The Imposter syndrome is more common than you think.

Great minds like Maya Angelo and Albert Einstein accomplished and excelled at their field which is rare to come across , yet the shared something with the common people , the feeling of fraudulence . Impostor syndrome refers to an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be. While this definition is usually narrowly applied to intelligence and achievement, it has links to perfectionism and the social context. To put it simply, imposter syndrome is the experience of feeling like a phony—you feel as though at any moment you are going to be found out as a fraud—like you don’t belong where you are, and you only got there through dumb luck. It can affect anyone no matter their social status, work background, skill level, or degree of expertise.

When Clance and Imes first described the impostor phenomenon (sometimes called impostor syndrome), they thought it was unique to women. Since then, a variety of research on the topic has revealed that men, too, can have the unenviable experience of feeling like frauds, according to a recent research review .Many people who feel like impostors grew up in families that placed a big emphasis on achievement, says Imes. In particular, parents who send mixed messages — alternating between over-praise and criticism — can increase the risk of future fraudulent feelings. Societal pressures only add to the problem.”In our society there’s a huge pressure to achieve,” Imes says. “There can be a lot of confusion between approval and love and worthiness. Self-worth becomes contingent on achieving.”

Characteristics of Imposter Syndrome

Some of the common signs of imposter syndrome include:

  • An inability to realistically assess your competence and skills
  • Attributing your success to external factors
  • Berating your performance
  • Fear that you won’t live up to expectations
  • Overachieving
  • Sabotaging your own success
  • Self-doubt
  • Setting very challenging goals and feeling disappointed when you fall short

While for some people, impostor syndrome can fuel feelings of motivation to achieve, this usually comes at a cost in the form of constant anxiety. You might over-prepare or work much harder than necessary to “make sure” that nobody finds out you are a fraud.This sets up a vicious cycle, in which you think that the only reason you survived that class presentation was that you stayed up all night rehearsing. Or, you think the only reason you got through that party or family gathering was that you memorized details about all the guests so that you would always have ideas for small talk

There are many factors that may play a part in imposter syndrome including new roles, family upbringing, personality traits, and social anxiety.

Types of Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome can appear in a number of different ways. A few different types of imposter syndrome may include:The perfectionist: Perfectionists are never satisfied and always feel that their work could be better. Rather than focus on their strengths, they tend to fixate on any flaws or mistakes. This often leads to a great deal of self-pressure and high amounts of anxiety.

The superhero: Because these individuals feel inadequate, they feel compelled to push themselves to work as hard as possible.

The expert: These individuals are always trying to learn more and are never satisfied with their level of understanding. Even though they are often highly skilled, they underrate their own expertise.

The natural genius: These individuals set excessively lofty goals for themselves, and then feel crushed when they don’t succeed on their first try.

The soloist: These people tend to be very individualistic and prefer to work alone. Self-worth often stems from their productivity, so they often reject offers of assistance. They tend to see asking for help as a sign of weakness or incompetence.

Strategies to cope with imposter feelings include talking about what you are experiencing, questioning your negative thoughts, and avoiding comparing yourself to others.For many people with impostor feelings, individual therapy can be extremely helpful. A psychologist or other therapist can give you tools to help you break the cycle of impostor thinking, says Imes.

The impostor phenomenon is still an experience that tends to fly under the radar. Somerville learned the phenomenon existed only after he’d successfully dealt with the feelings on his own. Often the people affected by impostor feelings don’t realize they could be living some other way. “They don’t have any idea it’s possible not to feel so anxious and fearful all the time,” Imes says.

Luckily, it is possible.

You have talent. You are capable. You belong

THREE TIPS FOR GOOD COMMUNICATION

From our childhood we are speaking daily with your family, friends, relatives but we can’t speak a good communication skills we the people who are strange to us. But few people have brilliant skill in communication. So, here are some steps to improve the communication skills.

1)BUILT A COMMUNICATION WITH EYE CONTACT

First and main steps to build the communication is eye contact. This plays a important role in the communication. Many of us do mistake while we are speaking like we don’t look at them, we use cellphone during the communication. So, first of all we should correct them and practice eye contact. Many business people use eye contact as the advantage in the negotiation for their purpose. So practice eye contact.

2) Be patience for their speech

Always be patience to the speaking partner. Patience is one of the most valuable skill in the world which may enables us to help in improve decision making, communication and power solving situation. Listen and explore them with your mind what they are taking.

PEOPLE WHO ARE GOOD COMMUNICATOR ARE THE GOOD LISTERS.

Here are some tips practising patience

  1. Be a good listener
  2. Be in present moment
  3. Make smile

3)Look them with smile

When you are starting the conversation starts with smile which may boost your confidence and ensure that you will be kind. Many people things smiling may unwelcome to others but smiling will help you to better communications. Smile is the way to tell the feedback to your partner and also boost our mood.

THE GREATEST SELF IS A PEACEFUL SMILE, THAT ALWAYS SEES THE WORLD SMILING BAD

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The Do’s and Don’ts of a Group Discussion (GD)

What is a GD?

Group Discussion (GD) refers to a methodology generally used in selection processes, such as those of companies and colleges, wherein a group of individuals are brought together to interact and communicate with one another. On the basis of such interaction, many personality traits and behavioral characteristic are determined by the examiner or conductor of the GD. An individual’s interpersonal skills, leadership qualities, social traits, public speaking skills, etc. can all be judged through their performance in a group discussion. Generally, in a group discussion, a topic or problem is given to the group, and all the members are allowed to interact with one another, sharing their own knowledge, ideas and solutions to the problem. Some people might be assertive and open about their ideas, while others might be more reserved and unwilling in the sharing of theirs. All these qualities are identified and recorded, to be later used in the selection of capable individuals.

Organizations are able to determine whether particular applicants have the qualities they are seeking in prospective employees or recruits. The topics given in a group discussion vary depending on the type of GD being conducted. These include; ‘Topical’ group discussion (based on current affairs or current trends), ‘Case Studies’ (a complex situation to be interpreted is given to the group) or ‘Abstract’ group discussions (based on abstract topics without any set direction or flow). The specific qualities that might be tested in a GD include; confidence, flexibility, reasoning skills, leadership qualities, creativity, knowledge, patience, communications skills, etc.

There are certain essentials to be followed, as well as certain essentials to be avoided when taking part in a group discussion. These can be enumerated as the ‘Do’s’ and ‘Don’ts’ of a GD;

Do’s

  • Be an active listener. This involves intently listening to what other people have to say. Proper listening is arguably more important than constantly talking in a GD.
  • Be as natural as possible. There is no need to be overly formal or address everyone formally. One must speak as if he would normally speak in such a setting.
  • Be coherent and reasonable when talking. The points made should be easy for the others to understand and should also be logical such that they contribute to the topic at hand.
  • Be brief and precise. Talk on a point for a reasonable amount of time and deliver the point briefly. This retains the attention of others and makes the point simple and accurate.
  • Be polite and respect the contributions of other members. Even if there is a disagreement, this should be done in a polite manner without pointless quarrels.
  • Be as positive as possible and do not try to dominate others. Positivity implies being warm and kind with others, since it is a discussion and not a debate.
  • Be an active speaker in case knowledge of the subject is vast. This could involve initiating the discussion, providing facts and figures, or even being slightly assertive.
  • Be conscious of body language. Although it is necessary to be natural, one must also keep in mind to follow appropriate body language (making eye contact while talking, etc.) and dress appropriately.

Don’ts

  • Get angry or become too aggressive. One must keep their emotions in check while participating in a GD as anger can cloud analytical skills and rational thinking.
  • Interrupt others while they are talking. This is a sign of poor manners and will reveal certain deficiencies in character, which people will scorn at.
  • Try to initiate the discussion or be assertive while lacking knowledge of the topic at hand. The lack of knowledge and impulsiveness will become evident from the points made.
  • Make points which are irrelevant or random and do not contribute to an understanding of the topic. Such points disrupt the logical flow of the conversation.
  • Shout and argue with someone if they try to counter your point. It is not a debate, and neither is it a competition. Some mutual disagreements may occur.
  • Speak with lack of confidence or uncertainty about the point being made. When one is speaking, he should do so with confidence and surety in himself
  • Try to dominate the discussion or get personal with somebody. Maintain a calm demeanour and ensure that a sense of respect is prevalent throughout.
  • Be restless and display poor/negative body language. This will portray a lack of social etiquette, poor manners, and a sense of disrespect to all the other members in the GD.

Hence, these are some of the main do’s and don’ts of a group discussion. Following these will allow individuals to gain all the necessary skills and benefits from a GD.

Improving ‘syllabus’ at school- Part II

“Education is the key to success”. But is it actually providing knowledge to the extent that it makes everyone better off ? Do the lessons taught in schools really matter in our lives ? Is the education system well-established keeping in mind the needs of the times ?

We need to accept that our education system is ruined by some corrupt people hindering the growth and success of the country. Somehow we all know that the training techniques in our schools is old style now and that it requires improvements.

It also becomes a burden for students when they are loaded with tests, assignments and project besides getting regular homework. The classrooms too get filled with only subject-related matter and less care is taken for extra-curriculum.

However there is more scope for extra-curriculum as compared to competitive and corrupt field of academics. It has become corrupt since leverage is being given to some sections or some particular people are being favored in terms of marks(/quotas) or job posts, allocation of funds, etc.

Instead of the regular pattern of teaching, the focus should be made on skill development of students. They acquire more importance in life. Now we see that students lack even the basics of what the corporate world demands of them. From there arises the need to join paid courses after school. You sacrifice peak time for decision making of your life in learning something that should have been the syllabus in the schools! Isn’t it frustrating for someone who holds personal responsibilities and obligations already and had been dreaming of placements and other great opportunities to come on way after education ? Shouldn’t our system be wide enough to support growth and development of individuals, accepting it as their duty towards the nation ?

But the need of the hour is to take action. We can’t continue blaming others’ unless we put forward a step by ourselves. As it has been well said “Be the change you want to see”. The schedule needs to be changed. There is a need for addition of classes for upskilling of students by professionals in the schools itself as there is no time left afterwards, as many say.

There should be attention towards holistic development of a child from the very beginning by arranging music classes, sports period, and other possible skill enhancement classes in schools. This would ensure inclined growth of the child towards his/her area of interest. The students will have knowledge of various fields from the very beginning and this will help them decide early what do they wish to pursue as a career. This is the major problem now-a-days that the youth is not sure of their future goals. They surely have the spark to do wonders but don’t have the correct guidance as to what is best for them or how can they achieve their aims in between the complexities of the world.

The academics should be limited now, to the extent of its feasibility in life and higher studies be offered with a wider choice so that the focus is narrowed upon the future without compromising with present. Knowledge and practical-ability should be given priority over marks and grades. There are innumerable examples of people who were weak in studies but their practical approach proved beneficial for the world. Therefore the students should be taught the practical aspects more than the bookish language and terms.

Coming back to skills, there are a variety of fields where interests of a student can be drawn upon. Painting or sketching, writing, dance and singing, sports(basketball, relay race, badminton), etc. should not be limited to a single period in a week. They should be emphasized as much as academics’ competitions. Training should be provided to those who are keen about such extra activities which are actually, not “extra”.

Comprehending CHESS through ‘Through the Looking Glass’

Chess was the most important indoor game of the nineteenth century in England. It enjoyed centuries-old privileged status. It was considered as a ‘rational recreation’. Chess, unlike any other game, deals more with logic and rationality rather than fun, as we know, Rationalism had taken over the Victorian era abundantly.

Alice, at once, recognizes the chess board stretched on the vast land in the Looking Glass World. It shows that although she is just seven and a half years, still familiar to the this game, which signifies the popularity of Chess in England in Victorian Era, especially among the bourgeois class(as it is also called ‘game of royals’) and Alice belonged to the same.

In life we make ‘choices’, in chess we make ‘moves’. In order to attain something valuable in life as to capture the opponent’s castle in chess, initiative has to be taken. Nobody can make decisions for me, I’ll have to play myself, it’s just suggestions that our people may put before us. Here, Alice makes a choice to participate in the game ‘imagining’ her goal where she wants to be in the end. Well, talking about imagination with reference to Victorian era, it significantly brought out a drastic change in society, though previously children along with adults were forced into realism. ‘Imagination’ is quite efficient to presume one’s position in the coming years and then working out to get there can be useful, because life makes it hard to calculate the further possibilities due to lack of information. Alice restrained herself asking the Queens about their arrival, thinking it would be obtrusive, which keeps her away from the information, also we see Alice not able to distinguish between Red Knight and White Knight and actually who’s there to save her declares her ignorance towards information.

Chess is symbolic to attributes of life, we see, there are (apparently) three stages in chess, that is, opening, middle game and the end game, similarly we have childhood, youth and adulthood in life. Alice joins the giant Chess game of life as a white pawn, that is, she holds very limited power and can move once at a time. We always need to start from the beginning, that is, from the very first ladder in order to earn it step by step. Alice has the freedom to setup her ‘goal’ to be a Queen, but she has no power over her inevitable maturation that’s leading her to womanhood. Within the framework of the chess game, Alice has almost no control over her path and she, with certain implied rules of the game, is driven by the corresponding characters in the book, as in chess, every piece moves in answer to the move of the other one. She is pushed towards her goal by the various situations occurring before her in every square, such as, the train ride, no-name forest, Humpty Dumpty and the White Knight. Thus, it can be traced from the narrative that in life, there is some invisible force that’s propelling every individual in the direction of set goal. It can be comprehended that collaboration is the biggest instrument to victory, for example, White Knight saved Alice from the attack of Red Knight without which it had been a Herculean task for her to reach to final square. We will have to rely on our people somehow, otherwise we can’t achieve our dreams just by our own self. In chess, one can take full credit for one’s victories, but in life it would be naive to say that what I achieved is all because of my sole efforts.

The game of Chess in Through The Looking Glass represents the interest of Carroll in logics and mathematics, and the agent is ‘Alice’. This game is not about luck unlike other indoor/board games, rather brainy. In the same way, Life is more about randomness, it’s not alone in the hands of fate, though life is much more unpredictable. We need statistics as well as probability in both chess and life. Also, chess possesses two different colors, that is, one is light and the other one is dark, where I suppose, they stand for logic and nonsense respectively. Based on this idea, Alice often proves to be smarter, more prudent than the so-called adults she confronts in the Looking Glass world. This might also be a reverse-reflection of actual world, I guess, where we see adults inclined towards logic and children uttering stuff and nonsense and vice-versa, here, in the world of mirror.

Life of the children in Victorian period was totally opposite to that of present-day children. They were considered as miniature adults and were expected to be highly sophisticated, more in the case of rich class children. Children were not allowed to shout, complain, interrupt or disagree with anyone. The children of rich parents were usually looked after by governesses, no matter humble or strict, and they only used to teach them manners and the way of living. Here, in Looking Glass world, Red Queen, the first character to guide Alice in the reverse world,

resembles very much like a governess of Alice when she teaches her how to not tweedle her fingers while speaking, how to behave, and to curtsey, and how Alice couldn’t go against her. She says, “when you’ve once said a thing, that fixes it, and you must take the consequences.”, because Alice is a Pawn and a Pawn cannot move backward, it is also allusion to the fact that once you have made the decision/choice, you can’t step back and stay committed bearing with it’s outcome, and she also asks Alice only to speak when she was asked to. Even we see TweedleDum-TweedleDee not ready to converse with Alice before she greets them. When Alice thinks that asking the Queens how they arrived would be impertinent, it shows again the social structure built for children in the real Victorian world.

When we are in a state of childhood, we want to turn into an adult soon. Similarly, Alice is excited about her lone-tour of adulthood through the Looking Glass world as she thinks she will be free of all the scolding, she says, “….no one here to scold me away from the fire….and can’t get me!” In the beginning, Alice was thrilled about her journey but as she is heading forward, she encounters the sense of loneliness in her journey to become a Queen(apparently) and acts adult herself. Though she is surrounded by different creatures many a times, but she feels alienated to their foreign ways. Hence, here Chess is a symbol of journey advancing from childhood to adulthood. She undergoes many crucial experiences, putting forward the idea of challenges one has to face in this journey of adulthood in one’s life. In the beginning, we see Alice being rude to Gnat about his jokes and later we see her kindness with White Knight that declares the change in her attitude as moving towards adulthood. When the Queen gives Alice directions as how to be a proper queen, it indicates that Alice wasn’t actually prepared to become a queen, just as it’s hard to prepare to be an adult in real world. Every square leads her to different characters and every character teaches Alice something significant, as we know, advice can come from the most unexpected places. For example, revelation of identity imposed by the situation in the woods of forgetfulness, the White Queen teaches her to believe in impossible, the fall of Humpty Dumpty symbolizes ‘the fall of man for pride’ and also ‘the fall of innocence’ proceeding towards maturity, and likewise all the other characters. These teachings help Alice to inherent the characteristics of adulthood within her. The crown here, symbolizes the transformation of Alice from childhood to adulthood.

The Red King and the White King are almost doing nothing throughout the game as compared to their Queens. The Red King, as first encountered by Alice, is sleeping and his other pieces are performing their tasks to save him, whereas, the White King seems to be nervous not able to catch up with her Queen.

Now these characters resemble in moves of both as that of the White and Red King in the real chess board. These actions of Queens and Kings in the world behind the mirror, may portray the position of women in the Victorian era. Women, at that time, used to engage themselves working for their husband and family, and also middle class and the working class women were employed to earn bread for their family, in support of their husbands. Red Queen saying to Alice, “…if you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” may ascertain the idea that in a male-dominated society, women need to work double/toil harder in comparison to men in order to attain recognition. Women in the nineteenth century were not given much of the rights and privileges. This period is named after Queen Victoria, who was in the place of power. It is strange to encounter such a frivolous situation of women at the time when a lady herself was reigning over the society. When we behold Alice as a little woman moving from actual world to Looking Glass world, it may seem as she is struggling to change her confided world. She starts her journey all by herself which reflects the essence of independence in her. The characters like Live flowers resemble the social class structure that pushes Alice to follow their rules. When she chooses to be a Queen, she establishes the path for women/girls to upgrade their status because Alice learns that she must have a powerful authority to control Looking Glass world when one of the servants at once answers her after she turns into a Queen, so is the case for women in Victorian era, for example, Queen Victoria.

We need not be afraid of our high-rated opponents and feel incapable before them and it is then only that Alice is able to shake Red Queen in frustration and raises her voice against her rather than stitching her lips out of fear as evident in the beginning, that is, crown here, symbolizes her transformation from childhood to womanhood, gives her voice and finally renovates her status from a pawn to a queen. All the exclusive pieces are placed right behind the pawns. And a Pawn in comparison to them is just an ordinary, common piece that can slowly and gradually become a Queen. Even a pawn can cut down a King, pertaining to life, a single human being, regardless of his status, is enough to bring about revolution in the society, and win the castle of life. Alice suffering through all the odds, obstructions eventually made it, checkmated the Red King and turned into a Queen.

As a Queen in the game, the Red Queen and the White Queen are able to move swiftly and effortlessly. The White Queen, as she says, “jam-tomorrow and jam-yesterday, but never jam-today.”, and screams before pricking her thumb, travels in past and future which is true for the Queen,

in general, in chess that she can freely move in every direction possible, but she is seen nervous and messy all the time here, and ultimately at two points passes up a chance to checkmate and on another occasion she missed the opportunity to capture the Red Knight. Similarly, the Red Queen said to Alice, “Speak when you’re spoken to!”, and having supporting her words, she doesn’t announce it after putting White King on the check, hence, the check is ignored. Their individual character traits restrained them from performing their duties. This also discovers their absent-mindedness and reverse effect of the mirror world.

The Knight in the chess moves very distinctively and is allowed to jump over any other pieces. Riding and falling of the White Knight in looking glass world is signifying it’s unique L-shape movement. The inventions of White Knight are here to present his powerful character trait, like in chess board Knight is an only piece imbibed with many powers, unlike other pieces, not even a Queen can move in same way as Knight, though his inventions are unprofitable disclosing the touch of the illusionary world, still it is pointing to the fact that precaution is must, so his horse wears spikes on it’s ankles to protect it from shark bites and he collects things that might be useful in the difficult situation. The White Knight is the only character that is benevolent with Alice and saves Alice from the attack of Red Knight (stopping her to be a Queen/upgrade the position of women in society), but it can be an example of gender-biased society where a man is shown as a powerful figure and woman belongs to a weaker section. Alice, here, is represented as a weak girl and this action of White Knight throws light on the concept of feminism, and make Alice learn that a woman must stand for herself and must discover her own capabilities.

Chess wasn’t just one of the themes in Carroll’s story, indeed, it was the ground for the novel’s structure. The game of chess in real world is ‘logical’ while in looking glass world it can be called as ‘maddening game of chess’. Also as an inverted image created by the mirror, this indoor game is displayed as an outer giant field of chess. The pieces are definitely running and moving under the implied rules, but the pattern is not applied evenly. This game sets the deterministic way of life. Both life and chess are, more or less, synonymous in almost every aspect.

Citation: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-64-square-grid-design-of-through-the-looking-glass-24546391/

Figuring out what really mattered

Perfect as the wing of a bird maybe, it will never enable the bird to fly if unsupported by air.” 

                                                                                                                                               –Ivan Pavlov 

Upon School, I knew to describe the electronegativity trends on the periodic table and identify when to use logarithmic differentiation to simplify a derivative problem. Despite knowing how to execute these very particular tasks, I currently fail to make a profit from stocks, or how to obtain a good insurance policy. A factory-model school system that has been left essentially unchanged for nearly a century has been the driving force in my educational development.

I have been conditioned to complete tasks quickly, efficiently, and with an advanced understanding. I measured my self-worth as my ability to outdo my peers academically, thinking my scores were the only aspect that defined me, and they were. I was getting everything right. Then, I ran for the IPM exam for entry into an IIM and failed. Rejection. I didn’t even make it past the first round of cuts. How could that be? I was statistically a smart kid with a good head on my shoulders, right? Surely someone had to have made a mistake. Little did I know, this was my first exposure to meaning beyond numbers.

I discovered I had been wrongfully measuring my life through numbers–my football statistics, my test scores, my age, my height (I’m short). I had the epiphany that oh wait, maybe it was my fault that I had never prioritized inter-social skills, or open-mindedness (qualities my fellow candidates possessed). Maybe it was me. I resolved to alter my mindset, taking a new approach to the way I lived. From now on I would emphasize qualitative experiences over quantitative skills. 

I had never been more uncomfortable. I forced myself to learn to be vulnerable by asking questions even if I was terrified of being wrong. My proficiency in using data evidence could not teach me how to bargain to crack a deal, nor could my test scores show me how to be more open to criticism. The key to all of these skills, I was to discover, happened to be learning from those around me. Turns out, I couldn’t do everything by myself.

The process of achieving this new mindset came through the cultivation of relationships. I became fascinated by the new perspectives each person in my life could offer if I really took the time to connect. Not only did I improve my listening skills, but I began to consider the big-picture consequences my engagements could have. People interpret situations differently due to their own cultural contexts, so I had to learn to pay more attention to detail to understand every point of view. I took on the state of what I like to call collaborative independence, and to my delight, I wasn’t selected from an IIM but was selected for NMIMS which was good enough for my bachelor’s

Not long ago, I would have fallen apart in the presence of any uncertainty. As I further accept and advance new life skills, the more I realize how much remains uncertain in the world. After all, it is quite possible my future job doesn’t exist yet, and that’s okay. I can’t conceivably plan out my entire life at the age of 19, but what I can do is prepare myself to take on the unknown, doing my best to accompany others. Hopefully, my wings continue to enable me to fly, but it is going to take more than just me and my wings; I have to continue putting my faith in the air around me.

What is Beauty?

We live in a culture that is obsessed with beauty. Movies, shows and other media constantly push the idea that we should look good and that we should look for beauty in our partners.

But what is beauty? How do your define it ? What do you find beautiful?

The idea of external beauty tends to be very shallow. A person we know to be cruel and harsh might be attractive, but we would not describe them or see them as beautiful. Even the best make-up or photoshop filters are not enough to make someone truly beautiful.

Beauty is something internal.

A person who is there is for you when you are down, someone who is kind, intelligent, virtuous and giving is lot more beautiful, and that is a beauty that lasts a lifetime.

No matter how well we care for our looks, they will fade and change with time. They might be affected by sickness or an accident or simply age. They are not lasting or deeply purposeful. However, what’s inside is. Beauty is based on empathy and compassion. Beauty is having self-awareness and being willing to admit when we are wrong. Its about being generous and giving, emotionally as well as in the material sense. Its internal beauty that matters, however, what allows us to live truly good lives.

The Origin of Buddhism .

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

Lord Buddha

Introduction.

He was a spiritual personality . An ancient teacher and enlightened many . A founder of world religion Buddhism . He was popularly known as Gautama Buddha (also known as Siddhattha Gotama or Siddhārtha Gautama or Buddha Shakyamuni ) .

The Enlightened One who rediscovered an ancient path to release clinging and craving and escape the cycle of birth and rebirth. He taught for around 45 years and built a large following, both monastic and lay. His teaching is based on his insight into the arising of duḥkha (the unsatisfactoriness of clinging to impermanent states and things) and the ending of duhkha—the state called Nibbāna or Nirvana (extinguishing of the three fires).

Buddhism

Buddhism, one of the major religions and philosophical systems of southern and eastern Asia and of the world. Buddha is one of the many epithets of a teacher who lived in northern India sometime between the 6th and the 4th century before the Common Era.

The title buddha was used by a number of religious groups in ancient India and had a range of meanings, but it came to be associated most strongly with the tradition of Buddhism and to mean an enlightened being, one who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and achieved freedom from suffering.

According to the various traditions of Buddhism, there have been buddhas in the past and there will be buddhas in the future. Some forms of Buddhism hold that there is only one buddha for each historical age; others hold that all beings will eventually become buddhas because they possess the buddha nature (tathagatagarbha).

According to Buddhist doctrine, the universe is the product of karma, the law of the cause and effect of actions, according to which virtuous actions create pleasure in the future and nonvirtuous actions create pain.

Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.

Lord Buddha

History

Gautama Buddha ( born c. 6th–4th century BCE, Lumbini, near Kapilavastu, Shakya republic, Kosala kingdom [now in Nepal]—died, Kusinara, Malla republic, Magadha kingdom [now Kasia, India]).

Buddha is one of the many epithets of a teacher who lived in northern India sometime between the 6th and the 4th century before the Common Era.

Learnings from Gautama Buddha.

1. “Three things cannot be hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.”

2. “You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.”

3. “You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

4. “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”

5. “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”

Link

ELON MUSK

ELON MUSK, the famous and most successful person in the tech world, who played many roles and faced many struggles to become what he is today. Elon Musk was born and raised in South Africa.

We all know him as an entrepreneur, businessman, CEO of Tesla and spacex, but he is also a skilled investor, software developer, designer, inventor, rocket scientist, actor, film producer, one of the richest man in the world.

During his school days, he was a victim of severe bullying. At the age of 12, he created a video game(blaster) and sold it to a computer magazine. Elon Musk is the founder of X.com (later it became paypal), spacex, Tesla motors.

Recently Elon Musk turned 50, over the past decades Musk managed to become CEO of Tesla and spacex, founder of the boring company, co-founder of OpenAI, Neuralink. He also played a vital role in space rockets, electric cars, solar batteries.

“”Failure is a option here, if things are not failing then you are not innovative enough.””.                 – Elon Musk

“” I think it’s possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.””                                                                   –Elon Musk

Living Life Intentionally

People, especially those in young adulthood or in their middle ages, often find themselves questioning their life and purpose. You might find yourself wondering, what am I doing? Or, what should I do? The answer to these questions differs from person to person, and what it means to live intentionally also varies depending on the person. In case an individual is not able to find an answer to these, there can be a certain discomfort or disappointment as they feel lost and without purpose. However, there is a basic framework that can be adhered to which helps everyone one of us live intentionally.

Some important qualities

Firstly, we must learn to nurture wisdom in ourselves. Wisdom means that we are able to recognise what is good for us, what is bad for us, and what we are indifferent to. It is easy to understand what is good for you, like honesty, kindness, empathy, and what is bad for you like, dishonesty, greed, jealousy. In the indifferent category come the things that are not completely good or bad, like money, success, possessions, etc. You should not be too worried about whether you have a lot of these things or not, as they do not define your life’s worth.

Next there is temperance, which includes things like self-restraint, self-discipline and self-control. It is about balancing the short-term gains with the things that are good for us in the long-term. It also means that there should be moderation in all things, whether that be eating, watching TV or even working. Learning to exhibit self-control in your life and work towards things that provide long-term rewards rather than instant gratification will work wonders in your life. The classic example of this is exercise, which does not have any immediate results unless we are disciplined and stick to it, and after a while the hard work will show.

Following this is courage, which is not the elimination of fear or anxiety, but rather feeling the fear and anxiety and still acting in the right way. Courage is perhaps one of the most important qualities in life in general. When we are afraid of something, we should try to deal with that fear directly by leaning into it rather than running away from it. This is a display of courage. For example, if someone is scared of jumping in the water, the best way to overcome this fear is to simply jump without thinking about it too much. It is the same in case we have to make a difficult decision in life, but we are afraid of making it. Being courageous means we make the decision despite the fear behind it.

Lastly there is the virtue of justice. This is not to mean justice like in our legal system or jurisprudence. Rather it means our duty to the society and to our fellow man. So, if we want to live intentionally, we also have to live in ways that are beneficial to other people. This implies being caring and considerate of people around us. Justice also means doing the right things whenever we can, which is called being righteous. Righteousness helps us in living fulfilling and happy lives, free from feelings of greed or anger. An example for this could be if you see someone drop money, would you act in service of yourself and be greedy (pick it up and take it) or be righteous and just (pick it up and return it). The latter should be the one to aim for.

Conclusion

Hence, it can be concluded that living life intentionally may mean different things to different people, but there are certain qualities we can follow to help in our search for meaning. It is important to highlight here that there is a difference between happiness and meaning. Happiness occurs at points in our life for short periods, while meaning enlightens our whole life and gives us direction. Every person’s meaning in life may be different, but it serves the same purpose, which is to give us purpose. So, finding meaning in our lives will help us to live intentionally, and will also help us to become overall better people.

Agriculture

When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization.”

— Daniel Webster

Introduction

It all started thousand of years ago , when the human civilization came into existence . Agriculture was a key to survival . People were farming for there domestic purpose , not for the others .

As the civilization started to grow accustomed of agriculture , they grew food in surplus that enabled people to live in cities. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world.

The development of agriculture enabled the human population to grow many times larger than could be sustained by hunting and gathering.

It was the beginning of different civilization in different parts of the World. From those civilizations , one of them was our’s The Indus Valley Civilization . Vedic literature provides some of the earliest written record of agriculture in India. Rigveda hymns , describes plowing, fallowing, irrigation, fruit and vegetable cultivation.

Some of the ancient and historical evidence suggests rice and cotton were cultivated in the Indus Valley.

Agriculture : In India and World today .

India ranks second worldwide in farm outputs. As per 2018, agriculture employed Indian work force and contributed 17–18% to country’s GDP.

In 2016, agriculture and allied sectors like animal husbandry, forestry and fisheries accounted for 15.4% of the GDP (gross domestic product) with about 41.49% of the workforce in 2020.India ranks first in the world with highest net cropped area followed by US and China.The total agriculture commodities export was US $ 3.50 billion in March – June 2020.

Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of India’s population. Share of agriculture and allied sectors in gross value added (GVA) of India at current prices stood at 17.8 % in FY20.

During 2019-20 crop year, food grain production reached a record of 296.65 million tonnes. In 2020-21, Government of India is targeting food grain production of 298 million tonnes.

India is among the 15 leading exporters of agricultural products in the world. Agricultural export from India reached US$ 38.54 billion in FY19 and US$ 35.09 billion in FY20.

Agriculture is an important industry in the United States. The agriculture industry, which includes both crops and livestock, is responsible for producing most of the world’s foods and fabrics. Agriculture impacts so many things that it’s hard to imagine a world without this important industry.

Schemes and Initiatives

Due to the high requirement of agriculture . It is important for the government to take initiatives and provide better infrastructure to the farmers. However , the required level of investment for the development of marketing, storage and cold storage infrastructure is estimated to be huge.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), established in 1905, was responsible for the search leading to the “Indian Green Revolution” of the 1970s. The Union Minister of Agriculture is the president of the ICAR. The Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute develops new techniques for the design of agricultural experiments, analyses data in agriculture, and specialises in statistical techniques for animal and plant breeding.

Schemes by government for Indian agriculture :

  • Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme.
  • Rainfed Area Development Programme (RADP)
  • Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)
  • Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)
  • National Agriculture Market (e-NAM)
  • Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan yojana.
  • Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
  • Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme.
  • Pashu Kisan Credit Card Scheme.
  • PM-Kisan Scheme.

Conclusion

Agriculture sector is one of the prominent sector in India as well as all over the world . India is becoming self – sufficient in pulses and other crops .

Gone are the days , when India was unable to provide sufficient amount of food to the citizens . Gone are the days , when people used to think agriculture was not as important as other sectors . Gone are the days , when people used to think less of farmers . And gone are the days , when people were less educated about agriculture.

Farming is a profession of hope.

— Brett Brian

Link

Minimalism

What is Minimalism?

Minimalism is defined as a design or style in which the simplest and fewest elements are used to create the maximum effect. Minimalism had its origins in the arts—with the artwork featuring simple lines, only a few colors, and careful placement of those lines and colors. More recently, it has become representative of a lifestyle that aims to remove clutter from all facets of life. 

Minimalism is all about owning only what adds value and meaning to your life (as well as the lives of the people you care about) and removing the rest. It’s about removing the clutter and using your time and energy for the things that remain. We only have a certain amount of energy, time, and space in our lives. In order to make the most of it, we must be intentional about how we’re living each day.

There are many different approaches to minimalism, but it’s really just a tool to help you prioritize what’s important in your life.

Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist offers this definition: “Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things that bring you joy and the removal of those that do not.” It might be called simple living, tiny living, intentional living, and a myriad of other things—but there is at least one common thread: the idea of curating the things we own to best reflect our priorities and vision for our lives.

If the idea of minimalism sounds intimidating to you or if you’ve seen some images and thought, “that’s a nice idea, but I’d never want to live like that,” don’t worry. You can benefit from applying minimalism in your life whether you live in a tiny home, suburban house, or a mansion. You can use minimalism as a guiding philosophy and customize based on what works best for you.

Common Misconceptions of Minimalism

Contrary to what some people think, there aren’t any actual rules to minimalism. There’s no official board of minimalism to determine whether or not you’re doing minimalism right. Minimalism truly looks different for everyone.

You don’t have to own below a certain number of items. You can still have nice things, and no, you don’t need to get rid of your favorite collection—whether it’s books, shoes, or music. Minimalism doesn’t have to look like white-walled, modern and sparse homes you’ve probably seen in magazines and videos, a common minimalism mistake. Minimalism is also not a one and done project. It is a a continual practice to ensure everything in our lives is working for us in our vision, not against us. Its used over the years to make substantial changes in our careers, home, lifestyle, buying behaviors, etc.

Everyone can benefit from applying the principles of minimalism to their lives. It’s a process of removing distractions and things that no longer add value to our lives.

Why Minimalism Is An Effective Tool For Living An Intentional Life?

In the end, minimalism is less about owning fewer items and more about actively making choices on what kind of things truly matter to you.

We exist in a society that creates false value on owning more stuff and having no time to use them much. The constant pursuit of bigger and better is an endless cycle. There will always be a nicer car to buy, a bigger boat, a larger home, and or a faster private jet. Did you know that there’s a website for billionaires to shop? Yeah. It never ends.

It may seem like an overwhelming challenge at first, but as you untangle the life you built around owning more things, you’ll find the stress disappearing and the world starting to slow down. Those choices you make will begin to build a muscle that will fundamentally change the way you live your life.

International day of Tropics

The serenity of the lulling ocean is a wondrous thing to behold..more precious than the gems coveted and covered in platinum or gold…

Oksana Rus

Introduction

International day of Tropics is observed every year on June 29th . This day is celebrated to highlight the different challenges and opportunities faced by the nation as well as by the people who lived in tropical areas .

Firstly , you want to know about things like :

What are tropics ?

Why we celebrate international day of Tropics ?

Or

Is it worth it to talk about these things and is it really important ?

Well hold your horses and try to calm .

What is tropic day and why we celebrate it ?

Well a tropic day is celebrated to highlight the importance of Tropics , it signifies extraordinary and astounding diversity of tropical nations .

The Tropic defined as a area /region between tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn . The day aim at promoting tropical regions and awareness to the people about the diversity of these regions .

While these regions go through little seasonal changes on day to day basis because of some factors like tomography , climatic variation that causes changes in temperature and make these regions warm.

This day introduced to the world when in June 29th , 2014 twelve leading tropical research institutes come together and collaborate. The inaugural state of the Tropics report was launched . The report offers some unique perspective for the increasing the importance of these regions .

United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/70/267 in 2016, which declared that 29 June of each year is to be observed as the International Day of the Tropics.

The International day of Tropics briefly explained the issues affecting the tropical zone’s all over the world. To raise awareness and important role the countries played to Sustainable goals .

International day of Tropics 2021

As per the state tropics report the theme of this year is “ THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN THE TROPICS ”

With the record of sustainable development goals as well as developmental scope . The biodiversity of these regions are maximum and its loss is also greater there. Tropical regions comprise 98% world’s mangrove forests, and around 99% mangrove species.

Due to the subpolar zone the Sun is directly overhead which is one of the region of extinction of flora and fauna in the Tropics. The region is subjected to myriad and need immediate attention to ensure sustainable development.

More than 50% of renewable water resource could be founded their. But the threat lies which causes eviction of lives in the Tropics.

Importance :

Due to the problems it’s our duty as a human being to spread awareness about the implications in climate changes , deforestation , urbanization , global warming effect the biodiversity and lives in Tropics.

The International day of Tropics organize many events in which people share their stories , events and lives in these areas and formulate strategies to ensure the development of such regions .

You who sacrifice fortunes to see the luxuriance of the tropics or the polar lights of the arctic, must pay more dearly to see the One for whom the luxuriance of the tropics is poverty and the polar lights are a tallow candle.

Nikolaj Velimirović, Prayers by the Lake

Link:

WARLI- THE TRIBAL ART

Tribal art is the visual arts and material culture of indigenous people. Warli is one of the Tribal art forms. India is a place of culture and Warli is a cultural folk style art. It is created by the tribal people from North Sahyadri Range in Maharastra, India. 

Warli painting traditions in Maharashtra are among the finest examples of folk culture. The Warli painting is created with the concept of Mother Nature and elements of nature. This type of painting was not discovered until the 1970s.Warli art is believed to have originated 2000years ago. 

The Warli painter’s main way of their life is farming and a large source of food for the tribe. So they greatly respect nature and they create the Warli art by centering this. The Wrli artists use their clay huts as the canvas.Basically this art is too simple to draw. It is characterized as geometrical shapes. The walls are only decorated to mark special occasions like weddings,festivals or harvests.

For this painting the preparation should be great. According to the Warli artists, to draw Warli on the clay huts there is some pre – preparation . Firstly , the walls should be covered by cow-dung, next earth and lastly with the reddish-brown terracotta paste. Then a paste of powdered rice and gum has to be prepared and as pens the artists use a thin stick of Baharu tree. And the upcoming result is the Warli paint. One interesting thing is there is no straight line in the Warli paint. The art is usually crooked lines, dots , circle , square , triangles and others geometric design. 

We must say that whoever discovers this art style he should be too intelligent because this art style has a symbol in every touch. This painting is a visual poetry where its evry symbols stand for a significance. Like, the circle represents the sun and moon. The  square represents the sacred land and the triangle represents trees and mountains. Square is the central motif in most of this type of painting. There is one more thing by which you will be more interested that is the central motif of this paint is such as pottery sense of hunting , fishing or farming , dancing or festive mode etc. Actually this type of painting indicates the daily life of villagers , which is apart from other modern art styles. You can notice in this art the ‘Tarpa dance’- actually tarpa is like any instrument , different men play it turn by turn. When music plays the villagers including men and women join their hands and move in a circle around the tarpa players.   

 But here I have a point to tell you that Jivya Soma Mashe , is the artist in Thane district who has played a great role in making Warli paint famous.

But all art is disappearing in this digital life . it is a matter of concern but all are not the same in this world. A few kind hearted people are still the same as they were in the past , and keep this wonderful traditional culturing art. Thus we can mention a saviour of this culture , Govardhan Eco Village in Thane district that keeps this painting alive by providing Warli artists a platform to display their art. In 2016 a group of Japanese artists made an effort to keep this art alive. They adopted the Ganjad village in Palghar district. To promote this art , this Japanese group has also been decorating huts according to the formula of Warli paint. By the way, Dahanu is one more village to keep this painting alive .  

Being in the imagination or live in the realistic world .

Being born in money or torn away by poverty is the world where we live

The Hallucination

Are the money makers living their life without fear ?

Can a poorer get to live more life than its fated ?

Will you ignore the one who hurt you immensely ?

Or like a coward , can you run from the truth ?

If yes , than pray to god for providing you such an imaginary world . Don’t take it seriously but you really need to wake up .

The Truth

The life that we are living is not a game to play . We need be realistic while taking decisions in our life . I don’t want to sound like an arrogant person . But we need to think before taking any decision because it may or may not harm our future . In our life we only focus on materialistic things and grow accustom to them . Which leads to the situation where we become selfish and fiercely jealous to one’s personality .

We judge them regarding to their status , money , power , clothes and their physique . Ding ding …. It’s time for the truth we become impetuous .

So what we learn from OJO -MOJO . 1. Like OJO that donot study and fail in your class. OR 2. MOJO that learn workhard and get award from the school . I choose options 1 (hehe don’t get any ideas I am a hardworker so I will choose my handsome MOJO not an overconfident OJO )


The REALITY

Not against the world of imagination just a believer of reality .

Life is not easy I agree with you but can we make it easy , Is the question only you can answer .

For me , we can only when we are focusing on our work rather than its result . I am not repulsive about getting a promotion on my first day on the work . But I am excited about learning new things and improve my capabilities . That how we need to react . I didn’t get the idea of getting a luxurious jet when I didn’t even have a penny to spend on my health . Well if you can just don’t forget to take me as well ( Huh.. greedy me ) .

I do imagine my life being in the island with some hot people around me ( its a wild imagination) . Well I can’t change that . But what I can change is the accept the reality ( like sitting in my PJ’s , eating popcorn and drooling over Michele Morrone yeah I am fan of 365 days ) .

Conclusion

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.

Lao Tzu
things that are written in the blog is my perspective of life . i am not taunting anyone . 
its your life you can live according to your rules .

and yes pictures that i used in the blogs are from pintrest .

enjoy your reading .