Some Thoughts on the Lost Art of Reading Aloud

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/opinion/16sat4.html?em

Excerpts -

But listening aloud, valuable as it is, isn’t the same as reading aloud. Both require a great deal of attention. Both are good ways to learn something important about the rhythms of language. But one of the most basic tests of comprehension is to ask someone to read aloud from a book. It reveals far more than whether the reader understands the words. It reveals how far into the words — and the pattern of the words — the reader really sees.

The words are not mere words. They are the breath and mind, perhaps even the soul, of the person who is reading.

You can easily make the argument that reading silently is an economic artifact, a sign of a new prosperity beginning in the early 19th century and a new cheapness in books. The same argument applies to listening to books on your iPhone. But what I would suggest is that our idea of reading is incomplete, impoverished, unless we are also taking the time to read aloud.

Time management vs Priority Management

"Don't be a time manager, be a priority manager. Cut your major goals into bite-sized pieces. Each small priority or requirement on the way to ultimate goal become a mini goal in itself." - Denis Waitley

The above quote also fits into "Efficient" vs "Effective" discussion that I found in
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/tim_ferriss_smash_fear_learn_anything.html
(mentioned in blog - 'Learning Anything by trying different learning methods')

You get diseases not from what you eat, but what is eating you

Cleansing the digestive system - http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1392571,curpg-1.cms

This is important because - “You get diseases not from what you eat, but what is eating you”

From the blog - http://hirenshah.wordpress.com/ -
"Some four five years back, my yoga teacher apprised me of a yogic kriya that I was unaware of. It is called laghu shankh prakshalan. He told me that just as a car required servicing twice a year, one was better off with internal cleansing twice a year- at the beginning of winter and summer season. He further stated what I had read in one of Dale Carnegie’s books years back “You get diseases not from what you eat but what is eating you”. The yoga teacher said that in today’s world it was psychosomatic;
could be both ways supplementing each other. Stress could be causing digestion problems and even vice-versa. Reminded me of the percussion instrument dholak which is banged from both sides. Though done through the excretory system, the basic objective is to clean the digestive system. It is also supposed to be very good for a glowing skin."

Online Education

University of People offers free online education. Current courses being offered are Business Administration and Computer Science.

Lamar University in Beamount, Texas offers graduate education courses for just $412.50 apiece, which means a student could get a master's for as little as $4950 in 18 months.

Academic Earth - http://academicearth.org/ is the Hulu for education.

http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/index.php - IIT Education Online

Edit - Jan 28 2010 -
http://oyc.yale.edu/ - Open Yale Courses provides free and open access to a selection of introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University.

FlatWorldKnowledge.com

Edit - Mar 21,2010 - http://getahead.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/19/career-get-a-foreign-degree-in-india1.htm

Money has no memory. Experience has.

My friend UK forwarded this today morning and it seemed very nice, so I want to store it here.

Money has no memory. Experience has. You will never know what the total cost of your education was, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now, you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother's life or the
life you get to live with the just born. You won't remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory. Experience has.

Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty, times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn't know from where the tomorrow will come... life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full... sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown. There wasn't enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all.

The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support... The first time she said 'yes' and it was two years since you proposed... The first cry... the first steps... the first word... the first kiss... all of your child... The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter gave you... The first award... the first public appreciation... the first stage performance... And the list is endless... Experiences, with timeless memory... No denying that anything that's material cost money, but the fact remains the cost of the experience will be forgotten, but the experience never.

So, what if it's economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not on a pilgrimage, at least to the local temple. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn't cost money to lie down or to take a loved one onto your lap. Nice time to train the employees, create leadership availability and be ready for the wonderful times when they arrive. Hey! Aspects like your health, knowledge development and spiritual growth are not economy dependent.

Time will pass... economy will revive... currency will soon be in current... and in all this; I don't want you to look back and realize you did nothing but stayed in gloom. Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences... If you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy.

Make a statement with the way you live your life:

Learning Anything by trying different learning methods

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/tim_ferriss_smash_fear_learn_anything.html

Tim Ferris proves that we can learn anything IF we can find the correct learning method. So the effort (bulk of it) has to be made to find the correct method if the one being tried at the moment is not working for you. Once we hit upon the correct method for us, our learning in that discipline will 'take off'.

'Take off' is the appropriate phrase here as the learning literally takes off once we hit the correct method. Watch the above video to find out how quickly Time Ferris learnt swimming, Tango, and mutiple languages ONCE he hit upon the right method.

So, from now on, if I find learning something difficult, I am not going to blame my 'grasping power', but will blame the 'learning method'.

How can one increase weight?

My wife Nikhila found the below somewhere.

How can one increase weight?

Take to a diet for three to four days.

Take 100 to 150 grams of bran with the fruits. The best way will be to mix bran with a fruit like papaya. It will increase appetite, improve the digestion and remove costiveness, if any. One will tend to eat more and the capacity to assimilate food will be increased.

Foods like flour, rice honey, raisins, figs, dates, butter, and etc. can help increase weight. Sweet substances can increase weight than fatty foods.

Those wishing to increase their weight should become pure vegetarians and eat fruits,
rice, flour, fresh vegetables, bananas, dry fruits, butter, and milk. Germinated wheat is also extremely beneficial if taken in the form of gruel mixed with hot
milk.

Take plenty of water, exercise and fast once a week.

"Success", Seven Point Creed from John Wooden

I just discovered John Wooden, a legendary, if not 'the' legendary coach in college basketball. There was a video on Ted.com which led me to him.

What I gathered from his talk - A person is successful if he/she can realize their full potential, which is obviously achieved by giving their best. This 'potential' will be different for different people, so parents should not go crazy over kids getting lesser marks/grades than other kids and adults should not get depressed by comparing themselves with their friends, colleagues etc. He wanted his team to act the same way at the end of a game whether they won or lost the game. This is very different from the attitude that is prevalent in American sports today and cricket also - A W (Win) is all that matters. This kind of attitude destroys people psychologically and will obviously affect results. So, not just as a philosophy, but from the point of view of results also, I feel the coach's philosophy is far more effective.

"Never try to be better than others, learn from others. And never cease to be your best"
- from a video on Ted.com

He had 3 rules while he coached -
1. Never be late
2. Be neat
3. Never criticize a teammate


From wikipedia -

Seven Point Creed

John Wooden's Seven Point Creed [1], given to him by his father Joshua upon his graduation from grammar school:
Be true to yourself.
Make each day your masterpiece.
Help others.
Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
Make friendship a fine art.
Build a shelter against a rainy day.
Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

Wooden also has authored a lecture and a book about the Pyramid of Success.[18] The Pyramid of Success consists of philosophical building blocks for winning at basketball and at life. He is also the author of several other books about basketball and life.

I found another quote recently - Be quick, but dont hurry (quoted by Phil Jackson recently)

Below are some more from Luke Walton's blog during 2009 NBA finals -

Happiness begins where selfishness ends

Earn the right to be proud and confident

The best way to improve the team is to improve ourself

I will get ready and then, perhaps, my chance will come

If I am through learning, I am through

The smallest good deed is better than the best intention

Sudarshan Kriya - Art of Living

Sudarshan Kriya is a breathing exercise that is supposed to be very good.
It was invented by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who started The Art of Living organization.