Dr.M.S.SUBBULAKSHMI

The voice of Smt.M.S.Subbulakshmi is very unique and I have not heard a similar voice so far.  She has an excellent voice and extraordinary musical skill.  It is God's Gift which is bestowed upon her and she continues to be the most respected femal classical Singer.  Every young singer starts with listening to the songs rendered by Smt.MS.  Every music lover listens to the songs of Smt.MS.  Vishnu Sahasranamam rendered by MS is the most popular among south Indian households.

I was born and brought up in Triplicane in Chennai and we stayed very close to the Shri Parthasarathy Temple.  Everyday in the morning they used to play songs sung by Smt.MS.  I have grown up listening to Bhaja Govindam, Venkatesa Suprapadam, Vishnu Sahasranamam and other songs of Smt.MS.

I recently heard in one TV Program that MS had the habit of noting down all the names of the accompanying musicians after every programme.  It is a very unique and great quality and she has followed it right through her life.



She has acted in several tamil films in the early days.  She has travelled extensively and performed in concerts in several parts of India and all over the world.  Though she expired in 2004, she continues to live through her songs.  Her songs will be heard and revered for several more centuries by music lovers. 

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
28th May 2012

KICKSTARTER

Charles Adler, Perry Chen and Yancey Strickler are the three founders of Kickstarter.  It is a website where ordinary people are able to financially fund creative projects.  This website has raised more than USD 200 Million for thousands of innovative projects.  Kickstarter helps innovation to grow into commercial reality.

A classic and recent example is "Pebble Watch" which has been developed by Eric Migicovsky.  This is a wrist watch which can communicate with iPhone.  Nearly 69,000 people have pledged close to USD 10 Million when there was still a two week window open for the fundraising through Kickstarter.  For successful projects Kickstarter gets a 5% commission on the final amount raised.



Kickstarter helps innovators to raise funds for their project as low as USD 5,000.  This is the largest funding platform for creative projects.  Small innovators who want to turn their dreams into reality can seek help from Kickstarter as they will not have any access to the Venture Capital Funds.

It is truly amazing as to how an innovative idea like "Kickstarter" is helping innovators.  There is immense potential to grow in business with innovative and fresh ideas.  As in this case the innovative idea is to help innovators realise thier dream.  In the process the three founders of Kickstarter have made a successful business case and made money while on the way they have also helped several thousand people to make money and to realise their dreams.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
21st May 2012

POTTERY

I read recently in the Newspaper that Pottery can be therapeutic for people with Depression and Bipolar Disorder.  Watching the clay take shape is visually appealing as well as therapeutic.  Experts say Pottery has several benefits.  You can create several beautiful and useful objects from the very elements of Earth.  It is a wonderful feeling to create something with your own hands.  Once you learn the art it is also very exciting to see the endless ways of creating new designs and shapes with your own hands.  Once the clay pot is heated well in a furnace or kiln it gets finished into ceramic.  There are infinite designs and embellishments that can be applied into the ceramic after firing and during the glazing.  The shapes, designs, embellishments and colouring options that are created during the pottery makes it engaging and immersive.

When you sit on the Potter's Wheel and the clay spins and begins to form, your mind and body are synergised.  It provides a non-threatening environment in which people with mental or physical issues will feel calmer and less anxious.  Those seeking physical therapy too benefit from the enhanced motor skills, hand-eye coordination along with mental concentration.  You have to exhibit patience and you will rewarded with a great sense of satisfaction.  Engaging in Pottery or even just watching some one at Potter's Wheel is a very calming experience. 

Pottery will teach patience as if one rushes with the clay then it will form into the right shape that is desired.  Pottery kindles the imagination and creativity in every one of us.  It teaches you how to turn failure into success. 



I am not very artistic but after reading the newspaper article and various other material on Pottery I have now formed an interest to learn this art.  It could be a nice way to pass time and also help in relieving the mind which is very stressful at times.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
15th May 2012

INVERTED HOUSE

Polish architects Irek Glowacki and Marek Rozhanski have built an upside-down house in Western Austria. Not only does the place look inverted from the outside—let's face it, that's nothing new—but all the contents (furnishings, lamps, rugs, accessories, rugs, kids' toys) are arranged in reverse. The floor's on the ceiling, the ceiling's on the floor, and so on. Obviously nobody actually lives in it—the architectural marvel was designed as a tourist attraction and is drawing lot of crowd.

When I first saw the picture of the house I thought only the facade is made to look inverted but it is actually an inverted house from outside as well as from inside.  What an idea!



I have heard of lateral thinking, out of the box thinking, innovative thinking and this is the first time I have come to know of "Inverted Thinking".

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
14th May 2012

FOND MEMORIES

I got a message from Sam today morning informing the NCR Group (we have a group called NCR Group wherein many of those who did Articleship for Chartered Accountancy in N.C.Rajagopal & Co., Chennai during the early 80s are members) that today is the wedding anniversary of one of our senior colleague Anil Kumar Reddy.

Within minutes I traced the mobile number of Anil Kumar Reddy and called him to wish him on the 25th Wedding Anniversay.  I had spoken to him four years back when I was in Chennai and luckily had his mobile number written down in my old telephone index.  It was really a pleasant moment to get in touch with some one after a long gap that too on an auspicious day.

Anil Kumar Reddy is a business owner and has been running a packaging industry in Chennai for the last three decades.  A very successful business man and thanks to Google I came to know today that he is a recipient of 
"SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD" for his outstanding contribution to the development of Corrugated Packaging Industry and he received the award from Sri Kiran Kumar Reddy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh during the Inaugural Function of 39th Federation of Corrugated Box Manufacturers Conference at Hyderabad on 10.12.2010.  He is looking exactly the same after 25 years.

 
I attended the wedding of Anil Kumar Reddy in 1987 and today morning Sam's message took me through a blissful journey down the memory lane 25 years backwards.  I was appearing for Chartered Accountancy Final Exams in May 1987 and had exemption in one paper and utilised that opportunity to travel to Tirupathi to attend the wedding which was on Sunday 10th May 1987.

The wedding was a very grand celebration for three days in Tirupathi.  The Marriage Hall was newly built on Tirupathi - Tiruchanur Road and was full or people.  

On the way back in the bus I discussed about a Software Company proposal with my friends Vasu and Venkatadri and our Partnership Firm "User Friendly Systems" was born on the way back from Tirupathi to Chennai.

I came back to Chennai and wrote the last exam "Cost Systems and Cost Control" and completed my Chartered Accountancy in May 1987.

It is always very pleasant to go through fond memories of the past.  It is very good to go down the memory lane once in a while.  Thanks Sam for giving me this wonderful experience this morning.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
10th May 2012

WIIFM

Wi-Fi is a popular technology that allows exchange of data wirelessly over a computer network.  We all are very familiar with Wi-Fi.  FM radio is also very famous and familiar particularly to those who are driving every day to work from home and spend a couple of hours on the road behind the wheels.  WIIFM is neither Wi-Fi nor FM radio but it is "What's In It For Me"

WIIFM is a very famous acronym that is widely used in the modern world, particularly the business world.  The modern world has become a highly commercial, materisalistic place.  People are very keen to know "what's in it for me" first before they react to any issue or situation or statement.

A couple of decades ago we have done so many things in life without asking this question WIIFM.  We have either done it because we were told by our parents or teachers or elders or friends or relatives.  We have also done several actions in those days without thinking either about our own self or the benefits we will get out of such actions.  I would not say that we sacrificed our lives or major part of our time but we had the willingness to do things without thinking about the outcome from a selfish outlook.

The modern era is full of selfish people who are so self centered that nothing moves without the person being made to clearly understand what's in it for him.  It is a radical change which has come about seemlessly into the society over the last couple of decades and is now all pervading and prevelant.

We need to ask ourselves whether this attitude of looking for WIIFM in everything is good or bad.  We also need to be clear if this is what we want to teach the younger/future generation.

There are less and less service minded people in the society that we live in.  There are less and less people around us who have the empathy for others.  We are surrounded by more and more of people who are selfish and extremely self-centered.

I feel life was less stressful and less complicated in the olden days as there was lot of communal harmony.  I wish that style of living comes back soon in the near future.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
7th May 2012

SHANKARABARANAM

Shankarabaranam is a telugu movie which was originally released in 1980.  It became an instant hit and the songs were played in every function, every street corner and every radio station.  Every household in South India bought the audio cassette.  Shri.K.V.Mahadevan composed the music for this film and the songs were very nicely rendered by legendary singers S.P.Balasubramaniam, S.Janki and Vani Jeyaram.  This film won four National Awards and several other awards.

Shri.Somayajulu and Manju Bhargavi were the lead pair in this movie and all the actors and actresses were very natural and did a fantastic job in this film.  It portrayed a very unique relationship between an old Classical Carnatic Singer and a young Dancer.

Shri.K.Viswanath is a great director and has directed several classical films.  Shankarabaranam in my opinion, will remain the best picture of K.Viswanath.  He is ably supported by Balu Mahendra who has done the Cinematography for this film.

There are ten songs in the film and all of them very pleasing and wonderful songs to hear.  These songs transcend your mind into a blissful world with total peace.


I have seen this film several times over the last three decades and each time I watch this film I get to understand a new dimension either in the screenplay or music or direction or depiction of the character.  This can be rated as one of the best films to be made in South India and worth having this DVD in every household.

.

While it is good to watch entertaining films with duets and comedy, films like Shankarabaram gives us far greater satisfaction.  I wish there are such films being made at regular intervals.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
3rd May 2012

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Over the last few decades the movement of people from one region to the other or one country to other has become very common.  We are born and brought up in one society but we end up living in a different society in a different country.  We are now faced with a multicultural city where we live with people from different cultural backgrounds.  In a multicultural society we experience a variety of emotional expressiveness.  Emotions are universal phenomena but the way they are expressed and experienced leads to varied reactions.  In view of this the Emotional Intelligence (EI also known as EQ) has become as important and as critical as the Intelligence Quotient (IQ). 

EI/EQ helps us to adapt and handle different situations with ease.  EI is the ability that we develop to be aware of the feelings and emotions of others as compared to our own feeling and emotions, in order to make informed decisions by using this awareness.  A higher level of IQ would mean the person is "intelligent and smart" and a higher level of EI would mean that the person is "Heart Smart".  If an academically brilliant person is socially inept and unsuccessful then it is because of the absence of Emotional Intelligence.

Our day to day life spins around people management and hence EI has gained far greater significance and importance in the recent times.  Today in order to succeed in the multicultural society EI matters more than IQ.  EI helps you to assess your own emotions and feelings and further drives the handling of emotions and feelings of others.  EI helps you to influence the people around you.  The issues that are regularly faced by people primarily revolve around Team Work, Conflict Management and Adaptability.  These regular issues can be well handled with Emotional Intelligence.

IQ can be improved but the basic level of intelligence is genetic whereas EI/EQ can be learnt and developed through regular training programmes.  In our day to day life based on the situations faced and the reactions encountered we can improve our Emotional Intelligence.  EI helps both in personal and professional life as today is the most important quality for Success.

May 1st is celebrated as "International Workers Day" and on this wonderful day I have realised that EI/EQ is the key to success.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E
1st May 2012