Sharks in the Tank

An interesting story about Japanese fishermen that was recently forwarded to me:

The Japanese have a great liking for fresh fish. But the waters close to
Japan have not held many fish for decades. So, to feed the Japanese
population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther
the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring back the fish. The longer it
took them to bring back the fish, the staler they grew.

The fish were not fresh and the Japanese did not like the taste. To solve
this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They
would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to
go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference
between fresh and frozen fish. And they did not like the taste of frozen
fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price. So, fishing companies installed
fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to
fin. After a little hashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired
and dull, but alive.

Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the
fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese
preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish. The fishing
industry faced an impending crisis! But today, it has got over that crisis
and has emerged as one of the most important trades in that country! How did
Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting
fish to Japan?

To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the
fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark
eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The
fish are challenged and hence are constantly on the move. And they survive
and arrive in a healthy state!They command a higher price and are most
sought-after. The challenge they face keeps them fresh!

Humans are no different. L. Ron Hubbard observed in the early 1950's: "Man
thrives, oddly enough, only in the presence of a challenging environment. "
George Bernard Shaw said: " Satisfaction is death!"

*Moral Of story - *

If you are steadily conquering challenges, you are happy. Your challenges
keep you energized. You are excited to try new solutions. You have fun. You
are alive! Instead of avoiding challenges, jump into them. Do not postpone a
task, simply because its challenging. Catch these challenges by their horns
and vanquish them. Enjoy the game. If your challenges are too large or too
numerous, do not give up. Giving up makes you tired. Instead, reorganize.
Find more determination, more knowledge, more help. Don't create success and
revel in it in a state of inertia. You have the resources, skills and
abilities to make a difference.

Put a shark in your tank and see how far you can really go!

Namo Namaha—Saluting the Unsung Heroes

As India makes its march into the 21st century as a confident nation, there have been many instances of successful people. Though if one follows the Indian media, the success stories are those of Bollywood stars, entrepreneurs who have made millions, and cricketers (despite the fact that they are loosing one series after another; the latest one being the series with England). True, they deserve credit for what they have achieved for India, and they have made us all proud (well, except for cricketers). But I want to dedicate this blog to the unsung heroes: social workers, scientists, IAS officers, artists, and others who may not have achieved the glory, but whose contributions are probably equally important. They have worked selflessly for their society and their nation without expectations of major monetary gains. I have listed a few of them with links.

Major Manish Pitambre, who lost his life while fighting hardcore terrorists in Kashmir. Alas, Indian media was busy with a terrorist's (Sanjay Dutt) acquittal
http://www.planetpowai.com/news/1208200704.htm

Shri Marappa Annamalai, Shri C G PATIL, Shri K N Shankara, Shri G RAVEENDRANATH, Shri PS VEERARAGHAVAN, Shri MKG NAIR, and other members of the ISRO team that built and put a GSLV satellite into the space in 13 months flat, a record of sorts.
http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/215171.html

Shri Raju Narayanaswamy, the IAS officer from Kerala who has shown a no-nonsense attitude towards illegal constructions.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/214374.html

Shri Chamu Krishna Sastry, founder of Samskrita Bharati, who has devoted his life to spread the language of Gods, Samskrita. This guy is on road 20 days a month!!! India’s ancient wisdom is mainly in Samskrita, and its spread is necessary for the preservation of our culture.
http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=3432

Shri E. Sreedharan, the Metro Man who built the Delhi Metro before target timelines.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Sreedharan

Shri Niraj Mohanka, Shri N.S. Rajaram, Shri Natwar Jha, and others for showing the continuity of Indian culture and its greatness http://www.goodnewsindia.com/index.php/Supplement/article/253/
http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/ancient/aryan/aryan_toi.html

Smt. Meenakshi and Shri Anshu Gupta, founder of the social-service organization, Goonj
http://www.goodnewsindia.com/index.php/Magazine/story/goonj/

And finally, the innumerable yogis and rishis who have brought the light of yoga, pranayamas, meditation, and ayurveda to the modern world.

Some of these people or organizations (like Samskrita Bharati) need monetary help to continue their work forward. All of us cannot be karma-yogis like them, but we can definitely contribute by donating to these organizations. Every bit helps!!!

The Apple IPhone - It Is Good Stuff

When it comes to gizmos and tech devices, I consider myself a technophobe. The reason being that after a while we become excessively dependent on these gizmos and they start controlling our lives way too much. But recently I happened to try the new IPhone and I just loved it. It has an awesome user interface with host of nice features. I particularly liked the touch-screen UI, and expect it will slowly become a standard for cellphones in the coming years.
I have two issues with the IPhone though. The first is that its screen is not smudge-free as is promised and the fingerprints are clearly visible on the screen after a while. It will be nice to have a technology that can render an IPhone screen smudge-proof, especially since some LCD screens and printing papers (the ones with matte finish) already possess the smudge-free properties. The other issue is that IPhone is not compatible with Microsoft Outlook. If IPhone can do that, I think it might pose a serious challenge to corporate mail services like Blackberry in the coming years.
However, all said and done, IPhone is good stuff, and I am looking forward to own it.