If -------

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

--- Rudyard Kipling

Are Your Lights On ?

Such a fantastic book on problem solving by Gerald M. Weinberg

Here are the gospels from it

A Problem is a difference between things as Desired and things as perceived

The funniest one ,

Don't bother trying to solve problems for people who don't have a sense of humor.

Don't mistake Solution method for a Problem definition - Especially if it's your own solution method.

If you solve their problem too readily , they'll never believe you've solved their real problem.

You can never be sure you have a correct problem definition , even after the problem is solved.

Don't leap to conclusions , But Don't ignore your first impression.

You can never be sure you have a correct problem definition , But don't ever stop trying to get one .

Each solution is the source of the next problem.

The trickiest part of certain problems is just recognizing their existence.

If you can't think of at least three things that might be wrong with your understanding of the problem, you don't understand the problem.
( In short , Think of three reason's it won't work ...)

As you wander along the weary path of problem definition , check back home once in a while to see if you haven't lost your way.

Don't solve other people's problems when they can solve them perfectly well themselves.

If it's their problem, make it their problem.

If a person is in a position to do something about a problem , but does not have the problem , then do something so he does.

Try blaming yourself for a change - Even for a moment.

If people really have their lights on , a little reminder may be more effective than your complicated solution.

The source of the problem is most often you.

There are two kinds of people in the world , those that do work and those who take credit. Keep in the first group - there's much less competition there.

No problem too big , no problem too small .

The difficult we do right now , the impossible takes a little longer .

People seldom know what they want until you give them what they ask for .

We never have enough time to do it right , but we always have enough time to do it over or do better.

We never have enough time to consider whether we want it , but we always have enough time to regret it .

The fish is always the last to see the water.

Standard of Living

An uncle of mine , moderately educated , called from a small town , after a bit of chat , he says
in cities like bangalore , hyderabad etc the "standard of living" would be much better than their town .

"Standard of living " this very phrase has been haunting me since the time he put the phone .
Yes , skyscraper buildings , plush cars , posh apartments , multi specialty hospitals ( which has life time memberships*) seems to be so colorful for any person coming from a mediocre town or village .

But still , whats the catch here ? what is standard of living ? breathless , over crowded skyscrapers ? always polluting plush cars ? not even enough ventilated posh apartments ? hours of frustrating traffic ? potholed roads which breaks ur spine ? unhealthy food ? polluted air ? gimme a break ...

Standard of living is hygienic food , clean drinking water , unadulterated air over all simple'city' in life . no wonder how many lakhs you earn , what ever car u drive , which ever apartment u stay .. if you don't have these standards whats the point in living in so called cities ?


*yes its true , check with any big plated hospital , irony , do they expect us to be ill for rest of life ?

Call for Volunteers

Yes we are looking for volunteers ...

Are you good with kids ?
Are you staying in Bangalore ?
Are you free Saturday mornings for 1.30 Hrs ?
Are you ready to donate that time to teach english/music/cultural activities to underprivileged kids ?

Then Yes we are looking for you ....



What If I dont know kannada ?
Come on , Each of us have a kid in ourselves , should language be barrier ?

What If i dont know english ?
Grrr ... how did u read so faaar ..

Iam interested in joining you , but lazy to wake up every saturday morning ?
Come on mate , Two hours a week can bring change in some one's life , do at least this if not complaining about dirty politics , pot holed roads , cricketers form or movie actors which you would be spending more than two hours a week

What if i forget to come ?
Dont worry , our co-ordinator is so good to send remainder mails , smses ..

What else i need to know ?
Just enough of reading this blog , comment below ur interest , we would get back to you ....

Back ...

Yes ShottoFame Blog which was virtually dead for more than an year is back ..

Wait for writeups , rants , ideas, opinions and more ..