Destino.

'As a man thinketh'

You will be what you will to be;

Let failure find its false content
In that poor word, “environment,”
But spirit scorns it, and is free. 

It masters time, it conquers space;
It cows that boastful trickster, Chance,
And bids the tyrant Circumstance
Uncrown, and fill a servant's place. 

The human Will, that force unseen,
The offspring of deathless Soul,
Can hew a way to any goal,
Though walls of granite intervene. 

Be not impatient in delay,
But wait as one who understands;
When spirit rises and commands,
The gods are ready to obey.


"It is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffers because of one's virtue; but not until a man has extirpated every sickly, bitter, and impure thought from his soul, can he be in a position to know and declare that his sufferings are the result of his good, and not of his bad qualities; and on the way to, yet long before he has reached that supreme perfection , he will have found, working in his mind and life, the great law which is absolutely just, and which cannot, therefore, give good for evil, evil for good." -

James Allen in 'As a Man Thinketh'

"Von Dutch"

"My impressions, observations & possibly biases ":

1. I endorse that only people more direct than Americans are: The Dutch.

2. Commercial and Entrepreneurial: From Trading Tulips in 18th Century, to constructing largest trading port: Rotterdam. Windmills, Dykes, Several Competing Global banks: ABN AMRO, ING, Fortis, Rabo. Large Corporations: Unilever, Sara Lee, Shell & Philips. It's all von dutch.

3. Liberal.. Left.. seemingly reckless but not: Gay Marriages, Coffee shops, Amsterdam's infamous red light district. It's all here. You will be surprised to see the number of tourists the latter two attract to NL from all over Europe, US and other parts of the world, adds to point 2..commercial.

4. Kunst Kitsch and Colours: Red shoes, orange jackets, green pants, pink shirts, yellow ties..and grey skies...all 'von dutch' You need to have a 'certain taste' to appreciate the Dutch fashion & colour sense. In many ways it seems an inverse of the very close meticulous french...adds to point 3.. liberal. (Kunst = Art)

5. Oude Kaas: There is great love for Dairy and cheese. Before the beef is made, we do take time out to take the milk. The love for dairy products is not only in various cheese types, but you can see it in Corporate Board Rooms, where milk is served with Lunch! (Kaas = Cheese)

6. Insightful: If you really want feedback and improvements, actually go to a Dutch. I am impressed at their ability to observe and bring 'insights'. Independent thoughts, critical and 90% senseful.

7. Let it loose: von dutch, friends are easygoing and welcoming if you know them. They come across simple, genuine and take themselves lightly (no big egos). The dutch humour does not mind laughing at oneself...important is that you need to take yourself lightly too.

8. Change the DJ! Well that's what i want when i am at any pub / club. The music changes every 59 seconds, and its not that the song and sound changes.. but evertything changes.. within 5 mins you can hear Bob Marley, J Lo, J Morrison, B Spears, ABBA, Eminem. Now read again and try to think how you'll shake to that!

9. For dutch India means: Development, Offshoring, Pink City,  over promise, Elephants on street, 5 star hotel means 3 star,lot of people, beggars on street, NGOs, talkitive people, sun thus fun, still lot of people.

Can't fight those impressions.. that's just the way it is.

Thinking Home

Jaipur..  

As months are passing, I am looking forward to being back in Jaipur. It will soon be 3 years since i spent over 10 days at a stretch at home. Spring is coming and i can only imagine the colours, fragrance and the bustling streets of Jaipur during this time. Holi (festival of colours) will be celebrated this year, to know more on holi you can read:  http://www.indiaexpress.com/rangoli/holi.html . I miss all of that...people spending time at luxury, taking time to 'just be there'..there is a different richness there.. created through transactions done in smiles, conversations and time spent with nature.

Over the past years the city is going through a social and economic change, like most other places in India. There are new shopping centers, restaurents, cafes, pubs, etc. started. The consumer in Jaipur is ready to spend and the places for him to do that are now increasing in the city. 

I am looking forward to finding myself surprised, lost, found and connected once back.

"say what you see..see what you say"

When i was 12 years old.. there was a hindi essay I read in the text books. It was about conflict and world peace. The author claimed that atleast 50% of the conflicts in our world happen because of what we say and how we say it. A recent conference brought that to life again..

There were deliberations in the form of debates, not necessarily dialogues.. and you could feel the tension in the plenary. I could only sit back and wonder if the agents of world peace will be able to bring their thoughts in a better way in the future or not.