Eight Tips for dealing with criticism...

The Happiness Project is a blog I read very often, Gretchen Rubin has very interesting things to say and deal with every day life circumstances and remain happy through those experiences.

She has a useful post on how to deal with criticism. I don't handle criticism particularly well, though consciously I've tried to improve myself in this department for last 2-3 years. There are some tips which I've applied on ocassions and it has worked, but discipline and patience is missing during most times.

Please read her post here.

Mumbai under Attack

This is very shocking and disturbing to say the least.....Feelings of anger, rage, frustration, paralysis, nostalgia all at once. This is my city, my Mumbai.

Taj is not only a heritage five-star hotel, it is a cultural landmark, it is the city's identity, it is where one of my cousin sister's got married, it is where we used to take cousins coming from out of town......

Seeing this violent incident unfold on TV is leaving me numb and blood is rushing into my brain. My immediate family and friends are safe and sound (as far as I know), but I feel very helpless for the city and family sitting here in US.

Mumbai after this will never be the same.

Quick Links:
A very nice piece by Sambhit Bal at CricInfo.

Longest day by Vir Sanghvi.

Quote of the day

Rather than telling, "You look good in that suit," tell the person, "That suit looks good on you."
- Dale Carneigie

The voice tone and selection of words are very important in any conversation. It can convey right signals and create a positive impression. I don't believe you need to butter people or say good things about them for creating attachment or liking, what you need is genuine interest to listen and talk, give true and honest opinions, be helpful without any hopes.

Great people do it well, I'm trying to get better.

Spending patterns of youth predict adult money management

Small but nice post from Auren Hoffman.

Spending patterns of youth predict adult money management.

Top 3 Most Watched Sports in the World

Since the Cricket World Cup is beginning in next few days, a debate at work about the most watched Sports started my quest to find out the Top 3 Most Watched Sports in the World. Someone asked me this question and my immediate reply was:

1. Soccer
2. Cricket
3. Was not sure, Tennis or Golf

Being from the Indian sub-continent Cricket had to be in the list, I even joked that if the population of India increases further it can be the most watched Sport.

My colleague asked me a valid point, What do the Chinese and people in Far East follow? I was not sure what sports do they watch. This can change viewer-ship rankings. She told that Tennis might be No 2 and Cricket might be No 3. Seems reasonable, but does anyone have a better answer to this question.

Which are the Top 3 Most Watched Sports ?

A thumbnail of a 20-20 cricket match between England and Sri Lanka (Image Courtesy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:England_vs_Sri_Lanka.jpg)

Dixie Chicks - Not Ready to Make Nice

Probably everyone of you know that Dixie Chicks won 5 Grammy Awards this year including the Song and Album of the Year. But I'll still mention about it, because I have been listening and viewing their song video over and over. Sometimes simple things like watching a song or movie gives you lot of happiness, I want to register in blog the joy this song and video has given me for the moment. 'Not Ready to make Nice' is one of the nicest songs I have heard lately. If you haven't heard the song, listen to it right now, it's not worth missing.

See the original video below (they even performed at Grammy's)

In March 2003 just before the US invasion of Iraq, Natalie Maines (lead singer) provoked a controversy by stating publicly in a concert "and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas". Read the whole Political controversy on wikipedia.

This song is their response to the 12 words that erupted the controversy, anger, boycott, criticism and the death threats the band received and their nonacceptance of the war and their stand on Peace.

What I liked?
I like the passion and power with which they sing.
What I loved?
I love the statement, the courage, the music they play. Go Girls!

India - Growth and Unemployment

On one hand the world is going ga-ga over India, we read about India's sudden growth in the last 4 years and the India rising story in the media. The outsourcing boom, Software industry and the BPO sector has increased the Purchasing Parity and changed the lifestyle and attitude of the urban population. But on the other hand the rising economy has also increased the inflation and the rising costs of daily domestic goods. This has made the life very expensive for people who live on fixed budgets and whose lives have not been touched by this rising Indian economy (this is a huge percentage of the population).

The situation in rural areas is even worse, high unemployment is not helping either. I think all this will change as the literacy level will increase and the BPO sector and Software industry will open offices and start to operate in these smaller Indian towns and cities. It'll take 2-5 years for this to happen, but more than time it will need commitment and dedication from people living in these towns to prepare and better educate themselves for this new opportunities ahead. This will solve at least couple of other issues:
- Will reduce the migration of rural population to Class I cities like Bombay, Delhi, Chennai, etc in search of work.
- Once people in Class III towns will see their peers prosper because of good education, the next generation in these towns will leverage on the previous generation's success and improve it further.

Another article I came across last week was the article in CNN on India not becoming a superpower till it reduces its poverty. Very nice article, I agree with the contents and the reasons given in the article, BUT I don't think agree with the TITLE of the article. Average Indians have no aims or ambitions of becoming a SUPERPOWER per se, thats the last thing on their mind. What they want and what they are struggling for are meeting their basic daily necessities like food, shelter, clothes, education for their kids. India is a young democratic country and what it has achieved in 60 years is commendable, we still have a long way to go and we will.

Nevertheless, nice article and nice read. Educate yourself.