5 am manila airport...........its amazing how alive asia gets at the oddest hours. all flights to europe and america leave at this time. i mean even bombay- 2 am at the aiport is like a huge party going on.

making money means a lot of sacrifice........for example i travelled 28 hours to manila for 48 hours of business. today i travel 11 hours to china for 72 hours of business. its pretty wild

the other thing about business travel is the tremendous amount of time one spends alone........huge amount of time we can use in many ways.

how do i spend my time??????????

sleeping

praying

blogging

reading

watching a movie

taking photographs

eating or more like trying to control my eating.......( example - at the lounge this morning - a cucumber sandwich has about two teaspoons of butter slathered on it.....so ieat the cucumber and skip the bread.........still hungry but i refuse to swallow fat........gosh its like policing ones mouth constantly.)

shopping- i find something to buy at the oddest of places. last year was delayed by 5 hours in coimbatore and i bought 5 pounds of mithai- and i dont eat a dot.......gave it all awaya......and hopped into a cab to buy sarees.......and i dont even wear them more than once every 5 years.........what can i say -except i do need to kill time- or i will kill the passenger next to me.

and after all that - i still have time to spare.........craaaaaaaaaaazieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

guru nanaks birthday on sunday...............bummer - i would love to be in india to go to the gurdwara..........cant make it..................

prayer for the day.........lord thank you for making me an indian........i have the gift of humanity in my soul and prayer in heart.

on the plane again.........this time another whirlwind trip.....philippines-china-malaysia-india- england and back.......

i am going back- again- with a complete lack of agenda. i will fall asleep - wake up in another time zone- another country and see where that takes me.

it almost feels like i am a vagabond.

if i had any business school professor quiz me about my success - i would be completely at a loss to explain how this strategy has worked for me.

its terrible- i dont even look at my reports till i get to the negotiating table.

i guess i should be greatful that i have a wonderful support staff at the office and great instincts to make it all work.

While doing puja for Diwali yesterday the pundit had the kids entertained with a very interesting story.

One day three sadhus were passing by a home. The lady of the house invited them to come in. The three said- we would love to - however we can only enter one at a time. You have to choose one of us to come in first- our names are- Success- Luck- Love.

The family debated- the husband says I want success for i would like to succeed at work. The wife protested saying - if we choose luck then we will be lucky at everything. The little daughter says- i want Love. Finally to keep their daughter happy they invite Love in.

As Love enters the other two sadhus follow suit.........the lady questions - "but i thought only one of you could enter at a time."

Love replies........wherever i go Success and Luck follow - for they are both blind.

So the story ended - that where there is love - there is everything.........happiness - harmony- success- luck everything.

Diwali starts with Dhanteras.......somehow most people wish on Diwali day- but for me the first day of Diwali is the auspicious beginning of our new year. I always do puja and seek blessings on this day- spend it happy with my family and in my office...........

sooooooooooooooooo................Happy Diwali and lots of wealth and contentment on dhanteras.

Look to India for Career Placement..................feels great that we are becoming a welcoming option for the world...

More drama..........the really funny part is that the donkeys caused it..........not Jolie........

Somehow I remember Pune being ruled by the buffalos- cant seem to remember donkeys running around. The visual picture though is hilarious........little wonder why the Asians can survive most situations while people who are from the West including our ABCD kids just flounder.

My kid for example cannot cross the streets in India or China.........he would be run over in one second........I have to literally huddle him accross.......all my explanations of " think you are in a video game" just done seem to work. The sheer number of cars, pedestrians and assorted moving objects- both machine and animal make it an interesting experience for us.

My take on it- its just second nature- we did it all our lives- cross roads- and dodge everyone and everything.........sure made it easier to multi-task around here.

Laugh with Russell Peters.......he is really funny - especially if you are Asian. More on You Tube.........

I cant believe that Angelina is shooting in Pune........of all the places..........believe shes holed up and just shooting.........it seems strange to have hollywood back home...more on popstarshow.com

Pixhere

Pune as well.........India is getting hotter by the moment? Or frankly the Indians are too busy with their own to really care about Holly wood?

Full moon- satyanaryan- poornima........so many words.......but for me it means only one thing. a day for thanks..........a day for abstinence and a day to remember that all my family is in the same frame- wherever they may be. it is a day observed by all of us.

yesterday was the most important of all full moons- the day that ram conquered lanka- and ravana.............on that day he set forth back for ayodhya............and on the day he returned home- 14 days later the people lit the town with diyas waiting for him- therefore the festival of diwali- the return of ram to ayodhya - victorious.

the priest said to us yesterday- that laxmi on her own brings confusion- brings ego- and brings little peace- however with narayan by her side- there is balance and peace and happiness. therefore the laxmi puja is always done with narayan.

he also reminded us that ravan was the biggest devotee of shiva- however his ego took him over and therefore he lost his being.

it was an interesting evening..............as a hindu there is nothing more comforting than hearing the vedic chants............and being lost in the gayatri mantra or the chiming of the bells while being enveloped in the fragrant essence of the holy aarti.

i dont know if this is an appropriate picture but i was reading an essay by L'amour and in it he quotes Indian poet BHartrihari.........who says of a woman...."she talks to one man, looks at a second and thinks of a third"

I myself have never heard of Bhartrihari so some digging on the search engine brought some interesting stuff to light.This
and from the website textetc.com I found this little piece on one of his famous works- Vairagya.......



"And transliterated from Devanagari:

Ayur varSazataM nRNAM rAtrau tadardhaM gataM
tasyArdhasya parasya cArdham aparam bAlatvavRddhatvayoh
zeSaM vyAdhiviyogaduHkhasahitaM sevAdibhir nIyate
jIve vAritaraNgabudbudasame saukhyaM kutah prANinAm

And the prose translation by A.B. Keith runs: {1}

To man is allotted a span of a hundred years;
half of that passes in sleep, one half is spent in childhood and old age;
the rest is spent in service with illness, separation and pain as companions.
How can mortals find joy in life that is like the bubbles on the waves of the sea? "



I wonder if there are some interesting books on his works...........