Arif & Ali's Blog » Personal

Sufi Comics at Comic-Con Express Mumbai: Photos & Press

Mohammed Ali — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:05:43 +0000

Since the time I’ve been working on Sufi Comics, I’ve been reading about Comic-Con conventiosn that take place in the US and Europe. I used think how great it would be to have a Comic-Con in India, to showcase Indian comics that are unique in their own right.

Then earlier this year to my surprise I read in the papers that India organized their first Comic-Con in Delhi, and the next one was coming up in Mumbai. In a way the timing was perfect ’cause “40 Sufi Comics” had just gotten released. Arif didn’t waste any time in booking a stall and in Oct of 2011 we found ourselves behind a stall in Comic-Con Mumbai promoting “40 Sufi Comics”. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet Comic Artists & enthusiasts around the world.

Just by the sheer number of footfalls at the convention, one could see the rise in demand for Comics and Graphic Novels. Comics are a very powerful medium and instead of just mere entertainment, I hope they are used for spreading positive messages to tackle the social issues our World faces.

“40 Sufi Comics” received a very warm welcome from visitors and the media. Our books got sold out, and many expressed their interest in future volumes. We’re looking forward to participate in Comic-Con 2012! Press clippings & Photographs below:

DNA – Mumbai

Hindustan Times – Mumbai

Marathi Paper – Mumbai
Photographs:

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Dream Come True – Reflections of the GTD Road Map Seminar, London

arif — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:35:02 +0000

Note: This post has many references to jargons that would be familiar mainly to implementers of David Allen’s system of productivity called Getting Things Done or GTD. To Learn more about GTD, you may read this post, 5 Steps to Begin Learning GTD – A Guaranteed way to Save Hours from your Workday.

Some People like Rock Stars, others adore Movie Stars, My Hero is David Allen. It’s because of David and GTD, that I am getting so much done (exercise, blog, work, study, spend time with family), yet feel relaxed. David and GTD has helped me prioritise and feel good about my priorities. Ofcourse I am not always in that zone. But when I am not, I am able to recognise that and I know what I need to do to get there. I have written oodles about GTD on this blog. Those on my mailing list have received several emails coaxing them to climb on to the GTD Bandwagon. I have even compared David to Einstein. He is a Genius. Genius is looking at what everyone is looking and seeing something different. Then to codify that difference so that it changes the world is indeed Einstein-ian indeed.

Imagine my thrill and pleasure when i finally get to meet David Allen. I had the privilege of attending his seminar in London earlier this year. It’s a seminar that I was hoping to attend for years and finally so many different factors came together that I could attend it.

The take backs from the seminar were plentiful. Here are the top few:

1. If you are still Bothered/Stressed that means subliminally you feel you can do something about it. Maybe you Should. God thinks you should.

This is huge. May seem obvious when typed out, but it was much needed therapy that I needed. GTD suggests that when anything is bothering you, first step, you write it down. Next Ask yourself, 1. What is the Successful Outcome?, 2. What is the Next Action? After practicing GTD for years, I have got most of these things nailed. Whenever something bothers me, it’s so automatic that I write it down, define the Successful Outcome, the Next Action and just move on ahead. But as you keep practicing GTD, you uncover subtler aspects of your self and psyche. And even after you identify the Successful Outcome or the Next Action, you are still left uneasy. The fact that you are feeling uneasy is your intuition (or God) nudging you that you can do better. There is a better Outcome that you can envision and achieve. Your Next Action could be more effective. And most likely it’s fear that is holding you back. And we all know we should Fear nothing but fear itself.

So next time you find yourself uneasy about an Outcome that you have envisioned or a Next Action that you need to take, congratulate yourself. Pat yourself on the back. Because you are officially capable of doing better than what you have just worked out. So take the Bold step and take the action that you are okay and comfortable with. It will all work out in the end.

2. If you keep paying attention to what has your attention, were do you eventually reach?

David’s main mantra is “pay attention to what has your attention”. If you are bothered by your kids education, pay attention to that, write it down in a trusted place, you’ll immediately feel relaxed. Next your attention will move to something else, perhaps work or exercise , notice that. Write it down in a trusted place, you’ll again feel relaxed about that. Since I’ve been practicing GTD, and I have been doing that. My question to David at the Seminar was, when you keep on paying attention to your attention where do you eventually reach? I loved the answer I got:

“You move from Distraction to Calling”

You then start listening to your voice, your intuition, your calling. You begin to hear, listen and move towards your destiny as human spirit on the planet. And that is your Only Project. If all the other Projects are helping you get there, keep ‘em on, otherwise dump ‘em.

But you’ll only know once you Pay Attention to what’s Pulling your Attention, capture that, get the distraction out of your mind/psyche so that you can truly hear your God’s voice within you.

3. You eventually get what you focus on.

We did a brilliant exercise within the seminar that deals with Focus. You see what you Focus on. You eventually get what your Focus is on. It’s The Secret all over again, but without the airy-fairy bit to it. Pay attention to your Focus. Keep asking yourself two questions:

- What are you focussed on?
(Extroadinary Fitness or Mediocre Health, Spiritual Enlightenment or Material Pursuit, Being An Active Change Agent in this World or a Helpless Consumer)

- Would you want your focus on that?
(There is a choice here. And it’s your choice.)

Conclusion:
Overall a brilliant seminar indeed. Really thankful to God for the opportunity. It’s something that i had my attention and focus for a long time and glad that I have it checked off. Hope to make the most of what I’ve learnt there. Oh yeah, another couple of take backs. Boy, it was inspiring to see how amazingly fit David himself was. Furthermore, poor guy had a cold. Yet, because of his professionalism he didn’t let that stop him from delivering an awesome talk. Even though he had to take swigs of cold-cough syrup in between to keep going. Thank you David. Truly Awesome of you.

My mindmaps from the and Some pics from the Road Map Seminar 2011 in London:

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The highlight of my day.

arif — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 23:01:20 +0000

I have been in Birmingham UK for the past few weeks. And the highlight of my day has undoubtedly been my early morning runs. The weather here has been so pleasant over the last month. It’s like God, while winking has pointed His finger at us and said, “Yo, just chill”. And that’s precisely how the glorious weather has mostly been. Dazzling Sunshine, Cool Breeze, Clear Blue Sky. It’s Jannat, I tell you.

Here are some pics from my run a couple of days ago.

What an inviting path. I couldn’t wait to run on this road and hear the leaves crunch beneath my feet.

Found this at the edge of the park that I was running in. This has been placed by Birmingham City Council for recycling of clothes

Woooow! I’m walking on Sunshine….

Double Woooow!

Shimmering Waters.

Sun, Greenery and Ducks.

Why did the Squirrel Cross the Road?
To have his photo taken ofcourse!

Enough swimming…let’s go for a walk boys.

Keep it up Moseley!

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Reflections Post Hunger Strke, in the India Against Corruption campaign.

arif — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 10:51:12 +0000

While the adrenalin is still pumping, here are a few thoughts and memories of the last few days.

Background:
There are many issues in Indian Civil Society that bug the hell out of me. Corruption ranks high on that list, with Poverty and Uncleanliness. I had never heard of Anna Hazare before. Nor of the Lok Janpal Bill. When I read headlines a couple of days back how he was going on an indefinite fast for the passing of the Jan Lokpal bill. I was in awe. I asked around and was explained what an icon that man is. Built not of skin and bones, this man is made of Principles and Values.

There had to be something that I can do to support his movement. I was smsed the following day by Dr. Mateen that there is a meeting of India Against Corruption at new park, Freedom Park. Freedom Park? Where’s that. No one has heard of Freedom Park. Well, pretty soon, the World got to know about it. The Old Central Jail in Bangalore, was where Freedom Fighters were jailed during the British Occupation. Keeping a lot of the same infrastructure, the jail is now converted to Freedom Park.

Me and Ali headed to Freedom Park on Wednesday evening. There I saw a handful of individuals sitting on stage, who have taken the pledge to fast indefinitely till the Jan Lokpal be passed. Who were these people. Gandhi is a simple Yoga Teacher. A couple are the regular Bangalore Techies. Yet another an entrepreneur. Here were people with regular jobs and families, and were willing to put it all aside. Why? So that justice takes place. Gosh this is what the Quran has been teaching me for the last 1,400 years!

Quran about Bribery and Justice

2:188 And do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly or send it [in bribery] to the rulers in order that [they might aid] you [to] consume a portion of the wealth of the people in sin, while you know [it is unlawful].

5:8 O you who believe! Be upright for Allah,bearers of witness with justice,

4:75 [Shakir 4:75] And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper.

Corruption and it’s Victims

God, is asking me “Arif, what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah (SWT).” Fight against who? Against oppressors. Those who are usurping the rights of the weak. You want to know what Jihad is. This is Jihad. It’s stand in the face of the Oppressor and till him that he is wrong. That he is an oppressor. And we are going to do what it takes to stop him. What is corruption? It’s when those in Position abuse their Power to extort those weaker than them to submit to their demands. Want to know how bad corruption has gotten in India? Here are live cases, people who have told this who have experienced this first-hand or almost first-hand:

- Women who stay in Bangalore Slums, when they have to go have their babies delivered, they have to pay a bribe to the Government Hospitals so that they can give birth. Once the baby is born, they have to pay an additional bribe to see the face of their baby. The bribe is higher, if it’s a boy.

- If your home/office/factory burns down. The fire fighters will take a bribe to prepare a report for you, so then you can claim your insurance. The bribe depends on the insurance value.

- For those who wish to or are forced to have a Post-Mortem. You cannot till you shell out extra dough.

4:75 [Shakir 4:75] And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children.

Here were people who are living the principles of the same Quran and I wasn’t! I could not live with myself if I did not do the best I could to support this cause. And here enters my most amazing family. I took my brother’s views on joining the hunger-strike and he immediately said, “Go for it.” I asked my wife, she said, “I’m proud of you.” I asked my parents, who said, “Son, do what you feel is best.”

It’s time to go
I packed a change of clothes. My tooth paste, toothbrush, a pillow and a bedsheet and headed to Freedom Park. I didn’t know how long I was going to stay there. All I knew was that I wanted to give my best. And here I met, the most Amazing people in the city of Bangalore. Such wonderful volunteers. Constantly asking if we were drinking enough water to stay hydrated. Is there anything else we needed. Each time I thanked them for anything, they’d snap back and say don’t thank us. You are our Anna Hazare here. One of the volunteers (Rajashekar) saw me offering my namaaz. I was doing so on the grass. He came to me right after my prayers and said that he saw me offering prayers on the grass. He asked me if he could arrange for me a prayer mat or something like that. I was so deeply touched by his concern and empathy. I told him no thanks but I enjoy praying on the grass and under the sky.

Staying at Freedom Park, reminded of a camping trip that I had done eons back. But here I was with nobody that I knew. But all were so strongly connected with a common cause, that it just didn’t matter. The spirit was, what more can we do. How can we increase our support for this cause. How can we make a bigger noise so that this bill is passed. Failure is not an option. I sat and wrote to almost everybody I knew. Most of you must have got my mails. Then I proceeded to live-blog the event there. And when I got tired in between, I napped.

At the end of the second day, I really couldn’t believe it. Rumors were there that the government has unofficially accepted Anna Hazare’s demands. Yet we were not sure. We held back our congratulations. Then we heard from our official connections in Delhi, that although demands have been unofficially accepted, Annaji, will not give up his fast till it’s official. And till then our protest will go on. All night long, patriotic songs were sung. Our favourite “Hum Honge Kamyab”, was repeated again and again. Tired and happy we snored. The mosquitoes managed to wake me up a couple of times, but not for long.

Hum Hogaye Kamyaab!
Next morning the excitement was thick in the air. You could almost touch it. What was determination the day before, was replaced by the Just-Before-Euphoria Feeling. It was as if we knew we had won the cricket match, but the team still has to complete their overs before we could celebrate. The crowd kept accumulating as the hours ticked by. The team worked hard to have a live relay from Delhi. We received the news that the official Gazette has been passed but Annaji was yet to open his fast. We watched eagerly at the flickering scene on the makeshift screen. And finally the words flashed across “Anna Hazare Breaks His Fast”. We howled, We Screamed, We hugged, We cried. For 42 years, the guilty were keeping away the handcuffs and now they had no choice but to accept. And we did it together. Each and everyone’s effort mattered. Every man’s presence made the difference. There was no one hero. That’s why we all became Heroes.

The atmosphere became just crazy. People broke into one patriotic song after another. I wasn’t tired (not to mention smelly and sticky due to no shower for several days) and I had to get back to work. Giving my new friends a tight farewell hug, I bade them goodbye.

Take Away Lessons

- My purpose of sharing this story with you is not to share how great I am. (With all due respect guys, I prefer you please not posting that in the comments. I know my weaknesses and sins that God has kept hidden from your eyes). The idea of sharing this story with you is this. Make the most of life. In this case making the most meant following your conscience. Do so and you’ll live a life of no regrets. Sharing this with you, puts greater pressure on me to do the same. Inshallah I will.

- Before starting I was filled with a gazillion fears. Oh my Gosh, how would I do this. This is so out of my comfort zone. Over the last few years I’ve always been in an AC environment, with soft cushions around me and always someone to serve me. Here I would be open to the elements for an indefinite time with nothing to eat. But it’s remarkable how God gives strength. Not only did I find it mostly easy. Man, I actually had so much Fun!

Allah (SWT) says “Take one step towards Me, I will take ten steps towards you. Walk towards me, I will run towards you.” Hadith Qudsi.

- A Key fear was that I was sure that there is no way my family would agree. I thought my wife would say no. I was certain my parents would. Yet, I asked them anyway. I asked them so then I knew I was giving my best. If they said no, I would try to convince them. But I knew it would be no use. My jaw dropped and my mind spun inside my skull, when they actually said yes. Moral: Do your Best. Be Persistent. Just take the next step. The world will automatically fall into place. At this note, I’d like to say a BIG THANK YOU to my family. There were so many who told me repeatedly how lucky I was. They reminded me time and again that it’s thanks to my family’s support and encouragement I could do this. And they are right.

- i stayed two nights and almost two days at Freedom Park without food. Was I hungry? Not even a bit. It’s amazing how strong your body is, once you make your mind up. I’m serious. And I’m a guy who munches on something or the other every two hours, otherwise I get a smashing headache. Yet, I didn’t feel a thing.

- The Euphoria and Confidence of participating in what you know is right is indescribable. You are provided with a tonne of confidence that when it matters next, you can do the same next time. And the next time. And the time after that. Ad infinitum.

There are probaly more lessons, none that I can recall at the moment. I am so glad I did this. Next time you are overcome by your fears, i hope you will take the step into the unknown. Trust me. It’s worth it!

Here’s a pic of Sreekanth, me and Ali. We’re busy helping with post announcement celebrations.

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Guess who else is speaking at TED. Me.

arif — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:09:47 +0000

This is the Most Flattering Email I’ve received.

2011 is off to a pretty good start. Alhumdulillah.

Wish me Luck!

Dear Arif,

We are looking forward to seeing you at TEDActive and are thrilled to confirm your acceptance to present at our Palm Springs TEDYou Living Desert Stage.

I wanted to communicate a few things to you about your TEDYou session and what to expect prior to your arrival.

Your TEDYou session will be at the Living Desert Stage at the Living Desert Amphitheatre and take place on MONDAY FEBRUARY 28 from 3:30pm – 5:00pm. We have allotted 9 minutes for your talk. You may not exceed the time allotted.

Firstly: There will be no formal rehearsal for this session as most presentations have minimal or no video requirements. If your presentation has onscreen visuals, please indicate this on the attached AV requirement form.

Secondly: There is a mandatory call time of 3:00 pm for all TEDYou speakers on Monday afternoon at the Living Desert Amphitheater. We will give you the order in which you will present on Monday afternoon, and walk you through the running order of the afternoon.

Finally: I have attached an AV requirements form and a speaker release form. Please be sure to indicate if your presentation is Keynote/ Mac or Power Point/PC, or if it includes video. If your presentation has no AV requirements, please still fill out the relevant information on the form. Please complete and return to me by scanned email, no later than Friday January 28, 2011.

I will be your main point of contact for any technical requirements, running order, and show logistics. Nick Weinberg will be in touch with you soon to schedule a time to chat about your presentation with Kelly. If you have any questions regarding your presentation content, please email nick@ted.com.

I look forward to meeting you in Palm Springs. It is going to be an amazing event. We are excited you have chosen to be a part of it.

Katie Schaeffers | Manager, TEDActive
TED Conferences LLC
#206 – 930 West 1st Street
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V7P 3N4

T. 778 340 8872 ext. 124 F. 778 340 8873

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History of the bugs that I have caught.

arif — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:04:50 +0000

I would speak, even when I’m not spoken too: I have had various bugs in the past. Once upon a Time it was the Toastmasters and Public Speaking bug. I would use every possible opportunity to speak in public. Toastmasters was a great platform for that. And when I joined Toastmasters, I was infected. I got the Toastmasters-bug. The spirit of the Dubai Toastmasters club was simply outstanding. You couldn’t come out of a meeting feeling excited and all-charged up. Man, I get a high just thinking about it.

But like all bugs, it comes and it goes. After several years of being an active Toastmaster, the magic wasn’t there for me anymore. The meetings were just as good. But something in me changed and I felt that I had to give my time elsewhere.

In the long run

i had been a chubby kid all my life. My trousers just kept getting wider and wider. I hated exercise. I would wonder why would anyone want to put themselves through hours pain and exertion. Yet I loved the image of being lean-mean exercise nut. Finally when I outgrew every possible trouser that I had with me when studying in London. While travelling on a London Tube, I came across this easy-peasy schedule that Nike printed. It said that just follow the schedule and I’ll be able to run 10 Kms by the end of three months. Wow. Me chubby, tubby Arif would be able to run 10 Kms at the end of three months. And all i needed to do was exercise like 3 times a week. I mean like, hey, why not, worth a shot. I hit the pavement the next morning and since then I’ve not looked back. I have run 100′s of Kms. I had got the running bug and it was AWESOME! I registered for races, and completed them. I paid huge bucks (while on my measly articleship salary), and subscribed to Running magazines all the way from UK and US. Would peer through every page statistic. I have run Bangalore roads in the dead of the night, and Dubai’s streets in the afternoon in the peak of summer. I ran so much that I injured my knee. Yet I continued running.

The bug is not as infected as it used to be. I am not consumed by the thought of running. And it’s several years since my subscription to international magazines have expired. Yet the hangover continues. Even today I do an approximate run of 5Kms almost every day. Whenever I travel, I always travel with my running shoes. Here’s a travel-tip, the best way to experience a city, is on runner’s foot at 6:00 Am in the morning when the city is waking up.

The GTD bug

This bug my blog-readers would be familiar with. I was obsessed with GTD. Every moment I was online, would read up about it. In my car I would hear all possible lectures and podcasts on it. And every possible chance I would get I would speak to others about it. I did not even spare the Maulana who accompanied us on Hajj. Even him I tried to convert him into a GTD enthusiast. I was not successful with the maulana, but to some extent I influenced my father, my brother and several of our staff at Vakil Housing. They didn’t much of a choice as I would stand behind them at their work desks and would be spewing the various processes of GTD, pushing them to implement it.

Other Misc bugs:

There was the blogging bug and the Spirituality/Sufi bug, each of which had taken my fancy for a significant time and then moved on.

and now it’s the Sketch Notes bug

We all take notes. We’ve done so from school. My note taking evolved from plain linear notes like this, to mindmaps like this. Yet I was always fascinated by sketch notes. Notes that involve both text and pictures. They look so cool, one wants to revisit them and most of all it’s so much fun just creating such notes. Each note is a work of art. I never knew how to take down such sketch-notes. Till I came across the following online seminars:

Doodle Revolution

Visual-Notetaking 101

Sketch Noting Techniques

That was it. I had that all familiar feeling again. My heart began racing, I was getting feverish, it was like falling in love. Yup, I was catching yet another bug. Now every possible meeting that’s what I do, I sketch-note and it feels awesome. And here are some recent sketch notes that I have taken.

The Moral of the Story is
You know when you’ve got the bug. It’s when every possible moment, that’s what you want to do. The good news is, a bug is a healthy thing. A very VERY healthy thing. It should be encouraged, nurtured, so that it blooms into a Virus, maybe even an epidemic, so that it has the maximum number of people infected.

Whenever I have caught the bug, I have emerged as a stronger, faster or simply a better me. And sure after a while the bug passes on, yet the after-effects linger infact they stick with you for a lifetime. Pay attention when something catches your interest which is beyond a mere fancy. Infact each time you have a bug, it’s a gift from the gods. Go all out. The energy that is generated with a bug, is beyond human strength. It comes from a realm that is beyond our five senses. It permeates into our world and it’s the chosen few that it reaches. Make the most of it. Cause it’ll last only for a short while. Invest every possible resource you have to make the best of that bug. It doesn’t have to be a hobby like the one I listed above. It can be a bug for family, entrepreneurship, and believe it or not, even your job. Thank the gods, load your weapon and go out your guns blazing.Similar Posts:

Maryam’s Golden Years

arif — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 05:51:39 +0000

Yesterday Maryam took her first few independent steps. She’s been holding furniture and toddling along for a while. But yesterday was the first time that she picked herself up from the floor, waddled the length of our drawing room and then crashing with a soft thud on her bottom. It seemed so miraculous to me. Oh my God! She’s walking, she’s walking. Look look everybody, she’s walking. Jeez, I was acting as if she was defying gravity and flying. I have seen kids and adults walk all my life, but never it evoked any emotion from me what so ever. And now every little thing that Maryam does drives me into a mild frenzy. How strange is this relationship between parents and children.

The most adorable thing that she does these days is the way she mimics the world around her.

Before dinner, we put our hand together to say short prayer (like so), it’s so cute to see her do the same. Ofcourse all her antics are not all to be encouraged. Just the other day, she was crawling on a dust part of the floor, she promptly sits up, pats the ground to gather some dust in her tiny palms and then proceeds to dab her face with the dust as if to apply powder on herself.

The imitation that has had me most confused on how to react was just a few nights ago. There she was beside me, rollicking all over the bed, refusing to sleep. I go on, become a tough daddy and decide to scold her for the very first time. She probably doesn’t understand what I speak, so I guess I don’t need to actually tell her, that, “Maryam go to sleep, see how late it is etc. etc.”. I figured I can speak gibbersh while acting sternly and she’d simply follow my instructions. So, I raise my index finger, screw my face to give an angry look, point at her and then the bed repeated while saying, “Och, koch, koch, koch.” She’s on all fours while I was mock-scolding her. She looks up at me blankly, blinks and then without a moment’s hesitation, raiser her right hand, her index finger comes out like a loaded weapon, and explodes with the very same gibberesh that I was telling her, “Och, koch, koch, koch, koch.” She continues to wag her finger at me while sputtering out gibberesh for the next 15 minutes! Oh my Gosh, I just didn’t know how to react. A part of me, wanted to burst out laughing, another bit of me wanted to hold, squeeze, hug and kiss her and a part of me just wanted to just keep staring in fascination and wonderment, which is what I did. Ofcourse none of these moments are captured on film. Just my mind’s eye. Which is so dodgy that I’ll forgot these precious memories in a matter of few weeks. She’s growing up so fast. Oh, I so wish I had Harry Potter’s pensieve, where I could download these memories and preserve them forever.

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12 Email newsletters where Arif & Ali get their Inspiration.

arif — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:12:40 +0000

Other than blogs and podcasts that I read/listen, there are quite a few enewsletters that I am subscribed to. Most are free, some are not. Below are the ones that I get most value out of and have survived my ruthless email filters and unsubscribing-trigger-friendly finger.

Business:
McKinsey Quarterly Top Ten Newsletter
The McKinsey quarterly emails me the best/most popular articles of McKinsey consulting for the past quarter. It’s something that I’ve subscribed to just so that I’m some what in touch with the best practices in the Corporate Circle. I have not got tremendous value from it yet. But since the newsletters are just once a quarter, it’s not that much clutter that I need to unsubscribe to it.

Verne’s Insights
I’ve found more handy information from Verne Harnish’s weekly newsletters. They’re shorter, punchy and let me know of what are the cool useful things that Corporates around the world are up to and if there’s anything that I can implement at Vakil Housing immediately.

Metaphor Minute
Some people are born with the Metaphor gene. The can put their point across to you in mere moments by explaining you what they mean with the most appropriate Metaphor or Similie. It’s a skill I have long envied. Anne Miller has written this brilliant book called Metaphorically Selling where she explains a methodology on how to come up with a Metaphor on the fly. I have read it and highly recommend it. In her monthly newsletters, Anne gives really good examples of metaphors that you can use and prods you to keep your eye open for them. This newsletter is probably one of my favourites and can be subscribed to here.

Entertainment:
Go Comics
It’s the Comics and the TV pages that enticed me as a schoolboy to begin reading newspapers. Unfortuantely the comics I enjoy do not always appear in the newspapers I read today. I have recently renewed my subscribtion to Ucomics, by paying $11.95 for the year. Now Everyday I get emailed to me the latest Calvin & Hobbes’s imaginative world, or Jason’s latest tiffs with Paige in FoxTrot or Diane make obvious the nonsense of the political world in Non-Sequitur.

Personal Development
GTD Connect
GTD Connect is premium membership service where one can get access to a whole range of Audio, Video, Text material to help enhance your personal GTD process. Click here to learn more about GTD. Being such a busy bee that I am, I don’t get much time to hand around the GTD Forums to see what conversations are taking place or what’s the latest Audio/Video material on GTD that’s out there. However, being a member of GTD Connect, I get an email of what’s the latest out there in the GTD World. If you are serious about implementing GTD, I highly recommend becoming a member of Connect, even if it’s just for a month or two. Give it a try, sample the Audio material that they have in store, specially the Tele-seminars by David Allen. It’s been worth my investment.

Productivity Principles Newsletter
For those who are not ready to be members of GTD Connect, but still want to gain traction on your practice of GTD, you may subscribe to the newsletter of David Allen himself called Productivity Principles, where he writes tips and reminders for all to stay strong in the GTD Wagon.

Emails by Vital Smarts
Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations are two brilliant books by the Vital Smarts team. Infact I’d say they almost the next best thing after GTD (and you all know how much I love GTD). One of my personal challenges in life is to be able to hold a Crucial Conversation and/or Confrontation with skill so that both parties come out as winners. What’s a Crucial Conversation? Well, common examples are possibly when there’s something you need to tell your collegue but he’s highly sensative about it, or you have a difference of opinion on an important business issue, or possibly even dealing with a customer complaint. etc.

In all the above conversations the common elements are that:
- Both parties have conflicting opinions/interest
- Emotions run high
- Stakes are high.

Observe yourself it’s when these three elements are in place that you get a crucial conversation. When faced with a Crucial Conversation, there is a roadmap on how to get from tongue-tied, raging emotions scenario to a cool, slick, dialogue smart situation. The Roadmap is long, and that’s the topic for another blog post, however, to get started you may subscribe to the newsletter by Vital Smarts Team. In each edition they address they demonstrate how one can talk one’s way through seemingly impossible highly sensitive topics. Examples of Crucial Conversations addressed in their newsletters are:
- Conversation with an employee over mediocre Performance
- Conversation of a Parent with her daughter on being overweight
- Conversation with a sibling on a difference of opinion on a certain matter in their family business
You can access the above and further past newsletters in their archive here.

Continuing Education:
Learn Out Loud free resource of the day email
It’s been a really long time that I was meaning to blog on the excellent material that Learn Out Loud has. Do browse this website. There is amazing education I have got from many of their Audio programs. In addition to those, you may also subscribe to their daily newsletter where they are continuously scanning the web to find inspirational/motivational/educational audio/video content.

BBC Breaking news alert and Documentaries:
BBC, is the best International news site there is. Period. They hit you with just facts, no exaggeration, as less biased as they can be, and provide you with sufficient analysis and history so that you can make your own opinion. To stay upto date on the latest breaking headlines round the world, I’ve found the BBC Breaking news alert really handy.

Furthermore BBC’s documentaries are also the most insightful in the world. To stay abreast of the documentaries coming up on BBC World in the coming fortnight I’ve subscrived to their BBC World New enewsletter here

Quotes by Dr. Mardy
I’ve recently subscribed to this quotation service, by Dr. Mardy. I’m generally quite conscioius of the number of emails I receive and if a newsletter I’m subscribed to doesn’t really add value to the subjects/topics I’m interested in, I’m quick to unsubscribe to it. The weekly quotes that I receive from Dr. Mardy have held my attention for the last couple of weeks. I admit I don’t read every single email I receive from Dr. Mardy. The days I have my inbox flooded, I am quick to delete the email without giving it a second glance. But the days that I have the time, I’m glad I have I subscribed to Dr. Mardy’s service. Here is an excerpt from his weekly email for the week ending 2 May 2009:

“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die,
for the harder I work the more I live.
I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me.
It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment;
and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible
before handing it on to future generations.”
George Bernard Shaw, in a 1907 lecture

“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze
than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow,
than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”
Jack London, a remark made to friends in 1916

Misc.
Baby Centre
As soon as my Sunshine gave me the “good news“, I began scouring all over the net for books, websites on pregnancy, babies etc, till I came across Baby Center. Baby Center provides this terrific service with their weekly updates, that let you know just the information that we needed throughout the pregnancy. Which was emailed to us just in time. It really saved me immense amount of time in researching the same online or in books. Furthermore the service continues till date guiding fledgling parents on the little nuances in bringing up children. I highly recommend parents and parents to be to subscribe to this service. The best part is that this service is also personalised for India, so get tips specific to the Indian context.

Top 5 ads from Adforum.com
Advertising. An old crush of mine. I used to be a subscribed member of Adcritic and keenly track the latest TV spots being released all over the world. Now I quench myself with the Top 5 Adforum weekly email that email me the most popular 5 TV ads over the week.

*Phew* that’s one hell of a long list.
I had no idea I was subscribed to so many enewsletters till I began compiling them. Any of the above enewsletters that you are glad you got to know about? Is there something else that you are subscribed to which you think I and other fellow blog readers would enjoy and look forward to. Do leave a note in the comments if so. Happy reading.Similar Posts:

Maryam turns Four, going on to Five. Personal Update.

arif — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:37:20 +0000

Maryam turned four months old on 30 April 2009. By the time you would be reading this it would have been close to 30 May and she would have been 5. I overheard my dad mentioning once to someone on the phone, that, watching your kids growing up, makes you realise how old you yourself are becoming.

Unfortunately Maryam’s sleep schedule and my work schedule aren’t really synchronised yet. What I mean is that she’s fast asleep when I leave home and by the time I return she’s well into her nightly slumber. But because I see her so less during the week, makes my time with her on the weekend that much more special. Oh, I could here her gurgling and cooing all day long. The simplest of things fascinate her. It’s just the fan rotating on the ceiling, but she will stare and stare at it in amazement. The creaking of a door, the tinkle of a bell, the faintest and most of ordinary of sounds is enough to distract her. What a wonder it is to see from child’s eye and hear with baby’s ears. For some reason I’m not able to get her to smile very easily. Therefore most of her pics that I have of hers, has a sad, blank look. My Mum gets her to smile real quickly and easily. It’s probably one of those things that you have to be a mum to know how to do.

When I’m with her, a part of me would like her to grow up instantly. So I could take her to walks in parks. Read to her my favourite books (which I actually do anyway), re-watch my favourite Disney cartoons, play family board games together. Another part of me wants her to stay a 4 month old toddler forever, so that we can just hug and cuddle, so that I can hear her coo and gurgle, is there any greater joy in this world?

The following passage from Hadith-e-Muffadal by Imam Jaffer-e-Sadiq, comes to mind

If the infant had been born mature intellect with an understanding of his functions, there would have been few occasions for the sweetness felt in the nature of the offspring, and the exigency, under which the parents find a full time pre-occupation with the affairs of the young ones, would not have arisen. Love and affection, felt for ordinary children, following the inconvenience undergone for their sake, would not subsist between the parents and their offspring. Because of their mature intellect, the children would not have needed parental care. A separation would have taken place just after birth of the infant from its parents. Even a mother or a sister would have been strangers to him and as such within wedlock limits. Don’t you see that everything big or small has been created on a flawless plan without fault or error?

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25 of the infinite number of things that I am Grateful for. Thank you God, O Thank you!

arif — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:29:43 +0000

photo credit: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³

O God, as the great grandson of the Prophet (SAW) Imam Zainul Abideen says in his prayer of Thankfulness,

“The most thankful of Thy servants
has not the capacity to thank Thee,
and the most worshipful of them
falls short of obeying Thee…”

but still we try O Lord.

1. I’m so utterly grateful for having received the parents and grandparents that I received.
2. I’m so grateful for the brother that I have. He’s my confidant, my business partner and my coffee-buddy. (I’m also grateful that recently he’s been taking more interest in the blog :-p)
3. I’m grateful for my wonderful extended family, my uncles, aunts, brothers and cousins. Even though we are so far apart, when we meet it’s amazing, it’s as if we were never away at all.
4. I’m so grateful for my pious and loving wife and my beautiful little princess that God gifted me through her.
5. I’m grateful that My car starts every morning.

6. I’m grateful that myself, family members and all friends around me are in the best possible health that they can be.
7. I’m grateful for the warm cup of coffee that I receive every morning.
8. I’m utterly grateful fo the the wonderful teachers that I have received in my life. They are the giants on whose shoulders I am standing.
9. I’m grateful for the love of reading and writing. I am grateful for having an inquisitive mind which is propelling me to search for the Ultimate Truth.
10. I’m grateful for the friends in my life, those who I grew up with in Dubai and friends that I’m still growing with here in Bangalore. God bless you all!

11. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be part of this wonderful company called Vakil Housing. We work with fantastic people, both within the organisation as well as beyond it (ie our Vendors, Contractors and of course our Customers).
12. I’m grateful for this blog and it’s readers. Me and Ali blog because simply because we like to, and the compliments we receive make it more than worthwhile.
13. I’m grateful for the fact that we can afford the things that I can and still have money left over to give away.
14. Oh, I’m so grateful for my health. (Over the last week I have come across people who have suffered from cleft lip, paralysis, polio and cancer). Every breath is such an invaluable gift, cherish it and make the most of it.
15. I’m grateful for having that opportunity and ability to maintain my health too.

16. I’m grateful for the religion that I received and the religious education which I am still receiving.
17. I’m grateful for the insight that this world is so temporary. Our stint in this world is that of the traveller who is taking shade under a tree only to resume his journey.
18. I’m grateful for the problems and the challenging situations that I’m presented with, which make me stronger at every passing moment.
19. I’m grateful for the Golden Era of Information that we live in. So many problems are just a Google search away. Thanks to which one can overindulge in so many forms of knowledge. One can get the best of the best of books, lectures and DVD’s. I’m so grateful that my learning doesn’t need to stop.
20. I’m grateful for having learnt GTD. It has truly accelarated my learning, helped me clarified my vision in life and provided me with lazer sharp focus.

21. I’m grateful for the conviction that there is indeed a Creator to the universe and for the certainty that it’s a trial that we are under.
22. I’m grateful for the realisation that whatever you do is completely useless, unless God Almighty is pleased with it. On the flip side it d
23. I’m grateful for learning that success does not mean a faster car, a bigger home or more money. But these are just means to true success which is spiritual purification, (ie getting closer to God by knowing who you really are).
24. I’m grateful for exposed to the wonderful authors that I have been exposed to (Sheikh Fadhlallah Haeri, Eckhart Tolle, Arundathi Roy are a few names that come to mind now).
25. I’m grateful for exposed to the wonderful lectures by the enlightened Zakirs in my life which have transformed and upgraded my thinking in ways I think nobody could have (Malim Hassanain Rajabali, Malim Khalil Jaffer, Sheikh Arif Abdul Hussain, Dr. Murtaza Alidina)

O Allah SWT, please guide us on to the straight path. The path where we utilise all these gifts and more the way You have intended us to. To get closer to You. Not in the way that we go astray from You, neither in the way that we attract Your wrath.

Any of the above resonated with you? So, what are you grateful for? Do the math people,…count your blessings. ☺
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