Be like the flowing river
Silent in the night
Be not afraid of the dark
If there are stars in the sky reflect them back
If there are clouds in the sky
Remember clouds,like river, are water
So gladly reflect them too
In your own tranquil depths
-Manuel Bandeira
I am currently reading a book by paulo coelho, which has the same title as this post. I just wanted to share with you some excerpts from this book, which i like the most. For persons who wonder who paul coelho is , he is the author of the book Alchemist , a bestseller.
THINGS TO BE LEARNT FROM A PENCIL
1) Your are capable of great things but you must not forget there is a hand guiding you. That hand is God
2)The pencil has to be sharpened now and then .This makes the pencil suffer a little but it is sharper then and writes better.So you must learn to bear pains and sorrows which will make us a better human.
3)Pencil allows to corrects its mistakes with an eraser. Similary correcting what we did is not BAD THING it helps us to keep us on the road to justice.,
4)What really matters in the pencil is the graphite not the wooden exterior. So pay attention to what is happening inside you.
5)Pencil always leaves a mark. So you should leave a mark in life through your actions. Be conscious of that in whatever you do
The Moment of dawn
A priest gathered his students together and asked them how do we know the exact moment the night ends and the day begins.
when light is enough to distinguish a sheep from a dog said a boy
when light is enough to differentiate between a fig and olive tree.
rabbi said not thats not the right one
the boys asked thn what is the right answer
WHEN A STRANGER APPROACHES AND WE THINK HE IS OUR BROTHER AND ALL THE CONFLICTS DISAPPEAR THATS THE MOMENT WHEN NIGHT ENDS AND DAY BEGINS
The book is absolutely fantastic and inspirational, guys if you find a chance read it :)
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one interesting tidbit not related to this post. Every one is must know that google is yahoo's competitor in the search engine industry.But only few would know that if google makes profits yahoo will be happy because yahoo bought 2.7 million shares out of the 271 million shares of google during the initial public offering .Who knew that yahoo will get into trouble by funding google themselves :)
ReplyDeletehttp://stocks.about.com/od/advancedtrading/a/Goog0826.htm.
ReplyDeleteJust read this :)
http://fortunesmallbusiness.asia/2009/09/08/technology/oracle_safra_catz.fortune/index.htm
Nice book :) I too wanna read it... are you having a hard copy?
ReplyDelete@jeff:
ReplyDeleteFew more with pencil on contrary,
1. If u r continuously sharpening the pencil, one day there will b nothin left.. So dont sharpen to last long..
2. Pencil can be sharpen using a sharpner, Blade , knife and even mouth if the God is a child. The destiny of the pecil is determined by its user. the pencil cant do anything for it. Similarly, we are not responsible for our life, eveythin depends on the environment we live in.
3. According to the novel, if God is the hand. whether the author mean to say that God is responsilbe for all our mistakes?
4. For the pecil to be strong enough, what really matters is the wooden exterior. if the quality of the wood is poor then u may hav to sharpen the pencil till the end without writing anything.
5. The quality and quantity of graphite inside a pencil is fixed. u cant add more graphite or change the graphite inside. Likewise the potential and its utilization cant be changed for a particular person.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@Hari:
ReplyDeleteIf you beleive God is responsible for good things to happen[going to temple on the day of exam morning!] so is He/She[rather THAT -> coz I beleive it is a "power"] for all the sins which we do. If you make your mind understand this fact you will never become angry again in your life coz it is the supernatural power doing anything and everything.
What you told about wood was absolutely correct. Not only a human's internal thoughts/characters determine his/her total character which is very much influenced by the other humans/living beings he/she is associated with.
Potential cannot change I agree, but utilization can be changed if the person is smart enough, there are many things associated with this:
* Amount of pressure that you put in your hand for writing.
* The amount of safety you take in storing the pencil :P and so on...
PS: You are a classified PESSIMIST ;)
@Hari
ReplyDeleteIf the pencil becomes blunt without sharpening you cant use it and no one buys a pencil for just using it with a blunt head or without sharpening it.Pencil which has not been used for long tends to lose its darkness
Pencil can be sharpened even with the mouth but no other method will give a smooth finish as the sharpener does.
God is the guiding hand but it is the pencil that produces the writing and not the hand. If the pencil is good the writing is good . if the pencil is bad however good the hand may be the writing will still be poor , thats why no one writes with a blunt pencil :)
The wood supports the graphite. Even before the pencil was invented people wrote with the graphite.After all no one writes with the wood alone.
Each graphite has a particular composition for the thikness and darkness of the line it is supposed to produce. It is no use if a HB pencil writes like a 2H one every pencil has a particular purpose which it must fulfill
@meena
Yeah am reading a hard copy of that :)
After all no one can get a neat handwriting with a leaky pen :)
ReplyDelete@Jeff good explanation :) if it is your own copy, if you are able to finish it in the near future[before diwali say :)] give it to Sundar, I want to read this book.
ReplyDelete@ meena
ReplyDeletei will try to finish to the best of my abilities before diwali:)
Why should Hari be looked at with this pessimistic perspective, what if he is right and what if paul coelho is not god and both of u (jeff, meena) have not foreseen what hari has with a better vision
ReplyDeleteLets take them down mate - Hari
Jeffrey do u know something - pencil might have a smooth look when sharpened by sharpener. But its graphite tip point breaks too often and crumbles and crushes. But when sharpened with blade it holds good and strong and the feel u get when u write is amazing. Sooo..never gift the horse by its mouth.
However, god is also responsible. To an artist, even a broken bent brush or a blunt pencil can serve the purpose and make wonders out of it. So wat ultimately matters is not the quality of the pencil lead, but the hand that holds it and the technique or talent it posseses to carve anything out of what is given
Coming to the wood. Given a graphite block - would u be able to write using it. U can only make tar black patches out of it. To create anything that looks elegant and professional what u need is a structure. Bingo - the wood is the architecture, the structure and not only the support. The wood is what u sharpen from the outside and not the graphite. Although wood is not wat gives the imprint - it is what makes the pencil a sellable package and buyable good.
Nothing is good or bad to everyone. If its good to 10, then its bad for 20. So god has his own game and rules. So god lets u into certain dips to make u a better person. So those dips are nothing but learning curves - so u cant say the guiding hand will always gift ur doorstep with good happy deeds.
Pencil never leaves a mark - it always leaves an erasable / fading mark which is not the ideal example. You always cant erase what u do in life. It sometimes leaves behind an unforgettable pit hole!!
You let yourself get sharpened. But where is this leading you - your own extermination one day. Pencils shelf life is very short - not even to the tiny portion of being remembered for its honorary service :) not like a parker pen or pierre cardin pen ;)
So probably Paul Coelho was not always right in this example.
But the 2nd half of the post was absolute sense. A great explanation that highlights the strength of unity, coexistence and ability to coalesce
ReplyDelete@senthil: thanks for supporting me :) :)
ReplyDelete@Senthil: Hari knows why I call him pessimist :P ask him ;) Not coz of just this comment and because of much more :)
ReplyDeleteOnly we four seem to be alive in this blog, what happened to the rest of the guys???
ReplyDelete@Meenakshi: Bcoz of wat? i dunno t reason.. *-)
ReplyDeleteCool mate.. There should be a balance u see :)
ReplyDeleteAnd Meenakshi, even i am curious. wat is this "REASON" that we are talking about here. Bcuz all i see in Hari is just an innocent adoloscent !
Why would young-hearted kids be so pessimistic huh. Yaarum intha appavi ah kapatha maatanga nu ninachudatheenga..
Senthil to the rescue ;)
for those who are online in gtalk for 24 hrs of the day seeing the blog should not be a great deal :) and i dunno if peoplr are busy why do they sign into gtalk:)busier than steve jobs i guess:)
ReplyDeleteJeff is this the right place for this comment?
ReplyDeleteI expected a different kind of debate being emphasize here
hi... Sorry 4 d delay...
ReplyDeletei cant escape from my #$%&*%$?? lead :) ...
anywayz...
Think my mind has gone completely blank... I wan 2 write sth but am struck...
N beware guys.. This is a clandestine activity am doin without d knowledge of my lead who has given me ton lots of work without knowing my capacity :)
I din imagine dat a simple pencil can end up 4 d cause of world war... :)
Better Start a blog for just the novels and books alone...
Note : For Rogers and Meena.. Book is neva meant for technical..Plz..
Ha ha good one prathy.. But we need more warriors here
ReplyDeleteAny volunteers are accepted with open hand.. any white flag holders will be fired with a beerangi :)
@all beerangis
ReplyDeletethis i nothing technical.its just the basic philosophy of life :) When our youthful exuberance dies down and we become more responsible am sure each and every one of us will experience the same. Till then let the beerangi's fire , war is not eternal :)
@jeff
ReplyDeleteI din mean this 1 as technical.. In case if any1 of u start another blog pertaining to books alone plz leave the technical stuffs....
I Jus now started wid 'A Beautiful Mind' ... It kinda boring at d start...
@Prathy.. ve u seen this movie? If then, you'll find it boring.. cuz movies are always concised crisp versions of the book.
ReplyDeleteSo even the best told storied would seem boring if read after watching motion picture
The philosophy was fundamentally wrong.. So when u wear the shoes of experienced wise men, u wud repent and dissolve your thoughts and fall in line with the idealogies of Hari's and mine!
ReplyDeleteWat do u say mach - Hari
Prathy is slipping away.. vidaathinga.. athhu epdi topic deviate panalaam.
ReplyDeleteU can never be neutral. Either ur on this side of the border or the other. U can never stand at the edge of a line and say "I AM SAFE"..:)
@senthil: Ther is no one special like experienced wise men mate.. All humans are equi potential above certain age.. Amongst v hv three kind of ppl..
ReplyDeleteType 1 ---> they live by rules without knowing the damn fact that those rules were put by another human..
Type 2 ---> they live independently and ll do things dictated by their mind.. they neva listen to others..
Type 3 ---> common category.. combination of the above two.. living by rulz and also by their mind..
Typically i guess, most of us ll fall into this group.. but the ratio alone changes..
I thnk for Roger and meenakhi, the RULZ/MIND ratio is greater than 1... and for us its less than 1...
So v hv a debate here.. tats all...
@prathi sylvia nassr has put it that way but john nash's life was too technical and that had to be put in that way :) and i saw that p.s book at a book shop here.
ReplyDeleteMy recent book purchases
The lost symbol
the world is flat
If god was a banker
@ senthil
ReplyDeletethe persons who wish to be the same in 40 as they were in 20 are trying to do something absurd. We cant be like this for ever time will come when we will become responsible of course everyone knows it but the opposition still persists for the sake of argument.
@hari
live by the rules or mind is not an idiosyncrasy, its common to all humans, when u r in the society u live by the rules and when u r alone u go by the mind :)
@ senthil
ReplyDeleteexperienced men become wise due to their experiences :) they never regret for what they are at present because they know the value of the sharpener that brought them to shape :) and thanks to paulo coelho he has sparkled a long debate
@jeff: when will we be alone? no one can be alone till he s on tis earth.. tis proves my assertion tat ur tend to go by rules.. (R/M ratio is greater than 1) :) :)
ReplyDelete@jeff
ReplyDeleteHav watched d movie... Think d movie was quite interestin dan d bioraphy n dats y am nt able 2...
@senthil
For a debate der always need 2 b a jurist who shud b neutral :) :)
@hari
ReplyDeletealone means not the mere physical existence of people its when ur decision or actions have no influence on anyone else except you then you tend to go by the mind :) we dont behave in the office like we are at home, atleast i dont do dunno about you :) we might not have the desire to work sometimes in the office but we work for the sake of our job :) thats responsibility :) if you dont have that you will not be bound by your office system or team rules
@ all beeranig's
ReplyDeleteam waging a lone war here :) the debate teams are totally imbalanced :) no one is on my side :)
@Jeff:
ReplyDeleteUr comment indirectly infer tat i m 4m Type 2 category..:) but i m nt so..:) v r nt breaking rules.. Be clear on tis point.. I do follow the rulz.. but nt as much ur side do..:) :) Let me clearly explain u..
if i follow 40 rules out of 100.. u ll follow 80 out of 100..
And one more thing, u cant do a job gr8ly if u r doin only for the sake of rulz.. responsiblity without involvement ll neva produce fruitful results.. :)
@HARI
ReplyDeleteyou yourself admit that you are responsible by saying that you follow rules thats what i meant :)you have also said that if you be responsible then only your work will produce fruits, the entire discussion is about being responsible :)and you yourself having admitted that you tend to go by 40% of rules, still follow rules.Which means your are 40% responsible to yourself and what the rules are which still makes you 40% responsible. So it does not matter if you are 40% or 60% responsible , its the responsibility that counts.
What a responsible reply :)
ReplyDelete@Jeff: I admitted tat from the begining.. i thnk u didnt notice tat.. i hv told tat.. "Responsibility without involvement(I refer ur mind here) will nt gve fuitful results.." i neva told like.. without responsibility no one can get better outcomes.. " And.. there difference in percentages ll always hv an impact.. ur statement luks like sayin
ReplyDelete"it does not matter if you got 50% or 90% in ur exams , its the "pass result" that actually counts" :) :)
Guys guys guys we are deviating from the discussion too much.
ReplyDeleteAlthough i loved the controversies and conflicts in mind. Remember nothing goes to the heart. Hari and Jeff, u ve got ur own perceptions. And thats wat makes Hari a Hari and Jeffrey a Jeffrey.
If we go by this, then we continue this discussion. Else we put a full stop here
I am revoking this post if we continue fighting.
ReplyDeleteBut instead if u both agree that we need to team up, then we get hold of prathy and u know the rest of the story..
Cry baby in the making .. ho ha ha.. Devil
@senthil
ReplyDeleteU r a devil n evry1 knows abt it...
i dunno how u ppl can fight over these petty topics ;) ...
If u wan some interesting topics 2 discuss abt (or fight ) ask me...
I agree :)
ReplyDeleteoh!!! tis post already crossed 40+ comments.. I thnk tis post got max no. of comments so far in our blog..:)
ReplyDeleteYup it did
ReplyDeleteThis is wat u call EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED..
@prathy.. Innocent babies should never be abused devils. Wat a ruthless s statement
Machas eduthu sollunga da yen arumaya !
Fun Facts about this post:
ReplyDeletei) It was from Jeff - and it was all as usual literature peppered
ii) Post was just about to slip away unnoticed when Medhai Hariharasudhan stepped foot and gave a hand to the drowning dude and pulled it upright and hoisted it up the sky
iii)Now it has plunged into the skies as a best feature post with debatable wises spilt all over :D
Hip hip hurrayyy to the team - Cheers guys ;)
@Hari: Myself and Jeff do not come under category one :) For innocent ppl it looks like that coz you cannot understand the power of our minds...
ReplyDeleteWe write this out of our own thoughts too... Paulo Cohelo is just a means to convey our thoughts... So we clearly dont belong to category 1 for those who can understand our minds :)
Sorry Jeff for disappearing for few days... adukkulla ivalova... cha cha cha padikkave mudiyla ivalo comments ah :P
@M: you two don't fall under Type I category.. v all belong to Type III .. Read the comments carefully.. :) :)
ReplyDelete@hari
ReplyDeletehow will there be responsibility without involvement :) involment comes out of responsibility :) what you say is a total paradox
@prathi no topic is petty :) not becoz this post was written by me but merely due to the fact that this depicts the basic principles of life which many fail to realize :)
ReplyDelete@meenakshi
by talking about types you are also falling in line with categorizing mind according to his whims and fancies.MAN SHIFTS HIS DECISIONS ACCORDING TO SITUATIONS AND THERE ARE NO TYPES ACCORDING TO ME:)
@ senthil
ReplyDeletedai enna da naatamai madhiri theerpu solra :) "each one has his/her own perceptions" jeff is jeff and hari is hari nu :) solomon papaya theerpu madhiri nachunu onnu sollu da. Think this is the 50th comment for this post and i have scored that single
HIP HIP HOORAY :)
Ithu mathiri santhulayum ponthulayum score panna athuku peru own goal.
ReplyDeleteIppo varum paaru Mass Goal. It aint a paradox. Each man has a character and he is defined by the attributes that count as decision-makers. Given a situation not every one wud act alike. If there aint types in ppl, then there isnt controversy, conflict, problems, war, difference in opinion, battle, debate, arguement, dispute, confrontation
So as Hari said.. proud members of Group 3.. Here we are :)
Jeffrey ur given a task today and u have to submit it tomoro morning. This is a report to the regional director.
ReplyDeleteYou have some daily activities also to be executed which you cant afford to forfeit bcuz of this priority. So your mindset till you walked into the office was to finish off what u had planned. And thats when u get involved as u have told urself this is the ball game i am gonna play today.
But circumstances lead to u staying back in the office to complete both the activities. Now, where the heck is the involvement in the 2nd unplanned activity. You dont have a choice, its ur responsibility and damn the boss that u have to do something that u had not interest or intentions or involvement in doing
Jeffrey... you are at home and ur mom and dad have left outstation leaving u on guard. You are expected to cook, cleanup, wash and maintain the house with the help of a maid. You are not staying in some guest house where you have room service. So you are basically responsible for the safety and sanity of the house.
ReplyDeleteYou have come home on a holiday and u had some long pending NICE TO HAVE innovative EXPERIMENTAL stuff which u incline in R&Ding and innovating during this holiday. So u are totally involved in getting it off the list during these free days. So you are actually involved in something that is not your responsibility but its ur own indulgence that keeps u inquisitive about it
We All Realize the responsibilities of Life.. But its just that we dont wish to dance to the tunes of some 'coal'ho head who might sound hypnotizing and mesmerising to the USUAL lot...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@Jeff: Why u can't hav Responsibility without involvement..?
ReplyDeletelet me explain u wit example..
i m nt doing a task, which is assigned to me.. since i don't like to do tat task.. but here i m t person responsible 4 tat taskk
--> tis s called as RESPONSIBILITY without involvement..
Involvement s nt jus doin a task.. it also means how much u love to tat job... if u have involvement.. u will nt feel the responsibility.. :) :)
@ senthil
ReplyDeletehere comes the solomon paapaya theerpu after 50 long arguments :). yep mate what u say is the truth sometimes we like things we do and sometimes we dont like yet wil still do it for the sake of doing for ex slogging it out daily to earn money :) so there is no point in fighting abt what is wrong and right , some like slogging it out and some dont ,but everyone has responsibility i.e responsibility to parents,country ans most important self becoz of which we try to complete our work or study for exams etc etc.thats it folks lets comment on the other posts too as lots are there in stock for discussion :)