Open your doors and hearts. It is rewarding.

 A great little  article in Vox The case for inviting everyone to everything by Hannah Seo argues that opening up your social event to everyone, even almost total strangers, has tons of benefits. 

Connect without restrain and you shall be rewarded. People are better than we suspect. Opening your heart and doors can lead to lots of interesting possibilities, not to mention a whole lot of fun. 

योजकः तत्र दुर्लभ:

अमंत्रं अक्षरं नास्ति , नास्ति मूलं अनौषधं ।
अयोग्यः पुरुषः नास्ति, योजकः तत्र दुर्लभ: ॥


कोई अक्षर ऐसा नही है जिससे (कोई) मन्त्र न शुरु होता हो , कोई ऐसा मूल (जड़) नही है , जिससे कोई औषधि न बनती हो और कोई भी आदमी अयोग्य नही होता , उसको काम मे लेने वाले (मैनेजर) ही दुर्लभ हैं ।

Stealing with his eyes

Today I learned about Hamilton Naki, unfortunately, via his obituary in New York times. It describes him as follows:

Hamilton Naki, a laborer who became a self-taught surgeon of such skill that Dr. Christiaan N. Barnard chose him to assist in the world's first human heart transplant in 1967, but whose contribution was kept secret for three decades because he was a black man in apartheid-era South Africa, died on May 29 at his home in Langa, near Cape Town.

He started as a gardener at the hospital and learned his art by observing transplant procedures done on animals; as he put it, “I stole with my eyes”.



BBC Online - Article on the life of Hamilton Naki (May 2003)
Dispatch Online - Interview with Hamilton Naki (Aug. 2002)
The Guardian (UK) - On the life and achievements of Hamilton Naki (Apr. 2003)
Hamilton Naki Wikipedia page

Here's to the crazy ones.

In 1997 Apple launched a campaign most characteristic of the company. The Think Different campaign paid tribute to the people who broke the mold. The campaign depicted personalities from Gandhi to Einstein, from Rosa Parks to Pablo Picasso and from Richard Feynman to John Lennon. Think Different is one of the most inspiring advertising campaign ever.











Here is the complete copy of the original television spot.

Here's to the crazy ones.

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to thinkthey can change the world, are the ones who do.


Link to the original copy and the video of the commercial as it originally aired. You can take a look at the entire portfolio of print versions here.

Ali-isms

On the same note, few more quips from Muhammed Ali:

*A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.

*Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision.

*The man who has no imagination has no wings.

*It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

First post... first step...

What the first post should be about ? It would make sense to make this first post about what I intend to post on this blog. One tiny problem with it is that I do not know what this blog is going to be about. I am going to give it a free ride. Lets see where it takes me and what shape it takes with the passage of time.

No one forgets their firsts. The child's first step, the first job, the first speech... The tender feeling you get in your heart while doing something for the first time makes it special. And you cherish that feeling for the rest of the life. Would this blog be something I would cherish after a long time ? Who knows.

I saw a poster of Muhammed Ali with caption 'Float like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee." Ali was standing underwater in a boxing stance. Alone, triumphant, fearless and ready to fight any time, any place. The image and the catch phrase created a vivid feeling - a feeling of seeking the best, being the best.