It worked!

Like for many other people, work for me invariably means looking expectantly at the glowing 14 something " computer screen, furiously typing on the keyboard and pushing and clicking the mouse. A few days back my forefinger and thumb started paining. I was scared if this was the dreaded RSI (repetitive stress injury).
Just to try a home remedy I started squeezing a stress ball whenever my hand was free. And voila, the pain reduced significantly within a week. I am able to write and type as before with almost no discomfort.

Why be scared of living

I recently participated in a discussion run by my friend Rajan Parulekar (http://in.linkedin.com/in/rajanparulekar) on "The Road Less Travelled" (M. Scott Peck). This book is about being a realist in life, accepting pain and suffering as a part of life, rather than trying to run away from it.
It occurred to me that the following lyrics by Shailendra from the Hindi movie, "Mera Naam Joker" (मेरा नाम जोकर Translation: My Name is Joker), very appropriately capture the spirit of "The Road Less Travelled".

जीने से डरता है क्यों, मरने से डरता है क्यों
ठोकर न जब तक तू खाएगा
पास किसी गम को न अपने बुलाएगा
जिंदगी क्या चीज है ये नहीं जान पाएगा
रोता हुआ आया है रोता चला जाएगा

(Approximate translation:
Why be scared of living, why be scared of dieing
Unless you get kicked around, unless you invite suffering
You won't comprehend what is life
You came into this world crying and go back the same way)

"The Management Imperative" Anton van den Berg

Recently I got to read "The Management Imperative" authored by my LinkedIn friend Anton van den Berg.
I immensely liked the book. The first part of the book is just superb. The author has talked about some basic principles of living a life. (Sorry, this may sound a bit convoluted, but I could not describe it in different words.) But for this kind of subject, the book does not seem to be preachy at all. The author has described each principle in a page or two with an anecdote and a picture. The best part is that you can open almost any page and read without loss of continuity.
The second part of the book where the author talks of some management theories is not as interesting as the first part.
The third part deals with your action plan using blank templates and charts. I am still trying to get my arms around it.
All in all, I would recommend this book as an easy to read and understand self help book.