A boy plays on the glass at Thailand's first skywalk, on Nov. 18, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Friday, November 23, 2018
Ten Books You Must Read
Highly recommended books for you to form your own takes.
Find Your Element by Ken Robinson
Start With Why
Purple Cow by Seth Godin
Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Getting Things Done by David Allen
The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Zero to One by Peter Thiel
How Central Government has performed ?
Government website with performance dashboards! None of the previous governments could publish such a performance indicator.
*Open the link and see how our central government has performed in the last 48 months!!!!!*
Cityblog Events Corner: Rangasetu Fellowship
Maharashtra Cultural Centre has announced 'RangaSetu fellowship' for the artists in the fields of theatre (writing, direction, acting), visual arts (painting, sculpture, installation, etc.), music (vocal, instrument, composing), dance (classical dance styles, contemporary and experimental dance).
This is a yearly fellowship for the artists who wish to become professionals in these fields. The applications are called from all over from Maharashtra. A basic selection of 5 candidates from each field will be done and a panel of experts will have a special workshop with interviews to select final fellowship awardees. One artist from each field will be selected for the ‘RangaSetu’ fellowship for 2018-19.
v About the fellowship:
The selected fellowship candidate will be awarded Rs. 10,000/- per month (total Rs. One lakh, Twenty thousand). It is compulsory for each awardee to submit a trimonthly report of his/her creative work. Only after assessment of the report by a committee of experts, next instalment of the fellowship will be released. So, the total amount will be given in four instalments. At the end of the fellowship, it is compulsory for each awardee to give a performance or exhibition at Maharashtra Cultural Centre.
v Eligibility:
o Age 22 to 35
o Birth and education in Maharashtra / stay in Maharashtra for minimum 7 years
o Formal/ informal education and experience for minimum 7 years in the field of art
o Applicant should be currently active in the field of art
o Applicant should not be a fulltime employee/ business holder.
The applicants should post the printed application with an ID photograph and samples of previous work in the form of writings, photographs, video, audio, YouTube links, etc. It is also compulsory to send an application on email.
v The applicants should fill up the online application on the following link -
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdX578WhY0VVj7iAjnRLz-xGCHitpAx9g0-g_Z3H2qQqgpLaw/viewform?usp=pp_url
o The applicants should email the applications on the following email address -
Theatre: rangasetu.theatre@gmail.com
Visual arts: rangasetu.visual@gmail.com
Music: rangasetu.music@gmail.com
Dance: rangasetu.dance@gmail.com
v Address for sending print application with samples:
RangaSetu Fellowship
Maharashtra Cultural Centre, C/O Sudarshan Rangamanch,
421, Shaniwar Peth,
Pune 411030
v Applications should reach before 31st December 2018.
v Conditions:
o The application should be completely filled up.
o The applicant should not currently possess any sort of fellowship/ scholarship/ funding grant.
During the period of ‘RangaSetu’ fellowship, the awardee is not permitted to apply for/ receive any other fellowship/ scholarship/ funding grant.
o After accepting ‘RangaSetu’ fellowship, the awardee is not permitted to drop out for the period of one year. But Maharashtra Cultural Centre has full rights over discontinuing the fellowship if the work of the awardee is observed dissatisfactory or unreasonable by the experts’ committee.
This is a yearly fellowship for the artists who wish to become professionals in these fields. The applications are called from all over from Maharashtra. A basic selection of 5 candidates from each field will be done and a panel of experts will have a special workshop with interviews to select final fellowship awardees. One artist from each field will be selected for the ‘RangaSetu’ fellowship for 2018-19.
v About the fellowship:
The selected fellowship candidate will be awarded Rs. 10,000/- per month (total Rs. One lakh, Twenty thousand). It is compulsory for each awardee to submit a trimonthly report of his/her creative work. Only after assessment of the report by a committee of experts, next instalment of the fellowship will be released. So, the total amount will be given in four instalments. At the end of the fellowship, it is compulsory for each awardee to give a performance or exhibition at Maharashtra Cultural Centre.
v Eligibility:
o Age 22 to 35
o Birth and education in Maharashtra / stay in Maharashtra for minimum 7 years
o Formal/ informal education and experience for minimum 7 years in the field of art
o Applicant should be currently active in the field of art
o Applicant should not be a fulltime employee/ business holder.
The applicants should post the printed application with an ID photograph and samples of previous work in the form of writings, photographs, video, audio, YouTube links, etc. It is also compulsory to send an application on email.
v The applicants should fill up the online application on the following link -
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdX578WhY0VVj7iAjnRLz-xGCHitpAx9g0-g_Z3H2qQqgpLaw/viewform?usp=pp_url
o The applicants should email the applications on the following email address -
Theatre: rangasetu.theatre@gmail.com
Visual arts: rangasetu.visual@gmail.com
Music: rangasetu.music@gmail.com
Dance: rangasetu.dance@gmail.com
v Address for sending print application with samples:
RangaSetu Fellowship
Maharashtra Cultural Centre, C/O Sudarshan Rangamanch,
421, Shaniwar Peth,
Pune 411030
v Applications should reach before 31st December 2018.
v Conditions:
o The application should be completely filled up.
o The applicant should not currently possess any sort of fellowship/ scholarship/ funding grant.
During the period of ‘RangaSetu’ fellowship, the awardee is not permitted to apply for/ receive any other fellowship/ scholarship/ funding grant.
o After accepting ‘RangaSetu’ fellowship, the awardee is not permitted to drop out for the period of one year. But Maharashtra Cultural Centre has full rights over discontinuing the fellowship if the work of the awardee is observed dissatisfactory or unreasonable by the experts’ committee.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Starting Your Day on the Internet Is Damaging Your Brain
I’ve said before the first 3 hours of your day can dictate how your life turns out.
And this often begins with the very first thing that you decide to put
in your brain. You can either start you day with junk food for the brain
(the internet, distracting apps, etc) or you can start the day with
healthy food for the brain (reading, meditation, journaling, exercising,
etc). When you start the day with junk food for the brain, you put
yourself at a self imposed handicap that inhibits your ability to get
into flow and prevents you from doing deep work. When you start the day
with health food for your brain, the exact opposite happens.
Anytime I start my day with junk food for the brain, the quality of the day goes down. I’m less happy, focused, and productive. I spend a ton of time on the internet and don’t get any real work done. But if I start my day with health food for the brain, I find that my mood is better, I’m happier, more focused and productive.
But when it comes to our brain, we’re not nearly as mindful about the idea that we should treat the information we consume like the food we eat.
Anytime I start my day with junk food for the brain, the quality of the day goes down. I’m less happy, focused, and productive. I spend a ton of time on the internet and don’t get any real work done. But if I start my day with health food for the brain, I find that my mood is better, I’m happier, more focused and productive.
Why Junk Food for the Brain is Toxic
If you woke up in the morning, smoked a cigarette, ate 2 donuts, and washed it down with 2 cups of coffee, it wouldn’t be surprising that your physical performance is subpar. You’re probably not going to go out and run 2 miles or win a prize fight after that kind of breakfast.But when it comes to our brain, we’re not nearly as mindful about the idea that we should treat the information we consume like the food we eat.
“When you wake up you’re in this theta alpha state and you’re highly suggestible. Every like, comment, share, you get this dopamine fix and it’s literally rewiring your brain. What you’re smart device is doing especially if that’s the first thing you grab when you wake up and you’re in this alpha theta state, is rewiring your brain to be distracted.” — @Jim KwikIf we start our days by checking email, instagram, or the internet, we keep reinforcing the behavior of distraction until it becomes our new habit. Some of the smartest behavioral scientist and designers in the world have worked really hard to make sure that their products are addictive, habit forming, and only provide you with a temporary sense of fulfillment so the you are always jonesing for your next fix. As Mark Manson so brilliantly said, cell phones are the new cigarettes, And a significant amount of what’s on the internet is nothing more than junk food for the brain.
Why Healthy Food for the Brain is So Powerful
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
The New York Hustle of Amazon’s Second Headquarters
The city of hustlers got hustled. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the world’s richest man, is wealthy enough to write a ten-thousand-dollar check to every apartment nabber, Wall Street shouter, what-time-is-it-showtime subway dancer, part-time-student pension chaser, asylum-seeking stage actor, author-cum-barista, wrong-way delivery guy, business-call-conducting taxi driver—to each of the more than eight million people currently living in New York City. This week, though, when Bezos bestowed upon the city the dubious honor of becoming Amazon’s second “headquarters”—an honor it shares with two other cities, including its existing headquarters, in Seattle—it was New Yorkers who paid him. The city and state offered Amazon at least 1.5 billion dollars in tax breaks and other grants to settle in a place that has not, historically, struggled to attract newcomers. (“I really think this could be the thing that finally puts New York on the map,” James Corden joked.) When combined with existing incentives, Amazon might receive three billion dollars in breaks in New York alone, the equivalent of every city resident Venmoing $348 to Bezos.
Throughout a bidding process that saw dozens of cities vie to be the next location of a proposed hydra-headquarters, there were murmurs that Amazon might really just be looking for a regular office, and rebranding it a “headquarters” to corner those tax breaks. Those suspicions seemed validated when Amazon announced this week that its second headquarters would actually be two additional headquarters, one in Queens and one in Northern Virginia. (The company also announced plans to build a new Operations Center of Excellence in Nashville, which would employ five thousand people.)
Giridarshan Trek To Raigad
Which was the capital of "swarajya" in those days.
We are meeting on 24th November at Law college road's Wadeshwar Hotel at 10 p.m.
We will travel to Raigad Base village "Pachad" and rest there.
In morning after having breakfast will start ascending and after 2 hours ascend we will on the top then we see the fort (Bajar peth, Samadhi, old Mahal).
We will back to base village till 4 p.m and back to Pune till 10 p.m
Trek fee Rs. 900/-
Including:
* Travelling
* Breakfast
* Lunch
* Evening Tea/ coffee
You should bring:
* A plte, A bowl (Do not bring disposable plates)
* 2 water bottles
* Torch
* Extra pair of clothes
* Shoes (compulsory)
Booking till 23rd November.
For more information or Booking contact/ whatsapp on 8007290002
We are meeting on 24th November at Law college road's Wadeshwar Hotel at 10 p.m.
We will travel to Raigad Base village "Pachad" and rest there.
In morning after having breakfast will start ascending and after 2 hours ascend we will on the top then we see the fort (Bajar peth, Samadhi, old Mahal).
We will back to base village till 4 p.m and back to Pune till 10 p.m
Trek fee Rs. 900/-
Including:
* Travelling
* Breakfast
* Lunch
* Evening Tea/ coffee
You should bring:
* A plte, A bowl (Do not bring disposable plates)
* 2 water bottles
* Torch
* Extra pair of clothes
* Shoes (compulsory)
Booking till 23rd November.
For more information or Booking contact/ whatsapp on 8007290002
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Warren Buffett's 2 List Strategy
How to Maximize Your Focus and Master Your Priorities
With well over 50 billion dollars to his name, Warren Buffett is
consistently ranked among the wealthiest people in the world. Out of all
the investors in the 20th century, Buffett was the most successful.
Given his success, it stands to reason that Buffett has an excellent understanding of how to spend his time each day. From a monetary perspective, you could say that he manages his time better than anyone else.
And that's why the story below, which was shared directly from Buffett's employee to my good friend Scott Dinsmore, caught my attention.
Let's talk about the simple 3-step productivity strategy that Warren Buffett uses to help his employees determine their priorities and actions.
Here's how it works…
STEP 1: Buffett started by asking Flint to write down his top 25 career goals. So, Flint took some time and wrote them down. (Note: you could also complete this exercise with goals for a shorter timeline. For example, write down the top 25 things you want to accomplish this week.)
STEP 2: Then, Buffett asked Flint to review his list and circle his top 5 goals. Again, Flint took some time, made his way through the list, and eventually decided on his 5 most important goals.
Note: If you're following along at home, pause right now and do these first two steps before moving on to Step 3.
STEP 3: At this point, Flint had two lists. The 5 items he had circled were List A and the 20 items he had not circled were List B.
Flint confirmed that he would start working on his top 5 goals right away. And that's when Buffett asked him about the second list, “And what about the ones you didn't circle?”
Flint replied, “Well, the top 5 are my primary focus, but the other 20 come in a close second. They are still important so I’ll work on those intermittently as I see fit. They are not as urgent, but I still plan to give them a dedicated effort.”
To which Buffett replied, “No. You’ve got it wrong, Mike. Everything you didn’t circle just became your Avoid-At-All-Cost list. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top 5.”
That said, getting rid of wasteful items and decisions is relatively easy. It's eliminating things you care about that is difficult. It is hard to prevent using your time on things that are easy to rationalize, but that have little payoff. The tasks that have the greatest likelihood of derailing your progress are the ones you care about, but that aren't truly important.
Every behavior has a cost. Even neutral behaviors aren’t really neutral. They take up time, energy, and space that could be put toward better behaviors or more important tasks. We are often spinning in motion instead of taking action.
This is why Buffett's strategy is particularly brilliant. Items 6 through 25 on your list are things you care about. They are important to you. It is very easy to justify spending your time on them. But when you compare them to your top 5 goals, these items are distractions. Spending time on secondary priorities is the reason you have 20 half-finished projects instead of 5 completed ones.
Eliminate ruthlessly. Force yourself to focus. Complete a task or kill it.
The most dangerous distractions are the ones you love, but that don't love you back.
James Clear
Given his success, it stands to reason that Buffett has an excellent understanding of how to spend his time each day. From a monetary perspective, you could say that he manages his time better than anyone else.
And that's why the story below, which was shared directly from Buffett's employee to my good friend Scott Dinsmore, caught my attention.
Let's talk about the simple 3-step productivity strategy that Warren Buffett uses to help his employees determine their priorities and actions.
The Story of Mike Flint
Mike Flint was Buffett's personal airplane pilot for 10 years. (Flint has also flown four US Presidents, so I think we can safely say he is good at his job.) According to Flint, he was talking about his career priorities with Buffett when his boss asked the pilot to go through a 3-step exercise.Here's how it works…
STEP 1: Buffett started by asking Flint to write down his top 25 career goals. So, Flint took some time and wrote them down. (Note: you could also complete this exercise with goals for a shorter timeline. For example, write down the top 25 things you want to accomplish this week.)
STEP 2: Then, Buffett asked Flint to review his list and circle his top 5 goals. Again, Flint took some time, made his way through the list, and eventually decided on his 5 most important goals.
Note: If you're following along at home, pause right now and do these first two steps before moving on to Step 3.
STEP 3: At this point, Flint had two lists. The 5 items he had circled were List A and the 20 items he had not circled were List B.
Flint confirmed that he would start working on his top 5 goals right away. And that's when Buffett asked him about the second list, “And what about the ones you didn't circle?”
Flint replied, “Well, the top 5 are my primary focus, but the other 20 come in a close second. They are still important so I’ll work on those intermittently as I see fit. They are not as urgent, but I still plan to give them a dedicated effort.”
To which Buffett replied, “No. You’ve got it wrong, Mike. Everything you didn’t circle just became your Avoid-At-All-Cost list. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top 5.”
The Power of Elimination
I believe in minimalism and simplicity. I like getting rid of waste. I think that eliminating the inessential is one of the best ways to make life easier, make good habits more automatic, and make you grateful for what you do have.That said, getting rid of wasteful items and decisions is relatively easy. It's eliminating things you care about that is difficult. It is hard to prevent using your time on things that are easy to rationalize, but that have little payoff. The tasks that have the greatest likelihood of derailing your progress are the ones you care about, but that aren't truly important.
Every behavior has a cost. Even neutral behaviors aren’t really neutral. They take up time, energy, and space that could be put toward better behaviors or more important tasks. We are often spinning in motion instead of taking action.
This is why Buffett's strategy is particularly brilliant. Items 6 through 25 on your list are things you care about. They are important to you. It is very easy to justify spending your time on them. But when you compare them to your top 5 goals, these items are distractions. Spending time on secondary priorities is the reason you have 20 half-finished projects instead of 5 completed ones.
Eliminate ruthlessly. Force yourself to focus. Complete a task or kill it.
The most dangerous distractions are the ones you love, but that don't love you back.
James Clear
Cityblog Special: Rare Photo of Singers
A rare photo of all the singers together in the early years of their singing careers! Can you spot (front row) Zohra Jan, Rajkumari, Amirbai Karnatki, Hamida Banu, Geeta Roy (later Geeta Dutt), Lata Mangeshkar, Meena Kapoor, (and standing behind) Sailesh Mukherjee, Talat Mahmood, Dilip Dholakia, Mohd. Rafi, Shiv Dayal Batish, G.M. Durrani, Kishore Ganguli (later Kishore Kumar), and Mukesh.
Monday, November 19, 2018
Cityblog Feature: Nayakgiri: Currrent Affairs Roundup November Rains
November Rains
The change of Season sets a reflective tone all over. As the winter sets in the northern hemisphere, the mixed emotions prevail over somethings that have gone past and somethings to look forward especially as we have reached penultimate page of 2018 Calender. Grey images in the northern part of globe add to the blues as depicted in the great Guns and Roses Song, but same chill add ‘world famous’ romantic and invigorating spirits (Gulabi Thandi) in Pune. Festivities of Ganapati, Navratri , Dusshera and Diwali done and dusted with we now head towards year end festivities after this small hiatus.
Festivities of Diwali was marked with the debate on crackers. There is a repeated pattern to kind of stigmatize Indian festivals like Diwali branding it as a source of pollution while same crackers turn into festivities for year end. Dahi handi and Ganpati to create noise pollution while ignoring all political noise, honking, marriage processions etc. Holi being source of water wastage while allowing swimming pools, loose taps to waste water 24 by 7. That does not mean we should not tamper with traditions and improve them but not through consorted agenda to shame these festivals while being silent on such flaws on other festivals. This modernization has to be done by sensible leadership, internal examples and awareness. No court can have any say in matter of faith his unless actual rituals negatively affect human life and well being, safety and legal violations financially. This awareness resulted in less pollution this year. But forget this noise, lets salute Diwali Traditions which ensure creativity through rituals like Rangoli, Illumination. Food and Miniature forts. Diwali also creates awareness of cleanliness. New trends like Diwali early morning events and concerts, Deepotsav, Tourism/Trekking are in thing in Diwali and this Diwali was no exception.
Mention of courts lead to another serious issue which has resulted in creating questions over credibility of this August institution. Apart from Indian Armed forces it was the only institution in India which had respect and which was russet by masses to have sense and ensure that things are above the board in India. But now with some curious judgments as in Sabrimala, Crackers, and some very frivolous issues, really that credibility is at stake. As a systemic fault this institution is overloaded but that requires sense of prioritization prevail which has not as shown in midnight hearing of Afzhal Pardon, out of turn hearing in Setalwaad bail, and unnecessary delay in Haywood dispute. One feels that all these years we were made to believe in efficacy of collegium system to ensure unbiased judgement but it seems most severe form of manipulation we had been living in past regimes. With new school of thoughts having power in center and most parts of India, these fractures are exposed. With Media in their pockets , past regime had made us to believing in the fairness of system. Only time will let us know but we should have concrete plan to restore the credibility of Judiciary.
Sunday, November 18, 2018
The 21 Most Important Questions Of Your Life
But that goes against everything you learn in school where you’re rewarded for the quality of your answers.
However, that’s not what you should judge a person on. Instead, look at the quality of a person’s questions, like Voltaire famously said:
“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.”And one of my friends who’s a consultant at one of the big three management consultancies, once told me that, “my job is to be ignorant.” He was referring to Peter Drucker, arguably one of the greatest management consultants of all time, who said:
“My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions.”The right question at the right time can spark the right answer that changes your life. I’ve experienced that myself over the last few years.
And I’ve formed a habit of asking myself questions all the time. In this article, I want to share 21 questions across four areas that have the potential to change everything about what you do. Let’s get started.
Life In General
Let’s start with a few yes/no questions to assess how you feel. Like all the questions in this article, I answer them in my journal. I have simply made a note in my note-taking app with these 21 questions.A few times a month, I open the note and look at the questions so I’m frequently reminded by the questions). I randomly answer a few at a time. I challenge you to use it in the same way. But you can also answer everything chronologically if you prefer.
1. Am I happy?
2. Am I grateful?
3. Do I like my job?
4. Do I feel good?
5. Do I spend enough time on my education?
The reason why these quick questions are important is that you want to adjust your strategy if you answer no to any one of them.
Often, we go through life unhappy, ungrateful, and feeling bad for way too long. If something is wrong in your life, acknowledge it quickly, and then find a solution.
These questions are not only about yourself. When you’re happy and in a good mood, you can lift the spirits of the people in your life. That’s why I focus on fixing my own happiness first. Otherwise, you can’t make your spouse, family, or others happy.
See those first five questions as a quick assessment. Be honest. There’s no one to impress. Think about how you feel.
Recently I read a comment from someone who said that people who think about themselves are selfish — and that we get a selfish world if everyone behaves that way. That’s a very limited and ignorant perspective.
When you take care of yourself and make sure you’re happy, you’ll have a good life. You won’t be jealous of others. You’ll smile every day. And most importantly, you’ll have the resources and time to help others.
That’s how the world works. Success breeds success. Misery breeds misery.
Career
Let’s move to an important area of our lives. You spend most of your waking hours at work. So it’s crucial that you get satisfaction from it.In fact, doing work that you enjoy is more important than “hygiene” factors like income, job safety, resources, location, etc. It’s one of the lessons I’ve learned from Clayton Christensen’s book, How Will You Measure Your Life?
That’s why I regularly ask myself:
6. What new things am I learning? This is the most important thing for me. When I learn, I feel like I’m moving forward. When I’m moving forward, I feel good.
7. Where is my career going? You need a vision. If you don’t have one — create one.
8. How meaningful is my work? I want to feel satisfied with my work at the end of the day.
9. What can I do that I’m currently not doing? I’m always looking for things to do around the office and at home. That’s how you learn new things.
10. How can I get better at what I do? When you get better at what you do, you can make a bigger impact and solve bigger problems. That gives you more satisfaction. And also more income.
Business
As an entrepreneur, I need to take care of my business. Without it, there will be no income and no money to pay our team.Sure, you can raise capital or take out a loan. But I believe that you should always be able to make money as a business.
It’s simple: If your business doesn’t generate money, it’s not a business — it’s a hobby.
To make sure we generate income, we ask:
11. What is the biggest pain point that our clients/customers have? We only solve actual problems that other people or businesses have.
12. What is the ideal solution in the eyes of our clients/customers? Give people what they truly want.
13. How can we give away more value without charging more? Over-deliver.
14. Where can we reach our potential clients/customers? Go where your audience is instead of trying it the other way around.
15. How can we decrease our costs? We always operate our business with low costs. We negotiate prices of everything — even simple things like office supplies. That’s better for us and our customers.
Productivity
All the above things sound great on paper, right? But they are nothing without execution. You and I both know that.But there’s still a difference between how effective we are. That comes down to one thing: How GOOD are you at executing?
These questions can help you to figure that out:
16. What’s my #1 priority right now?
17. How can I achieve my #1 priority faster? It’s not about being impatient. It’s about pushing yourself to think of creative ways to get faster results.
18. What tasks should I stop doing? We all waste time. Identify those tasks and stop doing them.
19. What tasks am I procrastinating? Use the time you’re saving by answering the previous question for this. We all avoid important tasks — things that we should be doing. Things that we avoid.
20. What questions am I not asking myself? There are a lot of things in the universe that we don’t know that we don’t know. So always try to look for the unknown. Keep an open mind.
There are a lot of questions that I’m not asking myself. That’s why I will keep questioning everything — all the time.
One thing I do know is that life has more meaning when you give more. That’s why I want to close with this:
21. How can I help one person today?
A simple gesture is enough. Give your family member a call. Cheer your friend up. Start by helping the people in your life. And then ask them to pay it forward.
You see, it all starts with questions. Just don’t be surprised if you receive everything you ask for like Maya Angelou once said:
“Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!”Darius Foroux
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