Alicia Keys – No One

more about "Alicia Keys – No One", posted with vodpod

Eti Maar Payee Karlaane

Heard this shabad a few months back and wanted to share it with all you bloggers.

Dhan Guru Naanak

This Shabad is by Guru Nanak Dev Ji in Raag Aasaa on Pannaa 360

aasaa mehalaa 1 ||

Aasaa, First Mehla:

khuraasaan khasamaanaa keeaa hi(n)dhusathaan ddaraaeiaa ||

Having attacked Khuraasaan, Baabar terrified Hindustan.

aapai dhos n dhaeee karathaa jam kar mugal charraaeiaa ||

The Creator Himself does not take the blame, but has sent the Mugal as the messenger of death.

eaethee maar pee karalaanae thai(n) kee dharadh n aaeiaa ||1||

There was so much slaughter that the people screamed. Didn’t You feel compassion, Lord? ||1||

karathaa thoo(n) sabhanaa kaa soee ||

O Creator Lord, You are the Master of all.

jae sakathaa sakathae ko maarae thaa man ros n hoee ||1|| rehaao ||

If some powerful man strikes out against another man, then no one feels any grief in their mind. ||1||Pause||

sakathaa seehu maarae pai vagai khasamai saa purasaaee ||

But if a powerful tiger attacks a flock of sheep and kills them, then its master must answer for it.

rathan vigaarr vigoeae kutha(n)aee mueiaa saar n kaaee ||

This priceless country has been laid waste and defiled by dogs, and no one pays any attention to the dead.

aapae jorr vishhorrae aapae vaekh thaeree vaddiaaee ||2||

You Yourself unite, and You Yourself separate; I gaze upon Your Glorious Greatness. ||2||

jae ko naao dhharaaeae vaddaa saadh karae man bhaanae ||

One may give himself a great name, and revel in the pleasures of the mind,

khasamai nadharee keerraa aavai jaethae chugai dhaanae ||

but in the Eyes of the Lord and Master, he is just a worm, for all the corn that he eats.

mar mar jeevai thaa kishh paaeae naanak naam vakhaanae ||3||5||39||

Only one who dies to his ego while yet alive, obtains the blessings, O Nanak, by chanting the Lord’s Name. ||3||5||39||

Management Mantras 2010

Yo Bloggers!

A big thanks to all of you who visited the CNN site to help Haitians devastated by the Earthquake.

A bit of change in mood for this post … seeing that I am back (with vengeance) in the business world hence I wanted to share these ‘Manangement Mantras’ with all of you for the year 2010 :

The people around You

January

“A positive attitude cannot be taught … it must be caught, therefore, be careful of the company we keep”

My cup 'runneth' o'er

February

“Optimism and humor are the grease and glue management … Without both of them we would never have survived our capacity”

Honesty

March

“Honesty is a fundamental requirement for positive management.  If all the world were truthful, we would need no laws”

hee hee hee

April

“Confidence never comes from having all the answers … it comes from being open to all the questions.”

Management und Motivation

May

“Management makes everyone better.  It provides motivation to do better … to reach out and improve.”

Words make all the difference

June

“Encouraging words are very important.  Spreading good words are important because words can give hope and encouragement.”

Bring on the color ...

July

“Cultivate enthusiasm for it brings new life in to the old and humour & joy into dull situations.”

"Go for IT"

August

“Faith is not trying to believe something regardless of the evidence … Faith is daring to do something regardless of the consequences.”

Its all bou Attitude pple

September

“Attitude about who you are and what you have is a very little thing that makes a very Big Difference!”

As day fades in to night that later dawns in to a new day ...

October

“In your planning for tomorrow, don’t neglect today … It is too valuable and there are exactly the same number of hours in a day”

hmmmmm ....

November

“Habits will either make us or break us … Good habits are hard to acquire but easy to live with.  Bad habits are easy to acquire but hard to live with.”

Humbleness .. just need to bring it out in the open

December

“Humility is a much desirred characteristic … it should be fairly easy to acquire because most of us have a lot to be humble about!!!”

HAPPY 2010!

Impact … Haiti 12 Jan 2010 Earthquake!!!

Hey Readers!!

We all know of the devastation that has hit Haiti on 12 January 2010 .. many people are dying and in dire need of aid and any sort of help that we can give them.

Haiti 12 jan 2010

Follow the link below and lets try and do what we can to help them:

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact

Thanks!

HKay

Change For Your Life ….

Attention + Intention + Nature = Change

Every moment in your life is new, with new possibilities.  Yesterday, with it’s mistakes, obstacles and problems do not have to prevent you from living a new and wonderful life. You CAN change.  You CAN be a brand new person starting right now.

Change

Set yourself free and experience the new life that is waiting for YOU.

Check out this website .. It’s amazing in helping you regain your self-confidence after a particularly taxing period in your life: http://www.changeforgood.com/affirm.asp

PS: Thanks SH for sharing the amazing link.

Cheerz people!

Happy New Year!!!

This message didn’t originate from me, but it reflects my sentiments, so I ‘own’ it!!

In case I forget or don’t have time or don’t make it or get hold of you I am just taking this opportunity to thank everyone , I mean EVERYONE ,  who made 2009 a fabulous year..

Hoping 2010 will be even better.

1. For all those I’ve made promises to and never kept –it was not deliberate but I will “improve” in 2010.
2. Those that I owe lunches, movies, night out , etc…, I’ll fix that as well,  I’ll make time . For sure.
3. For those that have supported me and made me smile through all my hardships…I salute you! halaala.
4. For those I’ve disagreed with, argued with and just never got along with……well, I’m Sorry!!!!!!! Let’s try again next year.
5. Those that I’ve hurt…..unintentionally/intentionally….I’ve already apologized “I’m Sorry” again…
6. For those that stuck a knife in my back the past is all forgotten…. forgiveness is the best revenge MAYBE!!!
7. For those that have let me down…..oh well…. I should have known better
8. All the true friends that I have: you ROCK!!..Awesome!
9. Congratulations to all the  new  mommies & fathers, newly weds etc…,

But all in all, you guys have made 2009 a great year; I wish you and your loved ones prosperity, good health, wealth, happiness, greener pastures, abundant blessings,

10. And Oh!!  a wonderful festive season.

May 2010 be the year you achieve wonderful things in His guidance and strength.

MAY GOD BE WITH YOU AND BE BLESSED ABUNDANTLY !!!!!!!

DHAN GURU NAANAK

PS: Thanks Martian for the lovely forward … I am sharing it with the rest of the ‘blogospehere’… heehee

New Year’s Resolution

Hey guys!!! Hope you are all doing well!

I know the last thing you want to do is read a foot-long message during the holiday season .. but do take the time to read the message below – A friend of mine forwarded this to me and I would like to pass it on to all of you!  Lets make the World a better place to live in..!!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

New Year is coming fast, and we usually make some New Year resolutions that most of the time get lost in the mist of time. But what about adding a resolution to help us and help everyone else?

After the Copenhagen summit, I think it’s clear that we just can’t sit back and wait that our politicians take all the actions, we can’t depend on them, we should be the change we want to see.

So, I want to join the initiative of the 10:10 project. It is an ambitious project to unite every sector of British society behind one simple idea: that by working together we can achieve a 10% cut in our carbon emissions in 2010. However, it’s not up to one single country to do this, we all over the globe can try to contribute.

Most people are not aware of their carbon footprint, nor how to contribute to reduce the global emissions, usually we think that is something that governments and industry should address alone, and we are helpless. What a single person can do whatsoever?

Well, a lot, we can make a lot !!

First we need to put measurable targets. There’s a very useful tool on-line to measure our carbon footprint with this calculator. According to this my carbon footprint of 2009 was 7.32 tonnes per year (Calculate yours at this site – http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx).

So my 2010 resolution will be to cut down 10% of my carbon footprint.

But how can we reduce it?

Here some tips that I want to share with you

1) Our biggest carbon footprint comes from our consumption, we live in a very consumerist society. Ask yourself before buying something. Do I really need this? Are there better options? for example:

Food – Is my food organic, seasonal & local source? Do I eat mainly meat? Do I need to buy fast food which aside of the health generate a lot of waste (packing, etc.)

Fashion – Do I buy cloth just to be on the latest fashion or do I really need a new one? Do I really need to throw away that shoes or can I just change the sole? etc.

Packing – Do I buy products that have more packing volume than the product itself?

Furniture and electricals – Do I buy them just to have the latest technology? Does this technology consume less energy or more than the one I have? Do I use them at least 5 years or until it brake down and there’s no way to fix them?

Recycling – Do you recycle and compost your waste?

Recreation – Does your recreation activities have a big carbon footprint? Can you enjoy recreation activities like walking?

Car manufacture – Do you feel the need to have a luxury and big car just for the status? Do you own more than one car even if you don’t really need it? or even ask the question, do you need the car at all? Are you planning to buy a new car, why not checking the less emission cars available in Green cars. Why not trying an hybrid or even an electric one like the Citroen C1

2) Household carbon footprint – Do you use rationally your electricity, water and gas? Do you use energy-saving bulbs? Do you unplug the electrical appliances that you are not using, taking into account that transformers consume even when the machine is off? Do you use the heating system or air conditioned all the time? Do you really need a dryer machine? Do you need to wash dishes with hot water, or can you use cold one and rubber gloves? Can you wash your clothes with cold water? Do you need to watch TV all the time or can you read or just have a time talking with your family?

3) Transport carbon footprint – We have became very lazy, we use the car for small distances that can be covered even walking. We don’t use public transport or bicycle when feasible. Or we use aeroplanes where that distance can be covered by coach or train. Just think about this numbers.

coach 0.0000625 tonnes/mile
train 0.0000965 tonnes/mile
tube 0.0001333 tonnes/mile
car 0.0002953 tonnes/mile
plane 0.0003095 tonnes/mile

Though the above statistics don’t quite apply to us in Kenya .. but we can at least try!

So, we all can take action. I encourage you in joining me in this New Year resolution, let’s share our numbers, how many tonnes did you use in 2009? what’s your target for 2010?

My 2009 consumption was of 7.32 tonnes per year
My 2010 target is 6.59 tonnes per year

Wish me luck!!

Pass the word around to all your acquaintances .. if you don’t nothing will happen .. but I certainly wouldn’t want to be answerable to the coming generation when they ask me what I did to save the nature for them.

Have a Carbon-Free Holiday!

India Week #1 .. cont/..

Day 3: More of Amritsar …

Day 3 started out pretty lazy .. it was 15th of August hence parades and all were on in the city centre .. and it was busier than usual what with Vagha Border being close by.  We didnt get up like until noon then decided that a visit to Punjab was not complete without a run in the fields and pange (Messing around) with the majha (buffaloes) .. !!

Tempoo

We got on to the famous Tempoos and headed towards my aunt’s village – Nabipur that is on the outskirts of Amritsar!

It was great being out in the open with no buildings in sight .. but fields and fields of greenery .. got a chance to get on to my cuz’ ‘Bullt’ (Punjabi slang for Bullet) and have a go at it .. damn it is one powerful machine .. not only that .. knowing me and my craziness of course the run on the bike wasn’t enough .. I had to get on to the tractor as well init .. lol .. an unhaat geara .. and it was not as easy it looked!! heehee

We seriously thought we would get a chance to take a bath at the Bambee (pumps used to irrigate the farms), but the picture below more or less summarizes the state of the pumps and water and how we tried to overcome the ‘disappointment’ of not having had a chance to splash around in water in sickening heat and humidity .. lol

Fun at the water-less bambee

And of course our pange with the majh .. meet our models for the day ..

Models for the day!

Majh

India .. Week # 1 – “Getting Reacquainted”

After 5 years I finally get a chance to revisit my motherland .. India.

India

Davi and I had been planning on this trip for nearly a year and we had decided that we would avoid staying with relatives and do a mini yatra (pilgrimage) of the Gurdwaras in and around Punjab and if possible Hemkunt Sahib and Hazur Sahib as well.

We landed at Indira Gandhi Int’l Airport at like 800 hrs on Thursday morning .. the 13th of September 2009.  Excited was definitely an understatement as to what we were experiencing!! Jaggy was also with us and well his state was like that of a small kid let loose in a candy shop !  The temperatures were in the mid 30s and the humidity unbearable .. but this did not lessen our joy!

Although we would have preferred a train ride to Punjab .. but coz we didn’t do any reservations beforehand, we had to take an 8 hour taxi ride .. this can be fun if you aren’t too jet-lagged or sleep derived .. heehee .. !  We were totally knackered after the 12 hour journey so slept most of the way .. Got to Jalandhar late in the evening and were  pleasantly surprised to meet our cousins from Canada!! Bhuaji’s house was like a family base that night .. we had a re-union that I don’t think we are likely to forget any time soon!!

Day 2: Amritsar

Got up like at midday having spent the better part of the night catching up amidst the buzzing of mosquitoes and electricity rationing  and trying to fan ourselves with hand fans – commonly knows as pakhees .. hehehe!  For those who have never been to this rich country just know that for most the day doesn’t begin before 900-1000 .. at least not in Punjab .. so we had a leisurely breakfast / lunch at 1400 and then left for Amritsar .. the Holy City of the Sikhs and home to the Harmandir Sahib – Golden Temple.

I am blessed to have been born in Amritsar .. this is where my maternal grandmother used to live before her demise last year .. this was my chance to bid her my final farewell .. we got to the bus ‘adda’ (station) around 1700 and called mamaji (uncle) to come and pick us up .. and knowing mamaji, his 5 minutes were likely to become half an hour!!  So we decided to introduce Jaggy to his first auto-rikshaw (tempoo) ride .. living life the tourist style!  Damn! Can’t remember the last time I enjoyed life and its simple pleasures so much!  We literally took pictures of each and everything around us .. and yes we were nearly beaten up for supposedly taking a guy’s wife’s picture!! heehee

Mamaji was waiting for us at the main entrance of mum’s home and boy-oh-boy .. I am out of words to describe the state of emotions when I saw nanima’s house .. amidst the greetings and noise we nearly forgot to take our luggage out of the auto .. yup trust us to be responsible .. so yeah anyways .. getting the greetings, hugs and tears out of the way we made our way inside and the first place I peeked in to was nanima’s room!!  It felt like she was still there .. yes she wasn’t there physically but it wasn’t hard trying to remember her sweet voice and kind love-filled eyes … Need to stop here before I get uncontrollably emotional :,(

To be cont/…

A Random “Tag” ..

Ok so after like a few gloomy days I finally get ‘resurrected’ to my ol’ crazy self . . lol … wow!! Life feels good!!  There is so much to be thankful for .. aaaannnd before I get all ‘reflective’ lets get on with this post .. heehee

Its like a ritual for me to log on to email, facebook and my Blog (like finally!!) every evening, so I was just going though Snow’s most recent post and ‘tagged’ myself on to it .. so enjoy!!

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4?
Surfaces of the Wood Girth 100 – 200 mm .. lol I dunno whether a BQ (bill of quantity) would qualify as a book .. but it was the closest book-like thing to my right!!

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can & touch air?
Ouch!! Not air!! I just banged my hand in to the CPU!! Sheesh .. this quiz is already very crazy .. but I am liking it!!

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Khatron Ke Khiladi 2 on Colours – Fear Factor the Hindi Version!

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?
ummm .. I think around 9.15p.m. .. though to be honest it is very tempting to look at my wrist watch right this moment!!

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
Sheesh .. ok weird .. 9.50 p.m. .. hmm not that off then ..

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
Dad discussing tomorrow’s plan at site with chacha .. mum in the kitchen .. the whirring and beeping of the micro and of course the TV in the living room

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
In the evening .. had gone to open the gate for someone and met the neighbours so went around the corner kiosk to have a chat with the kiosk owner .. lol .. I love living in Kenya … I get to be an ‘Askari’ in my own house .. heehee

8. Before you started this Q&As, what did you look at?
errmmm the computer screen .. like duh!!!

9. What are you wearing?
My fave n most comfy attire – a black CK-iSikh hoodie, with my red ‘apna punjab 06′ Bhangra tee underneath and black with lemonish green stipes track bottoms .. and lets not forget the feet .. red Virgin Atlantic give-away sock and tan-coloured Bata doll shoes .. heehee .. it prolly sounds funny .. but as I said the most comfy clothes for a relaxing evening at home!!

10. When did you last laugh?
Right now when answering question # 9

11. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Loadza shelves lined with files and building blue prints .. any guesses where I am???

12. Seen anything weird lately?
Yes! This quiz for one!

13. What do you think of this quiz?
I think I have already expressed my views on that .. lol .. its weird but very much fun for someone getting ready for a grueling late night finishing office work!

14. What is the last film you saw?
Some Navratri-related film … the name I don’t quite remember.

15. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
What many would want I guess .. a trip around the World and help those who are not in a position to help themselves .. make a change! Actually I wouldn’t mind going to Mars as well

16. Tell me something about you that I dunno!
What DO you know in the first place? lol .. is it fair to answer a question with a question ??

17. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
I would change the attitude of taking up ‘fake personnas’ that we tend to hide under .. why can’t we just be real and stop ‘wearing and changing’ personalities like a snake sheds it’s skins .. ?

18. Do you like to Dance?
Yes!! Its the perfect way to express one’s emotions I believe.

19. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
After my great-grandma – Prem Kaur.

20. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
The same .. Prem Singh

21. Would you ever consider living abroad?
I think regardless of what we think .. to me living abroad is another name of life .. so technically speaking we are always ‘living abroad’ .. heehee

22. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
‘Welcome Bache .. Welcome back Home’