Friday, May 24, 2013
Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
An inspirational email from the HR today morning made me do a double take. Suddenly, it felt as if the weekend had gone by without my noticing it because such emails usually are sent on Monday mornings. A moment's reflection, several deep calming breaths and a glance at the system calendar did indeed confirm today is Friday. :-) But in any case, I forgive the HR for getting me to the brink of a heart attack because the mail was really good.......
A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a gas burner. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
The daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he got up and turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He took the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her he asked. “Darling, what do you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. She asked. “What does it mean Father?” He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
How about you? Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain and adversity do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength?
Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Were you a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, or a layoff have you become hardened and stiff? Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart? Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, the thing that is bringing the pain. When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and make things better around you.
A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a gas burner. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
The daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he got up and turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He took the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her he asked. “Darling, what do you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. She asked. “What does it mean Father?” He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
How about you? Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with pain and adversity do you wilt and become soft and lose your strength?
Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Were you a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, or a layoff have you become hardened and stiff? Your shell looks the same, but are you bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart? Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean changes the hot water, the thing that is bringing the pain. When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and make things better around you.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The Secret Of The Nagas (Spoiler Alert!)
I finished reading the book yesterday.
No, “finished” is not the right word. 'Devoured' is more like it.
If I could, I would have loved to finish it in one sitting. It was
that good.
It's not about just the characters –
even though the author manages to make us see familiar characters
from the mythology e.g. Shiva, Sati or Daksha, in a new light or
makes fictional ones, like Ayurvati and Anandmayi, seem so believable
that you actually forget that they are not part of the scriptures.
It's also not about just the way he fuses well-known storylines with
new twists. It's about the whole package. You know that a part of it
is mythology and part is fiction. But the author has combined it so
effortlessly that one cannot help but wonder 'could it have happened
like this?'. If I remember right, the book's foreword does mention
such being author's intention.
Now about the plot. Though it was not
hard to figure out the Naga's relation to Sati, it came as a pleasant
surprise when he turned out to be none other than the favorite Hindu
deity – Ganesha. Wow! I didn't really see that one coming. So
obviously, it was a surprise to find that the Naga Queen was Kali –
who, as per Hinduism, is considered one of the many forms of Aadi
Shakti. Cool!
That said, I have not grown fond of
Anandmayi with her in-your-face display of her sexuality, totally
uncalled-for. Somehow or other it has reminded me of the item numbers
that the Hindi movies have taken to in order to spice up the
offering. This trilogy could have done without her.
And my suspicions after reading the 1st
novel have come true – Brahaspati is very much alive. Okay, that
one wasn't hard to figure out for anyone who has watched even a
handful of Hindi movies. If you don't see the dead body, the bloke
ain't dead :-)
Waiting to get my hands on the last
part of the trilogy.....and hoping that the author gets inspired to
start a similar project on the life of another favorite Hindu God.
Yep, you guessed it! Krishna! :-)
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
It's amazing how a chance conversation or a search for a phrase heard can lead you to amazing sites on the net.
Recently, one of my colleagues was talking about an ex-colleague who had the habit of walking into office mostly unseen by anyone. I said that he must be having floo powder. Just on a whim, I searched on the net for "floo powder" and stumbled across http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page.
Similarly, I was looking for meaning of the term Alex Karev used for one of his patients in yesterday's episode of Grey's Anatomy - turnip in the cabbage patch. I discovered http://www.greyswriters.com/ in the process. This is a blog kept by the writers of the show. Wish I had seen it earlier.
Recently, one of my colleagues was talking about an ex-colleague who had the habit of walking into office mostly unseen by anyone. I said that he must be having floo powder. Just on a whim, I searched on the net for "floo powder" and stumbled across http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page.
Similarly, I was looking for meaning of the term Alex Karev used for one of his patients in yesterday's episode of Grey's Anatomy - turnip in the cabbage patch. I discovered http://www.greyswriters.com/ in the process. This is a blog kept by the writers of the show. Wish I had seen it earlier.
Monday, May 20, 2013
How much LOSS did the shopkeeper face?
Nothing like a good puzzle to yank people out of the post-lunch slumber. One of the colleagues had emailed the following puzzle:
A lady buys goods worth Rs.200 from a shop. (shopkeeper is selling the goods with zero profit). The lady gives him Rs.1000 note. The shopkeeper gets the change from the next shop and keeps Rs.200 for himself and returns Rs.800 to the lady. Later the shopkeeper of the next shop comes with the Rs.1000 note saying “duplicate” and takes his money back.
How much LOSS did the shopkeeper face?
My first calculation was 1200. - 1000 that the shopkeeper had to give back + 200 that the shopkeeper lost on this transaction. The colleague who had emailed it said the correct answer was 1000. She explained the answer using concept of assets (the same can be found on internet). I didn't buy that. When I told her my logic, she pointed out that the 200 that he received was real money. So the real answer is indeed 1000.
As I write this, people around me are still tying themselves up in knots over this because some of them think that the answer is 1800. A fierce debate is going on – accompanied by role plays in groups.
I guess none of us is equipped to run a shop. And if we ever end up doing it, we should stick to credit cards :-)
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