Food for soul

Recently one of my friend handed over the transcript of Professor Randy Pausch’s last lecture in CMU(Carnegie Mellon University). This has been doing lot of rounds lately and I thought of reading it. I read the last lecture titled, Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. Randy Pausch was American professor of human computer interaction and design in CMU. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and he gave the lecture after coming to know that his case was terminal. This lecture was given on September 18 2007. Randy speaks takes everyone through various phases in his life, describing passionately the difficulties he faced and the moments where he triumphed.

Some of the gems from the book:

• The brick walls are there for a reason. They are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. They are there to stop the other people.

• Never lose the child like wonder.

• Loyalty is a two way street.

• Never give up.

• You get people to help you by telling the truth.

• Get a feedback loop and listen to it. When people give feedback cherish it and use it.

• Show gratitude.

• Don’t complain. Just work harder.

• Be good at some thing. It makes you valuable.

I found the one below, most valuable…

The life is not about achieving dreams but leading it the right way. If you lead the life the right way, your karmas will take care of itself and your dreams will come true. How true… This reminds me of Bhagavatgeetha where Lord Krishna says, “Just do your karma. Don’t worry about the results. Let the rewarding of the results rest with me.”

Randy died on July 25 2008. There is also a book by the title The Last Lecture. If you come across the book, do read it. I recommend this as a must read for everyone who are passionate about life and want to fulfill their dreams. That’s all for now. Please leave a comment before navigating away from the entry.

Some related links: The transcript, Randy Pausch, CMU

Ps: By the way, this is the first entry I am writing from my new laptop. Hope to write much more in future. God Bless!!

(Source of the image: Internet)

Scariest dreams

All of us dream when we sleep. Some remember them and some don’t. Some claim that they don’t dream but in reality they do dream but just don’t remember them (this is a fact.. [:)] ) Can you remember your scariest dreams? Most of them would be occurring during the exam time, like running out of ink when writing a paper or arriving late for exam. Even I had such dreams but they are not that scary when compared to the ones that I am going to write about now…

Dream 1:

I am a cop and I am chasing a gangster, (Don’t remember what made me think that he was a gangster.). He didn’t have weapons though. I don’t remember carrying a pistol with me. Two or three constables were chasing him along with me. What made the scene unusual was it was a night of New Moon Day and street lights were not burning. It was middle of night and streets were deserted. We didn’t carry any source of light, still we managed to see our way through. We were running in every possible lane in my locality. Suddenly he jumps the compound of my house, I do the same and follow him. The courtyard seemed to be wider than usual. He runs to the backyard and starts digging the ground. He dug few feet within just few seconds (Don’t know how, you see sometimes unusual things happen in dreams). I was watching him at a distance. And suddenly he grabs something from the ground holds it towards me. It was a skeleton…

Year of occurrence: 2001-02

Reaction: Woke up with fear (obvious, the section says ‘Scariest dreams’). Was relieved to know that it was just a dream. Could not sleep further.

Cause: I don’t know what made me dream this…

Dream 2:

I am fighting few men in a temple. I don’t really remember the scenario which led to this. It was again the night of New Moon Day. As it was middle of night, the temple was deserted. The wind is blowing hard and the bells are swaying to and fro, making loud sounds. This gave a eerie effect to the situation. (Does it remind you of the temple scene at night, usually shown in movies and television soaps?) As far as I remember there were some men who were helping me fight the goons (that’s what I think they were…) There war a huge Ganesha’s idol in temple which had a big Trishul in hand. I was fighting a goon and somehow we reached near the idol. The goon was searching for a weapon to kill and he finds the Trishul in the hand of the idol. He grabs it and throws it at me…

Year of occurrence: Few years ago in 1999 or so maybe. Don’t remember…

Reaction: Woke up with a start and was relieved to know that it was a dream. Was afraid rest of the night.

Cause: Watching too much of Hindi movies.

That's all for now. Catch you some other time. Till then take care and God bless...