Let us talk about something which very few people want to talk about. There are some who are even scared of talking about it. For others, it is simply a taboo subject to talk about. What can that possibly be? It isn't illegal to talk about it. It isn't surprising if someone does talk about it either with him or herself or a trusted friend or relative. Yes, what can this possibly be? The reality is that we hesitate to talk about our identity on a daily basis. I'm not talking about your financial identity that you can open up to possible identity theft so someone can steal your credit history. No, not that at all. It is the identity by which you -- and only you -- know yourself. It is the identity that others sometimes mistake for something or someone you may or may not be.
You see, there are so many children of immigrants in the US and perhaps other places as well who live with what is known as a hyphenated identity. You nearly have to grow up with that class of individuals to really understand where they come from and how they think. Only then will you fully realize their intrinsic and extrinsic selves and how they add up. Personally, for instance, my family is from India while I was born and raised in the US. So what? Why does this matter? Yes, why does it matter that a person who was born in the US is condescendingly told by some unknown person driving down a street just after 9/11 to "Go home!" just on the basis of my appearance?
Likewise, why does it matter that in India, people here have various acronyms to describe how "Indian" someone is? The acronyms are: NRI for Non-Resident Indian; PIO for Person of Indian Origin; and even RNI for Returning Non-Indian. NRI and PIO are ok...after all, you are still somewhat acknowledged as an "Indian". But this is self-serving because the second you come back to India to actually live in India, you are no longer an Indian in the true sense of the word. This suddenly means that if you achieve any kind of status in India after spending a significant amount of time (I would put this "amount of time" to at least 5-7 years) outside of India -- unless you only went abroad from India as a student, you have no right to be considered Indian. This also means that while you are in the US, you are considered an "Indian-American" but once you return to India, you are thought of someone who shouldn't even be here. This essentially means that you have no place in either country -- although once you return to the United States, you will likely be welcomed with open arms by your friends -- likely because there is a greater variety of cultures in the US than in India despite India's huge population explosion.
For those who are brought up with a hyphenated identity, this presents a few issues. For example, if you are brought up in the US (or any other host country -- i.e. if you're in UK, you would be thought of British-Indian, and so on), you are thought of as American. But then, you are also thought to be a reflection of the culture of your parents and ancestors. I once had a friend in high school who came up to me one day and asked me if I was in all AP classes (college-level classes) because I am Indian and happened to be wearing glasses. Despite most presumptions in people I've interacted with and places I've been in the US, I've found that there are very few people willing to accept you for who you really are. Then, on coming to India, I find this ridiculous nonsense of RNI. I don't plan on moving to India, but I find that people here like to tell everyone else what to do, but don't like everyone else to tell them what to do.
People enjoy complaining, but don't like to actually do anything about it. Everyone will tell you to "leave it to the government." But seriously, how much do you really expect the government to do? If you see trash on the street, then first stop putting it there to begin with. Then make sure that some organization starts putting trash bins on the street -- or rather than trying to make sure that some organization does it -- START the organization that does it. The government can be expected to do something like this, but it isn't an action that explicitly requires the government. What would require government intervention is actually constructing gutters that stem flooding, especially during monsoons.
But I digress..well, sort of. I see that people here want change. But when someone from "outside" comes and starts to try and implement the change, citizens protest on the grounds that the implementer is an outsider and doesn't understand the locals. That position may have some merit to it, but one can't keep making excuses either. If you feel that an "outsider" doesn't understand you, then start a conversation with that person -- not a fight. And what is it about us that when it comes to "outsiders" who happen to be Indian, that locals have higher standards of "Indian outsiders" than "outsiders" of other cultures? One guy once came over to me for directions. The address was written in Gujarati, so I asked him to read the address aloud to me. He insisted that the address is written on the paper. I then ended up having to tell him in Gujarati, which I can speak, that I am from the US so I can't read or write in Gujarati. His arrogant response was that "I thought I was asking another Gujarati" and angrily walked off. Wow. Never mind that there are plenty of citizens who live in Gujarat itself who cannot read or write in any language despite being able to speak at least one. So people on the "inside" want the change, but no one is willing to do it. So people on the "outside" want the same changes as people on the "inside" but the second the people on the "outside" start even trying to implement those changes, the people on the "inside" protest and do everything they can to stop it -- and then continue the cycle of complaining and doing nothing about it. Go figure. Am I missing something?
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Change
Recent experience shows that it is better to lead individually than to lead a group. Even if you lead a group, in the end, you must lead individually. If you do otherwise, you will be in for a harsh surprise. The point is that in order to make a difference and move forward, you must do it at the individual level. If there is even another person present with the person you are trying to lead, then that variable may help or hurt. But if the other person is an important part of someone's life, you must always include that other person whenever it is practical to do so. In teaching, it means including a student's friend(s). In running a business, it means having a balance between work and family life. No one is a machine, and it is difficult to get anything done if everyone is thought of as a machine. It is worth adding that if there is no other person in an individual's life to influence that person, that could be good or bad. It can be good because then you can develop a more concrete friendship with that person. It can be bad because no one is perfect. And the fact that there is no one else in the person's life may mean that this person will start looking to you alone for every decision in his/her life for fear of making the wrong decision -- and this mentality will impair the person's ability to think for him/herself. Think about that very carefully. The day that everyone is thought of as a number will be the day that the group stutters and fails -- even if only for a brief amount of time. In every disciple, there must be discipline. But in order for there to be discipline, we must be willing to allow disciples to discipline their teachers. Confused? Good. The only way to proceed in our separate lives is for each and everyone of us to be open to change. We may not welcome every change all the time, but we must always be open to testing out each facet of it. Some changes will pleasantly surprise us while other changes will not bode well for us but still we must remain open to it. Every change is a risk we may have to take. I may be in a place where elders cannot be challenged but I must be willing to do exactly that. People here will not like it at all but if I don't do it, who will? Even if I do it, the change I wish to see will not propagate itself on a large scale, but so what? Someone has to start.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Monday, June 16, 2008
Challenge of Incision
Incisively and briskly, we take a risk. We risk because we must for without risk you cannot live. Take a risk and you will move forward. Don't take a risk and it means you are not alive as being resistant to change is the most poisonous way of life. Rather, you must be an agent of change, and in order to be an agent of change, you must be willing to take a risk. For who has perpetuated any change without first taking a risk and posing a challenge to the self and society?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Inspire to Perspire. Perspire to Aspire.
Yesterday, I went to a lecture given by Columbia University business professor William Duggan. I did not have my computer or any paper to take notes on, so what follows is only what I remember of what he said. Because everything is straight from my memory, what follows may not necessarily be in the order he said it in while speaking to us.
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Strategic Intuition by William Duggan
“Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.” – Thomas Edison
Duggan doesn’t like the term “genius”; prefers achievement or anything else. In other words, getting anything at all done requires 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.
Focus is on the 1% inspiration. Perspiration is the result of an idea. Inspiration is what sparks the idea.
Research says that most people become inspired to do something or get an idea while they are in the shower.
Latin meaning of “inspire” means to breathe in. Every idea we have must come from somewhere else in order for “inspiration” to be successful.
Without inspiration, perspiration is a waste of time. Inspiration is the brains of the idea.
Perspiration is the result of an idea. But the idea is the result of inspiration. So without inspiration, there is nothing.
“Who invented the light bulb?” is posed as a trick question. The answer, of course, is Thomas Edison. But it is a trick question. Edison got his idea from an inventor in England (Mr. Swan) and then hired someone else to put it together. Furthermore, Edison has the greatest number of patents in the world till date. This leads historians to believe that Edison personally invented absolutely nothing.
TS Elliot said that “Immature poets imitate. Mature poets steal.” This further indicates that all ideas come from some place else.
There is no reason we cannot apply old strategies to new problems. For instance, there was one time when cars were made on a stationary assembly line. The assembly line itself was invented long before Henry Ford’s time as was the automobile. Oldsmobile had a working automobile in 1901. What Henry Ford did for the automobile industry is create the moving assembly line. But even that was not his idea originally. The idea came from an industry that had nothing to do with the car industry. He got the idea from the “disassembly” line of the slaughterhouse. An animal hung on a line would be killed first, then moved to another person who would take a leg off, and so on down the line. What Ford did was to create the conveyer belt that all manufacturing is based off of today. So the idea of moving something down a line was an old idea but applied to a new problem of moving a car chasis down the line to speed production.
There are four steps which should be followed in problem-solving. The first is “examples from history” throughout your life and put them on the shelves of your brain. The second is “presence of mind” where you free yourself of all preconceptions of what problem you’re solving and what solutions might work. Third comes the “flash of insight” or coup d’oeil, French for “glance”. New combinations of examples from history connect. Fourth is “resolution” where you say both “I see!” and “I’ll do it!”
Apple stole from Xerox and came up with MacOS…Xerox had a graphical user interface and everything needed to run a computer. They even had OOP (object-orientated programming). Xerox set up a huge network, and they had setup email. Xerox had done all this in the 1970s and could have been the Microsoft of today if they had not given away the GUI to Apple. Much of what Xerox was doing at the time was a part of a project for the US Department of Defense.
Google didn’t come up with the idea of putting a map on a webpage. Someone else came up with that idea. Google didn’t come up with the idea of putting text ads along search results. A company named Overture did. Google went against the grain by not setting up a portal so that users would be on and off the page as quickly as possible. Google had to figure out how to make money because the popular belief was that you should make users stay on the page as long as possible by having banner ads and pop-ups. But that would slow the speed of getting search results, which would defeat the purpose of Google’s initial product – the search engine. At one time, the founders of Google nearly gave up and tried to sell their code to Alta-Vista for $1 million, but the company refused to buy. The founders knew that they had something revolutionary from feedback they were getting at Stanford, but weren’t sure what to do with it at the time.
Napoleon’s experiences demonstrate the difference between strategic intuition and expert intuition. When he was 24 years old, he had no expert intuition in fighting wars. But when presented with a problem of the British wanting to take the Fort of Toulon, Napoleon said that that the battle could be fought with swords and bayonets alone. Also, he said that to take the main fort, you need to take the small fort nearby and the British would surrender. But the general didn’t listen to Napoleon and took the main fort anyway. It was a disaster. Another general went in and did what Napolean said, and surely, the British surrendered.
One thing mentioned is that there is no longer any such thing, according to neuroscientists, as a “left side” and “right side” of the brain. It is all one unit as analysis and intuition work together and simultaneously. Every area in the brain is constantly firing. Some fire less than others at times, but it is not connected to any “side” of the brain.
Picasso didn’t start painting in the cubism form until after he met Matisse and saw his paintings. Matisse, on their second meeting at Gertrude Stein’s place, brought an African sculpture and Picasso later incorporated that sculpture into one of his famous paintings. Picasso’s ideas for cubism came only after he was influenced by artwork of Matisse.
Also, strategy was not introduced as a word in the English language until the year 1810, which is quite late. Most words came into the language in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. But when the word “strategy” was introduced, there were also many wars going on during that time period.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strategic Intuition by William Duggan
“Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.” – Thomas Edison
Duggan doesn’t like the term “genius”; prefers achievement or anything else. In other words, getting anything at all done requires 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.
Focus is on the 1% inspiration. Perspiration is the result of an idea. Inspiration is what sparks the idea.
Research says that most people become inspired to do something or get an idea while they are in the shower.
Latin meaning of “inspire” means to breathe in. Every idea we have must come from somewhere else in order for “inspiration” to be successful.
Without inspiration, perspiration is a waste of time. Inspiration is the brains of the idea.
Perspiration is the result of an idea. But the idea is the result of inspiration. So without inspiration, there is nothing.
“Who invented the light bulb?” is posed as a trick question. The answer, of course, is Thomas Edison. But it is a trick question. Edison got his idea from an inventor in England (Mr. Swan) and then hired someone else to put it together. Furthermore, Edison has the greatest number of patents in the world till date. This leads historians to believe that Edison personally invented absolutely nothing.
TS Elliot said that “Immature poets imitate. Mature poets steal.” This further indicates that all ideas come from some place else.
There is no reason we cannot apply old strategies to new problems. For instance, there was one time when cars were made on a stationary assembly line. The assembly line itself was invented long before Henry Ford’s time as was the automobile. Oldsmobile had a working automobile in 1901. What Henry Ford did for the automobile industry is create the moving assembly line. But even that was not his idea originally. The idea came from an industry that had nothing to do with the car industry. He got the idea from the “disassembly” line of the slaughterhouse. An animal hung on a line would be killed first, then moved to another person who would take a leg off, and so on down the line. What Ford did was to create the conveyer belt that all manufacturing is based off of today. So the idea of moving something down a line was an old idea but applied to a new problem of moving a car chasis down the line to speed production.
There are four steps which should be followed in problem-solving. The first is “examples from history” throughout your life and put them on the shelves of your brain. The second is “presence of mind” where you free yourself of all preconceptions of what problem you’re solving and what solutions might work. Third comes the “flash of insight” or coup d’oeil, French for “glance”. New combinations of examples from history connect. Fourth is “resolution” where you say both “I see!” and “I’ll do it!”
Apple stole from Xerox and came up with MacOS…Xerox had a graphical user interface and everything needed to run a computer. They even had OOP (object-orientated programming). Xerox set up a huge network, and they had setup email. Xerox had done all this in the 1970s and could have been the Microsoft of today if they had not given away the GUI to Apple. Much of what Xerox was doing at the time was a part of a project for the US Department of Defense.
Google didn’t come up with the idea of putting a map on a webpage. Someone else came up with that idea. Google didn’t come up with the idea of putting text ads along search results. A company named Overture did. Google went against the grain by not setting up a portal so that users would be on and off the page as quickly as possible. Google had to figure out how to make money because the popular belief was that you should make users stay on the page as long as possible by having banner ads and pop-ups. But that would slow the speed of getting search results, which would defeat the purpose of Google’s initial product – the search engine. At one time, the founders of Google nearly gave up and tried to sell their code to Alta-Vista for $1 million, but the company refused to buy. The founders knew that they had something revolutionary from feedback they were getting at Stanford, but weren’t sure what to do with it at the time.
Napoleon’s experiences demonstrate the difference between strategic intuition and expert intuition. When he was 24 years old, he had no expert intuition in fighting wars. But when presented with a problem of the British wanting to take the Fort of Toulon, Napoleon said that that the battle could be fought with swords and bayonets alone. Also, he said that to take the main fort, you need to take the small fort nearby and the British would surrender. But the general didn’t listen to Napoleon and took the main fort anyway. It was a disaster. Another general went in and did what Napolean said, and surely, the British surrendered.
One thing mentioned is that there is no longer any such thing, according to neuroscientists, as a “left side” and “right side” of the brain. It is all one unit as analysis and intuition work together and simultaneously. Every area in the brain is constantly firing. Some fire less than others at times, but it is not connected to any “side” of the brain.
Picasso didn’t start painting in the cubism form until after he met Matisse and saw his paintings. Matisse, on their second meeting at Gertrude Stein’s place, brought an African sculpture and Picasso later incorporated that sculpture into one of his famous paintings. Picasso’s ideas for cubism came only after he was influenced by artwork of Matisse.
Also, strategy was not introduced as a word in the English language until the year 1810, which is quite late. Most words came into the language in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. But when the word “strategy” was introduced, there were also many wars going on during that time period.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
You Make A Difference...
A dream is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
A thought is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Love is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
A mind is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Emotion is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Empathy is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Innovation is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Future is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Knowledge is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Power is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Patience is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Fire to inspire is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Ambition is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Listen...
You are within.
Energize yourself, and out you will come.
Energize it, and out it will come.
A thought is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Love is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
A mind is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Emotion is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Empathy is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Innovation is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Future is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Knowledge is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Power is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Patience is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Fire to inspire is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Ambition is within.
Energize it, and out it will come.
Listen...
You are within.
Energize yourself, and out you will come.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
A friend who I used to speak with on a daily basis...
This friend sends me a message......
Tells me that his friend needs money....
Says that without the money, his friend..
Will not be able to survive.....
I listen to my friend.....
Understand his empathy for his friend.....
His frustration at not being able to help his friend....
Then: my friend requests me to provide his friend...
Thousands of dollars per month.....
When I refused......
He became angry at me.......
He insists that I help so many people with my money...
And so now is offended that I refuse to do the same for his friend....
He states that I should help his friend...
because our friendship is such that we share many of our thoughts...
because my friend has never selfishly used me for his personal gain...
And therefore, he says, our friendship is unique.....
But then I explain.....
Those characteristics are not unique.....
As I have many friends...
who do not take advantage of me...
and with whom I can share many of my thoughts.....
Then the phone call came........
I was told that if I do not provide the funds,
our friendship will be ended -- by him, not me.......
So I said, "As you wish".....
As I do not wish...
to have a friend......
Who wishes to have money....
as a leash.....
which holds onto a friendship desired......
Then, days later, comes another phone call...
My friend's friend calls......
On behalf of my friend......
My friend's friend apologizes....
For my friend's disrespect....
So I say that I accept the apology
But here, I say, "I accept" for now.
But sometimes I wonder...
how can someone...
accept an apology......
that is made by someone else...
on behalf of the person who should be apologizing?
If the person who needs to apologize were ever a friend,
and the friendship is not open enough.......
that he, the friend, does not have the fortitude....
to apologize when necessary,
but instead needs......
someone else to apologize on his behalf......
Then can you call that a friendship?
This friend sends me a message......
Tells me that his friend needs money....
Says that without the money, his friend..
Will not be able to survive.....
I listen to my friend.....
Understand his empathy for his friend.....
His frustration at not being able to help his friend....
Then: my friend requests me to provide his friend...
Thousands of dollars per month.....
When I refused......
He became angry at me.......
He insists that I help so many people with my money...
And so now is offended that I refuse to do the same for his friend....
He states that I should help his friend...
because our friendship is such that we share many of our thoughts...
because my friend has never selfishly used me for his personal gain...
And therefore, he says, our friendship is unique.....
But then I explain.....
Those characteristics are not unique.....
As I have many friends...
who do not take advantage of me...
and with whom I can share many of my thoughts.....
Then the phone call came........
I was told that if I do not provide the funds,
our friendship will be ended -- by him, not me.......
So I said, "As you wish".....
As I do not wish...
to have a friend......
Who wishes to have money....
as a leash.....
which holds onto a friendship desired......
Then, days later, comes another phone call...
My friend's friend calls......
On behalf of my friend......
My friend's friend apologizes....
For my friend's disrespect....
So I say that I accept the apology
But here, I say, "I accept" for now.
But sometimes I wonder...
how can someone...
accept an apology......
that is made by someone else...
on behalf of the person who should be apologizing?
If the person who needs to apologize were ever a friend,
and the friendship is not open enough.......
that he, the friend, does not have the fortitude....
to apologize when necessary,
but instead needs......
someone else to apologize on his behalf......
Then can you call that a friendship?
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Uttrayan
A kite can be lifted by the wind.
A kite can be grounded by the wind.
But in the end, the kite must fly,
And so will you.
Monday, April 16, 2007
My Life and Your Sword
The following is the translation of "Mera Zindagi Aur Tera Talvar" from Hindi to English. It was written in Hindi first before being translated into English.
In my life, I should make friends with everyone,
In my life, everyone must give something,
In my life, I think I cannot do anything,
In my life, I want to have fun,
In my life, only your sword speaks,
In my life, your sword is very angry,
In my life, there is a lot of blood on your sword,
In my life, your sword will have my blood on it,
It is my life, therefore your sword cannot take away my heart.
It is our life, therefore we should not fight.
It is our life, therefore it is my hope that it is not your dream to fight.
It is our life, therefore I am alive.
In my life, I should make friends with everyone,
In my life, everyone must give something,
In my life, I think I cannot do anything,
In my life, I want to have fun,
In my life, only your sword speaks,
In my life, your sword is very angry,
In my life, there is a lot of blood on your sword,
In my life, your sword will have my blood on it,
It is my life, therefore your sword cannot take away my heart.
It is our life, therefore we should not fight.
It is our life, therefore it is my hope that it is not your dream to fight.
It is our life, therefore I am alive.
Mera Zindagi Aur Tera Talvar
Mera zindagi mein, subke sath dosti karna chahiye,
Mera zindagi mein, subko kuch tho dena padega,
Mera zindagi mein, mujhe lagtha hai ke kuch ati nahi,
Mera zindagi mein, leher karna chaiye,
Mera zindagi mein, sirf tera talvar bolta hai,
Mera zindagi mein, me tera talvar ko sunta nahi,
Mera zindagi mein, tera talvar bahut nafrath hai,
Mera zindagi mein, tera talvar pe bahut khoon hai,
Mera zindagi mein, tera talvar pe shayad mera khoon bhi aajayega,
Mera zindagi hai, isliye tera talvar mera dil pe nahi aayega,
Hum ka zindagi hai, isliye ladai nahin karna chahiye.
Hum ka zindagi hai, isliye mera asha hai ke sub ka sapna ladai mein nahin hai.
Hum ka zindagi hai, isliye me zinda hu.
Mera zindagi mein, subko kuch tho dena padega,
Mera zindagi mein, mujhe lagtha hai ke kuch ati nahi,
Mera zindagi mein, leher karna chaiye,
Mera zindagi mein, sirf tera talvar bolta hai,
Mera zindagi mein, me tera talvar ko sunta nahi,
Mera zindagi mein, tera talvar bahut nafrath hai,
Mera zindagi mein, tera talvar pe bahut khoon hai,
Mera zindagi mein, tera talvar pe shayad mera khoon bhi aajayega,
Mera zindagi hai, isliye tera talvar mera dil pe nahi aayega,
Hum ka zindagi hai, isliye ladai nahin karna chahiye.
Hum ka zindagi hai, isliye mera asha hai ke sub ka sapna ladai mein nahin hai.
Hum ka zindagi hai, isliye me zinda hu.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Future
Everyone told me I would fail,
Everyone told me it can't be done,
Everyone told me I was stupid,
Many people did not want to speak with me,
Everyone will come and go,
And so, I must come and go,
Either with them or apart from them,
I must do, not doing is not a choice,
For if I do not do, I dig my grave,
Everyone told me I would fail,
Everyone told me it can't be done,
Everyone told me I am stupid,
I told everyone I refuse to submit,
I told everyone that I will succeed,
I told everyone that I care not what you say,
Because I know that I am not stupid,
I told everyone I have different experiences than you,
You think I am stupid because I am different,
But when I take a different road,
You think failure is a guarantee,
Even when the success in your life,
Was never guaranteed.
You discourage someone from his dreams
Without a second thought
Even though your dreams are just as grand.
Everyone told me it can't be done,
Everyone told me I was stupid,
Many people did not want to speak with me,
Everyone will come and go,
And so, I must come and go,
Either with them or apart from them,
I must do, not doing is not a choice,
For if I do not do, I dig my grave,
Everyone told me I would fail,
Everyone told me it can't be done,
Everyone told me I am stupid,
I told everyone I refuse to submit,
I told everyone that I will succeed,
I told everyone that I care not what you say,
Because I know that I am not stupid,
I told everyone I have different experiences than you,
You think I am stupid because I am different,
But when I take a different road,
You think failure is a guarantee,
Even when the success in your life,
Was never guaranteed.
You discourage someone from his dreams
Without a second thought
Even though your dreams are just as grand.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Loyalty
When a friend betrays and you feel s/he has gone astray...
this is the time when your friend needs a friend the most...
so remain a friend and do not betray the person by ending a friendship...
that s/he may need to have the support needed to come back to a path...
that s/he wanted to be on...
but because s/he never had the confidence...
that others always thought was within...
always have patience in your friends....
even at the height of the worst betrayals...
and eventually both of you will make it on your own paths...
but together and then both will realize that the journey was worth the wait...
despite the weight that you encounter both within and without...
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Monday, April 10, 2006
Dosti
I have a friend in another land many thousands of miles away.
We meet only once a year, and our friendship does not give way.
He lives in a poor village, and I in a house with a grinch,
But our friendship will not be lynched.
Every year, before I leave for his country,
I send him a letter by post, received by him freely,
And each year the letter is received, we meet in a room
That feels more like a vacuum,
But better a vacuum of friendship than one of gloom.
My uncle complains that my friend comes only when I am there,
Yet offers my friend no respect, and thinks my friend is unaware.
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Monday, April 3, 2006
Friendship written on June 24, 1999
Friendship, the light of trust,
Friendship, strong as a diamond,
Yet, fragile as glass,
Friendship, the glue of family,
Friendship, starting a new life,
Friendship, flying a kite,
Friendship, motivating each other,
Friendship, the currents changing,
Friendship, that which makes a difference.
Friendship
A true friend....
One who listens to you when you are silent is a true friend.
One who listens to your heart and voice when you are happy or sad is a true friend.
One who accepts you for who you are is a true friend.
One who does anything for you even when you do nothing in return is a true friend.
One who allows you to speak, even when one should be asleep is a true friend.
One who allows you to speak when all silence you is a true friend.
One who stays by your side even after feeling betrayed is a true friend.
One who allows you to be yourself is a true friend.
One who challenges you to reach heights never thought possible is a true friend. One who reads every email, even if it says "no subject", is a true friend.
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