Showing posts with label inspirational. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspirational. Show all posts
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Saturday, 3 September 2011
A 'Superbug' who does not need an introduction- Steve Jobs
Quotations by Steve Jobs:"When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through."
"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."
"Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."
"To turn really interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into a company that can continue to innovate for years, it requires a lot of disciplines."
Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
Read More
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
India’s demographic dividend
By Varun Agarwal | Yahoo! India News – Fri, Aug 12, 2011
[Varun Agarwal is 25 years old, and has 3 companies to his credit: Alma Mater, a memorabilia company for schools and colleges in India; Reticular, a Social Media Marketing Agency that has worked with some of India’s top brands, and Last Minute Films, an independent production company founded in 2008.]
It was just another usual day at home, and my mum was on the phone, engaged in casual conversation with Anu Aunty. (In India, these phone conversations between aunties tend to move in the direction of the accomplishments of their children, whether they are in school, college, working, or even married).
I remember when I was in the 6th standard, my mom was telling me about Anu Aunty beaming over her son Arjun, who stood 2nd in class, and had the teachers raving over him at the Parent-Teacher Meet. Unfortunately I never beat Arjun, and couldn’t give my mum the chance for a comeback.
Returning to the latest phone conversation, which went something like this:
Anu Aunty: So Purnima, what are your children upto?
Mom: Ah, nothing much Anu, the elder one is doing an MBA, and the younger one is studying at Christ.
Anu Aunty: OMG, I still remember them as little kids Poo! But what about Varun?
Mom: He is doing some work Anu. What’s Arjun doing?
Anu Aunty: Oh he is a marketing manager with Info*** Purnima. They just promoted him, you know. He is thinking of going for an MBA also. To America. Oh, I can’t wait to start looking for him! (The guy’s only 24, and she’s thinking of marriage).
Mom: Arre wah. I’m so proud of Arjun. (She isn’t really). Why don’t you get him home sometime?
Anu Aunty: I will, I will. But what is our Varun upto?
(This is the moment most women wait for all their lives. The comeback. This is what my mom wanted to say: "Oh, your son is in Info***? My son’s working for Microsoft in USA. Haha. Beat that.")
This is what she actually said.
Mom: He makes some films and music videos, Anu. And he is selling T-shirts.
Anu Aunty (shocked): What are you saying Purnima! Selling T-shirts?
Mom (depressed): Yes, Anu.
Anu Aunty: Is Varun a salesman, Purnima?
Mom (almost going to cry): Something like that, Anu.
Anu Aunty: Haw. Should I ask Biju (her husband) to speak to Varun?
Mom: Will he, Anu? Oh I’m so worried all the time. He doesn't listen to me, Anu.
Anu Aunty: Arre, I can’t believe this. I must ask Arjun to meet him sometime also.
Mom: Thank you, Anu. I don’t know what to do. Who will marry him now??
Conversations like these aren’t new to me. When I was in the 12th standard, I decided I would study filmmaking. I applied to a bunch of colleges, but forgot that it wasn’t so easy to do what you like in this country. My parents were quick to trash all my plans, and I was forced to study four torturous long years of engineering.
I naturally didn’t want to give up on my passion, so I started making films whenever I got the time during engineering - which seemed to be filled with never-ending tests. There were times I got so depressed I was on the verge of breaking into some tragic Bollywood song. Using the best “filmy” emo dialogue I could muster, I got my mum to buy me a camera. After I got the camera, I taught myself to write, shoot and edit film.
In 2007, I made a music video for one of India’s top rock bands, Pentagram. The video got noticed, and was played on VH1 like 51 times a day. (Actually 51 times a day!). A production company in Bombay saw the video, and flew me down to offer me a full time job to direct. Not to be some assistant or intern, but to actually start directing. I was 20 years old then. My mum still wasn’t convinced, and asked me to come back to finish my engineering.
In 2009 I decided to start a company with one of my friends. Yet again, I faced a lot of opposition from both family and friends. It was an E-commerce company, and no one around me got it. The idea was born over a drunken night at one of Bangalore’s famous pubs ‘Noon Wines’. We actually wrote down the entire business plan on a piece of tissue. Ideas like these are born every time young, enthusiastic entrepreneurial minds meet up over drinks. But in the light of day, everything fizzles out.
Thankfully for us, it didn’t.
My mum didn’t know about my little company until about 3 months into running it. When she did find out, she freaked. My dad thought I was a t-shirt salesman only until recently, when we were profiled in the Economic Times.
Be it filmmaking or starting my own company, I have gone through a lot, which only makes me wonder at how difficult it is to pursue your own dreams in this country. To me,India at 64 is a country which is still very insecure. Success here is defined by a plush job with a multinational, or if you have aced your CET. Right from school, we’ve always been taught to follow the system, and to be very afraid of going against it.
With the advent of the internet it’s become easier than ever to do exactly what you want. But our upbringing has instilled in us such a strong sense of fear that few of us dare to venture out on our own. Most entrepreneurs here are seasoned professionals, having worked for a good 4-5 years for someone else. There are no college dropouts like Zuckerberg or Gates, and you’re treated like an outcast if you even dream of doing so. Our generation talks like the American, acts like him, but when it comes down to actually doing what they want, most turn into pussies. We can’t boast of 18-year-old inventors, or 24-year-old billionaires. In fact, even now when my partner and I go to meet potential investors, the first question we are asked is, “How old are you?” In spite of the fact that there is a 25-year-old guy who started Facebook when he was 18, and is now worth 10 billion dollars.
Things are changing no doubt, but in remote pockets. What needs to be changed is the way we are brought up. I believe that this country will grow up the day our kids are taught not to be scared. The day the students of this country are encouraged to learn, and not ‘mug’. The day we are taught to lead, and not follow. The day we are taught to think, and not just write exams. I wait to see that day, because when that happens, India won’t be entering retirement age, but will actually be born again.
We will be waiting for you, India.
I remember when I was in the 6th standard, my mom was telling me about Anu Aunty beaming over her son Arjun, who stood 2nd in class, and had the teachers raving over him at the Parent-Teacher Meet. Unfortunately I never beat Arjun, and couldn’t give my mum the chance for a comeback.
Returning to the latest phone conversation, which went something like this:
Anu Aunty: So Purnima, what are your children upto?
Mom: Ah, nothing much Anu, the elder one is doing an MBA, and the younger one is studying at Christ.
Anu Aunty: OMG, I still remember them as little kids Poo! But what about Varun?
Mom: He is doing some work Anu. What’s Arjun doing?
Anu Aunty: Oh he is a marketing manager with Info*** Purnima. They just promoted him, you know. He is thinking of going for an MBA also. To America. Oh, I can’t wait to start looking for him! (The guy’s only 24, and she’s thinking of marriage).
Mom: Arre wah. I’m so proud of Arjun. (She isn’t really). Why don’t you get him home sometime?
Anu Aunty: I will, I will. But what is our Varun upto?
(This is the moment most women wait for all their lives. The comeback. This is what my mom wanted to say: "Oh, your son is in Info***? My son’s working for Microsoft in USA. Haha. Beat that.")
This is what she actually said.
Mom: He makes some films and music videos, Anu. And he is selling T-shirts.
Anu Aunty (shocked): What are you saying Purnima! Selling T-shirts?
Mom (depressed): Yes, Anu.
Anu Aunty: Is Varun a salesman, Purnima?
Mom (almost going to cry): Something like that, Anu.
Anu Aunty: Haw. Should I ask Biju (her husband) to speak to Varun?
Mom: Will he, Anu? Oh I’m so worried all the time. He doesn't listen to me, Anu.
Anu Aunty: Arre, I can’t believe this. I must ask Arjun to meet him sometime also.
Mom: Thank you, Anu. I don’t know what to do. Who will marry him now??
Conversations like these aren’t new to me. When I was in the 12th standard, I decided I would study filmmaking. I applied to a bunch of colleges, but forgot that it wasn’t so easy to do what you like in this country. My parents were quick to trash all my plans, and I was forced to study four torturous long years of engineering.
I naturally didn’t want to give up on my passion, so I started making films whenever I got the time during engineering - which seemed to be filled with never-ending tests. There were times I got so depressed I was on the verge of breaking into some tragic Bollywood song. Using the best “filmy” emo dialogue I could muster, I got my mum to buy me a camera. After I got the camera, I taught myself to write, shoot and edit film.
In 2007, I made a music video for one of India’s top rock bands, Pentagram. The video got noticed, and was played on VH1 like 51 times a day. (Actually 51 times a day!). A production company in Bombay saw the video, and flew me down to offer me a full time job to direct. Not to be some assistant or intern, but to actually start directing. I was 20 years old then. My mum still wasn’t convinced, and asked me to come back to finish my engineering.
In 2009 I decided to start a company with one of my friends. Yet again, I faced a lot of opposition from both family and friends. It was an E-commerce company, and no one around me got it. The idea was born over a drunken night at one of Bangalore’s famous pubs ‘Noon Wines’. We actually wrote down the entire business plan on a piece of tissue. Ideas like these are born every time young, enthusiastic entrepreneurial minds meet up over drinks. But in the light of day, everything fizzles out.
Thankfully for us, it didn’t.
My mum didn’t know about my little company until about 3 months into running it. When she did find out, she freaked. My dad thought I was a t-shirt salesman only until recently, when we were profiled in the Economic Times.
Be it filmmaking or starting my own company, I have gone through a lot, which only makes me wonder at how difficult it is to pursue your own dreams in this country. To me,India at 64 is a country which is still very insecure. Success here is defined by a plush job with a multinational, or if you have aced your CET. Right from school, we’ve always been taught to follow the system, and to be very afraid of going against it.
With the advent of the internet it’s become easier than ever to do exactly what you want. But our upbringing has instilled in us such a strong sense of fear that few of us dare to venture out on our own. Most entrepreneurs here are seasoned professionals, having worked for a good 4-5 years for someone else. There are no college dropouts like Zuckerberg or Gates, and you’re treated like an outcast if you even dream of doing so. Our generation talks like the American, acts like him, but when it comes down to actually doing what they want, most turn into pussies. We can’t boast of 18-year-old inventors, or 24-year-old billionaires. In fact, even now when my partner and I go to meet potential investors, the first question we are asked is, “How old are you?” In spite of the fact that there is a 25-year-old guy who started Facebook when he was 18, and is now worth 10 billion dollars.
Things are changing no doubt, but in remote pockets. What needs to be changed is the way we are brought up. I believe that this country will grow up the day our kids are taught not to be scared. The day the students of this country are encouraged to learn, and not ‘mug’. The day we are taught to lead, and not follow. The day we are taught to think, and not just write exams. I wait to see that day, because when that happens, India won’t be entering retirement age, but will actually be born again.
We will be waiting for you, India.
Monday, 15 August 2011
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Gotta Win !
I have a spark in my heart
The crazy desire to win
however i may have to start,
but in the end i Gotta Win!
If i want a thing bad enough,
i would go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
But in the end i Gotta Win!
Life seems empty and dark without it,
Whatever it takes, plan for it,
Loose all the terror of god or man for it,
But in the end i Gotta Win!
Neither fear nor pain can suppress my hunger,
the spark starts getting even more larger,
flames of success enlightens the darkness,
strength,sagacity and everything else that i can harness.
Whatever it takes but in the end i Gotta Win!
Failures are just a stepping stone to success,
makes me even more harder and stronger,
Gets me focused on what im missing,
Helps me get back on focus,
Whatever it takes but in the end i Gotta Win!
A plan is only good if it Is one that gets recruited.
For good intentions soon will die ,Unless they're executed.
Whatever it takes for me im ready to do,
Itz only about winning that i have to make sure to
I have a spark in my heart
The crazy desire to win
however i may have to start,
but in the end i Gotta Win
The crazy desire to win
however i may have to start,
but in the end i Gotta Win!
If i want a thing bad enough,
i would go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
But in the end i Gotta Win!
Life seems empty and dark without it,
Whatever it takes, plan for it,
Loose all the terror of god or man for it,
But in the end i Gotta Win!
Neither fear nor pain can suppress my hunger,
the spark starts getting even more larger,
flames of success enlightens the darkness,
strength,sagacity and everything else that i can harness.
Whatever it takes but in the end i Gotta Win!
Failures are just a stepping stone to success,
makes me even more harder and stronger,
Gets me focused on what im missing,
Helps me get back on focus,
Whatever it takes but in the end i Gotta Win!
A plan is only good if it Is one that gets recruited.
For good intentions soon will die ,Unless they're executed.
Whatever it takes for me im ready to do,
Itz only about winning that i have to make sure to
I have a spark in my heart
The crazy desire to win
however i may have to start,
but in the end i Gotta Win
Jairaj Bhattacharya
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
'LA LIA FLIA': Your Flight to Creativity
Ever wondered how to become 'Creative'? or you belong to that category of men & women who think that all this 'creativity' stuff is concerned with arts people
and thus sounds useless to you? If you happen to belong to either of the above two categories (
which I am presuming everybody to be :-) ) then this article is for you Madamoiselle (Madam) and Monsieur (Sir). No, No I am not starting any french session but I am going to tell you about something that holds the key to your progress.
I know each of our first 58 Young India Fellows have outshone in their work and success is out there waiting for them. But I have a gut feeling that reading this would someway or the other would help you all in your future endeavors. No matter what your life dreams are, this is something for you. Yes, I am talking to you and you only at the moment. The article is a distillation of the strategies which many of the big names in the world (like Steve Job, Mohammad Ali, Darwin, Leonardo Da Vinci etc. etc. ) used to bring about a revolution across the globe. Its an article about the interdisciplinary skills for which we all have come to YIF. Its high time for each one of us to start thinking across their disciplines to understand the intricacies of life and how it can only be tackled through the adoption of inter-disciplinary approaches.
In order to help you in this journey, I would like to share something that I came across few years back while 'Googling' ( my favorite hobby :-) ) and since then has formed the basis of my inspiration. It's a concept called 'LA LIA FLIA'. We all know that everyone in this life needs inspiration to grow and survive in this ever competitive world and this might be the inspiration source for you in the years to come.
Do you know why most of the products, strategies, concepts in this world fail while only a few survive the test of time? As per the experts, the basic flaw lies in the adoption of DID (Design Inspired Design) pattern to find solutions to most of our encountered problems. Our thinking is often barred by thinking evolutionary while the
demand is revolutionary in nature.
Image Source: Laliaflia Blogspot
What I meant is that today most of the designs are just an up-gradation of the previous version or synthesis of two earlier existing designs. This design is not necessarily an art object. It is the source from where you draw your inspiration from. You could be an entrepreneur to think of a venture design, environmentalist to search for a sustainable design, or a technologist to make a tangible product design using this method. No matter which field you belong to, people often tend to get inspired from another design and this is what hampers their creativity. The need of the present moment is to move out of the shackles of taking inspiration from another existing design and think of 'LIFE as an inspiration' for you. It would sound philosophical but that is the secret of creativity in every domain. I'm writing about this as part of my first article for the Arts Clubs @YIF because I feel all of us (fellows) need to think about the life as a whole and to draw inspiration from it.
Remember what Mr. Arjun Malhotra, Co-Founder HCL Technologies said in his YIF talk that 'Don't become a slave of what you create'. I guess what he meant was that don't be bounded by the DID concept of narrowing down your creativity from earlier created products. Do you know why did Mr. Anoop Prakash, CEO- India, Harley Davidson say "Better know your surrounding where you work." in his YIF Talk? Was he trying to communicate something more than the communication skills business? To me certainly yes, he was. Getting to know your surroundings helps you to find your innovation. Examples are numerous (even if we take our roughly 2 months @ YIF) but they all try to make us visible a link that connects it all. Whether it is Venkatesh Sir teaching us Polya concept of getting to the basics or Sir Robert Swan talking about sustainibility, they all are tied to a common thread of thinking about something called 'LIFE'. You would wonder where does 'LA LIA FLIA' concept fit into this but this is what the concept is all about.
LA LIA FLIA asks you to get down to the basics and draw your inspiration from your life rather than copy pasting others ideas. This method talks about Life Inspired Design (LID). The method does not asks you to borrow ideas from your life but follow the principles of abstraction (Visit Laliaflia site for further details).
You would have heard various poets like William Wordsworth drawing their inspiration from the Mother Nature. This Design (their poetry) Inspiration process comes under the category of Nature Inspired Design (NID) which all of you would have surely heard of but LID is a much bigger concept and thus NID just forms a small subset of the same.
Do you know from where did Steve Jobs took his inspiration from? Watch the video below and you will know that his computer inspiration came from bicycles.
Source: Youtube
In a nutshell, any design be it from social, environmental, economic, political, cultural etc derives inspiration from any of the three methods:
DID (Design Inspires Design) - What probably 99% of the people follow - an evolutionary concept
NID (Nature Inspires Design) - A super-set of DID from where some of the early revolutionaries drew their inspiration from.
LID (Life Inspires Design) - Need of the hour. The revolutionary concept. A superset of NID.
LA LIA FLIA method as per their creators is based on LID. So whenever you don't find any inspiration just look around yourself and your inspiration would be out there in your own life.
As the figure on the left shows 'LaLiaFlia' design method is based on three concepts where each one evolves from the other in ascending order i.e Living Artefacts (every species, process and concepts) inspires Life (LIA) and Life Inspired Artefacts further motivates us to think about Future (FLIA). Its a flow to appreciate the fact that all creatures are equal be it Humans, Plants or Animals. Having this basic understanding helps us to easily seek our inspiration.
Watch the video below to know about 'LALIAFLIA' design method.
Source: Youtube
Let us consider another contemporary example of TED. We all know about TED talks and are inspired after listening from these talks. But have you ever thought from where did TED Talks take its inspiration from? Mr. Jay Walker, curator of the Library of Human Imagination says," TED is all about patterns in the cloud." (See the video below where he tells about the same at the end). Did you find any link?... No! Think again... Cloud... Nature.. Life.. Design.. Inspiration... TED.... do you see a chain forming? So it is time for all of us to question the inspiration of those who inspire you. For you earth would be an inspiration but what had inspired earth? Its time to dwell under your inspirations (if any) rather than blindy following them.
Source: TED talks
Look at the picture drawn below. It shows how Charles Darwin took inspiration for his Evolutionary theory from the TREE, Leonardo Da Vinci from BIRD, Muhammad Ali from BEE and BUTTERFLY (his fighting strategies) etc. These all are just food for thought for you to start thinking. Till the next time we meet just keep thinking What is your 'LA LIA FLIA'?
Credit: The ideas expressed in the article are from the 'LA LIA FLIA' website and its blog. For further information you can visit www.laliaflia.com.
P.S. : This is my first blog entry ever written when I thought to write about something close to my heart :-) ... So, guys and gals all your comments are most welcome... I know I am no good writer and thus my sincere apologies for my ineffectiveness in writing. As long as I have got across my point clearly, I would be more than happy. Welcome to the ARTBUG club of YIF. Enjoy :-)
-Rolly Seth, YIF'12
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