Empower them to succeed don’t stereotype them to fail

Dear friends

We need to empower the young people to succeed. This week I spoke with people about our blog and how we are working on helping children. As I spoke to them I asked them a question what comes to mind when you think of children in 3rd world countries.

Words such as malnutrition, child labor, sex slaves, poverty, were the words that people used to describe what came to the mind of those I spoke with.

I then went on to ask them what they thought was going to become of these kids when they grew up.

The answers were an eye opener for me and the people around me. They came up with professions like day labors, prostitution, drug and alcohol addict and gang bangers were the one that stood out.

We tend to stereotype people. I remember a college of mine and I were talking about politics in the Indian sub continent. He made a statement that makes me feel sick in my stomach. He said “if any think happened to the Indian sub continent where would we in America get our sports ball and mitts made.”

This kind of a statement makes me sick.

The founding fathers thought differently. In the Declaration of independence it states

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ( Declaration of independence)

By this statement I understzand that every one is created equal. There is no difference between a child born on the greatest nation on gods green earth and a child orphaned when they lost one or both parents to AIDS,

We should also not doom a child’s future in a country stricken by poverty just because of his surroundings.

We should empower them to succeed them not stereotype them as a failure based on some thing that is not in their control.

As an adult I am stereotyped but I can overcome it. To a child we are just programming him to have low self esteem in the future and programming to fail.

Our work in India

God, Community, Literacy and You ?

Peace and Salvation in this economy

This week Atma Nirvana and I met for breakfast to discuss some of life’s complex questions. We spoke about Peace  and Salvation. As we spoke about Peace in the journey of Life we came up with what we this is a way to attain peace. We believe that to attain peace one has to eliminate the want to attain more than what we require. We also need to remove jealousy from our life. We went a step further to connect peace with salvation ( मोक्ष ).

I have written a Poem that I would like to share with you all about life in these though times.  I personally know about my salvation and open to share it in person or upon request.

MS Hollywood

Millions like me

Come to thee

With dreams and not reality

Only to broken

For thee is a harsh mistress

Please be kind to me

Don’t break me

But mold me

Away from this reality

That leads to the recession

O the good old recession

That’s causing us to lead

In a vast depression

Where do I attain peace?

Is there salvation for me?

We first cut our memberships

To the places of luxury

Gyms and parlors

Close thy doors to us

For do we eat

Or do I look good starving

Do we keep our roof?

Or look at the stars

As we cry our self to sleep

We weep on our foolish past

Now we blame it on the recession

O the good old recession

That’s causing us to lead

In a vast depression

Where do I attain peace?

Is there salvation for me?

You took our dreams

Then our vanity

What next for thee

For the assurance of health

The insurance rises.

For they are a cruel system

That increases their rate

 Based on just a date

They don’t care for our health

All they do is raise their wealth

Even in the recession

O the good old recession

That’s causing us to lead

In a vast depression

Where do I attain peace?

Is there salvation for me?


P.S. Please share with us how you think one attains salvation.

Save a penny for a rainy day. I have a few tips how

My friend in his poem states how he longs for work. The words of advice I can give him is save a penny. I remember you guys laughing at me for being penny wise. I would like to share with you why I was and am that way.

When you come from a country with over a billion people to a land where $1= Rs. 50 or so and PENNY is Rs.5. every penny counts. I don’t care if it’s a penny on the ground that most people say u spend more energy to pick up than it is worth. Being Indian we also have to take into consideration that in America we don’t have an uncle or an auntie to give us job security. We are all replaceable. With another more efficient cheaper version or as with a newer model that may just be in India. It’s like a compute operating system is the same just product in new packaging. Same Indian mind new Indian body.

To most Americans it may be funny when we Indians do stuff to save money. To an American its foolish. To an Indian its being wise. There is a logical explanation for each one of those

1. Wash paper plate and plastic silver ware (its only curry and look at it from this prospective the plate now has a modern art design on it)
2. buy 100 rolls of toilet papers when we see it on sale ,
3. We never buy bin bags, but use your saved grocery bags for it. (We need to cut down on plastic it’s not bio degradable. Those bags need to be good for my trash)
4. You feel like you got a good deal if you didn't pay tax (with the sales tax at 9.75 in Ca who wouldn’t)
5. You only make long distance calls after 9 pm
6. Or that we think that $1 is a good tip its (Rs. 50 for crying out loud. that can feed a child for a week in India)
7. We head towards the clearance section as soon as you walk into a store (It may be outdated fashions in America its new to me.)
8. Buy A small drink at fast food restaurant (the refill are free)
9. We drink plain water instead of Coke for lunch (it’s free and good for you 2)
10. We frequent to garage sales every week (one mans trash is another mans treasure)
11. You will find fast-food sauce packets in your kitchen drawer (it’s good to cook with they just gonna throw it in the trash if u don’t take it home)
12. We buy a Toyota or Honda car only because it has better resale value (who doesn’t want to get the most bang for their buck)
13. We go back to your apartment for lunch (we know what we cook is healthy)
14. We know all the $2.00 theaters in your city (the movie is just a month old and I haven’t seen it yet)
15. We pay our bills the day they come in the mail (why pay the huge fees)
16. We spend 2 days cleaning your apartment before leaving so you can get full security refund from landlord ( hey its hard earned and its only fair that I took the apartment clean I return it clean)
17. We always have a coupon for lunch. (Being in advertising I know that the coupons were designed for advertising. We are just carrying out a service by letting the advertiser know he is doing some thing right and its working.) I wonder why people are embarrassed by coupons.

A funny story about the last point. My friend and I were sitting at a restraint and checking out what coupon we want to use. Another friend walked in and he said. No wonder u guys are single. My friend looks at him and said. If I found a girl from back home she would have joined me and taken out a coupon for free drinks and fries with that to add to the order. She would just get the most bang for her buck.

If you look at some of the things we do not only saves money but is also saving the planet. In addition I can also make the argument that is reducing waste. I Live in Los angles now and we need to save for a rainy day. Especially with the recession! So my friends be penny wise don’t judge some one who is an immigrant for being frugal. I guess we can learn a thing or two from them how they save and work hard for future generations to succeed and how to pay our bills on time and live in debt. 

P.S.
We also have a load of cash in the matteress from all those years of being penny wise

Idle

These poems are personal and describe my state of mind of being unemployed. This poem will be part of the collection called “Ballads of an unemployed Engineer”. Enjoy

I lay here alone desperate for work

Trying to find solace in my mailbox

As bills and junk letters fill my cage

sadness creeps into my fragile heart

All I seek is bread and a woman's warmth

Why deny me I ask God?

It’s the economy stupid whispers the silent God

fill out more applications and watch the mailbox

"The Pursuit of vanity robs you of your sanity and a vain man is like a insane man".... I came up with it

I would say I am an above average young man. Just trying to make it. Being single and being human I am attracted to the opposite sex. When I look at a girl there may be a physical attraction or not, that dose not qualify me to date them nor dose it disqualify them. I would like to rather get to know the girl on the inside. Physical beauty is only skin deep. Is it that hard to believe that nice guys do exists. Is it outrageous for me to make a comment, that your body is not the only thing that I am interested in?


Being a former Dj I have dated a lot of very beautiful gals. But I have fallen in love only once with a gal who did not even come close to being in the same league physicaly . She was two leagues above them when I looked at her from the inside. She was not with me cause I took her to the hottest club in town. She was with me cause she loved me. She made me a better person. I may be in love now but wouldn’t know cause the girl who and I care about and myself has not discussed it.


Ladies if I can look past the physical appearance and want to get to know you the real you. Why cant women look past my flaws. Why can’t you look at me for me and not disqualify me for not working out and having a six pac any more. May be I am just meeting the wrong women. Would you rather have a guy who I used to be? A dj and guy who played organized sports with a cigarette in one hand a glass in the other and woman around my neck. Or would you rather have a guy who has been there done that and has change.



Ladies please comment and give me your opinions on

Is life all bout vanity?

Do women like bad boys more than a good guy?

Should I just be a jerk again to be in love again?

Solus

“A man is born alone and dies alone; and he experiences the good and bad consequences of his karma alone; and he goes alone to hell or the Supreme abode.” - Chanakya

“Beauty is not real. Beauty only exists in perception.”

After a lot of soul आत्मा searching I have come to realize beauty is just a perception.

What is considered ideal beauty in some regions of the world may not be considered ideal beauty in another region. Light skin is considered to be beautiful in most Tropical countries, while in most Nordic countries pale skin is not favored.

Why do humans have such warped concepts of beauty? Why do people in one part of the world spend so much of their hard earned money on skin lightening products, while the other spends it on tanning products?. Why do we blame bad genetics for our looks?

Nature (genetics) has the best intentions for us. One should know that dark skin in the tropics is beneficial to prevent harsh sun light from damaging ones skin. Similarly, in the Nordic regions, were sunlight (vitamin D) is scarce it is advantageous to have pale skin. So why do we adore something we don’t have and that won’t work in our advantage?.

Because insecurities sell. Cosmetics, Plastic Surgery, Hair restoration, etc is a huge profitable industry. In the business world creating such insecurities based on beauty helps some one get rich. Unlike nature, the business world does not have our best interests in mind दीमक.

The great Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran said it best.

“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is light in the heart”