Climbing up and other secrets...

Who's idea was it?

I asked that question on the 8th.

Mine

Mullah Luis responded on the 10th

Why man?

Because by walking up the 27 story we could burn 250 calories in 10 minutes which takes 45 minutes running on a treadmil. Also the effect of gravity lessens  as we walk up making it easy....

But we get less oxygen as we go up putting more pressure on heart, one engineer responded.

Ever since Mullah's FPN left him for a jail bird he has become body conscious. He joined  the Georgia Tech gym for a month, dropped out due to non availability of time  and now came up with this idea of hiking 540 steps of our office building twice a day.  He says that anyone  in jail can build a good physique, as all you are required to do is eat healthy food , play and sleep. Apparently that guy knows how to use his time well by exercising, which will pay dividends when he gets out of jail.

Me: Whom are you trying to impress now that she is gone?

Mullah: Plaintiff number 2.....the next one....

Mullah now lovingly calls his ex wife,  the plaintiff number 1. 

So, this has become our ritual now a days. We walk up 27 stories,  twice a day. I don't go for the second round, as I am not over weight and see no competition to my domains from a jail or any other bird. 

Friends can make any idiotic activity fun. We meet at 10 sharp in the lobby and climb 540 storeys with regular stops on 10, 16,  and 22nd floor. Mullah reminds us every day that he is looking for a day when he will be able to walk 27 story without taking a break.

This mundane activity taught me two important lessons of life. The first one is, after 11 story, height and number of steps to climb don't matter.  The second lesson makes it clear that, it is tough to GO DOWN after CLIMBING UP. The leg muscles get so worked up after climbing that going down even a single step becomes a "painful" task.... 

Oh well...

PS: For lunch, Mullah orders a quarter pounder with extra cheese and large fries.  And since he is calorie conscious now,  he never forgets to order large diet coke for drink.

....but that  is another story!!

Entreprenuership Development....

I was to deliver a lecture on entrepreneurship development at the AMP Job fair being held at my alma mater, Saboo Siddik College of Engineering April 11-12, 2009. Logistics of delivering an online lecture did not work out, so here I am, showing my entrepreneurial spirits by posting the slides for those that might have felt disappointed. Cheers.....

Jaane woh kaise log the ?

Till Jefferson County do us apart...

Mullah Luis filed for divorce in the Jefferson Counry superior court last week. 

It was filed as a " no fault" divorce. No fault divorce has its origins in the Russian Revolution of 1917. It found its way to the US when President Reagan signed the family Act of 1969, enabling couples to separate in civilized manner citing only irreconcilable differences as the main cause.

I was concerned about his well being, anticipated him breaking down and upset for some time. I kept in touch with him, but to my surprise found him to be in a better frame of mind. I asked him why is he not upset, to which he responded" Marriages end long before they are certified dead on arrival in the County court. My marriage ended long time ago, and what I did was just a formalization of that event". 

It is funny thing about life as you don't know when you fall in love with someone but you do know the exact moment when you fell out of it....

I don't want to judge the reasons for Mulah's FPN to leave him for a "jail bird". I wanted to talk to her but Mullah requested that he does not want any mediation and he is done with the marriage.

So the question is when should a man / woman try to save marriage?

Mullah says the time to save marriage is when you are "really" married. Anything past that, is an exercise in futility. Trying to save a marriage after it ended in ones heart is a selfish act of maximizing profits and cutting losses.

What is bothering Mullah these days, is the fact that she is turning over all the symbols and memories from the past for him to handle. Mullah is more angry about Oscar and Kathy, her dogs, that she is leaving for Mullah to put up for adoption. 

Mullah thinks that she does not want to take this decision of getting rid of dogs by herself, so she is passing her guilt to him. Now, Mullah would have to get over a failed marriage as well as take the decision to put dogs for adoption... 

Apna Manohar Parsaad Yadav too recalled how his ex girl friend returned all his letters and photographs, before she embarked on her journey with a new man. She too passed her guilt for him to handle.....alone!

This is how it is in the life lane....

Common-sense-ism...

With market heading south in since August of last year, Mullah Luis and I have lost a lot of money in the market like milions of others around the world. We bitch about the Wall Street greed and how investors were taken for a ride by bunch of over smart people.

In order to get back in black we try to do our bit by advancing the cause of humanity. Everyday we try to fix the economy and the world supply-denmand disruption at lunch time. This morning he and I began saving the world a little early. Here are a few lines from our email exchanges that I found to be revealing (about Mulah's personality). 

It should be a good read for those that wonder what an average blue blooded repub American thinks about the state of economy and the root causes for it. Enjoy...

Mullah: I don’t know what else to say. Human Beings have Technological problems. Not political, not social. Technology is what will keep us moving forward as a species. Politicians think they can solve problems by making laws, when in fact, only technology can save us. Technology will let us leave the middle east alone, technology will allow us to work remotely from anywhere in the world.

We’ll see what happens next. If everything is going to be good, then why are we still losing jobs by the hundreds of thousands every month? The economy has to contract and shed the fluff that has been built in to the system via financials since the 1990’s.

Me: What are you talking about man? I think human beings have “only and only social problems”, and all these ills are a manifestation of it…the sooner we fix social/humanitarian problems the better-off we would be…

Mullah: You are such a socialist! LOL!

Me: Humanist……I can live with that…What is up for lunch? I have to go to the post office at Peachtree Center...

Mullah: Anyone can be a humanist…even a capitalist. Socialism breeds complacency, there should be no limits placed on how far someone can take their life. So long as they don’t negatively affect someone else’s life.

The government should be around to protect people’s freedoms and liberty. The government should insure that the companies of this country are following guidelines too. They shouldn’t be left to run wild and then expect the government to bail them out. That is what we did because we are no longer capitalist; we no longer follow the constitution. We have some form a fascism and that is very bad!

Me: How about following “Humanism”, which can bring the best from all us? Because every “ism” has some negatives. Let us work on something that combines best of all. What u described can be a good start…

The future is here...

Thank You!

Maharashtra College

Ramesh Kumar, Butiya Manoj Ramesh, Siddiki Rubina, Mansori Heena, sheikh Farina, Ansari Nida, Ansari Taiyaba, Mahroz M. Mohsin, Gulshan M. Qauyyom, Zakiya Bano M. Zakariya, Khan Naziya Parveen M. Sharif, Sana Anwar Khan, Noor Afsha, Ansari Razia, Sarvat Qureshi, Ansari Lubna, Shaikh Nazreen, Momin Firdaus, Ansari Nazish Naaz, Shaikh Tabassum Mhod Hanif, sheikh Arshiya G. Mohammad, Shaikh F shafi, ansari Yasmeen samiullah, Butiya Manjoj Ramesh, A Aqub, sheikh M Tahir, Ansari Heena Kausar Mushtaq, sayed azhar ali Qamar Ali, Mohammad Ahmad Siddieque, Imran Tamboli, Zafar Sayed, , Fakhri Khusnod, Zakariya A. Ukai, Abdul Hameed, Mohd Nafees, shamsuddin, Masood Alam siddiki, Ansari Nazreen, Shaikh Tassudduk, Khan Asma, Sheikh Saeeda,Khan Zainab, Kazi Rumana, Ansari Shama, Ansari samina, Ansari Saniya, Ansari shaista, Sahaikh Zakerun, Fehmida Moinuddin, Sayed Tabassum, Qureshi Saima, Khan Mehvish, Khan shaheen, Khan Mehjabeen, Ansari Sidra, Ansari Umaira, Ansari Naziya, Ansari sadiya, Ansari Afreen, Saifi Ali Varsh, Khan Ashraf.

SNDT - Ghatkopar

Rukhsar Khan, Vaishali Cureaw, Hetal Zadbuke, Amulya Raskar, Prachi Pawar, Praneli Vd Patahk, Simi John, Madumita Biswas, Mohini Lokhande, Monica Kene, Chetna Marvane, sneha Sharma, Kalpana Muddilyar, Sumathi Mooopnar, Preeti Sakpal, Monika Sharma, Sameen Mushtaq,, Jyoti sikarwar, Kusum Gupta, Hafsa Farooqui.

And...

Rashmi Bansal, Piyul Mukherjee, Pia Verbic, Prof M.Z Shahid, Prof Siraj Chowgle, Prof Majid Ansari, Prof Ilyas Shauqui, Principal Shakeel Urzak, Prof Waheed.

Faizan Sayed, Shagufta Farouqui, Z. Sayed, P.N. Sayed, Altaf Paloba, Nasir Surti, Late Siddik Divecha....

Think about it....

If all the insects were to disappear from the earth, within 50 years all life on earth would end. 
If human beings were to disappear, all forms of life on earth would flourish' - Jonas Salk

Threshold India 2009 - Slide Show

A crew from UTV was at hand to record history ( at least historical moment from our perspective!). They put together a Republic Day special edition of Cracking Careers and telecast it 6 times between January 24th and 25th, 2009. For those of you that might have missed it, here it is again...

Please realize that we may not see some of the groups, but all the 8 groups returned with a profit and had interesting stories to share. For details about other groups and more photographs, please visit Kashif-ul-Huda's Two Circles.

Get inspired and join us please..it's about time!

Adios MD...

I am still grieving for a dear friend and will continue to do for a long time. It was a heart shattering shocker. They say, with each friend you die a little...a part of me died this Saturday!

A friend, trying to get me out of this phase, explained well. She said , "We all are headed that way. You were not here 50 years ago, nor would you be here 50 years from now. Do the best you can".....

So, let me do the best I can...

ps: I used to call him MD. MD as in Doctor for knowing answers, to life's most of the problems...

Why now?

Siddik bhai,

There is a Quran recitation going on in Mumbai as I write this, so that your soul may find peace in heaven. It took me more than a day to realize you are really really gone.

The question that is botherring me is why now my friend? Why now? Why did you not die when we were expecting it in December of 2007.

After speaking to the doctors and finding out what ails you, I had planned a day to honor you, by doing whatever you wanted. I asked everyone to show up in the morning. The plan was to rent a big van, and go wherever your heart desired. Do whatever you wanted to do...

No one showed up that morning...

We still went ahead with the plan. I took you with me wherever you asked. I  just wanted to see you happy, for when I returned to India in December of 2008, I  felt I would not see you. I  turned my cell phone off, told my family to forget about making any plans, and looked at the world with your eyes that day....

It was sad to see you unable to walk without my help, unable to even open the door of the car on your own. You had stopped riding your bike long time ago. It was a sad sight as this was the man who taught bike riding to many.

You wanted to do three things, and the last one was to see a Bollywood masala shoot out film. You, being a typical mumbai street wala, were a cheerleader for these kinds of movies. I hated it. I lied to you when you asked me of my opinion at the end of the film.

It was your day, whatever you said and did was suppose to be great, as I was not going to see you again....I knew.

But you proved me wrong. You came back from the dead. It was like a dream to see you riding your bike again this December. I thought those damn doctors were wrong and was happy about it. With it, came back the days of fun and nights of sitting by the footpaths of Mumbai discussing everything under the moon. Those cycles of chai, stories after stories of all kinds and colors never used to end.

This time though, I reminded everyone of how I devoted a complete day to fulfill your last wishes and what we did. This time I was honest, and told you how I hated every minute of that movie and had developed a headache. You laughed hard and appreciated my friendship...and more.

And now I hear you are gone in a hurry.

I am crying as I write this, but tell me Siddik Bhai, who the fuck is going to tell me why now? You dropped me home on your bike just two weeks ago , in the wee hours of morning and everything was cool. Why are you dead now? This time you were suppose to live my friend , this time you were going to be with me for a long time...

Why now?

THRESHOLD India 2009

Florida based Kashif-ul-Huda, of Two Circles.net helped us in spreading the word out. Please visit his web site for a detailed account of the fun we all had in hosting this watershed event of our lives!

As someone said "the best way to predict a future is to invent it!"
God willing, We will...

THRESHOLD India 2009 - On UTVi

Threshold India 2009 show on UTVi this weekend

I am back in the good ol' US of A and am too caught up with life. Please watch TUVi for what transpired on the D day....More later!

Folks,

The session where all the wonderful young students of Maharashtra College, Mumbai as well as SNDT, Mumbai proved they definitely have the entrepreneurial spirit, and was covered by the media, is to be telecast on Saturday 24 th Jan as well as Sunday 25th Jan, on Channel UTVi. 

Please spread the word and look forward to many more of you join in here on the Orkut community!

Details are :

Program Name : CRACKING CAREERS

Channel : UTVi
(a business channel. For those taking Tata Sky, it comes on channel number 541)

Saturday, 24 January 2009 : Telecast timings are : 8 am; 3.30 pm and 6 pm

Sunday 25 January 2009 : Telecast timings are 8.30 am; 1.30 pm and 5 pm


Effectively, will be telecast 6 times over the weekend...Dont miss it!

Raat Yun...

Raat Yun Dil main teri Khoyi hui Yaad Aayi..

Jaise Veerane main Chupke se Bahar aa Jaye

Jaise Seharaon Main Haule se Chale Baad-e-Naseem

Jaise Beemar ko Be Wajah Qarar Aa Jaye...

No generation gap here....

Before I began my session with students I asked them about the challenges they are facing today. The girls were very forthcoming with information and listed these issues:

- Discrimination

- Lack of oportunities

- Communalism

- Poverty

- Polution

- Population

- Corruption

- Lack of civic Sense

- Reservation

- Violence

- Second class citizen status

- Terrorism

- Lack of infrastructure

- Unemployment

- Illiteracy

- Inequality between men and women

- Caste Barriers

If someone had asked us this question during my college days I am pretty sure we would have spelled out the same issues. That means two decades have passed but the issues have not. Two generations, two completely different world....yet same old issues.

Certainly India can do better then that.....

For days like these....

This Indian vacation is turning out to be the most productive and memorable one for me and for a few more. For me because with the help of friends I could put into place a process, that,  executed well could help in creating the next generation of  committed citizens and perhaps, business leaders. For a few more because their excitement tells me that they are having a ball on this journey that began this morning at Maharashtra College, Mumbai.

I had invited a bunch of student leaders from Maharashtra college to initiate a dialogue on entrepreneurship in the Muslim community.  A sweet little relative from SNDT, brought her entire class to the forum and it became an SNDT v/s Maharashtra College competition. I would have been happy with  a group of 30/40 students. Instead,  I ended up  with twice  that size.

My young guests were in for a surprise when they were divided into 8 groups (the original plan was to have only 5 ) and offered RS 1000 each. It was my heartfelt request that with the help of a few tips and insights, they had the freedom to do whatever they chose to do with the money. All I wanted in return was for them to engage in some creative brainstorming to generate ideas, utilize their talents in making the money grow.  It was impressed on them that it was not important  if they made 50 paisa or 200 rupees,  or even if they lost their allotted amount,  as long as they made a sincere and honest effort in going through the process.

Their enthusiasm and energy took over the classroom and spread like magic. Some of them had doubts - could  this offer be real, others accepted it  immediately as  a challenge,   eager to prove themselves. It was a great sight to see a gamut of emotions run through the faces. I loved every minute of it.

What was amazing about the session is that they expressed  their dreams and aspirations,  their fears and apprehensions. The raw plans, their own fearless predictions of all that they could do, to me, was a sign that these were the stars of the future of our nation, as we move ahead in life with 8% GDP growth all around us. 

My guests have since gone back to pursue this challenge, and intend to return triumphant next week. Our prayers are that they all succeed - not just in making some money. But in learning about themselves, about team work, their sense of self-worth, their so far un-capitalized talents, and about turning unrealized needs into awesome business opportunities. 

I look forward to next week. To see what this new generation is made up of and what plans /proposals they will bring forward.  

For me, the biggest challenge is to find a way to sustain this momentum, to keep it going and involve more potential leaders. 

 It was a  day straight from Abraham Maslow's book.  I intend to have many more days like today. 

God willing....

Mullah is lonely - again!

Mullah’s longest running FPN left him for another man!

It was a shocker! Even though Mullah says he saw it coming and that he is prepared to deal with it.

I am not sure if one can be prepared to handle loneliness. A loss of companionship from one’s life is too much to be prepared for. How in the world can you bring back those subtle communication that come with knowing someone for a long time? How could you be prepared for a lonely cup of coffee on a Sunday morning?

Mullah and his FPN left for Florida the same day. While Mullah went to Miami to be with his childhood friends, she went to Panama City to be with her new found love. 

I have been fortunate enough to have experienced all kinds of emotions and circumstances that a well lived life can offer, those experiences came handy. I tried to make sure Mullah Kept working on his relationship to make it last as long as possible. When everything failed I made sure he looks forward to a brighter tomorrow. There is no way I am going to let a buddy stay depressed under my watch.....kiya apun jo kar saka!

What Mullah cannot get over is the fact that she made him spent $4500 for breast augmentation which would benefit the desires and aspirations of a jailbird with bunch of tattoos on his body. She kept insisting that she went plastic for Mullah only, but now it’s clear that Mullah was a plan B for this woman. I used to joke with Mullah that $4500 can get him a agreeable-wafa-parwar wife from India that may not require additional help from plastics as well!

My major concern at this time is to make sure Mullah does not slip into depression. He is a great friend with an awesome sense of humor and it will be a real loss if he falls apart.

“ kuch to majboriyan rahi hongi”

Yun hi koi be wafa nahi hota!”

BTW if you are someone who believes that “ a day without humor is a day wasted” and if you are a well read, well spoken person with interests in cinema, arts and things un-usual, Mullah would like to hear from you. Also an ability to stay “all-natural” with no love for things plastics would be an asset.

Tum mujhe....

Bhook aur piyaas ki maari hui is duniya main....

Detroit Three...