Money making & value of money

SHARED THOGUHTS….. 27.07.13.                   

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It’s said, people will do anything for money… even work. It’s also said, money is the root of all evil; some may disagree that it is not money per sé, but  lack of money that is the root of all evil. But whatever it is, money is the only one thing in the world, people can never get tired of wanting… one comes around to say, “no, thanks”, “sorry, enough”, “I can’t have any more”, for anything in the world, except money.

Myself and my siblings were born to no estate; we were bred to no business. We had at home, a strict disciplinarian father who was ruthlessly honest and never compromised on his principles, despite being in a senior government position of power among the powerful of the then society. Supper time was often the only time family gathered around for small talk and father would come up with many new stories of what money would do  or did, to cause ruin to someone he knew or how his colleague got caught in his greed for money… etc. He always used to show us right from wrong with respect to ‘usage of’ money, a living example of what he preached to us at supper time… in our young formative minds, this was cast in stone, that neither faded nor lost its sheen with passing years.

In hindsight, the only downside to this perspective to money was that it tempered down to a great extent, any ambition to make it big. This is my honest conclusion; result to an overdose of down playing the role of money in one’s life. Any regrets? No indeed. No regrets to not to have made tons of money; no regrets to not having purchased acres of property. No regrets to not having led a life of money making as core objective.

But then, is acquiring the skill of money making bad? Having been a successful manager of business, I can only admire the skill and acumen of people gifted with that insight to seize an opportunity or convert a situation to an advantage for reaping profits. There is nothing wrong in that. Those who say, these people are running after money or money making is their only objective, are wrong; they hide behind a veil of un-admitted guilt to their own incapacity to succeed.

The skill of money making, assigning a proper value for money and the art of living have to be balanced. It is in this imbalance, that all problems reside – for the money maker – in his life, within family, his status in society and so on.

Go on to read more on money making…

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Nine requisites for contented living: (balanced living)

- Health enough to make work a pleasure.                                                                                  

- Wealth enough to support your needs.                                                         

- Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them.                                                     

- Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.                                                             

- Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.                                                           

- Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor.                                                                          

- Love enough to move you to be useful to others.                                                                   

- Faith enough to make real the things of God.                                                                                       

- Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future. 

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet, dramatist and scientist (1749-1832) 

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Another perspective on money is worth a second thought, coming from a thinker and philosopher.

“ It is reported that  57% of the top CEOs, MDs, COOs of very big companies are thinking of leaving their position and their company. This is due to the heavy tension created by their position and overload of the work. Their companies are focusing only on revenue and profit. The executives first thought money could give everything for them, slowly they realized that money could give many things  but at the cost of many other things. Money should only be a means in our life not an end. Money should be for living and life is not for money making.

Recently I happened to spend seven days in one of the most reputed MBA colleges in Hyderabad. I found perfect discipline, everyone attending every class, punctual, self imposed discipline, excellent food and so on. But many teachers said, the students are here for learning exclusively the skill of money-making. No life, no value,   no human relations…. money, money and money only........

Besides teaching the skill of money making, teachers should also teach many real life stories, experiences and  messages for making life build strong interpersonal relationship, family life, social life, and excellent positive vision on life. Money will not make life; money can make life happier only if you have value based life. This is what should be taught to students.

I saw girls walking with minimum dress, rich, sleeping  on the pillows of currency, enjoying life every minute..... finally they leave the college aiming at how much money they can make from the beginning of their profession. They think, it is this money-making that will make them happy . The seven days I saw that, I pointed out to all students…live a happy life for that only will make money. Living should not be for money, money should be for living.

I visited one of the richest families  where I lived 33 years ago in Hyderabad.  Three brothers! They were making  millions and millions. Now their children are fighting each other and I found their business in a pathetic condition, with dozens of court cases for the last two decades or so. Then  I prayed… no father / mother should make this much money for their children because that money will  split their relations.

(  From Mr.N.Gopalakrishnan…philosopher, thinker, speaker, founder  – Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage ).

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When it is a question of money, everyone is of the same religion. 
— Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet), French author, wit and philosopher (1694-1778) 

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"He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money." 

Benjamin Franklin

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Sharing money is what gives it, its value. 
— Elvis Presley, American rock 'n' roll icon (1935-1977)

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(To some extent, Elvis can be right…But more important than sharing money, there is this….)

“Infinitely more important than sharing one's material wealth is sharing the wealth of ourselves -- our time and energy, our passion and commitment, and, above all, our love.”
William E. Simon

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The Secret to Living is Giving.

One of my favourite things to do is waking up early on Sunday morning, getting the Sunday paper, making a hot cup of coffee, kicking back to read about what’s going on in the world. It’s my quiet time.. my time to reflect and relax.

One Sunday morning about halfway through my little ritual, I spotted a headline that caught my attention, “Graduating Student Credits His ‘Angel’..”…and I began to read.

A young man who was graduating from college told the story about how Oran Lee Brown was his “Real Life Angel”. In 1987, Brown, a real estate agent in North California, saw a young girl in her neighborhood begging for money.

When she went to the school, the girl had claimed to attend, Brown couldn’t find her, but that day she made a decision that would change the lives of many other children forever.

She adopted an entire first-grade class in one of Oakland's lowest performing schools, and she pledged that she personally would pay for anyone who wanted to attend college. This would be a great story even if Oral Lee was independently wealthy; however, it is a much greater story considering she was a former cotton picker from Mississippi, making $45,000 a year and raising two children of her own. Brown lived up to her pledge. Since 1987, she's personally saved $10,000 a year while raising donations for her "adopted first-grade kids." And because of her tremendous act of unselfish love, children who could have been "swallowed by the streets" are now graduating from college to pursue their dreams. We all seek our purpose in life. Most of us wonder how we can make a positive difference during our brief time on this earth. But Oral Lee Brown discovered the simple secret...GIVING. Arthur Ashe said it best, "From what we get, we can make a living. What we give, however, makes a life." There's an amazing paradox of giving...you can never help another person without helping yourself.

Mike Anderson, Simple Truths. 

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Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. 

— Epicurus, Greek philosopher (341-270 B.C.) 

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and the most beautiful for the last......

"You are not what you own"..!! 
— Fugazi, late 20th-century American rock band 

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Have a safe, happy weekend, 

 

MOHANDAS. KP.

http://mohandas-sharedthoughts.blogspot.com/

 

...the July 01 ... !!

SHARED THOUGHTS…..01.07.13

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This morning, as is usual, I changed the date marker on the calendar from 30^th  June to 01^st July, not with the usual outlook for the day ahead, but with a big lump in my throat… stifling and choking with negative emotions. This negativity has been there for few days, with the realization that we are slowly approaching this day… the day of our great joy, for 29 years, but empty since 6 years. 

This was the day, we were congratulated for our new born son, a chubby bundle of joy. This is the day, my family & friends - all those who love our son, yearn how we could have wished that nice simple and aptly named, Lalit for his birthday. 

Fate and Destiny have decided otherwise and from our well of emptiness we draw strength to face more emptiness, even as we lead our life that we must. As I remember always, we cannot change the face, but have to face the change; no other option. 

All of us for some reason, at some time or other, feel negative in outlook or have negative emotions. We feel bad about it. My family’s personal experience of having to face such negative emotions, have led me to various types of experiments … finally found the only one correct solution is to SIMPLY ACCEPT the cause for our negativity.. and acknowledge that this ‘cause’ is what is resulting in our negativity. 

All other advises, words of comfort, philosophy of life, scriptures etc are of no use, unless there is this 'Acceptance'. Living in denial, will worsen the cause, and therefore worsen the effect.  

this is true in all walks of life, in business where one is depressed or overcome with negativity that can come from financial loss, or a loss of a relationship, or an expected upset from a close friendship, etc. 

For me now, I stop feeling bad about it. I accept it as an inevitable effect on me, due to a cause, that was beyond my control. Accept that there is nothing wrong with a negative feeling; the moment I accept that, I feel relieved. It is this relief which we are seeking in trying to come out of negativity. 

By a co-incidence, I received the following dispatch from Shri. Om Swami, about this very subject. Makes my task simpler to share with you, how to beat negative emotions, because it is exactly what I have been adopting, with good effect, yes, with some modifications to suit my Self, which only I know. Result is the same. 

Now read on … hope you find this useful. If you do not need this tip, you are lucky that you have never felt negative or have negative emotions. ( but is there someone like that?).

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How to overcome negative emotions.

 The other day, someone asked me a simple yet important question. It is a question I get asked rather frequently, in fact. She said, "Sometimes I get so stressed due to an incident or a person, I become negative. No matter how hard I try to forgive and to forget but I'm unable to let go off the negative thoughts. What to do at that time? How to come out of it?"

In this post, let me share with you an actual technique you can adopt, almost like first-aid. You may slightly modify it to suit yourself and your surroundings. Before I spell out the method, allow me to shed some light on the underlying thesis.

Emotions are the symptoms, they are not the cause. Please reread it: emotions are the symptoms, they are not the cause. Imagine it is a Friday afternoon and your co-workers invite you for a drink. You choose to go home instead to be with your partner. While driving back from work, you buy a pack of donuts. You envisage sharing them with the one who is already home. Let us say you two have a functional relationship, there is care, you share a bond, there is even some love — in other words, it is a normal marriage. For some reason, he is cranky today. You too had a stressful day at work but you think of buying donuts and washing your stress with a light conversation and a few laughs over a coffee. You get home and the following conversation ensues after the initial howdies:

"I've got donuts! Let's pour a cuppa."
"Oh, but I don't feel like coffee."
"That's alright, you can just have a donut or two," you respond with reduced enthusiasm.
"Donuts? Now? It's dinner time!" he sounds irritated.
Well, that was that — any possibility of happiness or positivity just got assaulted. Brutally. But let us examine the conversation. He is not irritated with you. Had you brought anything else, regardless of the conversation you picked, you would have gotten the same reaction. Because it was not about you or what you brought, it was just his own emotional state. What you witnessed were the symptoms. Donuts or the conversation were not the cause; they were immaterial, inconsequential. This is what I mean when I say emotions and feelings are symptomatic.

You see, your day is made up of twenty-four hours, an hour constitutes sixty minutes, each minute has sixty seconds. So, your day is not just one day but a series of moments, thousands of them. The same goes for your thoughts and feelings too. When you are feeling bad, negative, it is not just one big unit, it is a chain of multiple thoughts, a queue of feelings. It is so interlinked that it appears indivisible, it feels like one cohesive unit, like multiple drops of water in a waterfall. Your emotions, therefore, are made up of a series of thoughts and feelings. Like the train changing its track can change the whole course, if you can learn the art of quieting your mind or diverting your thoughts, you can rise above any emotion. Is there a way to do it without the rigors of meditation? Yes; read on. Onto the method now:

Talk to yourself, hold a self-dialog. Yes, this is it. It is an effective technique. The first step is to immediately be aware and accept that you are feeling negative. You do that by talking to yourself. Tell yourself that you are feeling negative and hurt presently. Remind yourself that you are a human being. It is perfectly normal for you to experience negative emotions, to feel down, to feel hurt, to feel pensive. It means you are human. Never be afraid to be human. Humanity is the path to divinity. Hold a communion with yourself. You actually have to hold the aforesaid self-dialog. When people are negative, they often hold long conversations in their head and that leads to greater negativity. We just have to change the nature of such dialog. Remind yourself that it is natural for you to feel stressed. Do not feel bad for feeling bad! Do not think you are a bad person just because you are feeling negative. Remove the other person from the equation, just focus on yourself. Do not try to stave off negativity, you will end up feeling even more negative and down.

As soon as you become aware that you are negative and you accept it, the resistance will disappear. Resistance and conflict go hand-in-hand, you eliminate one and the other one self-destructs.

Destroy the source of your negative emotions, not yourself. And no, the source is not the other person so you don't need a bigger hammer. Although this post is not just about negativity in a marital relationship, yet I couldn't resist but to share a quote by the comedian Rodney Dangerfield. It's a light bite, you may just enjoy it. Here: "We sleep in separate rooms, we have dinner apart, we take separate vacations; we're doing everything we can to keep our marriage together."

Peace.
Swami

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It is good to remember the past but don’t let the past capture your future.
The greatest thing about life is that is moves ahead and never goes back.

Just remember when it moves ahead, a new beginning starts.

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Life is not about stopping, but to continue and learn. 
And whenever you are down, Think of the shining sun in all its majesty, all its grandeur.

Life always has to offer more. 
If you ever see this world in shades of gray, don't cry, do not dismay.

Look through my eyes, you will see life is indeed beautiful.
For both you and me.

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cheers and have a good week ahead.   

 

MOHANDAS. KP.

http://mohandas-sharedthoughts.blogspot.com/

Musings from Kaohsiung, Taiwan

SHARED THOUGHTS........22-06-13.
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Musings from Kaohsiung (Taiwan – The Republic of China ROC ). 

 

Office work brought me to this beautiful city, on the south of this small island nation, of 23 milion, living constantly in the shadow of big brother - the mainland China. For me, “Made in Taiwan”  is a familiar label looked upon with a casual “aaaahhhh” … that I’ve known from childhood.

 

This short visit to Taiwan has changed all that. Proves yet again, our impression can be so biased that only a personal visit and a proper understanding can change our perspective to know where we (India) stand in the global standards – be it by any parameter. So I set about looking for information during leisure and casual talks with anyone who would bear with me…my incessant questions and simple curiosity to know better, the place I visit…..and what I came up was astounding. Let me share with you all that I have been able to put together.

 

On the society front - Mandarin is the lingua franca, but Taiwanese is spoken as the primary language by some 70% of the population.

Taiwan is slowly creeping towards an ageing population – nearly 50% in the middle age group, 25% below 25 years ( as against 50% in India, S.Africa).

While the slogan in India and China is Make love not babies.. slogan in this part of the world – Taiwan, HK, S.Korea is “Make love for babies”  !! Youngsters marry less, living together more and highly career minded. Increased cost of living compels double income with no choice. Govt is trying best to promote population growth by means of liberal maternity benefits - 2 months full pay, 6 months half pay, 2 years no pay, but job assured. Yet, the choice is to build career over family. Pressure shows.

 

Education - What is striking is that good quality higher education has influenced the younger population; without exception, all offices are staffed by educated, smart intelligent girls, while men pursue vocations different from those of girls. Within my own business contacts, I visited 4 offices / factories – female employees were close to 98%, at least – my rough guess.

 

Five Taiwan Universities are among the top 100 YOUNG Universities of the world (less than 50 years) in the new rankings of Times Higher Education. Taiwan is the Asian country with the highest number of Universities on the top 100 list. The list is not fully available, but I understand just about one or two Indian universites feature in the top 100.

Four Taiwan Universities also feature in the top 50 Asian University Rankings. To get an idea of what this means, let us look at others featuring in the top 50 Asian Univ’s… this should give a wider perspective of where India stands with such prestige names of IIT, IIM, ISB, BITS etc.

 

Japan – rank 1,7,13,16,17,26,42,44, 48.

China – rank 4,6,24,25,35,40,41,45,

Hong Kong – rank 3,9,12,19,33,50.

S.Korea – rank  5,8,10, 20,23, 38.

Taiwan – rank 14, 27, 46, 47.

Turkey – rank 28, 31, 37, 38.

India – rank IITK 30, IITB 33.

Israel – rank 15,18, 21.

KSA – rank 49,

Iran – rank 42

Singapore – rank 2.

 

( nonetheless, the achievements of Indians from various institutions in their post college pursuits in USA and elsewhere are noteworthy indeed, comparing to any other migrating population – of which Taiwanese are not known for, like the Japanese. Homing birds perhaps, may be also  due to no need for looking for better quality higher education, is it? ).

Politics: Taiwanese politics remain dominated by the issue of relations between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China, which still claims Taiwan as a "renegade province" and regularly threatens military action if Taiwan attempts to break away from the current awkward One  China status quo, where both sides agree that there is only one Chinese nation, but disagree on whether that one nation is governed by the PRC or the ROC.

Unless you know your listener well, it is unwise to say anything (either positive or negative) about the current government, about historical figures in Taiwanese history, about Taiwan's international relations, or about relations with mainland China.

 

People tend to think of Taiwan as a small, crowded island filled mostly with electronic factories, and if you stay in Taipei or along the west coast you might indeed maintain that impression. However, the island is also home to high mountain ranges, great beaches and stunning national parks - many with hot springs.

 

Taiwan is home for electronic consumer brands - Acer, Asus, Garmin, Gigabyte and HTC, major assembly plant for Apple’s iPhones, iPads.

 

Capital Taipei is ranked 18^th in top world travel destinations, 8^th most popular city in the Asia Pacific region -  with over 5.2 million travelers through Taipei.  (Bangkok, London, Paris ranked top three out of 132 cities worldwide).

 

Taipei is home to the world's fourth tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101.  Kaohsiung where I am past week, is the second-largest city on the island. It has one of the busiest sea ports (the Port of Kaohsiung) in the world.  The hotel I am put up, the Splendor was the tallest hotel in the world at 85 floors, until the spoil sport Dubai took over as it did for many other claims.

This hotel claims in its brochure, it has the world’s fourth fastest elevator going up 75 floors to the viewing deck in 42 sec.

 

The new train backbone is Taiwan High Speed Rail a bullet train based on Japanese Shinkansentechnology that covers the 345 km (215 mi) route on the West Coast from Taipei to Zuoying (Kaohsiung) in 90 min. imagine, this has been in operation since March 2007… ( come on, Shatabdi … Chennai to Bengulu – same distance in 5 hrs and we are  proud of you.)

 

City – clean, well kept and with plenty of open spaces, too many parks (for an Indian eye), tree lined streets, boulevards in business districts lend an atmosphere of being somewhere in the suburb of Sydney or Paris.

 

In Taiwan you need to hail the bus you want as you see it coming - much like hailing a taxi. Taxis are a dime a dozen. You don't need to look for a taxi - they'll be looking for you.. cab drivers are strictly forbidden from taking tips. As good luck would have it for one cab driver yesterday, I mistakenly paid him HK.$200, instead NT$200, which was 3.5 times higher………. It just happens, right? 

 

Scooters – separate scooter lane is notable, keeping roads free of the purr-purrs of 50 cc scooters than swarm their dedicated lanes…It is to be mentioned that since 2007, scooters and motorcycle over 550cc are allowed to go on expressway providing that they have a red license plate. They are however to be considered as cars, and as such cannot be parked in scooter parking spaces.

 

Shopping – popular items are Jade. Although it can be hard to know for sure if the item you're buying is real jade or not, some beautiful objects are sold. Most cities have a specific jade market dealing in jade and other precious stones. Computers – no need for any mention. Lingzhi  A type of bracket fungus that is often used as a Chinese herb. It supposedly has many health benefits with an apparent absence of side effects, earning it a high reputation in East Asian countries and making it rather expensive. Taiwanese lingzhi is particularly famous for being of the highest quality. Tea. Taiwan is particularly famous for its Oolong tea ;Tea tasting in Chinese culture is akin to wine tasting in Western culture. (my opinion of Oolong……..aaaaghhhh!!! ; jasmine tea is any day better). Iron eggs Irresistible delicacy… must try the wonderful dessert – kah li lou; I am carrying a two pack to Kuwait. Hope it lasts.

 

Eating – the standard benchmark for a good eatery is the quality of Beef Noodle. Oyster omelet, Aiyu jelly made from the seeds of a local fig and usually served on ice, Taiwan Sausage usually made from pork, Taiwanese Porridge is rice porridge cooked with sweet potato; also called Conjee, reminding me of our very own Kanji in God’s own country of my mother’s standard menu for dinner all thru  our school days.

 

The usual traditional Chinese taboos when eating with chopsticks apply in Taiwan as well. For instance, do not stick your chopsticks straight up or into your bowl of rice. This is reminiscent of incense sticks at a temple, and has connotations of wishing death upon those around you. When putting down chopsticks, either place them on the provided porcelain chopstick rest (at fancier restaurants) or rest the chopsticks across the top of your bowl. Also, do not use your chopsticks to spear your food or move bowls and plates. To be on safer side, avoid chop sticks. Trust your fork & knife or your  own 5 fingers.

Traditional alcoholic drinks in Taiwan are very strong. Kaoliang is the most famous alcoholic drink. A distilled grain liquor, it is extremely strong, usually 140 proof or more, and often drunk straight. ( I was offered twice, politely declined) ; Taiwan also produces many types of Shaoxing rice wine, which are considered by many as being some of the best in the world ( I can vouch for that). Taiwanese beer is also popular.  

Culture: I did not notice floor 44 on the lift floor panel.  Then I noticed there was no floor 4 either. After awkward questions to many, understand some numbers associated with 4 is unlucky and so best to avoid. Taiwanese are superstitious about anything connected with dying – unlucky things should never be mentioned. One thing to note is that the number 4 (four, pronounced 'si' ) sounds like the word for death in Mandarin.

This led me to find out more of the superstitions ; came up with some interesting fears – 

-- Do not write people's names in red. This again has connotations of death. When writing someone's English name, this is not a problem, but avoid writing Chinese names in red.      

-  Do not whistle or ring a bell at night. This is an "invitation to ghosts".                                                                                                          

-  Do not point at cemeteries or graves. This means disrespect to the dead.

-  There are numerous taboos dictating that certain objects shouldn't be given to others, often because the word for that object sounds like another unfortunate word:

o    Umbrellas, which in Mandarin sound the same as the word for "break up". Friends should therefore never give friends umbrellas. Instead, friends will euphemistically "rent" each other umbrellas for a tiny amount ($1, for example).

o    Clocks. The phrase "to give a clock" ("song zhong"), in Mandarin, has the same sound as the word "to perform last rites." If you do give someone a clock, the recipient may give you a coin in return to dispel the curse.

o    Shoes. Never ever offer shoes as a gift to old people, as it signifies sending them on their way to heaven. This is acceptable only if by mutual arrangement it is nominally sold, where the receiving party gives a small payment of about $10.

o    Knives or sharp objects, as they are made for or could be used to hurt the person.

As with mainland China, symbols resembling backwards swastikas are commonly seen in homes and Buddhist temples. They are a Buddhist symbol and have no relationship to Nazism or anti-Semitism. I saw this many times today, while visiting many temples which are beautiful and of unique architecture.

So it goes … on and on…  Taiwan, I respect you and have begun to love you; your people are tenacious, sincere, quality conscious and value time. Factors we Indians can learn a lot from.

Nee ha (hello)… from Kaohsiung with regards.....   tomorrow at a new place - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

 

MOHANDAS. KP.

http://mohandas-sharedthoughts.blogspot