The "Master Keys" !!

Here I am, writing again, came back sooner than I expected.

Based on whatever little I have read & experienced, I would like to jot down 7 points that, in my opinion, are key to happiness. I call them the "master keys" -

• Be positive and optimistic. It is quite easy to blame anything & everything. Instead, look for positives in everything and you shall be happier.
• Work like there is no tomorrow. Take every assignment as a challenge. It is easy to say that your job is monotonous & boring but say that only after you have mastered every aspect of what you do and there is no one better than you out there. Someone rightly said "Attitude is a small thing that makes a big difference".
• Play harder. Take time out whenver you can. Have tons of fun and your definition of fun can be anything - going out for a movie, going out to shop, trekking, swimming, reading books, playing cricket, dancing, hanging out with friends .. anything! Make sure you plan a vacation with your family/friends at least once every six months. Don't ever miss out on fun!
• Exercise regularly. It is very important especially these days when stress levels are high and we hardly get any physical activity. You will feel fitter, stronger, healthier and energetic. You could hit a gym or play tennis every morning or go for a swim on evenings .. choose whatever suits you but please be regular! Apart from physical activity, I'd also recommend mental exercise .. the easiest would be to grab the morning newspaper and spend 10 minutes with a sudoko or a kakuro puzzle .. with time you will be good at it and you will feel good!
• Read good stuff. Rightly said, knowledge is power. Read whatever interests you .. it could be technical literature or autobiographies of great personalities or religious books or some international bestsellers. Remember, knowledge is a treasure that nobody can steal!
• Listen to music. As they say, it is food for the soul. And listen to whatever interests you .. ghazals, sufi, soft rock, hip-hop, latest bollywood offerings or even the golden oldies from Rafi, Kishore, Mukesh or Lata.
• Try to be good to others. Help the needy whenever you can, be polite to others and always smile :-)

The irony of this blog is that I personally don't follow all of this .. but as I am getting older I do sincerely plan to follow all of this and more ...

:PM

My "First blog"!

This is my first blog and I promise to keep it short (and for me promises are not meant to be broken!!)

I will start with an observation of mine that Internet is back bigtime. After the painful dotcom bust, there was a lull for quite a few years. Someone has rightly said "Everything has a cycle". And expectedly last couple of years, we have witnessed a lot of action and as a result, a lot of innovative and exciting ideas in the internet and the related technologies - Open source, Wikipedia, AdSense/AdWords, Blogging, Internet telephony (Skype/Gtalk), Internet Video (YouTube/Google video), Orkut, Google Earth .. to name a few!

Google has definitely been one of the major (innovative yet profitable) players on the internet and, in my opinion, has reinforced the fact that if you have a cool product or a service, you can make a difference. The company must be an inspiration for many a folks who do want to make a difference through their own cool ideas. And in my humble opinion, a "cool" offering is the one that has:

• simplicity - is simple & intutive yet effective and hence attracts new users easily
• speed - is faster than the existing applications .. because most of us are short on time & patience
• speciality - is unique in someway and has something that others do not offer

There are a plenty of areas yet to be explored and there is a huge opportunity for people who wish to make an impact. All that is required (I am sure everyone knows it already) is to have an "idea" and then implement that keeping the 3Ss (mentioned above) in mind.

Internet blogs are one of many "cool" concepts to have captured the attention of worldwide users .. and I too decided to get hooked !! My agenda is simple - to publish my thoughts on various topics and once in a while share stuff that will be useful (hopefully) for at least someone out there!

I will park my pen here .. and hopefully come back with something interesting ...

:PM