Friday, September 24, 2010

Inspiring simplicity

Multi-billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg likes to wear worn jeans, cheap T-shirts and lives in a rented house. To relax, he likes drinking beer and eating fast food with workmates, it was reported here on Friday.

The man responsible for connecting over 500 million people across the world through social networking site Facebook could easily pass off as an ordinary 26-year-old.

Facebook founder donates $100 mn to Newark schools

The Sun on Friday reported that Zuckerberg, who is said to be worth 4.3 million pounds, he wears jeans, cheap T-shirt and flip-flops.

In fact, he does not own the four-bedroom house where he lives in Palo Alto, California. He pays a relatively modest 3,500 pounds a month as rent. He doesn't even have a posh sports car, instead driving a Japanese saloon.

Zuckerberg prefers to unwind after work by heading to a bar to have beer and eat fast food with workmates.

He also likes going out with his 25-year-old girlfriend Priscilla Chan to a cheap yet cheerful meal at a Mexican restaurant.

'It's amazing - Mark doesn't seem at all bothered about fancy cars and expensive possessions. He's still living like a college kid.

'He will eat lunch in the canteen with the other workers. A lot of the employees actually have nicer cars than his,' a Facebook source was quoted as saying.

The web entrepreneur and reluctant celebrity was born in the New York suburb of Dobbs Ferry on May 14, 1984. His dad was a dentist and mum a psychiatrist, the media report said.

In 2004 he launched Facebook and moved to Palo Alto in northern California. Since then he has been in his rented home a short walk from Facebook headquarters.

His neighbours don't earn six-figure salaries.

A local resident said: 'We are just regular working folks round here. It's cool to have a billionaire living on the street but he does not stand out.

200 million Facebook users play games every month

'He mostly keeps himself to himself and doesn't have wild parties or anything like that. He'll often walk to work. He seems happy with his lifestyle for now.'

When Zuckerberg has his evenings off, he and his girlfriend enjoy dinner at local Mexican Cafe del Sol. On one visit the couple queued on the street for a table for 10 minutes with the rest.

A local at the bar frequented by the billionaire said: 'He just blends in with the other customers. He could be any other office worker enjoying a few beers. He doesn't flash his cash around.'

Zuckerberg is down-to-earth, but is always glued to his iPhone.

An eyewitness who saw him at a ceremony at California's Stanford Business School said: 'He was sat at the back, tapping away on his phone the whole time. There was a funny moment when one of the speakers on stage mentioned Facebook.

'One of his friends nudged him and they laughed.'

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

A beautiful Assignment-Beautifully Done

Once up on a Valentines Day...

[Anonymous kid] Daddy Daddy...

[Anonymous Dad] Yes Timmy !

[Ano...eh... Timmy] Daddy, I've got an assignment to write for school. Will you help me? Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Dad] Oh ! Okay !! What's yr assignment on?

[Timmy] Love !

[Dad] Wow ! You have an assignment on it ? In my days, the teachers were against our er... assignments ;)

[Timmy] No Dad, we are supposed to write something on the meaning of love...its Valentines day, na !

[Dad] Love...hmm lemme see !

[Timmy] wait..wait... Lemme write it down... :)

[Dad] Love... Love is about Lies !

[Timmy] Lies ???

[Dad] You see, Timmy... All my life, i have said lies in love & i've found it to be the best gift you can give a person.

[Timmy] How, Dad?

[Dad] Well, the first time i met yr was for a Valentines day 7 yrs ago. She was not the hottest of chicks in college, if you know wt i mean...

[Timmy] Hot chick ?

[Dad] You get it in due time, son... ;)
Anyways... i saw this cute girl standing at a corner of the dance floor. I heard one of my friends say that she couldn't get any date for the party.
So here i was, cursing my luck as my date's grandmom expired n that left me in the same predicament ?

[Timmy] Pedica ??

[Dad] Predicament...means..eh, problem !

[Timmy] Oh...

[Dad] So i went upto yr Mom n told her.."Hey, How come such a beautiful lady like you does not have all the guys crooning over you?"
Now, i knew very well that even i wouldn't have asked her to dance if i had a choice, but it was that one little lie that got us together !

[Timmy] But Dad, aint it bad to lie ?

[Dad] Son, sometimes you have to lie to make the ppl you love happy !
Every Valentines day after that, i used to tell yr mom that she was the most beautiful girl in the whole world.
Now yes, i think she's cute & pretty in a special kind of way, but you tell me...Do you think she has the legs of Sharon Stone and the figure of Alicia Silverstone ?

[Timmy] Eh... I dont know any of these stones, dad !

[Dad] Hmm.. ok...Lets just say that yr mom was just an ordinary Wilma from the Flintstones !

[Timmy] I know Wilma ! I know Wilma !!

[Dad] Hehe... & then again...
When yr mom was pregnant with you... she used to ask me every day how she looked ? Did she look fat ?
Now frankly, she had gained about 30-40 pounds... & was always in one of her moods..
But i'd tell her.."Nooooooooooooo Honey, you are glowing ! You look fabulous !!
Now if i told her she looked like a fat cow, it would have hurt her !

[Timmy] Ya...

[Dad] So you see son...Love is when you say those little lies to keep someone happy !
ok... i've gotta go now... All the best with yr assignment...

[Timmy] Bye Dad !

............................

[Timmy] Love means lying ??? Maybe i'll ask Mom
Mommyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...

[Timmy] Mom..Mom... i have an assignment for school...you will help me, na !

[Mom] Timmy, you know i'v to go out with daddy in another 1/2 hr

[Timmy] Pleaseeeeeeeee Mommy !

[Mom] ok...Timmy. wts the topic ?

[Timmy] Eh... Love !

[Mom] Love...Love is about knowing the goodness of a person's heart, honey !

[Timmy] Goodness of heart ? huh ?

[Mom] Its like this...
When i was in college, yr Dad used to tell me i should be in hollywood. Now i knew he was just lying, but i also knew that he dint want me in hollywood, but rt next to him!
& when i was pregnant, i used to look so fat i looked like Santa Claus ! But yr Dad would say i was looked weak n would feed me everything he could find !
His lies were so dumb, i even thought i had married a stupid...but the truth is that this stupid cared enough to lie...just to make me happy !

[Timmy] But... he was lying, rt ?

[Mom] Well honey...he was just being a guy !
& i knew everytime that he was lying to me... but every single time, i also knew that he said those lies coz he loved me !

[Timmy] Hmm...

[Mom] Ok honey... i'v to go get ready now. byeeeee

........................

Assignment
Topic : Love
Author : Timmy

Love... When someone lies to you n you smile... coz you know the person cares enough for yr happyness to lie to you !!!

The End

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The 7 Habits of Highly Unhappy People!

It’s only when we realise and acknowledge that we are each 100% responsible for our happiness that we start to ‘notice’ the things that we do that creates our unhappiness. Only when we fully accept responsibility for our own happiness will we start to eliminate the habits that sabotage our contentment and joy. They are habits that many of us have learned to justify (a habit in itself!) as we often don’t want to see and accept that they are the cause of our unhappiness. They are also habits that we sometimes want to see as ‘natural’ as they ‘seem’ to form the very fabric of our day-to-day relationships. They are the 7 habits of highly unhappy people.

Judging
Have you noticed when you judge another you lose your inner peace? And inner peace is the primary ingredient of authentic happiness. Not only do we learn to judge but close on the mental heals of our judgements often comes the sentence and the punishment! All together (judgment, sentence and punishment) they make up the package called ‘condemnation’ which is guaranteed happiness killer!

Criticising
When we criticise it means we are attacking and somewhere ‘in there’ is usually anger albeit in a milder form. And when you are angry you cannot be happy. Yes some of us do attempt to justify our attack by calling it ‘constructive criticism’ but if there is any anger present it’s more often revenge or punishment in disguise! Definitely not a happy habit but a common one all the same.

Complaining
It seems to be endemic in some cultures to complain. Complaining signals the presence of upsetness and therefore the absence of happiness. Whereas in ‘giving feedback’ and ‘making a request’ ensures there is no discontentment. Easy theory, but hard to practice, especially if we have been playing that old ‘complaining record’ all our life.

Blaming
Projecting blame onto someone else is not only a happiness killer but usually a strategy to avoid responsibility. It’s driven by the perfect combination of anger and fear and is therefore a painful cry that sounds like, “It’s all your fault”, but which, when decoded, really means, “I have just made my self very unhappy”!

Arguing
Trying to prove we are right, or attempting to make the other as right as us, is usually both a tense and grumpy affair. Neither side is happy in the process, and even if it seems one side has won, any happiness is short lived until the next opportunity to ‘be right’ is craved for and invoked! To argue is to tell the world that we prefer misery to merriment!

Competing
It’s not so easy to see why the habit of competing is an unhappy pastime. Most of us have assimilated the belief that competition is good, fun and even joyful.
But all we have to do is glance at the faces of long distance runners, tennis players and even snooker players and we will see 99% of the game is played in a state of abject suffering. Occasionally, in the middle of the game or the match, someone will let a little joy slip out, but it doesn’t last long. All competition contains fear by definition, which along with anger, are the sworn enemies of happiness.

Controlling
Attempting to make others dance to our tune is always an impossible task. Expecting the world to be and do as we would wish is an expectation too far. Both are demonstrations that we still believe others are responsible for our happiness. It is a belief by which the world runs. If the truth were realise and lived i.e. that we are each responsible for our own happiness, the world would be a very different planet on which to live. One day perhaps!

So there you have it. Only seven of many habits that we activate sometimes several times a day. In so doing we block the light of the sun of happiness from shinning through our life. Each habit is embedded in a culture in which it has become socially acceptable to think and act in such ways. And so it is that we unknowingly collude with each other to sustain our unhappiness. And as we do we gift the 7 habits of highly unhappy people to the next generation

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Words are important

There were 4 guys Rahul, Ajay, Manav and Vijay were strolling down the road when they found a small bottle of wine. When they rubbed the bottle, a genie appeared. Thankful that they had released him , the genie said, “Next to you all are 4 swimming pools, I will give each of you a wish. When you run towards the pool and jump, you shout what you want the pool of water to become, and then your wish will come true.”



Rahul ran towards the pool, jumped and shouted “Wine”. The pool immediately changed into a pool of wine. Rahul was ecstatic.



Next came Ajay. He did the same and shouted, “Vodka” and immersed himself into a pool of vodka.



Manav jumped and shouted, “Beer”.



The last of them was Vijay. He was running towards the pool when suddenly he stepped on a banana peel. He slipped towards the pool and shouted,







“Shit!!!!!!!………”

Thursday, September 9, 2010

விமர்சிக்கும் உலகம் இது

பட்டினத்தார் எத்தனை பெரிய துறவி? கோடிக்கணக்கான சொத்தை அப்படியே விட்டுவிட்டுக் கோவணத்துடன் வெளியேறிய கடுந்துறவி. சோற்றாசை கூட இல்லாத சந்யாஸி. கையில் ஓடு வைத்திருந்த பத்திரிகிரியாரைத் சொத்து வைத்திருக்கும் குடும்பஸ்தன் என்று கிண்டலடித்த அப்பழுக்கற்ற துறவி. அவரையே உலகம் என்ன பாடுபடுத்தியது தெரியுமா?



நடந்த களைப்பால் வயலில் படுத்திருந்தார் பட்டினத்தார். அறுவடை நடந்திருந்த வயல் அது. குச்சி குச்சியாய்ப் பூமியில் இருந்து கிளம்பி அறுபடாதிருந்த வைக்கோல் அவர் உடம்பில் குத்திக் கொண்டிருந்தது. அதைச் சட்டை செய்யாமல் (சட்டை இல்லாமல்) படுத்துக் கிடந்தார். இருக்கும் போதே இறந்து போன மாதிரி இருந்தார்.



அந்த வழியாகப் போன இரண்டு பெண்கள் வரப்பு வழியாக நடந்து போக முடியாதபடி பட்டினத்தார் வரப்பு மீது தலைவைத்துப் படுத்திருந்தார். ஒரு பெண்மணி, “யாரோ மகானா!” என்று அவரை வணங்கி வரப்பிலிருந்து இறங்கி நடந்தார். மற்றொரு பெண்மணியோ, “ஆமாம்… ஆமாம்… இவரு பெரிய சாமியாராக்கும்… தலையணை வைச்சுத் தூங்கறான் பாரு… ஆசை பிடிச்சவன்” என்று கடுஞ்சொல் வீசினார். அவர்கள் அங்கிருந்து போனதும் எழுந்து உட்கார்ந்த பட்டினத்தார், “ஆஹா… நமக்கு இந்த அறிவு இது நாள் வரை இல்லையே” என்று வருந்தி வரப்பிலிருந்து தலையைக் கீழே வைத்துப் படுத்தார்.



சற்று நேரத்தில் அந்த இரண்டு பெண்களும் அதே வழியாகத் திரும்பி வந்தனர். வரப்பிலிருந்து தலையை இறக்கிக் கீழே வைத்திருந்த பட்டினத்தாரைப் பார்த்து முதல் பெண் பரிதாபப்பட்டு, “பார்த்தாயா… நீ சொன்னதைக் கேட்டு உடனே கீழே இறங்கிப் படுத்துட்டாரூ… இப்பவாவது ஒத்துக்கோ… இவரு மகான்தானே…! என்றார். அந்த பெண்மணியோ, தனக்கே உரித்த பாணியில் “அடி போடி… இவனெல்லாம் ஒரு சாமியாரா? தன்னைப் பத்தி யார் யாரு என்ன என்ன பேசுறாங்கன்னு ஒட்டுக் கேட்கிறான்… அதைப் பத்திக் கவலைப்படறான். இவனெல்லாம் ஒரு சாமியாரா?” என்று ஒரு வெட்டு வெட்டினாள். பட்டினத்தாருக்குத் தலை சுற்றியது.



எப்படி இருந்தாலும் உலகம் நம்மை விமர்சிக்கும். இது பேருண்மை. தரமானவர்களின் தரமான விமர்சனத்தை மதிக்க வேண்டும். விமர்சிக்க வேண்டும் என்கிற வெறியுடன் விமர்சிக்கிறவர்கள் விமர்சனத்தைப் புறக்கணியுங்கள்!!!