Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Inspired by The Alchemist

I am not a voracious reader. If asked, I'd say there are about three or four books that I really enjoyed reading from start to finish. That's it. The rest, I've never been inclined to read.

But Paulo Coelho's book, The Alchemist, is a book that inspired me many years ago.  A lot of die-hard readers say that he has not said anything new and that what he has said was said centuries ago by Rishis and wiser persons. Since I have not read what they wrote, The Alchemist continues to inspire.

There is a conversation in particular that has always inspired me. It goes like this:

"Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him. We, people's hearts, seldom say much about those treasures, because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed in its own direction, towards its own fate...What you need to know is that before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way.  It does this no because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward that dream. That's the point at which most people give up. It's the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, 'one dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.'"

Another favorite -

"...a grain of sand is a moment in creation, and the universe has taken millions of years to create it."

Whenever I read these words or paragraphs from this book The Alchemist, it propels me to move forward and reach out to make my dreams come true, because as the book propagates, the whole spirit of the Universe can make it happen.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Thanks for the Versatile Blogger Award

For this Award, my thanks go to Stranger for the encouragement that's been extended to me. Thanks, friend.

Well, now as required on accepting this award, I will list seven facts about myself even though it may be of no factual relevance as such.


1.  Axess Legal Corp transformed my life. Rajeev and I first conceptualized it based on a fundamental belief of being good in an industry that is criticized largely and attributed to suffer serious trust deficit. It was just the first step towards creating trust and it worked well for us, thanks to God.

2.  I am a very private person but I have a small circle of friends that I trust 100%. I don't like advice. I dislike relationships and conversations that are superficial or deceptive. The same works on my blog too. It's not easy for me to trust or like some one out of the blue and I prefer this to be so, though its somewhat a disadvantage of sorts. 

3.  I work hard but I am not totally satisfied, I think I would like to work a lot more and be much harder on myself.

4.  There are many things I can't stand. Here are some: fanaticism, hypocrisy, lies, boasting, showing an "I know everything" attitude, freaky behavior at work, etc.


5.  Seeing my parents happy and safeguarding my client's interest with total dedication and sincerity- these two things are of utmost importance to my own happiness.

6.  The most important occasions and developments in my life have almost always happened on a Thursday.

 7.  I am most tempted to give this Award to my favorite blogger and friend, R Ramesh, whose blog is a must-visit but I think he's got so many of these awards that it would be more like a burden on his light shoulders. My request is - keep blogging the funny lines, keep us smiling.


Now, its my turn to pass the Award to those who deserve it better than I do. Wishing them great luck in blogging and for all their hard work, here goes this Award to:

SG whose posts were the first ones that I found interesting and informative when I came to the blogging world. It ranges from serious to emotional to humorous - a terrific read is what his posts always give me.

Petty Witter  for all her straight-from-the-heart book-related posts.

Mridula for inspiring me with her regular photo updates and small warm note explaining it to the readers.

Dipali Taneja for blogging in an interesting way about topics that are of relevance in today's society such as sexual abuse, blood donation and so on.

Aparna Radhakrishnan  for warm, lively and homely posts.

Now, the tough part for you: decide and share this Award with others who you believe deserve to have it!