Not a drop of water nor a Morsel of food through her lips, for 11 years and still counting...

In and out of jails for the past 11 years, Manipur's 'Iron Lady' Sharmila has a tube running down her nose as the government alternately force feeds her and incarcerates her for attempting to take her own life through her hunger strike.

Irom Sharmila Chanu (born March 14, 1972), also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" or "Menghoubi" ("the fair one")^[1] is a civil rights activist, political activist, and poet from the Indian state of Manipur. Since 2 November 2000, she has been on hunger strike to demand that the Indian government repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA), which she blames for violence in Manipur and other parts of India's northeast.^[2] Having refused food and water for more than 500 weeks, she has been called "the world's longest hunger striker".^[3]

Manipur is far removed, in more ways than one, from the political nerve centre of the national capital. But Irom is not a stranger to Jantar Mantar in the heart of Delhi, where she herself has launched a series of protests in the past to seek the repeal of a law that gives the state army draconian powers.

Though a recipient of many awards and international commiseration over her iron resolve to fast unto death unless the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1958) is repealed, Sharmila's movement has somehow failed to capture the imagination of India's burgeoning urban middle-class who can better identify with issues that affect their lives directly.

Talking about just 1 minute of the 1440 Minutes in a day!

It only takes a minute to tell a loved one you adore them

It only takes a minute to run towards a fear

It only takes a minute to set a big goal

It only takes a minute to drink a glass of water

It only takes a minute to read a great idea (that just might rock your world)

It only takes a minute to write the most beautiful thank you note you have ever sent your parents (or a teammate or a customer or a high school teacher who blessed your life)

It only takes a minute to smile

It only takes a minute to connect to a friend or a co-worker

It only takes a minute to help a human being in need

Courtesy: Stunning Success by Robin Sharma

Another success story of a team work?

8 Dangers Every Leader Must Face and Overcome

8 Dangers Every Leader Must Face and Overcome

Above 26,000 feet life takes on a whole new meaning. It’s known as the death zone. At this height, the air holds only 30 % as much oxygen as at sea level. The air is so thin it is not life-sustaining. Within hours, judgment can become impaired. People get confused. Issues, that at sea level, we feel we can choose not to deal with, become deadly. At this height, the importance of character becomes black and white. Leadership mistakes are fatal.

Schmincke and Warner have identified eight dangers that can sabotage anyone at some point in their journey and put at risk careers, projects, or even companies. Overcoming these dangers requires implementing specific survival tips that are outlined below: 

Danger	Survival Tip
Fear of Death	Embrace death. A metaphor to accept and not resist, avoid, or ignore the inevitable death of a situation. Instead of freezing, free yourself to take action. Some call it “die before battle”.
Selfishness	Develop a compelling saga, a passion greater than the ego’s agenda. Focus on the greater good than your personal agenda.
Tool Seduction	Improve your behavior versus getting seduced by new performance theories or models. Run your tools, don’t let them run you. Getting off on new ideas, but not on implementation, distracts professional focus.
Arrogance	Humility. Offensive displays of superiority, self-importance, or treating others as inferiors never engenders success. Achieve success by not stepping over weak climbers, or leaving them for dead.
Lone Heroism	Partnership. Instead of feeling you’re the only one who can do it right, avoid missed opportunities and demoralized colleagues by engaging and leveraging everyone’s strengths.
Cowardice	Bravery. Cowardly professionals don’t challenge the status quo, hold others accountable, and expose weaknesses in the organization. Don’t be a coward. Take bold action
Comfort	Perseverance. No professional accomplishes a goal worth the pursuit without surviving the stretch—and often painful stretch. How uncomfortable are you willing to be to achieve your goals?
Gravity	Luck: Did you think any plan would survive its impact with realty? When gravity propels you, you’re invincible. When it pulls you down, you fall hard. Gravity is that uncertain push or pull regardless of what you do. Execution involves too much risk; and this causes expert opinions to fluctuate with the winds of uncertainty. Accept that luck happens, and prepare to seize it when it happens to you!

Here at sea level, these dangers don’t seem to pose a very big threat. But it’s deceptive. We figure we can get by. At sea level the margin for error is greater and the consequences often take longer to be realized. In the end, they will destroy you just the same.

A Daring Feat for a Double Amputee....

                                               Double-Amputee Sprinter Oscar Pistorius Will Be First Amputee to Compete in the World Championships

Oscar Pistorius of South Africa just qualified for the 400-meter and the 4x400-meter relay races at this year's World Championships, his first trip there. That's an amazing feat in itself, but made more amazing as Pistorius is a double amputee, using two carbon-fiber Cheetah prosthetic legs to run. He'll be the first-ever amputee athlete to perform at the event.

Pistorius, at 24 years old, has had his share of difficulties in competing with able-bodied athletes. His prosthetics were at one time declared to represent an unfair advantage over the athletes using the flesh-and-blood legs they were born with, rather than the space-age sproing-y Cheetah legs Pistorus uses, though he was eventually cleared for Olympic competition.

Pistorius isn't a favorite at the World Championships--his qualifying time, a personal-best 45.07 seconds, was just barely fast enough to earn him a ticket to the games in Daegu, South Korea--but he calls it "the highest-profile and most prestigious able-bodied event which I have ever competed in."

We've previously called for a league of exclusively performance-enhanced athletes, but it sounds like Pistorius is thrilled just to compete with the best able-bodied sprinters in the world.

The Four Important Principles of Life from the book 'The Leader who had no Title'

After being motivated by reading the book 'The Leader who had no Title', I have come up with the conclusion that the principles mentioned in the book can be applied to all the key areas of one's life. They are one's own PERSONALITY, FAMILY, CAREER and SOCIAL CIRCLES. So looking from this perspective, one can become a Leader in all these areas by applying the acronyms mentioned in the book, thanks to the renowned Leadership guru, Robin Sharma who is the author.The titles mentioned below are not as stated in the book, but my own views.  If you feel them beneficial, you can apply it to your life and Shine out. Of course, to get the full effect of it, you have to read the book which has the complete details on how to implement it in your life.


1) Rise and SHINE every day of your life(Personality)
   

    S - See Clearly
    H - Health is Wealth
    I  - Inspiration Matters
    N - Neglect not your Family
    E - Elevate your lifestyle





2) Think HUMAN and Be HUMAN(Family)

   
    H - Helpfulness
    U - Understanding
    M - Mingle
    A - Amuse
    N - Nurture





3) Project your best IMAGE at work(Career)

   

    I - Innovation
   M - Mastery
   A - Authenticity
   G - Guts
   E - Ethics








4) Be the SPARK in your circles.(Social circles)

   
 
    S - Speak with Audacity
    P - Prioritize
    A - Adversity creates Opportunity
    R - Respond instead of React
    K - Kudos to Everyone

Depression higher in wealthy nations, research suggests

By Marissa Cevallos, HealthKey / For the Booster Shots blog

July 26, 2011, 4:34 p.m.

Some of the richest countries have the highest rates ofdepression, new research suggests.

An international team of researchers collected the results of face-to-face interviews of nearly 90,000 people considered representatives of their population. The interviews were conducted in community settings in 18 countries, and the interviewers used a standard diagnostic test from the World Health Organization to assess depression.

In the 10 countries considered high-income, an average of 15% of participants said they’d experienced a depressive episode in their lifetime. France, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the U.S. all had rates higher than 18%.

But among the eight low- to middle-income countries surveyed, the rate was 11% -- the lowest rates were found in India, Mexico, China and South Africa.(more...)