When not to take advice seriously

Live it to know it

If you are a start-up entrepreneur, you have faced it frequently. Advisors of all hues and shades - well-meaning and otherwise - telling you what to do and how to do. Even when no advice is sought, there will be many who'll not miss out on the opportunity to advise you; there seems to be some kind of a pleasure in trying to show the path to a start-up entrepreneur.

But beware ye Entrepreneur!

If the advisor is not of the same fraternity, discount his words heavily. Do not take them too seriously. And for sure, do not act on such pieces of wisdom immediately. Think hard before you accept any such wisdom as gospel truth.

There are good reasons for my saying so.

Only those who are in the active role of an entrepreneur - especially the start-up ones - face the following realities:

1. Fear of death : If the business model does not work out, and the revenues do not flow in, it could be sudden death with no second chance in the immediate future. All the dreams, the presentations, the excel-charts vaporise instantly
2. Fear of growing unprofitable : The business may be pulling in revenues, but the profits may just not be happening, thereby making the mid-term prospects of the venture suspect. No one may be interested in funding you anymore
3. Fear of losing everything one has : If the business collapses, then a lot of emotional investment that happens in it goes with it too.. sure you become wiser, but the pain is harrowing. A daily dose of "we told you so..." is likely to follow

Only an entrepreneur who has lived through the daily pain (and pleasure) of facing these brutal realities knows how things get done under such pressures.

Civic sense in India - Indians speak out!

Recently, I started a discussion with my social media friends on this topic - "Indians lack civic sense - basic manners in public places that keep civility alive. Suggest one thing you wish to change in Indians' habits, that would improve civic sense and civility."

The list of answers I received reflected pain, hope and frustration in almost equal measure. Here I present the entire range of opinions expressed  by various individuals. It makes a fantastic read.

Indians lack civic sense - basic manners in public places that keep civility alive. Suggest one thing you wish to change in Indians' habits, that would improve civic sense and civility.

Rohit Vyas VALUE BASED EDUCATION

Shoaib Ahmed If everybody loses "I am the king, no one messes with me or talks in even a lil higher voice with me" then India or atleast Indore would be, atleast, a place to live in.

Nikita Phadke I think talking loudly on phone in places is a habit people should try to improve.

Navneet Bajaj Every Tom, dick & harry in India has some 'Neta' connection, which not only empowers them to keep their civic sense at home but also enables them to take law in their hand...

Rahul Sinha the correct word is nepotism :)
Menal Lunawat The mentality of the people and would like to widen their thinking...people want all the luxury but dont want to make any efforts from their side....like people love living in clean city but still will throw wrappers n stuff on road even when proper place to discard them is there...but people should understand that make some efforts because 'boond boond se gadh bharta hai'
Yuvraj Jaipal staring @ people..
Anurag Mangal As a resident of Delhi, I believe that people should get themselves more calm. Unnecessary aggression especially in north India is very high. Which reflects on traffic lights, que of metro, buses etc. Those who are not a part of this aggression while watching others violating their rights makes them also to be a part of this disease.

Giriraj Singh Chundawat recently some official (i dont know name) claimed that we Indians have inferior cleanliness sense than west. I felt bad but somewhere inside i thought that actually he is partially correct too. The way we spit on roads, throw garbage wherever we wish, etc shows how much we care for our prestige. We sincerely praise the clean foreign roads (yar UK ki roads to kaach jaisi hoti h!) and then turn away in disgust our face when it comes to clean our own house. i wont suggest some law or something else to ban spitting etc bcoz thats very difficult to implement in the country of our proportions. But i think it can't be done unless we realise the moral responsibility of keeping our country clean. And we can do it. Why cant we keep our roads clean when we think twice before spoiling a five star hotels' floor? We are one of the oldest civilisations on earth. We have taught the world how to live. Cant we do it again??

It's dangerous for a teacher to blog!

Famous (last) words!

When a teacher starts to blog

He blogs, blogs, blogs, and blogs                  

Emotions, memories, tribulations put to animation

That's their style, and there's just no asphyxiation

They say it's dangerous to hand over a mike to a teacher

You can only hand it over, and then wait for it to get over

But it never does, as the teacher goes on and on and on

For his emotions, he wants an audience, Spot On!

Those who said this, really never saw a teacher blog

For with infinite storage space, multimedia tools, and a microphone on call

He also speaks & emotes as he blogs

Poor soul! He takes some time to realise

The computer is dead, he (it) doesn't respond

Horrendous though to many sound it may

Even Google (blogger) finds it hard to tame
This spirit of an eloquent teacher
Is like the insatiable flame
That consumed London once upon a time long ago
Passion, thrill and vision come in handsful with gusto
So shall my blog posts be
That's a promise I make to you
Or rather to myself?
That accompanied to the ocean of words & learnings & fun shall you be done
If you have the stamina to digest this free one (my blog, i.e.)
Fiction, Science, Comics, Theology, Physics, and Evolution
Is my avocation
I just love to read
And to put into practice the good that I read
To share with my loved ones
What I feel is the essence of all wisdom
That it grows when you share
And withers otherwise
Is what they said to us through the ages, the old and the wise
I loved it when Einstein talked of the giants' shoulders over which he peeped
And those Newton's meanderings on the beach of the mighty ocean of truth that lay unseeked
Of Richard Feynman's cracking safes where nuclear codes lay dangerously
Oh so beautiful, Darwin's observations that destroyed all religion till date convincingly!
But religion doesn't die, does it? It bounces back
Just like a teacher! Oh just like a teacher!
So the journey has begun
Never to end
To continue till the end
For life is all about the great unbounded joy of giving, sharing, loving, and growing
Those who miss this, their education is a waste
How many I see regularly being laid to, this, this waste
Enjoy my readers and feed me with your ideas

Together, I am sure, we grow!

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