Good news! I have safely reached Seattle. Safely is stressed because that’s the most important part of the adventurous trip I had. To cut a long story short, British Airways plane, I boarded to London, hit one of those movable passenger stairs while taxiing on the run way. Damage was done and a quick decision by the pilot to get a node from (Indian) technicians was something we all can thank him for. As expected, it took the Indian Technicians team them 3 hours to decide that they didn’t know what has gone wrong with the plane. Then the pictures of damaged wing were passed to their British Airways counterpart in London. Meanwhile our plane was sitting on the tarmac for almost 3 hours and the crew decided to serve us some snacks as lot of passengers were hungry after the exhausting journey(from the airport terminal to the runway). The snacks were served in such a hurry that to me it looked as if they want us to have the snacks outside the plane. So I had anticipated the news of cancellation was evident. After all this drama, as expected they came back with the decision to cancel the flight. The jinxed plane started showing more signs of sickness when the fuel started flowing out of wings of the plane but according to the flight captain this is a normal phenomenon. But then fuel getting fire is also a normal phenomenon, isn’t it?
Well, our agony didn’t end here as the 500 (I guess) passengers on board started fighting for tickets for the next available flight. According to one of the crew members there were as many as 125 passengers who had a connecting flight from Heathrow. There was a chaos in the plane as everybody had a question on their face as what happens next? Looked like nobody in the plane had experienced this before including I. I observed that people from other countries started counting their Indian currency change as they had to stay for few more hours (may be days) in India because as per BA, the next available flight to London on the same route is only after 3 days. Anyways, we were asked to stay in the plane for some more time as the Indian immigration department didn’t have enough bandwidth to handle the passengers and allow us to enter again in India. Finally our stamping was cancelled and we were asked to collect our luggage and get the information from the BA counter about the next available flight. As expected, there were no London bound flight which could handle such a heavy load of passengers. They asked us to call BA helpline and get it done on individual basis. Most of the passengers were escorted to hotel but I decided to head back to home and have a warm bath and get some sleep.
So there I was back to trinity woods (my apartment in Bangalore) and being welcomed by my old roomies whom I had said a good bye on the same morning. Well, one bright side to this is I got to have the delicious egg curry and chapattis prepared by Surendra (our cook). Then I started calling BA help line until they came up with a journey route for me for the day which added a complimentary journey on King Fisher airline from Bangalore to Delhi on the same evening which I didn’t mind as I wanted to reduce the overall journey time and have some rest in Seattle even of it is at the cost of traveling extra hundred miles. I had to catch the flight to London from Delhi at 3:30 am in the morning. It also meant that I have an extended gap of 8 hrs between my BA flight to London and then the connecting flight to Seattle. I had a quick nap, took a warm bath and headed back to airport second time in the day and second time having to say good bye to Trinity Woods. This time for a change nothing went wrong with the flight and flight touched down at Heathrow, London safely and I made my way through thousands of transit passengers seeking new land for new opportunities. Heathrow is the best managed airport I have seen till date and the best part is the Quiet rooms they have at the airport. For those, who have never been seen one, these rooms are special rooms with no speakers that can disturb you with every other flight announcement and with extra comfy chairs where you can take a quick refreshing nap. Well, finally I was on my way Seattle sitting comfortably in the plane. I decided to catch a movie this time so I watched Ratatouille. A good movie and I slept immediately after watching the movie and this time when I woke up the plane was just outside the Seattle, flying over the Tiger mountain ranges with all the peaks covered with white shining snow. Plane landed on the Tacoma International Airport in Seattle and I was out in a flash. Satish (my Infosys colleague) was there to pick me up and we headed to my home. Apparently our apartment was in Bellevue not in Seattle. So this is it folks, my wonderful adventurous trip came to an end at its destination. But the journey of life continues, so enjoy it!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
All Is Not Lost!
A 10-year-old boy decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move. "Sensei," the boy finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?" "This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied. Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.
Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.
"No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue." Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament.
He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every
move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. "Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?" "You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm." The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
"Sometimes we feel that we have certain weaknesses and we blame god, the circumstances and our self for it but we never know that our weakness can become our strength one day. Each of us is special and important, so never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain, just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it!"
Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.
"No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue." Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament.
He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every
move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. "Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?" "You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm." The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
"Sometimes we feel that we have certain weaknesses and we blame god, the circumstances and our self for it but we never know that our weakness can become our strength one day. Each of us is special and important, so never think you have any weakness, never think of pride or pain, just live your life to its fullest and extract the best out of it!"
A good article on courage by some author
"Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway." - John Wayne
"Courage is the cliché hallmark attributed to the hero. I say cliché because people talk about courage as if it is some mysterious force only a hero is born with. Courage is a vague and fleeting concept for many people because they lack it themselves. People lack courage because they lack knowledge. They have no idea where the true source of courage comes from. Even worse, they don't know it and continue to live in fear. As Socrates pointed out, 'People not only don't know, but they don't know that they don't know.'
This is why so many people on earth live in fear. Fear of death. Fear of life. Fear of living their nightmares. And fear of living their dreams. Most people are followers because they lack self-confidence and live in constant fear. Anyone who is brave and can show them how to overcome fear, they follow and respect. But...anyone that reminds people of their own fear, they attack and abuse viciously! This is human nature in its lowest, animal form.
What is fear? Fear is the perception or misperception of the unknown. Perception of how we negatively view reality, but not reality itself. I once heard somewhere, a useful acronym for FEAR: False Evidence that Appears Real. The 'false evidence' being our own manufactured worries, doubts, and negative images often of events that haven't even taken place yet. William Shakespeare understood this principal well when he said, 'Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.'
The cause of fear is lack of knowledge. Therefore, 'knowledge is the antidote to fear' according to the great American hero philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. That is why heroes are brave souls. They immerse themselves with knowledge, plus knowledge, plus knowledge. Heroes know that they don't know, but are willing to learn. They are humble and learn from everyone regardless of rank or status. Leaders know their potential. Followers ignore their potential. Courage and self-confidence comes from knowledge and self-knowledge...
This being said, no human hero is entirely fearless. Great heroes are not born fearless and brave. Nelson Mandela had this to say about courage: 'I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it...I felt fear myself more times than I can remember, but I hid it behind a mask of boldness. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.'"
"Courage is the cliché hallmark attributed to the hero. I say cliché because people talk about courage as if it is some mysterious force only a hero is born with. Courage is a vague and fleeting concept for many people because they lack it themselves. People lack courage because they lack knowledge. They have no idea where the true source of courage comes from. Even worse, they don't know it and continue to live in fear. As Socrates pointed out, 'People not only don't know, but they don't know that they don't know.'
This is why so many people on earth live in fear. Fear of death. Fear of life. Fear of living their nightmares. And fear of living their dreams. Most people are followers because they lack self-confidence and live in constant fear. Anyone who is brave and can show them how to overcome fear, they follow and respect. But...anyone that reminds people of their own fear, they attack and abuse viciously! This is human nature in its lowest, animal form.
What is fear? Fear is the perception or misperception of the unknown. Perception of how we negatively view reality, but not reality itself. I once heard somewhere, a useful acronym for FEAR: False Evidence that Appears Real. The 'false evidence' being our own manufactured worries, doubts, and negative images often of events that haven't even taken place yet. William Shakespeare understood this principal well when he said, 'Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.'
The cause of fear is lack of knowledge. Therefore, 'knowledge is the antidote to fear' according to the great American hero philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. That is why heroes are brave souls. They immerse themselves with knowledge, plus knowledge, plus knowledge. Heroes know that they don't know, but are willing to learn. They are humble and learn from everyone regardless of rank or status. Leaders know their potential. Followers ignore their potential. Courage and self-confidence comes from knowledge and self-knowledge...
This being said, no human hero is entirely fearless. Great heroes are not born fearless and brave. Nelson Mandela had this to say about courage: 'I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it...I felt fear myself more times than I can remember, but I hid it behind a mask of boldness. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.'"
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