Very interesting TED by neurologist V.S Ramachandran The neurons that shaped civilization. He's a great speaker, describing complicated theories of the brain in concrete and simple ways, and has a few other talks that are definitely worth checking out.
In this video he talks about his investigations into phantom limb pain, synesthesia and other brain disorders allow him to explore (and begin to answer) the most basic philosophical questions about the nature of self and human consciousness.
"Ramachandran is a latter-day Marco Polo, journeying the silk road of science to strange and exotic Cathays of the mind. He returns laden with phenomenological treasures...which, in his subtle and expert telling, yield more satisfying riches of scientific understanding."Richard Dawkins
5:30am wakeups to witness the sunrise, an everlasting hope the clouds would clear and give a glimpse of the mighty Kangchenjunga massif, staring in awe when they did, chai breaks in remote settlements, strings of colourful prayer flags, being out of breath, gulping fresh thin air, sounds of silence, scent of evergreens, thin clouds flowing right past my face…
I recently got the chance to take some time off work to head to northern India for a week of trekking in the HimalayanMountains. An overnight train followed by a 3 hour jeep ride up countless switchbacks brought us to Darjeeling, ‘Queen of the Hills’. The fresh, cold air of the mountains was a glorious relief from the heavy heat of Kolkata summer (40C these days with monsoon season fast approaching).
rooftop restaurant
Darjeeling is a fairly developed and bustling town near the Nepali border, sitting at 2100m with spectacular views of the surrounding mountain ranges. Largely developed by the Brits in the 1800’s as a hill station and tea distribution centre, it’s now widely famous for the quality of the tea which grows on its steep hills (and the Sherpa community). This region is comprised of a very diverse culture with a unique way of living (primarily agriculture). The majority of the current occupants are Nepali, along with many other communities such as Bengalis, Bhutias, and Tibetans, with Buddhists and Hindus forming the religious majority.
The 5 day, 55km trek to Sandakphu at 3600m took us along the Singalilla ridge which followed the Indian/Nepali border. A few of the days were spent in Nepal, which was monumental personally as it was country #30 visited for me, one of my major goals. Also, it was a step up from 2600m which previously was the highest altitude I had reached in Austria on my European cycle tour last summer. Getting up in the clouds was unreal – I want more! Looking forward to heading back up to this region in a few months time on my way home to Canada.
Got clear skies our first morning - Kangchenjunga Range (Everest to the left of this range)
Sherpa lodge in Sandakphu
4:30am, 3600m, waiting
here comes the sun...
glorious.
I put a bunch more photos up on my Picasa Photostream as well, the link can be found on the right side of this page.
Great new ebook ‘Maxims for Mavericks’ is a quest against mindless conformity which provides motivation to create and enjoy an uncommon life, a life on your terms.
Once in a while it really hits people that they don't have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. – Alan Keightley, Author
What is a Maxim?
According to the eighteenth-century Russian philosopher, Immanuel Kant, a maxim is a self-created rule or belief that composes our internal playbook; it’s part of a code that we consult when making the very decisions that shape our life. Our maxims lie behind every action and, therefore, contribute to every outcome we experience.
“May you live your life as if the maxim of your actions was to become universal law” -Immanuel Kant (From Groundwork to a Metaphysics of Morals.’ 1785
If you found this ebook inspiring and want more where that came from:
Charlie Hoehn’s “Recession-proof grad” – has a free ebook that advises actions recent grads should take to get noticed and start doing the work they want to do, rather than settling and taking what they can get as an entry-level job. (hint: it’s the exact opposite of what you’re probably doing now). His recent TEDx talk
Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You to be Rich – excellent and entertaining tips for young people on personal finance, earning more money, great interviewing and negotiation tactics (including scripts), and the psychology of effective behaviour change.
Great work like this is largely what has motivated me to follow through with various travel adventures and plan how to steer my own life, both personally and professionally.
Well I'm back from my insane 65 hour round trip train journey! I felt very old and British as I drank copious amounts of chai while reading a copy of Reader's Digest. At night the rolled up magazine then double as a cockroach swatter as more than a few bugs came crawling out of various crevices in search of the samosa crumbs scattered on my bunk. Once in Mumbai I met up with interns, got out to see the city for a few nights, and attended a social business conference at a fancy hotel. True to my cheap backpacking roots and eating skills gained from the bike tour, I took full advantage of the amazing (and free!) buffet meals served over the 2 days. I enjoyed the conference which was my first major industry event, and took away a lot of insights from the various speakers, panelists, and people I met.
I've missed a few weeks of posting new songs but after listening to heaps of music on the train the past few days I was inspired to bring Music Monday back. Canadiana, bumpin' track, cool video - BOOM HA!
Cool Story: The Power of Crowd Funding This new company Lunatik shattered Kickstarter records when they attempted to raise $15,000 in 30 days and ended up with nearly $1 million.Kickstarter is a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, inventors, explorers, etc. to use crowd sourcing to fund their projects. Lunatik makes beautifully designed (minimalist Apple style) watch bands that transfer the new ipod nano into a multi-touch watch. More about their Kickstarter story on Lunatik's site.
PLEASE give me suggestions for online articles or TED Talks to download that I can pass the time with. In a few hours I'll be departing for a 33 hour cross country train ride to Mumbai for a conference. I'll have plenty of time over the 60+ hours of train travel this week to read some interesting articles and watch movies.
My bookshelf in India - big fan of Penguin books!
Heres a TED by Salmar Khan, founder of the Khan Academy. His idea is to use video to reinvent education. Now that computers are just as affordable as textbooks, and the internet is becoming more available in developing countries, this could be revolutionary for improving education in places that previously could not afford the infrastructure of large schools, skilled teachers, and multiple textbooks.
I'm really looking forward to the conference and interested to hear talks from some of the leaders in their respective fields.The social enterprise space is still developing, with new business models required and everyone collaborating together to learn from each other what works and experiencing the hard way what doesn't. Scale is the buzz word, with many ventures having been in operations for 3-5 years and still working on proving their model can achieve profitability and scale. Many large investors and VCs are still skeptical, obviously wanting to see proven results before they fund, creating a Catch-22 since companies often are unable to run large-scale pilot projects without additional funding.
I don't think I can call myself a blogger and not comment on the results of the Canadian Federal election. India is 9.5 hours ahead of Ontario, so I just found out the results this morning: Conservative majority, ouch, definitely did not expect that. I have no problem voicing my political opinion, and disappointed is a bit of an understatement. Though I believe he has done a decent job steering Canada through these "tough economic times", his stance on many social and environmental issues enrages me. I am distrustful and worried what he'll do with his new-found power. As I posted a few weeks ago, our international reputation has been blemished by some of our recent stances and lack of support for climate change mitigation policies, and I doubt this will help.
Cheer me up and post something I should read, watch, listen to on the train! I'm almost done 'Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinback and will be scouring the used book stalls in Mumbai for my another good read.
If you are in a situation anything like I was over one year ago: graduated university and not ready to settle right into a career at home, I've got good news! If you are at all interested in living in another country for 6 months-1 year to gain relevant work experience, here's some currently available Internship opportunities in India:
Babajob - 6 to 12 month long internships from Computer Science students, graduate students in economics, development, informal sector labor, etc. and MBA candidates who wish to work at our offices in Bangalore.
The deadlines for these may be quite soon, but AIESEC internships are always available, and Artemisia has two rounds per year for both India and Brazil.
This is a monster post that outlines what I've been doing the past few years and how I ended up working in India in a business development role with ONergy.
Looking back to a year ago (May, 2010), I had just arrived in Europe preparing to start a self-supported bike tour that would take my friend and I across the continent. I finished my undergrad a few months prior and was in planning mode for the upcoming year of adventurous travel.
During my entire 4 years at university I was mostly unsure of what path I wanted to take career wise. Well, by unsure I mean Iwas sureI didn't want a conventional 'office job' that I may end up despising, but was unsure about what other options were even available for business students (did I pick the wrong major?). But now that I had my degree I knew that1: I had some more travel and adventure goals to fulfill first before I started a 'real' job(thanks to my semester on exchange in Sweden during 4th year for giving me the travel bug!), and2:The job that I eventually did get would not just be a 'job', but something I was passionate about and in a field I wanted to get fully immersed in.
So, I hit the road and hoped that the career thing would sort itself out along the way. I somehow decided it would be a good idea tocycle across Europe, riding 6200km fromLisbon,Portugal, toIstanbul,Turkeythrough 15 countries over 70 days. It was an extreme challenge that allowed me to learn a lot about myself over the countless hours spent on the bike while breezing by beautiful landscapes. I learned what my limits were both mentally and physically, and then proceeded to push way beyond them day in and day out while facing adversity over what was sometimes grueling terrain and hot summer days. I never would have made it without my cycling buddy Colin who kept us pedaling and is one of the most intense and motivated people I've ever met.
One of the main insights I took away from that tour was how great the bike was as a form of sustainable transportation.Switzerland was especially impressing as they have bike paths that crisscross the entire country, including dedicated bicycle lanes in the cities, something which Toronto is in desperate need of (*cough, Mayor Rob Ford).
After the bike tour I made a brief trip back to Canada in August for just 3 weeks. It was kind of tough to go home only to immediately leave again, especially because my university roommate Hattie was recovering from adouble lung transplantat the time. I was there to attend the Couture Fashion for a Cure Found, a fashion show organized by Hatts that would combine herpassion for fashion (she designs rad vintage jewelery and writes a fashion blog) with fundraising for Cystic Fibrosis. An amazing group of girls dedicated heaps of their time over the summer to planning the event, which was extremely successful - selling out the venue andraising over $30,000 for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!
Then I hit the road again, this time to New Zealand with a working-holiday visa. I worked atBurn Cottage Vineyard, an organic, biodynamic vineyard run by awesome people who treated us exceptionally well. I had a blast living with our crew of backpackers, spending weekends road tripping, rock climbing, hiking, trail running and mountain biking. I was blown away by the sheer beauty of the country and friendliness of the people, can't wait to return.
Waiting out the storm before heading up Rob Roy Glacier
While in NZ I was going through the process of applying toAIESEC, a student-run global internship organization (most universities around the world have a chapter on campus- check it out!). I completed skype interviews with the review board from my alumni university, was accepted, and began searching the international jobs available. I was looking for an unconventional experience that would combine skills gained from my B.Comm degree with my interest in sustainability and renewable technologies, and on top of that take me to a new, exciting place.
Then I found it- theArtemisia Social Business Program!At first I was confused by the termSocial Business (basically a fusion of the business and development fields), what does this mean and why was it not in any of our textbooks or mentioned in university? Wait, a business can follow market driven for-profit models with the intent of effectively solving social/development/environmental/health issues? Sign me up!
I was browsing the openings for the upcoming round of Artemisia-AIESEC internships and sawONergy, a renewable energy venture specializing in distributing solar lighting to rural off-grid communities in India. Fortunately, I made the shortlist, received an interview, and found out on Christmas day that I got the job! I changed the dates of my round-the-world ticket, left NZ, stopped in Australia for a few weeks, and once again found myself back in Canada for a short 3 week stint. Sorted out my visa, vaccinations, did some snowplowing for extra cash, said hellos and goodbyes, then rocked over to India.
The clincher for me being selected was the bike tour I had just completed, confirming to myself that doingunconventionalthings are effective in standing out against the mass of business students that have the same entry-level banking or marketing experience. Luckily, I've got a great father who is always supportive of my next adventure, the odd jobs I work to finance them, and not pushing me to immediately settle into a career.
I credit many of the personal development bloggers that I follow in nudging me along this path. They aim to motivate people to do something unconventional, put in a real effort, stand out, don't settle for the norm, and quit whining about how hard it is to get a job or save money. It's not hard to do, but people think it is and therefore do not try (making it easier for those who do!).
This internship has been an incredible experience for me so far as I've been learning so much about the industry, exposed to companies working in the social business field, and am continually meeting inspirational people who have left their Wall Street jobs and brought their MBAs with them to solve social and development problems in innovative, financially sustainable ways. Many companies, and the social business field in general, are still facing many challenges in proving long-term financial viability which makes working with them to drive progress all the more rewarding. Talking with fellow interns we all agree that its both inspiring and intimidating at the same time, which is totally a positive thing because being surrounded by such intelligent and successful people/organizations has served to set the bar higher for ourselves.
I'm still unsure exactly what I'll be doing after my internship which is about half-way done, and am just taking it one step at a time. I've certainly found an area I'm passionate about and intend to pursue. I'll squeeze some more travel out of my bank account (thank you tax return!) before heading home in the fall, where I'm looking forward to keeping my feet planted firmly on Canadian soil... at least for the short term.
If you scrolled through this post, here's a too long; didn't read summary:
In the past two years I've: spent a semester on exchange in Sweden, biked across Europe, worked on a vineyard in New Zealand, now interning with an exciting social enterprise in India while meeting super cool people and couchsurfing along the way
You can do this too! There are current job postings for AIESEC-Artemisia internships in India, or if you want to work in a different country, still check out AIESEC as they hook up interns with jobs in over 100 countries! Artemisia also runs the social business program in Brazil as well.
Thunder and lighting storm as I've been writing this-
While listening to new Explosions in the Sky album
