SERENDIPITY

Serendipity is a word which was found to be one of ten most difficult words to translate.  Serendipity means pleasant surprise.  It is something nice that you stumble upon by chance in an unexpected manner.  The word has come from Srilanka and I heard the word first time in 1994 in Bangalore when I attended a Corporate Training Programme.

Srilanka was known as "Serendip" in the olden days and thus the word "Serendipity" came into usage.  The South Indian Kings who stumbled upon this island near India called it as "Cheran Dheep".  Cheran is the name of the King in South India and Dheep means island.

In the modern business a strategy that leads to unexpected windfall due to certain unanticipated advantages or benefits is called Serendipitous Value.  The synergy in a Merger or Acquisition of a business can lead to some unexpected windfall and such pleasant surprise is called "Serendipity".

Instead of waiting for a pleasant surprise or accident leading to benefits, it is better to consciously work in the mind with a positive attitude so that you can come up with a new idea.  "Serendipity" can be practiced in stages to achieve the desired results.

If you are trying to find a solution to a problem then you need to first fill your mind with all the necessary inputs, knowledge and information.  These inputs are essential to start the ideation process.  During the ideation process your subconscious mind will try to work on different options.  Serendipity strikes in the form of a random external stimuli that you can use to solve the puzzle in your mind.  The Serendipitous Stimuli when added to the information and knowledge already fed into your mind helps you to come up with a new valuable Idea or a Solution.

Instead of finding something good without looking for it as an accidental benefit, it is better to consciously work towards finding a good solution to a problem.  It calls for very high degree of determination, positive attitude as by law of attraction you will always stumble upon good things as subconsciously you are looking for a pleasant outcome.

It is better to be at the right place at the right time with the right inputs so that you will find the right solution or Idea.  Thus it is possible to achieve desired positive results and new ideas through conscious efforts. Serendipity is actually a positive energy and thought process which is constantly working in the mind leading to the desired result.  The movie "Serendipity" which was a big box office hit in 2001 depicts this in a beautiful way.  Watch the trailer of the film:



 Serendipity is not an accident.  It is an art of making happy discoveries.

Let us all practice "Serendipity" in day to day life and achieve positive results on each and every endeavour.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
30th September 2013.

GOLD MINING

I was very fond of gold and used to wear lot of gold ornaments.  I gave up wearing these gold ornaments a few years ago.  Gold is a very precious metal and is always in the news as there are several millions who are interested in buying Gold both as jewellery for use by the men and women in the family as well as an investment.  I have been very fascinated by this yellow metal and thought I should explore a bit into the mining of Gold.

Gold Mining is a very long and hard process which is being practiced for over 7000 years in our planet earth.  In several parts of the world the gold ores is available deep inside the ground and people have to dig deep and bring the gold ores out.  It is basically a process of extracting the gold from the ground.  Gold Mining is always preceded by Gold Prospecting which is searching for the gold deposits.  Once the Gold Prospecting is done to look for the Gold Deposits and if the Gold Deposits in a particular place is confirmed by the Geologists and Experts then the Gold Mining will start at that site.

There are different methods like Panning, Sluicing, Dredging, etc. for the Mining Process.  The Gold Mining was done by people as part of their Treasure Hunt and slowly with the improvements in civilization the Gold Mining in various parts of the world was kept under the Government Control.  There are several Corporations which are involved in the Gold Mining business with the permission of the respective local Governments.

India is very famous for Gold as she is the largest consumer of Gold in the whole world.  In the 2nd Century AD people started digging small pits to extract gold in Kolar in India (Kolar is a very small town near Bangalore). According to some rough estimates more than 1000 tonnes of Gold has been extracted in Kolar Gold Fields.

When Gold is found in any region in the past there has been a Gold Rush.  As a small boy I have seen Meckenna's Gold and can never forget the two characters Gregory Peck and Omar Sheriff.

Gold is being extracted from the ground in several parts of the world including United States of America, Canada, Australia, Africa and China. Nevada in USA is said to be one of the primary gold producing regions in the world.

Being a finance professional I look through the annual reports of various companies around the world and one of the mining companies in Utah, USA has reported Gold Deposit in an area which is measured at 15.6 million tonnes of which 11.4 million tonnes is waste rock.  Mineralized material is indicated at 3.94 million tonees and the quantity inferred is only 0.26 million tonnes.   The Cost of Mining the Gold is going up steeply and at one stage some of the companies have faced operating loss as the Cost of Mining the Gold was higher than the price it fetched in the market.

According to an article published by the World Watch Institute, four southern states in India have together bought a whopping 70,000 kilograms of gold jewellery for Akshaya Thrithiya (a day which is believed to bring fortunes and well being to the family by purchase of the yellow metal).  In my opinion there will be atleast one kilogram of gold in every Middle Class family in South India.

Gold Mining has lot of negative effects on the environment and human life in general which is very important to note.  725 Million tonnes of waste is produced in order to get 2500 tonnes of Gold and the enormous amount of waste is contaminating the water and causing lot of environmental problems to our planet earth.  Mercury and Cyanide are some of the dangerous toxic chemicals that are being used in large quantities for Gold Mining.  Gold Mining has also led to the destruction and eradication of several species of birds and animals over the last several decades.

Gold Mining will continue as the craze of Gold Jewellery keeps increasing all over the world.  The yellow metal is also used in some industrial applications and hence that adds up to the requirement of Gold.  I sincerely hope they devise new and better methods of Mining the Gold without causing much damage to the Environment.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
4th September 2013

INDIAN IDOL JUNIOR ANJANA

Anjana Padmanabhan is the first "Indian Idol Junior" title winner.  What an achievement by this little wonder kid.  I am a big fan of Anjana as she has participated before in the Airtel Super Singer Junior 3 in 2012.

She is a very natural singer and sings with so much ease that I keep wondering if at that age someone can sing like that.  At this tender age she remembers the lyrics of so many songs and has grasped the nuances of each of those songs.  It is really an amazing talent and definitely God's Gift.

Anjana has achieved a great feat and is also blessed to get the coveted title "Indian Idol Junior" from none other than the great legendary Action Hero of all time "Amitabh Bachan".

Her singing in Airtel Super Singer Junior 3 was exceptionally good though she did not win the title.  But this achievement of becoming the first title winner of Indian Idol Junior by singing Hindi songs is really incredible as Hindi is not her mother-tongue.  She has learnt the language over the last few months after being selected for the Indian Idol Junior competition.

See the ease and comfort in her singing:


The realty shows in India is really bringing out the best of the talent from different parts of the country.  Thanks to all the realty shows, we are able to unearth and highlight talented youngsters.

Watch this song in tamil which Anjana sang last year in Airtel Super Singer Junior 3.  It is not an easy song to sing but she sings with so much ease in an effortless manner:



If you close your eyes you will think you are listening to a 20 year old but when you open your eyes you see a tiny little girl who is just 10 years old.  Anjana Padmanabhan will surely become a legendary singer over the next few decades.

Listen to the below video with your eyes closed and you will feel exactly what I have narrated above:




Anjana's parents will be very proud of her achievement and both the parents have always been very supporting to this little wonder of India.  Anjana will now become a role model for several thousands of children in India.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
2nd September 2013