Why do you work?

I read this post today by Simple Dollar’s Trent.

This is an age old thingy! Why should you work? What would you do if you had a million dollars? Or if you had unlimited resources?

I know its old, its cliched.. yet, let me try to answer that one for myself.

• Start an online library chain (I love books!). Start an online book store like flipkart.com
• Travel all around the world and indulge in photography
• Run a mountain side farm with a stream running through it
• Develop a cutting-edge data integration / data quality tool and release it under open source
• Find and fund at least 10 diversified startups in areas within my circle-of-competence
• Manage my investment portfolio myself based on Ben Graham’s / Warren Buffett’s principles
• Develop a personal finance tool that is easy to use, flexible, reconciles with investment and bank accounts, calculates tax on the fly, has online and offline data entry…. and has flexibility to create meaningful / useful reports and dashboards. (I use GNUcash today. I love it. But its reporting features are not that great.. and its a lot of work to keep data updated)
• Write a book on Nilgiris (www.Neilgherries.com is a domain that I own)
• ……………… the list goes on

Team Hoyt: What pure love can do!

I don’t get emotional easily. Today I did, after watching this amazing video of a father-son duo.

I am truly amazed and inspired by Dick and his love for his son. I simpy don’t have any more words to describe my thoughts. Watch the video.

And if you liked it, read more here.

Coincidence?

I walk into my library (mylib.in) to pick up a couple of books.

I pick up “Trekking holidays in India” and “The Man-eaters of Kumaon” by Jim Corbett. As I move towards the check-out counter, I see an old queer looking book. The word that captures my attention is “wild“. The title is “Into the wild”.

Out of curiosity, I pull out the book and read the brief at the back. The gist interests me and I end up picking it (and dropping Jim’s book). The day is Sunday, Aug 16.

I go home and start reading it. I find the story interesting, but a bit dark too, delving into human emotions (whichI believe is the most complex thing to understand). I discuss the book with a colleague on Monday and come to know about a movie based on the book by the same name. I get so interested that I read the book late into the night on Monday. Deeply influenced by the character Chris, I tweet a quote of his which I like so much.Also end up putting the same line as my Orkut status message.

“Nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit of a man than a secure future”

And on Tuesday, I finish reading the book. I get hooked into knowing more about this guy. Chris McCandless. I read a wikipedia article on him. I review a movie based on his life. Also, out of more curiosity, I do a google image search to see more ‘real’ pictures of the guy (and not from the movie).The date is August 18.

Finally, I find that there is a fan created Facebook account of his with a few photos and lots of comments there. I am flabbergasted by one comment I read there.

“Let’s think on him today – 18 August 1992″

I realize suddenly that the guy had probably died on Aug 18 in 1992, which is clearly mentioned in the book.

Oh my god, it is today! August 18, 17 years later! And I, deeply impressed and perplexed by the book’s depiction of the guy, have been googling so much about him. Spending almost all of my evening on a guy who I knew nothing about 50 hours ago. All the while, not knowing that it was his death anniversary!

Coincidence, anyone?

Rest in peace, Chris (aka Alex the supertramp)

Enjoy the coffee, not the cup!

Source: Picked from the message board in my office. Real source unknown.

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.

Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering Coffee to his guests, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: ‘If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other’s cups.

Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn’t change. Some times, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it.’

Don’t let the cups drive you.. Enjoy the coffee instead!!!

Sir David Attenborough

Well, I dont need to tell who he is. (If you really don’t know, curse yourself for not knowing him all this while and read this).

I have turned into a big fan of his!

I watched the “Life in the undergrowth” episode today on Animal planet @ 9 pm. It was mind blowing! I loved every inch of the footage!

I now have a renewed interest in bees, ants and the like! And of course,  more new goals for me. To view / read all of the below!

Life series:

• Life on Earth (1979)
• The Living Planet (1984)
• The Trials of Life (1990)
• Life in the Freezer (1993)
• The Private Life of Plants (1995)
• The Life of Birds (1998)
• The Life of Mammals (2002)
• Life in the Undergrowth (2005)
• Life in Cold Blood (2008)

Other:

• Life on air (autobiography)
• Wildlife on One (1977–2005)
• BBC Wildlife Specials (1995–2008)
• The Blue Planet (2001)
• Planet Earth (British version) (2006)
• Nature’s Great Events (2009)

Related post: The master

Mere paas ma hai!

The most easily taken-for-granted person in our lives.. mother!

The most easily taken-for-granted thing… her love!