Wani Yoga - Lesson 13

In my last post (Lesson 12) I had described how resonance comprises a great quality in male voice. It is true for public speakers as well as singers.

So far as female voice is concern, somehow we do not have many world famous female public speakers. That is because traditionally not many ladies have been great political leaders or others who have motivated people with their Public Speaking Skills.

At the same time I would say that the possibility of ladies leading the society can be as much as that of man. The problem lies only in the opportunity. We did have great females leaders like Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi and Golda Meir all three of them were great leaders, but only Margaret Thatcher was a great Public Speaker. Indira Gandhi’s speeches were undoubtedly motivation she spoke with conviction. But as she generally spoke on higher pitch, whenever she wanted to put more emphases her voice became strained.



Margret Thatcher on the other hand spoke with great ease. She had spontaneity and conviction. Besides her voice was very resonant. It a pleasure to listen to her speeches some of which are available on the YouTube. Golda Meir of Israel was another great leader but an average speaker.

When we look at the present time I find Mrs. Michelle Obama is a remarkable Public Speaker her articulation is exquisite her modulation is commendable and her control over language is appreciable.
In our own country Sushma Swaraj the leader of the opposition in parliament is a public speaker of a caliber. She is articulate and her control over Voice too is reasonably good.



Since more and more ladies are becoming corporate trainer in develop countries and also in our country. We can hope to see a whole breed of excellent ladies’ Public Speakers. Here, I am not talking of great female leaders But female leaders But female Public Speakers.

The quality is which they need to develop our; one zone personal natural style, speaking Sentences and bring about Modulation during the Speech.

I may repeat here that modulation is one’s ability to bring variance in pace, pause, pitch, emphasis on the keyword and the tone.

The good thing is that more and more people including ladies we realizing the importance of clear speech, presentation Skills and Public Speaking.

Thank you………

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day was initiated in Philadelphia (USA) by Ms. Anna Jarvis is 1907. It is a great gesture to honour our Mothers. Many countries today celebrate Mother’s Day in their own ways. We must appreciate Ms. Anna Jarvis for her noble initiative.
In India, when we celebrate Mother’s day indeed we must pay respect to our Mothers and celebrate the occasion in whichever way we want. But more importantly, we must also remember and pay homage to the great mothers our country had been blessed with. I would like to mention three names from the many that can be chosen from the pages of history.  These are:
Jijabai – mother of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
Maharani Lakshmibai – Jhansi ki Rani, and
Vidyavati – mother of Shaheed Bhagat Singh
 
Jijabai – also known as Rajmata Jijabai the great queen mother who instilled all the qualities in Chatrapati Shivaji. His exceptional courage, bravery and application of mind in direly fearful circumstances were all gifted to him by his mother. It is said that Jijabai had fervently prayed to Goddess Bhavani to bless her with a son that would liberate the divided and disheartened hindus from the tyrant rulers of the time who severely tortured and persecuted them. Shivaji’s mother instilled in him the patriotic values and the burning desire to liberate the people from tyranny. History is witness to all his brave encounters with the Mughals and the Deccan Sultans. His war strategies and the lightning fast tactics would amaze the best generals of his time. His agility, alertness and fast decision making power remains a lesson for all leaders of all times. This day let us pay our respects to his mother Rajmata Jijabai who was the force behind him.

Maharani Lakshmibai – At a very young age she married the Maharaja of Gaekwad and bore him a son. However the baby did not survive for long. The Maharaja then adopted a young boy as Prince and future heir to the throne. However the Maharaja did not survive after this adoption. Lakshmibai had to fight all odds to get her adopted son due and legitimate recognition by the British. The stories of her bravery are etched in the annals of india’s glorious history. Till the very end she fought for the honour of her state and for the rights of her only son – the heir to the throne of Jhansi.

Vidyavati – who can match the sacrifice of the great mother who decided not to go to bring the dead body of his young son because she did not want anyone to witness the tears in her eyes. The stories of her motivation towards her son comprise a great honour for our country. Let us remember the tremendous mother of Shahid Bhagat Singh.
I am urging my readers to share these views with friends.

Akku & Gabbar

Ever since I saw these cute Japanese Dogs, I felt that the names given to them were a grave injustice. Both these pretty Dogs live together in New Delhi. They belong to my niece who is also responsible for naming them.

Akku is prettier to look at. Gabbar’s face is totally black. Akku’s eyes are charming. But Gabbar’s eyes are visible only when he is angry. In the gone by era in Punjab elders would express a hot tempered person by saying

“Gussa te oudee nakk te baitta rahenda hai”
meaning :

anger always stays on the tip of his/her nose. But Gabbar’s nose is hardly visible. His anger emerges from his deep rooted negative instinct – jealousy. Gabbar is very jealous of his prettier brother Akku. He cannot tolerate if any attention is given to Akku by anyone much less by my niece.

And yet, both love each other. Throughout the day they like to stay together. There are two maid servants in the house. Both Akku and Gabbar are extremely fond of them. The maids feed the pets as their own children. Sometimes my sister or my niece also feed these pretty pets. These are special occasions for them. They show their happiness by rolling on the ground. They jump and they dance. Just to express their joy.
I find there is a lot to learn from these two little animals. Some of the points which come to my mind are as below:

1. That it is human to be jealous, yet the competitive jealousy should not be carried too far. Like Gabbar, we should forget and move on with our playful life.
2. They feel upset if no attention is paid to them but only for some time. The moment you look at them, and call they jump on you. So they don’t hold grudges or get mad at you.
3. They like the maids but they enjoy the company of their owners better. So they observe the propriety.

Thanks for reading.

Smart Skills

Education is necessary, but skill is essential. Unfortunately, our education system per se is such that it hardly helps an individual develop skills. Much less the skills I think are most important for living life happily and successfully.  I am talking about two skills in particular - skill with oneself, and skill with people.

 A child is born with some tendencies which may have a lot to do with his/her parentage. What is his father's attitude to life, what is that of his mother, and more importantly how their relationship with each other. While these factors continue to have their influence on the growth of the child, various other influences start playing an important role during the growing years. The teacher, the class mates, friends, relatives, and neighbors - all influence the child. It is hard to say how much these help in developing either of the two skills which I have mentioned above - skill with oneself, and skill with other people.

So what should be done? Whatever best steps can be taken by all concerned for developing both these skills. The education system as it is today can hardly help. Teachers are bound by the curriculum and the parents may not be able to find the time from their busy schedule in the competitive life of today.  But the ever growing media today can play a very important role provided a parent/parents are able to guide and regulate the exposure and use of the media by the child. The significance of Internet must be realized. All the knowledge required is available on the net. But one may say that a skill cannot be delivered by the information/knowledge on the net. Yes it is true to a large extent. Yet you tube presentations and other interactive programs make it possible to learn a lot from the net. In times to come, I am sure, the growth of the social media with websites focusing on special subjects will bring about a revolution in the concept of education and training. The need is that the parents, teachers and mentors motivate learners to be focused and stick to what they must and should not be distracted.

Developing skill with yourself, to me means listening and talking to your oneself. It means to understand your heart, identify what you really like and to concentrate your energies towards these.

Developing skill with people means to understand simple human psychology. You interaction with them should never ignore the following basic principles;

I)  That each one is interested in more in himself/herself than you.
II) That I, me, mine puts people off.
III) That making people talk makes them feel important.
IV)That when you win an argument you lose a friend so never argue.
V) That listening attentively to others will make them feel important. They like you most when you to that.
VI) That you need to skillfully convince people. If you say something that is obviously to your advantage, people will be skeptical. So do it differently. Say how an important third person appreciated your products/efforts/service. This will help create confidence in the minds of people about you.

More on this in my next Post. Thanks for reading.

Aping the West

It is a common knowledge that we in India have started aping the west some of the more forward ones young as well as old take pride in dating.  The concept of one night stand has also found its route and is moving forward in the West.

Elders bemoan that youngesters are forgetting our original values.  I am reminded off what Mahatma Gandhi had said at the time of Independence.  "Desh to apna ho gaya lakin log paraye ho gaye".  While we have become an Independent nation our people have become dependents - dependent on the ways.  It may not have been true at that time but when we look around the environment today one feels that foolishly we are aping the West.  We want to the kind of parties that have been happening for decades in the West youngsters like their clothes to be modeled on the latest Western fashion.  We eat pizzas instead of poori aloo,  young ones like pepsi more than lassi and so on....In Mumbai Bhel puri was known as a common mans delicacies,  its popularity was among many other cities but now the Chinese foodies have cropped up and Chinese Bhel 'is gaining ground'.

There is a lot to learn from every civilization,  unfortunately what we don't learn is the civic sense and cleanliness of the West,  and doggite determination and hard work of the Chinese. 

Its distressing to find that nouve rich while stopping and the signals open the door of the car and spit out,  little realizing the the roads belong to the nation. The local trains are disfigured with various posters.  The process of cleaning the compartments we are told has become very expensive in view of the highly effective glue,  besides littering the tracks with wrappers banana peels etc.... creating a nuisance for the railway authorities.  They have to spend a lot of money try to keep the tracks clean. We don't stand in qu pushing even elderly.  we have become totally insensitive out of sheer selfishness,  honking is rampant even when not required.  We don't observe the lane driving.  We have become a nation of only I Me and Mine....By and large we are never on time and blame the traffic when late for appointments.  There is a lot more to be said and a lot more to be thought off. 

Let NGOs take up civic sense and cleanliness as their prime project which will surely will be good for the new generation.

Personal Productivity

A few days back, we had a brain storming session on personal productivity. Organisational productivity is a subject that may attract more attention than any other in the management field. But what is personal productivity? Does it mean how does one manage his/her time? The answer is yes and no. Yes, time is an important aspect of personal productivity. Rather, it could be so provided your activities are aligned with your goals. And yet it is a lot more. Does it mean one’s achievement towards realization of personal goals? Not just that! Personal goals may change. Personal vision may change. And if one may say so personal mission statement if one ever cares to establish that – that also may change.

When we talk of mission statement or vision or an organization, that hardly ever changes. But when we are talking of an individual, the factors that affect a person’s likes and dislikes, desires, drastically change with changing circumstances, or even without these.

According to me the most important factor for a person’s success is his/her personal productivity. Now I will like to define it as far as I am concerned. As one grows one realizes that it is not just money, not just health, not just family, or your social status, hobbies etc., that bring to you happiness, but it is a combination of all these in varying proportions.  So what we need to do is to align all our activities to achieve whatever we want in the aforesaid different fields.

Therefore a daily review of what you do becomes very important. In the highly competitive world we have today, the targets that the organizations set for you are hard ones. These sap your energy and rob you of the power and ability to think what you must do. You only start following sometimes even unachievable targets. In the process, you totally destroy you concept of personal productivity.

Hence, what is really needed is to have the right balance and proper perspective towards life. It is only such a healthy attitude that strikes a right balance between family and friends, home and work, health and money that will lead to a truly happy and successful life.

Lots of good books are available which help you develop a proper perspective some of these are:

• Bhagwad Gita, ISKON:

• Seven Habits by Successful People by Steven Covey
  

• Power of Positive Thinking: Dr. Vincent Peele

Hanuman Jayanti

Shree Hanuman Jayanti
Hanuman Jayanti was celebrated yesterday with devotion and religious fervor. Hanuman temples were decorated with flowers and colorful lights all over the country. Bhajans and Kirtans to celebrate Shree Hanumanji’s birthday were also organised in many places.

What is the importance of Shree Hanuman in the Hindu Religion? Why do  so many people worship Shree Hanuman so ardently? They even observe a fast and eat only once in the evening and that too only sweet food, no salt.

Shree Hanuman is known for his devotion towards Lord Ram. His selfless love and comitment to serve Lord Ram empowers him to achieve anything that may be required to serve his Lord. It is this unique power that enables him to fly to the far off mountains to bring the rare herb that is needed to revive Lakshman.

Laye Sanjivan Lakhan Jiyaye
Shree Raghuvir harashi ur laye
                              
It  is the same power that enables him to burn half of the Lankan Kingdom, in order to teach Ravan a lesson. His dedication and desire to serve his master Lord Ram is so intense that the only path which is seen by his eyes is the road to success to achieve the desired goal.

Durgam Kaj Jagat Ke Jete
Sugam Anugrah Tumre Tete

Meaning the burden of all difficult tasks of the world becomes light with you kind grace. (These choupais are taken from Hanuman Chalisa

Many thinkers and life coaches of the Western world have emphasised the power of visualisation. Shree Hanuman is an embodient of that very visualisation. In this state, the person only sees success till he/she achieves it. And when one is totally devoted to a particular cause which is the goal there is no distraction whatsoever. So the total focus and dedication to the work accelerates the process of success.
That is why people read the Hanuman Chalisa with devotion and the following choupais motivate and reassure that whatever is desired will be achieved.

Sab kuch lahi tumhari sarna
Tum rakshak kahu ko darna……

All comforts of the world lie at your feet. The devotees enjoy all divine pleasures and feel fearlesss.

Bhoot pishach nikat nahi aave,
Mahavir jab nam sunave

All the ghosts, demons, and evil forces run away when one recites your name.

Sankat se Hanuman Chudave,
Man kram vachn dhyan jo lave

Those who remember Shree Hanuman, think about him, his words and deeds with sincerity and faith are rescued from any crisis of life.

Ashta siddhi nav nidhi ke daata,
Us var deen Janaki Mata

Shree Hanuman can grant all ‘siddhis’ – power to become light and heavy at will and also yogic powers to attain riches, comfort, power, prestige, and good relationship.
The daily recital of the Hanuman Chalisa with your goal in mind empowers you to take such actions which will enable you to achieve your goals easily.

Jai Shree Hanuman!