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last finale resume

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Nokia Morph Concept (NanoTechnology)

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Nokia Morph Concept (NanoTechnology)

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Qualities of Leadership - Leadership Quotes

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Beautiful farm...Spring is on the way !!!

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www.funandfunonly.org) - SridhaR" target="_blank">

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Mahatma Gandhi - Biography !!!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:51:00 +0000

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, 1940s
Born	2 October 1869(1869-10-02) Porbandar, Kathiawar Agency, British India
Died	30 January 1948 (aged 78) New Delhi, Union of India
Cause of death	Assassination
Resting place	Rajghat, New Delhi, India
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Mahatma Gandhi, Bapu
Alma mater	University College London, University of London
Known for	Prominent Figure of Indian Independence Movement Propounding the philosophy of Satyagraha and Ahimsa
Religion	Hinduism
Spouse(s)	Kasturba Gandhi
Children	Harilal Manilal Ramdas Devdas
Parents	Putlibai Gandhi (Mother) Karamchand Gandhi (Father)
Signature

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Hindi: मोहनदास करमचंद गाँधी, Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી, pronounced [moːɦən̪d̪aːs kərəmʨən̪d̪ ɡaːn̪d̪ʱiː] ( listen); 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa or total nonviolence—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi ([məɦaːt̪maː]; Sanskrit: महात्मा mahātmā or "Great Soul", an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore),^[1] and in India also as Bapu (Gujarati: બાપુ, bāpu or "Father"). He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedience while an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, during the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he organized protests by peasants, farmers, and urban labourers concerning excessive land-tax and discrimination. After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women's rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end untouchability, and increase economic self-reliance. Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the independence of India from foreign domination. Gandhi famously led his followers in the Non-cooperation movement that protested the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (240 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930. Later, in 1942, he launched the Quit India civil disobedience movement demanding immediate independence for India. Gandhi spent a number of years in jail in both South Africa and India.

As a practitioner of ahimsa, he swore to speak the truth and advocated that others do the same. Gandhi lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun himself. He ate simple vegetarian food, eventually adopting a fruitarian diet, and also undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification and social protest.

Early life and background

A young Gandhi c. 1886.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi^[2] was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, a coastal town in present-day Gujarat, India. His father, Karamchand Gandhi (1822–1885), who belonged to the Hindu Modh community, was the diwan (Prime Minister) of Porbander state, a small princely state in the Kathiawar Agency of British India.^[3] His grandfather's name was Uttamchand Gandhi, fondly called Utta Gandhi. His mother, Putlibai, who came from the Hindu Pranami Vaishnava community, was Karamchand's fourth wife, the first three wives having apparently died in childbirth.^[4] Growing up with a devout mother and the Jain traditions of the region, the young Mohandas absorbed early the influences that would play an important role in his adult life; these included compassion for sentient beings, vegetarianism, fasting for self-purification, and mutual tolerance between individuals of different creeds.^{[citation needed]}

The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and Maharaja Harishchandra from the Indian epics, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. The story of Harishchandra, a well known tale of an ancient Indian king and a truthful hero, haunted Gandhi as a boy. Gandhi in his autobiography admits that it left an indelible impression on his mind. He writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's early self-identification with Truth and Love as supreme values is traceable to his identification with these epic characters.^[5]^[6]

In May 1883, the 13-year old Mohandas was married to 14-year old Kasturbai Makhanji (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba," and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged child marriage, as was the custom in the region.^[7] Recalling about the day of their marriage he once said that " As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." However, as was also the custom of the region, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her parents' house, and away from her husband.^[8] In 1885, when Gandhi was 15, the couple's first child was born, but survived only a few days; Gandhi's father, Karamchand Gandhi, had died earlier that year.^[9] Mohandas and Kasturba had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; Manilal, born in 1892; Ramdas, born in 1897; and Devdas, born in 1900. At his middle school in Porbandar and high school in Rajkot, Gandhi remained an average student academically. He passed the matriculation exam for Samaldas College at Bhavnagar, Gujarat with some difficulty. While there, he was unhappy, in part because his family wanted him to become a barrister.

Gandhi and his wife Kasturba (1902)

On 4 September 1888, less than a month shy of his 19th birthday, Gandhi traveled to London, England, to study law at University College London and to train as a barrister. His time in London, the Imperial capital, was influenced by a vow he had made to his mother in the presence of the Jain monk Becharji, upon leaving India, to observe the Hindu precepts of abstinence from meat, alcohol, and promiscuity.^[10] Although Gandhi experimented with adopting "English" customs—taking dancing lessons for example—he could not stomach the bland vegetarian food offered by his landlady and he was always hungry until he found one of London's few vegetarian restaurants. Influenced by Salt's book, he joined the Vegetarian Society, was elected to its executive committee^[10], and started a local Bayswater chapter.^[4] Some of the vegetarians he met were members of the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and which was devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literature. They encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading the Bhagavad Gita both in translation as well as in the original.^[10] Not having shown a particular interest in religion before, he became interested in religious thought and began to read both Hindu as well as Christian scriptures.^[4]^[10]

Gandhi was called to the bar on June 10, 1891 and left London for India on June 12, 1891,^[4] where he learned that his mother had died while he was in London, his family having kept the news from him.^[10] His attempts at establishing a law practice in Mumbai failed and, later, after applying and being turned down for a part-time job as a high school teacher, he ended up returning to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, a business he was forced to close when he ran afoul of a British officer. In his autobiography, he refers to this incident as an unsuccessful attempt to lobby on behalf of his older brother.^[4]^[10] It was in this climate that, in April 1893, he accepted a year-long contract from Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian firm, to a post in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, then part of the British Empire.^[4]

Civil rights movement in South Africa (1893–1914)

Gandhi in South Africa (1895)

Main article: Gandhi's work in South Africa

M.K. Gandhi while serving in the Ambulance Corps during the Boer War.

In South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination directed at Indians. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first class to a third class coach while holding a valid first class ticket.^[11] Traveling farther on by stagecoach he was beaten by a driver for refusing to travel on the foot board to make room for a European passenger.^[12] He suffered other hardships on the journey as well, including being barred from several hotels. In another incident, the magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban - which he refused to do.^[13] These events were a turning point in his life, awakening him to social injustice and influencing his subsequent social activism. It was through witnessing firsthand the racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa that Gandhi started to question his people's status within the British Empire, and his own place in society.

Gandhi extended his original period of stay in South Africa to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote. Though unable to halt the bill's passage, his campaign was successful in drawing attention to the grievances of Indians in South Africa. He helped found the Natal Indian Congress in 1894,^[4]^[11] and through this organization, he molded the Indian community of South Africa into a homogeneous political force. In January 1897, when Gandhi landed in Durban he was attacked by a mob of white settlers and escaped only through the efforts of the wife of the police superintendent. He, however, refused to press charges against any member of the mob, stating it was one of his principles not to seek redress for a personal wrong in a court of law.^[4]

In 1906, the Transvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling registration of the colony's Indian population. At a mass protest meeting held in Johannesburg on 11 September that year, Gandhi adopted his still evolving methodology of satyagraha (devotion to the truth), or non-violent protest, for the first time, calling on his fellow Indians to defy the new law and suffer the punishments for doing so, rather than resist through violent means. This plan was adopted, leading to a seven-year struggle in which thousands of Indians were jailed (including Gandhi), flogged, or even shot, for striking, refusing to register, burning their registration cards or engaging in other forms of non-violent resistance. While the government was successful in repressing the Indian protesters, the public outcry stemming from the harsh methods employed by the South African government in the face of peaceful Indian protesters finally forced South African General Jan Christiaan Smuts to negotiate a compromise with Gandhi. Gandhi's ideas took shape and the concept of satyagraha matured during this struggle.

Racism and Controversy

Some of Gandhi's early South African articles are controversial. On 7 March 1908, Gandhi wrote in the Indian Opinion of his time in a South African prison: "Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilized - the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals."^[14] Writing on the subject of immigration in 1903, Gandhi commented: "We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do... We believe also that the white race in South Africa should be the predominating race."^[15] During his time in South Africa, Gandhi protested repeatedly about the social classification of blacks with Indians, who he described as "undoubtedly infinitely superior to the Kaffirs".^[16] Remarks such as these have led some to accuse Gandhi of racism.^[17]

Two professors of history who specialize in South Africa, Surendra Bhana and Goolam Vahed, examined this controversy in their text, The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914. (New Delhi: Manohar, 2005). They focus in Chapter 1, "Gandhi, Africans and Indians in Colonial Natal" on the relationship between the African and Indian communities under "White rule" and policies which enforced segregation (and, they argue, inevitable conflict between these communities). Of this relationship they state that, "the young Gandhi was influenced by segregationist notions prevalent in the 1890s."^[18] At the same time, they state, "Gandhi's experiences in jail seemed to make him more sensitive to their plight...the later Gandhi mellowed; he seemed much less categorical in his expression of prejudice against Africans, and much more open to seeing points of common cause. His negative views in the Johannesburg jail were reserved for hardened African prisoners rather than Africans generally."^[19]

Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela is a follower of Gandhi,^[20] despite efforts in 2003 on the part of Gandhi's critics to prevent the unveiling of a statue of Gandhi in Johannesburg.^[17] Bhana and Vahed commented on the events surrounding the unveiling in the conclusion to The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914. In the section "Gandhi's Legacy to South Africa," they note that, "Gandhi inspired succeeding generations of South African activists seeking to end White rule. This legacy connects him to Nelson Mandela...in a sense Mandela completed what Gandhi started."^[21]

Role in Zulu War of 1906

Main article: Bambatha Rebellion

In 1906, after the British introduced a new poll-tax, Zulus in South Africa killed two British officers. In response, the British declared a war against the Zulus. Gandhi actively encouraged the British to recruit Indians. He argued that Indians should support the war efforts in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship. The British, however, refused to commission Indians as army officers. Nonetheless, they accepted Gandhi's offer to let a detachment of Indians volunteer as a stretcher bearer corps to treat wounded British soldiers. This corps was commanded by Gandhi. On 21 July 1906, Gandhi wrote in Indian Opinion: "The corps had been formed at the instance of the Natal Government by way of experiment, in connection with the operations against the Natives consists of twenty three Indians".^[22] Gandhi urged the Indian population in South Africa to join the war through his columns in Indian Opinion: “If the Government only realized what reserve force is being wasted, they would make use of it and give Indians the opportunity of a thorough training for actual warfare.”^[23]

In Gandhi's opinion, the Draft Ordinance of 1906 brought the status of Indians below the level of Natives. He therefore urged Indians to resist the Ordinance along the lines of satyagraha by taking the example of "Kaffirs". In his words, "Even the half-castes and kaffirs, who are less advanced than we, have resisted the government. The pass law applies to them as well, but they do not take out passes."^[24]

In 1927 Gandhi wrote of the event: "The Boer War had not brought home to me the horrors of war with anything like the vividness that the [Zulu] 'rebellion' did. This was no war but a man-hunt, not only in my opinion, but also in that of many Englishmen with whom I had occasion to talk."^[25]

Struggle for Indian Independence (1915–1945)

Role in World War I

In April 1918, during the latter part of World War I, Gandhi was invited by the Viceroy to a War Conference in Delhi.^[26] Perhaps to show his support for the Empire and help his case for India's independence,^[27] Gandhi agreed to actively recruit Indians for the war effort.^[28] In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. In a June 1918 leaflet entitled "Appeal for Enlistment", Gandhi wrote "To bring about such a state of things we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is, the ability to bear arms and to use them...If we want to learn the use of arms with the greatest possible despatch, it is our duty to enlist ourselves in the army."^[29] He did however stipulate in a letter to the Viceroy's private secretary that he "personally will not kill or injure anybody, friend or foe."^[30] Gandhi's war recruitment campaign brought into question his consistency on nonviolence as his friend Charlie Andrews confirms, "Personally I have never been able to reconcile this with his own conduct in other respects, and it is one of the points where I have found myself in painful disagreement."^[31] Gandhi's private secretary also acknowledges that "The question of the consistency between his creed of 'Ahimsa' (non-violence) and his recruiting campaign was raised not only then but has been discussed ever since."^[28]

Champaran and Kheda

Main article: Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha

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Carlos Slim - Biography !!!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:49:00 +0000

Carlos Slim

Carlos Slim
Carlos Slim, October 24, 2007
Born	January 28, 1940 (1940-01-28) (age 70) Mexico City, Mexico
Nationality	Mexican
Ethnicity	Lebanese
Alma mater	Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico – UNAM
Occupation	Chairman & CEO of Telmex, Telcel and América Móvil
Net worth	▲US$53.5 billion (2010)^[1]
Religion	Maronite Catholic^[2]
Spouse(s)	Soumaya Domit (m. 1967–1999)
Children	Carlos Marco Antonio Patrick Soumaya Vanessa Johanna
Parents	Julian Slim Haddad Linda Helu

Carlos Slim Helú (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkarlos eˈslim eˈlu], simply known as Carlos Slim (born January 28, 1940), is a Mexican business magnate, philanthropist and the chairman and CEO of Telmex, Telcel and América Móvil. He is currently the wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of around US$53.5 billion through his holdings.^[3]^[4]

Slim has a substantial influence over the telecommunications industry in Mexico and much of Latin America. He controls Teléfonos de México (Telmex), Telcel and América Móvil companies. Though he maintains an active involvement in his companies, his three sons — Carlos, Marco Antonio and Patrick Slim Domit — head them on a day-to-day basis.

Early life

Slim was born in Mexico City, Mexico.^[5] His father, Julián Slim Haddad (Arabic جوليان سليم حداد), immigrated to Mexico in 1902 from Lebanon, alone at 14 years of age and speaking no Spanish. He fled the Ottoman Empire, which at the time conscripted young men into its army, causing mothers to send their sons to exile before turning fifteen. Carlos Slim's mother, Linda Helú, was born in Parral, Chihuahua. She was the daughter of José Helú and Wadiha Atta (Arabic وضيحة عطا), Lebanese immigrants who arrived in Mexico at the end of the 19th century. They brought the first Arabic printing press to Mexico,^[6] and founded one of the first magazines for the Lebanese community in the country. In 1911, Julián established a dry goods store called La Estrella del Oriente (The Eastern Star) and purchased real estate in downtown Mexico City. In August 1926, Julián Slim and Linda Helú married in Mexico City. They had six children, of whom Carlos was the youngest son. Julian died in 1952.^[7]

Slim studied engineering at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. By the time he was 26 years old, his net worth was $40 million.^[8] He married Soumaya Domit Gemayel (Arabic سمية جميل), also a Lebanese-Mexican, in 1967. They had six children and were married for 32 years until Domit died of a kidney ailment in 1999. The youngest of their three daughters, Johanna, is married to Arturo Elías Ayub, a board member of some of Slim's companies.

Personal wealth

On August 4, 2007, The Wall Street Journal ran a cover story profiling Slim. The article said, "While the market value of his stake in publicly traded companies could decline at any time, at the moment he is probably wealthier than Bill Gates".^[9] On March 29, 2007, Slim surpassed Warren Buffett as the world's second richest person with an estimated net worth of US$53.1 billion compared to Buffett's US$52.4 billion.^[10] According to The Wall Street Journal, Slim credits part of his ability to discover investment opportunities early to the writings of his friend, futurist author Alvin Toffler.^[9]

On August 8, 2007, Fortune reported that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest man. Slim's estimated fortune soared to US$59 billion, based on the value of his public holdings the end of July. Gates' net worth was estimated to be at least US$58 billion.^[9]^[11]

On March 5, 2008, Forbes ranked Slim as the world's second-richest person, behind Warren Buffett and ahead of Bill Gates.^[12] On March 11, 2009, Forbes ranked Slim as the world's third-richest person, behind Gates and Buffett and ahead of Lawrence Ellison.^[13]

On March 10, 2010, Forbes once again reported that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest man, with a net worth of US$53.5 billion. Gates and Buffett now have a net worth of US$53 billion and US$47 billion respectively.^[14] He was the first Mexican to top the list.^[15] It was the first time in 16 years that the person on top of the list was not from the United States.^[16] It was also the first time the person at the top of the list was from an "emerging economy."^[17]

Achievements and directorships

Slim has been vice-president of the Mexican Stock Exchange and president of the Mexican Association of Brokerage Houses. He was the first president of the Latin-American Committee of the New York Stock Exchange Administration Council, and was in office from 1996 through 1998.

He was on the Board of Directors of the Altria Group (previously Philip Morris; he resigned in April 2006) and Alcatel. Slim currently sits on the Board of Directors for Philip Morris International. He was on the Board of Directors of SBC Communications until July 2004 to devote more time to the World Education & Development Fund, which focused on infrastructure, health and education projects. In 1997, just before the company introduced its iMac line, Slim bought three percent of Apple Computer's stock, which has skyrocketed over the years.

He built the large Mexican financial-industrial conglomerate Grupo Carso which controls, among other companies, Sanborns (a prestigious food chain in Mexico), Mixup (music retail), Sears Mexico, Cigatam, Condumex and Grupo Hotelero Hostam and had indirect control over the CompUSA electronics retail chain.

On December 8, 2007, Grupo Carso announced that the remaining 103 CompUSA stores would be either liquidated or sold, bringing an end to the struggling company.^[18] After 28 years he became the Honorary Lifetime Chairman of the business. He is also Chairman of Teléfonos de Mexico, América Móvil, and Grupo Financiero Inbursa.

Slim is said to have shown an interest in buying the Honda Formula One team.^[19] Slim would overtake the owner of Force India, Vijay Mallya, to become the richest team owner in a sport famous for being a playground for the super wealthy. Slim made it known in the Mexican press that he will soon announce his intentions to acquire a Major League Soccer franchise to be located in Queens, New York that will initially be set up in the second-tier United Soccer Leagues.^{[citation needed]}

Telecom leadership

Slim gained notoriety when he led a group of investors that included France Télécom and Southwestern Bell Corporation in buying Telmex and Telnor from the Mexican government in 1990 in a public tender during the presidency of Carlos Salinas. Slim was able to raise money for a telecommunications company by purchasing standby letters of credit which enabled him to obtain guaranteed loans which provided the capital. Today, 90 percent of the telephone lines in Mexico are operated by Telmex.^[20] The mobile company, Telcel, which Slim also controls, operates almost eighty percent of all the country's cellphones. These operations have financed Slim's expansion abroad. Over the past five years, his wireless carrier América Móvil has bought cellphone companies across Latin America, and is now the region's dominant company, with more than 100 million subscribers. Slim was once MCI Inc.'s largest shareholder, with 13% ownership. On April 11, 2005, The Wall Street Journal announced that he had sold his stake in MCI to Verizon Communications.

Media

On September 10, 2008, Slim announced that he had purchased a 6.4% common-stock stake in The New York Times Company, making him the largest shareholder not related to the company's owners, the Sulzberger family.^[21]

On January 19, 2009, the financially troubled New York Times Company announced that it had accepted a $250 million loan from Slim.^[22] While the loan will help ease the company's cash-flow problems, it does not come close to eliminating the Times Company's $1.1 billion debt.^[22] The company's continuing financial problems and Slim's ongoing interest in its work, as evidenced by his two interventions in the course of five months, has led to speculation that he might be contemplating an outright takeover of the Times Company.^[23] A spokesman for Slim told reporters in January 2009 that the Times loan was an investment opportunity "that makes financial sense".^[24]

Impulsora del Desarrollo y el Empleo

He leads Impulsora del Desarrollo y el Empleo en America Latina SAB de CV (IDEAL – roughly translated as "Promoter of Development and Employment in Latin America"), a Mexico-based company primarily engaged in infrastructure development. IDEAL is active in transportation, crude oil and gas, power, water, real estate and technology. Within these sectors, the company performs as a concessionaire of highways, hydroelectric plants projects, electronic toll collection systems and ports. It is also engaged in the exploration, production, transport, refinement and distribution of crude oil and gas mainly through offshore oil platforms for deep waters. Additionally, it is engaged in the construction and operation of water treatment plants, investments and development of the urban and rural properties, primarily in the commercial, health and education sectors. The company's main subsidiaries are Desarollo de America Latina SA de CV and Promotora del Desarollo de America Latina SA de CV.

Criticism

The Mexican magnate's rising fortune has caused a controversy because it has been amassed in a developing country^{[citation needed]} where per capita income does not surpass $14,500 a year, and nearly 17% of the population lives in poverty.^[25] Critics claim that Slim is a monopolist, pointing to Telmex's control of 90% of the Mexican landline telephone market. Slim's wealth is the equivalent of roughly 5% of Mexico's annual economic output.^[26] Telmex, which is 49.1% owned by Slim and his family, charges among the highest usage fees in the world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.^[27]

According to Professor Celso Garrido, an economist at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Slim's domination of his country's conglomerates chokes off growth of smaller companies, resulting in a shortage of good jobs and driving many Mexicans to seek better lives north of the Rio Grande.^[28]

Slim says he is unfazed by the criticism: "When you live for others' opinions, you are dead. I don't want to live thinking about how I'll be remembered". He also claims indifference about his ranking and says he has no interest in becoming the world's richest person. When asked to explain his sudden increase in wealth at a press conference soon after Forbes annual rankings were published, he reportedly said, "The stock market goes up ... and down", and noted that his fortune could quickly drop.^[26]

Cultural businesses

In 2000, Slim organized the Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México A.C. (Mexico City Historic Downtown Foundation), whose objective is to revitalize and rescue Mexico City's historic downtown to enable more people to live, work and find entertainment in this area. He has been Chairman of the Executive Committee for the Restoration of the Historic Center since 2001.

The Carlos Slim Foundation sponsors the Museo Soumaya with the most extensive Rodin and Dalí collection in Latin America and one of the largest in the world, as well as renowned religious artworks from colonial times.

Awards

Slim has been awarded the Entrepreneurial Merit Medal of Honor from Mexico's Chamber of Commerce. He is a "gold patron" of the American Academy of Achievement,^[29] a Commander in the Belgian Order of Leopold II, CEO of the year in 2003 by Latin Trade magazine, and one year later CEO of the decade by the same magazine.

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Top 10 List of Richest people

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:48:00 +0000

William Gates III

Rank: 1 Net Worth: $40.0 bil, Fortune: self made

Software visionary regains title as the world’s richest man despite losing $18 billion in the past 12 months. Stepped down from day-to-day duties at Microsoft last summer to devote his talents and riches to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Organization’s assets were $30 billion in January; annual letter lauds endowment manager Michael Larson for limiting last year’s losses to 20%. Gates decided to increase donations in 2009 to $3.8 billion, up 15% from 2008. Dedicated to fighting hunger in developing countries, improving education in America’s high schools and developing vaccines against malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Appointed Microsoft Office veteran Jeffrey Raikes chief exec of Gates Foundation in September. Gates remains Microsoft chairman. Sells shares each quarter, redeploys proceeds via investment vehicle Cascade; more than half of fortune invested outside Microsoft. Stock down 45% in past 12 months. “Creative capitalist” wants companies to match profit making with doing good.

Warren Buffett

Rank: 2 Net Worth: $37.0 bil, Fortune: self made

Last year America’s most beloved investor was the world’s richest man . This year he has to settle for second place after losing $25 billion in 12 months. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway down 45% since last March. Injected billions of dollars into Goldman Sachs, GE in exchange for preferred stock last fall; propped up insurance firm Swiss Re in February with $2.6 billion infusion. Admits he made some “dumb” investment mistakes in 2008. Upbeat about America’s future: “Our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time. It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so.” Scoffs at Wall Street’s over-reliance on “history-based” models: “If merely looking up past financial data would tell you what the future holds, the Forbes 400 would consist of librarians.” Son of Nebraska politician delivered newspapers as a boy. Filed first tax return at age 13, claiming $35 deduction for bicycle. Studied under value investing guru Benjamin Graham at Columbia. Took over textile firm Berkshire Hathaway 1965. Today holding company invested in insurance (Geico, General Re), jewelry (Borsheim’s), utilities (MidAmerican Energy), food (Dairy Queen, See’s Candies). Also has noncontrolling stakes in Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo.

Carlos Slim Helu & family

Rank: 3 Net Worth: $35.0 bil, Fortune: self made

Economic downturn and plunging peso shaved $25 billion from the fortune of Latin America’s richest man. Global recession testing his ability to live up to the principles he sets for his employees: “Maintain austerity in times of fat cows.” Son of a Lebanese immigrant bought fixed line operator Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) in 1990; now controls 90% of Mexico’s telephone landlines. Would be a billionaire based on his dividends alone. Biggest holding: $16 billion stake in America Movil, Latin America’s largest mobile phone company with 173 million customers. America Movil and Telmex reportedly planning to jointly invest $4 billion to bolster telecom infrastructure in Latin America. Buying up cheap media, energy and retail assets. Last year took stakes in New York Times Co., former billionaire Anthony O’Reilly’s Independent News & Media and Bronco Drilling; also increased position in Saks. Baseball statistics aficionado, art collector

Lawrence Ellison

Rank: 4 Net Worth: $22.5 bil, Fortune: self made

Database titan continues to engulf the competition; Oracle has racked up 49 acquisitions in the past 4 years. Bought BEA Systems for $8.5 billion last year. Still sitting on $7 billion in cash. Revenues up 11% to $10.9 billion in the six months ended November 30; profits also up 11% to $2.4 billion. Stock down 25% in past 12 months. Invested $125 million in Web software outfit Netsuite; took public in 2007, stock has fallen 80% since. His shares still worth $300 million. Chicago native studied physics at U. of Chicago, didn’t graduate. Started Oracle in 1977. Public 1986, a day before Microsoft. Owns 453-foot Rising Sun; built a smaller leisure boat because superyacht is hard to park. Squabbling in court with Swiss boating billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli over terms of next America’s Cup. Recently unveiled hulking 90-foot trimaran he intends to use to win it.

Ingvar Kamprad & family

Rank: 5 Net Worth: $22.0 bil, Fortune: self made

Peddled matches, fish, pens, Christmas cards and other items by bicycle as a teenager. Started selling furniture in 1947. Opened first Ikea store 50 years ago; stores’s name is a combination of initials of his first and last name, his family farm and the nearest village. Retired in 1986; company’s “senior adviser” still reportedly works tirelessly on his brand. Discount retailer now sells 9,500 items in 36 countries; prints catalog in 27 languages. Revenues up 7% to $27.4 billion in fiscal year 2008. Opened tenth store in China this February; planning to open first in Dominican Republic later this year. Three sons all work at the company. Thrifty entrepreneur flies economy class, frequents cheap restaurants and furnishes his home mostly with Ikea products.

Karl Albrecht

Rank: 6 Net Worth: $21.5 bil, Fortune:self made

Source:Aldi , Age:89, Country Of Citizenship:Germany,Residence:Mulheim an der Ruhr
Industry:Retail.

Germany’s richest person owns discount supermarket giant Aldi Sud. Retailer faring well amid economic downturn; analysts expect its 2008 sales to be up 9.4% to $33.7 billion. Sales in the U.S. up estimated 20% last year to $7 billion. Plans to open 75 U.S. stores in 2009, including first in New York City. With younger brother, Theo, transformed their mother’s corner grocery store into Aldi after World War II. Brothers split ownership in 1961; Karl took the stores in southern Germany, plus the rights to the brand in the U.K., Australia and the U.S. Theo got northern Germany and the rest of Europe. Retired from daily operations. Fiercely private: little known about him other than that he apparently raises orchids and plays golf.

Mukesh Ambani

Rank: 7 Net Worth: $19.5 bil, Fortune: inherited and growing

Oversees Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company by market cap despite stock falling 40% in past year. Merging his Reliance Petroleum with flagship Reliance Industries. As part of deal, will exercise right to buy back Chevron’s 5% stake in Reliance Petroleum at $1.20 per share—the same price at which he sold it 3 years ago. Today the stock trades for $1.80 a share. Increased stake in Reliance Industries in October; paid $3.4 billion to convert 120 million preferential warrants into shares. Reliance Petroleum refinery on India’s western coast began operating in December despite falling global demand and declining margins. Late father Dhirubhai founded Reliance and built it into a massive conglomerate. After he died Mukesh and his brother, Anil, ran the family business together for a brief time. But siblings feuded over control; mother eventually brokered split of assets. Brothers may be looking to bury hatchet; played joint hosts at mother’s recent 75th-birthday bash. Has yet to move into his 27-story home that he’s building at a reported cost of $1 billion. Ardent fan of Bollywood films. Wife, Nita, oversees school named after his father.

Lakshmi Mittal

Rank: 8 Net Worth: $19.3 bil, Fortune: inherited and growing

Indian immigrant heads world’s largest steel company; ArcelorMittal was formed via hostile takeover 3 years ago. Stock in company makes up bulk of his fortune; shares at a 4-year low with steel prices down 75% since last summer. Company forced to pay heavy fines after a French antitrust investigation found 10 companies guilty of price-fixing in European steel markets. Arcelor posted $2.6 billion loss in most recent quarter; announced plans to slow acquisitions, cut capital expenditures, pay down debt. Started in family steel business in the 1970s, branched out on his own in 1994. Initially bought up steel mills on the cheap in Eastern Europe. Company bought 19.9% stake in Australia’s Macarthur Coal last year. Also owns pieces of Mumbai’s Indiabulls Group, London’s RAB Capital; owns stake in, sits on board of Goldman Sachs. Holds substantial cash; owns 12-bedroom mansion in London’s posh Kensington neighborhood.

Theo Albrecht

Rank: 9 Net Worth:Net Worth:$18.8 bil, Fortune:self made

Source:Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Age:87, Country Of Citizenship:Germany
Residence:Foehr, Industry:Retail

Runs discount supermarket group Aldi Nord; firm holding up amid economic downturn. Sales expected to hit $31 billion in 2008. After World War II he and older brother Karl transformed their mother’s corner grocery into Aldi. Brothers split ownership in 1961; Karl took the stores in southern Germany, plus the rights to the brand in the U.K., Australia and the U.S. Theo got the northern Germany stores and the rest of Europe. Unable to operate Aldi stores in U.S., Theo developed discount food store Trader Joe’s; now has more than 320 U.S. stores. Also owns stake in Supervalu. Became a recluse after being kidnapped for 17 days in 1971; said to collect old typewriters; loves golf.

Amancio Ortega

Rank: 10, Net Worth: $18.3 bil ,Fortune: self made

Railway worker’s son started as a gofer in a shirt store. With then-wife Rosalia Mera, also now a billionaire, started making dressing gowns and lingerie in their living room. Business became one of world’s most successful apparel manufacturers. Today Inditex has more than 4,000 stores in 71 countries. Sales: $12.3 billion. Ortega is chairman. Company exported its cheap chic Zara stores to 4 new markets last year: Ukraine, South Korea, Montenegro and Honduras. Stock up 1% in past 12 months, but fortune down because of weak euro. Also has personal investments in gas, tourism, banks and real estate. Owns properties in Madrid, Paris, London, Lisbon, plus a luxury hotel and apartment complex in Miami, a horse-jumping circuit, and an interest in a soccer league. Shuns neckties and fanfare. Daughter Marta works for Inditex; recent speculation suggests she is being groomed to eventually replace her father.

Posted via email from Prashannth.V

Forbes list of billionaires (2010)

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:44:00 +0000

Forbes list of billionaires

This list of billionaires is based on the annual ranking of the world's wealthiest people compiled and published by Forbes magazine on March 10, 2010.^[1]^[2]

The world's 5 wealthiest people

Forbes list of billionaires (2010)

The following list is Forbes ranking of the world's richest billionaires as of February 12, 2010, and does not reflect changes since then.

Legend
Icon	Description
▬	Has not changed from the list for 2009.
▲	Has increased from the list for 2009.
▼	Has decreased from the list for 2009.

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Residence	Sources of wealth
&0000000000000001.0000001▲	Helú, Carlos SlimCarlos Slim Helú and family	$53.5 billion ▲	70	Mexico	Mexico	Telmex, América Móvil
&0000000000000002.0000002▼	Gates III, William HenryWilliam Henry Gates III	$53.0 billion ▲	54	United States	United States	Microsoft
&0000000000000003.0000003▼	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$47.0 billion ▲	79	United States	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&0000000000000004.0000004▲	Ambani, MukeshMukesh Ambani	$29.0 billion ▲	52	India	India	Reliance Industries
&0000000000000005.0000005▲	Mittal, LakshmiLakshmi Mittal	$28.7 billion ▲	59	India	United Kingdom	Arcelor Mittal
&0000000000000006.0000006▼	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$28.0 billion ▲	65	United States	United States	Oracle Corporation
&0000000000000007.0000007▲	Arnault, BernardBernard Arnault	$27.5 billion ▲	61	France	France	LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton
&0000000000000008.0000008▲	Batista, EikeEike Batista	$27.0 billion ▲	52	Brazil	Brazil	EBX Group
&0000000000000009.0000009▲	Ortega, AmancioAmancio Ortega	$25.0 billion ▲	74	Spain	Spain	Inditex Group
&0000000000000010.00000010▼	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$23.5 billion ▲	90	Germany	Germany	Aldi Süd
&0000000000000011.00000011▼	Kamprad, IngvarIngvar Kamprad	$23.0 billion ▲	83	Sweden	Sweden	Ikea
&0000000000000012.00000012▼	Walton, ChristyChristy Walton	$22.5 billion ▲	55	United States	United States	Walmart
&0000000000000013.00000013▼	Persson, StefanStefan Persson	$22.4 billion ▲	62	Sweden	Sweden	Hennes & Mauritz
&0000000000000014.00000014▼	shing, Li KaLi Ka shing	$21.0 billion ▲	81	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	diversified
&0000000000000015.00000015▼	Walton, JimJim Walton	$20.7 billion ▲	62	United States	United States	Walmart

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Robert Kiyosaki - Biography !!!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:43:00 +0000

Robert Kiyosaki

Robert Kiyosaki
Born	April 8, 1947 (1947-04-08) (age 63) Hilo, Hawaii, United States
Occupation	Investor, entrepreneur, author, motivational speaker
Spouse(s)	Kim Kiyosaki

Robert Toru Kiyosaki (born April 8, 1947) is an American investor, businessman, self-help author and motivational speaker. Kiyosaki is best known for his Rich Dad Poor Dad series of motivational books and other material published under the Rich Dad brand. He has written 15 books which have combined sales of over 26 million copies.^[1] Although beginning as a self-publisher, he was subsequently published by Warner Books, a division of Hachette Book Group USA, currently his new books appear under the Rich Dad Press imprint. Three of his books, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant, and Rich Dad's Guide to Investing, have been on the top 10 best-seller lists simultaneously on The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the New York Times. Rich Kid Smart Kid was published in 2001, with the intent to help parents teach their children financial concepts. He has created three "Cashflow" board and software games for adults and children and has a series of "Rich Dad" audio cassettes and disks. He also publishes a monthly newsletter.^{[citation needed]}

[hide]

[edit] Personal life

A fourth-generation Japanese American, Kiyosaki was born and raised in Hawaii. He is the son of the late educator Ralph H. Kiyosaki (1919–1991). After graduating from Hilo High School, he attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York, graduating with the class of 1969 as a deck officer. He later served in the Marine Corps as a helicopter gunship pilot during the Vietnam War, where he was awarded the Air Medal.

Kiyosaki left the Marine Corps in 1975 and got a job selling copy machines for the Xerox Corporation. In 1977, Kiyosaki started a company that brought to market the first nylon and Velcro "surfer" wallets. The company was extremely successful at first but eventually went bankrupt. In the early 1980s, Kiyosaki started a business that licensed T-shirts for Heavy metal rock bands. In 1997 he launched Cashflow Technologies, Inc.^[2] which owns and operates the Rich Dad^[3] and Cashflow^[4] brands.

[edit] Family

He is married to Kim Kiyosaki. He has one sister, Emi Kiyosaki, a Tibetan Buddhist nun and known by the name Ven. Tenzin Kacho. He has co-authored one book with her.^[5]

[edit] Teachings

A large part of Kiyosaki's teachings focus on generating passive income by means of investment opportunities, such as real estate and businesses, with the ultimate goal of being able to support oneself by such investments alone. In tandem with this, Kiyosaki defines assets as things that generate cash inflow, such as rental properties or businesses—and liabilities as things that use cash, such as houses, cars, and so on.

Kiyosaki stresses financial literacy as the means to obtaining wealth. He says that life skills are often best learned through experience and that there are important lessons not taught in school. He says that formal education is important, but is not enough as it is an Industrial Age idea.

Kiyosaki often refers to "The Cashflow Quadrant," a conceptual tool which he developed to categorized the four major ways income is earned. Depicted in a diagram, this concept entails four groupings, split with two lines (one vertical and one horizontal). In each of the four groups there is a letter representing a way in which an individual may earn income. The letters are as follows.

E: Employee — Working for someone else.
S: Self-employed or Small business owner — Where a person owns his own job and is his own boss.
B: Business owner — Where a person owns a business to make money.
I: Investor — Investing money in order to receive a larger payout in the future.

[edit] Rich Dad brand

Main article: Rich Dad

[edit] Books

Kiyosaki is best known for his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, the #1 New York Times bestseller. Kiyosaki followed with Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant and Rich Dad's Guide to Investing. He has now had at least a dozen books published. The best known of these include:

Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom (2000)
Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! (2000)
Rich Kid, Smart Kid (2001)
Rich Dad's Prophecy (2002)
Why We Want You To Be Rich (2007, with Donald Trump)
The Business School

[edit] Games

Kiyosaki stresses the value of games, particularly Monopoly, as tools for learning basic financial strategies such as "trade four green houses for one red hotel." Kiyosaki has created several games to reinforce the information in his books.

Cashflow 101
Cashflow 202
Cashflow for Kids
Cashflow The E-Game
Cashflow 202 The E-Game

[edit] Appearances

[edit] PBS

Several local stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), including WTTW of Chicago, KAET of Phoenix, KOCE of Orange County, California, WLIW of the New York/New Jersey area, and WGBH of Boston, have featured Kiyosaki during fund-raising drives. During this television special, Rich Dad's Guide to Wealth with Robert Kiyosaki, he provides viewers with financial education, as opposed to academic or professional education.

[edit] News

Kiyosaki has been seen giving financial advice on various network television news channels.

[edit] New York City's Madison Square Garden (October, 2002)

This speech was the subject of a CNN story.^[6]

[edit] CBC Marketplace

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation consumer affairs program Marketplace aired a documentary piece on Kiyosaki on Jan 29, 2010. It includes interviews with Kiyosaki.^[7]

[edit] Financial advice

[edit] Mutual funds

Kiyosaki wrote in one column that investors in any mutual fund with a 2.5% annual fee would, over a long time period, surrender 80% of the earnings to the fund.^[8] Kiyosaki expanded on his criticism of mutual funds in another column by stating they are for "losers."^[9] He has drawn much criticism for comparing investing in mutual funds to playing the lottery, and for discouraging 401(k) investing, contrary to the advice of most professional financial advisers.^[10] In contrast to these statements, Kiyosaki wrote in his book Prophecy that while mutual funds are not great investments, they remain one of the few acceptable investment vehicles available to those who will not educate themselves financially.

Kiyosaki's criticisms are supported by the founder of the mutual fund Vanguard, John C. Bogle. In a Frontline episode titled "401(k)s: The New Retirement Plan, For Better or Worse", Bogle stated that management fees and trading costs gobble up approximately 2.5% of an investor's annual returns and approximately 80% of an investor's long term gains. He says management costs reduce the value of a $1,000 investment over 65 years from approximately $140,000 at 8% compounded annually to a mere $30,000 at 5.5% compounded annually. Bogle's solution is to utilize index funds, which charge as little as 0.09%, to substantially reduce or eliminate management fees.^[11]

[edit] Criticism and controversy

Kiyosaki's books and teachings have been criticized for focusing on anecdotes and containing little in the way of concrete advice on how readers should proceed.^[12] Kiyosaki responds that his material is meant to be more of a motivational tool to get readers thinking about money, rather than a step by step guide to wealth. He also says the books are supposed to be "interesting" to people, which precludes involving a lot of technical material.^[13]

ABC ran a 20/20 segment on May 19, 2006 in which Kiyosaki was to advise three entrepreneurs on how to make money. They were given $1000 and 20 days to try and make the most money possible. One earned a return of 24%, the second earned a return of 54% and gave it all to charity, and the third lost 100% because she invested in machines that could not be delivered in 20 days. The contestants alleged that Kiyosaki never gave concrete advice. "All he [Kiyosaki] does is, I guess, is open your mind to the possibility. He doesn't tell you how to do it." Kiyosaki responded that failure is important to learning.

[edit] Partial bibliography

If You Want to Be Rich & Happy: Don't Go to School? : Ensuring Lifetime Security for Yourself and Your Children (1992). ISBN 0-944031-38-2.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad - What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! (first published in 1997), by Robert Kiyosaki & Sharon L. Lechter. Warner Business Books. ISBN 0-446-67745-0.
Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom (2000). ISBN 0-446-67747-7.
Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! (2000). ISBN 0-446-67746-9.
The Business School for People Who Like Helping People (2001) - endorses multi-level marketing.
Rich Dad's Rich Kid, Smart Kid: Giving Your Children a Financial Headstart (2001). ISBN 0-446-67748-5.
Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich (2002). ISBN 0-446-67843-0.
Rich Dad's Prophecy: Why the Biggest Stock Market Crash in History Is Still Coming… and How You Can Prepare Yourself and Profit from It! (October, 2002). Warner Books, Incorporated. ISBN 0-641-62241-4.
Rich Dad's The Business School (2003)
You Can Choose to be Rich (2003) 12-CD Audio series with booklet.
Who Took My Money (2004)
Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens (2004)
Rich Dad's Before You Quit Your Job : 10 Real-Life Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Building a Multimillion-Dollar Business (2005). ISBN 0-446-69637-4.
Rich Dad's Escape from the Rat Race - Comic for children (2005)
Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money (2008)
Rich Dad's Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money (September 21, 2009). ISBN 0446559806 (free online edition)

Cash Flow Quadrant – Robert Kiyosaki

Posted on April 3, 2008 by SalesProfessional

The “Cash Flow Quadrant” is a very popular concept credited to Robert Kiyosaki. If you’ve ever read Rich Dad Poor Dad or Cash Flow Quadrant: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom you’ll be familiar with this. Actually, nearly all of his books make reference to this. In short, the Cash Flow Quadrant is a basic and visual way of showing how all the money in the world is made.

E: Is for Employees- These individuals work for someone else to make someone else wealthy.

S: Small Business Owners- A person owns a small business, franchies, or basically works for themself.

B: Business owners: They own a ”system” of making money, rather than a job to make money.

I: Investors: Real estate investors, stock market, etc. Spending money to earn interest on investments.

The whole idea he’s focusing on here is the idea of ”passive income”. Income that will keep coming in even if you don’t work any additional hours. Passive income earners would be your B or I, or your business system owners or your investors. The idea is to build a system or a series of investments that will give you financial freedom because income will keep coming in. Robert Kiyosaki encourages investing in real estate and joining a network marketing company or an MLM (Quixtar, Amway, etc). With an MLM, you build a business system by recruiting other individuals to sell your products or service and then the income keeps coming in because they recruit more folks and then those folks recruit more folks, etc, etc, etc. Investing in real estate is the same way because you’re owning a property that you can rent out to people month after month after month.

I think the idea of passive income is great. Owning real estate investment properties is something I plan to do in the future. I hope to own multiple condos, townhomes, multi-unity properties, etc. and rent them all out and structure the deals for positive cash flow. The problem with the Cash Flow Quadrant is, if you don’t have a buttload of cash to throw into down payments on investment properties, you can’t really pursue ”passive income” unless you start a business system like an MLM (borderline pyramid scheme). I don’t see myself joining an MLM and, to be honest, the thought of starting a company that’s my own, growing it myself, creating my own culture, etc. is very appealling to me. I think I can make more money growing a business than I can with an MLM or just working and putting my money saved into the real estate market off the bat. The idea of freedom is great, don’t get me wrong. But I’m young, aggressive, and motivated and I want to build something huge.

In conclusion, I respect Robert Kiyosaki and his books are very informative and motivated me greatly. Also, the cash flow quadrant is great, but only for the wealthy and the aggressive/financial illiterates that join MLM’s following their dreams of freedom.

Who Wants to Be an Entrepreneur?

"20/20" Challenges Three Contestants to Turn a Profit in 20 Days (A TV Program - Source ABC News)

How easy is it to make money? If someone handed you $1,000 and gave you 20 days to turn a profit, would you have any idea where to start? "20/20" challenged three would-be entrepreneurs to find out. To give them guidance we brought in famous get-rich guru Robert Kiyosaki to offer them his secrets for money-making success.

Will Julie, Cheryl or James succeed in "20/20's" entrepreneur challenge?

(ABCNEWS)

Kiyosaki is one of the hottest financial advisers today. His 18 books have sold some 26 million copies. The first title in the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" series has been on The New York Times Best Seller List for five years, and has sold more than 11 million copies.

Kyosaki says his books can put ordinary people on the fast track to a life like his -- working for themselves, not someone else. He says there are four basic types of people: workers, small-business owners, investors and entrepreneurs. If you want to make money, Kyosaki says, invest in real estate or start a business. "I don't like being told what to do and kissing you know what to get up the corporate ladder," he said.

But does Kiyosaki's method -- short on specifics but long on pep talks and salesmanship -- work? We decided to put the guru to the test with our would-be entrepreneurs: Cheryl, an ad sales rep and amateur theater stage manager from Queens, N.Y.; Julie, a store construction coordinator and new mother from Minneapolis, Minn.; and James, a father of four and school counselor from Tulsa, Okla.

Nine Out of 10 Fail

The three came to New York for a crash course from the master.

Kiyosaki personally challenged the contestants: "I want to find out who among you has the most potential of becoming a great entrepreneur," he told them.

The objective was simple: Take $1,000 in cash and see who could make the most money in 20 days.

Here were the ground rules: Choose any venture, as long it's legal and ethical, and don't tell anyone it's being done for a TV program. Any profits they make, they could keep.

Kiyosaki was careful to lower expectations. He told "20/20" he wouldn't be surprised if all three of the contestants failed to make a profit or even lost all their money.

"I hate to say it, but nine out of 10 do fail. The thing I always say to people is this: If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

Who Will Win the "20/20" Challenge?

With the clock ticking, all three went to work. Cheryl decided on party planning, throwing a fundraiser for a nonprofit theater company. She used its mailing list, in return, for a split in the profits.

Halfway across the country, James had a direct, simple plan. "What I'm going to do is buy boxes of candy, put it into jars and sell it for a profit," he said.

He, too, chooses charity as a selling tool, promising customers he'll split any profits with the Tulsa public schools.

Julie from Minneapolis is off to a much slower start. The entire first week ticks by as she struggles for an idea. Finally, she begins the second week with a decision.

"I'm going to go into over-the-counter medical vending," she said.

She spends our $1,000, and then adds another $1,000 of her own money to buy 10 vending machines that sell small packets of aspirin and other drugs. The machines are only in a brochure; she has to start making sales calls without a product to show. She is in trouble.

Before the contestants know it, the 20 days are half over, and "20/20" asks Kyosaki to give each a midterm checkup. None of the contestants have any real cash in their hands yet.

Julie's up first, and Kiyosaki is not sympathetic.

"When do you expect these vending machines to come in? Because you have a deadline," he says.

Her answer is not good. "I think they will come next week."

Kiyosaki says Julie is out of time already, and will not recover before the contest is up.

"You're going to lose this whole thing," he tells her.

It's then that Julie points out the most frustrating part of the exercise: Kiyosaki never gives the contestants any detailed help.

"I still wish I had more information on how to sell better," she says.

It's not much better for James, the recipient of the next checkup phone call. He is making money, but he is giving it away to charities almost as fast as he collects it.

Kiyosaki is flabbergasted. "You're giving the money away," he asks, adding, "Now why are you doing that? You can't take care of charity unless you take care of yourself first."

Back in New York City, party planner Cheryl also gets a stern warning from Kiyosaki. "I would say right now you have an emergency on your hands. And I would start promoting heavily because this is the last shot you got," he says.

Cheryl takes the pep talk to heart and steps it up, inviting friends and imploring them to bring others.

While she is stressed when her party starts out dangerously slow, by night's end Cheryl brings in a profit.

So how did they do? Julie's reckoning comes first. The vending machine business never got off the ground. She lost our $1,000 and $1,000 of her own and didn't sell any machines before the deadline. Kiyosaki criticized Julie for being unrealistic.

"You have to deliver on time and you have to come within budget," he tells her.

Then came James. He actually made a $540 profit. Again, however, he gave it all away. Kiyosaki was unimpressed. "You gave away 100 percent of it? Pay yourself first. If the business is weak, everything else loses," he says.

And that brings us to the winner of our little contest: Cheryl.

Her party turned out to be a moderate success and left her with a profit of $243.

Teaching People to Learn from Failure

Two out of the three contestants actually made a profit. So how did Kiyosaki do? Was he much help?

Julie was not convinced. "All he does is, I guess, open your mind to the possibility. He doesn't tell you how to do it," she says.

So we asked Kiyosaki straight up: In your books and in your speeches, the seminars, you're not really giving a road to follow these things and you'll become rich?

His answer was straight too. "No," he says.

He's a motivational speaker, hoping to educate novices in the world of business -- not a strict how-to-get-rich guy.

And what did he teach our contestants? Kiyosaki says they learned to fail. He says they also learned that desire is 99 percent of the process.

But doesn't everyone want to get rich? Aren't there specific instructions in his books?

"I try and tell them that there is no answer, there's only a mistake. When I lost my first company at the age of about 29, it was painful. But, in retrospect, it was the best thing that ever happened to me because that's when I really learned what I needed to learn."

Which led to my final question for the biggest self-help book salesman in the United States today.

If I read your books, what am I going to come away with that's going to help me get rich?

His answer: "Start a part-time business and make as many mistakes as you possibly can while you still have your daytime job."

Which begs the question: Does anyone really need 18 books to learn to fail?

Posted via email from Prashannth.V

Warren Buffet - Biography !!!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:36:00 +0000

Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett
Buffett speaking to students from the University of Kansas School of Business, May 6, 2005
Born	Warren Edward Buffett August 30, 1930 (1930-08-30) (age 79) Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania University of Nebraska–Lincoln Columbia University
Occupation	Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Investor
Salary	US$100,000^[1]
Net worth	▲US$47 billion (2010)^[2]
Spouse(s)	Susan Thompson Buffett (1952–2004) (deceased), Astrid Menks (2006–)^[3]
Children	Susan Alice Buffett, Howard Graham Buffett, Peter Andrew Buffett

Warren Edward Buffett (pronounced /ˈbʌfɨt/; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor, industrialist and philanthropist. He is one of the most successful investors in the world often called the "legendary investor Warren Buffett"^[4]^[5], he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.^[6] He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people and currently the third wealthiest person in the world as of 2010.^[7]^[8]

Buffett is called the "Oracle of Omaha"^[9] or the "Sage of Omaha"^[10] and is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth.^[11] Buffett is also a notable philanthropist, having pledged to give away 85 percent of his fortune to the Gates Foundation. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Grinnell College.^[12]

Early life

Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the second of three children and only son of Leila (née Stahl) and businessman/politician Howard Buffett.^[13]

Buffett began his education at Rose Hill Elementary School in Omaha. In 1942 his father was elected to the first of four terms in Congress and after moving with his family to Washington, D.C., Warren finished elementary school, attended Alice Deal Junior High School, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School.^[14]

Even as a child Buffett displayed an interest in making and saving money. He went door to door selling chewing gum, Coca-Cola, or weekly magazines. For a while he worked in his grandfather's grocery store. While still in high school, he carried out several successful money-making ideas: delivering newspapers, selling golfballs and stamps, and detailing cars among them. Filing his first income tax return in 1944, Buffett took a $35 deduction for the use of his bicycle and watch on his paper route.^[15] In 1945, in his sophomore year of high school, Buffett and a friend spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in the local barber shop. Within months, they owned several machines in different barber shops.

Working with Benjamin Graham

He tried to get a position with Graham’s firm and was at first unsuccessful. He finally got the job and, as he generously acknowledges, learned a lot about stock investment from The Master.

Graham eventually retired and Buffett started a limited partnership in Omaha, using capital contributed by family and friends. The partnership was a great success and Buffett is said to have averaged an annual rate of return for the partnership in excess of 23 per cent, far in excess of the market.

Benjamin Graham (1894–1976)

Phil Fisher (1907–2004)

Buffett entered college in 1947 at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1947–49). After two years he transferred to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where in 1950, at the age of nineteen, he finished his studies for a B.S. in Economics.^[16]

Buffett enrolled at Columbia Business School after learning that Benjamin Graham (author of "The Intelligent Investor" - one of his favorite books on investing) and David Dodd, two well-known securities analysts, taught there. He received a M.S. in Economics from Columbia Business School in 1951.

In Buffett’s own words:

“

I’m 15 percent Fisher and 85 % Benjamin Graham.^[17]

The basic ideas of investing are to look at stocks as business, use the market's fluctuations to your advantage, and seek a margin of safety. That’s what Ben Graham taught us. A hundred years from now they will still be the cornerstones of investing.^[18]

”

Buffet also attended the New York Institute of Finance.

Buffett and Charlie Munger

Buffett struck up a friendship with Charles T Munger, a lawyer and investor and Charlie Munger eventually joined Warren at Berkshire Hathaway as his Vice-Chairman, alter ego, and friend. Warren Buffett is always the first to acknowledge the contribution that Charlie Munger has made to Berkshire Hathaway. (Listen to an interview with Charlie Munger, or read our biography)

Under Buffett and Munger, Berkshire Hathaway has become an investment giant that wholly owns a number of successful companies that include:

Geico Corporation
Nebraska Furniture Mart
See’s Candy Shops

Warren Buffet, the man

Warren Buffett, the man, is just as hard to define as Warren Buffett, the investor. He projects a homespun frugality but one suspects that he plays his personality as close to the chest as he does his investment secrets. He always claims that it is his partner, Charlie Munger, who keeps his feet planted firmly in the ground.

Warren Buffet has become a legend and is generally ranked, along with his mentor, Benjamin Graham, first in a stellar cast of investors that includes Peter Lynch, John Neff, and Philip Fisher.

Career

Buffett was employed from 1951–54 at Buffett-Falk & Co., Omaha as an Investment Salesman, from 1954–1956 at Graham-Newman Corp., New York as a Securities Analyst, from 1956–1969 at Buffett Partnership, Ltd., Omaha as a General Partner and from 1970 – Present at Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Omaha as its Chairman, CEO.

In April 1952, Buffett discovered Graham was on the board of GEICO insurance. Taking a train to Washington, D.C. on a Saturday, he knocked on the door of GEICO's headquarters until a janitor allowed him in. There he met Lorimer Davidson, Geico's Vice President, and the two discussed the insurance business for hours. Davidson would eventually become Buffett's life-long friend and a lasting influence ^[19] and later recall that he found Buffett to be an "extraordinary man" after only fifteen minutes. Buffett graduated from Columbia and wanted to work on Wall Street, however, both his father and Ben Graham urged him not to. He offered to work for Graham for free, but Graham refused^[20]

Buffett returned to Omaha and worked as a stockbroker while taking a Dale Carnegie public speaking course.^{[citation needed]} Using what he learned, he felt confident enough to teach an "Investment Principles" night class at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The average age of his students was more than twice his own. During this time he also purchased a Sinclair Texaco gas station as a side investment. However, this did not turn out to be a successful business venture.

In 1952^[21] Buffett married Susan Thompson and the next year they had their first child, Susan Alice Buffett. In 1954, Buffett accepted a job at Benjamin Graham's partnership. His starting salary was $12,000 a year (approximately $97,000 adjusted to 2008 dollars). There he worked closely with Walter Schloss. Graham was a tough man to work for. He was adamant that stocks provide a wide margin of safety after weighting the trade-off between their price and their intrinsic value. The argument made sense to Buffett but he questioned whether the criteria were too stringent and caused the company to miss out on big winners that had more qualitative values.^{[citation needed]} That same year the Buffetts had their second child, Howard Graham Buffett. In 1956, Benjamin Graham retired and closed his partnership. At this time Buffett's personal savings were over $174,000 and he started Buffett Partnership Ltd., an investment partnership in Omaha.

In 1957, Buffett had three partnerships operating the entire year. He purchased a five-bedroom stucco house in Omaha, where he still lives, for $31,500. In 1958 the Buffett's third child, Peter Andrew Buffett, was born. Buffett operated five partnerships the entire year. In 1959, the company grew to six partnerships operating the entire year and Buffett was introduced to Charlie Munger. By 1960, Buffett had seven partnerships operating: Buffett Associates, Buffett Fund, Dacee, Emdee, Glenoff, Mo-Buff and Underwood. He asked one of his partners, a doctor, to find ten other doctors willing to invest $10,000 each in his partnership. Eventually eleven agreed, and Buffett pooled their money with a mere $100 original investment of his own. In 1961, Buffett revealed that Sanborn Map Company accounted for 35% of the partnership's assets. He explained that in 1958 Sanborn stock sold at only $45 per share when the value of the Sanborn investment portfolio was $65 per share. This meant that buyers valued Sanborn stock at "minus $20" per share and were unwilling to pay more than 70 cents on the dollar for an investment portfolio with a map business thrown in for nothing. This earned him a spot on the board of Sanborn.

Path to wealth

In 1962, Buffett became a millionaire, because of his partnerships, which in January 1962 had an excess of $7,178,500, of which over $1,025,000 belonged to Buffett. Buffett merged all partnerships into one partnership. Buffett invested in and eventually took control of a textile manufacturing firm, Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett's partnerships began purchasing shares at $7.60 per share. In 1965, when Buffett's partnerships aggressively began purchasing Berkshire, they paid $14.86 per share while the company had working capital of $19 per share. This did not include the value of fixed assets (factory and equipment). Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway at the board meeting and named a new president, Ken Chace, to run the company. In 1966, Buffett closed the partnership to new money. Buffett wrote in his letter:

unless it appears that circumstances have changed (under some conditions added capital would improve results) or unless new partners can bring some asset to the partnership other than simply capital, I intend to admit no additional partners to BPL.

In a second letter, Buffett announced his first investment in a private business — Hochschild, Kohn and Co, a privately owned Baltimore department store. In 1967, Berkshire paid out its first and only dividend of 10 cents. In 1969, following his most successful year, Buffett liquidated the partnership and transferred their assets to his partners. Among the assets paid out were shares of Berkshire Hathaway. In 1970, as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett began writing his now-famous annual letters to shareholders.

However, he lived solely on his salary of $50,000 per year, and his outside investment income. In 1979, Berkshire began the year trading at $775 per share, and ended at $1,310. Buffett's net worth reached $620 million, placing him on the Forbes 400 for the first time.

As a billionaire

In 2006, Buffett announced in June that he gradually would give away 85% of his Berkshire holdings to five foundations in annual gifts of stock, starting in July 2006. The largest contribution would go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.^[22]

In 2007, in a letter to shareholders, Buffett announced that he was looking for a younger successor, or perhaps successors, to run his investment business.^[23] Buffett had previously selected Lou Simpson, who runs investments at Geico, to fill that role. However, Simpson is only six years younger than Buffett.

In 2008, Buffett became the richest man in the world dethroning Bill Gates, worth $62 billion according to Forbes,^[24] and $58 billion according to Yahoo.^[25] Bill Gates had been number one on the Forbes list for 13 consecutive years.^[26] In 2009, Bill Gates regained number one of the list according to Forbes magazine, with Buffett second. Their values have dropped to $40 billion and $37 billion respectively,^[27] Buffett having (according to Forbes) lost $25 billion in 12 months during 2008/2009.^[28]

Berkshire Hathaway

Measured by market capitalization in the Financial Times Global 500 Berkshire Hathaway as of June 2009 was the eighteenth largest corporation on earth.^[29]

Buying Berkshire Hathaway

Buffett, after several years, decided to wind up the partnership, returning the lucky investors their capital and their share of the profits, and bought an interest in Berkshire Hathaway, a textile company, giving his original investors the the chance to invest. The smart ones did so.

Buffett’s early days at Berkshire Hathaway were not great. The company was in an industry facing real challenges from exports and high manufacturing costs. Warren Buffett had not, however, forgotten what he had learned under Graham, and arranged for the company to buy out two Nebraska insurance companies.

This was the start of Buffett’s interest in insurance and the rise to financial fame of both himself and Berkshire Hathaway. The insurance game is a hard one but under Buffett, the company has become, not only a successful share investor, but a leading provider of insurance.

Acquisitions

In 1973, Berkshire began to acquire stock in the Washington Post Company. Buffett became close friends with Katharine Graham, who controlled the company and its flagship newspaper, and became a member of its board of directors.

In 1974, the SEC opened a formal investigation into Warren Buffett and Berkshire's acquisition of WESCO, due to possible conflict of interest. No charges were brought.

In 1977, Berkshire indirectly purchased the Buffalo Evening News for $32.5 million. Antitrust charges started, instigated by its rival, the Buffalo Courier-Express. Both papers lost money, until the Courier-Express folded in 1982.

In 1979, Berkshire began to acquire stock in ABC. Capital Cities' announced $3.5 billion purchase of ABC on March 18, 1985 surprised the media industry, as ABC was some four times bigger than Capital Cities was at the time. Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett helped finance the deal in return for a 25 percent stake in the combined company.^[30] The newly merged company, known as Capital Cities/ABC (or CapCities/ABC), was forced to sell off some stations due to FCC ownership rules. Also, the two companies owned several radio stations in the same markets.^[31]

In 1987, Berkshire Hathaway purchased 12% stake in Salomon Inc., making it the largest shareholder and Buffett the director. In 1990, a scandal involving John Gutfreund (former CEO of Salomon Brothers) surfaced. A rogue trader, Paul Mozer, was submitting bids in excess of what was allowed by the Treasury rules. When this was discovered and brought to the attention of Gutfreund, he did not immediately suspend the rogue trader. Gutfreund left the company in August 1991.^[32] Buffett became Chairman of Salomon until the crisis passed; on September 4, 1991, he testified before Congress.^[33]

In 1988, Buffett began buying stock in Coca-Cola Company, eventually purchasing up to 7 percent of the company for $1.02 billion. It would turn out to be one of Berkshire's most lucrative investments, and one which it still holds.

In 1998, he acquired General Re (Gen Re), (in a rare move, for stock). In 2002, Buffett became involved with Maurice R. Greenberg at AIG, with General Re providing reinsurance. On March 15, 2005, AIG's board forced Greenberg to resign from his post as Chairman and CEO under the shadow of criticism from Eliot Spitzer, attorney general of the state of New York. On February 9, 2006, AIG and the New York State Attorney General's office agreed to a settlement in which AIG would pay a fine of $1.6 billion.^[34] In 2010, the federal government settled with Berkshire Hathaway for $92 million in return for the firm avoiding prosecution in an AIG fraud scheme, and undergoing 'corporate governance concessions'. ^[35]

In 2002, Buffett entered in $11 billion worth of forward contracts to deliver U.S. dollars against other currencies. By April 2006, his total gain on these contracts was over $2 billion.

In 2009, Warren Buffett invested $2.6 billion as a part of Swiss Re's raising equity capital.^[36]^[37] Berkshire Hathaway already owns a 3% stake, with rights to own more than 20%.^[38]

In 2009, Warren Buffett acquired Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. for $34 billion in cash and stocks. Alice Schroeder author of Snowball stated that a reason for the purchase was to diversify Berkshire Hathaway from the financial industry.[3]

Late 2000s recession

Buffett ran into criticism^[39] during the subprime crisis of 2007–2008, part of the late 2000s recession, that he had allocated capital too early resulting in suboptimal deals. “Buy American. I am.” he wrote for an opinion piece published recently in the New York Times.^[40]

Buffett has called the 2007—present downturn in the financial sector "poetic justice".^[41]

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway suffered a 77% drop in earnings during Q3 2008 and several of his recent deals appear to be running into large mark-to-market losses.^[42]

Berkshire Hathaway acquired 10% perpetual preferred stock of Goldman Sachs^[43]. Some of Buffett's Index put options (European exercise at expiry only) that he wrote (sold) are currently running around $6.73 billion mark-to-market losses.^[44] The scale of the potential loss prompted the SEC to demand that Berkshire produce, "a more robust disclosure" of factors used to value the contracts.^[44]

Buffett also helped Dow Chemical pay for its $18.8 billion takeover of Rohm & Haas. He thus became the single largest shareholder in the enlarged group with his Berkshire Hathaway, which provided $3 billion, underlining his instrumental role during the current crisis in debt and equity markets.^[45]

In October 2008, the media reported that Warren Buffett had agreed to buy General Electric (GE) preferred stock.^[46] The operation included extra special incentives: he received an option to buy 3 billion GE at $22.25 in the next five years, and also received a 10% dividend (callable within three years). In February 2009, Warren Buffett sold part of Procter & Gamble Co, and Johnson & Johnson shares from his portfolio.^[47]

In addition to suggestions of mistiming, questions have been raised as to the wisdom in keeping some of Berkshire's major holdings, including The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) which in 1998 peaked at $86. Buffett discussed the difficulties of knowing when to sell in the company's 2004 annual report: "That may seem easy to do when one looks through an always-clean, rear-view mirror. Unfortunately, however, it’s the windshield through which investors must peer, and that glass is invariably fogged".^[48] In March 2009, Buffett stated in a cable television interview that the economy had "fallen off a cliff... Not only has the economy slowed down a lot, but people have really changed their habits like I haven't seen". Additionally, Buffett fears we may revisit a 1970s level of inflation, which led to a painful stagflation that lasted many years.^[49]^[50]

In 2009, Buffett divested his failed investment in ConocoPhillips, saying to his Berkshire investors "I bought a large amount of ConocoPhillips stock when oil and gas prices were near their peak. I in no way anticipated the dramatic fall in energy prices that occurred in the last half of the year. I still believe the odds are good that oil sells far higher in the future than the current $40-$50 price. But so far I have been dead wrong. Even if prices should rise, moreover, the terrible timing of my purchase has cost Berkshire several billion dollars".^[51]

2009 - Proposed merger with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF), to close upon BNSF shareholder approval in 1Q2010. This deal is valued at approximately $34 billion and reflects an increase of a previously existing stake of about 22%.

2009 Verisk stock acquisition- before Verisk (ISO [Insurance Services Office]) went public, Buffett owned about 5%. When Verisk went public in May 2009, Buffett purchased 6% more of Verisk.

Personal life

Buffett married Susan Buffett née Thompson in 1952. They had three children, Susie, Howard, and Peter. The couple began living separately in 1977, although they remained married until her death in July 2004. Their daughter, Susie, lives in Omaha and does charitable work through the Susan A. Buffett Foundation and is a national board member of Girls, Inc. In 2006, on his seventy-sixth birthday, Warren married his never-married longtime-companion, Astrid Menks, who was then sixty years old. She had lived with him since his wife's departure in 1977 to San Francisco.^[52] It was Susan Buffett who arranged for the two to meet before she left Omaha to pursue her singing career. All three were close and holiday cards to friends were signed "Warren, Susie and Astrid".^[53] Susan Buffett briefly discussed this relationship in an interview on the Charlie Rose Show shortly before her death, in a rare glimpse into Buffett's personal life.^[54]

Warren Buffett disowned his son Peter's adopted daughter, Nicole, in 2006 after she participated in the Jamie Johnson documentary, The One Percent. Although his first wife had referred to Nicole as one of her "adored grandchildren",^[55] Buffett wrote her a letter stating, "I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a grandchild, nor have the rest of my family adopted you as a niece or a cousin." He signed the letter "Warren." ^[56]^[57]^[58]

His 2006 annual salary was about $100,000, which is small compared to senior executive remuneration in comparable companies.^[59] In 2007, and 2008, he earned a total compensation of $175,000, which included a base salary of just $100,000.^[60]^[61] He lives in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500, today valued at around $700,000 (although he also does have a $4 million house in Laguna Beach, California).^[62] In 1989 after having spent nearly 10 million dollars^[63] of Berkshire's funds on a private jet, Buffett sheepishly named it "The Indefensible". This act was a break from his past condemnation of extravagant purchases by other CEOs and his history of using more public transportation.^[64]

He remains an avid player of the card game bridge, which he learned from Sharon Osberg, and plays with her and Bill Gates.^[65] He spends twelve hours a week playing the game.^[66] In 2006, he sponsored a bridge match for the Buffett Cup.

Posted via email from Prashannth.V

Bill Gates - Biography !!!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:29:00 +0000

Bill Gates

Bill Gates
Bill Gates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 2007
Born	October 28, 1955 (1955-10-28) (age 54) Seattle, Washington, USA
Residence	Medina, Washington, USA
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard University (dropped out in 1975)
Occupation	Chairman of Microsoft (non-executive) Co-Chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Director of Berkshire Hathaway CEO of Cascade Investment
Net worth	▲US$53 billion (2010)^[1]
Spouse(s)	Melinda Gates (1994–present)
Children	3
Parents	William H. Gates, Sr. Mary Maxwell Gates,
Signature
Website Bill Gates

William Henry "Bill" Gates III (born October 28, 1955)^[2] is an American business magnate, philanthropist, and chairman^[3] of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people^[4] and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2009, excluding 2008, when he was ranked third.^[5] During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder with more than 8 percent of the common stock.^[6] He has also authored or co-authored several books.

Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Although he is admired by many, a number of industry insiders criticize his business tactics, which they consider anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts (see Criticism of Microsoft).^[7]^[8] In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.

Bill Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Gates' last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. He remains at Microsoft as non-executive chairman.

Early life

Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, to William H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates, of English, German, and Scotch-Irish descent.^[9]^[10] His family was upper middle class; his father was a prominent lawyer, his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way, and her father, J. W. Maxwell, was a national bank president. Gates has one elder sister, Kristi (Kristianne), and one younger sister, Libby. He was the fourth of his name in his family, but was known as William Gates III or "Trey" because his father had dropped his own "III" suffix.^[11] Early on in his life, Gates' parents had a law career in mind for him.^[12]

At 13 he enrolled in the Lakeside School, an exclusive preparatory school.^[13] When he was in the eighth grade, the Mothers Club at the school used proceeds from Lakeside School's rummage sale to buy an ASR-33 teletype terminal and a block of computer time on a General Electric (GE) computer for the school's students.^[14] Gates took an interest in programming the GE system in BASIC and was excused from math classes to pursue his interest. He wrote his first computer program on this machine: an implementation of tic-tac-toe that allowed users to play games against the computer. Gates was fascinated by the machine and how it would always execute software code perfectly. When he reflected back on that moment, he commented on it and said, "There was just something neat about the machine."^[15] After the Mothers Club donation was exhausted, he and other students sought time on systems including DEC PDP minicomputers. One of these systems was a PDP-10 belonging to Computer Center Corporation (CCC), which banned four Lakeside students—Gates, Paul Allen, Ric Weiland, and Kent Evans—for the summer after it caught them exploiting bugs in the operating system to obtain free computer time.^[16]

At the end of the ban, the four students offered to find bugs in CCC's software in exchange for computer time. Rather than use the system via teletype, Gates went to CCC's offices and studied source code for various programs that ran on the system, including programs in FORTRAN, LISP, and machine language. The arrangement with CCC continued until 1970, when the company went out of business. The following year, Information Sciences, Inc. hired the four Lakeside students to write a payroll program in COBOL, providing them computer time and royalties. After his administrators became aware of his programming abilities, Gates wrote the school's computer program to schedule students in classes. He modified the code so that he was placed in classes with mostly female students. He later stated that "it was hard to tear myself away from a machine at which I could so unambiguously demonstrate success."^[15] At age 17, Gates formed a venture with Allen, called Traf-O-Data, to make traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor.^[17] In early 1973, Bill Gates served as a congressional page in the U.S. House of Representatives.^[18]

Bill Gates' mugshot from a traffic violation in 1977

Gates graduated from Lakeside School in 1973. He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT^[19] and enrolled at Harvard College in the autumn of 1973.^[20] While at Harvard, he met Steve Ballmer, who later succeeded Gates as CEO of Microsoft, and computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou, with whom he wrote a paper about pancake sorting.^[21] He did not have a definite study plan while a student at Harvard^[22] and spent a lot of time using the school's computers. He remained in contact with Paul Allen, joining him at Honeywell during the summer of 1974.^[23] The following year saw the release of the MITS Altair 8800 based on the Intel 8080 CPU, and Gates and Allen saw this as the opportunity to start their own computer software company.^[24] He had talked this decision over with his parents, who were supportive of him after seeing how much Gates wanted to start a company.^[22]

Microsoft

Main articles: History of Microsoft and Microsoft

BASIC

MITS Altair 8800 Computer with 8-inch (200 mm) floppy disk system

After reading the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics that demonstrated the Altair 8800, Gates contacted Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), the creators of the new microcomputer, to inform them that he and others were working on a BASIC interpreter for the platform.^[25] In reality, Gates and Allen did not have an Altair and had not written code for it; they merely wanted to gauge MITS's interest. MITS president Ed Roberts agreed to meet them for a demo, and over the course of a few weeks they developed an Altair emulator that ran on a minicomputer, and then the BASIC interpreter. The demonstration, held at MITS's offices in Albuquerque, was a success and resulted in a deal with MITS to distribute the interpreter as Altair BASIC. Paul Allen was hired into MITS,^[26] and Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard to work with Allen at MITS in Albuquerque in November 1975. They named their partnership "Micro-Soft" and had their first office located in Albuquerque.^[26] Within a year, the hyphen was dropped, and on November 26, 1976, the trade name "Microsoft" was registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico.^[26] Gates never returned to Harvard to complete his studies.

Microsoft's BASIC was popular with computer hobbyists, but Gates discovered that a pre-market copy had leaked into the community and was being widely copied and distributed. In February 1976, Gates wrote an Open Letter to Hobbyists in the MITS newsletter saying that MITS could not continue to produce, distribute, and maintain high-quality software without payment.^[27] This letter was unpopular with many computer hobbyists, but Gates persisted in his belief that software developers should be able to demand payment. Microsoft became independent of MITS in late 1976, and it continued to develop programming language software for various systems.^[26] The company moved from Albuquerque to its new home in Bellevue, Washington on January 1, 1979.^[25]

During Microsoft's early years, all employees had broad responsibility for the company's business. Gates oversaw the business details, but continued to write code as well. In the first five years, he personally reviewed every line of code the company shipped, and often rewrote parts of it as he saw fit.^[28]

IBM partnership

In 1980, IBM approached Microsoft to write the BASIC interpreter for its upcoming personal computer, the IBM PC. When IBM's representatives mentioned that they needed an operating system, Gates referred them to Digital Research (DRI), makers of the widely used CP/M operating system.^[29] IBM's discussions with Digital Research went poorly, and they did not reach a licensing agreement. IBM representative Jack Sams mentioned the licensing difficulties during a subsequent meeting with Gates and told him to get an acceptable operating system. A few weeks later Gates proposed using 86-DOS (QDOS), an operating system similar to CP/M that Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products (SCP) had made for hardware similar to the PC. Microsoft made a deal with SCP to become the exclusive licensing agent, and later the full owner, of 86-DOS. After adapting the operating system for the PC, Microsoft delivered it to IBM as PC-DOS in exchange for a one-time fee of $50,000. Gates did not offer to transfer the copyright on the operating system, because he believed that other hardware vendors would clone IBM's system.^[30] They did, and the sales of MS-DOS made Microsoft a major player in the industry.^[31]

Windows

Gates oversaw Microsoft's company restructuring on June 25, 1981, which re-incorporated the company in Washington state and made Gates President of Microsoft and the Chairman of the Board.^[25] Microsoft launched its first retail version of Microsoft Windows on November 20, 1985, and in August, the company struck a deal with IBM to develop a separate operating system called OS/2. Although the two companies successfully developed the first version of the new system, mounting creative differences undermined the partnership. Gates distributed an internal memo on May 16, 1991, announcing that the OS/2 partnership was over and Microsoft would shift its efforts to the Windows NT kernel development.^[32]

Management style

From Microsoft's founding in 1975 until 2006, Gates had primary responsibility for the company's product strategy. He aggressively broadened the company's range of products, and wherever Microsoft achieved a dominant position he vigorously defended it.

As an executive, Gates met regularly with Microsoft's senior managers and program managers. Firsthand accounts of these meetings describe him as verbally combative, berating managers for perceived holes in their business strategies or proposals that placed the company's long-term interests at risk.^[33]^[34] He often interrupted presentations with such comments as, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"^[35] and, "Why don't you just give up your options and join the Peace Corps?"^[36] The target of his outburst then had to defend the proposal in detail until, hopefully, Gates was fully convinced.^[35] When subordinates appeared to be procrastinating, he was known to remark sarcastically, "I'll do it over the weekend."^[3]^[37]^[38]

Gates's role at Microsoft for most of its history was primarily a management and executive role. However, he was an active software developer in the early years, particularly on the company's programming language products. He has not officially been on a development team since working on the TRS-80 Model 100 line, but wrote code as late as 1989 that shipped in the company's products.^[37] On June 15, 2006, Gates announced that he would transition out of his day-to-day role over the next two years to dedicate more time to philanthropy. He divided his responsibilities between two successors, placing Ray Ozzie in charge of day-to-day management and Craig Mundie in charge of long-term product strategy.^[39]

Antitrust litigation

Bill Gates giving his deposition at Microsoft on August 27, 1998

Further information: United States Microsoft antitrust case and European Union Microsoft competition case

Many decisions that led to antitrust litigation over Microsoft's business practices have had Gates' approval. In the 1998 United States v. Microsoft case, Gates gave deposition testimony that several journalists characterized as evasive. He argued with examiner David Boies over the contextual meaning of words like "compete", "concerned" and "we".^[40]BusinessWeek reported:

Early rounds of his deposition show him offering obfuscatory answers and saying 'I don't recall,' so many times that even the presiding judge had to chuckle. Worse, many of the technology chief's denials and pleas of ignorance were directly refuted by prosecutors with snippets of e-mail Gates both sent and received.^[41]

Gates later said that he had simply resisted attempts by Boies to mischaracterize his words and actions. As to his demeanor during the deposition, he said, "Did I fence with Boies? ... I plead guilty. Whatever that penalty is should be levied against me: rudeness to Boies in the first degree."^[42] Despite Gates's denials, the judge ruled that Microsoft had committed monopolization and tying, and blocking competition, both in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.^[42]

Appearance in ads

Gates appeared in a series of ads to promote Microsoft in 2008. The first commercial, co-starring Jerry Seinfeld, is a 90-second talk between strangers as Seinfeld walks up on a discount shoe store (Shoe Circus) in a mall and notices Gates buying shoes inside. The salesman is trying to sell Mr. Gates shoes that are a size too big. As Gates is buying the shoes he holds up his discount card, which uses a slightly altered version of his own mugshot of his arrest in New Mexico in 1977 for a traffic violation.^[43] As they are walking out of the mall, Seinfeld asks Gates if he has melded his mind to other developers, after getting a yes, he then asks if they are working on a way to make computers edible, again getting a yes. Some say that this is an homage to Seinfeld's own show about "nothing" (Seinfeld).^[44] In a second commercial in the series, Gates and Seinfeld are at the home of an average family trying to fit in with normal people.

Post-Microsoft

Since leaving Microsoft, Gates continues his philanthropy and, among other projects, purchased the videos rights to the Messenger Lectures series titled The Character of Physical Law, given at Cornell University by Richard Feynman in 1964 and recorded by the BBC. The videos are available online to the public at Microsoft's Project Tuva.^[45]^[46]

In April 2010, Gates was invited to visit and speak at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he asked the students to take on the hard problems of the world in their futures.^[47]^[48]

Personal life

Bill and Melinda Gates, June 2009.

Gates married Melinda French from Dallas, TX on January 1, 1994. They have three children. The Gates' home is an earth-sheltered house in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina. According to King County public records, as of 2006 the total assessed value of the property (land and house) is $125 million, and the annual property tax is $991,000.

His 66,000 sq. ft. estate has a 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater music system, as well as a 2500 sq. ft. gym and a 1000 sq. ft. dining room.^[49]

Also among Gates's private acquisitions is the Codex Leicester, a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci, which Gates bought for $30.8 million at an auction in 1994.^[50] Gates is also known as an avid reader, and the ceiling of his large home library is engraved with a quotation from The Great Gatsby.^[51] He also enjoys playing bridge, tennis, and golf.^[52]^[53]

Gates was number one on the "Forbes 400" list from 1993 through to 2007 and number one on Forbes list of "The World's Richest People" from 1995 to 2007 and 2009. In 1999, Gates's wealth briefly surpassed $101 billion, causing the media to call him a "centibillionaire".^[54] Since 2000, the nominal value of his Microsoft holdings has declined due to a fall in Microsoft's stock price after the dot-com bubble burst and the multi-billion dollar donations he has made to his charitable foundations. In a May 2006 interview, Gates commented that he wished that he were not the richest man in the world because he disliked the attention it brought.^[55] Gates has several investments outside Microsoft, which in 2006 paid him a salary of $616,667, and $350,000 bonus totalling $966,667.^[56] He founded Corbis, a digital imaging company, in 1989. In 2004 he became a director of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company headed by long-time friend Warren Buffett.^[57] In March 2010 Bill Gates was dropped down to the 2nd wealthiest man.

Philanthropy

Gates (second from right) with Bono, Queen Rania of Jordan, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Yar Adua of Nigeria and other participants in a 'Call to Action on the Millennium Development Goals' during the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Further information: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Gates began to realize the expectations others had of him when public opinion mounted that he could give more of his wealth to charity. Gates studied the work of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller and in 1994 sold some of his Microsoft stock to create the William H. Gates Foundation. In 2000, Gates and his wife combined three family foundations into one to create the charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest transparently operated charitable foundation in the world.^[58] The foundation is set up to allow benefactors access to how its money is being spent, unlike other major charitable organizations such as the Wellcome Trust.^[59]^[60] The generosity and extensive philanthropy of David Rockefeller has been credited as a major influence. Gates and his father have met with Rockefeller several times and have modeled their giving in part on the Rockefeller family's philanthropic focus, namely those global problems that are ignored by governments and other organizations.^[61] As of 2007, Bill and Melinda Gates were the second most generous philanthropists in America, having given over $28 billion to charity.^[62]

The foundation has also received criticism because it invests the assets that it has not yet distributed with the exclusive goal of maximizing the return on investment. As a result, its investments include companies that have been criticized for worsening poverty in the same developing countries where the Foundation is attempting to relieve poverty. These include companies that pollute heavily and pharmaceutical companies that do not sell into the developing world.^[63] In response to press criticism, the foundation announced in 2007 a review of its investments to assess social responsibility.^[64] It subsequently cancelled the review and stood by its policy of investing for maximum return, while using voting rights to influence company practices.^[65]

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Sachin Tendulkar - Biography !!!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:27:00 +0000

Sachin Tendulkar

Personal information
Sachin Tendulkar

Full name	Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born	24 April 1973 (1973-04-24) (age 37) Mumbai, India
Nickname	Little Master, Tendlya,^[1] Master Blaster,^[2] The Master,^[3]^[4] The Little Champion^[5]
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm leg spin / Right-arm off spin
Role	Batsman
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 187)	15 November 1989 v Pakistan
Last Test	6 February 2010 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 74)	18 December 1989 v Pakistan
Last ODI	24 February 2010 v South Africa
ODI shirt no.	10
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1988–present	Mumbai
2008–present	Mumbai Indians (Indian Premier League)
1992	Yorkshire
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	166	442	266	527
Runs scored	13,447	17,594	22,123	20,946
Batting average	55.57	45.12	59.15	45.53
100s/50s	47/54	46/93	72/100	56/111
Top score	248*	200*	248*	200*
Balls bowled	3,982	8,020	7,347	10,196
Wickets	44	154	69	201
Bowling average	52.22	44.26	60.72	42.01
5 wickets in innings	0	2	0	2
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	0	n/a
Best bowling	3/10	5/32	3/10	5/32
Catches/stumpings	104/–	132/–	172/–	167/–
Source: CricketArchive, 11 February 2010

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar pronunciation (help·info) (Marathi: सचिन रमेश तेंडुलकर [səʨin rəmeˑɕ t̪eˑɳɖulkər]; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and One Day International cricket.^[6]^[7]^[8] He is the only player to score a double century in an innings in the history of ODI cricket.^[9]^[10] In 2002, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one day international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards.^[11] In September 2007, the Australian leg spinner Shane Warne rated Tendulkar as the greatest player he has played with or against.^[12] Tendulkar was the only player of the current generation to be included in Bradman's Eleven.^{[nb 1]} He is sometimes referred to as Little Master or Master Blaster.^[14]^[15]

Tendulkar is the first player to score fifty centuries in all international cricket combined, he now has 93 centuries in international cricket. On 17 October 2008, when he surpassed Brian Lara's record for the most runs scored in Test Cricket, he also became the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in that form of the game,^[16] having also been the third batsman and first Indian to pass 11,000 runs in Test cricket.^[17] He was also the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, and also the first player to cross every subsequent 1000-run mark that has been crossed in ODI cricket history. In the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, Tendulkar surpassed Australia's Allan Border to become the player to cross the 50-run mark the most number of times in Test cricket history, and also the second ever player to score 10 Test centuries against Australia, after only Sir Jack Hobbs of England more than 70 years previously.^[18] Tendulkar passed 30,000 runs in international cricket on 20 November 2009, and has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second highest civilian award, and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honour.

Early years and personal life

Tendulkar was born in Bombay (now Mumbai). His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist, named Tendulkar after his favourite music director, Sachin Dev Burman. Tendulkar's elder brother Ajit encouraged him to play cricket. Tendulkar has two other siblings: a brother Nitin, and sister Savitai.

Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School),^[1] where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. During his school days he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler, but Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who took a world record 355 Test wickets, was unimpressed, suggesting that Tendulkar focus on his batting instead.^[19]

When he was young, Tendulkar would practice for hours on end in the nets. If he became exhausted, Achrekar would put a one-Rupee-coin on the top of the stumps, and the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar would get the coin. If Tendulkar passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Tendulkar now considers the 13 coins he won then as some of his most prized possessions.^[20]

While at school, he developed a reputation as a child prodigy. He had become a common conversation point in Mumbai circles, where there were suggestions already that he would become one of the greats. His season in 1988 was extraordinary, with Tendulkar scoring a century in every innings he played. He was involved in an unbroken 664-run partnership in a Lord Harris Shield inter-school game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who would also go on to represent India. The destructive pair reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Tendulkar scored 326* in this innings and scored over a thousand runs in the tournament.^[21] This was a record partnership in any form of cricket until 2006, when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India.

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When he was 14, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his own ultra light pads. "It was the greatest source of encouragement for me," he said nearly 20 years later after surpassing Gavaskar's world record of 34 Test centuries.^[22] On 24 May 1995^[23], Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali, a paediatrician and daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta. They have two children, Sara (born 12 October 1997), and Arjun (born 24 September 1999).^[24]

Tendulkar sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annabel Mehta.^[25]

Early domestic career

On 11 December 1988, aged just 15 years and 232 days, Tendulkar scored 100 not out in his debut first-class match for Bombay against Gujarat, making him the youngest Indian to score a century on first-class debut. He followed this by scoring a century in his first Deodhar and Duleep Trophy.^[26] He was picked by the Mumbai captain Dilip Vengsarkar after seeing him negotiate Kapil Dev in the nets,^[1] and finished the season as Bombay's highest run-scorer.^[27]^[28] He also made an unbeaten century in the Irani Trophy final,^[29] and was selected for the tour of Pakistan next year, after just one first class season.^[30]

His first double century was for Mumbai while playing against the visiting Australian team at the Brabourne Stadium in 1998.^[1] He is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts.^[31]

In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire^[1]^[32] Tendulkar played 16 first-class matches for the county and scored 1070 runs at an average of 46.52.^[33]

International career

Early career

Tendulkar played his first Test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989 aged just 16. He made just 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match, but was noted for how he handled numerous blows to his body at the hands of the Pakistani pace attack.^[34] In the final test in Sialkot, he was hit on the nose by a bouncer, but he declined medical assistance and continued to bat even as he gushed blood from it.^[35] In a 20 over exhibition game in Peshawar, Tendulkar made 53 runs off 18 balls, including an over in which he scored 28 runs off Abdul Qadir.^[36] This was later called "one of the best innings I have seen" by the then Indian captain Kris Srikkanth.^[37] In all, he scored 215 runs at an average of 35.83 in the Test series, and was dismissed without scoring a run in the only One Day International he played.^[38]^[39]

The series was followed by a tour of New Zealand in which he scored 117 runs at an average of 29.25 in, Tests including an innings of 88 in the Second Test.^[40] He was dismissed without scoring in one the two one-day games he played, and scored 36 in the other.^[41] On his next tour, to England in 1990, he became the second youngest cricketer to score a Test century as he made 119* at Old Trafford.^[35] Wisden described his innings as "a disciplined display of immense maturity" and also wrote:^[42]

"He looked the embodiment of India's famous opener, Gavaskar, and indeed was wearing a pair of his pads. While he displayed a full repertoire of strokes in compiling his maiden Test hundred, most remarkable were his off-side shots from the back foot. Though only 5ft 5in tall, he was still able to control without difficulty short deliveries from the English paceman."

Tendulkar further enhanced his development during the 1991–1992 tour of Australia, that included an unbeaten 148 in Sydney and a century on a fast, bouncing pitch at Perth. Merv Hughes commented to Allan Border at the time that "This little prick's going to get more runs than you, AB."^[43]

Rise through the ranks

Tendulkar waits at the bowler's end.

Tendulkar's performance through the years 1994–1999 coincided with his physical peak, in his early twenties. On the day of the Hindu festival Holi, Tendulkar was told to open the batting at Auckland against New Zealand in 1994.^[44] He went on to make 82 runs off 49 balls. He scored his first ODI century on 9 September 1994 against Australia in Sri Lanka at Colombo. It had taken him 79 ODIs to score a century.

In 1996 against Pakistan in Sharjah, Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin was going through a lean patch. Tendulkar and Navjot Singh Sidhu both made centuries to set a record partnership for the second wicket. After getting out, Tendulkar found Azharuddin in two minds about whether he should bat. Tendulkar convinced Azharuddin to bat and Azharuddin subsequently unleashed 29 runs in mere 10 balls. It enabled India post a score in excess of 300 runs for the first time in an ODI. India went on to win that match.

Tendulkar's rise continued when he was the leading run scorer at the 1996 Cricket World Cup, scoring two centuries.^[45] He was the only Indian batsman to perform in the infamous semi-final against Sri Lanka. Tendulkar fell amid a batting collapse and the match referee awarded Sri Lanka the match after the crowd began rioting and set fire to the stadium.

This was the beginning of a period at the top of the batting world, culminating in the Australian tour of India in early 1998, with Tendulkar scoring three consecutive centuries. These were characterized by a premeditated plan to target Australian spinners Shane Warne and Gavin Robertson, to whom he regularly charged down the pitch to drive over the infield. This technique worked as India beat Australia. The test match success was followed by two scintillating knocks in Sharjah where he scored two consecutive centuries in a must-win game and then in finals against Australia tormenting Shane Warne once again. Following the series Warne ruefully joked that he was having nightmares about his Indian nemesis.^[46] He also had a role with the ball in that series, including a five wicket haul in an ODI. Set 310 runs to win, Australia were cruising comfortably at 3 for 203 in the 31st over when Tendulkar turned the match for India taking wickets of Michael Bevan, Steve Waugh, Darren Lehmann, Tom Moody and Damien Martyn for just 32 runs in 10 overs.^[47]

Tendulkar single-handedly won the ICC 1998 quarterfinal at Dhaka to pave way for India's entry into the semifinals, when he took four Australian wickets after scoring 141 runs in just 128 balls.

A chronic back problem flared up when Pakistan toured India in 1999, with India losing the historic Test at Chepauk despite a gritty century from Tendulkar himself. The worst was yet to come as Professor Ramesh Tendulkar, Tendulkar's father, died in the middle of the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Tendulkar flew back to India to attend the final rituals of his father, missing the match against Zimbabwe. However, he returned with a bang to the World cup scoring a century (unbeaten 140 off 101 balls) in his very next match against Kenya in Bristol. He dedicated this century to his father.^[48]

Captaincy

Tendulkar's two tenures as captain of the Indian cricket team were not very successful. When Tendulkar took over as Captain in 1996, it was with huge hopes and expectations. However, by 1997 the team was performing poorly. Azharuddin was credited with saying "Nahin jeetega! Chote ki naseeb main jeet nahin hai!",^[49] which translates into: "He won't win! It's not in the small one's destiny!".^[50]

Tendulkar, succeeding Azharuddin as captain for his second term, then led India on a tour of Australia, where the visitors were comprehensively beaten 3–0 by the newly crowned world champions.^[51] Tendulkar, however, was at his usual best and won the player of the tournament award as well as player of the match in one of the games. After another Test series defeat, this time by a 0–2 margin at home against South Africa, Tendulkar resigned, and Sourav Ganguly took over as captain in 2000.

Tendulkar remains an integral part of the Indian team's strategic processes. He is often seen in discussion with the captain, at times actively involved in building strategies. Former captain Rahul Dravid publicly acknowledged that Tendulkar had been suggesting moves such as the promotion of Irfan Pathan up the batting order which, although only temporary, had an immediate effect on the team's fortunes.

Injuries and apparent decline

Tendulkar continued his good form in Test cricket in 2001 and 2002, with some pivotal performances with both bat and ball. Tendulkar took three wickets on the final day of the famous Kolkata Test against Australia in 2001. Tendulkar took the key wickets of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, centurions in the previous test.

In the 2002 series in the West Indies, Tendulkar started well, scoring 79 in the first test, and 117 in the first innings of the second. Then, in a hitherto unprecedented sequence, he scored 0, 0, 8 and 0 in the next four innings, getting out to technical "defects" and uncharacteristically poor strokes. He returned to form in the last test scoring 41 and 86. However, India lost the series. This might have been the beginning of the "decline" phase in his career which lasted till 2006.

Tendulkar made 673 runs in 11 matches in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, helping India reach the final. While Australia retained the trophy that they had won in 1999, Tendulkar was given the Man of the Tournament award.

He continued to score heavily in ODI cricket that year, with two hundreds in a tri series involving New Zealand and Australia.

The drawn series as India toured Australia in 2003/04 saw Tendulkar making his mark in the last Test of the series, with 241* in Sydney, putting India in a virtually unbeatable position. He followed up the innings with an unbeaten 60 in the second innings of the test. Prior to this test match, he had had an unusually horrible run of form, failing in all six innings in the preceding three tests. It was no aberration that 2003 was his worst year in test cricket, with an average of 17.25 and just one fifty.

He scored an unbeaten 194 against Pakistan at Multan in the following series. The 194 was controversial in that he was stranded prior to reaching his double century as a result of a declaration by Rahul Dravid. In meeting with the press that evening, Tendulkar responded to a question on missing 200 against Pakistan by stating that he was disappointed and that the declaration had taken him by surprise.^[52] Many former cricketers commented that Dravid's declaration was in bad taste.^[53]^[54] The media noted at the time that the decision had apparently been made by Sourav Ganguly,^[55] and Ganguly himself later admitted that it had been a mistake.^[56] The controversy was put to rest when Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and coach John Wright spoke to the media after the team's victory and stated that the matter was spoken internally and put to rest.^[57]

Tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar, leaving him out of the side for most of the year, coming back only for the last two tests when Australia toured India in 2004. He played a part in India's victory in Mumbai in that series with a fast 55, though Australia took the series 2–1.

On 10 December 2005 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Tendulkar scored his record-breaking 35th Test century, against the Sri Lankans.

In the test series in Pakistan in 2006, Sachin failed to get going in all three innings despite the pitches being flat tracks. In the third of those three innings, he was bowled comprehensively after making 26, and ended up on all fours. This prompted The Times of India to publish an article entitled "Endulkar" in which TOI opined that Tendulkar's batting prowess had declined and his career had slid permanently.

On 6 February 2006, he scored his 39th ODI hundred, in a match against Pakistan. He followed with a run-a-ball 42 in the second one-day international against Pakistan on 11 February 2006, and then a 95 in hostile, seaming conditions on 13 February 2006 in Lahore, which set up an Indian victory.

On 19 March 2006, after scoring an unconvincing 1 off 21 balls against England in the first innings of the third Test in his home ground, Wankhede, Tendulkar was booed off the ground by a section of the crowd,^[58]^[59] the first time that he had ever faced such flak. Tendulkar was to end the three-Test series without a single half-century to his credit, and news of a shoulder operation raised more questions about his longevity. Tendulkar was operated upon for his injured shoulder. In July 2006, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Tendulkar had overcome his injury problem following a rehabilitation programme and was available for selection, and he was eventually selected for the next series.

Tendulkar's comeback came in the DLF cup in Malaysia and he was the only Indian batsman to shine. In his comeback match, against West Indies on 14 September 2006, Tendulkar responded to his critics who believed that his career was inexorably sliding with his 40th ODI century. Though he scored 141*, West Indies won the rain-affected match by the D/L method.

In the preparation for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Tendulkar was criticized by Greg Chappell on his attitude.^[60] As per the report, Chappell felt that Tendulkar would be more useful down the order, while the latter felt that he would be better off opening the innings, the role he had played for most of his career. Chappell also believed that Tendulkar's repeated failures were hurting the team's chances. In a rare show of emotion, Tendulkar hit out at the comments attributed to Chappell by pointing out that no coach has ever suggested his attitude towards cricket is incorrect. On 7 April 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India issued a notice to Tendulkar asking for an explanation for his comments made to the media.^[61]

At the Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, Tendulkar and the Indian cricket team, led by Rahul Dravid had a dismal campaign. Tendulkar, who was pushed to bat lower down the order by the Greg Chappell had scores of 7 (Bangladesh), 57* (Bermuda) and 0 (Sri Lanka). As a result, former Australian captain Ian Chappell, brother of the then Indian coach Greg, called for Tendulkar to retire in his column for Mumbai's Mid Day newspaper.^[62]

During this period from about 2002 to 2006–7, Tendulkar's batting often seemed to be a shadow of its former self. He was inconsistent, and his big knocks mostly came in sedate, accumulative, uncharacteristic fashion. He seemed to have either cut out or lost the ability to play many shots, including the hook and pull and many other aerial strokes. He also developed a tendency to go without scoring much for long periods and become overtly defensive. While players such as Ponting and Kallis were at the peak of their careers, Sachin's seemed to be in terminal decline. There were several calls from him to retire too.

However after the 2007 World Cup, his career had a second wind and his consistency and form have returned.

spanspanspanspan

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A.R.Rahman - Biography

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:20:00 +0000

A. R. Rahman

A. R. Rahman
A.R. Rahman in 2007
Background information
Birth name	A. S. Dileep Kumar
Also known as	A. R. Rahman, ARR, AR
Born	January 6, 1966 (age 44) (1966-01-06) Chennai , Tamil Nadu , India
Genres	Film score , theatre , world music
Occupations	Composer , record producer , music director , singer , instrumentalist , arranger , programmer
Years active	1985–present
Website	arrahman.com

Allah Rakha Rahman (Tamil : ஏ.ஆர்.ரகுமான்; born 6 January 1966 as A. S. Dileep Kumar) is an Indian film composer , record producer , musician and singer . His film scoring career began in the early 1990s. He has won fourteen Filmfare Awards , four National Film Awards , a BAFTA Award , a Golden Globe , two Grammy Awards , and two Academy Awards .^[1]^[2]

Working in India's various film industries , international cinema and theatre , by 2004, Rahman, in a career spanning over a decade, had sold more than 150 million records of his film scores and soundtracks worldwide,^[3]^[4] and sold over 200 million cassettes,^[5] making him one of the world's all-time top selling recording artists .

Time magazine has referred to him as the "Mozart of Madras" and several Tamil commentators have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal (Tamil: இசைப் புயல்; English: Music Storm).^[6] In 2009, the magazine placed Rahman in the Time 100 list of 'World's Most Influential People'.^[7]

Early life and influences

A. R. Rahman was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to a musically affluent Mudaliar Tamil family.^[8]^[9]^[10] His father R. K. Shekhar , was a Chennai based composer and conductor for Malayalam films . Rahman lost his father at a young age and his family rented out musical equipment as a source of income. He was raised by his mother Kareema (Kashturi). He was introduced to Sufism when his younger sister fell severely sick and as per the advise of a family friend, the family would pray at a mosque and vow conversion to Islam if she got well. The prayers were answered and accordingly, he along with other members of his family then converted to Islam in the year 1989 at the age of 23 and changed his name to Rahman^[11]. During these formative years, Rahman served as a keyboard player and an arranger in bands such as "Roots", with childhood friend and percussionist Sivamani , John Anthony, Suresh Peters, JoJo and Raja.^[12] Rahman is the founder of the Chennai-based rock group, "Nemesis Avenue".^[13] He played the keyboard and piano , the synthesizer , the harmonium and the guitar . His curiosity in the synthesizer, in particular increased because, he says, it was the “ideal combination of music and technology".^[14] He began early training in music under Master Dhanraj. At the age of 11, he joined, as a keyboardist, the troupe of Ilaiyaraaja ,^[14] one of many composers to whom musical instruments belonging to Rahman's father were rented. Rahman later played in the orchestra of M. S. Viswanathan Ramesh Naidu and Raj Koti, accompanied Zakir Hussain , Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan and L. Shankar on world tours and obtained a scholarship to the Trinity College of Music where he graduated with a degree in Western classical music .^[15]

Career

"I had come to the music of A. R. Rahman through the emotional and haunting score of Bombay and the wit and celebration of Lagaan. But the more of AR's music I encountered the more I was to be amazed at the sheer diversity of styles: from swinging brass bands to triumphant anthems; from joyous pop to West-End musicals. Whatever the style, A. R. Rahman's music always possesses a profound sense of humanity and spirit, qualities that inspire me the most.

Awards

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by A. R. Rahman

Rahman was the 1995 recipient of the Mauritius National Award and the Malaysian Award for contributions to music. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his first West-End production. A four-time National Film Award winner and conferred the Padma Shri from the Government of India , Rahman has also received six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards , fourteen Filmfare Awards and eleven Filmfare Awards South for his music and scores. In 2006, he received an honorary award from Stanford University for contributions to global music.^[47] In 2009, for his score of Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman won the Critics' Choice Award , the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score ,^[48] the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music , and two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song at the 2009 Oscars . Middlesex University and Aligarh Muslim University have announced that they plan to bestow honorary doctorates on Rahman.^[49]^[50] He has also won two Grammy Awards , for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Song Written for a Visual Media .^[1] Rahman was awarded the Padma Bhushan , India's third highest civilian honor, in 2010.^[51]

Personal life

He is married to Saira Banu and has three children, Khadijah, Rahima, and Aameen. Rahman is the uncle of composer G. V. Prakash Kumar , who is the son of Rahman's elder sister, A. R. Reihana . He had become an atheist as a result of childhood struggles, he eventually converted to Islam in 1989, the religion of his mother's family.^[52] He is very devoted to his mother. During the Oscar Award, he paid her a tribute saying: "There is a Hindi dialogue 'mere pass ma hai' which means even if I have got nothing I have my mother here."^[53]

Personal Quotes

I have rubbed many a producer the wrong way by disturbing the schedule, but it has paid off.

I wasn't too happy with the I-don't-want-to-listen-to-it attitude of our youngsters towards film music. Why can't we get our guys to listen to our own music rather than to Michael Jackson? I didn't want us to lose the market to the West. The music had to be cool and rooted, and yet had to branch out. It was like the wild imagination of a child... but it worked... it did travel beyond Madras and attract people.

About his belief in Sufism: "I'm a deeply spiritual person. Sufism is about love - love for a fellow human, love for all round humanity, and ultimately love for God. For me, it's where music and religion meet - at dargahs, you will find qawwalis. That's my inspiration."

About his song Vande Mataram: "It had to be unlike the one played on the radio for years. I wanted a sound that would connect me with people and capture a collective energy."

I hate the word [Bollywood]. I think it's derivative and it doesn't represent the entire film community in India. There's the eastern film industry, four industries in the south - they all make extraordinary films. It's like saying the whole of the West is Hollywood.

Social service

Rahman is involved in various charitable causes. In 2004, he was appointed as the Global Ambassador of the Stop TB Partnership, a project by WHO . He has shown support to charities including Save the Children , India, and worked with Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam for his song "Indian Ocean". The song featured a-ha keyboard player Magne Furuholmen and Travis drummer, Neil Primrose . The proceeds of the song went towards helping orphans in Banda Aceh, one of the areas worst affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami . He produced the single "We Can Make It Better" by Don Asian alongside Mukhtar Sahota.^[54] In 2008, Rahman opened his KM Music Conservatory partnered with Audio Media Education facility to tutor and train aspiring musicians in vocals, instruments, music technology and sound design. The conservatory – with preeminent musicians on its panel and a newly founded symphony orchestra – is located near his studio in Kodambakkam , Chennai , offering courses at Beginners, Foundation and Diploma level.Rahman composed the theme music for a short film for The Banyan in 2006, in aid of destitute women in Chennai. In 2008, Rahman, along with percussionist Sivamani created a song titled "Jiya Se Jiya", inspired by the Free Hugs Campaign and promoted it through a video shot in various cities in India

Filmography

Further information: A. R. Rahman discography

As music director

Year	Film	Language	Notes
1992	Roja	Tamil	Winner, National Film Award for Best Music Direction Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director Winner, Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil) Listed in TIME's "10 Best Soundtracks " of all time in 2005 ^[43]
1992	Yodha	Malayalam
1993	Pudhiya Mugam	Tamil
	Nippu Ravva	Telugu	Background score only^[57]
	Gentleman	Tamil	Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director Winner, Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil)
	Kizhakku Cheemayile	Tamil
	Uzhavan	Tamil
	Thiruda Thiruda	Tamil
1994	Vandicholai Chinraasu	Tamil
	Super Police	Telugu
	Duet	Tamil
	May Madham	Tamil
	Kadhalan	Tamil	Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director Winner, Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Tamil)
	Pavithra	Tamil
	Karuththamma	Tamil
	Pudhiya Mannargal	Tamil
	Palnati Pourusham	Telugu
	Gangmaster	Telugu
1995	Bombay	Tamil	Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director Winner, aaaa

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Why some smart people don’t take action?

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:04:00 +0000

Why some smart people don’t take action?

Courtesy-Rajesh shetty

I mean “action” that will lift them to a whole new level in life and in business.

This is a question that has haunted me for a while. I meet so many smart people during my travels and speaking engagements. when I hear what these people are involved with and think about what they “could be” actually involved with, it is not difficult to see the “gap.” They could be doing much more but it seemed like they have resigned to be just “good.”

When I get close to some of them, I openly discuss this and honestly, it is not news to them. They know that they are not living up to their full potential. They are aware of that. Some of them say that “soon” they will make a change.

I kept thinking about this “gap” and wondering about the reasons for just doing “good work” when they could be doing “great work.” Why limit the contributions to making a difference to a dozen people when they could make a difference to a thousand people?

The reasons for this seemed like:

* They were waiting for the right opportunity
* They had obligations that they had to fulfill before they take on big challenges
* They had personal or family reasons beyond work
* They were simply happy with what they were doing
* They were not aware of their true potential
* They had become comfortable with their present situation and didn’t like change
and so on..

Valid reasons but I was not satisfied with any one or combination of them. They were true for a specific case but I could not find a more generic reason for inaction.

Last month, when I was reviewing my notes from a few meetings over the years, the reason became clear.

It was not ONE reason but there was a complex system at play contributing to the inaction. Let me explain it the best way I can.

Here is the quick summary:

Most smart people want to make a BIG difference. But they don’t think they are ready to take that plunge to live their dream. They don’t want to raise the stakes (by quitting their job, investing in something, joining a movement) yet until they are ready. They keep discovering that something else needs to happen before they raise the stakes. The more they wait, the higher their current obligations making it more complicated to raise the stakes. So on one end, they keep discovering that there is so much more to know “before they are ready” to take the plunge and on the other end, the stakes are low for them to take any action to make a change.

Let us look at this in a bit more detail

Whatever someone pursues (an idea) the step before taking action is to build the “capacity to take action.” Smart people know that they need to build that capacity first before they take action.

When they start building their “capacity” they make up a “threshold of capacity” required before they can take any serious action. After that they start building that capacity ( capacity for example may be some skills such as marketing or sales or they might think they need “X” dollars and “Y” strong connections) and being smart they quickly realize the gap between “their current capacity” and the “threshold of capacity” required to take action.

They make take several actions to build that capacity. Their efforts may include attending a course like an MBA. They act in their own way but always to build capacity so that ONE day they are READY to take that necessary action (the Plunge.)

Over this time, they realize that the threshold capacity is higher than what they originally envisaged. The gap is probably bigger than their original estimate. They need to work hard to get to that threshold capacity.

Over the next few years, they aggressively work on increasing their personal capacity and as they learn more about themselves and also about the world around them, they realize that to guarantee their success, they need to increase their threshold of capacity” to an even higher level. The gap between their “personal capacity” and the “capacity threshold” further increases.

The quest to “get ready” continues.

While their capacity expansion continues, they have ensured that they are “safe” – meaning the stakes were “low” for them to take any action. There is really nothing they would have “lost” (at least in the short-term) by NOT taking any action. They were doing well in their current jobs or in whatever they are doing. They were “above average” from the society standards and they needed a really good reason or two to do anything different. The stakes were low to make a significant change.

But they do want to change. Yes, as soon as their personal capacity matches the “capacity threshold” that they have identified to take the plunge.

Unfortunately their own “smartness” contributes to the continuous expansion of the “capacity threshold” before they take the next plunge.

REQUEST: If you know of someone super smart in your life that is on the fence, please send them a link to this article. Or, if you know many smart people, simply share the article via one of the social networks. Just increasing the awareness helps people to get out of their “stuck” state.

==========================

===

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AMAZING WATER FALLS !!! *

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:56:00 +0000

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Gone Nuts !!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:03:00 +0000

Jim and Edna are both mental patients. One day Jim jumps into the swimming pool but, doesn't come up for air. Quick as a flash, Edna sees her friend in trouble, so dives in and pulls him out.
Later, the hospital director calls Edna into his office and sayes, "Edna, Ive got some good news and some bad news. The good news is, we are releasing you as you are obviously sane, saving anothers life. But unfortunately, the bad news is that Jim hanged himself in the bathroom ..."
"Oh no," Edna replies, "That's where I put him to dry!"

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Just a Second !!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:00:00 +0000

A man is talking to God.
The man: "God, how long is a million years?"
God: "To me, it's about a second."
The man: "God, how much is a million dollars?"
God: "To me it's a penny."
The man: "God, may I have a penny?"
God: "Wait a second."

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Short Jokes - Laugh Till You Drop !!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:27:00 +0000

Man: I could go to the end of the world for you.
Woman: Yes, but would you stay there?
Man: I offer you myself.
Woman: I am sorry I never accept cheap gifts.
Man: I want to share everything with you.
Woman: Let's start from your bank account.
A man receives a phone call from his doctor.
The doctor says, "I have some good news and some bad news."
The man says, "OK, give me the good news first."
The doctor says, "The good news is, you have 24 hours to live."
The man replies, "Oh no! If that's the good news, then what's the bad news?"
The doctor says, "The bad news is, I forgot to call you yesterday."
If big elephants have big trunks, do small elephants have suitcases?
Teacher: Did you father help you with your homework?
Student: No, he did it all by himself.
A: Just look at that young person with the short hair and blue jeans. Is it a boy or a girl?
B: It's a girl. She's my daughter.
A: Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know that you were her father.
B: I'm not. I'm her mother.
Son: Dad, what is an idiot?
Dad: An idiot is a person who tries to explain his ideas in such a strange and long way that another person who is listening to him can't understand him. Do you understand me?
Son: No.
Two goldfish in a bowl talking:
Goldfish 1: Do you believe in God?
Goldfish 2: Of course, I do! Who do you think changes the water?
A: Hey, man! Please call me a taxi.
B: Yes, sir. You are a taxi.
Headmaster: I've had complaints about you, Johnny, from all your teachers. What have you been doing?
Johnny: Nothing, sir.
Headmaster: Exactly.
Mother: "Did you enjoy your first day at school?"
Girl: "First day? Do you mean I have to go back tomorrow?
Patient: Doctor! You've got to help me! Nobody ever listens to me. No one ever pays any attention to what I have to say.
Doctor: Next please!
My friend said he knew a man with a wooden leg named Smith.
So I asked him "What was the name of his other leg?"
A family of mice were surprised by a big cat. Father Mouse jumped and said, "Bow-wow!" The cat ran away. "What was that, Father?" asked Baby Mouse. "Well, son, that's why it's important to learn a second language."
Girl: You would be a good dancer except for two things.
Boy: What are the two things?
Girl: Your feet.
A: I have the perfect son.
B: Does he smoke?
A: No, he doesn't.
B: Does he drink whiskey?
A: No, he doesn't.
B: Does he ever come home late?
A: No, he doesn't.
B: I guess you really do have the perfect son. How old is he?
A: He will be six months old next Wednesday.
A person who speaks two languages is bilingual...A person who speaks three languages is trilingual...A person who speaks four or more languages is multilingual.
What is a person who speaks one language?
Why do we park our car in the driveway and drive our car on the parkway?
Mary: John says I'm pretty. Andy says I'm ugly. What do you think, Peter?
Peter: I think you're pretty ugly.
Said to a railroad engineer:
What's the use of having a train schedule if the trains are always late.
The reply from the railroad engineer:
How would we know they were late, if we didn't have a schedule?
Patient: Doctor, I think that I've bitten by a vampire.
Doctor: Drink this glass of water.
Patient: Will it make me better?
Doctor: No, I but I'll be able to see if your neck leaks.
A: Why are all those people running?
B: They are running a race to get a cup.
A: Who will get the cup?
B: The person who wins.
A: Then why are all the others running?
Teacher: Do you have trouble making decisions?
Student: Well...yes and no.
"I was born in California."
"Which part?"
"All of me."
Customer in a restaurant: I would like to have a plate of rice and a piece of fried chicken and a cup of coffee
Waitress : Is it enough Sir?
Customer : What? Do you think I can't buy more?
Teacher: Why are you late?
Student: There was a man who lost a hundred dollar bill.
Teacher: That's nice. Were you helping him look for it?
Student: No. I was standing on it
Little Johnny: Teacher, can I go to the bathroom?
Teacher: Little Johnny, MAY I go to the bathroom?
Little Johnny: But I asked first!
When I want to teach the colors, I just ask my students to pretend the phone is ringing and they will answer:
Phone rings: "Green, green!"
They answer: "Yellow?"
They ask: "White?"
They hang up: "Pink!"
While teaching this use your hands pretending you are holding the phone.
A teacher asked a student to write 55.
Student asked: How?
Teacher: Write 5 and beside it another 5!
The student wrote 5 and stopped.
teacher: What are you waiting for?
student: I don't know which side to write the other 5!
A teenage girl had been talking on the phone for about half an hour, and then she hung up.
"Wow!," said her father, "That was short. You usually talk for two hours. What happened?"
"Wrong number," replied the girl.

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Famous Buildings Miniatures

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:41:00 +0000

Famous Buildings Miniatures

__,_._,___

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Friends Find Their Way !!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 05:24:00 +0000

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911 emegency joke

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 05:23:00 +0000

A mother calls 911 very worried asking the dispatcher if she needs to take her kid to the emergency room, the kid had eaten ants.

The dispatcher tells her to give the kid some Benadryl and he should be fine, the mother says, ‘I just gave him some ant killer……’

Dispatcher: ‘Rush him in to emergency!’

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Suhash Gopoinath - The Youngest Entrepeneur

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:43:00 +0000

SUHAS GOPINATH — ENTREPRENEUR AT 14 !
AT THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, BANGLORE
Suhas was at the gates , on his way to the auditorium to attend the seminar on ‘The Education System in India’ when a security person did not allow him to enter as he was very young and didn’t have an ID. He said to Suhas that it was a seminar, only for CEOs .”I don’t have my ID card but here are the visiting cards of the people I know“, suhas said.
Just a few calls and he was in , not in the audience but on the dais.
SUHAS GOPINATH TILL 14
He was born in Banglore and had a dream of becoming a veterinary doctor. But when his elder brother once showed him the world of internet, his fascination started. He was enthralled by the power of the internet, web, email and all. Within a year, he had taught himself how to create and design a website, HTML, ASP and all other related software that he could lay his hands on. He was a ‘good’ student at academics till then but became an average student when he started exploring his new found world in cyber cafes. And that was when he started COOLHINDUSTAN.COM along with his friends (He abandoned that project when it was hacked and the logo was changed to coolpakistan.com). To start that he needed money but his parents refused to invest . He then wrote to Network Solutions headquartered in California, and they readily agreed and offered him a job and would also have paid for his education in US. But all he said was NO. He wanted to do the stuff for his own company rather than for other’s.
HE WAS 14 WHEN HE MADE THAT CHOICE… perhaps that was when he became an entrepreneur.
AFTER 14
He became the youngest Indian to start a company, when he found GLOBALS INC., at California, in USA (because one has to be 18 yrs to start a business in India), at the age of 14 in 2000. Its an MNC with offices in more than 11 countries that offers quality solutions to web, mobile, multimedia, e-commerce etc. He had even started a branch in Karachi, Pakistan (Initially our government opposed the idea but he convinced them that GLOBALS inc., was an US based firm and not of Indian origin ). The company expanded from 4 people to 400. In 2005, a Houston Investment firm approached him and offered 1 Billion $ for a majority stake. The answer was NO and he said “Why should I sell my baby?”

SUHAS at Present
He is now completing his bachelor’s degree in Information Science in Banglore. And he has already applied for a course in artificial intelligence at Stanford University (and hopes to see his icon Bill Gates).

Once asked to give a message to would-be entrepreneurs, he replied “I don’t think that I am mature enough to advise others, but if you have it in you, go for it. One should also make time to enjoy other things in life. With work, you get too busy to even repent”.

FUNNY FACTS
A few years ago ……
He buys a car but wouldn’t drive because he had no license.
He, as a CEO, successfully accomplishes a deal but wouldn’t sign the contract !!

He even grew his Mustache to camouflage his student looks.

At present, the average age of the employees in his company is around21. The senior most employee is 26 yrs old with the youngest being 12 yrs, (Obviously they will not allow the youngest to do a full time job, abiding by the Child labor Act) who does web designing for them.
Suhas says
“Enterprise is more important than high academic qualifications”

He is not yet 18, but he dreams of becoming the Bill Gates of India.

Suhas (L) is still too young to sign some contracts under Indian law
It's no teenage fantasy for Suhas Gopinath, born and based in the southern city of Bangalore.

Government officials and local media here say he is the world's youngest chief executive officer (CEO) of a software consultancy. His company, Globals Inc, is registered in California's Silicon Valley.

At an age when other teens are whiling away time at bowling alleys or go-karting, Suhas is busy drawing a road map for his fledgling company.

The company's revenue is nothing compared to the Microsoft empire, but given time Suhas is confident of raking in a fortune.

"We are hoping to register a turnover of around $1m in the next five years," says Suhas, who launched Globals Inc with two like-minded friends in 2000.

I have sent [Bill Gates] several e-mails but there has been no response

Suhas Gopinath
The firm helps clients in web design, online shopping, internet security and credit card payments.

It hasn't all been plain sailing though - Suhas found his age was a problem went it prevented him from signing a major contract with a foreign outsourcing firm.

"The Indian arm of US-based Smith & Gale approached my company to outsource 50 of their projects in Singapore and Hong Kong but we lost the opportunity because the law did not allow me to sign the contract," Suhas says.

Local reputation
The entrepreneur also had to register his company, which employs 60 people, in the US because Indian law regards him as a minor.
As well as Bangalore and California, the company has representation in New York, Maryland, Virginia and London.
"My idea is to make it an Indian company when I turn into a 'major'," says Suhas.

The teenager is quickly gaining a strong local reputation.

Suhas hopes to go to Stanford University and meet Bill Gates
The local government allowed him to participate free of charge at the recent Bangalore.IT.Com, described as Asia's largest IT event

Thousands of would-be employees flocked to his stand, many wanting to be part of his venture.
Suhas says he is looking for people in their teens or 20s. Enterprise is more important than high academic qualifications.
"The upper limit is 25 years," says Suhas, which just about allows in the vice-president of operations, Manohar VND, the oldest member of the team.

Mr Manohar says: "I may be older but Suhas is more experienced. He is the boss."
Suhas adds: "I don't treat my colleagues as employees. This is like a family. Everybody likes the friendly environment."
Suhas' ambition as a child was to become a vet, but the internet fired his imagination when he was 14.
Pakistan hacking

After initial resistance, his father, a retired defence scientist, encouraged him by buying him an internet-linked computer.
Suhas calls it the first investment.
"I used to surf and read up a lot on Microsoft and Dell. Bill Gates is my icon," he says.

Suhas' passion drove him to develop his own web page called CoolHindustan.com, aimed at Indians living abroad.
US-based Network Solutions Inc was impressed and certified him as one of the world's youngest web page developers.
Barely two months after the launch the site was hacked into and changed overnight to CoolPakistan.com.

"It was the worst time of my life," says Suhas, who received threatening calls.
Undeterred, Suhas set up his company, which he says will be a platform for youngsters to develop their talent and provide exposure to technology.
The company plans to go into embedded software and network solutions in the coming year.
Suhas has already applied for a course in artificial intelligence at Stanford University, from where he hopes to fulfil his fantasy of meeting Bill Gates.

"All my attempts so far have failed. I have sent him several e-mails but there has been no response."
His colleagues say Suhas is not a guy who gives up.

Indian Prodigy Builds Internet Empire

Suhas Gopinath started a software company at age 14 and has since become one of the most remarkable success stories of the Indian IT boom. Now he's 21 and runs a world-class business with 400 employees.

Kala Gopinath worries about her son, Suhas. He eats too little, sleeps too little; "This can't be healthy," his mom frets. She piles more vegetables and two idlis -- white dumplings made of rice and lentils -- onto the 21-year-old's plate. "Today he lay on the sofa until 4 a.m. working on his laptop. Then at 8:00 he went into the office."

Now it's noon, and Suhas has come home for lunch -- just a five minute walk from the office. "My mother insisted that my workplace be reachable without a car," he laughs.

Gopinath is the CEO and co-founder of Globals Inc. -- an up-and-coming IT company that produces Web sites and software, employs 400 people around the world and has become a national icon. The Limca Book of Records -- the Indian version of the Guinness Book of Records -- lists him as the "World's Youngest Chief Executive." Politicians in his home country celebrate him as the model Indian: Look what our young people can achieve!

"Why should I sell my baby?"

Suhas Gopinath could be chauffeured around in a big car. He could live in a penthouse or buy his parents a villa in a nice neighborhood in the suburbs. But instead, the family lives in a medium-sized house; he drives a small car; he doesn't have a trendy cell phone; and he doesn't wear designer clothes.

In 2005, an investment firm from Houston, Texas offered him $100 million for a majority stake in Globals. He refused, "after several months of discussion, admittedly." The reason for his negative response: "Why should I sell my baby?"

During the mid-1990s, the first Internet cafes began opening up in Bangalore, with one going into operation nextdoor to Gopinath's house. "My brother Shreyas took me there. I was fascinated. The Internet changed my life," he says. He spent every spare minute online.

He taught himself how to build Web sites. "He spent every rupee he had in the Internet Café," says his mother, disapproval still evident in her voice. Gopinath admits, "I had been a good student up until then. After I discovered the Internet, I was an average student." Before finding cyberspace, he had dreams of becoming a veterinarian.

The struggle for "Cool Hindustan"

In 1998, when he was 13, Gopinath launched his first website: www.coolhindustan.com. "I wanted to provide Indians all over the world with a forum to post public events, tips for eating out and everything else they're interested in," he recalls. The Web site became popular -- including with hackers in Pakistan. They attacked "Cool Hindustan" and replaced the Web site's logo with "Cool Pakistan." "That was a terrible experience," Suhas says today. He abandoned the project.

By then, talent scouts in Silicon Valley had already heard of Suhas Gopinath and the company Network Solutions invited the young Indian to its headquarters in San José, California. It was the first time he had ever boarded a plane and the first time he had been outside India's borders. "They offered me a job. They also would have paid for my education in the United States," he says. His answer, though, was no. "Why should I do for another company what I could do for my own?"

That's when he made the choice to become an entrepreneur. He was 14.

It was a decision that faced resistance from many sides. His parents pressured him to finish school and study something practical, and there was the temptation of a secure job. Indian law also proved an obstacle -- you have to be at least 18 years old to start your own company.

A Californian detour

Gopinath wasn't going to wait four years. He cheated: Along with three friends, he registered his company in San José. "Online, of course," he says. He wanted to name the company Global Solutions, but that name was already taken. He opted for Globals.

Today, he still regrets that he wasn't able to start his company in Bangalore. India's most important politicians know the young man. He was even granted a private conversation with President Abdul Kalam. "I told him that the age limit for starting a company has to be removed," Gopinath says. Kalam promised him support, but so far nothing has changed.

The law wasn't the only obstacle, though. Potential customers canceled their orders when they learned their business partner was barely 14. "Many people didn't take me seriously," he remembers. As soon as he began sprouting facial hair, he grew a moustache, though he has, on the advice of friends, since shaved it off.

Ultimately, Gopinath managed to overcome every obstacle. Word gradually spread about his company's abilities and Gopinath hired more and more people and opened up more offices. He became the boss, employer, and chief executive -- all in mid-puberty.

Most of his employees are just as young: The average age is 21 with the oldest being a ripe old 26 and the youngest 12. Gopinath is unable to give the latter a full time job -- that would amount to child labor. "But we gave him a computer with an internet connection," Gopinath says. "Now he works for us sometimes on Web design."

200 Customers the World Over

Meanwhile Globals has amassed 200 customers across the globe and now has offices in 11 countries with some 65 percent of company turnover coming from Europe. The young Indians have become particularly good at identifying unfilled market niches. They developed a software product for schools, for example, allowing teachers to easily enter grades and attendance and enabling parents to check that their children are showing up to class -- a kind of electronic class register. The Indian government was thrilled with the idea and recently contracted Globals to set up the program in 1,000 schools.

Now that he is 21, Gopinath is thinking of transfering the company headquarters to India -- even though some 125 people now work for Globals in San José against only 25 in Bangalore. What would happen to the employees in the United States? "We'll see," Gopinath says. "The new developments are coming mainly from Bangalore."

Going to university on the side

Bangalore would certainly be cheaper. Globals employees there earn between 20,000 and 25,000 rupees a month, the equivalent of between €400 and €500 ($540 and $675) -- a good wage in India, but still a pittance compared to the €1,100 ($1,485) that colleagues in Western offices are earning. "For us, money isn't why we work for Globals," says 22-year-old Gayathri Kumar, who is responsible for finances. "The atmosphere and the fun are much more important to us. There aren't any hierarchies here."

Gopinath's father, M.R. Gopinath, once a scientist at the Defense Ministry, now acknowledges that his son made the right choices during the last seven years. They are proud parents, but they still haven't let him go. "To us, it's important that he gets a degree," the father says. "Education is the most important thing in India."

His son has listened and is now studying engineering in Bangalore on the side. But it's difficult to find the time; he just skipped an exam because of a conference in Germany and the next chance to to take it is one year from now. At university, Suhas listens to lectures and even gives some himself occasionally, to people who are often decades older than he is.

Sometimes, he says, he's sad he didn't have a youth like most of his friends. They went to the movies while he sat in front of his computer and worked. And there's another thing: "It bothers me that even my fellow students call me 'sir,' take pictures of me with their cell phones or ask for autographs."

Gopinath shakes his head. "I never wanted to be a star."

Teenager hopes his firm will become another Microsoft

Bangalore, India
November 10, 2003

Seventeen-year-old Suhas Gopinath, who heads Globals Inc, lost his first big business opportunity with a Singapore-based outsourcing firm because he was too young under Indian law.

"SingT Inc approached my company for outsourcing some 50 of their projects," said Gopinath, dressed in a navy blue blazer and sitting at his company's stall at India's premier IT event in Bangalore.

"But I could not go ahead and sign the contract a couple of months ago as I am not a major yet," he told AFP.
Gopinath said his ambition in life had been to become a veterinarian - until the computer bug bit him at the age of 14.
At that time he developed his own web page called CoolHindustan.com, a portal targeted at Indians living abroad giving news, weather, voicemail and other features.

Seven days after he put up his page on the internet, US-based Network Solutions Inc, a company owned by Nasdaq-listed Verisign which develops internet services, acknowledged his ability and certified him as one of the world's youngest web page developers.

"That was when I decided I should launch a company of my own and presently I have 60 students from all around the world working with me," Gopinath said.

"Network Solutions gave me a sponsored trip to visit their facility in the US (in 2000) and later offered me a job. But I told them that was not possible as I wanted to run my own firm in India," he said.

After that, Gopinath, who spends most of his spare time with his dog named "Bushy", set up Globals Inc with the help of three other colleagues and registered it in the United States.

Now the firm helps their clients in applications such as web designing, storage management, online shopping, internet security and credit card payments.

"I wanted to develop a platform for youngsters to develop their talents and to help them understand and get exposed to technology," said Gopinath, who started out exploring a computer at a cyber cafe in India's technology hub of Bangalore, home to more than 1,000 foreign and domestic technology firms.

"I did not register my company in India as one has to pay taxes and there are other hassles," he said. "The rates we charge are very cheap. If you want to set up your own site we charge only 300 rupees ($A9.23).

"Most of the projects we undertake are small ones which do not require a memorandum of understanding or any legal pacts," he said.

His team members or employees are all under 22 years of age and include Indian and foreign students living in the US, Britain and Canada.

They work through the internet, with specific job functions posted on message boards for each employee.
The firm has a designated chief information officer, chief technology officer, chief operating officer and even a vice-president of human resources.
"The company is not a money-making machine. Only students below 22 can become employees. The aim as of now is to get more and more students to come on board," Gopinath said.
Indian employees of Globals Inc work out of cyber cafes, where they have to pay 15 rupees (50 Australian cents) an hour.
"When I look around I see a lot of guys of my age hanging out with their girlfriends. I do not feel bad as I have a mission to make my company another Microsoft," Gopinath said. "Bill Gates is my role model."

AFP

Biography
Suhas Gopinath was born in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. At the age of 12, he launched a web site called CoolHindustan.com^[1] but when the logo was hacked to display "CoolPakistan", Mr. Gopinath reportedly abandoned it.^[2]

As a teenager, he wanted access to the internet but found the 4 dollars to be too expensive at his local internet cafe. So in exchange for working there when the owner needed a break, he got free time on the internet.Fast-forward six months, and Gopinath had taught himself how to build websites and was pitching cut-price portals to bricks-and-mortar firms in the US.^[3] He set up his own company which he kept a secret from his family who disapproved of entrepenurialism which he ran from the internet cafe. The Company called Globals Inc had to be co-owned by someone he didn't know in the US because he was too young to legally own a company.^[4]^[5] In 2003 Globals Inc. lost a business deal with a Singaporean e-Commerce company reportedly because the then 17-year-old CEO was too young to sign a memorandum of understanding.^[6] As of 2007, Globals have served more than 200 clients worldwide through presence in 11 countries.^[7]

In 2005, Mr Gopinath was the youngest among the 175 recipients of the Karnataka state's Rajyotsava Award.^[8] Mr. Gopinath is also a brand ambassador forPETA.^[9]

On December 2, 2007, The European Parliament and International Association for Human Values conferred a “Young Achiever Award” on Mr. Gopinath at theEuropean Parliament, Brussels. He was invited to address the European Parliament and businessmen assembled in that parliament.^[10]

Mr. Gopinath was announced as a “Young Global Leader” for 2008-2009 by the World Economic Forum, Davos. In that position he would be involved in development programs across the world. He holds a Diploma on Global Leadership and Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School at the Harvard University. He is reported to be the youngest YGL in the World Economic Forum's history. This year's Young Global Leaders includes Suhas Gopinath along with Hollywood ActorLeonardo DiCaprio, Musician A. R. Rahman, American Vice President runner and Louisiana State Governor Bobby Jindal, Hotmail.com Founder Sabeer Bhatia.^[11]

Suhas Gopinath was invited by the World Bank in November 2008 by the World Bank President

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Two Horses - A Must Read!!!

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:26:00 +0000

Two Horses

Author Unknown
Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it.

From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse.

But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing....

Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind.

His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him.


This alone is amazing.

If you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell.
Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field.

Attached to the horse's halter is a small bell.
It lets the blind friend know where the other horse is, so he can follow.

As you stand and watch these two friends,
You'll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse,
And that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk
To where the other horse is,
Trusting that he will not be led astray.

When the horse with the bell returns ! ;
To the shelter of the barn each evening,
It stops occasionally and looks back,
Making sure that the blind friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.

Like the owners of these two horses,
God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect
Or because we have problems or challenges.
He watches over us and even brings others into our lives
To help us when we are in need..

Sometimes we are the blind horse
Being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives.
Other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way....

Good friends are like that...

You may not always see them, but you know they are always there.

Please listen for my bell and I'll listen for yours.

And remember...

Be kinder than necessary-
Everyone you meet is fighting
Some kind of battle.

Live simply,
Love generously,
Care deeply,
Speak kindly...... .

And leave the rest to God!!!

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Principles for Success ( Nice Story )

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:13:00 +0000

Principles for Success

This is the story of Robby.

He was a young boy who lived with his elderly Mother. His mother wanted him to learn how to play the piano because she Longed to hear her son play for her. She sent her son to a piano teacher who Took Robby in under her guidance.

However, there was one small problem Because Robby was not musically inclined and therefore was very slow in Learning.

The teacher did not have much faith in the boy because of his Weakness. The mother was very enthusiastic and every week she would send Robby to the teacher .

One day Robby stopped attending the piano lessons. The teacher thought that He had given up and in fact she was quite pleased since she did not give Much hope to Robby. Not long after, the piano teacher was given the task to Organize a piano concert in town. She sent out circulars to invite the Students and public to attend the event.

Suddenly, she received a call from Robby who offered to take part in the concert. The teacher told Robby that He was not good enough and that he was no longer a student since he had Stopped coming for lessons.

Robby begged her to give him a chance and Promised that he would not let her down.

Finally, she gave in and she put him to play last, hoping that he will Change his mind at the last minute. When the big day came, the hall was Packed and the children gave their best performance. Finally ,

It was Robby's Turn to play and as his name was announced, he walked in. He was not in Proper attire and his hair was not properly groomed.

The teacher was really Nervous since Robby's performance could spoil the whole evening's brilliant Performance.

As Robby started playing the crowd became silent and was amazed At the skill of this little boy. In fact, he gave the best performance of The evening. At the end of his presentation the crowd and the piano teacher Gave him a standing ovation. The crowd asked Robby how he managed to play so Brilliantly.

With a microphone in front of him, he said, "I was not able to Attend the weekly piano lessons as there was no one to send me because my Mother was sick with cancer.

She just passed away this morning and I wanted Her to hear me play. You see, this is the first time she is able to hear me Play because when she was alive she was deaf and now I know she is listening To me. I have to play my best for her!"

*************
SUCCESS PRINCIPLES

This is indeed a touching story of love and excellence. When you have a Passion and a reason to do something, you will surely excel.

You may not be Talented or gifted but if you have a strong enough reason to do something, You will be able to tap into your inner God given potential.

*************
MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE

" Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start Believing in it."

*************

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By Prashannth.V (The Author)

Perceptions....nice read

noreply@blogger.com (V.Prashannth-The Avatar) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:57:00 +0000

Someone rightly said.................. Give me some sunshine..Give me
some rain..Giv me another chance, I wanna growup once agn........

PERCEPTION :
. . .Something To Think About. .. .

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in
2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces
for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand
people went through the station, most of them on
their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed
there was a musician playing. He slowed his
pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his
schedule.
4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the
money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then
looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along
hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again,
but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk,
turning his head all the time. This action was
repeated by several other children. Every parent, without
exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and
listened for a short while.
About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.
The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No
one applauded, nor was there any recognition. .
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell , one of
the greatest musicians in the world.
He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a
violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston
where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the
metro station was organized by the Washington Post
as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and
people's priorities .
The questions raised:
* In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour,
do we perceive beauty?
* Do we stop to appreciate it?
* Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be
this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the
best musicians in the world,
playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the
most beautiful instruments ever made.
How many other things are we missing?
Do we really extend a helping hand to our friends in their hour
of need?
Are we in a great hurry, driven by self interests only?
Do friendships mean something or are just the lines in the
sand ... time erases eventually ..
Something to think about ....

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By Prashannth.V (The Author)

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