Mind Habits

I recently learned the eight mind habits of successful people from Dr. Duan Roen, who happens to be a Professor of English at Arizona State University. These habits make a person better in every corner of his/her life:

• Personal life: An individual communicates better with his family, friends and close ones. He makes meaningful connections with them which in turn enrich his life.
• Professional life: An individual is better equipped in his workspace. He does his work to perfection and is respected by his peers. He becomes a force of excellence and enjoys growth in his career.
• Civic life: An individual can take better decisions in his community and work with others in society's framework. He is better in making judgements and doing negotiations.
• Academic life: An individual is more inclined towards success and learning in academia.

 The eight mind habits are:-

1. Curiosity:  To be curious about everything. Ask questions as to why and how something happens. Our best role models are children. Being curious helps open new doors and paves way for opportunities. Moreover, the satisfaction of living increases tremendously.
2. Openness: To remain open towards new ideas and viewpoints. It also refers to considering other's opinion which might differ from our own. It doesn't mean to let go of our own opinions, but to be neutral and letting other ideas to shape ours in case we are wrong.
3. Engagement: To invest our full attention in whatever things we are currently indulged in. The duration of attention can vary - 5 minutes for some to an hour or more. It is tremendously important in execution of basically every type of activity.
4. Creativity: Its interpretation may differ from person to person. Some examples of creativity are: solving a problem using an entirely new approach, creating things from ground up, composing music, doing research and so on. It helps to keep thinking about world in new ways.
5. Persistence: Perhaps the most important one in all eight. The quality of never backing down and being true to one's own goals. Learning from failures, and welcoming new challenges form an important part of this habit. Dr. Roen shares a story from his own life - his wife and he are in the habit of writing daily journal entries for over 40 years of their married life. Each journal entry takes around 15-20 minutes. They have remained so persistent that the journal now contains over 16,000 entries! They view it as a treasure and a memory-corridor to the life they had led.
6. Responsibility: My favorite. The quality of showing credibility about the things you say and do. Meaning if you enjoy applause when you succeed, you ought to accept failures too. Humility is the chief attribute here. In failures, you should try to understand what went wrong and promise the affected parties of better performance in future. Promise keeping, disciplined life and an edge for excellence in every aspect of life are the chief skills to master.
7. Flexibility: The ability to change your thought processes easily as new ideas and knowledge come flooding in. The skill to interact with other people and take the best possible qualities and ideas from them. Allowing yourself to improve at each moment of time.
8. Meta-Cognition: It is about thinking and reflecting upon your actions and deeds. It is asking yourself how could you have done some things better and what are you lacking in. It is also about the analysis of results of the things you did or are about to do. You should have a clear idea about the paths you are choosing or are currently walking on.

I will be doing my best to incorporate these points in my life. Would also love to hear from you.

Review - Creed(2015)

Creed is a movie directed by Ryan Coogler. It features Sylvester Stallone(as Rocky Balboa) and Michael Jordan(as Adonis Creed).
  
I may be a little biased here. I am a great fan of Sylvester Stallone. Me and my father still watch reruns of Rambo and Rocky on TV. So, when I came to know that a boxing movie with Rocky Balboa has been released, I made up my mind to watch it. Eventually I did.

Jordan's performance is awe-inspiring. From the moment he leaves his well-paid job after his first match(as in the movie) to getting Stallone as an instructor; his struggle feels close to the heart. He is running laps, doing chin-ups and shadow boxing his way to what he thinks he should become.

Stallone as always steals the show. He has such a big presence on the screen. He unknowingly shadows Jordan(fans of Rocky will agree). When Creed finds Balboa, the latter has left his boxing days behind. With enough persuasion, Creed finally gets Balboa to coach him. One of the finest scenes from the movie is when Jordan and Stallone both hurl punches on speed bags. The boxer inside you jumps up in joy. It is also very much like a father-son film with some moving shots. One is when Creed and his biker friends give their respects to Balboa.

I will not comment much on the story now. The content is short in my opinion. Anyway, the fights and training scenes are beautifully filmed. Those with no boxing experience can follow the action quite easily.

I will give the movie, four out of five stars. How many would you give?

A dive into Indian literature

Overcome by my curiosity, I recently started reading literature originated in India. India is a land of many languages. Sanskrit, Bangla, Hindi, Gujarati and the list goes on. I am not comfortable with any of them. But I thought I should atleast start somewhere.

My childhood was filled with stories from epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata and Jataka. Naturally, I am inclined to Indian mythology(predominantly Hindu works as of now; will move on to Buddhism, Jainism and other religions if fortune allows me to). I started with Mrityunjaya by Shivaji Sawant. In parallel, I am reading the translated works of the famed Sanskrit poet, Kalidasa. The purpose of this post is to summarize what I have read so far. I will go in chronological order.

The first Hindi novel I ever picked up --- Mrityunjaya(meaning "Conqueror of Death") written by Shivaji Sawant tells the story of Karna. It is a strange title to begin with. Karna from the epic Mahabharata, died in the great battle of Kurukshetra; slain by his own brother. Still the author chose to go with such a title, probably to give respects to a tragic hero. In a way, Karna was among the unluckiest of men. Abandoned by his own mother, cursed by his own guru(teacher), insulted by people because of his seemingly low caste, pushed into the wrong cause by his friend -- he still is remembered for his valor and greatness of character(Indian parents still name their boys as Karan). This book tries to capture the perception of Karna through the eyes of his various contemporaries. Some of them are:- Karna himself, Kunti(Karna's biological mother) and Vrishali(Karna's wife). Overall, the book is poignant and does justice to a complex character.

FACT: Karna's bow, Vijaya was gifted to him by his teacher, Parshurama. The name literally translates to "victory". Vijaya was one of the bows of Lord Shiva himself. Only few men were worthy and capable enough to wield it. Whoever used it in battle became invincible. Arjuna instructed by Krishna, killed Karna when he was weaponless i.e; without Vijaya.

The second work I am reading is Raghuvansam(means "the dynasty of Raghu"). As evident, it tells the story of King Raghu's line, a descendant of Manu(the first man to walk on Earth who originated from Surya, the Sun god). The kings of this dynasty have always formed an integral part of Indian folklore(the likes of Bhagirath, Harischandra and Rama). This work of Kalidasa is a mahakavya(epic poem). In my humble opinion, Kalidasa has showed extraordinary brilliance -- depicting the lives of legendary men in a way that was unknown to me.

FACT: Though his works are of legendary stature among the scholars of Sanskrit, the history of Kalidasa is virtually unknown. He is known to dislike love stories but ironically while writing about romance, surpassed everyone. It is believed that he enjoyed fame during his lifetime and was an ardent follower of Lord Shiva.

The third work I am reading, is again from Kalidasa. It is Kumarsambhavam(means "how the creation of Kumara became possible"). It tells the story of the creation of Karthikeya, the warrior god. It contains description of events after the immolation of Sati up to how Shiva was united with Parvati. Some of the passages are especially noteworthy. Like Shiva self-insulting himself in front of Parvati and his description of the full moon later on. Kalidasa shows why he is known as the greatest among the greatest.

FACT: The greatest works in Sanskrit always revolve around legendary men and women. It seems to me that poets wrote their works for the sole purpose of showing the ideal life. That's kind of cool.

So what's next? I am thinking of starting Meghnada Badh(means "the slaying of Meghnada"). Written in Bangla by Michael Madhusudan Dutta, it was the first ever work in Bangla to be written in the form of western play. Why did I chose it? Because Michael Madhusudan Dutta is a household name in Bengal. Born into Hinduism, he converted to Christianity on seeing the plight of women and lower castes in the orthodox Hindu era. He was continuously ridiculed by his fellow people as an 'Englishman' and was rejected by his own family. He succumbed to his long addiction with alcohol, but not before creating a name for himself.

FACT: Meghnada was the son of Ravana(the villain of Ramayana). He was named so because his birth cry sounded like thunder. Ravana wanted his son to surpass himself. So he instructed every single planet and constellation to align at the particular moment of his son's birth. The planets who are gods themselves, feared Ravana's wrath and agreed to do so. Ultimately, Ravana got a legendary warrior as his son. Meghnada is the only man apart from Parshurama, who is said to wield the greatest three weapons of Hindu trinity -- Brahmandastra from Brahma, Narayanastra(the one with eleven Rudras) from Vishnu and Pashupat from Shiva.

So what lies in the future? Maybe I should learn a lot more Indian languages. I am still to touch any literature from Southern and North-eastern parts of India. Lets see how that changes in the coming years.

Gasland - A review

Gasland is a documentary film created by Josh Fox. It was released on September 15, 2010. He is currently working on another project called The LET GO AND LOVE Tour. The latter is being outsourced on Kickstarter.
 

As a kid, I went to Burnpur (Asansol, West Bengal, India). In a sense, it was a strange place. Dense forests rose to belittle a ten year old boy. Peacocks looked down at me from trees. The place seemed very quiet. But the thing that bewildered me the most was flames emanating from Earth. I was completely awestruck. The only other memory I have from back then is the collection of stories I heard from people. Someone told me that a community hand-pump exploded in his proximity(he lit up a cigarette while walking by). Some told that they took absolute care while lighting anything. Only later my father told me about the existence of underground methane in coal seams.

 I was pretty naive back then. So I didn't ask anyone about other sort of problems(like diseases) they had. My mind just took it as a sort of weird experience and moved on with other easier things.

On some days, life becomes a loop. This movie did it for me. In here we have a story about environmental hazards caused by 'fracking'. Fracking is a process by which natural gas is extracted using hydraulic(liquid water, here) pressure to crack open fissures in rocks. The chemicals used with water contaminate the ground water supply. Of course, the energy companies deny any such claims. The gas also find its way through pipes and fill entire homes with inflammable material.

Josh also explores the hideous ways of energy corporations. As lots of money is involved, humans fall down to any level.

If you have reached this far, I will recommend you to watch it. Some stories deserve a larger audience.
 
I give this movie five out of five stars. What's your take?

Things to Do

In a few months I will be joining Flipkart as a Software Development Engineer. So there are things I must sort out now. Things I would like to do once I have money in my pockets:

• Volunteer for social services. This is something I have been thinking for many years now. I will see what I can do. Teaching children, helping out the elderly in old-age homes and feed the homeless and the poor. I must do it. Probably on the weekends after finishing week's job(s).
• Backpacking and travel places. Starting with India. I would really like to get a feel about traveling alone(maybe with one or two friends?). Two additional things I would like to do as well. Get a reel camera with photosensitive films. And get a small diary to write about my travels. I think I would ask my father to lend me his camera.
• Read a wide variety of things. There is just so much to read out there. I am really focusing on non-fiction as of now. Revolving around history, physics, medicine and social issues. I still haven't thought of a plan to manage my time here. I will have to be extremely disciplined with myself to do that which brings me to the next point.
• Exercise daily. Running and core-strength training. First one because I want to be a serious runner and begin participitating in marathons from 2016. Second one is to tone my body. Around 4 kilometers of jogging/running, 30 push-ups and pull-ups everyday. That should do it I think.
• As I will be exercising a lot, it makes sense that I consult a dietician/trainer who is going to supervise it. Food intake is going to be very crucial.

Ofcourse, this list is not exhaustive. But I think it is enough to guide me in the coming months. Wish me luck!

Thoughts on the Emperor

This is a review of The Emperor of All Maladies written by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Before I write the review of this book, it would be justified to share the reasons of picking it up in the first place.

It was around 2010-11. The newspaper headlines showed that a non-residential Indian has won the Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction. The book was on cancer and the author was an oncologist. Impressed by the facts, I took a mental note of reading the book in future. Around four and a half years passes. On October 2015, I get a phone call from my mother. She is worried about her brother. He has been ill for sometime. The scans have showed that his intestines are lined with tumors. He has to undergo a major surgery. Though the diagnosis hasn't come yet, I already knew what was coming. A month later, the biopsy results came in. It is a Stage III colon cancer. The time to read the book has arrived. Cancer is now a personal crusade.

Before I pick up a book written on science, I first go through the qualifications of the author. Though a Pulitzer Prize winner, I still had to check. Siddhartha Mukherjee, in this case, is an assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University and practices at CU/NYU Presbyterian Hospital(additionally a Rhodes scholar; he has graduated from Stanford University, University of Oxford and Harvard Medical School). All my doubts were put to rest.

The book surely was intense. It starts with the story of one of the author's patients and ends with another. In between, he described the entire history of the disease - from its first mention in ancient manuscripts to Sidney Farber's "Jimmy" campaign to our current understanding of cancer genetics. It was a journey of hope and despair, fighting against a shape-shifting disease of enormous resourcefulness.

This book was strikingly readable and humane. Cancer is a master of destroying human dignity. And so its medicine. Radical surgery, invasive chemotherapy and the haunting feeling of death suck out the life from patients. But it also shows how people don't lose hope even in the toughest of times. For instance, chemotherapy(which is a treatment using cytotoxic chemicals; cytotoxic means "cell-killing") may result in asphyxiation through vomiting apart from hair loss, kidney failure or infertility. People still go through treatments boldly.

Herein lies also the stories of researchers who painstakingly found new ways of controlling the menace. From testing of thousands of toxic drugs to obsessive collection of tumor samples to recruitment of patients for randomized trials; biochemists, radiologists, hematologists, surgeons and medical students helped humanity in the race against itself.

Cancer - fundamentally as a disease of mutations and cellular pathways - is a corrupt version of ourselves. It is a cell which has evolved to get a maddening urge to divide(in a sample present in the author's lab, the leukemia cells still divided furiously; the blood cells belonged to a woman who has been dead for thirty years). All death signals have been switched off - resulting in a scary version of immortality. Cancer cells use tactics which were only used during our birth, when we were developing as foetuses in our mothers' wombs. The tumors also create their own blood vessels for oxygen supply.

Though it may seem daunting, medical researchers are finally getting a comprehensive picture of the disease. Cancer therapy is finally becoming targeted. More and more drugs are being developed which specifically aim only mutant cells. Hope still stands tall.

If you're reading this, then allow me to thank you. I have another thing to ask of you as well. If you aren't, then please start going for medical checkups on a periodic basis. Take your family or close ones too. The best way to defeat this disease is to detect it early.

Revving Up!

It has been really hard to learn astronomy without a teacher or a guide. I have managed to ace through a few introductory astrophysics courses by using whatever little physics I learned at school(luckily my physics doesn't suck as much). But sometimes, my lack of formal training shows bitterly at places.

 

Today, I was solving an exercise involving the radial velocities of stars in a hypothetical galaxy. I managed to solve some of the problems before getting stuck. The problem told me to identify a graph showing correlation between radial velocity and right ascension of the stars. Let’s not go into much details here.

 

Now that italicized term became a horror for me. I tried to learn about it(on my own) near the beginning of senior high school. I didn’t get it then. I couldn’t wrap my head around it today.

 

That's why I have decided to attend an astronomy camp in nearby future. I am looking for a great place with amazing enthusiasts. Do you have a suggestion?

 

Will write about the further developments.