WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

A few days back, while I was travelling from Chennai to Tuticorin by train, one incident happened which kept me thinking for a while. As you would be aware the food vendors, pick up food orders in the train and deliver it to us at some particular station. So, I ordered for a food parcel and the same was delivered to me after Chengelput station. The vendor asked me for Rs.30/-, which I happily paid.

One of my co - passenger, who had not been talking with me till then, asked me a question. He asked what was the price printed on the wrapper box of the food parcel. I saw and said it is Rs.27/-. He asked me, why I paid Rs.30/- and did not demand the balance amount of Rs.3/- from the vendor. I did not have an answer. Infact, I myself had not noticed that there is difference of amount being charged and the price printed on the pack. Even if I had seen, I am not a person who would have insisted on the change, because of my general generous behaviour.

He told me, “You look like an educated person and you itself do not question such things. If literate people like you don’t question, what is the plight of the illiterate people, who do not know to read or write”. He added that people were exploited because they do not dare to question the wrongs happening around them. I did not feel hurt by his remarks, but I felt quiet guilty for a moment. The guilt arised out of his words, “literate people like you”.  For a moment, it opened my eyes to a fact. It showed the amount of faith and trust the common man has on the educated segment, who he thinks will take India out of the darkness to light.  In this case, it was not the meagre Rs.3/- that mattered, but the question of social responsibility.

It is not OK, to just keep blaming the politicians and higher authorities for the mishappenings around us. It is perhaps because we succumb to such situations, so easily, more and more mistakes are happening. It does not necessarily mean, that we should pull a fight with each and everyone, to justify our rights, but trying to be assertive enough to stress our rights.

A dialogue in the movie, Spiderman goes likes this. “With great power comes great responsibility”. I was able to relate this to the incident that happened.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Dec 2006

THE SPIRIT OF FRIENDSHIP

There is a far deeper meaning to friendship, than what we normally perceive. While many of us may feel the primary reason for having friends is for social interaction and entertainment, if we look more closely to what it means we will realize that the reasons go way beyond that.

Friendship is not only about spending time with like-minded people so that one doesn’t get bored on a Saturday evening; its purpose is far more meaningful.  It is about love and understanding.  It stretches beyond our family relationships and lends us a support that is different.  It is about a different kind of love.

With our families we are sometimes wary about discussing our fears or difficulties, but with friends often it is easier to discuss our feelings, as there remains a space that is personal yet with fewer expectations.  It is a space that is built on sharing – sharing of our joys and sorrows, of discussion and reasoning, and many other things that urge us to open our hearts to others.

It is in friendship that we also learn to be less judgemental and to be accepting of other people’s differences and eccentricities and to be open to loving our friends even if they don’t think like us or share our philosophies.  Friendship teaches us to be helpful.  To give support and a listening ear to our mates, to be there for them in times of need or celebration, and to be part of their lives as a person that gives them comfort and who is able to understand and accept them for who they are.

Cherish and celebrate the spirit of friendship, everyday.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Nov 2006

FINANCIAL ADVICE

In this issue, I just want to share two of  my recent learnings from the TYCOON programme I attended recently. Jci. Sen. Sunil Kumar is not only a  excellent trainer, but also a  consultant with wide experience.

Information 1:

He said in the future banks will give personal loans, based on your credit card transactions and nothing else. He said the credit card transaction statement is a far better proof of your ability to pay, than your Income Tax records or your Networth statement. The financial integrity of the person can be easily judged, by taking a closer look at the 3 years record of your credit card statement. This is what is happening in advanced countries like USA and Europe He therefore suggested, that we have a credit card and try to pay most of our bills by credit card and also to settle the credit card bills promptly.

Information 2:

He said, take a insurance to the extent of the loans you have. For example, you have a loan of Rs.20 lakhs, for yourself or your own business, then we should have a insurance policy to the extent of the same amount, so that in the unfortunate event of our death, our children do not have to face the beating. This means, your family does not have to dispose any asset in order to clear your loan. Your family does not have to face the liability of the loan. If there is a insurance cover, the insurance will take care of your debts and the loan will not affect the existing life standard of your family. We strive hard for their well being and we certainly do not want them to be in trouble at any point of time. The next important thing is, this also gives you the freedom to play the business/ money game without big hesitations.

I think the strength of the positive side of life depends upon our preparedness for the negative things.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Oct 2006

SMILE – The forgotten language of the human heart

Quiet recently, I read an article , which talked about cultures that smile the most and can you guess in what place in India was. It was 124^th on the list. Denmark was No.1. What does this imply?

Does this mean that Indians are a set of serious people?  

Does it mean that we have a poor sense of humour?

Does it mean, we are so busy that we do not find the time to smile?  Of course not.

What then is stopping us from smiling. I think it is because we attach too much of ego to our conscious living. We smile only at a selected list of people, who we think or near and dear to us. We never get to smile at the waiter at the restaurant, but we are fast to complain that the waiter is not courteous. We do not smile at a co-passenger on a bus or train, with whom we travel a long distance. We are sometimes comfortable travelling a few hundred miles without even speaking a single word and we say people are not friendly. Remember, the good old nature’s law applies in this well, “ What you sow, so will you reap”. Share a smile and see how many smile responses you get. Start from today. Be happy to know, that smiling is a learned behaviour. This gives you great scope, to think and start afresh on cultivating the habit of smiling . It is just  about consciously lifting the two muscles on the side of your mouth.

Smile is the greatest gift bestowed upon human beings. Animals don’t smile. A smile is meant as a friendly acknowledgement of another member of the human race. So let us start smiling. Don’t wait for the other person to smile first. Be the first to smile. You have nothing to lose. You only have a lot to gain. Smile at the watchman, driver, tea stall vendor, receptionist, client, whoever you share physical space and time with. Most of our faces look better when we smile. Don’t be shy, show your teeth and speak the only language that connects the whole world.

 Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan
Article dated Sep'06

APPRECIATION - THE GREATEST MOTIVATOR

Of all the things, I see there is one incentive which I feel really works with everyone. Maybe because, that is the most rarest to find today or may be very few people are willing to share it with others. It does not cost them anything, but people are still so reluctant to give it away. This incentive works great magic with your spouse, your children, your family members, your colleagues, your subordinates and even your superiors. It has always been assumed that the most important factor that drives a person is the money or the fame. I am surprised how this thing, that I am talking about has never been thought about. Infact, I feel that this is the greatest motivator, of all. It is called APPRECIATION.

How many of us, really use this on a daily basis. How many of us know that this can be a effective tool to motivate, your team when all other resources are running dry. Appreciating people is a art, which we need to cultivate in our lives. It is also our moral duty to teach our children the “art of appreciating”. 

A country like ours, which has such abundance of resources, lacks in this great resource called appreciation. If you ask a parent, why they do not appreciate their children for the marks they get, they may say, that they expect their children to perform better and reserve the appreciation for the day, the child gets 100/100, which is never going to happen without the small, small appreciations the child earns for its small, small achievements.

Start to appreciate others and see the benefits, for yourself.  The results would be far more than you would have imagined.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Aug 2006

Put the shark in your Tank

As we reach the age of 40+, we all tend to get into a well settled attitude which limits our progress any further. We have a house, we have a car and we have a regular income and then we start getting into the comfort zone. This comfort zone is in fact a warning signal, for people who want to live their life to the fullest.

An interesting short story, explains this phenomenon, very nicely. The story goes like this:  “Japanese love to eat fish. The age old method of fishing was that fishermen went into the deep sea to catch fish, but by the time they returned to the shore all the fished were dead and so the fish became stale. The Japanese thought of a new idea and send frozen ice cubes to cover the fish, but still the frozen fish were not as tasty as live fish. Then they worked on a new idea of creating big water tanks. As and when the fishes were caught, they put them in this tank of water, so that the fishes were alive till it reaches the shore. However as the space inside the tank was not very big, the fishes used to jump and swim for sometime and after finding no way out, they just remained calm. The Japanese were not still satisfied with the quality of the fish, because the fishes were not so active, like what we find in the sea. After so much of thought, one person suggested a idea that made it possible for the Japanese to get the fish the way they wanted. He put a small SHARK inside the tank. The presence of the Shark, kept all the fishes active, so as to save themselves being eaten by the shark.

In fact, it is the problems that keep us alive. So, start looking for as opportunities in disguise. Put the SHARK IN YOUR TANK.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan
Article dated July 2006

MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE FINNS

 I was one among the privileged 5 to be a part of the Rotary Group Study Exchange programme to Finland this year. It was a one month programme and I had the great opportunity of spending time with the Finns. I was hosted in a number of places by Rotary families, and it was a great opportunity for me to understand their culture and lifestyle. Though I have traveled abroad as a tourist, this experience was rather unique, because this tour helped me to get into the core of their activity, may be it was their industrial culture, their family life, their educational system or their political setup.

            The area in particular where we went is called the Northern Lapland which is characterized by 9 months if winter and 3 months of summer. The natives of the Finland are called Suomis (pronounced sami) . on arrival all that we saw was frozen sea, frozen lakes and frozen rivers, but as days went by and on the onset of Spring, we could also see all the ice break and melt as water. It is a rare sight, being across the artic circle and to see Santa Claus, living in the  Santa village. Ice fishing and snow mobiling were some new unexplored areas for me.

            With a land area of 1/10 of India, and with a  population which is just 1/200 of the Indian population, there is plenty of free space. We hardly see crowded roads or crowded places. A typical statement every Finn in the Lapland, likes to say is that, “Here you can find more reindeers than people” and that is exactly true. The majority of the finnish population lilve in the southern part of Finland, where the capital Hesinki and other big cities Turku, Tampere and Esspo are  located. Finland has over 50,000 lakes and 50,000 islands.

            Reindeer rearing and Forestry has been the traditional industry of Finland. Worlds leading pulp and paper mills are located here. The country has a nickel ore, which makes it the number one player in the global stainless steel industry as well. Tourism is gaining prominence, owing to the exotic ski resorts and snow sports. The country now is the leader in IT enabled services. Being the birth place of the world renowned brand NOKIA, Finland has set itself as a leading global player. Another highlight of Finland is the Finnish education system, which has been ranked the best in the world.

            The Finland trip was a great learning experience and I rejoiced every moment of my stay there.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Jun 2006

RAIN, RAIN EVERYWHERE NOT A DROP TO DRINK

Dear Readers,

100 years from today, probably none of  us living on this earth today will continue to exist, but the earth will remain. The people who live here will need good air to breathe, and safe water to drink. These people who I am talking about are not our strangers , but our future generation. We all have a moral responsibility, towards our future generation.

Water -  A perennial requirement of all living beings remains a threat owing to its abundance or scarcity at different points of time. Specially in a country like India, where a major chunk of population depends upon agriculture as a source of income, water problems such as floods or draughts, determine the daily destiny of the masses. If there was a way to channelise all the available natural water resources, so as to make it available in regular quantities on a regular basis, it would certainly prove to be the biggest boon for this country.

I recently attended a seminar on “Networking of Rivers” by Prof.A.C.Kamaraj of Madurai. The idea fired up my imagination. I have shared his ideas on the topic “Networking of Rivers” in this issue of PALMS PLUS. As I  am not a technical person, I was not able to spot the flaws in his plan, but what I could see is that it is a worthy dream and if only this project could be made a reality within the course of next 10 years, India will never have to restrict its growth for the reason called, “WATER”.

The month of May also marks the “Mother’s Day” and so here is a section containing, “Quotes on Mothers” and a beautiful short story “Child’s Angel”.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated May 2006

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON

Every person has his share of good and bad times, in his life. A saying goes, “All that happens in our life has a reason”. The above statement may sound as words of solace to many, but would mean growth for those few, who take efforts to differentiate the pain and the lesson derived from every bitter experience they face in life. Many a times, we feel the pain and forget the lesson we rather cling on to the pain and ask GOD why we are put under such a situation, rather than trying to analyze what that situation implies, if we learn to separate the pain from the experience, we can get a clear understanding of what went wrong and how it went wrong. As we humans are emotional in nature, we often restrict our experience to the feeling of happiness or sadness arising out of the situation. The wise person will search for the hidden meaning in every experience.

We live our life based on our own limited perceptions of what is right and what is wrong. The value system we have built over the years may become questionable, as to its worthiness someday. Are we willing to unlearn the old and learn the new? Are we willing to dance to the new tunes? Life has no fixed set of rules. It keeps changing from time to time.

The only way to live is to take life as it comes. Living in the present. Being aware of all that happens around us. Being flexible to the situation and willing to change. In the evaluation of the planet, it is found that the cockroaches are the longest existing species on earth and this is behalf they are extremely adaptable, to all temperate zones. Let us apply the physical adaptability phenomena of the cockroaches to our emotional adaptability, in this world and secure ourselves of a long and stress free life.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Apr 2006

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds. Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and your find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be”.

 - Patanjali

Just when I was thinking to myself of many of my own limitations, in terms of time and other resources, the above extract from Patanjali, caught my eyes and gave me great courage and inspiration.  It made me realize that it is the inner fire that sets the pace of our action. Just like a rocket sets out to the sky with the type of inner combustion, we too also need to develop the inner fire that drives our goals. It is the belief on our own ability, the re-assurance we give to ourselves , the level of enthusiasm with which we approach a situation, that makes the difference in the results of our action.

We have to believe that we are a wonderful person and that we are a once-in-all-history event. We have the duty and a right to be whom we are capable of. We have to believe that life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.  We have to believe that we are our greatest asset and that there is nothing we cannot do. We also need to believe that no one can keep us from dreaming and that we alone can stop our dream coming true. Our achievements are determined by the desire that we possess. We have to discover who we are and what we are capable of. It is not a matter of fate, but it is the systematic application of effort that will make us what we want to be. We need workable ideas to make our exciting dreams come true.

Wishing that all your dreams come true..

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Mar 2006

BEING PREPARED

The day and the night, the wave and the ebb, all reminds us that life is not just one long run, but a series of ups and downs. For every sunset there is a sunrise. Imagine, if we were to keep guessing, at every sunset, whether the sun will rise tomorrow, our life will be a total mess. We all believe and trust in the higher power of existence. Life like nature has a few predictive patterns.

However there are a few un-predictive happenings too. The Tsumani, the Cyclone the Earth Quake all arrive uninformed. Similarly in life a few of un-predictive things happen. The secret to cope up with such situations is “being prepared”.

In  the early days, in extremely cold countries like Russia, people fed themselves heavily, when they got food, so that they are physically prepared to survive the starvation in winter months. It is only after man invented methods to preserve and store food, did people start eating food, just for the day. This has been the foundation for our civilization. May be, this gave birth to the saying, “Make hay while the sun shines”.

Most of us are in our young ages, where we are working hard and earning well. Let us make use of this prime stage of our life to save money for our retirement days. In other words, harness the power of your predictive and un-predictive events, of our future. To save money for our future is to understand the volatility of life patterns.

Let your life style be of that which you can sustain all through your days. When you are tempted to raise your life style, think twice and ask yourself is it sustainable. Progress is essential, but let be one step at a time. Let no blow, be too heavy in your life.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Feb 2006

NEW YEAR IS THE TIME FOR NEW RESOLUTIONS

Welcome 2006 - A Year of New Beginnings. On this New Year, I wish you Health, Wealth and Happiness, for the year ahead.

Though it is good to believe that every new day is a new start, a  New year is extra special for it gives us the extra impetus to start upon those many things we have always wanted to do , but did not find the time to do. On this New Year, commit yourself to a new activity, which has always fascinated you but you have been reluctant. We tend to sink when things get too heavy on us, but that is how we build our stress muscles. Look at a weight lifting champion, he gains strength from lifting heavier loads. Never shrink to new ideas, never say, “This is not for me”. Of course, I do not mean to say that you should get diverted from your existing tasks, but try to find time for new things. Life gets boring if  there are no changes, if there are no new things happening in our life, if  we are not developing any new skills every year, we may become a 386 model computer, in this Pentium ‘D’ age. 

Every New Year, people make new resolutions, but hardly stick to it for a month or two. It is suggested that our New Year resolutions should have a list of things which say, I should do” rather than say “I should stop”. Let me explain how it works. If I have some unhealthy habit that I would like to disown, the best thing is to replace the habit with a good one. For example, if I plan to cut down on Soft Drinks, the best way is to substitute my intake of Synthetic Soft Drinks with a Natural Fruit Juice or some other healthy option. If I just decide to stop the habit, all of a sudden, the craving will continue and it will be difficult, but if I replace it with a fruit juice, it will be easier to get rid of the old one. Similarly when we add new tasks to your life, we have more choices with our time and we would ultimately choose the ones which adds energy to our life, rather than the ones that drain the energy of our life.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Jan 2006