NABARD Entrepreneurship Program Funding

Interesting information from the NABARD bank report:


"The Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (4-6 weeks) are conducted through Entrepreneurship Development Institutes / Voluntary Associations/ Non Governmental Organizations for providing sustainable employment and income opportunities in rural areas. NABARD provides promotional assistance to such agencies and Rural Development Entrepreneurship Training Institute (RUDSETI) to successfully implement REDPs".

Report: http://www.nabard.org/fileupload/DataBank/OccasionalPapers/Rural%20Entrepreneurship%20Develop[1].pdf

Letting Go

'Call me, okay?' you had said,
when you left me.
I held on to your words,
In moments of darkness
Like a promise I meant to keep.

Your words now are a burden I carry
when you ignore
My repeated attempts to call thee.

The hope that you may throw,
A welcome glance towards me,
Sometime, anytime..
Is a death sentence,
I did not see.

So I set you free, my beloved,
To fly as you chooseth,
And I ask nothing more,
But forgiveness for my impatience,
And for my inability to wait for you,
-for eternity.

Five Stages of Grief

Recently, I went through a break up. What a ride! In grieving events, I tend to reach out for friends and family. Like a cliche, problems show up in herds. I was laid-off from my job recently, which somehow coincided with the breakup of a romantic relationship. I felt bitter and angry.

Writing an angry letter enabled me to sleep on a particularly hard night. I have been writing every time I feel down or want to figure what I am feeling. It is a very useful tool since words force me to be clear. I reached out to available friends. Most share their experiences and perspective. It helps me a lot to see a different point of view. Acknowledging my feelings and humor help me deal with stuff much better.

One of my friends Carol, who is a great friend, older and with much life experience, asked me to look up 'Five Stages of Grief' by  Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. According to the model, people go through five stages of grief in no particular order:

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.

For me, I went through the following sequence:

Denial --> Anger --> Bargaining--> Acceptance.

I still feel Anger, Bargaining and Acceptance which come in gusts like free flowing wind. If Depression is the feeling of longing and fear of uncertainty, I feel depression. But it does not last long with me, since my Ego and life experience kicks in. Perhaps all those years dealing with loneliness in boarding school hold me in good stead.

I am trying to accept the circumstances and people involved. I think about my Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's teachings. 'Accept people and situations as they are', one of his teachings, I remind myself.

Python scripting for GIS

I have been closely following Python classes here at the University during this semester. I found a great resource in 'lecture-assignment-solution' format on this website:

http://www.gis.usu.edu/~jlowry/python/

Thanks to Chris Garrard for this!

Go Python!!

Video Lectures in Computer Science

I just found some really good sources of computer science courses by universities. These lectures can be found at:

http://wally.cs.iupui.edu/wallyindex.html

There is a comprehensive list of sources of science lectures (includes a list for Computer Science lectures) compiled at a blog by Peteris Krumins. Find his blog here.

Enjoy!

Parkinson's Law & Procrastination

In continuation with my previous entry relating to procrastination, here is an interesting observation that was actually described mathematically by the British author Cyril Northcote Parkinson:

"The demand upon a resource tends to expand to match the supply of the resource"

(The reverse is not true!)

When it comes to procrastination and time management, it means that the more time one has on his or her hands, the longer it will take to complete the task. It does not necessarily mean that spending more time on the job improved the quality! Everyone must have experienced this sometime or another- when we have lots to do in a short time, we stay focused better.

However, there is a catch for ones struggling with procrastination. Procrastinators usually unrealistic sense of time. In other words, the amount of time a task will take is unrealistically estimated. Therefore, it is important not to take-on too much on one's plate and feel overwhelmed. Doing this will feed the cycle that will cause procrastination, rather than help.

So, a safe estimation of time a task might take and working with the optimum number of tasks will be a good idea to play with.

Procrastination

Procrastination! I feel uncomfortable even talking about it.

Everyone has indulged in procrastination sometime or the other... some let it become a roadblock, while some struggled to overcome it. How one deals with procrastination makes the difference between failure and success!

I've found myself struggling with the habit of procrastination. It is compounded by irrational beliefs and cognitive distortions . I remember when in School, I arrived in class late a couple of times. Least to say, my friends commented on me being late... in no time, it became a habit! Be it playground, class or a meeting, I'd find it easier to be late, than on time. I'd feel bad about it, but I was hooked- I got away with it and that was a reward in itself! Later, I had to make a lots of effort to get out of the habit. Even today, I find it easier to just be late. But with a bit of effort and rationality, I can keep time.

Here is an interesting read on Procrastination and how to overcome it.

Wikipedia provides an interesting overview here

'It was so difficult when I had to, and so easy when I wanted to'.