Dreams to Actions – a journey from the Heart to the Mind!

15 Anne Frank - Expression
24 Bhagat Singh - Sacrifice
32 Bruce Lee - Hardwork
32 Srinivasa Ramanujan - Intelligence
33 Jesus - Truth
35 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Innovation
36 Marilyn Monroe - Beauty
39 Martin Luther King – Leadership
42 Elvis Presley - Inspiration
50 Michael Jackson - Performance

Each one of these names reminds me of some characteristic which led to an action, so daring and beautiful, that it inspires millions. These are some of those names which became synonyms of encouragement and motivation. The reason I preferred to choose these persons is due to the age at which they left the world and their legacy, which will be embedded in golden words in the hearts of generations to come.

Some of the most amazing stories ever told, are the ones that encourage you to take action. If it’s in your heart to prove, that what others believe impossible, is actually possible, then allow your mind to follow your heart. A mind says a lot of things but it is your heart where all your feelings and characteristics reside, your mind is the one responsible to act and keep your heart happy. So keep your heart pure and let the mind do what it is supposed to do.

Let’s do what needs to be done right now – ACTION

Posts, messages, emails, phone calls and meetings – thousands of them by each one of us have ensured that the spirit of Action is burning with utmost desire and lighting up the path for each one of us. Each time we think or discuss or plan, we are doing something which will affect thousands of lives. It’s time to integrate all these entities into an Action.

And let this Action not just be a word, let it be a reminder to everyone that when the heart dreams, it dreams the biggest DREAM. A Dream that is backed by Action and Dedication, by Curiosity and Opportunity, by Confidence and Experience, by Patience and Perseverance, by Inspiration and Enthusiasm.

Yes, action begins with a dream and dreams arise out of our most probable thoughts, with every thought made up of words – heard, seen or spoken. Each of us knows the purpose of our dream and the beauty of the purpose is that it is different for each one of us and holds a value as good as our belief. It is you who has to decide how proud you feel of your existence. This feeling comes from the sense of achievement and gratitude, which resides deep within your heart – for your parents, friends and the Almighty.

I’m sure that if Magic was just another word, we all would’ve never believed magicians or wondered about their tricks. The only fact that magic excites our heart, is a reason big enough to encourage each one of us to become a magician in our own way. As per astrology, each person has his/her own unique balance of these four basic energies: fire (warmth, inspiration, enthusiasm), earth (practicality, realism, material interests), air (social and intellectual qualities), and water (emotional needs and feelings).

Let’s try to understand the intensity of these elements within our heart and come up with a list of Top 10 high priority tasks (Actions) that need immediate attention and action, are practically within our reach and have the potential to positively impact the maximum number of lives. Time is running out and our Dreams are waiting for us to turn them into Actions.

Let the action begin…now!

Amwe! Amwe! - How can we help the Haiti Earthquake victims?

It's been just a few days, that a 7.0 earthquake devastated a million lives in seconds. The poorest nation in world's Western Hemisphere, Haiti is now in ruins.


This blog is not meant to criticize but to guide and request everyone to help the Haitians at this most critical time of crisis in centuries and also how we can be better prepared for any similar catastrophe in future. This is a time when every blogger or writer should write about ways to contribute to the relief efforts, every new way can bring in help not only for Haiti but also help the international relief organizations to prepare themselves in a better manner for future, ensuring a quicker response. Though we may not be directly impacted by this but it's our brothers and sisters who are in pain and turmoil and crying out for help. It's difficult to ignore them even if we try to!


The PM of Haiti says death toll may exceed 1 lakh with people still buried around the Capital Port-Au-Prince and waiting for someone to rescue them out of the debris. While the Haitians are digging through the rubble to get as many of their people out, all other nations are yet to decide how they are going to help. Celibrities, corporates, non-profit outfits and governments from various nations have come forward with their contributions but all they have done is assure money and items. Help is coming - but it's coming too late for some of those still buried and shouting for help ("Amwe! Amwe!" in Creole, meaning "Help me").


U.N. has taken responsibility for co-ordinating the rescue efforts with teams from various nations. But is there any chance of survival of those who are buried for more than 3 days. Time has already run out for most of them and it's just the few lucky ones who may be able to get out and see the light. Within four days, 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne will be in the quake zone. By Tuesday, three more U.S. Navy ships carrying 2,200 Marines and heavy equipment will join them. By Saturday, about 5,000 to 6,000 men and women dedicated to supporting the relief effort will be in Haiti, military officials say.


A third of Haiti's 9 million people may be in need of aid. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the World Food Program was providing high-energy biscuits and ready-to-eat meals to around 8,000 people "several times a day." "It's not possible to fly anything into Port-au-Prince right now. The airport is completely congested," spokesman Paul Conneally told The Associated Press by phone from the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo.


Why despite of all our advances and achievements in technology and with Scientists having long warned about a major earthquake in Haiti, no major steps were taken to plan and mobilize resources for a faster response?


Why is it that every time a major calamity like this happens, despite of our political establishments, agreemens and treaties, we are unable to offer help and save those buried for days?

The U.N. seems to be doing the best job right now even though it has been hardly hit by the earthquake with it's own U.N. Chief Representative Hedi Annabi and 150 others missing from their headquarters.

But still 'hope' is something we all need to stick to and expect U.N. and all member nations to come up with a plan which makes it possible to fly in trained personnel, advanced machinery and useful resources within 24 hours without any political/transportational hassles. A better planning would've surely helped in saving many more lives.


The first and best way to contribute is to donate money to any of the following organizations who are working day and night to mobilize resources in Haiti and help in every way possible.


The American Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org/

The United Nations World Food Program
http://www.wfp.org/

The Salvation Army
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/

Action Against Hunger
http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/

Project HOPE
http://www.projecthope.org/

Partners in Health
http://www.pih.org/

Mercy Corps
http://www.mercycorps.org/


Doctors without Borders
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

The second way is to send an SMS (Text "Haiti") to 90999 (only in U.S.) to donate $10 (billed to your phone)


The third way is to pray for the dead to Rest In Peace and their families and other survivors to have strength to re-build their lives and infuse every heart with the ever-enduring human resilience.


It's the second biggest devastation I've witnessed in my life after the 2004 Tsunami and with scientists predicting even worse calamities in future, the best we can do is to pray with all our heart that nothing like this happens again and even if it happens, we are better prepared to save our people.

2010...here we go!

Wait...is it 'two thousand ten' or 'twenty ten'?

The second decade of the 21st century brings with itself lots of hope and excitement and for me it's nothing short of living in the future, as I remember myself telling my friends in high school in Y2K, that we'll have so so many advanced things happening by 2010. May be I had no idea about laptops, mobile phones and I had just heard about Apple and Google from an online tech article never knew these names would shape my life entirely and guide me to a world of knowledge and information far beyond imagination.

And how can I forget Wikipedia, the biggest non-profit concept I can think of providing quick trustworthy information at my fingertips, what would I do without a 'wiki' today (from the Hawaiian word 'wiki', meaning "quick"). And finally, Salesforce.com - a name I had just heard of a decade back and my job now depends on it ('Cloud Computing' to be precise).

The last year was no exception, despite incredibly tough economic conditions, the tech industry delivered new and bold technology innovations, some of which are now integral part of my existence. Overall, this was the year when online social media sky-rocketted.

Following are few of the events which I consider really worthy of mention due to their importance to me:

- Apple's launch of iPhone 3G S
- Escalation of Google-Microsoft rivalry
- Launch of Open Source Google Chrome OS
- Launch of Windows 7 with Aero, Shake, Peek, Snap, Jump Lists
- Launch of Kindle 2 by Amazon and Barnes & Noble's Nook - I'm still looking forward to a coloured Ebook reader from both these Corps.
- Bing Search Engine gaining 10 percent of the search market by the end of the year
- Launch of the first 'All Aluminium iMac'
- Launch of Netbooks by Nokia, Samsung and others
- Launch of IE8
- More than a billion app downloads
- Smart Phones became smarter making social life much more simpler
- Online Gaming going mobile, big-time
- Exponential growth of Twitter and Facebook
- Susan Boyle's amazing rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream"
- Recovery of Global Economy
- The word 'Namaste' gaining huge popularity in search engines
- Indian General Election for the 15th Lok Sabha being the largest democratic election in the world to date with 714 million voters casting their vote.
- Commercial launch of Android

Following are few of the events which I consider really worthy of mention for their lack of importance to me, as I thought these could've happened in a much better manner or not happened at all:

- Slumdog Millionaire (8 Oscars)
- Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize
- Tiger Woods' fall from grace
- Michael Jackson's death
- Compenhagen Summit
- Pandemic H1N1 (Swine Flu)
- 'affect' being the most searched word in online dictionaries (When to use affect vs. effect is still the biggest puzzle for English speakers)
- Telangana Issue
- The end of scooter manufacturing in India

And in 2010 I expect a lot to happen, my small wishlist being:

- Google OS netbooks
- OLED TVs - Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology is poised to oust LCD just as LCD stuck the knife into the CRT.
- Products based on Wireless electricity
- Cloud Computing being offered for personal use
- 4G (LTE) and Wimax technologies being implemented by all carriers
- Successful 2010 Commonwealth Games hosted by India, the largest multi-sport event in India

I may have been a bit more technology oriented in this blog but that's not something very much unexpected from a technocrat like me.

I'm sure that this decade would witness decisions that will change the way of existence of the human race. Have a safe, fun-filled and prosperous 2010, 'two thousand ten' or 'twenty ten' whichever suits you the most :)