MEMO FROM NARA

At the age of 70 years, my memories are loaded with all kinds of thoughts of worries as well as happiness about me, my children, family, relatives and friends. I worried whenever I or they were not well or in some kind of trouble and I was happy whenever I or they were happy in life. Now I feel that these are part of everyone’s life. I also feel that there was no point in getting worried at any circumstance because it does help neither me nor others. Certainly the causes for the worry will vanish sooner or later. By worrying we cannot achieve the relief for anybody. One has to face any problem which may be hard sometime. Even then without worry and with a brave will we need to fact it and find the possible solutions. Time, in fact, is a great healer of emotional or physical pain. We have to wait without worrying. It is easy to say and difficult to adopt, we should train our mind and tune to this attitude. Later in life, one brings back to memory all the past worries and happiness as I do now. It is better to think a bit about the repercussions of worrying. It weakens our mind by not solving the problems. The same worry will vanish as soon as the problem is solved. That is what happens. If we know it well in advance for sure, then we can control the worries and live with a clean mind and vision. Such a mind or vision helps us to take some appropriate decisions to solve the problem. Great people have adopted this simple principle and could manage their lives very well. We have to learn from such people to control our feelings of worry and live free from it. I hope those who read this bit will try to follow the principle of ‘not to worry’ and cherish their life and also the lives of children, family, relatives and friends.

GREAT ACHIEVERS

The greatest achievers are driven by a huge, humongous, all-consuming Vision, either for their lives or for the world. They view the world as a perfect playing field to manifest and make concrete their visionary ideas and are often driven by this vision, whether or not they are consciously aware of it from moment to moment.
They set targets and objectives that are in alignment with this grand vision of theirs. They also have the discipline to reject and ignore so-called opportunities, developments, innovations and temptations that are not in alignment with their great vision, often creating enemies because of this.
They seek out the best possible methods to accomplish what they seek, never settling for mediocrity or lackadaisical efforts. To these achievers, the terms 'laziness' or 'hard work' are concepts foreign to them. What they are driven by is their vision and the goals they must achieve in order to meet that vision. Whatever it takes to accomplish those targets of theirs, they will accept, and although they are humans too and can feel exhaustion, they do not view the necessary work as something to dread, but something to live with, even enjoy.
The great achievers are constantly learning. They learn from their mistakes, from other people's mistakes, from their observations of the necessary goal-attaining processes in which they are engrossed. They do not stop at simply learning, they also put their learning into action, dynamically and consistently refining their methods in real-time. Sometimes the growth and improvements they obtain from their gradual evolutions borne out of their learning can be very minimal, sometimes they may achieve tremendous improvements, even breakthroughs. But in their minds, they do not discriminate between small improvements and big improvements, neither obsessing over making huge improvements nor being content with only small improvements. All sizes and manners of growth are welcomed by them. - Mohammad Latiff

TRANSGENES AND CISGENES

Transgenes (hybrid) are genes originating from other organisms or non-crossable species, which is a new source of genetic variation for plant breeding. In transgenic technology, bacterial genes coding for resistance to antibiotics or herbicides are used for the selection of transformed plant cells. The introduction of these classes of genes, new GM regulations have been developed in order to master the potential risks connected with the genes.

Natural indigenous genes, isolated from crop plant itself or from crossable species, are now called cisgenes in order to distinguish them from transgenes. The traits of these cisgenes represent the existing genetic variation applied in classical plant breeding. The use of genetic variation coming from the crop plant itself or from crossable species has a long history of safe use in many crops.

THEY SAID...

Each day is a new life. Seize it. Live it. For in today, already walks tomorrow. – David Guy Powers

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. – Henry Ford

Often we change jobs, friends and spouses instead of ourselves. – A. H. Hetha

When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred. – Thomas Jefferson

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own. - Benjamin Disraeli
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. - Aristotle

BREAK THE ROUTINE

1. Go for a leisurely walk or jog around your neighbourhood.
2. Write down your thoughts and feelings in a journal.
3. Do something creative: paint, draw, play music or do woodwork.
4. Take a hot bath.
5. Meditate.
6. Exercise.
7. Read a book.
8. Collect old clothes and other items to donate to a charity.
9. Start a new project, such as organizing photos.
10. Give yourself permission to just do nothing at times.

GLOBAL WARMING

Global warming is the increase of average temperatures on the earth’s surface, calculated annually from measurements taken across the entire globe. Scientists attribute the recent rise in average global temperatures to an increase in greenhouse gases which create the “greenhouse effect” of trapping heat from the sun in our atmosphere. These gases include water vapor, CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) among others. While the greenhouse effect is essential for life on earth – without it, surface temperatures would be about -2oF – excessive greenhouse gases can also elevate temperatures above livability range.

JUST TO LAUGH...

‘Woman without her man is a savage.’
When this sentence was given to a class to punctuate correctly, it was found that the boys took it one way, the girls another.
Boys: ‘Woman, without her man, is a savage.’
Girls: ‘Woman! Without her, man is savage.’

Satisfied in the past with the work of ayoung teacher who supplemented his income by doing interior decorating, we employed him again. When his bill came, we say he had charged us Rs.120 per room.
‘But last time it was Rs.100.’ my wife reminded him.
‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘But that was before I got my M.A.’

The Sunday Times prints the following conversation between a visiting American and an Eton schoolmaster:
‘Do you allow your boys to smoke?’ the American asked.
‘I’m afraid not,’ said the Etonian.
‘Can they drink?’
‘Good gracious, no.”
‘What about dates?’
‘Oh, that’s all right, said the master, ‘as long as they don’t eat too many.’

‘What steps,’ a question in a college exam read, ‘would you take in determining the height of a building, using an aneroid barometer?’
One student, short of knowledge but long on ingenuity, replied: ‘ I sould lower the barometer on a string and measure the string.’

PERSONAL TRAITS

1. Accurate
2. Active
3. Adaptable
4. Adventurous
5. Affectionate
6. Aggressive
7. Ambitious
8. Analytical
9. Appreciative
10. Artistic
11. Brave
12. Business like
13. Calm
14. Capable

15. Caring
16. Cautious
17. Cheerful
18. Clean
19. Competent
20. Confident
21. Confident
22. Conscientious
23. Conservative
24. Considerate
25. Cool
26. Cooperative
27. Courageous
28. Creative

Curiosity is the very basis of education!
Meet you next month – January 2009

Prof. A. Narayanan, Ph. D., FISPP
# 19, Phase 5, Maharani Avenue, Vadavalli, Coimbatore – 641 041, Tamil Nadu
Telephone: 0422 – 2423017 Mobile: 98422 42301
E-mail: prof_narayanan_a@hotmail.com
arumugakannu@gmail.com
Visit my blogs: http://www.nara2007.blogspot.com/ (NARA’S NOTEPAD)
http://www.nara.tumblr.com/ (NARA’S DIGEST)
http://www.nara1.vox.com/ (NARA’S POSTCARDS)

NARA'S NOTEPAD

VOLUME 4

NOVEMBER 2008

NUMBER 11

ADOPT A PLANT

MEMO FROM NARA

Thinking is a mental activity. Everyone thinks about something every time. Thinking is of two kinds. One is self-defeating and the other is self-promotional. These two kinds of thinking emerge out of our minds every time. Sometimes one of these two will be dominating. The happiness and success in life depend on the kind of thinking which dominates. If the self-promotional thinking dominates a person can progress well in life with great achievements. He or she can perform the job perfectly well. On the other hand, if the self-defeating thinking starts dominating then one can not understand the strength in him, but only one thinks of the weakness. In fact, one should not overlook one’s accomplishments. Think of whatever good – may be small or big, one has done in life. It will promote the self-promotional thinking. Thinking is like breathing which is very essential for the physical and emotional life. Similarly, thinking that too self-promotional is essential for the emotional life to yield great pleasure. Fantasies can keep a person away from self-defeating thinking. One can think of anything one likes without other’s knowledge and they are generally harmless. Fantasies facilitate secret thinking. It is better to think of things one like but not able to get in reality. One can fly in an airplane and reach any country and holiday in a mountain enjoying Nature without permission, passport or visa. Such fantasies are sometimes known as ‘day dreaming.’ Of course, dreaming or imagination is good for emotional health. But self-defeating thinking in such dreaming or imagination certainly brings unhappiness and distress to anyone. Therefore, thinking the right thing will help us to lead a successful happy life in our society. Let us try and get the benefits.

ECONOMICS OF SUCCESS

You cannot get rich by dreaming or thinking positive thoughts. You can only succeed if you have something to give - in return you will naturally receive all the wealth you can handle. You can't get more out of the system than you actually put in. It's as simple as that.
Businessmen (and women) in any society in the world, talk obsessively about "making money". Leaving aside counterfeiters, only governments make money. The treasury prints the stuff and then declares it valuable (Someone, I think it was another Adam Smith, the 20th Century US "funny money" philosopher, actually George J W Goodman, who joked about money from the treasury, saying that a government is the only institution that can take a valuable commodity like paper and, by adding ink, make it into something worthless).
Nobody "makes money." You trade for it. You earn it.
To understand the economics of success further, Adam Smith introduced the idea of Exchangeable Products. In earning a living, dealing with others and sharing relationships, we are all responsible for doing or making something which we can call a "product."
The product need not be a thing. We can carry out a service. But there is still a SOMETHING at the end of it. A gardener may serve with knowledge and skill of horticulture (plants and crops); what he does, we can call "gardening." But his product would be stated slightly differently. His product might be flourishing healthy plants in an attractive fertile garden setting. You get the difference.
Society has become too complex for us to do everything we need to do for ourselves. So we each specialize and do what we are good at. In The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith called this the "division of labor".

By working together on a project, we can achieve many times the success of a single individual working alone. Cooperation is the key to success. What we each produce is our contribution to making all this work, by which we earn our place in society.

- Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby

RADIO-FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION TAGS (RFID)

RFID are embedded in a growing number of personal items and identity documents. Because the tags were designed to be powerful tracking devices and they typically incorporate little security, people wearing or carrying them are vulnerable to surreptitious surveillance and profiling.

The first radio tags identified military aircrafts as friend or foe during World War II, but it was not until the late 1980s that similar tags became the basis of electronic toll-collection systems. And in 1999, corporations began considering the tags’ potential for tracking millions of individual objects. In that year, Procter and Gamble and Gillette formed a consortium with Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers, called the Auto-ID Center, to develop RFID tags that would be small, efficient and cheap enough to eventually replace the Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode on everyday consumer product.

THEY SAID...

I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident, they came by work – Thomas Edison

I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time – Anna Freud

In a hospital they throw you out into the street before you are half cured, but in a nursing home they don’t let you out till you are dead – George Bernard Shaw

Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification – Martin Fischer

Knowing is not enough, you must apply; willing is not enough, you must do – Bruce Lee

SENSE OF COMPETENCE

1. Take responsibility for everything you do, think, and feel. Always take responsibility for solutions to your problems. Taking responsibility only for solutions (rather than blame for causes) gives you power.
2. Focus on what you can control – your ability to improve, appreciate, connect or protect – rather than what you cannot control, such as the opinions and behavior of your spouse.
3. Think in terms of solutions rather than problems. Be flexible, think multiple solutions – there’s almost always more than one.
4. Realize genuine confidence – if you make a mistake, you can fix it.
5. Step back and see things in wider contexts, observing the complexity of issues.

JUST TO LAUGH...

On a tour of a European Castle, a young visitor becomes very nervous. The elderly guide tries to reassure her.
“Don’t worry,” he says.
“I have never seen a ghost in all the time I have been here.”
“And how long is that?” asks the tourist.
“About 400 years.”

“If I was to die first, would you marry?” the wife asks.
“Well,” says the husband, “I am in good, so why not?”
Would she live in my house?”
“It’s all paid up, so yes.”
“Would she drive my car?”
“It’s new, so yes.”
“Would she use my golf clubs?”
“No. She’s left-handed.”

A guy finds a sheep wandering in his neighborhood and takes it to the police station. The desk sergeant says, “Why don’t you just take it to the zoo?”
The next day, the sergeant spots the same guy walking down the street-with the sheep.
“I thought I told you to take that sheep to the zoo,” the sergeant says.
“I know what you told me,” the guy responds.
“Yesterday I took him to the zoo. Today I’m taking him to the movies.”

Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.

HONEYBEE FACTS

· Honey bees, which are social insects, live in colonies with a division of labor between the various types of bees.
· The queen is the only sexually developed female and is the largest bee in the colony. A two-day-old larva is selected by the workers to be reared as the queen. She will mate in flight with about 18 drone (male) bees, during which time she receives several million sperm cells that last her entire life span of nearly two years. A productive queen can lay 3000 eggs per day.
· Drones are stout male bees which have not stingers. Their sole purpose is to mate with the queen – after which they die.
· Workers, the smallest bees in the colony, are sexually undeveloped females. A colony can have 50,000 to 60,000. Their life expectancy normally is about 28 to 35 days. But workers reared in September and October can live through the winter. Workers feed the queen and larvae, collect nectar, produce honey, guard the hive entrance and even help keep the hive cool by fanning their wings.
· Honey bees’ wings stoke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.

-National Honey Board, USA

Stop being your own enemy!
Meet you next month – DECEMBER, 2008

Prof. A. Narayanan, Ph. D., FISPP
# 19, Phase 5, Maharani Avenue, Vadavalli, Coimbatore – 641 041, Tamil Nadu
Telephone: 0422 – 2423017 Mobile: 98422 42301
E-mail: prof_narayanan_a@hotmail.com
arumugakannu@gmail.com
Visit my blogs: http://www.nara2007.blogspot.com/ (NARA’S NOTEPAD)
http://www.nara.tumblr.com/ (NARA’S DIGEST)
http://www.nara1.vox.com/ (NARA’S POSTCARDS)