Story Book Collection Drive

Dear Readers,

Some of my best childhood memories revolve around story books. My birthday present from my parents when I was in std 1 were the two volumes of World's Best Fairy Tales (A Readers Digest collection). I loved books, I still do. I loved it better when my parents read to me. My Grannies regaled me with folklore. Thus, I always like to give books as gifts, to family, friends and others.

A friend of mine who is an active social worker, runs a school courtesy Humane Touch Trust, in a slum area of Bangalore.

You may have heard of Humane Touch Trust because of media visibility of various projects in the sphere of medical aid. However, over the years, it school has grown and there are plans to make it a full fledged school, currently classes only up to the seventh grade are functional.

I have visited this school and am impressed with its staff. They teach with a smile. But what is lacking, or what this school needs more of is story books.

These kids, have not seen anything beyond their immediate neighbourhood. Their parents are illiterate, yet are sending them to school. All the children were neat, clean, and eager to learn. See photograph of one little student during school assembly (Photograph courtesy: Humane Touch Trust).

Dude friends (group) on LinkedIn, decided to participate in a Story Book Collection Drive. I have put up a wish list at Amazon, click here.

Please join in if you'd like to participate.

For those who wish to donate books and not via Amazon (such as those readers from India), let me know and I will send you the mailing address of Humane Touch Trust. Even used books in good condition are welcome.

We are looking at:
1) Age group 4 to 8
2) Easy to read books, with at least a hard back cover
3) Books such as picture dictionaries, books on trains/cars/animals
4) Well illustrated, short stories

Photograph courtesy

An update as of September 6: The book project is on in full swing. So far, 30 books have been ordered via Amazon's wish list. Few more are on their way as Dudes and other friends have committed. Yes, the steep shipping charges hurt. The only way out, as an example: seems to be to order one book instead of two (so as to factor in the shipping charges). Every little drop does count.

An update as of September 13: Eight more books on their way to India. Plus, I spent the last few days, writing to children's authors. The lovely Brigitte Benchimol responded. Her latest book: "Jadyn and the magic bubble -I met Gandhi" will so appeal to the kids here. In this story book, which comes with a CD, Poster and Activities, a magic bubble drops Jadyn back in time, offering him the chance to meet Gandhi face to face. Her previous book - Jadyn and the magic bubble: discovering India is already available here in India. The kids sure look forward to Brigitte's donation of this book, without her generosity they would not get to read it.

An update as of September 17: We touched 70 books, we got two very generous contributions. Hurrah.

An update as of September 26: Well, no more contributions have come in, even as some friends stand committed. Perhaps they will order/send books later. However, we got our first set of gifts and also the package sent by Brigitte.

Thank you,
Lubna

Paint it Pink, please do click and pass on the message

Dear Readers,

This is not a hoax since I've already clicked. I am quite active on LinkedIn, in particular on one group Dude and Mary has become a close friend.

This message comes from Jackie, who is Mary's connection. Jackie is one brave cancer survivor. If you click on the link in this post, you will be sent an email, with another link to verify that you are a real person. Each time you click, Avon’s Foundation for Women will donate $2 to breast cancer organizations across Canada.

When you click you are asked to enter a valid email. You must validate your vote when you receive an email that will be sent to the address provided. You can vote as often as you would like for your favourite photo however, you will be limited to one vote per email address per day. THIS IS ON RIGHT THROUGH SEPTEMEBER.

Here is the link. Please click on the same, enter a valid email id, receive an email message, validate it and the donation will be made.

The link above, will take you to Jackie's photograph. As she says: "The picture was taken in 2006 when I was in the middle of chemo. Please look past my bald head and really see the life in my eyes. I had already made the transition from survivor to thriver. I want to help Willow raise money to help many more women make the survivor to thriver leap."

I am glad Avon is sponsoring this. A right blend of Corporate Social Responsibility tied in with business synergy.

Will you please do this and pass on the message via your blog or via emails to friends.

Thank you,
Lubna

Close up of flowers

Dear Readers,
I have spent some time scanning my old photographs. Here are a few for you to enjoy.
All taken at flower shows at Lalbagh over the years.
Even a flower has a centre, it is essential for us to find our core - who we really are and what we want to be.
See, I told you, am still philosophical.
Best,
Lubna

Reaching for the target

Dear Readers,

Sometimes our work lives condition us so completely. When I looked at this beautiful hibiscus, yes I did notice how pretty it was, but it also seemed to be that this flower was trying to reach its target. The branch above, seemed to be the bar, which it had to meet.
Oh well, when targets are reached, are we satisfied or do we raise the bar higher?

When it comes to basic human values, the bar must be set at the highest level possible. I just happen to be in a philosophical mood these days.

Have a nice weekend.

This photograph was taken by me at a flower show at Lalbagh a few years ago.

Best,
Lubna

MindMapping

Dear Readers,

When I need to think, I doodle strategically, rather the term for it is MindMapping. I was delighted to discover this post on - Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online, together with links for free MindMapping software.

I've never used MindMapping, as such, for studies or for remembering what I have read - be it our new tax code or anything else. True, key words are used and remembered, but there is no drawing involved. Maybe I should try it out.

However, I've always used MindMapping to think through issues.

The questions I ask are (This is just an illustration):
1) What: What is the issue
2) With whom do I need to discuss this?
3) When do I need to discuss this?
4) Where do I need to discuss this?
5) Why do I need to discuss this? To arrive at a solution or to agree to disagree
6) How should I proceed?
7) What are the various alternate solutions that I have in mind

Believe me you, MindMapping helps me. I downloaded FreeMind and initially found it a bit constricting to not use pen and paper, but later got the hang of it. It is kind of neater, and hey you save precious paper.

So, if you are interested in MindMapping go to this link, provided in the previous paragraph. I was very impressed with this helpful blog post.

Photograph courtesy

Best regards,
Lubna

Two roses and the cacti

It was nice to see the prize winning flowers and oh yes, my favourite the cacti. Tell me, which is your favourite?

Bangalore flower show: Amidst the bleak times a profusion of colour

Dear Readers,
Is it just me? Or is anyone else feeling that there is nothing but grim news all around. Illness, economic slowdown, swine flu, et all. It is really getting to me. To take my mind off worrying, I did go down to Lalbaugh garden for the annual Pre-independence day (August 15) flower show, especially since one appointment got cancelled. I was a tad weak to walk up to the lake, which is my favourite spot, but nonetheless sauntered around the glass house and came back, dead tired.
I rarely use Flicker, because I still use a film camera (I know I must have mentioned this before, but I do not want to go digital as I at least want some mystery in my hobby). However, I did have a few photographs scanned and uploaded them on Flicker. Worth the effort, I guess.
Here is the flicker stream.
Since it was a weekday and an afternoon, the glass house which was a riot of colours with all the prize winning plants/flowers and of course the display of teddy bears, dino's, et all was not that crowded. The mermaid took centre stage. Frankly speaking my favourite plant there was the award winning cacti or perhaps I am just feeling prickly these days and could not appreciate the other displays much.
The efforts of all involved in this flower show, however, need to be appreciated. It is a tough job and it is carried out so well.
Well, if you don't have the patience for the photography stream to load, here are some of the photographs.
Julie, founder of the Human Flower Project has also covered this on her website.
Enjoy.
Best,
Lubna

Does career diversity help?

Dear Readers,

A friend of mine raised this question on LinkedIn. Her core speciality is scientific research, but has along the way donned many hats. Does a diverse experience help? I began to think as well, because I have donned many hats as well, even though the golden thread running across was more or less tax.
I have been:
1) A trainee journalist with Financial Express (covering the corporate sector), a feature writer in Business Standard covering the Banking sector - predominately, had various stints in The Economic Times and while the core focus area was tax, I wrote on almost everything, except politics! I also had a weekly tax cum regulatory laws page to take care of, fortunately with the help of a team.
2) As a tax consultant I have worked in a law firm specialising in cross border issues and with two of the Big 4 firms doing a mix of corporate tax, but perhaps tilting more towards international tax.
3) I write extensively, I continue with my monthly tax column with The Economic Times, I do book reviews for the Bombay Chartered Accountants Society, I used to write travel articles, my travel experience is now relegated to watching Discovery Travel & Living. I volunteer whenever the opportunity arises and write brouchers and content for websites for select NPOs/NGOs.
Would you call the diversity of my friend's career or mine (believe me you, here career has been even more interesting and diverse) interesting and useful or would you write us off as having a chequered career?
Fortunately for both of us, Tina Seelig, Director, Standford Technology Ventures Program has words of wisdom and I must add hope.
Here is an extract of her interview, even as the entire interview is available at the click of a button, see url above.
"...I believe that it is really hard to find your passions when you have always followed “the rules.” That is, when you have been programmed to do exactly what others want you to so. It makes sense that after years of responding to what others expect, that you have no idea what really drives you. This happened to me, too. In fact, I was so frustrated by always doing what others wanted me to do that soon after I started graduate school, I chose to take some time off…. I moved across the country to Santa Cruz, California, and decided to be a leaf in the wind for a while. My family was shocked and disappointed. But, in retrospect, it was one of the best things I have ever done. I was finally able to see what I wanted to do when I got up in the morning. I was able to uncover my own skills and interests. And, I was able to experiment with new things that weren’t on the prescribed path. By giving myself the space to figure out what I was passionate about, I became internally motivated — as opposed to externally motivated — and have never looked back."
Have a nice Sunday and a great week ahead.
Photograph courtesy: Wikivisual
BEGIN ANEW, WATCH THIS ON YOU TUBE.
Best regards,
Lubna

A book I've been waiting for.... The Professional

Dear Readers,

Do educational qualifications make you a professional? Not in the true sense of the word. After all, some of the brains behind major scandals and scams were done by those who had the highest educational qualifications possible.

I am eagerly waiting for the book - The Professional, by one of my favourite authors and the one and only Gardener, Suboroto Bagchi.

If you click on the link above, you will get an inkling of what the book will be all about. I am sure Penguin will also ensure that it is available for sale online, so that even those not living in India can buy it.

September is when this book will be launched and right now, September seems ages away.

No doubt, I will review it for the Bombay Chartered Accountants Journal. I strongly feel that professional associations should inculcate ethical values among their members. It is never too late to begin this endeavour.

If you visit my book review blog - Books on my Shelves, you will find earlier reviews of other interesting books uploaded here.

Best,
Lubna