CopyCats  by Oded Shenkar which talks about imovators which includes immitate+innovate, but he does make a point, that not all initial innovators are successful. He also talks about some research, which shows as much as 97.8% of the value of the innovation goes to immitators, since they save not only on R&D costs but also on marketing and advertising investments made by first movers. And they avoid costly errors by observing and learning from other's trials.  Maybe the way to go forward is imovate, imitate the best of something, but also innovate to make it excellent!!

 

>Delight leads to design; not the other way around!

Lesson: Focus on delighting your customer in new, meaningful ways. Design will come naturally and easily; almost as if guided by nature.

Build and they will come…

>There was only one Charlie Chaplin

  

Lesson: Don't mimic business DNA. It's unique for each company and should stay that way. Build on your DNA. Don't transplant it.

>Following Pied Piper

Lesson: Track business competitors and market leaders but don't blindly follow them. They will either take you to hell or to the courts — neither of which is the beach you were looking forward to retiring to.

>Saying sorry is what they forgot to teach you at IIM Ahmedabad

Lesson: We all do wrong stuff. But if you get noticed and warned, be smart. Abandon and vamoose.
As the world around us changes, it is going to be increasingly important to imitate through innovating??

 

 

Dreams, Vision, Innovation and Smart Car Technology

The feeling of Joy you experience when what you had just dreamt about, is actually happening, is amazing!! Isn't it..Well, I just re experienced something like that today..While reading through my regular emails on University of Michigan's Alumni Association, which gives me info on the latest technology and happenings at UOM, I came across an article, which was highlighted.  It was about smart car technology and UOM's involvement in the research. 

For a long time now, I had these two ideas for automobiles.  Remembering these ideas, takes me back to my college career fair days, where companies like GM and Ford, would ask you about some innovative ideas you have thought about and these two were mine...My first idea, dates back to my 7th-8th grade school days.  Two of my dad's brother are in USA, so as a kid, my grandmother used to come to US often and tell us stories back home about the life and technology in US.  One of the stories, I remember as a kid, she told us was about Automatic car, which both my uncles and aunts had.  It was fascinating, that as a kid, just with the word automatic, I had assumed an automatic car is like a robot, which drives itself automatically with a touch of a button..Ofcourse, as we grew up, we talked less about the specifics and types of these cars in US, so deep down, it was always there, that, that is how an automatic car works..Now, you can definitely imagine my disappointment when I first landed here in 2004 and saw an automatic car..But, in about 2008-2009, while my sister priyanka had attended some networking session, she had met someone, who talked about the same technology, where car would automatically drive themselves..When she came home and told me about it, and told me about Google actually working on that technology, I was jumping with joy, thinking finally!! The vision, even though it was just a child's imagination, was actually coming true..Ofcourse, I was disappointed and wished, I was somehow involved or part of this technology...

During one of my regular commutes, there was huge traffic jam and though there were news on the radio and all, no one actually seemed to have any idea on what was going on..Also if you have been through accidents like that you know, sometimes, the lanes are slow, just because everyone is curious what might have happened there and just driving slow, resulting in more back ups.  At that stage, I wondered, what if there was technolgy, which let me communicate from one car to another to pass the message of what is going on, on the road, if there a cop, oh be careful, or if there is an accident, slow down, accident ahead etc..While thinking about this, one day, I came across some signs, which you can install on your car trunk to put the smiley face, and I was like, yes, we are definitely getting closer to that..And now, when I read this article, my joy knew no bounds....again, I do wish, I was involved in this...One thing, I think about is, even though I am not a car fanatic (yes master's in mechanical engineering, but not highly passionate about cars), I should definitely keep a track of my visions and dreams...Who knows, some day, I might be the first to encash the vision/opportunity..Regardless of that, I am so happy, that the technology is atleast moving forward..I do wish HVAC technology, the field where I work in, would advance at this pace..Incase you are interested about this research, you can read it at the following address:

U-M Transportation Research Institute leads way in 'smart car' technology

Happy Dreaming!!

Reaction!

Few people have told me now, "Intelligence should not be assumed", and I agree, but today, was the heights, but more importantly, I am amazed by my reaction to the situation. Instead of getting angry or upset or reacting to it, I just listened about their dumb mistakes, smiled and walked on..I guess after a while, you just expect and accept certain dumbness from certain people!!!! When I told my sister about it, she could not help laughing as well.  Obviously lot was at stake here, but as someone has said, "There is no point in worrying about something you have no control over, and something you have control over, should not make you worry!! Rightly, I have no control over someones dumbness and abilities to make mistakes, so it is, what it is.. :)

Back to Blogging!

After being away for about 2 years, and so many ups and downs in life, I am back to blogging..