Someone shared a video with you on Vimeo

I was really impressed with this video which was posted by my friend on Facebook. Prior to viewing this video I happened to know that CK Prahalad, the renowned management guru and thinker, professor at Michigan State, had passed away and it did make me reflect on some of his world renowned works in management, his concept of "core competencies", the concept of "leveraging on the bottom of the pyramid for maximum profitability". the video here is a manifestation of the same, how a bank manger leverages on the lower strata of the society to make banking more accessible to the masses. It might sound similar to the micro-banking concept. but this video not only throws light on the management principles going into it but it clearly depicts the social responsibility of the Banker.

Have a look at the twelve minute documentary, its awe inspiring. We have a social responsibility.

You can watch it here:
http://vimeo.com/9419926

Banking On Change (12 min version) http://vimeo.com/9419926 About this video: "Two-thirds of India's population of a billion people live in the nation's 600,000 villages. Despite India's economic growth, the disparities between wealth and poverty are enormous. Many villagers migrate to the cities in search of work and end up begging on the streets. South Indian bank manager J S Parthiban set out to do something to help their economic circumstances. He encouraged beggars to open bank accounts in New Delhi, and pioneered micro-loans to villagers in his home state of Tamil Nadu. This is his story—and theirs. Producer/Director: Andrew Hinton pilgrimfilms.com / andrew@pilgrimfilms.com Cinematography: Eric Trometer tarmakfilms.com Editing: Rob Petit milkwood.tv & Johnny Burke Sound: Christopher Wilson wilson2.co.uk Music: Jamie Perera jamieperera.com Vocals: Rasika Vartak Executive Producers: Jeanne Faber Suresh Mathew Christopher Hartnell Special thanks to John, Jeanne and Susan Faber and everyone else who made this film possible. A Pilgrim Films production for Initiatives of Change India: in.iofc.org/"

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LOVE,

A Helping Hand

Inertia Wheel Power Generator

Global warming is a big reality and its very much necessary for every individual to do all that he/she can in order to curb this menace... The Inertia Wheel Power Generator (IWPG) is the first of its kind in the world which we developed as mechanical engineers to do our part in curbing the deadly menace of Global Warming and Climate Change...lets all be more responsible in utilizing the scarce resourses like electricity and water...lets all join hands in fighting it out...its our earth...Go Green !

A WEEK FOR LIFE AND THEN EUPHORIA!

We the students of Mechanical Engineering (Team Mechanical) at V.L.B. Janakiammal College of Engineering and Technology initiated a unique program, perhaps a very rare one in campuses, which we believe would go a long way in fostering goodwill and developing holistic personality traits in individuals. We live in a rapidly changing world where every person tries to outsmart the other and ‘survival of the fittest’ being the established order of the day. In our pursuit to become the fittest and with every system acting as a means to promote this mind-set, we easily tend to forget the condition of the so-called “not fit”, that is when the question of social responsibility pops-up. We get accustomed to a system which infuses certain skills which are materialistic and essential for being the best in business, but over the years such a system has failed to inculcate certain core values which would make an individual go much beyond the status of being the best superficially. The objective of this initiative is to inculcate those core values which are a host of life-skills which not only help in making a person successful but make him more sensitive to his environment, fellow beings and society at large.
We have embarked on a series of activities like visits to orphanages, campaigns for eye and blood donation, programs to abolish child labour, fund raising to help financially weak students, campaigns for road safety, anti-tobacco drives and a cluster of activities to fight against global warming. The invitation card we used is an exemplification of how waste paper can be reused and the burnt sides is an indicative of the fact that our Earth is in a precarious condition and our lives are burning due to global warming and other man-made disasters. Adding seriousness to this fact, our banner showcases thought provoking captions on a huge collage of emotion triggering pictures.
To highlight on the activities, we believe that a visit to an orphanage would make us feel how fortunate we are compared to its inmates and it would certainly help us to count our blessings rather than complain of what we do not possess. It would go a long way in developing the much required virtue of humility. We strongly believe in the saying that The Eye is the lamp of the body; there are millions of people living in darkness because they have lost their vision and certain misconceptions in the society are preventing a large number of people from donating their eyes. Through our campaign for eye donation, we wish to get rid of those erroneous beliefs and encourage individuals to perform this act for a noble cause.
It is a fact that The Government of India has banned child labour and takes stern action against those employers violating the law but we still find children being employed in a number of places and we know that it is because of the fact that poverty is a big reality in our society. Keeping this in mind we came up with the idea of forming a group “Yours Friendly” within the campus, its members would contribute One Rupee every day and this fund would be utilised for supporting a poor family and for the education of their children. If not at once but eventually we wish to abolish child labour through this program. It’s not enough for us to help the society alone when we have our very own brothers and sisters suffering in our family, “A Helping Hand” is one such initiative which supports financially weak students within our community, in view of their plight and in greater view of their dignity we have a requisition box placed where the students can drop a letter stating their problems. Funds for “A Helping Hand” is collected through a unique model, all the people who make use of the cafeteria are requested to drop 10% of all the food expenses into the box kept for this purpose. With such initiatives, we wish to develop individuals with a sympathetic or compassionate attitude towards their fellow beings.
Around us there are victims of road accidents and many have even lost their near and dear ones through it. Realizing the urgent need to act on it we came up with the idea of campaigning at traffic signals with the aid of placards, information leaflets and even gifting drivers with their seatbelts fastened and bikers wearing helmets with tree saplings as a sign of appreciation. This would encourage people to follow road rules and will go a long way in fighting against Global Warming. As part of our individual activity to curb the menace of Global Warming and Climate Change, we would be distributing tree saplings (1000nos) which will be provided by the ISHA Foundation free of cost and placing placards at different locations within our campus which would provide useful information on carbon footprint and will act as an effective reminder to those lavishing scarce resources, like water and electricity. Through such activities we wish to make every individual more responsible and sensitive to their surroundings.
We strongly believe that the success of any venture can always be attributed to the level of hard work, dedication and attitude of the people behind it. But we also believe that the surroundings or the environment plays a very important role in deciding the success of any individual or organization. In view of this we have implemented the Japanese system of house keeping, 5S, which is a rare initiative in academic campuses. This system places high emphasis on maintaining orderliness, cleanliness and a highly systematic and disciplined approach towards every sphere of activity.
We strongly believe that hard work and dedication are prerequisites for success but humility, purity, and compassion are prerequisites for sustainable success. With this strong conviction and a humble heart we are working towards creating extraordinary individuals who are not only empowered to address technological concerns but concerns of the society as well, with all our efforts centered around the famous saying

“If Wealth is lost, nothing is lost,
If Health is lost, something is lost,
But if Character is lost, everything is lost.”

Cooking Corner

Chef’s Corner

Cooking has always been a favorite pastime for me since my childhood days. I really don’t remember the first time I cooked, but my mom keeps telling me that it was in third standard that I cooked my first omelet. Since then I’ve been experimenting with new recipes in my mom’s “lab”, I meant the kitchen. Here I present to you, not my “experimental recipes”, but a few “All time favorites”. I believe these dishes would perfectly do for a simple “Three Course Meal”.

A “Three Course Meal” comprises of the following:

1. Entrée – This is the first course where an appetizer and starter are served. The appetizer is something eaten or drunk to stimulate the appetite which in most cases is a soup, and the starter is a nibble which is mostly a fresh salad or a meat tart.
   

2. Main – Here, the main dish prepared on a rice base (staple food) is served along with accompaniments.

3. Dessert – This is the sweet course of the meal which is served at the end.

Many at times we think that those wonderful delicacies we eat at a restaurant can’t be prepared by us, but we need to remember how Col. Sanders, founder of the world renowned KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) made a fortune out of his experimental chicken delicacy which turned out to be unique. Hope all of you would enjoy preparing these dishes, and I’m back to my mom’s lab. Bon appétit!

Entrée

Tomato Soup - Appetizer

INGREDIENTS (Serves Five)

Apple Tomatoes……….….……3 nos

Carrot……………………………..…1 medium sized

Bay Leaf……………….……….…..1

Water…………………………….….6 cups

Sugar……………………………...…2 tsp

Tomato sauce…………………...2 Tbsp

Pepper…………………………..…3/4 – 1 tsp

Corn flour……………………...…3 Tbsp

Butter…………………………….…1 Tbsp

Clarified butter (Ghee)….....2 Tbsp (for frying bread)

Bread croutons……………..….12 – 14 pcs

METHOD OF PREPARATION

1. Wash and cut tomatoes into quarters, peel wash and cut carrot into roundels.

2. Cook the above in three cups of water adding the bay leaf.

3. Discard the bay leaf, grind the cooked vegetables and extract the stock only.

4. Add pepper, sugar, tomato sauce and two cups of water

5. Mix 4 Tbsp of corn flour in one cup of water and add to the above stock.

6. Cook for 5 to 8 min and add butter.

7. Serve piping hot with bread croutons.

Note: For making bread croutons, cut 2 bread slices into half inch squares and fry in Ghee.

Mexican Carrot Salad - Starter

INGREDIENTS (Serves Five)

Sliced Carrots…………….…2 cups

Lime Juice………………….…1/2 cup

Salt………………………...….…1 Tbsp

Sugar……………………………2 tsp

Pepper Powder…………...1 tsp

Lettuce/cabbage leaf…..for garnish

METHOD OF PREPARATION

1. Combine carrot with lime juice, salt and sugar.

2. Allow to marinate for at least two hours.

3. Drain lime juice, pressing all the liquid out of the carrot.

4. Add pepper and serve.

5. Serve on a bed of lettuce/cabbage leaf.

Main

Chilly Chicken

INGREDIENTS (Serves Five)

Chicken……………...500 gms

Soya Sauce………...5 Tbsp

Chilly Sauce………..5 Tbsp

Vinegar……………....5 Tbsp

Tomato Sauce……..5 Tbsp

Oil……………………….1 cup

METHOD OF PREPARATION

1. Clean, wash and cut chicken into 5 pieces.

2. Marinate the chicken pieces in soya sauce, chilly sauce, tomato sauce and vinegar for 2 hours.

3. Heat oil in a pan and put the marinated chicken pieces into it.

4. Cook over a very low flame for about 45 minutes or until done.

Note: Turn the chicken pieces occasionally while frying.

Extra caution must be taken while frying as the oil may spurt.

Add a pinch of salt if necessary while marinating.

Fried Rice

INGREDIENTS (Serves Five)

Rice………………………………………..….. 1/2 kg

Eggs………………………………………….....4 nos

Oil…………………………………………..…..1/4 cup

Boiled Peas………………………………...1/4 cup

Boiled & Shredded Chicken……….1 cup

Boiled & Shredded Prawns……..…1 cup

Spring Onion……………………………...1 bunch

Coriander Leaves……………….………1 bunch

Green Chilies……………………………..7-8 nos

Soya Sauce…………………………………3 Tbsp

Ajinomoto……………………………….…1/4 tsp

Salt…………………………………….………to taste

METHOD OF PREPARATION

1. Boil the rice till ¾ done (Discard the water). Strain it and cool it for 2-3 hours. Sprinkle 1Tbsp oil on the cooked rice.

2. Heat oil, add half of the spring onion and add chopped green chilies, chicken, prawns and green peas.

3. Fry for five minutes

4. Add rice and mix well.

5. Beat eggs and add salt to make thin omelets.

6. Scramble the omelet and mix it with the rice.

7. Add Ajinomoto, soya sauce and salt.

8. Garnish the rice with rest of the spring onion and coriander leaves.

Dessert

Cherry Cake

INGREDIENTS (Serves Five)

Butter………….…........250gms

Refined Flour (Maida)….3cups

Cherry………………....250gms

Sugar………..................1cup

Milk………………..…..1cup

Vanilla Essence…………1tsp

Eggs………………........4

Baking Powder…………2tsp

Salt…………………….a pinch

METHOD OF PREPARATION

1. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together.

2. Beat butter until soft. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1Tbsp of flour after each egg.

4. Add cherries and the remaining flour into the creamed mixture alternatively with the milk.

5. Pour the mix into a greased mould. Bake it in a preheated oven for 1hr at 180°c.

6. Garnish the cake by placing a few cherries on the top.

The Third Dimension

Terms like “Bliss”, “Nirvana” and “Enlightenment” have always fascinated me and going a bit deep into it, we find that they all mean more-or-less the same. Very often I think about the complexity of these terms or rather its relation to divinity, and often they are referred to as ‘a state of perfect harmony achieved by the soul’. There is a general notion that this kind-of-stuff is not meant for the ordinary person, which is simply because we have come across these terms while reading about great saints and sages.
Will a term like “Bliss” hold good in today’s rapidly changing globalised world, where selfishness has taken root in us without our knowledge, and where jealousy and ego have penetrated, a world where siblings fight for the sake of money and power? Now that’s a question which people have been trying to answer for a pretty long time, even before technology had such a big impact on human life.
Today everybody wants to be “great”, and the usual way of taking this word is in the sense of becoming rich or powerful, in some cases being famous because of some philanthropic act. But what I have thought of this is more simple and practical.
Once I heard an important person speak on “Inner Healing”. It was a wonderful session, and what amazed me most was the example of a rocket he used to compare our life. It goes like this. Our life can be compared to a rocket, the outer space being our goal in life to become great. The rocket is filled with whole lot-of solid and liquid propellants which are used to push it into outer space. Now here’s the twist, all the propellants in the rocket can be compared to the worldly traits of a human being, which is a host of satanic qualities like anger, jealousy, revenge, ego, pride, lust, gluttony, and I think the list could go on. If the rocket has to be pushed into outer space, then all the propellants in it must burn and finish-off. Likewise if man has to become great, all the satanic traits must vanish from within his mind and body. It is only then that he becomes light in his soul and reaches the point of greatness. Once the rocket has emptied itself off its fuel, it becomes light and begins to float in outer space. In a similar fashion, man becomes light by the soul and begins to float in an entirely different world or ‘a state of perfect harmony is achieved by the soul’, which is known by names like “Bliss” or “Nirvana”. It is easy for us to say that we need to get rid of all the faults within us, but how do we do it? This calls for a great deal of introspection. We need not retrospect too much, that is because thinking of the past is not of much use and let us focus on the present and on a beautiful future.
Taming the body is a wonderful way to gain an understanding of our soul. So first, we need to make some bodily sacrifices. That is simple, it is just giving up some pleasures of the body like our favourite dish for a brief period of time, not watching television for a few days or refraining from some-sort of bad habits and the choices could vary from person to person. Fasting has been a time-tested method used to gain control over our emotions, and that is scientifically proved. It is just not enough if we do it once, but whenever we feel the desire to change. That seriously helps and I have experienced it too.
Once we gain control over our emotions, we become calm within ourselves or there is harmony in our minds. When we are at peace with ourselves, we are able to establish peace with our surroundings by which we can understand the real hardships of people around us. A stone-hearted person will be very rigid in his thinking and unwilling to change for good. So a person while at peace with himself is also at peace with his environment and all the elements in it. Here man adopts a selfless approach towards life and strives to become a blessing to others.
I would like to give another example of a candle. Our life can be compared to a candle, which burns itself and becomes small for the sake of spreading light. This reminds me of the laws we learned in thermodynamics, heat flows from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature and for that matter any substance on earth tries to descend due to the force of gravity. Likewise when we become small, not in our physical stature but when we become small on the inside by being more helpful, humble and down-to-earth, life’s good things begin to flow in our direction. Talking in scientific terms, there is a flow of positive energy in our direction. When our mind is full with this energy we experience a feeling of gratification. Such an experience can again be referred to as ‘a state of perfect harmony achieved by the soul’. So just like a candle, we need to sacrifice ourselves or our pleasures for the sake of others; here it calls for a great deal of patience, resilience and perseverance. Perseverance is highly called for as it helps us to remain in our path towards goodness.
There are millions of people in this world who can’t afford a single square meal-a-day. In such a situation we could either save money for the poor by reducing our unwanted food expenses or we could even share our food with the underprivileged. Now this brings to my mind a phrase which I noticed on the wrapper of a milk chocolate and it read like this “it is much sweeter when shared”. It is not only our food that can be shared, but lot of things like our time, money, appreciation and so on. Imagine that a friend in class is poor at math and if we are good at it, then it would mean a great help if we take away a little time from our schedule to help him out. Make sure that the things we share are not out of abundance, but out of scarceness. That is when we really feel happy and a feeling of “Bliss” sets in. I think it is appropriate for me to make a mention of what Blessed Mother Theresa once said, “Hands that help are holier than lips that pray”. A prayer is something which every man can effortlessly say, but that is not a meaningful prayer. A meaningful prayer is a combination of real faith and good deeds.
To recapitulate, I would first like to say that we need to inculcate a high degree of moral integrity. We are very much aware of the famous saying
“If Wealth is lost, nothing is lost,
If Health is lost, something is lost,
But if Character is lost, everything is lost.”
So let’s try to develop a strong character by burning all those propellants, those satanic traits within us, and infuse divine virtues into our day-to-day activities, with all our activities centered around selfless motives, combined with high levels of ethics and human values. All of this does not mean that we remain liberated from performing our duties with utmost sincerity and hard work.
A combination of all these traits can certainly help us achieve both our spiritual and temporal objectives. Let’s live life in the way our “Almighty” wants us to live and then wait for His Reward. We always need to keep one thought in our mind during our pursuit for worldly gains and that is “Riches, Honour and Life are from the Lord” as per the Holy Bible. We serve food in a clean plate and not in a filthy one. Let’s start cleaning ourselves, remembering the fact that every person is called to this world for a specific purpose and it is our duty to carry out “that plan” of the Almighty with the highest levels of ‘Humility, Purity and Compassion’. Please remember, there is no religion in this world which teaches man to be pessimistic in his attitude towards life. So let’s start counting our blessings and putting-up a smile to our faces walk in integrity towards a “Blissful” future.