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Sep 27, 2014

Anger Detection


Anger is created inside me.
It is not created outside and poured in to me, it is with in me.

When someone says nasty things about me, do something irritating, I understand it is an event happening outside. People do/say good things as well as bad things to me.
So this event is not my anger.

Anger is created by fermenting those actions and words in my mind.
The longer the fermentation, the juicier it gets.
During the period of anger, I think I am creating solutions. Actually I am taking steps for revenge.

I'm not immune to anger, every day I get angry.
When I get angry, I have a tracking system to alarm me. That tracking system is my heart beat, the intensity of breathing, the speed of my thoughts raging in my mind etc.
I become aware of it. I train my mind to spot these changes. The more I train, the earlier I can detect and ring the alarm.

I would read a dhamma book , take few deep breaths, listen to some amazing music or take courage to create a blog post like this :)

I'm not immune to anger, but I'm trained to detect it early.

" Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned "
~ Buddha

Sep 25, 2014

Week 2 of Coursera.


I completed week 1 of Coursera course -'social entrepreneurship'.
I completed reading course material, yet missed the deadline for the assignment 1.

The reason for missing assignment deadline was I 'ASSUMED' that I needed  to cover all video lectures before attempting the assignment. Turns out it's not the case.
Also I have spent far too many minutes trying to re-watch the videos for better understanding.
Turned out to be a waste of time too.

Good thing was that I have allocated time for 6 weeks (4 hours a week) in advance, so I can pick up from where I left in the first week.

Come second week, I know the mistake I made. So what did I do?

I started second week by visiting the Assignment 2 first. That was the first thing I did.
So all that reading of the week boils down to this assignment.
The moment I saw the assignment my mind was sharpened to accumulate knowledge for the assignment. Then reading became fun.
Because I knew I wasted too much time re-watching videos, I started making mind maps. Plus I got to know that lecture narrations could be downloaded as text files. I saved good hour or so from this.

The assignment asked me to apply a particular tool. So I followed the lecture on that tool and did the assignment. I have 2 more videos to watch, but that can be taken later leisurely, now that I have completed the week's assignment.

After all, there is so much wisdom in this statement..

"Begin with the end in mind"
~ Sun Tzu

Sep 23, 2014

Will 'android one' disrupt budget smartphone market?


"It will", according to this post on 'Tech in Asia'.
It's interesting that India is the first country to get 'Android One', with Indonesia and Philippines up next.

In paper it looks so promising. Let's see how things roll, because in bottom and middle of the pyramid markets, there's always a fresh challenge.

The effort is intense from telcos and OEM's, as well as many players in the system, because if anyone cracks the code, the market is in hundreds of millions, actually billions.

What happens here is, these communities will bypass PC to smart phone.
It's an amazing time for the bottom of the pyramid communities.


Sep 20, 2014

I deleted my Instagram


There were few Instagram notifications in my inbox. Notifications are clutter in email, so much distraction.
I unsubscribed those email notifications, and then realized I don't use Instagram.

My mind started a battle.
" Do I really want this ?." No.
" Is there a chance I would need it later in my life?." Tricky.

I took the plunge, decided to delete the profile.
If I need one later, I will create a new one.

When I went on to delete, it was not easy to find the way to do it. Social media sites makes extra effort to make it really hard to unplug.
Had to google it. Here's how if you need it.

Done.

Sep 19, 2014

How "Songs of Innocence" helped me to be mindful



Thanks to more than $100 million paid by Apple Inc, I am listening to new U2 album "Songs of Innocence" for free.

Not everyone around the world (I am just one of 500 million + iTunes users) liked Apple's idea of pushing U2 album in to one's device with out permission. Fair enough. If you want to delete it, here's how.
I did not mind. A free album is like a free lunch, there's always a catch.

Anyway the point I'm making here is , or rather a question to you,

" When was the last time you listened to a full album of an artist, from song 1 to the last - uninterrupted, with no shuffling?"

There was a time in my life, ( around 20-24 years old) I would listen to a full album with no interruption. I would take the CD/cassette booklet (yes, cassette was the bomb those days), read all information about artists and immerse in their lyrics. It was a getaway, a secret passage to artists' mind, a way to blend with the artist in their voyage.

There was a time in my life, I would listen to a song, focusing only on one instrument. One time I would focus on violin, and then piano. All the voices, other sounds would fade away like mist. All I could hear was that single instrument playing.

All that nostalgia was bulldozed by internet and mp3. I can download songs I like, anywhere, anytime.
No albums, but one mp3 at a time, going in to multiple playlists.
Now I have playlists according to time of the day and the mood. Many do.
I shuffle the playlists. So after a Ghazal I would listen to 'Guns n Roses', then 'Victor Ratnayake'.
Mind craves for constant feeding of change of notes and excitement.

All that changed in few days when I started listening to this U2 album. It is a perfect album for me, like a hybrid of Roxette and Rolling Stones. It is lyrically mesmerizing. For 10 days I have listened the album over 12 times, nothing but this album. Also started reading lyrics from the CD booklet.

It got me questioning what's the purpose of abundance when I can't enjoy a note, a single note of an instrument.

Would you try your best artist, and one of their album, uninterrupted, with no shuffling ?


Sep 14, 2014

Why I need a habit to do a Coursera course?


Like I said, good intentions do not matter , if I do not commit, make a habit, and follow up weekly.

In July 2014, I had a good intention to do an online courses in Coursera.

After following 2 weeks, I gave up end of August.
I could not attend the course because time needed was not scheduled in my life.
Worst scenario was, since I did not give up early, that feeling of "non achievement" carried in my emotions for a long time. Nothing depresses a mind, than an inner commitment not met.

This week I am committing to a course - " Social Entrepreneurship "

Though my Coursera dashboard showed 2 courses, I understood there's no enough space for 2 courses to go parallel. Hence I un-enrolled from the second ('Age of Sustainable Development').

It will be a herculean effort to nurture inner discipline for 6 weeks.

I checked how much time needed for each week. Need roughly 3 hours per week.
Since I have committed time, made a habit, and giving up some habits I have, I am sure I can make progress.

Let's see how it goes.

And oh, Coursera is amazing. Big Fan.

Sep 8, 2014

Why I can't change.


Why I can't change, though I have good intentions is simply because I don't let that 'change' have the space it need.

This space between what I am now, and where I want to be is a 'Habit'.

I really thought having good intentions, planning and taking action quickly, makes the change.

It serves as start, but change does not sustain if I do not create a habit.

Creating habit requires time.
I think I have that time, actually I don't.

Then I need to free up a time from my routine.
Free some time from an existing habit - a not so good habit (It will be better if it is a bad habit)

New habit in, bad habit out.

Gradually I am getting there. It's hard. I keep on trying. I'm making a habit.
Habit of blogging in, habit of reading too much blogs out.




Sep 6, 2014

What's the most important asset?


I have come to a point in my life in which I question "what's most important now?"
I ask this question at end of each day.

Strange enough, out of all attractions in life my answer is "time".
You can really appreciate a person by checking what value he/she gives to time (their own and others')

I have come to a point (probably I am getting old !) that time spent with 100% attention to one person/one thing at a time is a luxury, a priceless asset.

We live in a world of constant distraction. It is hard to be your self. There are so many hats to wear.

We boast about been busy. We critique people who are slow. We delight in things that are faster.

This life pace is not sustainable. I have lost attention to detail.

I created few habits to get out of this treadmill. I will try to explain them in coming posts.

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. 
~William Penn

Sep 3, 2014

New beginning (I missed blogging)


This post comes after 6 months !
You might have already seen some changes.
  • www.isura.biz domain is no more.
  • I have changed URL of this blog to www.iysura.blogspot.com.
  • Changed the layout using an age old blogger template. Old may be, I liked it for the simple clean lay out. I was in a writer's block for 6 months, and de-cluttering this space finally made me realize simplicity helps writing. I am happy with the new simple outlook.
  • I've also changed the blog title to "Experiments with my life". ( My five year blogging journey has started with the title "Happiness Blogs")
This space will be more personal, experimental and reflective.
Almost like a journal. I like you to engage. 
Let me know your thoughts. 
(I installed Disqus, it's so easy to comment now)