Driving discipline

Which of the following driving disciplines do you follow, or see being followed?  Add 1 point for every check. (Points are for traffic that drives on the left of the road, else switch right with left)

1. Traffic on your right always has Right-of-way – in lanes, at a round-about, or at an intersection
2. At an intersection the one who reaches it first, gets right-of-way to cross it
3. Always overtake from the right
4. Don’t overtake a vehicle which is overtaking another vehicle itself, or if there is oncoming traffic
5. Distance from the vehicle in front of you should be enough to let you see its rear wheels touching the road
6. When going down an incline, shift down to the same gear you would use when climbing it
7. Instead of applying the brakes, try shifting to a lower gear and letting the engine do the braking (release the clutch)
8. Don’t ever switch off the engine to free-roll down an incline
9. Don’t drive with the clutch pressed halfway while cruising
10. Maintain your position in you lane and switch lanes carefully watching other traffic
11. You must not move to your right if a vehicle is overtaking you
12. Thumb rule for shifting gears – shift gears according to speed should be 16Xgear kms/hr, i.e. upto 16 kms/hr move up from the 1st gear, upto 32 kms/hr imove up from 2nd gear, upto 48 kms/hr move up from 4rd gear, upto 64 kms/hr move up from 4th gear, and upto 80 kms/hr move up from 5th gear (if there is one)
13. When facing oncoming traffic at night, never look at their headlights, instead keep your eyes to the left verge of the road you are on
14. Try driving with foresight of what others are going to do/doing on the road, and take proactive measures so they don’t need to change their path

These are lessons gathered over years and generations… If you’d like to add some points, please leave a comment.

If you got a score of:

More than 10	Bravo! Way to be…
6-10	Great, you must already be a driver blessed by others on the road
3-5	Hmm, you must definitely try more of these to get a better drive
Below 3	You probably never knew these, but now you do

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What does meaning mean to us?

We humans are a social animal. The structure of our needs has been shown by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs… from Biological up to Security, to Belonging, to Recognition, and finally of Self-Actualization.

Each one of these needs beyond the first two, from Belonging upwards, depends a lot on the meaning we build as our own from our community(ies), the recognition (appreciation) we gather, and the new (personal/original) meaning we are able to convey (add) to our community (the world we understand). What does meaning mean to us?

The book, “The Three Laws of Performance” makes the point so emphatically – “How things occur to us depends on the language we use”. What does this mean? Does language lead to meaning, or is it the other way around? Is its meaning important for us? And therefore to us?

Of course, language is a natural form of communication, and as such there will be varying degrees of ‘language’ used by different people, all of which we need to be accommodated in our understanding. That notwithstanding, does the widespread adoption of a wide vocabulary, clear, consistent, correct, and precise language have a direct correspondence with the growth and evolution of a community?

This is an invitation to a conversation on the meaning of language, and what it means to us, building from what it means to each one of us. You’re invited to be a part of this conversation right here… Click and post your thoughts and read what others are saying as well.

What does meaning mean to us?

What role does the (correctness of) language mean for all of us?

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Faith? At a time like this…

It is paradoxical and extremely unfortunate that there are elements among humanity who seek to take advantage of the heightened faith that we humans tend to have at times like this, when we don’t really know the cause of our suffering, or its remedy… the ‘fake news’ pandemic is what we see growing all around us, and we are likely victims of it with every other message we receive…

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/news/scamsters-make-hay-amid-pandemic-5165994

It is a very opportune time I feel, for each one of us to recall that the only Truth is what we believe in.  Truth is what we give credibility to.  Even the dictionary defines Truth as a Definite set of beliefs.  So what is the truth?  Lets talk a little more about what it is not.

Taking advantage of the faith and belief that we, the people repose in them, scamsters like Baba Ram Rahim (an example from some months ago), and thousands before and after him, grow in their influence and prosperity.  Our faith also needs to evolve to keep pace with their increasingly ridiculous statements, until we can safely label our faith as ‘blind’, after which there seems no remedy to our future.  I can recall many living ‘legends’ who may qualify in the category who we repose faith in as ‘lay’ people.. Heads of state the world over are joining this club.. Or have we been pushing them towards it ourselves?

So called ‘God-men’, and they abound in every part of the world where they have people to believe in them, were the founder-members of this club.  In fact even in play, we realize that GOD actually stands for ‘Greater On Demand’… the one we demand to be greater becomes God!  We just need to realize the ways we are demanding them to be greater, and we will get all the answers to the questions popping up in our heads. We, the herd, have been pushing forward the sheep who don the lion’s skin at the front, and make sure the herd always believes in their own ignorance (sheep-like). This ignorance of ours is what gives them their power over us.

Many years ago I had thought FAITH was the Feeling of Adoration Inspired by Trust and Hope.  I do not discount for a minute, the possibility of hope arising out of helplessness, ignorant faith being confused for trust, and sycophancy being mistaken for adoration.  Let’s us be mindful of the monsters we create ourselves.

So what is the Truth?  What can we have Faith in? What must our behavior be like?

The answers lie within us, within every one of us.  Discerning, meditative inquiry, and mindful behavior lead us to the manifestation of our Truths, while at the same time protecting us from what is not the truth.

• Discerning, meditative Inquiry
• Mindful Behavior

Stay mindful, stay safe, stay enlightened… the ultimate responsibility is our own!

Professionals

September 30, 2010

We talk of unprofessional organizations, unprofessional behavior. What behaviors are called ‘unprofessional’? As I tried to understand this I realized I needed to define what ‘professional’ means. Professional would mean what is based on the profession.

PROFESSION

1: the act of taking the vows of a religious community

2: an act of openly declaring or publicly claiming a belief, faith, or opinion : PROTESTATION

3: an avowed religious faith

4a : a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation b : a principal calling, vocation, or employment c : the whole body of persons engaged in a calling

Interestingly, Profession spans across religion and business. What is common between how it applies to either? Openly declaring a belief, faith or opinion, and then staying true to their word seems to be what professionalism is about.

The distinguishing attribute of professionals is their zeal, their commitment, their efforts to keep their word. Why does it seem that professional fields have more written information than unprofessional domains? Maybe this is so because only when we are committed to what we say do we have the conviction to put it down in writing, knowing we will be true to what has been written. Oral transmission of information is typically ‘unprofessional’, leaving the communicators with a much larger (believed) leeway to deviate from what they said.

An interesting fact to observe is how much significance and commitment is shown by some peoples to their word, to even the spoken words that they speak or hear. It is almost a cult of professionals, a culture of commitment to their word that we see in the West, vis-à-vis the East of the world. While the written word is important especially for transmission across distances asynchronously, the spoken word has equal significance and permanence.

In cultures that do not respect the spoken word, we also find the written word treated with less respect. So maybe professionalism is to do with our commitment to the word per se, which is clearly demonstrative of the ownership and responsibility we take for the integrity (or lack of) of what we say and do.

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Hello world!

Hi 🙂

Lets explore our world together :-))

Come along now…