Posts Tagged ‘opportunity’

Knowledge, Inspiration, and Energy (Part 1)

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Listen: Download Audio MP3 (5 MB).

(Excerpted from Swami Kriyananda’s Knowledge, Inspiration, and Energy, Lesson 3 of Success and Happiness through Yoga Principles)

For those who want to follow well-worn paths, familiarity with what has been done before is important. This is the path of tradition, which to a great extent means a path of imitation. To follow this path, one needs knowledge, but doesn’t particularly need inspiration or energy. For success in any tradition, one needs the necessary education taught by people competent to instruct others in the basic “rules of the game.”

I remember the organist at the church where my mother’s funeral was held. The purpose of the ceremony was to comfort the bereaved and to send blessings to the departed. The organist’s job was simply to play a piece of music for the event. What I asked her to play was a composition of my own. She was graceless enough to tell me that she wouldn’t play it because, as she pointed out firmly, “This melody doesn’t end on the tonic note.” In fact she was right according to the “rules of the game.” Had she played the piece first, however, and listened with her heart, she would have seen that, in this case, she was wrong. (more…)

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Leap In and Try Things: Interview with Brian Kernighan

Saturday, October 24th, 2009
Referred to as K&R

Referred to as "K&R"

Brian Kernighan (pronounced ker-ni-han), Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University,  co-authored The C Programming Language, which has sold millions of copies and has been translated into 27 languages.

C is one of the most popular computer programming languages, and it has influenced nearly all languages in use today, including C++, C#, Java, Javascript, Perl, PHP, and Python.

Before becoming a full-time professor at Princeton, you had a long and brilliant career at AT&T Bell Labs. But let’s go back further. Can you tell us about your childhood and early interests?

Professor Brian Kernighan

Professor Brian Kernighan

I was born in Canada and grew up in and around Toronto.  My father was a chemical engineer, which gave me a bit of exposure to some kinds of science and engineering.  I went to the University of Toronto in a program called “Engineering Physics”, which was meant for students who were pretty good in math and science but didn’t have any idea what they wanted to do.  It was extremely tough because there was a heavy workload and a lot of material — academically, I don’t think I have ever worked as hard since.  But it was a very good foundation for all kinds of later studies, and of course the experience of just working hard full time was good (though painful at the time).  I didn’t really encounter computers until I was nearly done with my undergrad education, but when I did first start to play with computers, I found them great fun, and of course still do.
(more…)

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Posted in career, interviews, leadership | 2 Comments »

The Story of “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”: Interview with Rashmi Bansal

Thursday, October 1st, 2009
Rashmi Bansal, Author

Rashmi Bansal, Author

An interview with Rashmi Bansal, Founder/Editor JAM Magazine, and author, Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.

Listen: Download Audio MP3 (13 MB)

Thank for talking with us, Rashmi.

Thank you, Dharmaraj. It’s nice to be on the other side of the interview table, for a change!

How did the idea of the book come to you?

I have been an entrepreneur and have been fascinated by entrepreneurship. I have covered entrepreneurship extensively in my writing over the years. IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) approached me and said, “We have this idea for a book, and what do you think?” I said, “I think it’s a great idea and I think I should do it.” I just knew that I had to do this book. It was also an opportunity to meet people and just understand what this whole journey is all about. (more…)

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Creating Opportunities with Your Voice

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Listen: Download Audio MP3 (3 MB)

We’ve all heard the phrase, “You don’t get a second chance to make first impression.”  We know that, to make a good impression, one should dress in nice clothes, look the other person in the eye, and give a firm handshake. But one of your most important assets may be neglected: the sound and quality of your voice. (This is of course crucial if your first impression is made over the phone.)

Here is an example. Haridas and I once got into a cab in Calcutta. The driver gave us the silent nod, thereby asking us where we wanted to go. We weren’t sure of the exact location or the directions, so we called a friend and handed the phone to the cab driver. He proceeded to shout into the phone with a voice so harsh that it was almost frightening. We were so put off by his tone of voice that we jumped out of the cab, and he lost our business.

Swami Kriyananda explains how to improve the quality of your voice in Creating Opportunities (Lesson 25 of Success and Happiness through Yoga Principles). (more…)

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