Belief and Prejudice

It may sound unrealistic, but I feel our belief and prejudice are governed to a large extent by our own ego and envy and distort the true nature of information.

It is very difficult to control ego and envy and very few people can achieve it. The reason being ego and envy are contagious diseases. The nearby person can sense ego and envy if not in words, in face and actions, no matter how you try to hide it. The person sensing it despises it, but ironically, these two evils get rooted in his own mind.

It is necessary therefore, to ignore ego and envy of other person rather than react to it, as the reaction itself develops self-ego.

One should be strict about himself but lineant about others. He should understand that people in general have ego and envy naturally as inherent characteristic.

Man always justifies his thinking and actions. We like those people who strengthen our ego, agree with our views and support our actions and console us for our failures by blaming others or the factors not in our hand. But we should understand that it is their strategy and in no way reflects their true feelings.

It is more important what others say about you rather than you say about yourself. Others, while talking to you will never expose what they really feel about you. They reveal their feelings about you to third person considering what he may like to hear. These are only strategies adopted by people to keep good relations with others.

Astrologers refine this normal phenomena to effective technique for creating trust and belief in the mind of customer. The mind reading and not star position based calculations give them this capability.

Prejudice is the environment created by previous experiences. It distorts the information that comes in mind through our senses. If prejudice is intentionally created ( nurtured) by developing habit through hard work like learning by formal education, the information gets blended into knowledge, but if it is through false promises and temptations, it turns into belief. Information, awareness, advertisement and propaganda can be considered as steps in developing prejudice.

Thus ego and envy of persons can be manipulated to change their thinking and behavior of persons to one’s advantage and therefore, it is necessary to examine its impact on information received before forming opinion about anything or any person.

Happiness lies in heart. It depends on how clean and pure, you keep your mind, control ego and envy.

Religions have developed a novel and effective way to remove ego and envy by assigning undisputable supremacy to God declaring it to be representation of pure mind. They also invariably emphasize that God can be found every person’s heart, if he can remove the darkness created by ego and envy.

मी वाचलेली मराठी पुस्तके

मी वाचलेली मराठी पुस्तके
१. शामची आई - साने गुरुजी
२. मी कसा झालो, कर्‍हेचे पाणी, साष्टांग नमस्कार, डॉ. लागू, तो मी नव्हेच - प्र. के. अत्रे
३. व्यक्ती आणि वल्ली, बटाट्याची चाळ, अपूर्वाई, हसवणूक - पु. ल. देशपांडे
४. ययाति, अमृतवेल - वि. स. खांडेकर
५. मधली स्थिती, पण लक्षात कोण घेतो - ह. ना आपटे
६. लाख मोलाचा जीव, क्लोरोफॉर्म - अरुण लिमये
७. हाय - सौ. पटवर्धन
८. युगंधर, पैस, दुपानी - दुर्गा भागवत
९. गारंबीचा बापू - श्री. ना. पेंडसे
१०. नाथमाधव यांच्या ऎतिहासिक कादंबर्‍या, वीरधवल
११. माझी जन्मठेप - स्वा. सावरकर
१२. एक होता कार्व्हर - वीणा गवाणकर
१३. अग्निपंख - अब्दुल कलाम
१४. दौलत - ना. सी. फडके
१५. सलाम - मंगेश पाडगावकर
१६. आंबराई - कवि गिरीश
१७. इडली आर्किड आणि मी - विठ्ठल कामत
१८. कुणा एकाची भ्रमणगाथा - गो. नी. दांडेकर
१९. स्वामी - रणजित देसाई
२०. मृत्यंजय - शिवाजी सावंत
२१. राजा शिवछत्रपति - ब. मो. पुरंदरे
२२. झाडझडती - विश्वास पाटील
२३. संपूर्ण बाळकराम - कोल्हटकर
२४. एरंडाचे गुर्‍हाळ, चिमणरावांचे चर्‍हाट - चिं. वि. जोशी
२५. गीताई - विनोबा भावे
२६. बाबुराव अर्नाळकर यांची पुस्तके
२७. सत्तांतर - व्यंकटेश माडगूळकर
२८. पंचकन्या - मालतीबाई किर्लोस्कर
२९. गोष्टी माणसांच्या - सुधा मूर्ती ( अनुवादक- लीना सोहोनी)
३०. गोठलेल्या वाटा -
३१. हाक मायमराठीची
३२. एका यक्षाचे अक्षयगान, सांगली आणि सांगलीकर - अविनाश टिळक
३३. आभाळमाया - जोशी
३४. नववे रत्न - प्रा. क्षीरसागर
३५. सांगलीच्या पाऊलखुणा - चिंतामणी सहस्रबुद्धे

Books I read

I am a great fond of books and kept on reading all sorts of books ( Marathi and English) This is the partial list of books I read which have enriched my thinking and helped me understand the world around me. I have given links to book reviews o references I found on the net for some books, though I plan to write my own reviews some other time.

a) Philosophy
1. Story of philosophy - Will Durant
Best book on history of philosophy. I learnt the principles of western philosophy from this book. More from net
2. Being and Nothingness – Sartre
A brilliant and exhaustive analysis of nature of our existence More from net
3. Inquiry into Human understanding – Hume
Difference between our perception and truth More from net
4. Science is not enough – Vannevar Bush
5. Nature of physical world
6.
b) Novels
1. Fountainhead – Ayn Rand
Excellent novel of young architect who revolted against established traditions and designed structures of novelty. Novel explains how society suppresses such innovations and forces mediocracy.More from net
2. Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
Brilliant novel advocating freedom. It states that the progress is done by few talented individuals but they are not allowed to enjoy the benefit. It suggests the plight if all these intelligent persons take asylum in scret place and stop the work. It criticizes nationalization policy and socialism. More from net
3. We the living – Ayn Rand
Story of love traingle in communist country.
4. Wheels – Arthur Hiely
Automotive industry in America
5. Overload
Power crises and disruption activities by environmentalists and left parties
6. Final Diagnosis
A comparison between knowledge through experience and modern medicinal practice
7. Hotel
Hotel industry
8. Money Changers
Inside story of banks
9. Grapes of wrath
Nobel prize winner novel depicting the impact of industrialization and displacement of farmers in USA
10. Roots
Tracking the origin of black people to Africa. Narrates the harassment and brutal treatment by invaders and sufferings.
11. The thorn birds
Novel of the farmer family with detailed description of nature, and social culture Australia in 19th century
12. Midnight Children – Salman Rushdi
Childhood and social changes in India during partition
13. Man who came from cold
Spy story indicating use of men as pawns in game of espionage
c) General
1. Science fiction books by Asimov
Very good stories on science fiction
2. Odissy 2000 – Arthur Clerk
3. Imagination unlimited
4. I am OK, you are OK
Transactional analysis – Parent , Adult and Child behavior
5. Games people play
Psychological habits formed in human relations
6. Rich dad poor dad
Falacy in common belief that study and learning will make one rich
Comparison of common man and businessman
7. Prison Diary – Jayprakash Narayan
His experience in jail and description of his fight against emergency.
8. My several worlds – Perl Buck
Travel and life in china and other developing countries
9. Netscape story
Very interesting story of building Netscape browser with students from university
10. The HP way
Growth Hawlet Packard company from Guarage experiments to corporate
11. Who says elephant can’t dance
Gestener’s analysis of IBM’s failures and transformation he made in mindset of workers and emphasizing customer orientation
12. At speed of thought – Bill Gates
Early efforts of Bill Gates to create awareness about internet and his speculations about future growth of company
13. India 2020 – A. Kalam
Dream of building India strong and as a world power
14. My childhood – Maxim Gorky
The poverty and social life in Russia
15. Mother – Maxim Gorky
Struggle of common citizen in war
16. Exodus
Sufferings and determination of jews during deportation
17. Direct from Dell
Innovative approach by dell to reach customers directly
18. I am Iaocoka
Personal politics in high places of Ford company, birth of christeler car company
9. 1984- George Orwel
Imaginary picture of slavery of common man in future if communist revolution succeeds
20. Animal farm – George Orwel
Falacy in communist principles in administration by ironical story of animals revolting against man
21. Collapsing universe
Asimov’s scientific explation of universe, stars, big bang, black hole and similar concepts
22. Ana Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
Social love story in Russian soil.
23. Two on a tower –
Young astronomer and woman in love with him. What i liked most is the dedication and persuit of the scientist. More from net
24. New brave world
Story of growing human beings as robots designed for specific task
25. Rebecca
26. Lolita
27. Waste makers
28. Small is beautiful
29. God of small things
30. War and peace
31. Short stories by Chekov
32. Journey around the world in 80 days
33. Lost horizon
34. My universities – Maxim Gorky
35. Stolen white elephant and other stories – Mark Twain
36. Stolen harvest – Vandana Shiva
37. Future shock – Alwin Toffler
38. e - factor
39. Making money in cyberspace by Edwards and Linda Rohrbough
40. lessons from the Edge - Matthews and dennis
41. The new market leaders by Fred Wiersema
42. The writer within you - Charles Jacobs
43. Write more Sell More - Robert Bly
44. e-Business, Roadmap for success by Dr. Ravi Kalakota and Marcia Robinson
To be continued ---

Customers

The rules of game have changed. Customer is not now the receiver of the goods and services industries are offering.

"The customer is going to grab control of the process, and we are all going to salute smartly and do exactly what the customer tells us if want to remain in business." - Robert Eaton, Chairman, chrysler Corporation

Customers should value us more than they do our competitors. Customers are not interested to know that you have used advanced technology or how much time money or resources you have put in to produce the product. They only see whether it is cheaper and meets their requirements than the similar products offered by your competitors. Our product or service must satisfy the customer requirements. Customer should become our salesman. Complaints of customers always should be welcome as they suggest improvement product quality, function or service provided. If you neglect the complaint you are not only loosing that customer but are creating canvasser against you and you are providing salesman to your competitor without any effort by the competitor. Many unsatisfied customers never complain but coolly turn to your competitor.

Getting unanimous feedback from every customer regularly is essential for self appraisal. It is also necessary to communicate with them the company’s progress, new products and plans and achievements. If we can get comparative feedback about our company as well as our competitors, we can objectively analyze the our standing in the market and we can get important clues for improving ourselves. It is necessary therefore to get unbiased opinion of our clients and customers. This work can be done through third party delegation or by supporting independent market survey by consumer organizations, NGOs or educational institutes.

The company should have focus on customers and their changing demands and future requirements. They should have trust in company’s commitment and performance and should be encouraged to participate in expansion of market through offering them discounts, special privileges and incentives. This strategy is more effective as the new customers get needed assurance about product or service from old customers.

Habit

I feel that habit or inertia is the main obstacle in change. However, habit has its own merit that it keeps the person comfortable in the present state.
Ego is the inherent property of habit and resists change. But fortunately for us, there is envy that prompts comparison and competition and creates urge to change. But mere urge is not sufficient to bring about change in habit. Moreover risk of unknown prevents urge to take action. Evenif there is no risk, urge must follow efforts.
As per Newton’s law, force is required to change the state of object, be it stationary or in motion. Force means dislike and discomfort producing action on the unwilling individual. Urge may cause temporary shift in behaviour but habit soon overpowers it.
New habit needs to be nurtured by prolonged efforts to change habit from one state other desired state.
Success in examination, competition or life for that matter depends to a large extent on this nurtured habit.
Winners win not by fluke. Stars are not borne overnight. Behind every success, there is a long trail of intentional efforts. It involves sacrifice of comfort and enjoyment.
Is the potential of success capable of such pursuit or there are any payoffs on the way?
The satisfaction of progress, reaching higher level or realization of goal coming nearer is the constant fuel during the travel and which keeps person work continuously.

Establishment of habit is a long process. just as there is a curve for change in road direction for smooth transition, it is necessary to change the habit gradually to establish new habit. Just as superelevation is provided on the curve for stability of car on the curve, there is need of support and guidance during change of habit otherwise there is possibility of person going out of track.

Schools and colleges provide well charted path for success in education. Discipline, continuous evaluation and intermediate tests nurture the learning habit.
Competitions and practice builds sportsmen and artists. Military depends heavily on discipline and exercise for change in habit. Increase in salary and higher posts lure persons to change. Power influences politicians.

Though habit can be changed by force and creativity cannot be handled by force, It requires freedom to act. Discoveries and inventions require both creativity and efforts.
Childhood is the best period of nurturing creativity. It blooms itself if proper environment is provided.
Change in habit is greatly influenced by the belief and conviction. Saints, leaders and teachers can bring about this change even without force by creating faith in the minds of followers by appealing to self ego and assurance of success.

This and that

This is bad and that is good
Why is it so ?
Even when this is good and that is bad.

No, no, no
I wanted to ask
This is good and that is bad
Why is it so?
Even when this is bad and that is good.

Sorry, my both questions are wrong
This and that both are good or bad
It only depends on how you see.

Teleconference by successful manager– a revealing experience

I had occasion to listen to a teleconference during my stay in USA which was regular weekly meeting between USA group and India support group. Leader of USA group was convener and overall leader of the project. Every member informed his presence by phone. The convener of meeting asked for the proxy for absent members.

He welcomed everybody and narrated point by point last week’s status of progress in detail and all the decisions taken in the last meeting. He then started asking progress done by each member and group. He was quite aggressive and arrogant in demanding the reasons for not meeting the tasks assigned. He reminded that he had given liberty to fix targets to individual members and now they cannot give excuses and he expected more work than the target scope. About the changed or enhanced expectations by client, he commented that target scope must include such eventuality and individual should give revised estimate well in time and not in review meeting. He explained that we are working for the client who is facing stiff competition from other companies and have full right to change the specifications to cope up with change in scenario. He emphasized that we are in this business due to our client. He has employed us and mentioned the principle that customer is always right.

The meeting went on for two long hours and he listened patiently the excuses, complaints, new ideas presented by members but stressed his own expectations and concluded with high expectations from members. If somebody proposed to show interim progress by Tuesday, he demanded, why not Monday. He wanted to be sure about correct estimate and not over estimate. The whole idea of his talk was to keep his group under pressure of commitment, active and struggling to meet deadlines.

I did not like the meeting and the way he handled the things and hated his harshness. I was sure that the feeling of every member was similar as they were going not relieved but with future workload and anxiety. I talked with one participant t, who was a member, his reaction. He said this is normal. But I learned from him that he was most successful leader and always met the targets even though the group was dispersed.

Those who have definite shape with sharp edges only can give shape to others. The flexible body like soft rubber ball or lump of sponge cannot be used as mold for shaping new products. The same is true of molding team members to desired specifications meeting the company goals. The strong leaders always are admired by followers as well as competitors. They rule the game but give unity of command, definite directions and assurance of success needed by followers.

Small affordable Green Buildings

Salient features of most of the green rated buildings are observed to be good landscape, lawn on the roof, use of solar panels for lighting, SIBF for waste recycling.
Though all these features have high potential of enhancing green rating, their use is restricted to large budget building complexes in urban area and cannot be employed in majority of middle income group buildings having low budget and land availability.
The purpose green building concept will be served only when it is widely accepted and this requires affordable green alternatives from capital cost and maintenance requirements.

The adoption and acceptability of any new system by common man is generally governed by capital cost and not pay back. This is because he has no spare capital to invest in items which would be beneficial in the long run. He has many other short term and urgent priorities for the money he has with him. Easy loan and financing options can change this trend. There is need of taking proactive role by financial institutions in providing finance for such green technologies.

Provision of lawn on roof, no doubt, is an effective method of utilizing solar energy for cooling roof through evapo-transpiration, but this requires water proofing of roof, soil cover which increases roof weight, watering system requiring water pumping, and reular maintenance of lawn. The cost of such a system is prohibitive resulting in its sporadic use.
Use of reflective paints have limited effect on preventing roof heating but is widely accepted as it is affordable. Provision of garden with earthen pots with harvesting of vegetables and flowers may be via media alternative which may be widely accepted.
Solar panels for electricity are not economically feasible if used with conventional lighting systems. Use of low wattage CFL and superbright LEDs along with solar panels can give economically viable alternative. The design of building to take full advantage of direct and indirect lighting coupled with provision of CFL / LED lamps at locations considering task lighting requirements can yield very effective and energy efficient lighting system. Intense lighting requirements on kitchen platform and reading table and ambient lighting in rooms can be met by CFL lamps of appropriate wattage, The parking, starecase, common entrance which require continuous light can be provided by solar powered LED lamp modules with light sensor auto switch off system.

Provision of constructed wetlands or SIBF requires large area and hence cannot be used in buildings with limited plot area. If the building is lifted on supports making land below builtup area available for such units is one solution. These units can also be provided on community basis in colonies, where there is some area reserved for common amenities. The construction cost of SIBF can be considerably reduced if geosynthetic membrane is use for pond lining. Local flowering plant species should be used. Mosquito breeding can be prevented by using subsurface flow system in design of these units.

Biogas plants Biogas plants for treating domestic waste and kitchen waste can yield biogas and good fertilizer, however, it is recommended for building complex or colony and not for individual houses because of maintenance requirements. Use of biogas is not yet widely accepted due to presence of H 2 S and smell nuisance it creates while using biogas for cooking. The corrosion of pipes is another problem.Removal of H 2 S and CO2 by passing biogas through alkaline water can solve this problem. The conventional building in India has linth, walls and roof as rigid components which ive strength security and durability to the structure. Critical examination o hse components in the light of present day needs of green and sustainable building indicate rethinking as regards their design principles and funtional requirements. The plinth is provided for raising the floor level above ground surface to protect it from moisture, tree roots and rodents. This is achieved by creating wall enclosure and filling the the inner space by murum or stabilized clay. However, such support dosnot guarantee rigid base for floor tiles and with time the tile surface becomes uneven due to subsidence of filled soil. Intead of filled plinth, the floor slab can be supported on short columns and the underneath ground surface can be kept unobstructed ensuring minimum disturbance to surface ecosystem, free passage to water flows and opening up large area for rain water storage, waste treatment plant, pumps and flexible openings for entry of cool air in the building.

Walls give the rigidity to orientation and shape of building. The fixed locations of door and window openings also impose severe restrictions on provision o natural ventilation and lighting. Can we not have walls with flexibility of relocating by sliding or turning mechanisms. Such a provision will dramatically make the house flexible enough to take maximum advantage of sunlight and wind in different seasons.

If walls provide support to roof and roof is heavy the walls require strength and rigidity. The framed structure relieves the walls from this requirement, but the the cost increases due to RCC structure. The question then arises about fixed heavy roof. Why we require heavy roof or for that matter, why at all the roof is required? For providing shade from sun (protecting inner environment from heat and glare of sunlight) and protection from rain. There one more vital reason for sturdy roof ie security. What are disadvantages of fixed roof? It confines the space and obstructs natural light and ventilation. Can we have light, sturdy and openable or roofs using modern materials and mechanisms. Various innovative ideas can be explored to make the walls and roof flexible and responsive to changes in requirements.
House on turntable or house on wheels are extreme solutions. Tribals have been using light weight temporary houses constructed with local materials, which can be constructed or dismantled in short time without a dent on natural surrounding.

The present building technology seems to be completely governed by building component manufacturers. They influence the fashion and choice of materials. As a result, the buildings are adorned with costly, showy and mass manufactured synthetic products. Use of natural and locally available materials or alternative low cost materials is looked upon as substandard and undesirable, though more ecofriendly and affordable. Ceramic tiles, glass shading films, modern plumbing fixtures, paints and coatings are some exaples.Unless this trend is changed, it is difficult to have desired large scale impact of green concept.

It is necessary that architects, engineers and designers should ask why? to every material they use and examine it in the green perspective. All the alternative materials need to be compared as regards functionality, cost and ecofriendly rating.

Of Human Relations

Of Human Relations
Much of the success in any field depends on development of healthy human relations between the concerned parties. In education it is relation between student and teacher, in business employer and employee, supplier and customer, in family members.
Though the real value and quality of exchange of information or material object should generally decide in success of transaction, but it is observed to play a minor role as compared to willingness of supplier and acceptability of taker which depend on mutual trust. If that trust is lacking, it affects the transaction either in distortion of perception or end of transaction.

On the other hand if there is full trust, any lacuna in transacting element gets ignored. If the element does not meet the specifications transaction prompts to give another opportunity, more time or resources or change the specification requirements. If the transaction is beneficial to both parties, there is effort by both parties to enhance scope or frequency of such transaction. This builds a sustainable relationship.

Ego and Envy

Ego comes with envy. Freedom fosters individual ego, plants envy. Freedom disrupts organization. Brothers, colleagues, neighbors who, if join hands, can increase strength nd wealth but envy keeps them separate. Same is the case of organizations. Every free individual or organization tries to maintain it’s separate identity, strives to grow, competes with others nearby.

Building groups of individuals or merging or coming together of different organizations has to overcome this freedom induced ego and envy. This is possible if the scope of environment is widened, individuals have to compete with organization or small organizations have to compete with big organizations. Development of terms of organization need to be developed which will guarantee protection of individual interests and assure additional benefits by association. Globalization has accelerated the process of amalgamation and mergers due to exactly this reason.