Motivational – Page 75 – Take off with Natarajan

How Modi won the internet during Silicon Valley visit……..

September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday answered questions from the audience at a Townhall at the Facebook headquarters and took a tour of the Google headquarters with CEO Sundar Pichai. The Prime Minister spoke about the role of social media in governance, and the effect it has had on his personal life.

Here are the top 10 quotes:

1	Social media was like a guide and an easy textbook to know about things for me. It helped mould my thought process. It helped me build world consciousness.
2	I used Chinese social media to wish the PM there. It went viral. I wished the Israel PM in Hebrew and he replied in Hindi!
3	We need both highways and i-ways (information ways) in India.
4	People today live in places where infrastructure is present unlike the past when water was the reason. Soon we might live in places where there is good digital infrastructure.
5	For our government to achieve economic progress, we have to utilise the potential of the 50 percent population — the women in India.
6	My mother is illiterate. My father is no more. My mom understands things through media. My mother took lot of pains to help me grow.
7	I come from a poor family and my family played an important role in my life. No one could have imagined that the world’s largest democracy could have accepted an ordinary tea seller.
8	I thought technology helps us save time, but in fact it is the opposite: people are spending maximum time using technology.
9	I want to encourage hack-a-thons in Indian cities too.
10	India’s unique strengths: 3D. Demographic dividend, democracy and demand. I have added another D: deregulation. Source….www.thehindu.com Natarajan

பேஸ்புக் சுவற்றில் வந்தே மாதரம் எழுதிய மோடி……

September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

சான் ஜோஸ் : பேஸ்புக் தலைமையகம் சென்ற பிரதமர் மோடி, தனது நிகழ்ச்சியை முடித்து திரும்பும் போது பேஸ்புக் தலைமையக சுவற்றில், அகிம்சையே சிறந்த தர்மம். சத்யமேவ ஜெயதே. வந்தே மாதரம் என்று தனது கை பட எழுதினார்.

source….www.dinamalar.com

Natarajan

நரேந்திர மோடி ஏன் உலகை கவர்கிறார்…..

September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

உலகளவில் அமெரிக்க அதிபர் ஒபமாவுக்கு பிறகு சமூக வலைதளங்களில் அதிகம் பேர் பின்தொடரும் நபராக இந்திய பிரதமர் நரேந்திர மோடி இருக்கிறார். தகவல் தொடர்பு நிறுவனங்களின் உலகத் தலைநகராக கருதப்படும் சிலிக்கான் வேலியே அவரது வருகையால் சிலிர்த்துக் கொண்டது என்றுதான் சொல்ல வேண்டும். உலக நாடுகளில் மோடிக்கு ஏன் இவ்வளவு வரவேற்பு இருக்கிறது என்றால் அதில் சில ரகசியங்களும் அடங்கியிருக்கிறது.

பிரதமர் நரேந்திர மோடி பொலிட்டிக்கல் சயின்சில் முதுகலை பட்டம் பெற்றவர். அதோடு அமெரிக்காவில் ‘இமேஜ் மேனேஜ்மென்ட் மற்றும் பப்ளிக் ரிலேஷன்ஷிப்பில் சிறப்பு பட்டம் பெற்றவர் என்பது நிறைய பேருக்கு தெரிந்திருக்க வாய்ப்பில்லை. அவருக்கு ஒரு விஷயத்தை பற்றி மக்களிடம் எப்படி செய்தி சேர வேண்டும் என்பதில் தெளிந்த அறிவு உண்டு. இளம் வயது முதலே ஊர் ஊராக பயணம் மேற்கொள்வதில் மோடிக்கு மிகுந்த ஆர்வம். எங்கே போகிறோம் என்று தெரியாமலேயே மோடியின் பயணம் அமைந்திருக்குமாம். அப்படி ராஜ்கோட் முதல் இமயமலை வரை மோடியின் இளம் வயது பயணம் அமைந்திருக்கிறது. சில காலம் இமயமலையில் சந்நியாசி வாழ்க்கை கூட மோடி வாழ்ந்திருக்கிறார். மோடி வெளிநாடுகளுக்கு ஏன் அடிக்கடி பறக்கிறார் என்பதற்கு இப்போது விடை கிடைத்திருக்கிறதா?

பிரதமர் மோடி ஒரு மிகச்சிறந்த புகைப்பட கலைஞர். அவர் எடுத்த புகைப்படங்களை கொண்டு கண்காட்சியும் நடத்தியிருக்கிறார். அவரது தாய்மொழியான குஜராத்தியில் கவிதையும் புனைந்துள்ளார். சில புத்தகங்களையும் எழுதியுள்ளார். அமெரிக்க அதிபர் ஒபாமாவுக்கு பிறகு ட்விட்டரில் அதிக ஃபாலோயர்கள் உள்ள தலைவர் மோடிதான். இவரை ட்விட்டரில் ஒரு கோடியே 20 லட்சம் பேர் தொடர்கின்றனர். உலகளவில் மோடிக்கு இதில் 2வது இடம். 1965ஆம் ஆண்டு பாகிஸ்தானுக்கு எதிரான போரின் போது மோடியும் நாட்டுக்காக தன்னால் முடிந்த பங்களிப்பை செய்திருக்கிறார். அதாவது ரயிலில் செல்லும் ராணுவ வீரர்களுக்கு உதவி செய்யும் சிறுவனாக பயணித்திருக்கிறார்.

குஜராத் முதலமைச்சராக மோடி 13 ஆண்டுகள் இருந்திருக்கிறார். இதில் ஒருநாள் கூட அவர் விடுமுறை என்று எடுத்ததில்லையாம். இரவு லேட்டாக உறங்க சென்றாலும் மோடியின் விடியல் காலை 5.30 மணிக்கு தொடங்கி விடும். பள்ளி, கல்லூரி காலத்தில் நாடகங்களில் நடிப்பதில் ஆர்வம் உண்டு. பல வேடங்களில் கலக்கியிருக்கிறார். மோடியின் சொந்த ஊரான வத்நகரில் உள்ள ஏரி, முதலைகளுக்கும் வசிப்பிடமாக இருக்கிறது. இளவயது மோடி அந்த ஏரிக்கரையில் விளையாடுவது வழக்கம். கரையில் கிடந்த முதலையிடம் வம்பிழுத்திருக்கிறார். முதலை வாலால் தாக்கி விட சிறிய காயத்துடன் தப்பிய வரலாறும் மோடிக்கு உண்டு.

மோடி குஜராத் முதல்வராக இருந்த போது கடந்த 2010ஆம் ஆண்டு உலகின் மிக வேகமாக வளர்ந்து வரும் 3வது நகரமாக அகமதாபாத்தை ஃபேர்ப்ஸ் இதழ் தேர்வு செய்தது. முதல் இரு இடங்களை சீனாவின் ஜோக்ஜிங், செங்குடு நகரங்கள் பெற்றன. ஒரு மாநாட்டில் மோடி பங்கேற்கிறார் என்றால் அங்கு பேச வேண்டிய விஷயங்களை ஹோம் வொர்க் செய்து பார்த்து விட்டுதான் மோடி மேடையே ஏறுவார்.

Source…..www.dinamalar.com

Natarajan

“இல்லத்தில்…அலுவலகத்தில்… பொது வாழ்வில்…மனித உறவுகள் சீராக இருக்க”….

September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

A to Z 🔔

🔔APPRECIATION – மற்றவர்களின் நிறைகளை மனதாரப் பாராட்டுங்கள்.
> 🔔BEHAVIOR – புன்முறுவல் காட்டவும் சிற்சில அன்புச்சொற்களைச் சொல்லவும் கூட நேரம் இல்லாததுபோல் நடந்து கொள்ளாதீர்கள்.
> 🔔COMPROMISE – அற்ப விஷயங்களை பெரிதுபடுத்தாதீர்கள். நேரில் சந்தித்து மனம் திறந்து பேசுங்கள்.
> 🔔DEPRESSION – மற்றவர்கள் நம்மை புரிந்துகொள்ளவில்லையே என்று சோர்வடையாதீர்கள்.
> 🔔EGO – மற்றவர்களை விட உங்களையே உயர்வாய் நினைத்துக் கர்வபடாதீர்கள்.
> 🔔FORGIVE – கண்டிக்கக்கூடிய அதிகாரமும் , நியாயமும் உங்கள் பக்கம் இருந்தாலும் எதிர்த்தரப்பினரை மன்னிக்க வழி இருக்கிறதா என்று பாருங்கள்.
> 🔔GENUINENESS – எந்தக் கட்டத்திலும் சந்தேகம் வேண்டாம். எந்த விஷயத்தையும் நேர்மையாக கையாளுங்கள்.
> 🔔HONESTY – தவறு செய்தால் உடனே மன்னிப்புக் கேட்பதைக்
> கௌரவமாக கருதுங்கள்.
> 🔔INFERIORITY COMPLEX – எவரையும் பார்த்து பிரமிக்காதீர்கள் நான் சிறியவன் என்ற தாழ்வு மனப்பான்மையை விட்டு விடுங்கள்.
> 🔔JEALOUSY – பொறாமை வேண்டவே வேண்டாம். அது கொண்டவனையே அழிக்கும்.
> 🔔KINDNESS – இனிய, இதமான சொற்களை மட்டுமே பயன்படுத்துங்கள்.
> 🔔LOOSE TALK – சம்பந்தமில்லாமலும், அர்த்தமில்லாமலும், பின் அறியாமலும் பேச வேண்டாம்.
> 🔔MISUNDERSTANDING – மற்றவர்களைத் தவறாகப் புரிந்துகொள்ளதீர்கள்.
> 🔔NEUTRAL – எப்போதும் எந்த விஷயத்தையும் முடிவு எடுத்துவிட்டுப் பேச வேண்டாம் .பேசிவிட்டு முடிவு எடுங்கள். முக்கியமாக நடுநிலை தவறவேண்டாம்.
> 🔔OVER EXPECTATION -அளவுக்கு அதிகமாகவும், தேவைக்கு அதிகமாகவும் ஆசைப்படாதீர்கள்.
> 🔔PATIENCE – சில சங்கடங்களை சகித்துத் தான் ஆகவேண்டும் என உணருங்கள்.
> 🔔QUIETNESS -தெரிந்ததை மாத்திரமே பேசுங்கள். அநேகப் பிரச்சனைகளுக்குக்
> காரணம் தெரியாததைப் பேசுவதுதான். கூடுமானவரை பேசாமலே இருந்துவிடுங்கள்.
> 🔔ROUGHNESS – பண்பில்லாத வார்த்தைகளையும், தேவைஇல்லாத
> மிடுக்கையும் காட்டாதீர்கள்.
> 🔔STUBBORNNESS – சொன்னதே சரி, செய்ததே சரி என பிடிவாதம் பிடிக்காதீர்கள்.
>
> 🔔TWISTING – இங்கே கேட்டதை அங்கேயும், அங்கே கேட்டதை
> இங்கேயும் சொல்வதை விட்டு விடுங்கள்.
>
> 🔔UNDERESTIMATE – மற்றவர்களுக்கும் மரியாதை உண்டு என்பதை மறவாதீர்கள்.
>
> 🔔VOLUNTARY -அடுத்தவர் இறங்கி வரவேண்டும் என்று
> காத்திராமல் நீங்களே பேச்சை முதலில் தொடங்குங்கள். பிரச்சனை வரும்போது எதிர்தரப்பில் உள்ளவரின் கருத்துக்களுக்கு முதலில்
> காது கொடுங்கள். பின்பு அதற்கு பதில் கொடுங்கள்.
>
> 🔔WOUND – எந்தப் பேச்சும், செயலும் யார் மனதையும் காயப்படுத்தாமல் இருக்கட்டும்.
>
> 🔔XEROX – நம்மை மற்றவர்கள் எப்படி நடத்தவேண்டும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கிறோமோ அப்படியே மற்றவர்களை நாம் நடத்தவேண்டும்.
>
> 🔔YIELD – முடிந்தவரை விட்டுக்கொடுங்கள். விட்டுகொடுப்பவன்
> கெட்டுப்போவதில்லை, கெட்டுப்போகிறவர்கள் விட்டுக்கொடுப்பதில்லை.
> 🔔ZERO – இவை அனைத்தையும் கடை பிடித்தால் பிரச்சனை என்பது பூஜ்ஜியம் ஆகும்.
>
>Source…..unknown….Input from a friend of mine

Natarajan

Top executives of tech giants pledge support for Digital India initiative…

September 28, 2015September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Qualcomm and Adobe executives express desire to deepen their participation in the Digital India initiative

PM Narendra Modi claps (2nd from right) with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (centre), Cisco executive chairman John T. Chambers (2nd from left), Qualcomm executive chairman Paul E. Jacobs (right) as Google CEO Sundar Pichai (left) walks to his seat after his speech in San Jose on Saturday. Photo: PTI

Top executives of global information technology giants Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., Qualcomm Inc., Adobe Systems Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. on Saturday said they are keen to join hands with India and deepen their participation in the Digital India initiative that aims to ensure that government services are available to citizens over the Internet.

The chief executives of the top technology firms were speaking at a Digital India forum in San Jose, California during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US.

“India has more than 300 million Internet users and smartphone users. People are educating themselves and their loved ones how to use technology,” said Sundar Pichai, chief executive, Google. “India is coming online at an unprecedented pace.”

“I can feel the change in the air,” he said. “I am excited about technology, and India will play a big part in its future.”

He also said India has become the fastest growing start-up nation.

Paul Jacobs, executive chairman of Qualcomm, told the forum that his semiconductor company is keen to promote the Digital India vision. “To promote ICT (information communication technology) in India, we will be setting up a $150 million fund to fuel innovation and foster promising Indian start-ups who are contributing to the mobile and ‘Internet of Everything’ ecosystem.”

“In line with the Make in India initiative,” he added, “the company will set up design centres in India to design products from India for the world.”

Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella said the company is looking to bring low-cost Internet in India. “We want to help people make things and make things happen. It is time to collectively combine efforts to empower the people,” he said.

The company worked with researchers to bring low-cost Internet infrastructure to rural Andhra Pradesh using television’s white spaces, he said. “We are now looking to replicate the same pilot project in Varanasi.”

“We are in talks with state governments to expand it in 5,000 villages,” he added.

Modi, in his address, thanked the companies for their initiatives.

“We will see the perfect picture of US-India partnership emerge in the digital economy,” he said adding it is a new era of empowerment where global firms are creating infrastructure and services to support the government with the Digital India initiative.

“Technology is empowering people,” Modi said. “We are attacking poverty with network and smartphones.”

“In the digital age, we have the opportunity to transform the lives of people. About 170 e-governance applications are there to make government services available in better and faster way,” he added.

Stressing on the role of social media in empowering citizens, Modi said, “Facebook, Twitter, Instagram have become the new neighbourhoods. Social media has turned everybody into a reporter.”

Briefing reporters later, foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said Modi had invited Apple to set up a manufacturing base in India.

The Prime Minister (in his meeting with Cook) said he would like Apple to start manufacturing in India. He mentioned the huge opportunities India offered,” Swarup told reporters. Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, which is the largest manufacturer of Apple products, has already decided to set up a manufacturing base in India, Swarup said. “Cook responded positively. I think India does fits into his long term plans. He particularly was interested in the whole app development economy, which he said could be a very, very important factor for entrepreneurship where individual app developers can just become part of the app universe,” Swarup said.

There was also some discussion on how Apple Pay could be a part of India’s financial inclusion Jan Dhan Yojana and other such initiatives, he added.

Indian ambassador to the US, Arun Singh, told reporters that during the Modi-Cook meeting “there was a sense that a lot of design innovation is happening in India.”

“As Apple expands its presence in India, including a manufacturing presence there could be enhanced opportunity for app development related to the apple platforms,” he said.

During the meeting, Cook is said to have recalled how Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs came to India as a young man seeking inspiration.

Source…. Moulishree Srivastava &Elizabeth Roche ….www.livemint.com

Natarajan

Modi gets his message across in Silicon Valley…”Make in India” and “Digital India “

September 28, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Cisco’s John T. Chambers, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Qualcomm’s Paul E. Jacobs and Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai during the Digital India dinner function in San Jose. Photo: PTI

Midway through his second visit to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already addressed three of the four major constituencies he planned to reach out to—at the bilateral, multilateral and Indian diaspora levels.

The fourth—the US leadership—is next in line, say analysts.

At the multilateral level, Modi addressed the United Nations (UN) General Assembly where he spelt out the need for “climate justice” and chaired a meeting of Brazil, Germany, India and Japan—four nations that have demanded a place for themselves as permanent members of a revamped UN Security Council.

Before leaving the US, Modi is also set to address a conference on UN peacekeeping—a global duty that is substantially underpinned by Indian contributions.

On the bilateral economic front, Modi has held meetings with key US business leaders, seeking and enlisting their support for his “Make in India” and “Digital India” campaigns.

That a number of chief executive officers (CEOs) in Silicon Valley are Americans of Indian origin helped Modi link up with the diaspora—the third key constituency that he has reached out to on all his trips abroad. Modi was set to address an audience of 20,000 people of Indian origin in California on Sunday.

The fourth constituency is the US establishment, and Modi will be meeting US President Barack Obama overnight Monday before heading home.

Former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh noted that Modi’s six-day US trip had a multilateral component focused on key foreign policy issues such as the revamp of the UN Security Council, while the bilateral agenda with the US was tied to domestic economic issues.

“On the whole, the tenor of the visit has been positive,” Mansingh, also a former Indian ambassador to the US, said on Sunday.

Economy—the key focus area

Arriving in New York late on Wednesday after a brief halt in Ireland, Modi’s first engagements on Thursday were back-to-back meetings with the US business community aimed at burnishing the image of Asia’s third largest economy as an investor-friendly destination. Last week, the Asian Development Bank cut India’s growth projection to 7.4% for 2015-16 from 7.8% predicted earlier. And there has been criticism, albeit muted, that the Modi government, elected to office last May on a pro-jobs and pro-development platform, has been slow in putting in place measures that would spur the economy.

Among those who met the prime minister were Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp.; Ajay Banga, president and CEO of MasterCard who also chairs the US-India Business Council; Marilyn A. Hewson, chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp.; Citigroup chairman Michael O’Neill; Boeing International president Marc Allen, and Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn. These meetings came on a day the Indian government formally announced that foreign companies without a permanent establishment in India will be exempt from the minimum alternative tax, levied on profit-making entities that do not pay corporate income tax because of exemptions and incentives.

“The idea (behind the intensive engagement with the business community) is that while we have expanded in a significant way our political security and defence cooperation, we need to make enhanced effort in terms of expanding the economic engagement between the two countries,” India’s ambassador to the US, Arun Singh, told reporters last week.

“When President Obama had visited in January, the two leaders had declared a goal of taking our trade relationship to a level of $500 billion from the present level of $120 billion. So, it would be important to see what kind of new opportunities we can create in the economic sector and that is why an important part of Prime Minister’s engagement during his visit to the United States is certainly focusing on the economic sector,” Singh said.

If the emphasis of Thursday’s meetings was on investments and manufacturing, it was Digital India at the weekend, when Modi travelled to California. Digital India is the Prime Minister’s flagship programme seeking to promote the use of technology to deliver governance and services. Those who met Modi included John Chambers, executive chairman of Cisco Systems; Paul Jacobs, executive chairman of Qualcomm who announced a $150 million investment in Indian start-ups; Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft; Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google; Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO of Adobe; and Venk Shukla, president and trustee of Silicon Valley at The Indus Entrepreneurs, a group representing tech entrepreneurs.

“Today, more than 15% start-ups in Silicon Valley are attributed to Indian-origin tech entrepreneurs. Therefore, this is an additional dimension to the potential for cooperation between India and the United States,” ambassador Singh told reporters, underlining the potential role of the diaspora in the digital India initiative.

Ahead of the meeting with the leading lights of the Silicon Valley, Modi received Tim Cook, CEO of technology giant Apple, and invited the company to start manufacturing in India under the Make in India initiative that aims to boost India as a global manufacturing hub. Modi also visited Tesla Motors Inc., which designs and manufactures premium electric vehicles on Saturday, a visit that underlined the India’s growing emphasis on renewable energy, including plans to generate 100,000 megawatts solar power by 2022.

“The Prime Minister heard them and their concerns. How he deals with the problems once he is back home is to be seen,” Mansingh said.

At the UN

At the multilateral level, Modi has had two major engagements. On Friday he addressed the UN General Assembly on the occasion of the world community adopting the Sustainable Development Goals that aim to reduce global poverty. The second was early Saturday when he chaired a meeting of the Group of Four (G4) countries—Brazil, Germany, India and Japan—that seek to become permanent members of the UN Security Council.

In his address to the UN General Assembly, Modi spoke of how many of the initiatives launched by the Indian government—financial inclusion, education and skill development and pension schemes for the vulnerable—mirrored the Sustainable Development Goals. With an eye on the Paris climate change conference scheduled later this year in Paris, Modi urged developed nations to transfer technology, innovation and finances to developing countries in order to tackle the challenge of climate change.

Highlighting India’s plans to produce 175 gigawatts of electricity by 2022 through renewable energy sources, energy efficiency measures, improving public transportation, cleaning up cities and rivers, and the waste-to-wealth project, Modi said: “The objective of our collective efforts is common but differentiated responsibilities.” The principle institutionalizes the idea that rich nations must bear historical responsibility for global warming and therefore must take the global lead in efforts to reduce carbon emissions that cause climate change.

“Climate justice” was appropriate to taking the concerns of the poor in sustainable development, Modi said.

Modi also used the UN platform to stress the need to reform the Security Council, seven decades after the body was constituted at the end of the Second World War. “We must reform the UN and the Security Council. This is essential so that the institutions have greater credibility and legitimacy. With a broad-based representation, we will be more effective in achieving our goals,” Modi said.

To drive the message home, Modi invited Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to a summit level conference of the G4 countries pushing for the reform of the UN Security Council. The four countries support each other’s candidature for permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council and, in a joint statement, sought such reform “within a fixed time frame”.

This is the first summit of the four countries in a decade and comes against the backdrop of the previous 69th UN General Assembly deciding earlier this month to begin negotiations based on a broadly agreed text on reforming the Security Council. “With this summit, I think the prime minister has underlined this as a key foreign policy objective,” Mansingh said.

Modi’s last few engagements on Monday include a meeting with President Obama in New York and a separate meeting of countries that send troops for UN peacekeeping missions.

Elizabeth Roche….www. livemint.com

Natarajan

This Artist Decided To Bring A Van Gogh Painting To Life In A Very Literal Way…

September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Flying into Minneapolis, you might be surprised to find yourself face-to-face with a Van Gogh painting — one that stretches out over more than a square acre of land. The unique thing about this version of the painting is that it is etched directly into the ground.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

This is the latest project by landscape artist Stan Herd, who uses fields as canvases to create large-scale interpretations of art. He recreates famous pieces (like the Van Gogh painting seen here) and even works on some originals. They’re unique because they can only be seen in full from the air.

This piece is composed of different plants, tracks, and soil patterns. Herd used grass of different lengths to create various tones and values.

This is the painting that Herd recreated with living plants.

Wikimedia Commons

It’s Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 piece called Olive Trees.

First, the painting was measured and the land was parceled out.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

The grid you see on the print helped Herd and his team create a scale model.

After that, the real work began.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

This piece of landscaping art is located near an airport in Minneapolis, and it’s visible to passengers as they enter the city. Herd has been working on these landscaping projects, which he calls “earthworks,” since 1981.

The project was commissioned by the Minneapolis Institute of Art (which is home to the original painting) in an effort to get people excited about visiting the city.

Each element of the painting had to be carefully planned out to ensure that the proportions were right.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

Creating an earthwork like this is no simple feat, and it requires a lot of physical labor.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

And this isn’t even the largest earthwork that Herd has created.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

In the early 1980s, he made one that covered 160 acres of land in Kansas.

With patience and hard work, the image started coming together.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

(via Colossal)

The Van Gogh earthwork will be on display near the airport throughout the autumn season. Herd plans to mow down the creation when winter arrives, but even his method of destruction is symbolic. He will remove the earthwork in a concentric circle pattern that mimics Van Gogh’s painting method.

You can see more of Herd’s earthworks on his website, and learn more about the original Van Gogh painting from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. If you happen to fly into Minneapolis this fall, snap a picture of the field and share it with the tags #BDayMia and #vangrow.\

Source….www.viralnova.com

Natarajan

Never Laugh at an Old Man…He may Surprise You !!!

September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

This group of friends were playing football (soccer), when old grandfather Memo came and insisted to be given a place on one of the teams. While they didn’t want to disrespect their elders, they weren’t happy about this. That is, until this old man gives the game a real twist. In reality, this old man is a freestyle football legend who has gone through hours of make-up to make him look 30 years older. Find out what happened on the court, as he shocks everyone in sight, and will even cast a spell on you, because this guy – he’s good.

Source……www.ba-bamail.com and http://www.youtube.com

Natarajan

Message for the Day…” All of us Will have to Leave this world Empty-Handed …”

September 27, 2015September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Sathya Sai Baba

Though Alexander the Great conquered most parts of the world, he could not take with him even an iota of the property he won. He left the world with empty hands. To demonstrate this truth to the world, he instructed his ministers to take his dead body in a procession through the streets of his capital keeping both his hands in a raised position pointing the sky. When the ministers asked him the reason for this strange request, Emperor Alexander replied, “I conquered several countries, accumulated great wealth and controlled a vast army; yet, I am going back with empty hands – demonstrate this truth to everyone.” You may spend a lot of time struggling to acquire a lot of wealth. Yet, not even a handful of earth will come along when you leave the body. Hence at least now accept the fact that you are Divine, and strive to appreciate the same Divinity in everyone around you.

Did You Know? There Is A World Cup For The Homeless & India Put Up An Awesome Show….

September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Yes, there is a world cup for the homeless and India’s Slum Soccer organisation has represented the country there. What’s more? The men’s team won the Sports Gen cup and the women’s team got the 6th place among 16 participating nations. Here’s more.

Homeless World Cup is an annual football tournament organized by the Homeless World Cup organization – a social movement which inspires homeless people to change their lives with the power of football. They organize an annual football tournament, where teams of homeless people from more than 70 countries get a chance to compete.

In India, selections for the Homeless World Cup begin at the National Slum Soccer Championship every year. Slum Soccer is an Indian organisation which uses football as a tool for social empowerment, to change the lives of street dwellers in the country. An initial lot of 32 players are selected during the championship, in which teams from over 15 states across India participate. The selected players then undergo training at the Nagpur, Chennai and Kolkata centres of Slum Soccer. And then, the final selection takes place.

More than 500 players from 48 teams took part in the 2015 edition of the Homeless World Cup.

This year was the 7th time that the Slum Soccer team represented India in the World Cup which was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Indian contingent

The Indian men played a total of 12 games against teams like France, Netherlands, Finland, and Grenada. They finally won the SportsGen Cup.

The team led by Sahrul Hoque, defeated Belgium in the quarter-finals 3-2. They faced Israel in the semi-finals and won with a score of 4-2. The final match was against Grenada, one of the best performing teams, and India won 4-3. Players in the team included Mohit Sharma, Saddam Hussain, Shubam Varma, Anikesh Tandekar, P Parthiban, Manikumar, and Ashutosh Bobde.

The Indian women’s team played 13 games in all. They attained the 6th place out of the 16 participating nations.

The team performed really well, defeating England, Finland and Scotland with huge, unexpected margins.

The Homeless Behind The Players

All these players have faced a lot of suffering and struggle. But Slum Soccer helped them in overcoming those days, and leaving their struggles behind. Today, they are making India proud.

P Parthiban: The men team’s defender from Chennai lost his father and a younger sister at a very young age. The hardships he had faced all his life had turned him into a ruffian. It was football that changed his life, and turned him into a winner!

Shubam Varma: A resident of Nagpur, Shubam is the vice-captain of the team. He understands the importance of being a leader, and the kind of roles one has to take up in order to help others, as well as oneself, in taking the right life decisions.

Apeksha Wankhede: She fled from Chandrapur and reached Amsterdam with the help of an NGO, Shivprabha Charitable Trust in Pune. Her mother works as a domestic helper and brother works in a salon. In spite of weak financial conditions, her determination to play for the country has always been strong.

The Captains: Sahrul Hoque

His life took a turn when one of his friends, who had returned after completing his higher education from Nagpur, asked him to contact Mr. Barse of Slum Soccer.

Since then, Sahrul started playing for the Slum Soccer team in Kolkata. He is now coaching 100 slum soccer players in Kolkata.

“I never thought that I would fly to a foreign country. My parents and elder brothers and sisters did not say much as I am the youngest, but they did not like that I was playing football all the time. They called me ‘Khela Pagol’ (mad for sports). But now, they feel proud about me,” he said.

Reena Panchal

Reena comes from Sonipat, Haryana. She had a strong inclination towards football since childhood. Her father worked at a small garment shop as a salesman, and though her family members were supportive, they could not go against the norms of how girls should lead their lives, created by the orthodox villagers.

“My father never differentiated between my brothers and me, but our neighbours called names if I wore trousers to play football. It’s not easy for a girl from Haryana to break the rules and come out of her shell,” says Reena.

She started playing football at school (Hindu Kanya School, Sonipat) without telling anyone at home. But when she got selected to play at the national level, she had to tell. Her coach, Mr. Ankush Mallik, convinced her parents, and she nailed it at the game.

Reena could not stop thanking Slum Soccer, who not only gave her the opportunity to play, but also made her the captain of the team.

“Indian team was everyone’s favourite at the Homeless World Cup. I wore the No.5 jersey and everyone used to say No.5 plays really well. I can’t express in words how happy I am to represent India in the world cup. It was always a dream. A few months back I couldn’t even think that I will be awarded as the ‘best player’”

21-year-old Reena, who is the top goal scorer in the team, is an arts graduate and has also done a diploma in Bachelors of Physical Education (B.PED).

She wants to help other girls in her village to come out and build a future of their own. She wants to make them realize that if they get an opportunity they should just grab it.

“There’s nothing better than the feeling of representing India in front of the world and Slum Soccer made this dream come true. There can be no other organization like Slum Soccer. I want everyone to learn from them that even the underprivileged part of our society is talented and one should help them grow too,” she concludes.

Slum Soccer has been discovering many such gems from the past seven years. But it’s an irony that every year they have to ask for financial help from different NGOs.

We have been doing the entire event, including the training with the help of online fund raising. Last year Ashok Leyland helped us and this time keto.org came forward. I wish the Indian government too helped our team, just like the Scotland team is funded by their government as a part of their common wealth youth development program,” says Abhijeet Barse

Mr. Barse, however, praises the police department, which really helps them with the documentation work for the players.

About the author: A mechanical engineer, Manabi Katoch has been brought up listening to Tagore’s poems and stories, so she is kind of an emotional person within. She loves writing poems and stories on social and political issues. Few of her poems can be viewed on http://www.poemocean.com and satires on http://www.mindthenews.com. She has worked with Wipro, Frankfinn and Educomp in the past.

Source…..Manabi Katoch….www.the better india .com

Natarajan