There have been great men who have inspired me or have had a great impact in making the person I am today. I am very open in giving credit to where its due and have written about the great contribution my grandpa has made to my life on multiple occasions.
What I have not written about is the woman behind this great man. This post that I am going to write about is my grandma, my mother's mother and the woman behind the success of my grandpa, his soulmate.
I woke at 3:30am this morning and couldn't put myself back to sleep. I was a bit confused as to why that is so. The body is dead tired after a 14 hour day at work the day before, it just didn't make sense.
As I lay on my bed figuring out the disturbance, what I realized was that there was something bothering me. Enough to keep me up. After wasting about 15 minutes, I realized it was my grandma's illness. She has reached a very old age now and is passing through the toughest part of our lives, the fag end of it. Without going into details, she is in a lot of pain at the moment and I had tried to shut myself out from the thought but obviously it was bothering me enough subconsiously. Pray for her.
As soon as I realized the reason, I got thinking on my good times spent with her. Her thankless job of taking care of everybody. When I say everybody, it wasn't just her kids and grandkids. My grandma is from the generation who was taught the true basics of social behavior.
The human is a giver first before being a taker. Taking that simple life lesson and applying it in practice is the simple message that my grandma had to show us. When you see how it's done in front of you, you realize its possible and thats how it should be done. Obviously, in this age of competition, we forget the ethics at times in the effort of getting everything that we want. We think we deserve everything even if it means taking it away from somebody who may need it more, realistically speaking.
Raising 6 children, living through tough times most of her life, yet taking care of her children, her brother's children, the neighbour's children, her siblings, her generation above, her generation below. It would be difficult to count the people who can't get away without giving credit to her contribution to their life. She has made potential nobodies into great somebodies. I know people who would have ended up in orphanages if it weren't for her extended motherhood role.
My grandpa was a straightforward man. He would call a spade a spade and let the world know about it. Unfortunately, such people are not amongst the favourite list of most people and he had many of his career setbacks because of this overly honest attitude. He didn't ever call them setbacks but that is a different topic. The point I want to make is that the tough life that followed due to the decisions my grandpa made in life were just as tough for my grandma as well.
Bringing children through that and making them realize the goodness and life lessons from that is what my grandma did. She always taught them the lesson of keeping together as a family and building tolerance for each other's differences in opinions. This was more important than anything else that happens around you. At times, she didn't have as much as power or control as she would have liked to keep the children together but I know it was her will behind my grandpa's similar mission of driving togetherness. Being the head of the family he was able to influence some authority over the kids but unfortunately after his death the kids took over.
While I may become the bad guy in the family for saying this but some of her old age miseries may be related to how her kids dispersed into their own lives not being able to keep the family together. Something that she and my grandpa may have agreed to never let happen in their marriage vows without explicitly saying it. Distances between siblings has led to larger distances between their children, my cousins, and it would naturally continue to extend as further generations come through. It is kinda unfortunate that she had to see this in her life after working so hard to keep the family together by teaching all the basics right to everybody. Pretty sad that she had to see what she tried to build all through her life, simply fall apart or rather breakdown, in the end.
Sometimes we dont realize the role the woman has to play in society. A mother can make or break a whole society. We do pick up a lot of traits from our mothers and their teachings go into what we would teach our children and it would continue for generations to come.
As I see her suffer through the toughest of old age ailments, I wish for her speedy recovery and may Allah make her stronger in will, not that she is any shortness of it, and may He make it easier for her to return back to her normal self.
Salute and bow to a great woman.
Mind Conditioning & Control
I saw this image in a recent article I read on WIRED. The article itself is worth reading but this picture is in itself replacing the thousand words that I wanted to write on this topic of mind conditioning and control.
Its more than recent that I was inclined to look beyond the obvious and realize how easy it is to control minds and condition them to think in a particular way. How we all have been victim to a very huge conspiracy of making us think the way we do today. For the not so cynical, even if there is no conspiracy, how unintentionally with the things we watch and read, we have now trained our mind to react in a particular way to events.
We also know that the brain has the virtually existent "mind" which better explained is a hardware-software kind of relationship. Brain is the hardware and mind is the software. The interesting part is that it is an intelligent software which learns and applies and then learns a bit more from the application. Repeat cycles of cause and effect since the time we are little, develop what is later better known as "instinct".
Lets take a little step backward and observe as I take you through a life-cycle. When you are born, your mind has only vague ideas of sounds as the human baby is able to learn on the sounds listened to after 6 months of conception. With eyes wide open, after being born, the child starts linking voices to images. The mother, the father, the music, and relies on soothing stuff. Anything abrupt is taken as a learning element of the mind, something not immediately liked.
As we grow older, we learn the basic rules of cause and effect, how good things done are treated with a golden star or a pat on the back and how bad things lead into punishment or standing in the corner type punishments. As we grow further, we get into school and yes TV, the avoidable-if-possible-but-impossible threat becomes more accessible to us as we grow up. If this is not closely monitored, the mind can easily develop in the not so ideal way as we would like to have it developed.
Depending on the environment, the culture, the country you are in, the mind gets trained under those circumstances. Hence a child growing up in a poor family gets to experience a different set of things compared to a child growing up in a rich family. A child growing up in the west will have a different type of experience than a child growing up in the east. Same thing would apply for a child growing in a developed country compared to a 3rd-world developing country. We are talking about the same brain and mind but the factors under which it learns is what defines how it will apply logic to various situations upcoming in life.
In fact people talk about character traits. I think these are linked to the mind as well and will depend on how the mind was trained. Talk about the people in the army, they get trained in situations repeatedly so that they could "instinctively" react. Talk about air force pilots, talk about doctors. You keep practicing, you keep experiencing life and your mind improves and conditions itself from all of what goes on around it or what it was put through, continuously learning and absorbing whether good or bad.
So the main thought is, what if somebody could control how a mind is conditioned. What if somebody could govern what kids read and learn in school? The educational curriculum. What if somebody could control what you see on TV, what you read in the news? What if somebody could control both, the "causes" and the "effects" and not either as we are led to believe? What if somebody could control what leads you to believe what is right or wrong? What if somebody could control what is right or wrong? What if wrong was supposed to be right and right was supposed to be wrong and we have been taught the basics incorrectly?
Think about it. Think about how many times your opinion was driven by something you saw or read and not by the pure creative thought of your mind. In fact, what is "pure" anyway? The "pure" that we think may have already been infiltrated with the "muddy", based on all the things we have been through.
This post was inspired by some self-realization on the above. The first thing is to accept the above does happen, it is not avoidable. Once you have crossed that then you would not let your first reaction to something, also called "instinct", drive your decision making. Always give it another thought, read another opinion, start neutral and build on to something. This will lead you to be more successful and more independent and do justification to your "individuality" in this world.
Not everybody is made to be a leader but everybody doesn't need to be a "blind" follower either. Have a pure self-created opinion and make your contribution to this world. If you lead, you need to have this. If you follow, make a self-aware and researched decision before going with somebody's opinion.
There are and will always be tough times ahead, that is the nature of this world. Be prepared for it.
EID Mohammad!!!
3 decades back, a first-time expectant mother in her last trimester arrived at the blessed month of Ramadan. Question to ask herself. Should I fast this Ramadan? Will I be able to? Hope it doesn't harm the baby?
I think about it now and realize what kind of thoughts would my mother have gone through at the time. After all thoughts, she went through with it and enjoyed the full blessings of Ramadan by fasting all through. Special prayers, getting close to the Quran and doing good deeds.
Doctors say that in the final trimester, the child has an established identity already and can listen and possibly even retain some of what he listens to. Imagine what kind of a lucky chap I was to be listening to The Holy Quran even before entering this world of challenges and tests.
Seeing my wife go through 2 child-births, I can realize what a challenge it would have been for my mother to not miss out on any of the blessings and potential opportunities of gaining the pleasure of Allah in Ramadan. With energy and vigor no different than anyone else, she obviously realized this was for the better for her and for me.
Closer to EID, still around 20 days to go in my expected arrival, she had to enjoy the fun of her first "Chand Raat" (night before EID after moon-sighting) as a wife and a to-be mother, where my father took her out to get choorian (bangles) which is an old tradition and she also put on Mehndi in preparation for the joyous occasion. Little did she know that she had made Allah so happy and me so restless that my flight schedule for entry into the world had been brought forward. Allah had decided that this family deserves an EID with an EID gift from the heavens.
I kicked and turned since I couldn't email or SMS in those days to let my mom know that I can't wait anymore. It's time. What followed as they say is history. The rush to the hospital, the tense moments and the anxiousness that every to-be parent deals with and the arrival. I can never get tired of listening to the story of how I came into this world.
Yes folks, UTP was born exactly on the EID day after Ramadan, 30 years back.
My grandpa, held me in his hands and suggested that I be named EID Mohammad. The chants of naming me EIDU went on within the family. Thank Allah, my parents didn't listen to that. I can rewind my whole life and replace my name from Umar to EID Muhammad in every little situation that I cherish so much and well it just doesn't feel right.
I am happy with how I was named after the 2nd Caliph (RA). They say the name has some kind of effect on the developing personality. I still cannot confirm if this is true as I am not even close to what my parents may have thought or expected but hopefully there is time, I so hope. I want to do a lot of revolutionary things going forward. May Allah help me and my family.
Ramadan Mubarak Readers and EID Mubarak. May Allah accept our prayers, our fasting and our deeds and help us improve our lives by applying what we learnt from The Holy Quran. Aameen.
Enjoy the day. We have earned it. Alhumdulillah.
I think about it now and realize what kind of thoughts would my mother have gone through at the time. After all thoughts, she went through with it and enjoyed the full blessings of Ramadan by fasting all through. Special prayers, getting close to the Quran and doing good deeds.
Doctors say that in the final trimester, the child has an established identity already and can listen and possibly even retain some of what he listens to. Imagine what kind of a lucky chap I was to be listening to The Holy Quran even before entering this world of challenges and tests.
Seeing my wife go through 2 child-births, I can realize what a challenge it would have been for my mother to not miss out on any of the blessings and potential opportunities of gaining the pleasure of Allah in Ramadan. With energy and vigor no different than anyone else, she obviously realized this was for the better for her and for me.
Closer to EID, still around 20 days to go in my expected arrival, she had to enjoy the fun of her first "Chand Raat" (night before EID after moon-sighting) as a wife and a to-be mother, where my father took her out to get choorian (bangles) which is an old tradition and she also put on Mehndi in preparation for the joyous occasion. Little did she know that she had made Allah so happy and me so restless that my flight schedule for entry into the world had been brought forward. Allah had decided that this family deserves an EID with an EID gift from the heavens.
I kicked and turned since I couldn't email or SMS in those days to let my mom know that I can't wait anymore. It's time. What followed as they say is history. The rush to the hospital, the tense moments and the anxiousness that every to-be parent deals with and the arrival. I can never get tired of listening to the story of how I came into this world.
Yes folks, UTP was born exactly on the EID day after Ramadan, 30 years back.
My grandpa, held me in his hands and suggested that I be named EID Mohammad. The chants of naming me EIDU went on within the family. Thank Allah, my parents didn't listen to that. I can rewind my whole life and replace my name from Umar to EID Muhammad in every little situation that I cherish so much and well it just doesn't feel right.
I am happy with how I was named after the 2nd Caliph (RA). They say the name has some kind of effect on the developing personality. I still cannot confirm if this is true as I am not even close to what my parents may have thought or expected but hopefully there is time, I so hope. I want to do a lot of revolutionary things going forward. May Allah help me and my family.
Ramadan Mubarak Readers and EID Mubarak. May Allah accept our prayers, our fasting and our deeds and help us improve our lives by applying what we learnt from The Holy Quran. Aameen.
Enjoy the day. We have earned it. Alhumdulillah.
The Required "Constant" of Life's Equation
If you speak to a mathematician or a physicist he would tell you that all research starts with a theory and they start building equations around it. The equation starts with a whole lot of variables for which they start putting in hypothetical approximate values to get results. They would keep doing these experiments with different values in those variables with each next result leading them closer to the desired result.
Of course it could also just fall over if they run out of patience or a series of results starts indicating they are on the wrong path and have to correct themselves. A breakthrough or Eureka as some people know it occurs when they are able to find a "Constant" in that equation. Take a complex equation with a lot of variables and after experiments and hit-and-trial if they find that one of the variables can be made into a constant, that's a major breakthrough.
Why you ask? Well the discovery of a constant means there is one less variable in that equation. That could exponentially reduce the number of times they would have to go further before they would eventually find the "answer". The "constant" reduces one level of complexity in the research, which gives a way for hope, a light at end of the tunnel. A reason to believe that there is an answer and all this effort is not in vain. It exists. It is just a matter of reaching there.
The constant gives a variable equation it's element of stability, the touch base with reality, the foot on the ground, the reason to go further, the element of belief. Hope.
Life is also full of variables. It is a series of linked events. Multiple crossroads of intertwined paths of fate. Every cause has an effect and every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Fate is nothing but a whole set of complex equations with lots of variables in it. Everybody in this world has multiple equations defining their fate. As the variables get filled in that equation based on their choices and actions, the effects or results lead into more equations, fill up the variables and life goes forward.
While the equations might have a lot of variables for which we have control on and it's we who define their final value, there are a lot of variables not in our control. Considering it is a cobweb of equations, some variables in your fate's equation will be finalized by someone else's choice or action in this world. Yet another set of variables is defined by The Unknown.
The "Unknown" is what some people call God, others who call it Nature. Some call it Karma. There could be heaps of names for it but to keep it simple it is The Unknown. The X-Factor. The variable that no one has control on. The variable that actually controls the whole set of these complex equations. This X-Factor is so powerful that it can override all variables that were actioned by you or someone else and amend the result to what it was supposed to be. It's like the result was set and the X-Factor will adjust itself after the equation has been fixed by the variables set by the choices made by you or others. The X-Factor is going to ensure that the result comes out what it's supposed to be regardless of the choices you or the dependent people make to set the equation variables.
If you are a believer in Fate then you would understand that the right side of the equation is pretty much decided. Your actions will be balanced by the X-Factor to obtain the set result as it's required. If you are not a believer in fate, and rather, you make your own luck, then know this that it is not all gloomy and you are not a puppet.
It may seem all gloomy at the moment but let me share with you a secret to controlling this X-Factor. Yes, there is a way. The X-Factor can be controlled or rather tilted in your favor to get the results that you desire. This means there is a force that you could influence so that the X-Factor starts working in your favor. It would balance itself with your variables so that the results are always favorable for you. Either they would be favorable immediately or they would indicate their favorableness to you in a later set of complex equations as the result might be making another variable in the future as a positive constant in another equation. This could lead to future equations tilting in your favor and all the way till the end of your life.
I hope you have realized the power of controlling or influencing this X-Factor. It's the solution for all your problems. So, how?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind. The answer is in the sun and stars that work with such precision like clockwork. The answer is in the human body which works like a machine. the answer is in Your Faith. You can link it to your religion or not but it is in your Faith. What you believe in. If you can find one thing in your life that you have Blind Faith on. If you can find something that need not be explained or proven but you believe it is true with no questions asked, that is your answer.
Strengthen your Faith and you control your X-Factor. Strengthen your Faith and you have the key constant of your life's equation.
Of course it could also just fall over if they run out of patience or a series of results starts indicating they are on the wrong path and have to correct themselves. A breakthrough or Eureka as some people know it occurs when they are able to find a "Constant" in that equation. Take a complex equation with a lot of variables and after experiments and hit-and-trial if they find that one of the variables can be made into a constant, that's a major breakthrough.
Why you ask? Well the discovery of a constant means there is one less variable in that equation. That could exponentially reduce the number of times they would have to go further before they would eventually find the "answer". The "constant" reduces one level of complexity in the research, which gives a way for hope, a light at end of the tunnel. A reason to believe that there is an answer and all this effort is not in vain. It exists. It is just a matter of reaching there.
The constant gives a variable equation it's element of stability, the touch base with reality, the foot on the ground, the reason to go further, the element of belief. Hope.
Life is also full of variables. It is a series of linked events. Multiple crossroads of intertwined paths of fate. Every cause has an effect and every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Fate is nothing but a whole set of complex equations with lots of variables in it. Everybody in this world has multiple equations defining their fate. As the variables get filled in that equation based on their choices and actions, the effects or results lead into more equations, fill up the variables and life goes forward.
While the equations might have a lot of variables for which we have control on and it's we who define their final value, there are a lot of variables not in our control. Considering it is a cobweb of equations, some variables in your fate's equation will be finalized by someone else's choice or action in this world. Yet another set of variables is defined by The Unknown.
The "Unknown" is what some people call God, others who call it Nature. Some call it Karma. There could be heaps of names for it but to keep it simple it is The Unknown. The X-Factor. The variable that no one has control on. The variable that actually controls the whole set of these complex equations. This X-Factor is so powerful that it can override all variables that were actioned by you or someone else and amend the result to what it was supposed to be. It's like the result was set and the X-Factor will adjust itself after the equation has been fixed by the variables set by the choices made by you or others. The X-Factor is going to ensure that the result comes out what it's supposed to be regardless of the choices you or the dependent people make to set the equation variables.
If you are a believer in Fate then you would understand that the right side of the equation is pretty much decided. Your actions will be balanced by the X-Factor to obtain the set result as it's required. If you are not a believer in fate, and rather, you make your own luck, then know this that it is not all gloomy and you are not a puppet.
It may seem all gloomy at the moment but let me share with you a secret to controlling this X-Factor. Yes, there is a way. The X-Factor can be controlled or rather tilted in your favor to get the results that you desire. This means there is a force that you could influence so that the X-Factor starts working in your favor. It would balance itself with your variables so that the results are always favorable for you. Either they would be favorable immediately or they would indicate their favorableness to you in a later set of complex equations as the result might be making another variable in the future as a positive constant in another equation. This could lead to future equations tilting in your favor and all the way till the end of your life.
I hope you have realized the power of controlling or influencing this X-Factor. It's the solution for all your problems. So, how?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind. The answer is in the sun and stars that work with such precision like clockwork. The answer is in the human body which works like a machine. the answer is in Your Faith. You can link it to your religion or not but it is in your Faith. What you believe in. If you can find one thing in your life that you have Blind Faith on. If you can find something that need not be explained or proven but you believe it is true with no questions asked, that is your answer.
Strengthen your Faith and you control your X-Factor. Strengthen your Faith and you have the key constant of your life's equation.
The Boiling Frog
Consider the story of the boiling frog. It may or may not be true, but the point it makes certainly is. Toss a frog into a pot of boiling water and it instinctively jumps out, self-protectively. Next, place the frog into a pot of cool water. Not surprisingly, it swims around, happily. Now heat the water up very gradually and what does the frog do? It acclimates to untenable circumstances — and slowly cooks. The frog doesn't notice what's happening to him, until it's too late.
I read the above from here and loved the metaphor.
The article was an eye-opener on how we make our lives stressful gradually without realizing what we are doing to ourselves. Without taking any of the credits away from the article, take control of the stove and decide on how much you want the water to boil and keep it cool. If you don't like the pot, jump into another pot but live life at the temperature that you want to live. Otherwise, you will end up being cooked before you die and in that process you would have not completed the task or fulfilled the reason that you were sent in this world for.
The stove knob should be in your hands and not in someone else's. This is your life after all. Take control.
I read the above from here and loved the metaphor.
The article was an eye-opener on how we make our lives stressful gradually without realizing what we are doing to ourselves. Without taking any of the credits away from the article, take control of the stove and decide on how much you want the water to boil and keep it cool. If you don't like the pot, jump into another pot but live life at the temperature that you want to live. Otherwise, you will end up being cooked before you die and in that process you would have not completed the task or fulfilled the reason that you were sent in this world for.
The stove knob should be in your hands and not in someone else's. This is your life after all. Take control.
Flat No. 2601
In this so called busy day and age that we have created for ourselves, our strength of faith weakens with every day. We are part of this daily rat race that runs like a perfect routine with minimal time for spiritual revival.
We turn back to our faiths only in times of distress and otherwise it is just somewhere in our sub-conscious minds that we are religious. I read a nice quote a few days back which underlines this reality,
We only turn to God as last resort. So, how to keep this faith refreshed at all times. How can we keep God as part of our routine lives? I think that's where regular prayers come in. Make an effort to make those few minutes of your time every day to sit and talk to God Who by the way loves you 70 times more than your mother.
Anyway, the above is what went through my head a few Fridays back where we had a close call and a miracle saved us.
We had found a nice mosque where they give English lectures before the Friday prayer. We were returning from this inspired session where we saw a lady accept Islam as well. Close to our house, I reversed my car almost into a deep hole. I don't know where my mind was but with my family i.e. Wife and 2 daughters in the car, I backed into a spot where the car was half over the edge of a construction site and the other half on the ground.
Obviously, we were shell-shocked. One wrong move of balance and the car would fall down into the deep hole definitely bringing some potential injuries to us and damage to the car.
In this situation, where deep down there was prayer going on for help, the other hand was moving towards dialing the "Tow" support. This would easily take an hour to come in to help.
Out of nowhere a Toyota Hilux pickup stopped near us. There was a Filipino guy in it, who took a look at the situation and immediately realized, he needed to help us. First thing with my car pulled in the handbrake and my foot hard on the brakes, he knew I was stuck. He quickly realized the kids need to come out first. So he took my daughter still in the car seat and my elder daughter out and made them sit in his car.
This left me and my wife with a breather that at least the kids are safe. Next came the thoughts of, what next. The guy came and asked if I had a rope. I obviously don't plan for these things hence did not have rope. So he called a friend and confirmed that he had some rope. The friend lived in the same building as ours so it wasn't too far. Very soon, another Filipino guy came in with the rope. They tied the rope to my car and their car and pulled us out of this "edgy" situation.
Pale faced, we couldn't thank the person enough and he was as modest as it gets. Just going on with business, the kids back in my car and wanted to move on with what he was doing. I asked him, where he lived so we could send over a thank you cake or something. He said Flat 2601. We said our farewell and drove back to park my car.
The ungrateful piece of human flesh we are, we forgot about these God sent saviors. Only after a few weeks, when the topic came up again, we remembered that we should send that thank you cake. I was in the lift and that's when I realized that our building does not have a 26th floor. The buttons only went up to 25. So without a 26th floor there couldn't be a Flat No. 2601. This left me in shock. What? No 26th Floor? Where did they come from?
I had to confirm with my wife that it was indeed 2601 that the Filipinos had said and after sharing my finding with her, we were both amazed. It was really a miracle and an answer to our prayers at the time when we were really in distress.
We still think about it and haven't really got over the fact that there is no 26th floor in our building. I think about it every time I get on our lift. It was a day of a miracle. I am sure lots of such miracles keep happening around us and we don't even realize with our minds taking it all for granted.
The sad part is, it didn't take too long for me to get back to the routine of life and forget about the miracle that had occurred. That's how ungrateful we are. We keep expecting some sign to keep our belief alive and it's just so pathetic. There are enough signs around but we don't see it. Look at the moon, the stars, the sun. How everything works like clockwork and to what precision. How the human body is a world in its own, all working on it's own. We just don't want to accept The Greatness and want a personalized sign of our own to believe.
Even if that sign comes, either we miss it or even if realize, we get over it so quickly then expecting some other sign. How pathetic is that?
We turn back to our faiths only in times of distress and otherwise it is just somewhere in our sub-conscious minds that we are religious. I read a nice quote a few days back which underlines this reality,
"Don't make God your last resort, make Him your first option"
We only turn to God as last resort. So, how to keep this faith refreshed at all times. How can we keep God as part of our routine lives? I think that's where regular prayers come in. Make an effort to make those few minutes of your time every day to sit and talk to God Who by the way loves you 70 times more than your mother.
Anyway, the above is what went through my head a few Fridays back where we had a close call and a miracle saved us.
We had found a nice mosque where they give English lectures before the Friday prayer. We were returning from this inspired session where we saw a lady accept Islam as well. Close to our house, I reversed my car almost into a deep hole. I don't know where my mind was but with my family i.e. Wife and 2 daughters in the car, I backed into a spot where the car was half over the edge of a construction site and the other half on the ground.
Obviously, we were shell-shocked. One wrong move of balance and the car would fall down into the deep hole definitely bringing some potential injuries to us and damage to the car.
In this situation, where deep down there was prayer going on for help, the other hand was moving towards dialing the "Tow" support. This would easily take an hour to come in to help.
Out of nowhere a Toyota Hilux pickup stopped near us. There was a Filipino guy in it, who took a look at the situation and immediately realized, he needed to help us. First thing with my car pulled in the handbrake and my foot hard on the brakes, he knew I was stuck. He quickly realized the kids need to come out first. So he took my daughter still in the car seat and my elder daughter out and made them sit in his car.
This left me and my wife with a breather that at least the kids are safe. Next came the thoughts of, what next. The guy came and asked if I had a rope. I obviously don't plan for these things hence did not have rope. So he called a friend and confirmed that he had some rope. The friend lived in the same building as ours so it wasn't too far. Very soon, another Filipino guy came in with the rope. They tied the rope to my car and their car and pulled us out of this "edgy" situation.
Pale faced, we couldn't thank the person enough and he was as modest as it gets. Just going on with business, the kids back in my car and wanted to move on with what he was doing. I asked him, where he lived so we could send over a thank you cake or something. He said Flat 2601. We said our farewell and drove back to park my car.
The ungrateful piece of human flesh we are, we forgot about these God sent saviors. Only after a few weeks, when the topic came up again, we remembered that we should send that thank you cake. I was in the lift and that's when I realized that our building does not have a 26th floor. The buttons only went up to 25. So without a 26th floor there couldn't be a Flat No. 2601. This left me in shock. What? No 26th Floor? Where did they come from?
I had to confirm with my wife that it was indeed 2601 that the Filipinos had said and after sharing my finding with her, we were both amazed. It was really a miracle and an answer to our prayers at the time when we were really in distress.
We still think about it and haven't really got over the fact that there is no 26th floor in our building. I think about it every time I get on our lift. It was a day of a miracle. I am sure lots of such miracles keep happening around us and we don't even realize with our minds taking it all for granted.
The sad part is, it didn't take too long for me to get back to the routine of life and forget about the miracle that had occurred. That's how ungrateful we are. We keep expecting some sign to keep our belief alive and it's just so pathetic. There are enough signs around but we don't see it. Look at the moon, the stars, the sun. How everything works like clockwork and to what precision. How the human body is a world in its own, all working on it's own. We just don't want to accept The Greatness and want a personalized sign of our own to believe.
Even if that sign comes, either we miss it or even if realize, we get over it so quickly then expecting some other sign. How pathetic is that?
Build vs Buy
In the world of real estate investments there is a decision making point that many investors go through. Should I build or should I buy. There is that other topic also of leasing vs buying but I will be focusing on the former one in this write-up.
So what is the thought process behind this. Building would require finding some land, which has potential value. 3 points... Location, Location, Location. The eye for seeing the future. In this piece of land, that I would buy, what would be around it. Infrastructure development. Tourism. Amenities availability. How far away or how much in the city? You find the spot and then you build on it. Put the values in the equation, re-value your money invested today and the cost of money going into the future when the "build" would complete. Keep this number with you.
Now move to the buy option. This is where you have a pre-built thing which you choose. How is it priced? Is it worth what they are asking for? How much renovation or modification would I need to do? Are there are any loans on it? Is the building used as leverage for some loan? Try to value all of that and match this number with the earlier "build" number.
Decision time. Now choose.
While it may be seem quick straight-forward, I can assure you its not. This particular equation is what many people today make their big buck or simply earn their livelihood around.
But my debate today is what if the values are exactly the same. Build vs buy is equal. What to do now?
This is where I present to you my quote of the day.
Example - Relationships.
After boring you with the theory above, I would like to apply the concept to life or to be more precise, relationships. No matter how much you spend on a relationship, you can't make it work. You can't buy love, you can't buy sincerity, dependence, care. Somethings just can't be bought.
One important element that I didn't mention in the theory above was how building is so much more fulfilling than buying. You go through the process of putting the pieces together. Brick by Brick, see a plan come together. You learn about people. You learn about yourself. You cherish the whole experience much much more. Its definitely more fulfilling to build something than just going and picking it off the shelf.
So building a relationship is something like that as well. Take a husband-wife relationship as a really good example. Two individuals relatively unknown to each other come together to form a team. Learn about each other's strengths. Learn about each other's weaknesses. Where would they contribute to make each other stronger. It's this bond that keeps building as they keep supporting each other and building this bridge between 2 families. Then come the kids. Test of patience. Test of sharing the love. That's when they realize, the more they share, the more it multiplies.
The bond keeps going stronger. They live their lives together for each other and then become inseparable. Nothing can change this until death do them apart. How is that possible? How can a bond be so strong that only when they can't breathe do they become separate from each other? These things can only be built.
Try that by buying a relationship. You know what I mean. Marrying for money over love. Doesn't last long, at least there wouldn't be any happily ever after phrases in that relationship. Its fun for a while, but then its either no relationship or just a compromise.
No matter what the build vs buy equation tilts towards, some things are better built than being bought. Make a note. Apply. Prosper.
So what is the thought process behind this. Building would require finding some land, which has potential value. 3 points... Location, Location, Location. The eye for seeing the future. In this piece of land, that I would buy, what would be around it. Infrastructure development. Tourism. Amenities availability. How far away or how much in the city? You find the spot and then you build on it. Put the values in the equation, re-value your money invested today and the cost of money going into the future when the "build" would complete. Keep this number with you.
Now move to the buy option. This is where you have a pre-built thing which you choose. How is it priced? Is it worth what they are asking for? How much renovation or modification would I need to do? Are there are any loans on it? Is the building used as leverage for some loan? Try to value all of that and match this number with the earlier "build" number.
Decision time. Now choose.
While it may be seem quick straight-forward, I can assure you its not. This particular equation is what many people today make their big buck or simply earn their livelihood around.
But my debate today is what if the values are exactly the same. Build vs buy is equal. What to do now?
This is where I present to you my quote of the day.
"Some things are better built than bought"
Example - Relationships.
After boring you with the theory above, I would like to apply the concept to life or to be more precise, relationships. No matter how much you spend on a relationship, you can't make it work. You can't buy love, you can't buy sincerity, dependence, care. Somethings just can't be bought.
One important element that I didn't mention in the theory above was how building is so much more fulfilling than buying. You go through the process of putting the pieces together. Brick by Brick, see a plan come together. You learn about people. You learn about yourself. You cherish the whole experience much much more. Its definitely more fulfilling to build something than just going and picking it off the shelf.
So building a relationship is something like that as well. Take a husband-wife relationship as a really good example. Two individuals relatively unknown to each other come together to form a team. Learn about each other's strengths. Learn about each other's weaknesses. Where would they contribute to make each other stronger. It's this bond that keeps building as they keep supporting each other and building this bridge between 2 families. Then come the kids. Test of patience. Test of sharing the love. That's when they realize, the more they share, the more it multiplies.
The bond keeps going stronger. They live their lives together for each other and then become inseparable. Nothing can change this until death do them apart. How is that possible? How can a bond be so strong that only when they can't breathe do they become separate from each other? These things can only be built.
Try that by buying a relationship. You know what I mean. Marrying for money over love. Doesn't last long, at least there wouldn't be any happily ever after phrases in that relationship. Its fun for a while, but then its either no relationship or just a compromise.
No matter what the build vs buy equation tilts towards, some things are better built than being bought. Make a note. Apply. Prosper.
Capitalism vs Volume Selling
OK the topic seems like an unrelated match-up. I somehow feel there is a link. Let's see if I can put my thoughts together. A few random thoughts have converged to how Volume Selling beat the concept of Capitalism through the recession.
First lets put both these in perspective. This is how I define and understand both.
Capitalism is the concept of a capital driven economy. People borrow money to spend on things they can't afford but they live a quality life and spend their whole life paying off their debt. The people who loan out this money and drive this concept are rich ones who earn from the debt and the interest. Governments can print money so people can take loans more easily bringing down interest rates but increasing inflation. The people who keep the cash make money from it by loaning it out more. All their electronic money converts to paper money and then goes back to being electronic money to loan out further.
Volume Selling is a business model where people earn money by having lower profit margins but selling a lot of it. For example, I have a product for which cost of making was $10 and I sell it for $40. So I make $30 for every sale I make. Somebody else sells the same product for $20. So he will have to sell 3 items for every 1 item I sell to match my profit. If this ratio remains, we are earning the same. The concept that he applied was, he needs to sell more to make more. That's Volume Selling, kind of. He would have a different marketing & sales strategy as compared to what I would have.
Now if he is somehow able to bring his cost of making down and come down to the same ratio. He could make the product for $5 and still sell for $20 and he reduces the ratio. Now he only needs to sell 2 items for every 1 item I sell.
That's the simple explanation of the two concepts. At least my simple explanation. They still look very irrelevant but let me try to put this in perspective now.
The recent recession has been the output of this crazy model of capitalism. People keep taking loans and loans from loans and leveraging further on intangible stuff. Everything in the air. Everything a big bubble. It had to burst. It did. Everybody heard it, everybody took the impact. But let's look further. Who came out the better on the other side?
Just observe the economies that have come out pretty strong from this recession. Let's take just the major 2 for an example. India & China. I wouldn't call them capitalist driven economies even though India might show a glimpse of that. Both countries are densely populated and they have put their workforce to action. At least the ones they could.
India relies on its booming IT industry initially driven by BPOs and Call Centres and now moving towards some entrepreneurial stuff as well. The business biggies are now tycoons heading into the world taking over companies with the cash they have at hand. Their agricultural products remain strong and they got a good cash base to look into the future. They got a lot of population working abroad in many different countries of the world actually running economies in some and a lot of that money now heading back to India in terms of investment, new ventures etc. So lets look at the irony here. Other countries are printing money which gets invested back home when people send money back and invest.
How are they so successful abroad? The answer is simple. Skilled talent for much less the cost as compared to the local labour. You can get 3 Indians on the same salary of 1 person if picked from the local market. I am talking western markets here.
So basically, I categorize this as Volume Selling as well. The Indian sells for much cheaper than a European for example. Companies are willing to get 3 Indians instead of 1 European and they end up paying the same. Compare that with the example above and it fits perfectly into the Volume Selling model.
China is the world famous place for cheap labour. They did the same as well. Now the world's goods are being made in China for much less the cost. Big companies realized that while they are trying to sell more then can still improve profits by reducing the cost of the making. Move the making to China. Take any line of business. Ideas may be generated in the developed markets but mass production comes down to China.
The advantage is that after years of just making something, some creativity comes in as well. Soon we'll see creativity and research oriented development generating from these economies. They are on the right track.
So while Capitalism promised the "good life" it all seems much short-term based right now with all that has happened. The countries who came out well drove their economies by selling more for less. People living in the capitalist model didn't care whether a car was worth $100,000 or $120,000 its all going on a loan anyway so my monthly payment doesn't get effected that much. On the other hand, the volume selling market was careful on each penny saved being a penny earned.
It seems like 2 random concepts but I think they are somehow linked. The link factor is how the booming economies came through the recession pretty good. There is much more to it I am sure. But this has some sort of link as well. Sometimes I wish, I had studied economics. I could understand and express much better on such topics. Anyway the thought has initiated, it will develop into something solid. It will make a lot more sense.
First lets put both these in perspective. This is how I define and understand both.
Capitalism is the concept of a capital driven economy. People borrow money to spend on things they can't afford but they live a quality life and spend their whole life paying off their debt. The people who loan out this money and drive this concept are rich ones who earn from the debt and the interest. Governments can print money so people can take loans more easily bringing down interest rates but increasing inflation. The people who keep the cash make money from it by loaning it out more. All their electronic money converts to paper money and then goes back to being electronic money to loan out further.
Volume Selling is a business model where people earn money by having lower profit margins but selling a lot of it. For example, I have a product for which cost of making was $10 and I sell it for $40. So I make $30 for every sale I make. Somebody else sells the same product for $20. So he will have to sell 3 items for every 1 item I sell to match my profit. If this ratio remains, we are earning the same. The concept that he applied was, he needs to sell more to make more. That's Volume Selling, kind of. He would have a different marketing & sales strategy as compared to what I would have.
Now if he is somehow able to bring his cost of making down and come down to the same ratio. He could make the product for $5 and still sell for $20 and he reduces the ratio. Now he only needs to sell 2 items for every 1 item I sell.
That's the simple explanation of the two concepts. At least my simple explanation. They still look very irrelevant but let me try to put this in perspective now.
The recent recession has been the output of this crazy model of capitalism. People keep taking loans and loans from loans and leveraging further on intangible stuff. Everything in the air. Everything a big bubble. It had to burst. It did. Everybody heard it, everybody took the impact. But let's look further. Who came out the better on the other side?
Just observe the economies that have come out pretty strong from this recession. Let's take just the major 2 for an example. India & China. I wouldn't call them capitalist driven economies even though India might show a glimpse of that. Both countries are densely populated and they have put their workforce to action. At least the ones they could.
India relies on its booming IT industry initially driven by BPOs and Call Centres and now moving towards some entrepreneurial stuff as well. The business biggies are now tycoons heading into the world taking over companies with the cash they have at hand. Their agricultural products remain strong and they got a good cash base to look into the future. They got a lot of population working abroad in many different countries of the world actually running economies in some and a lot of that money now heading back to India in terms of investment, new ventures etc. So lets look at the irony here. Other countries are printing money which gets invested back home when people send money back and invest.
How are they so successful abroad? The answer is simple. Skilled talent for much less the cost as compared to the local labour. You can get 3 Indians on the same salary of 1 person if picked from the local market. I am talking western markets here.
So basically, I categorize this as Volume Selling as well. The Indian sells for much cheaper than a European for example. Companies are willing to get 3 Indians instead of 1 European and they end up paying the same. Compare that with the example above and it fits perfectly into the Volume Selling model.
China is the world famous place for cheap labour. They did the same as well. Now the world's goods are being made in China for much less the cost. Big companies realized that while they are trying to sell more then can still improve profits by reducing the cost of the making. Move the making to China. Take any line of business. Ideas may be generated in the developed markets but mass production comes down to China.
The advantage is that after years of just making something, some creativity comes in as well. Soon we'll see creativity and research oriented development generating from these economies. They are on the right track.
So while Capitalism promised the "good life" it all seems much short-term based right now with all that has happened. The countries who came out well drove their economies by selling more for less. People living in the capitalist model didn't care whether a car was worth $100,000 or $120,000 its all going on a loan anyway so my monthly payment doesn't get effected that much. On the other hand, the volume selling market was careful on each penny saved being a penny earned.
It seems like 2 random concepts but I think they are somehow linked. The link factor is how the booming economies came through the recession pretty good. There is much more to it I am sure. But this has some sort of link as well. Sometimes I wish, I had studied economics. I could understand and express much better on such topics. Anyway the thought has initiated, it will develop into something solid. It will make a lot more sense.
Sympathy Selling
Very recently my focus has turned towards entrepreneurship. While I am part of the corporate slave community at the moment, the thought of entrepreneurship has been recurring. I have a feeling, something’s gotta give soon.
Proud to be married to an entrepreneur who actually has creativity and has the courage to go out in the world and make things happen. I wish I could do that as well. All I can do at the moment is share my ideas to be sponsored by my employer and be implemented within the company saving millions or making millions. It could all be so much different. I could do this all for myself.
Funnily, my mother and my sister have got entrepreneurial applications to their ideas as well. Surrounded by female entrepreneurs where makes me proud also asks some serious questions to that manly ego. Its all about the ego isn’t it? Heheh…
So, I have already decided I need to at least trek towards that thought and explore my potential. Maybe I just don’t have it. However, in order to start something of my own, I need the foundation and I am not just talking financial capital. This involves a lot of things which doesn't fit this post. It will all come in another one. But while on the same chain of thoughts, one thing sprung up which was pretty interesting which led to this post.
One of a close trusted acquaintance of mine told me that while you are trying to build a business presence remember the golden rule of trends. You have to bring in the philanthropic edge to your punch line. First I went, “Whaaaa?” A voice from within in the tone of the Godfather said, “Umar... The Philanthropic Edge...”. After the awe ended of Marlon Brando speaking to me, I still went, “Whaa???” Then the acquaintance continued, you need to add something to your product which indicates that you are not just trying to make money but also doing something good for others. The sociological impact. You have to at least show you are giving back to the society in some way. He further indicated to look around at what the biggest corporations are doing and I would know what he is saying.
So all those advertisements and celebrities, even government officials marketing came like a slide show and a few PowerPoint presentations in the head.
It started making sense. Sympathy sells. If I say, 1% of all of our earnings goes to charity; it is supposed to increase sales. If I say, a part of every sale goes to feed the poor or pay for a poor kid’s school fees, it sells. Oh yeah, another cool thing these days is "Go Green". If I say, my product is a little more expensive because I support going Green, low carbon foot print, recycle, save the sun etc etc, it sells at whatever price I want.
Do you get it how we are being fooled? How pathetic. Whats more pathetic is they actually call this marketing and being creative. HA!
My mother works at a regional social support organization. She helps build livelihoods for talented skill-workers from villages. She has helped them realize the value of their talent. The women are saving money to spend on education for their children or expanding their business. The work from villages has gone to be noticed by some designers internationally as well. Quite cool right? Read further.
Another lady buys that stuff from my mom in PKR (Pakistan Rupee) and sells the same stuff in an international market without converting the amount. She only converts the currency. It sells as well, same amount different currency. The selling tactic, sympathy. She has a scam of pictures of some artisans she downloaded from the Internet on her web presence. She has a real nice story to go with her marketing gimmick. Do people buy it? They already bought it. I am going on a mission to cut this stupid scam and try to get the money back to where it really deserves to go. If a 3rd person can sell it for that kind of money. Why not the 1st person? Maybe make some money for my mom as well in the process who deserves it for her efforts.
The biggest sympathy selling has been observed in the recent elections of Pakistan. A certain nobody in politics is sitting on the highest chair of the country. Everybody knows how. Nobody dares say it. Here I am bringing on an assassination threat on to me. Sympathy votes. Sympathy selling. Who gained the most from the recent assassination of a major political player in Pakistan? It wasn’t Zorro. It was some other Z who pees his initial on the wall of our beloved country and on the whole of the population of Pakistan.
Anyway, let’s end this here. I got my point across. Needed to let out some frustration of how easily we are being fooled. If you want to help somebody. You don’t have to go and buy a pack of washing powder to give 1% out of it. You can just go and give that 1% yourself directly to the needy. If you want to sponsor somebody for education, you can find it yourself. No need to get into this marketing gimmick of getting your sympathy money.
These people will do anything these days to make a sale. They can even kill for it so watch out. That goes for me as well :P.
Proud to be married to an entrepreneur who actually has creativity and has the courage to go out in the world and make things happen. I wish I could do that as well. All I can do at the moment is share my ideas to be sponsored by my employer and be implemented within the company saving millions or making millions. It could all be so much different. I could do this all for myself.
Funnily, my mother and my sister have got entrepreneurial applications to their ideas as well. Surrounded by female entrepreneurs where makes me proud also asks some serious questions to that manly ego. Its all about the ego isn’t it? Heheh…
So, I have already decided I need to at least trek towards that thought and explore my potential. Maybe I just don’t have it. However, in order to start something of my own, I need the foundation and I am not just talking financial capital. This involves a lot of things which doesn't fit this post. It will all come in another one. But while on the same chain of thoughts, one thing sprung up which was pretty interesting which led to this post.
One of a close trusted acquaintance of mine told me that while you are trying to build a business presence remember the golden rule of trends. You have to bring in the philanthropic edge to your punch line. First I went, “Whaaaa?” A voice from within in the tone of the Godfather said, “Umar... The Philanthropic Edge...”. After the awe ended of Marlon Brando speaking to me, I still went, “Whaa???” Then the acquaintance continued, you need to add something to your product which indicates that you are not just trying to make money but also doing something good for others. The sociological impact. You have to at least show you are giving back to the society in some way. He further indicated to look around at what the biggest corporations are doing and I would know what he is saying.
So all those advertisements and celebrities, even government officials marketing came like a slide show and a few PowerPoint presentations in the head.
It started making sense. Sympathy sells. If I say, 1% of all of our earnings goes to charity; it is supposed to increase sales. If I say, a part of every sale goes to feed the poor or pay for a poor kid’s school fees, it sells. Oh yeah, another cool thing these days is "Go Green". If I say, my product is a little more expensive because I support going Green, low carbon foot print, recycle, save the sun etc etc, it sells at whatever price I want.
Do you get it how we are being fooled? How pathetic. Whats more pathetic is they actually call this marketing and being creative. HA!
My mother works at a regional social support organization. She helps build livelihoods for talented skill-workers from villages. She has helped them realize the value of their talent. The women are saving money to spend on education for their children or expanding their business. The work from villages has gone to be noticed by some designers internationally as well. Quite cool right? Read further.
Another lady buys that stuff from my mom in PKR (Pakistan Rupee) and sells the same stuff in an international market without converting the amount. She only converts the currency. It sells as well, same amount different currency. The selling tactic, sympathy. She has a scam of pictures of some artisans she downloaded from the Internet on her web presence. She has a real nice story to go with her marketing gimmick. Do people buy it? They already bought it. I am going on a mission to cut this stupid scam and try to get the money back to where it really deserves to go. If a 3rd person can sell it for that kind of money. Why not the 1st person? Maybe make some money for my mom as well in the process who deserves it for her efforts.
The biggest sympathy selling has been observed in the recent elections of Pakistan. A certain nobody in politics is sitting on the highest chair of the country. Everybody knows how. Nobody dares say it. Here I am bringing on an assassination threat on to me. Sympathy votes. Sympathy selling. Who gained the most from the recent assassination of a major political player in Pakistan? It wasn’t Zorro. It was some other Z who pees his initial on the wall of our beloved country and on the whole of the population of Pakistan.
Anyway, let’s end this here. I got my point across. Needed to let out some frustration of how easily we are being fooled. If you want to help somebody. You don’t have to go and buy a pack of washing powder to give 1% out of it. You can just go and give that 1% yourself directly to the needy. If you want to sponsor somebody for education, you can find it yourself. No need to get into this marketing gimmick of getting your sympathy money.
These people will do anything these days to make a sale. They can even kill for it so watch out. That goes for me as well :P.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)