Creativity to the Core @ Mc Singapore

In one of my visits to Singapore, I had a few minutes to catch up a cup of cofee. I dropped into Mc Donalds and ordered a cup of Cofee with Milk. I donot remember the exact name of this cofee.

 

As usual, the cofee garnishing was great and it is a habit for me to capture memorable moments - I took photo of this 'full' Cofee. As I sipped through, I fould some print emerging on the cofee cup. Initially I thought it could have been some manufacturing defect. But as I sipped through, the print emerged to be a picture. It was a picture of hot cup of cofee. As I continued to consume, I found a "+' symbol. My curiosity was at peak. Then emerged an icon, I could not understand fully.



Only when I finished the cofee, I understood this code language. It meant "A hot cup of 'Mc Cofee" on a comfotable sofa results in smiling face" . 100% True.

Thought this could be just a message, I admired the creativity of Mc. That is why they are what they are today.

 

That's TATA:

Following article speaks for itself. Read on to get inspired.
Click the article to enlarge.

Celebrities Original Names:

Following compilation of Celebrities Original Names. This list was on the web on the eve of Saifeena Wedding. Some of them were interesting. Hence being reproduced here.

• Saif Ali Khan's real name is Sajid Ali Khan, according to a marriage application form filed by the couple at Bandra Court in Mumbai.
• We know her as Sunny Leone, but did you know that she uses her birth name - Karenjit Kaur Vohra - on her passport?
• Preity Zinta uses her given name very rarely and you know what it is? She is called- Preetam Zinta Singh
• Katrina Kaif was Kate Turquotte before her Bollywood debut.
• Mallika Sherawat is Reema Lamba
• Madhubala was Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi
• Salman Khan is Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan
• Rajnikant was Sivaji Rao Gaekwad before he started his film career
• Kamal Haasan's real name is Parthasarathy
• John Abraham is Farhan Abraham

• Shammi Kapoor is Shamsher Raj Kapoor

• Akshay Kumar is Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia
• Dilip Kumar is Yusuf Khan
• Govinda is Govind Arun Ahuja
• Bobby Deol is Vijay Singh Deol
• Ajay Devgn who has now dropped the extra a in Devgn was initially Vishal Devgan
• Rekha is Bhanurekha Ganesan
• Amitabh Bachchan's father had named him Inquilaab inspired by the slogan during the Independence struggle, but later her renamed him Amitabh, which means a light that would never go off.
• Nayantara was born as Diana Mariam Kurian @ Tiruvalla, Kerala
• Vikram was born as Kennedy @ Paramakudi.

Steve Jobs : Lessons learnt from India

CEO-author Walter Isaacson, who wrote Steve Jobs' eponymous, authorised biography, says the iconic co-founder of Apple Inc didn't believe in throwing his money away in charity and instead thought his products would help people live better.

"(While writing Steve Jobs) I asked him about charity. He said that he would be able to do more to reform education, for example, by creating an iPad that had interactive textbooks than by being a philanthropist giving his money away. I think that one of things about Jobs is that he focused - he didn't like to do 50 different things," Isaacson, who was in Delhi on a business visit, told reporters. The CEO of Washington-based think tank Aspen Institute, he has earlier authored biographies of luminaries such as Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein. Isaacson's Steve Jobs has so far sold more than 1,40,000 copies in India.

The author says he had "close to 50 very long conversations (with Jobs) some of them lasting all afternoon or most of the day" for the purpose of writing the book. "But, he never fully engaged with me on the topic of philanthropy. I asked him a few times. So there were some topics that I felt he didn't fully address such as philanthropy and manufacturing in China. He just wasn't interested in focusing on it. There were things I asked him and I didn't get much of an answer," Isaacson said. Apple, which has hired Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn to make many of its products, has come under sharp attack over harsh labour conditions and worker unrest at the latter's plants in China.

THE IMPERFECT GUY

Isaacson concedes that his book is not about a perfect person. "He (Jobs) would have been a better person had he cared more about philanthropy. But I did admire the fact that he focused on things more important to him. That is the way he helped change the world," he noted.

Among his 'subjects', Isaacson agreed that Einstein was in "a quantum orbit, as a genius who is higher than anybody else". However, he added: "Franklin and Jobs had creativity and imagination that I tried to capture and I do think a hundred years from now people will still be looking back on Steve Jobs the way they look back at Thomas Edison or Walt Disney, people who created lots of things that were very imaginative."

Isaacson, who had also written a biography of former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, says the experience was "nerve-wracking" because "you are dealing with a strong personality". He had almost decided not to write about a living person until Jobs happened.

"I got to know Steve Jobs a thousand times more about every moment of his life than I would about Franklin or Einstein... I was spending day after day with him telling me everything. It is very rare that a biographer gets as much information and access as Steve was willing to give for this book," he said, emphasising that Jobs' passion for perfection and impatience are inseparable.

INNOVATOR VS DIFFICULT PERSON

"Steve's success as an innovator was more important than the fact that he could yell at people or park in a 'handicapped' slot," he said.

Isaacson says many top execs have told him after reading the book that Jobs was like them because they were tough bosses. "You can't be like Steve just because you are tough. You also have to have people very loyal to you. It is easy to be tough. It is not as easy to be inspiring as Steve was," he said laughing.

Respond Vs React : The Big Difference

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. She started screaming out of fear. With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but ...it landed on another lady in the group. 

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. 

The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.  The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant. 

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering,

• ·        Was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior? 
• ·        If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed? 
• ·        He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos. 

• ·        It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies. 
• ·        I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me. 
• ·        It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me. 
• ·        More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life. 

Lessons learnt from the story: 
I understood,

I should not react in life. 
I should always respond. 
The women reacted,

whereas the waiter responded. 

Reactions are always instinctive

whereas

responses are always well thought of,

just and right to save a situation from going out of hand,

to avoid cracks in relationship,

to avoid taking decisions in anger, anxiety, stress or hurry.

Did You Know :

Back in1600’s, instead of mercury thermometers were filled with Brandy.

Onion belongs to lily family. If kept in an open topped tank, it will eventually product lily flowers.

In 1913, Rabindranath Tagore became the first Asian to win the Nobel prize for Literature, for Gitanjali

The word Naviagation is derived from the Sanskrit word Navgatih. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit word Nou.

Marie Curie was the 1st women to win Nobel price (1903) and also the first to win two nobels (Phisica – 1903) and Chemistry (1911).

In 1787, Austria became the first country to abolish capital punishment.

All wax-figures at the Madame Tussads wax museum have their hair washed and make up retouched regularly.

The moto of Olympics is “Citius Altius Fortius” – which means Faster, Higher and Stronger

Mageirocophobia is the disease in which an individual suffers from intense fear of cooking.

Peladophobia is the fear of bald people.

Thanatophobia is the fear of death.

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words.

Samhianophobia is the fear of Halloween.

The number 2520 can divided by 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10 without having a fractional leftover.

The first Indian to get a pilot licence was JRD TATA. The licence was issued on 10-Feb-1929.

India’s first woman IPS officer was Kiran Bedi.

Formed on 27-Apr-1918, the Madras Labour Unionwas the first organized trade union of India.

The BUTTERFLY was originally called FLUTTERBY.

Newzealand’s Tuatara lizard has three eyes : Twon in the centre of its head and one in the top of its head.

Dannebrog, the flag of Denmark, is the oldest national flag which is still in existence. It dates back to the 13th Centure.

Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to slow a film down, so that one could see his moves.

Kerala’s Raja Ravi Verma, was the first Indian Painter to acquire expertise in Oil Portrait Technology.

A One year old dog is physically as mature as a 15 Year old human being.

Algebra, Trignometry and calculus originated from India.

Quadratic equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th Century.

Ethelda Bleibtrey who began swimming as a therapy to combat her polio, went on to win three gold medals at the 1920 Olympics.

The worlds first university was established in Takshila (700BC), with more than 10,500 Students.

A butterfly has 12,000 eyes.

Originally, table cloth served the purpose of a towel. It was used to wipe ones fingers and hands after easing.

In humans, the nail of middle finger grows the fastest and the nail of our thumb grows the slowest.

Approximately 12% of people with sight, get black and white dreams. The remaining get coloured dreams.

It was in the 17th centure that ICE skating, as a sport, was popularized by the Dutch.

The eye colour of the kitten changes as it grows older.

Game of Snakes and Ladder was invented by the Indian Poet Gyandev. The snakes represent vices and ladders represent virtues.

Owl is the only bird that can see the blue colour.

The Bald Eagle is the national emblem of North America.

The US declatation of Independene was signed in 1776, in Philadelphia.

Arabia, which covers 3,250,000 square kilometers, is the largest peninsula in the world.

A Cat has 32 muscles in each ear and its hearing power is much more sensitive than humans and dogs.

On 12 Jan 1998, Nineteen European countries signed an agreement in Paris, banning human cloning.

In 1987, American Airlines Saved US$ 40,000 dollars by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class.

The first nuclear reactor for power generation of 100 MW, was set up in Idaho, USA in 1951.

The first major international TV Broadcast was the lavish coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Greenland, located in Arctic Ocean is the world’s largest Island. It has a total area of 21,66,086 Sq Km.

An average adult body contains 250 gms of salt.

A colony of bees consists of 20000-60000 honeybees and one queen bee.

The sewing machine was designed and manufactured in 1841, by Barthelemy Thimonnier of France.

India is named after the river Indus. The regions and valleys around this river was inhabited by early settlers.

The world’s first fingerpring bureau was set up in Kolkata, in June 1897.

The ancient Greeks had coins smaller than an apple seed and they often carried the coins in their mouth.

On 29 Jan 1920, Walt Disney started his first job as an artist. He worked for US$ 40 a week with Kansas City Slide Company.

A Crocodile cannot move its tongue and so it cannot chew. Its digestive juice is so strong that it can digest a steel nail.

Feet contains one quarter of the bones of human body.

An elephant can live for as long as eighty years.

During its life time, a cow gives nearly 2,00,000 glasses of milk.

The world’s largest school is in Lucknow. It has 30,000 students.

The largest cat in the world is Siberian tiger, which weights 300 kg and can eat 27.2 kg of meat in one meal.

The first human heart transplant was done by Christian Barnard, in December 1967.

A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it go mad instantly and sting itself to death.

Bicycle was first manufactures in 1817, in Paris by Baron Karl Von Drais. It was known as a Hobby Horse or Swift-Walker.

The world Hippopotamus comes from Greek word for River Horse.

Kangaroo is the only four legger mammal that cannot walk backwards.

In 1755, Samuel Johnson wrote the first English Dictionary.

The first underground passenger railway, the Metropolitan Railway, was opened in London in 1863.

Indian Lotus seed has an extensive germination life. It can grow even after 300 to 400 years of being dormant.

Napoleon and Julius Caesar both suffered from Ailurophobia – Fear of Cats.

In 1869, Austria became the first country to use post cards.

The game of Chess was invented in India.

As per Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.

The name Banana is derived from Arabic word BANAN which means finger.

Steve Jobs - India connection & Other interesting facts

(1) The year was 1973. The Vietnam War was still raging, the Watergate scandal had blown up, and angsty, disillusioned young Americans were hanging on to the counterculture movement for dear life.

That's when an 18-year-old from San Francisco dropped out from college, took a psychedelic leaf out of the Beatles' transcendental book and headed for the Himalayas, with friend Daniel Kottke, in search of 'enlightenment'.

Steve Paul Jobs traversed the loopy roads of Uttarakhand and ended up at the ashram of Baba Neeb Karori, near Ranikhet. The mystic saint had just died. Jobs never got the enlightenment he was looking for, but did return to California in Indian clothes, and a Buddhist.

(2) Three years later, in 1976, a hippie startup took wing with the revolutionary idea of personal computing. Jobs co-founded Apple with fellow dropout Steve Wozniak.

Apple started up in a garage in Job's home in Los Altos, California. The company was founded with a seed money of $1,300, which came from the sale of Jobs' Volkswagen van and Wozniak's scientific calculator. Wozniak wrote later in his biography that he joined Jobs because even if Apple closed down, both could boast to their grandchildren that they started a company.

(3) Not bad for a man who had enrolled in a calligraphy class, used to eat free meals at the Hare Krishna Temple, and did odd jobs for pocket money. Jobs later said his dropping out of college allowed him to learn calligraphy, which helped users get better styled fonts in Apple computers.

(4) Born to Abdulfattah Jandali, a Syrian professor at University of Wisconsin, Jobs was placed for adoption soon after his birth. He was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs, and discovered his biological parents only after he was 27.

Happenings in the year you were born :

Click the following link and enter the year you were born. I am sure you would be surprised with the interesting informations.

CLICK HERE TO BEGIN.

Ramayana Vs Mahabaratha

It is curious that the forest-exile is central to both Ramayana and Mahabharata, the twin epics of India. In the Ramayana, Ram goes into exile so that his father can keep his word to his step-mother, Kaikeyi. In the Mahabharata, thePandavas go into exile following an agreement with their cousins, the Kauravas, when they lose their kingdom in a gambling match.

The reaction to the exile in both epics is startlingly different. In the Ramayana, Ram keeps saying that neither Kaikeyi nor his father should be blamed and the moment should be accepted as an act of destiny. In the Mahabharata, Pandavas keep blaming Kauravas and their uncle, Shakuni, for fraud and trickery.

Ram looks calm and peaceful, even though he is clearly the victim of palace politics. The Pandavas on the other hand are angry and furious, never once taking responsibility for the fact that they gambled away their kingdom.

The loss of kingdom and exile into the forest is a metaphor for misfortune. But the approach to it distinguishes Ram from the Pandavas and makes the former a king worthy of worship.

Managers can be classified into Ramayana Managers and Mahabharata Managers. The former take responsibility for a situation, even if they are not to blame. The latter do not take responsibility for a situation, even if they are to blame.

Ramayana managers. typically internalise the problem. Focus on what they can do to manage and resolve the crisis

Mahabharata managers typically externalise the problem and spend a lot of time and energy finding people and processes to blame.

Situation Song

Kaviarasar had a tiff one early morning with one of his eldest sons and his publisher-friend over the publishing rights of his novel which was serialised in Kumudham earlier. After this stand-off he went to one of the assigned studios to do lyrics with Kanmani Subbu following him (after Panchu Arunasalam's incident it was Kanmani Subbu who filled up as his assistant in lyrics).

At the studio MSV was already present with his harmonium and when kaviarasar was told the story situation immediately he uttered the pallavi "Sothanai mel sothanai pothumadaa sami" ('Thanga Pathakkam' 1974). Kanmani Subbu, as usual transcribed the whole song while it was dictated and passed it to MSV after getting the endorsement of kaviarasar.

Traditionally, song tunes are composed on the first stanza only but in this case MSV was trying out different tunes basing on the last line of the last stanza, to wit, "...idipole pillai vanthaal madi thaangumaa". He was emphasising this part of the lyrics so loud and crying which was very unusual.

While the composition was going on Shivaji who was at a shooting in the adjacent studio room quitely came and took his seat amongst them during a break. He did not utter a single word but was clearly seen in a pensive mood with a tinge of sadness. He placed his right forefinger on the right side of his cheek and stared blankly at MSV .

Kaviarasar was seen puffing away a cigarette also in a melancholic mood. Suddenly he saw these three senior citizens shedding tears which was also unusual. Only later it was learned that both MSV and Shivaji had had some sort of misunderstandings and arguments (private) with their respective sons that particular morning too!

Kaviarasar's song befitted the actual life situations of these three gentlemen who were also involved in this film.

Israel - Palestine Conflict - Map

Often I used to wonder why there has been so much of friction between Israel and Palestine. This has not been clear so far until I saw the below mentioned picture published in The Hindu. Hope you can read the picture and understand.


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Interesting Facts

Click the image below to enlarge.

Life of Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci is credited with lots of contributions to science & Art. Apart from his epic work of Last supper or Mono Lisa, Leonarda was associated with lots of engineering models, many of them related to military machineries. Though these models have been tested today and is acting as a big source of inspiration in today's world, during his life Leonardo's models were never tested and put to use. One of the reasons for such 'unnotified' attitude in Rome could have been the emergence of lots of genius during the Life of Leonarda. For instance Michelangelo was 23 years junior to Leonorda. But Michelangelo had a very quick career jump due to his excellence in sculpture : be it David or Pieta or Sistine chappel cealing painting. As a result, Leornado's real talent seem to have been less appreciated during his life time.

Below menioned is a chronology during the Life of Leonardo:

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From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living in the Belvedere in the Vatican in Rome, where Raphael and Michelangelo were both active at the time. In October 1515, Francis I of France recaptured Milan. On December 19, Leonardo was present at the meeting of Francis I and Pope Leo X, which took place in Bologna. It was for Francis that Leonardo was commissioned to make a mechanical lion which could walk forward, then open its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies. In 1516, he entered François' service, being given the use of the manor house Clos Lucé near the king's residence at the royal Château d'Amboise. It was here that he spent the last three years of his life, accompanied by his friend and apprentice, Count Francesco Melzi, supported by a pension totalling 10,000 scudi.

Leonardo died at Clos Lucé, on May 2, 1519. Francis I had become a close friend. Vasari records that the King held Leonardo's head in his arms as he died, although this story, beloved by the French and portrayed in romantic paintings by Ingres, Ménageot and other French artists, as well as by Angelica Kauffmann, may be legend rather than fact.

Leonardo's friend Vasari tells us that in his last days, Leonardo sent for a priest to make his confession and to receive the Holy Sacrament.[40] In accordance to his will, sixty beggars followed his casket. He was buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in Château d'Amboise. Melzi was the principal heir and executor, receiving as well as money, Leonardo's paintings, tools, library and personal effects. Leonardo also remembered his other long-time pupil and companion, Salai and his servant Battista di Vilussis, who each received half of Leonardo's vineyards, his brothers who received land, and his serving woman who received a black cloak "of good stuff" with a fur edge.

Some twenty years after Leonardo's death, French King Francis was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor Benevenuto Cellini as saying: "There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he was a very great philosopher."

Forgotton Facts

1. MOPED is the short term for 'Motorized Pedaling'.

2. POP MUSIC is 'Popular Music' shortened.

3. BUS is the short term for 'Omnibus' that means everybody.

4. FORTNIGHT comes from 'Fourteen Nights' (Two Weeks).

5. DRAWING ROOM was actually a 'withdrawing room' where people withdrew after Dinner. Later the prefix 'with' was dropped..

6. NEWS refers to information from Four directions N, E, W and S..

7. AG-MARK, which some products bear, stems from 'Agricultural Marketing'.

8. JOURNAL is a diary that tells about 'Journey for a day' during each Day's business.

9. QUEUE comes from 'Queen's Quest'. Long back a long row of people as waiting to see the Queen. Someone made the comment Queen's Quest..

10. TIPS come from 'To Insure Prompt Service'. In olden days to get Prompt service from servants in an inn, travelers used to drop coins in a Box on which was written 'To Insure Prompt Service'. This gave rise to the custom of Tips.

11. JEEP is a vehicle with unique Gear system. It was invented during World War II (1939-1945). It was named 'General Purpose Vehicle (GP)'.GP was changed into JEEP later.

12. Coca-Cola was originally green.

13. The most common name in the world is Mohammed..

14. The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.

15. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

16. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row ! of the keyboard.

17. Women blink nearly twice as much as men!!

18. You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.

19. It is impossible to lick your elbow.

20.. People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.

21. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.

22. The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.

23. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history.

.........Spades - King David

.........Clubs - Alexander the Great,

.........Hearts - Charlemagne

.........Diamonds - Julius Caesar.

24. Horse Statue in a Park...

---->If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.

---->If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle

---->If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

25. What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common? Ans. - All invented by women.

26. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

27. A snail can sleep for three years.

28. All polar bears are left handed.

29. Butterflies taste with their feet.

30. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

31. In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

32. On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.

33. Shakespeare invented the word 'assassination' and 'bump'.

34. Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

35. The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

36. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

37. The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.

38. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.

39. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

40. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.

41. The cigarette lighter was invented before the matchbox.

42. Most lipstick contains fish scales.

Modern A B C D .....

Six Sigma Dabbawallahs

For decades, lots of study on Mumbai Dabbawallahs for their efficiency in delivery lunch boxes to their customers. And their service quality has been assigned a "Six Sigma" which has been assigned to companies like Toyoto's. Such is the Quality Control.

Here is an interesting article that I came across recently. Click the image to enlarge and right click the same to save as your personal copy.

Spread of Religion : Graphics

Click the link below to see a graphical representation of the spread of religion since 3000 BC. It is truly amazing.

http://mapsofwar.com/images/Religion.swf

How to Check Mobile Manufacturer ?

Nature's Smile

A friend of mine forwarded this rare photograph. Hope you enjoy it.

Queen-Elizabeth of England, with 11 presidents of USA ..!!

Queen Elizabeth of England has such a long innings. This compilation shows her meeting with Eleven Presidents of USA : A World Record which no one can break. Probably this is what they call as Monarchy.