Anish Nadh’s Blog

I think so! Movies are definitely better than books. Though both are different movies give in a lot of visual suggestions and easy to understand. Books, on the other hand runs your imagination and you create the version of what the author intended. A book must also over-explain a character, where as a movie just lays out the facts. I’ve also begun to enjoy listening to podcasts and watching documentaries over reading books just because it’s hands free I’m able to clean or cook at the same time. Books will have to go and we will embrace new technologies. After all, we started with drawing pictures on walls inside caves, we’ve come a long way. Miles and miles we must go… 

The purpose of education is to enable an individual to explore expert opinions and findings, and find it’s applications in their day to day life.  Our ancestors discovered numbers. We learnt from what the ancestors taught, added some more and passed the knowledge to our successors. We also rely heavily on technological advancements like calculators to make complex calculations (think compound interest), bearable to help our existence.The very act of solving mathematics and puzzles make connections in our brain and affects our overall intelligence.  The above analogy holds good  for any subject, languages, music, art and more. As a teacher one must constantly remind themselves this purpose just so that their intentions are clear. This will help the student chase knowledge and not just certificates. 

This is a concept coined by Brian Tracy. This helped me beat procrastination. Eating that frog gets you too act on that Herculean task, that you have been postponing. You should do the mist uninteresting but important tasks first, when your energy is at the maximum. 

I have been playing Hanon on piano with my niece, Natalia,  for the past few weeks. It’s a bunch of piano exercises set to build the fingers. Natalia enjoys these exercises and we completed the 1st exercise playing each hand separately. Now we must put them together and the challenge is to play this with the correct co-ordination.  The idea is to make this Malayalam proverb work, that I heard my grandparents occasionally. Nithya abyasi Anaye edukkum. (One who regularly practices, can lift an elephant). The goal here is not to lift the elephant, but to just practise regularly. 

This quote from George Bernard Shaw, was made available to me by a musician, I fail to recollect who that was. But this quote holds good for some of the computer science lecturers we have had. Let’s put this to perspective. If you are a trained computer programmer, you will go for the lucrative corporate job! But the worst are these corporate rejects! They end up as lecturers to the perils of the poor students. But eventually the bad programming teacher learns, teaching; thanks to years of syllabus revisions and they end up leaving colleges to find lucrative corporate jobs. The college quietly moves on to the next mediocre educator. 

It’s 8:00 am now and I started teaching music at 6:00 am today. The classes were for Ivan, Abel and Hannah. They were well prepared for their lesson and also had the desire and drive to learn music. Their nimble hands can play anything! It’s so good to watch your students grow into amazing musicians.  Some of my students are winning competitions in their schools and writing their own music. So, something I’m doing must be right, passing and growing the talents I was bestowed through the years.  I remember all my teachers here who were physically present and made a huge impact on me. Issac, Santhosh, Dev, Kaundinya, Jayanth, Sahana, Along, Satem, Ebenezer,  Kenneth, Zimmerman, David, Bruce, Guthrie, Bryden, Judah, Grace, Leslie, Tony, Floyd, Konarak & Siddharth. The wealth of knowledge from my teachers and their blessings is all I have. Teaching is my calling & purpose.  My inability to play a certain passage or read sheet music as well as my students is sometimes frustrating bu

I have been on a schedule and keeping my tasks on track. I now have a small daily routine, that includes this blog. There’s more I want to do, especially helping my students and growing my music school. I’m also refining my chores to accommodate more specific scheduling using google calendar. This gets work done, so be it! 

I was introduced to him though his book rich dad poor dad. The biggest take away for me was his view about assets and liability. I always thought a car or a house was an asset. But soon realized, it only took money away from me. It definitely made work easier for some but at an expense. This book failed in giving me a practical step by step method to follow in wealth building. Robert continues promoting his concepts form the book online and through his courses. But he only points finger at the system that programmed us, never giving a practical solution. Like he says “question everything”!

 My parents kitchen had black fungus on the ceiling! We were worried it was due to some leak in the roof. Apparently this was because of condensed steam settling on the ceiling providing the best living conditions for fungus to thrive. I ordered chorine pellets and wiped the kitchen ceiling. Looks like chlorine inhibits fungal growth. 

Why travel? It opens your mind. You are exposed to people and places that are different, and you always bring back some lesson from these places. I have learnt about hard work from my cousin in law during my travels in Kerala (maybe this is another post) I have learnt about organization from a fisherman at Gokarna. I have had the priceless fun and great memories from these travels.  How to travel? Save up! Saving a mere ₹100 everyday is sufficient to have a decent amount after a year. You will have about ₹36500 after a year. This is more than enough for a week long trip to Nepal I’m told.  Where to travel? Travel to places close by. Know your surroundings, and then extend your travel radius from there. 

 My wrist is healing well but it doesn’t feel the same. It took some impact a few days ago. I have been giving it some attention with warm water, ayurvedic oils and some crepe bandage. I managed, to finish recording a song for church, gardening, cleaning with one hand! Can’t wait for the other  to be fully functional so I can play some guitar. 

Their words can never hurt me. My words can never hurt them!  But, her silence did! 

We good a new composter to process the kitchen waste. All organic content can be converted to soil. This soil can be the used to nourish the plants and my fruit trees. Some problems I’m overseeing are rodents and ants. Must find a solution to this. 

I had a fall last night while parking my bike, used my left hand to cushion my fall! Bad idea! I couldn’t sleep all night, because it hurt like a biscuit! I wonder how I’ll do my chores and record music for church! 

I sometimes am an idiot. I ask the wrong questions. An idiot asks all the wrong questions.  Most guns come with a safety lock, they put that there for idiots, who can’t be trusted to use it accidentally. You must be an idiot to pull the trigger of a gun accidentally. So an idiot cannot be trusted as well.  Most things in this world is being designed for idiots in the hope that it would ease the brain a little bit and also reduce harm and save time. We have calculators, protective gear, sunscreens, vehicles, medicines money etc to make out life easy. Are idiots weakening the brain body and mind? Will we be reduced to a blob suspended in thin air with our brains connected to machines?  Virtual reality is the next thing for us idiots. 

I start my day sipping on three mugs of hot water daily. It’s always warm water. I put three mugs of water in the microwave for three minutes and bring it to boil. I then take it out and sip on the hot water! I do this about three times a day!  As you can see  I’m going with three  Repeat it for about three  What about thee? 

I have used the herb in the past, and also have some friends using it regularly. I made a decision to stop a few years ago.  For me, I cannot focus really well after its effect. Since it affects my activities, I cannot use it or rely on people who use it.  Would you like to be checked up or undergo surgery with a “high” doctor? Or would you put your family at risk with a driver under the influence?  I totally understand the medical uses,. Medicine is for sick people NOT for able minds and bodies. This is just my opinion, I see great talents wasted under its regular influence.  I may use it again, regularly as medicine, only if it’s strongly recommended by a doctor. But never regularly! 

Yesterday was a productive day! I dug around the mango tree and put the excess soil to make heaps around the taro! This will help bring out the taro tuber bulbs. I’ve never really liked taro but it’s high in fiber so, mite as well force it down. I also planted two agathi keerai, I love its flowers fried! Hope it survives! 

In my attempt to get things done, I’ve marked all my appointments and things I do on google calendar. This gives me a snapshot of how my day is going to be and I get to edit it on the go. What’s more interesting is apart from adding reminders I also can check off the tasks completed, and also share the calendars and appointments with anyone! It works! 

I really can’t tell,  Friend or foe, Until I look through, The windows to your soul You may cover it up, Or sometimes reveal,  What lies behind,  The windows to your soul.  Eye to eye or,  Eye for an eye,  What are we behind,  The windows to our soul?

 I wanted to buy a new phone. The ear piece was giving me some trouble as I was not able to hear through that. I ended up using the speaker phone instead and sometimes relied on a earphone. But this was giving me so much trouble, even the videos I recorded had muffled audio. I decided to change my phone. Usually I use a phone for 3 years but this one was way past that!  Yesterday, I happened to see a video on YouTube that showed how iPhones are cleaned and it recommended brushing the orifices with a tooth brush! I was going to replace mine and used the dry old one! And like magic, the earpiece worked! I saved the money I set aside for a phone just like that! Now I can use that and buy a new laptop! Wait can I brush my laptop to save some more? 

Our guard dog for the backyard Toffee fell sick! He was just not eating and just vomiting and shitting blood. So Robin and I took him to a veterinarian  very close to home. This was a small government veterinary hospital. The doctor checked his temperature, which turned out normal, and he gave him some injections. Toffee was more tolerable to pain! He felt nothing and took the injections calmly. He’s getting better, on diluted medicines laced in biscuits and plain curd rice, twice a day. 

I have a laptop that’s almost hanging by a thread. Anytime it can give up. But I also want a camera. Sony has some pretty good options but those things are bloody expensive. So I’m keeping a budget on for this goal.  I will settle for a cheaper iPhone and save up for a camera in two years? Things are getting so damn expensive and this is giving me a good drive! Almost pushing me to plot and plan my next move! But there’s so much to do. I’m in a fix!

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.  I was literally clearing sticks and stones from my backyard as I remembered the sticks I’ve got from my dad and the stones that I threw to hurt terrorizing dogs.  Being a short, dark guy in class I was subjected to bullying but what they said never hurt me because, I was regularly getting sticks at home, so words never hurt! My dad only hit me reasonably but punishments were severe. He always allowed debate and argument and never silenced my reasoning. This always allowed me to think quick on my feet. When confronted, I laughed with my bullies, used humour as we did at home! They became friends, and I became a bully with them!  Now I see a lot of kids getting offended with the slightest thing said to them. Words will be thrown around, there will be offensive things said! But they will need to not let that affect them! And it must begin at home! Children must learn that words cannot harm them! It will, only if they allow

In my earlier blog post, I had mentioned about how o organized the emails. I had sent all the unnecessary emails to spam folder and I also unsubscribed to s some. The email is so much organised now and I have time to read each and everything that matters! Instead of having 50 emails to deal with everyday. It takes some effort to send the unwanted ones to the spam folder and unsubscribing from them, but totally worth it. 

 Time creates anxiety! We suffer the future and the past in the now! So the most important question is, how am I feeling now! Am I joyful? All that the past and future can bring is just an illusion.  Having said that, the choices we make NOW, will determine the quality of life in the past and future. So there’s no other way, but to live in the moment. 

I’m very bad remembering names of people! And calling and knowing people by their names gives you a sense of familiarity and friendship. So I make an attempt to note down names and also use their names in conversations.  Bhargav is the owner of a car wash near my residence. Once when I went there, it was just the employee there, Praveen (I asked for his name and noted it down on my phone). Praveen was slacking and when I asked for Bhargav by name, he suddenly lit up with activity and I think I got the best possible car wash done! Ever since, I use their names and I have noticed a certain conversational bond between us compared to their other customers.  So when God has “called” you by “name” he knows you! He’s familiar with you. 

I’ve been hearing “Little drops of water make the mighty ocean” from my parents and grandparents very often. There’s as certain wisdom on this saying! I’ve been cleaning my place, one thing at a time! Instead of doing the whole house, I take one small bit at a time. Over a period of time, I’m seeing results. Same with investing, a little saving on mutual funds over a period of 3 years is pretty darn amazing! I would’ve lost this money, though there’s risk involved!  A little bit of time spent on backyard has its rewards. A little bit of learning etc! What is required is consistency and patience. So here’s to a regular little bits! 

I was called by an upcoming band who promised a lot of gigs and I said NO! I thought hard and realised it was not worth the effort, it would only add a lot of stress! The money and the deal was not great either! I said No after much thought even though I miss playing live! 

Distractions! People asking for favors that you can’t refuse!  I made a small change in how I do things. I started prioritizing myself and my family before anyone else. I started saying “NO” to things that i don’t resonate with or bring in some benefit to me. I’m conserving and reserving my energy to do things I love! Music, gardening taking care of family! Above all, I have shut myself up to everything unnecessary. 

My recent trip to Goa found me visiting this place quite often.  Their service was top notch! The chef was a metal guitarist! I don’t remember his name! Every dish ordered was class apart! I particularly loved the crème brûlée and I still dream about it!