Exploring a new route

Yesterday, I started from office around 5pm. The dark of the evening was still away. I thought, reaching home early, I will have to walk in the podium garden. Lots of children of the society play all kinds of outdoor games at that time. Many maids with the small babies in the prams which is an uncommon sight in Mumbai. Elders leisurely  walk on the walkway. I thought let me also join them and also witness the lively joy of the juniors and seniors in the garden.

While driving back home, I got another idea. Normally, we drive back through the BPT road paying a nominal toll of Rs. 30/-. A friend of mine had told me that there is another road which takes about half km more but there is no toll. I thought to myself “why not explore this new road”?

So, we found a road turning right. Thinking that eventually it will join our normal route, we ventured into this new found road to the right. We drove through their rather zigzag road with lots of turnings to left and right and vice versa. To our big surprise we reached a dead end. Unlike other road that end, this place was full of life.

We had reached Bhaucha Dhaka (Ferry Wharf). While driving to office or back home I had seen buses with sign “Bhaucha Dhaka” often. There was a bus terminus. On one side there were fisher men and women moving around in their large baskets on their heads. On the other side I saw lots of people rushing towards the small passenger boats. I knew that some people who stay in Karanja, an island across the sea daily travel in these small ferries to and fro coming to work in Mumbai. Today, looking at this boat station gave me an uncommon joyful experiences.
I took some pictures of the place and the colourful boats which I would like to share with you.

Self-confidence

Your confidence depends on how you have been influenced by people around you till now. Be it your parents, your teachers, your friends and others you have been meeting. Some of the influences have created positive impact. ‘Yes, you can do it and you must try’. This motivates you to act even if there is some risk. ‘No, you can’t do it’, ‘it is not for you’ ‘what will others say when you fail’- these are some of the negative thoughts, instilled by people around you, or due to your own brooding. These hold you back.

Faith, Fear and Action are three most important ingredients of your self confidence. Today, everyone realizes the importance of self-confidence. Your career, your relations with others, your progress in life or even your reputation- all depend on your self- confidence. Your ability to overcome fears and your determination to take action even in adverse circumstances give it a boost. Anyone who wants to grow in life must develop ability to take some risk. Of course, you must not be a dare-devil. No need to deliberately expose yourself to great risk just to show off. Nor is there a need to take risk without thinking about the results. But some calculated risk of taking action to move forward in life is necessary.

Life is not a straight line. Like the waves in the sea, it moves up and down. There is low tide and there is high tide. There could be storms like we have in the ocean. You have to accept the challenge and move forward. Your determined action further enhances your faith and allays your fears. Consider that your body is a ship. And your mind is the captain of your ship. Just as the captain of the ship has to take decisions and take action all the time- 24x7, you must do that too. This will generate the required self-confidence. And, you will start viewing the life differently. It will no longer be a burden that tires you. It will be an interesting journey that will keep you in good cheer.
Some other suggestions to build your confidence and conquer your fears are:

1. Belief in yourself
2. Associate with confidence people
3. Keep motivating yourself by dwelling on positive thoughts
4. Be the master of your ship of life.
5. Never remain idle.

Thank you.

Setting Goals

Setting Stretched Goals

Today I’ll talk to you about the importance of goals in life. Anything that we do in life, we spend our precious time and money must bring about desired results. But often it does not happen. Why? Do we always try to figure out the reasons? If not, then why not? Because our goals are not clear. Because our desire to achieve the results is not so strong.

So what should we do? Sit back and think that everything will be alright? Or, that our luck is bad? No!
We must clearly define what we want to achieve. Write these clearly on our diary/journal. Make it known to the friends, family members, peers wherever it is necessary. Particularly to our well wishers. When we make our goals known to others, we become more committed.

Then, we should create a strong desire within us to achieve our goals. We need to contemplate on these as often as possible. Further, we need to plan how to achieve our goals. Work out the plan and write it down. Spend some time, contribute something, however small, daily towards achievement of what you want to do in life. It is worth it. And, you will be surprised to find how effective this process is for achieving what you want.

What are stretched goals? Goals should be short-term, medium-term, and long-term. In other words, what you want to achieve in the current year, next five years, ten years, twenty years, etc. Never think about obscurity of the future and changing times. Instead think that I have the ‘right’ and possibility of modifying my goals as per the needs of the changing times.

Furthermore, you need to work about a practical plan to achieve each of your goals. This should be backed up with action, you genuine effort to follow the plan. Life will be a lot more meaningful when the goals are well-defined and the plan to achieve these is followed.

You must define your goals in all aspects of life. Work out your own priorities, but you goals must cover all the following areas:

1. Your Career Goals
2. Financial Goals.
3. Your Health Goals
4. You Family Goals
5. Social Goals
6. Your Hobby Goals
7. And, your Spiritual Goals.

Thanks for reading.

The Neutral No!

It is important to remain on the issue and not allow any digression. It is equally important not to allow your ego to come into the picture. Often times, even when there is a possibility of a solution, it does not materialize simply because of individual egos. By sticking to the issue and remaining neutral you leverage you strengths. There are certain does and don’ts that you must follow while negotiating with difficult people:

1. Your language should remain polite but firm.
2. You should listen actively to what the other person is saying.
3. You should try to assimilate the hidden meaning behind his/her words and strategize you arguments accordingly.
4. You have to be really quick witted during negotiations.
5. You should never say No using light-weight reasons. Preparation for an important negotiation is crucial. While doing your homework you should visualize what your opponent is likely to use as his/her negotiation weapons or arguments.
6. You should be prepared to meet these squarely.
7. You should remain alert and not be swayed by any emotional blackmail.

It is always good to have a nice image but not at cost of your personal interests. Managers must particularly use their discretion aptly during discussions with their higher ups.

Wani Yoga - Lesson 12

In the last lesson (11) I had described some exercises which are helpful for enhancing resonance in the voice. But resonance is primarily a quality the male voice. What about the female Voice? What are the types of female voices?

For western classical singers the female voice can be classified as:

1. Soprano: This voice type represents the highest vocal range ability
2.  Mezzo soprano or “half soprano”: vocal range that lies between soprano and the contralto voice type.
3. Contralto: the voice range which is the lowest female voice type.

 
Jane Eaglen, famous soprano singer

Patricia O’Callaghan well known for ‘half soprano’ singing

        Karneus Katarina – famed contralto singer

 However, when we look at the scene in India, famous female singers are known for their unique voice quality. The composers choose the singer as per the demand of the situation in the film. I am talking about female playback singers and not classical singers because they are better known to the people at large. Nevertheless, the importance and greatness of the classical female singers cannot be exaggerated.
 While there is no doubt each one of them was endowed with unmatched talent, the development of the voice varies remarkably. This happened due to their learning process and the way music composers worked with them to achieve the desired result in singing.

Lata Mangeshkar

It may be surprising, to many, to know that Lata Mangeshkar was rejected by many composers. They felt that her voice was very thin. In fact if we listen to her songs in very old movies, we will find that her voice was really thin. But it possessed a unique quality of a child’s innocence. However as the years passed, her voice matured. It is unrivaled even to this day. To me it appears that her singing grew as Lata Ji is seen in the following 2 pictures.
                                                                     Lata Manghesker in her younger days
                                                 Lata Mangeshkar- her voice matured retaining its malady till date

Her songs truly reflect her versatility. She sings any type of song with unique ease. Invariably, her songs please the listeners immensely. The range of her voice and the poise in her songs are remarkable indeed. Her voice is very sweet and very attractive. Besides it has stood the test of time. If anything it has grown better and better.

As I like to talk about a number of well known female singers, this lesson no 12 will have many parts.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Wani Yoga Lesson - 11

Wani Yoga Lesson 11
I will now describe some simple exercises which will bring resonation and make your voice rich. But these exercises must be done consistently. And, you must remain relaxed while doing these exercises.

Sit comfortably on a chair or on the ground with crossed legs. Breathe in deeply and vocalize the following:

Exercise 1
Oo, Oo, Oo, ( Use your speech organs in an exaggerated manner while speaking these vowel sound.
Aw, Aw, Aw,
Ah, Ah, Ah,
Ay, Ay, Ay,
Ee, Ee, Ee
Oh, oh, oh

Repeat 3 to 5 times as can be comfortably done.

Exercise 2 : Taking a deep breath vocalize the following:
oo, oo, oo……mmmmmmm
(while humming the m sound should keep your upper and lower teeth apart. Let the lips touch each other)
Next, repeat with other vowel sounds:
Oh, oh, oh        ………… mmmmmmmmm
Aw, Aw, Aw    …………mmmmmmmmm
Ah, Ah, Ah       ………….mmmmmmmm
Ay, Ay, Ay       …………. mmmmmmmm
Ee, Ee, Ee        ………….. mmmmmmmm

Exercise 3 :

Speak the following line on one note (do) or (sa)
Many military matters must not mount
Then, repeat the same in other notes of the octave
Sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, sa
OR
Do, re me, far, so, la, te, do

Some of the other singers known for their resonant voices are:

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

Bal Murli Krishna

Yeshudas

Paul McCartney

Some speakers with resonant voices are:

John F Kennedy

Al Gore

Jaswant Singh

Arun Jaitley

Disclaimer: The exercises recommended are harmless, however any person before undertaking my consult his / her physician. The blog owner will not accept any kind of direct or indirect responsibility.

Wani Yoga - Lesson 10

Resonance

Resonance in your voice is a quality that adds richness. Here, I must say that Resonance is gender specific. It is a quality which makes male voice ‘Rich’. So far as female voice is concerned, sweetness of the voice is a sought after quality. Needless to say that clarity, confidence and poise in the voice are important both for females and males.

What is resonance? It is the echo effect. Resonance can be added by the sound engineer. But that is inorganic resonance. It may create a good effect in a song or even in a speech but it is not the resonance in the voice.

How do we achieve Resonance?

Is it a quality of the voice the person brings with birth? Or, can it be cultivated? Both questions have the same answer- ‘affirmative’. Each person is endowed with a unique voice box. Here, voice box comprises vocal cord, cavities in the mouth and nose. These are formed by the shape and muscles of the mouth nose, face and even the skull. To this extent the ‘resonance’ in the voice is an inborn quality. But resonance can also be cultivated by activating the muscles in the mouth, throat and nose.

Among male singers the voices of K.L. Sehgal, C.H. Atma and Kishore Kumar are more resonant as compared to other singers. But we must remember that resonance is one of the many qualities of a good singer.

It adds richness to the voice. The singer is able to enthrall the audience with the ease of his singing. Though C.H Atma and K.L. Sehgal have now become obscure, Kishor kumar’s songs are still very popular. Many times you have the possibility of listening to these on your favorite FM radio channel. Next time, you listen to his song, observe the resonance and consider the unique quality it renders to his songs.

 

                                                                  K.L. Sehgal

                         C.H. Atma singing with his very resonant voice

                                 Kishore Kumar the evergreen versatile singer
Resonance is a great quality of voice not only for singers but also to public speakers. The quality is abundantly evident in the speeches of the following distinguished leaders:

                             Martin Luther King addressing his followers

                                           Bill Clinton former president of USA

                         Swami Vivekanand making his impact full speech  
The speeches of these great leaders are available on ‘You Tube’ Videos