Do it!

I just read a great quotation:

Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Awesome

Today I am in a mood to write something. I just saw an awesome video that has changed my mood. What's amazing is that how few words we hear from someone authentic can touch our own authenticity -- and leave us feeling great. People who show the guts to rise up from the deep valleys of misfortune and come out appearing to be the most fortunate become an inspiration for all others. I deeply admire such people. Here is one such guy: Neil Pasricha with his awesome talk at TED.

Remembering Names - Other Than Your Own

I am terrible at it: remembering names. Tomorrow I am supposed to make a presentation and likely to face it: meeting strangers; trying hard to remember their names; and still the names not just slipping out of memory but not even registering themselves in the first place.

Recently, while waiting for the guests for a get-together at our home, I called my wife to ask the name of the husband of one of her friends. She teased me, "Oh! You're preparing to introduce the guests with one another." That's true, I said. And it was not that I was meeting this gentleman for the first time: I was meeting him the fifth time. And still...his name was not ready to surface in my memory.


On the other hand, I have also experienced that when I meet a person who has some peculiar characteristics (e.g., speaks loudly, cracks interesting jokes, wears some crazy dress, etc.), I don't need much effort to remember the name of such a person. Probably, that's where lies the clue: We need to associate names with some peculiarity about the person. Well, there is more to it.

Here is the remedy to this potentially embarrassing but interesting problem. And as this video shows, one should not take this issue too seriously. Let it be fun!

Communication Skills:
How To Remember People's Names

Decision Making

Life is a series of big decisions -- which field to pursue, which college to go to, what to become, whom to marry, which company to work for, where to live and so on -- and their consequences. And then smaller decisions like which fruit to eat, which shirt to wear, which movie to watch, which book to read, which car to buy, etc.

Are we capable of making rational decisions?

Sometime back I received a booklet from Singapore's Health Ministry, which described HOTA (Human Organ Transplant Act). The Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) is about an organ donation system that allows (with people's own consent) for the removal of kidneys, livers, hearts and corneas from Singapore citizens and permanent residents after their death, for the sole purpose of transplantation.

The package also included a form which required you to "opt-out" if you were not interested in donating your organs after death. In other words, if you don't opt out, you're already "in." This letter was sent to all Singapore citizens and permanent residents aged between 21 and 60.

What did I do with the form? How did I deal with this rather scary subject of organ donation? First I kept it aside, telling myself to bother about it later when I have time to read the whole booklet and think about it. Later on, after couple of days, I looked at it, but still didn't feel like doing anything about it. After few more days, I just left it as it is, silently telling myself to forget about it. In other words, I didn't take any decision, which meant I gave consent for the default option: agreeing to donate my organs.

Why was I so reluctant to decide on this issue? Was the form itself involved a clever tactic to make people agree for joining HOTA? Behavioral economist Dan Ariely provides a beautiful explanation for these two questions and shows how naive we are when it comes to making decisions.

Mind Over Body

I've heard about this cliche "mind over body," but like many such stuff, it has never sunk into me. Today, however, I've seen something that has made me realize that this it true: Mind does play a great role in how body would behave.

Unforgettable Encounters

I went for a hair cut this evening. I went to the same shop--the New Star Hairdressing at Serangoon Road--where I have been going for the last 15 years, except for just a few occasions, maybe less than six, when I did stray from the beaten path. And over the years, I have developed a kind of relationship with the owner of this shop, an old, happy guy. I usually chit chat with him about only one topic: his vacations. When is he going for the next vacation and where? That's my usual question and then our discussion erupts. It turns out he has been to all the major tourist destinations in the world -- London, Switzerland, US, Paris, Australia, etc. And being a Tamil-Indian, he goes to India at least once a year.

Today's visit was no different. He started cutting my hair, and, for a while, I was wondering why cutting hair doesn't cause pain. After all, hair are part of the body and as long as they are on the body, they grow, which means they, too, have life. And yet, hair don't give you any pain while they get slaughtered. After this little digression into the life of hair, I came to our usual topic of discussion: his next vacation. He smiled and informed me that he was off to India in two weeks time, but this time he was going for a medical check up. That settled my curiosity, and soon he settled my hair.

As I paid him the money and was about to leave the shop, he gave me a small white packet. Slightly taken aback, I asked him, "What's this?" He replied, "This is a souvenir for you--a key-ring. We have completed 50 years!" You've been cutting hair in this shop for the last 50 years? Completely relaxed and smiling, he said, "I started when I was only 20. Now I am 70." I shook his hand and could only utter one word: Great!

What draws me to this shop though it is bit far from my home? I guess, it's this kind of interesting encounters that I look forward to. But more than that, it is this guy himself--always relaxed, smiling and watching a Tamil film on the overhead TV-- and always with a plan...for his next vacation!

Getting Struck by Words

Can words strike us like someone hitting with a staff? Yes, I have been struck twice so far today, and it is still just 10 am!

What makes a good day?
This sentence is from the Corner Office section of The New York Times. Really, do we ever bother to think about what makes a good day for us?

Another one...

Old yearning can be hard to lay to rest.
This is from the book Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul. Well, that seems like a rare encounter with truth.

This is True

A man never sees all that his mother has been to him until it's too late to let her know he sees it.

- William Dean Howells (1837-1920)
American Novelist, Critic

Well, today, on 5th May, is my mother's death anniversary.