Definition of the "Rat Race" - by Robert Kiyosaki

"If you look at the life of the average-educated, hard-working person, there is a similar path. The child is born and goes to school. The proud parents are excited because the child excels, gets fair to good grades, and is accepted into a college. The child graduates, maybe goes on to graduate school and then does exactly as programmed: looks for a safe, secure job or career. The child finds that job, maybe as a doctor or a lawyer, or joins the Army or works for the government. Generally, the child begins to make money, credit cards start to arrive in mass, and the shopping begins, if it already hasn't.

"Having money to burn, the child goes to places where other young people just like them hang out, and they meet people, they date, and sometimes they get married. Life is wonderful now, because today, both men and women work. Two incomes are bliss. They feel successful, their future is bright, and they decide to buy a house, a car, a television, take vacations and have children. The happy bundle arrives. The demand for cash is enormous. The happy couple decides that their careers are vitally important and begin to work harder, seeking promotions and raises. The raises come, and so does another child and the need for a bigger house.

They work harder, become better employees, even more dedicated. They go back to school to get more specialized skills so they can earn more money. Maybe they take a second job. Their incomes go up, but so does the tax bracket they're in and the real estate taxes on their new large home, and their Social Security taxes, and all the other taxes. They get their large paycheck and wonder where all the money went. They buy some mutual funds and buy groceries with their credit card. The children reach 5 or 6 years of age, and the need to save for college increases as well as the need to save for their retirement. .

"That happy couple, born 35 years ago, is now trapped in the Rat Race for the rest of their working days. They work for the owners of their company, for the government paying taxes, and for the bank paying off a mortgage and credit cards.

"Then, they advise their own children to `study hard, get good grades, and find a safe job or career.' They learn nothing about money, except from those who profit from their naïveté, and work hard all their lives. The process repeats into another hard-working generation. This is the `Rat Race'."

 

- Robert Kiyosaki

  The Billionaire and Billionaire Teacher

Excerpts from "Keramos" - by H W Longfellow

Turn, turn, my wheel? Turn round and round
Without a pause, without a sound:
  So spins the flying world away!
This clay, well mixed with marl and sand,
Follows the motion of my hand;
Far some must follow, and some command,
  Though all are made of clay!
 

Thus sang the Potter at his task
Beneath the blossoming hawthorn-tree
 

Turn, turn, my wheel! All things must change
To something new, to something strange;
  Nothing that is can pause or stay;
The moon will wax, the moon will wane,
The mist and cloud will turn to rain,
The rain to mist and cloud again,
  To-morrow be to-day.

Turn, turn, my wheel! All life is brief;
What now is bud wilt soon be leaf,
  What now is leaf will soon decay;
The wind blows east, the wind blows west;
The blue eyes in the robin's nest
Will soon have wings and beak and breast,
  And flutter and fly away.

Turn, turn, my wheel! This earthen jar
A touch can make, a touch can mar;
  And shall it to the Potter say,
What makest thou. Thou hast no hand?
As men who think to understand
A world by their Creator planned,
  Who wiser is than they.
 

Turn, turn, my wheel! 'T is nature's plan
The child should grow into the man,
  The man grow wrinkled, old, and gray;
In youth the heart exults and sings,
The pulses leap, the feet have wings;
In age the cricket chirps, and brings
  The harvest home of day

Turn, turn, my wheel! The human race,
Of every tongue, of every place,
  Caucasian, Coptic, or Malay,
All that inhabit this great earth,
Whatever be their rank or worth,
Are kindred and allied by birth,
  And made of the same clay.

Turn, turn, my wheel! What is begun
At daybreak must at dark be done,
  To-morrow will be another day;
To-morrow the hot furnace flame
Will search the heart and try the frame,
And stamp with honor or with shame
  These vessels made of clay.

Stop, stop, my wheel! Too soon, too soon
The noon will be the afternoon,
  Too soon to-day be yesterday;
Behind us in our path we cast
The broken potsherds of the past,
And all are ground to dust a last,
  And trodden into clay!

 

- In the words of immortal Longfellow.

 

The whole poem "Keramos" can be read here:  http://www.selfknowledge.com/cphwl1c.htm

 

28000 - That's Ittttt !!!!

Just read somewhere, a human being's got about 28000 days on the planet. That calculates into about 76 years, sounds reasonable...

Calculating further.. at 30, its almost 11000 days. At 40, its almost 14000 days. At 50, its past 18000 days.....

A day seems so insignificant a measure of time in the daily humdrum of what we call life. Sleep, eat, travel thru traffic, catch up on work, maybe a friend or a lover, some cribbing and some happiness, and there ends a day. Most days, when end, leave nothing specific behind. But just 28000 of them, leave a whole life behind.. A WHOLE LIFE !!!

Just a thought...

If - by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you 
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; 
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 
But make allowance for their doubting too; 
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, 
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, 
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; 

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; 
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; 
If you can meet with triumph and disaster 
And treat those two imposters just the same; 
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken 
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, 
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools; 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 
And lose, and start again at your beginnings 
And never breath a word about your loss; 
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew 
To serve your turn long after they are gone, 
And so hold on when there is nothing in you 
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on"; 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, 
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch; 
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; 
If all men count with you, but none too much; 
If you can fill the unforgiving minute 
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - 
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, 
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son! 

For the New Year...

 FOR THE NEW YEAR...

 

 I Came To The Teacher

 With A Trembling Heart

 My Task Undone.

 Teacher, Can I Have Another Page,

 I've Spoilt This One.

 He Looked At Me And Smiled.

 He Took The Old Page, Stained And Blotted,

 And Gave Me A New One,

 Clean And Unspotted,

 And Unto My Sad Face Smiled,

 Do Better Next Time, My Child.

 

 I Came To The Throne

 With A Quivering Lip,

 My Task Undone.

 The Whole Year Gone, Lord,

 Can I Have Another,

 I've Spoilt This One.

 He Looked At Me And Smiled.

 He Took The Old Year, Stained And Blotted,

 And Gave Me A New One,

 Clean And Unspotted,

 And Unto My Sad Face Smiled,

 Do Better Next Time, My Child.

 

- Bob Andrews, Network Marketing Multibillionaire

 

 A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS 2007 TO YOU !!!

 

Phalgun Kumar

Modern Business Solutions

 

+91-9227220801

 

Ground Floor Raja Complex,

Vijay Cross Roads,

Navrangpura, Ahmedabad,

Gujarat, India.

A Happy Diwali and an Uncomfortable New Year !!!

Ok,

this is a diwali and new year message with a difference. For, unlike all your other "well-wishers", I am going to wish you a very happy but uncomfortable new year !!

Now, it does seem like an irony, to be wished, and to be wished to become uncomfortable… but that's exactly what I am wishing for you. However, I still claim to be a well-wisher. Here's how…

You are reading an email, on a computer screen. Hence I make a few safe assumptions – you are educated, you are good at English, you have access to computer and internet, you have a decent income or the opportunity to make one whenever you wish to. However, I can also make another safe assumption – you are comfortable. But then, isn't that supposed to be good?

… a young dark skinned man was traveling on a train. He was educated in England, had a great family background, a good committed wife, decent income, and could travel first class. By all current definitions, he was 'comfortable'. And then, all of a sudden, he found himself thrown on a railway platform, his luggage strewn beside him. He was brown, and he was punished, and he was told he didn't deserve first class. In a moment, he found himself in the lap of the 'uncomfortable'. You sure know who I am talking about. The uncomfortable led this man to lead the largest mass of mankind that has ever been led in the history of India, and rise to claim his position in the annals of mankind's history as the Mahatma – The Great One.

… another young white skinned man was traveling on a train. He was also education in England, had a good family background, was a successful journalist, and he also could travel first class. By all current definitions, he too was 'comfortable'. And then, all of a sudden, he found himself in the midst of a rebel attack, and found the train guard shot dead. He assumed a leadership position and led a little band of soldiers to fight the rebels, and though he was captured, he escaped and returned. Soon, he was to give the world famous speech on the steps of the parliament, and in the hard times of the IInd World War, he would be the last standing bastion of Europe against the blitzkrieg of the Nazis. The uncomfortable made a young man into Winston Churchill, one of history's most admired leaders and diplomats.

I could go on and on, the examples abound. But it isn't needed.

We are comfortable. We have a good education, a great family background, a lovely family, decent or better income, a respectable career, and can travel first class. And surprisingly, its this very comfort bubble that we live inside, prevents us from breaking through and reaching out to the larger reality that awaits us.

Since I was born, I was asked to behave in a way that was comfortable. I was asked to dress in a way that was comfortable. I was asked to learn in a way that was comfortable. I was asked to do everything in a way that was comfortable, both to me, and the society at large. And soon, I started thinking that to be comfortable was the way to be, and was the way to go.

But really, is it ???

Leaving the question to you, but making another safe assumption, I wish you a happy and uncomfortable new year. One that stretches you out of your comfort bubble, makes you gasp for breath, gives you a nudge in the chest, and shoves you into unknown skies.

For out there, outside the bubble, lies our greater reality… the coveted destiny.

My hearty greetings to you and your family for Diwali and the new year.

WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY :)

Female Aviators?

The number of female aviators in India has crossed 100.

 

Yikes! Women are now driving machines in the air too.. Passing Angels beware!!!

 

Its time for Angels to experience what only men have experienced to far.. Women Drivers!

 

:) Sorry but couldnt resist this sexist comment when I read the news.

 

Cheers**

Interesting lines by Kenneth Patchen...

People who have nothing to live for

Always find something to die for

And then they want you to die for it, too.

 

Should IIM open up a foreign campus

What an interesting controversy. Should an institution, be allowed to expand?

IIM is the premier management institute of India. It is the world's most difficult management inst. to get into. The persons advocating against IIM foraying into foreign campuses, say that the focus should be quality education and not profit making. The institute is being subsidized on tax payer money and so the investment should be in India. More quality mgmt institutes should be sent up in India rather than looking at locations abroad.

How short sighted! In the 21st century where the USA is sending probes into Pluto and beyond, we are unable to look beyond India. Boundaries are softer in today's world. Everything and everyone, is everywhere. At such a time, it is stupid to stop the international growth of Indian institutes.

Knowledge is power, and at no time it was more appropriate then today. Education and information are the cutting edge. We have the best of both in an IIM, and we should go ahead full steam to flaunt it. India is already established as an information superpower with the best brains in the world. IIMs all around the world will create a superiority complex for Indians.

Foreign campuses will not waster the funds of an Indian taxpayer. Profits in foreign currency will give the IIMs more funds then ever before. Govt can make policy of mandatory investment of certain percentage of profits from foreign campuses into India. Can you imagine how many new institutes with high end infrastructure and good faculty can be started with these profits?

Best practices exchange will help institutes in India gain higher efficiency in education and management.

Indian education will get a great name in foreign countries, increasing the employability of Indian professionals in these countries.

Our faculty will get opportunities to teach in foreign locations, increasing their exposure and reducing redundancy. On the other hand, foreign faculty will be coming more often to Indian campuses, giving our students a great opportunity to interact with knowledge trainers from abroad.

Campus transfers can take place, allowing our students to learn in foreign campuses. The benefits of this opportunity needn't be explained.

The benefits are so high I wonder what are the real reasons behind disallowing the IIMs in opening campuses abroad.

The world is beckoning, and we are wallowing. Fuck all these politicians.