Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy
Are drifting through my opened mind
Posessing them caressing me.......
Jay Gurudeva.....
Nothing's gpnna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world

Across the universe, thats how expansive I feel !! Today, Jan 5 2004 represents a giant leap for myself in many ways. Today I have STARTED A BLOG !! I have also started to MEDITATE, having stopped Tobacco, alcohol and non-vegetarian food for most of the past 3 weeks.... Now if only I can control my mind to order my body to wake up early before sunrise, I will be king. Today is also the first day of me writing a journal - the fact that happens to be online is not as important, actually. Why start a journal ? Keeping a running narrative of my life helps me do many things - it helps me memorialize the past, envision the future, celebrate life. Having said these fancy sounding phrases, the words "running narrative" means that it has to be regular. That means there has to be a commitment. What is the definition of commitment ? Commitment is one's best gift to oneself. WIthout commitment, one's life is frivoulous, desultory and frittered away in serach of amusement, which as I'm fond to say, is the happiness of fools. The importnat thing about the narrative is not how exciting or profound it is or how well it is written - what matters is that it is written EVERY SINGLE DAY. Everything else will take care of itself.

The latest issue of Business World talks about the best and the worst managers of 2003. One name that struck me is that of Yun Jong Yong, CEO of SAMSUNG. Years ago, when Samsung had partnered with Videocon to make TV's and other stuff, I had resolved that I would never buy a Samsung for the rest of my life. AT that time, there was truth to the stereotype I had of Samsung of a cheap, low end, mass producer of flaky consumer durable that I wouldnt be seen with - in stark contrast to Sony, which epitomised cool. Today Yun Jong Yong has changed that stereotype - Samsung products are pretty good and radiate sex appeal. Yun Jong Yong says: "Our future will depend on our Brand Equity - If we keep selling low-end products, it damages our corporate image.

Interestingly, I also read that Samsung has recently displaced Motorola as the 2nd largest manufacturer of Mobile Phones by Value, although Motorola is still Nr 2 by Volume.Samsung is also the global leader in the memory-chip business - it controls 2/3rd of the market for NAND flash memory, used in Removable Cards. Sales in 2003 are expected to be 36 Billion USD, with profits to reach 5 Billion USD.

One of the worst managers is listed as SONY Corporation's CEO Nobuyuki Idei. Sony products now are passe - Korean products typically pre-empt a Sony launch, Sony TV's are not that cool anymore (remember waht a big brand the Trinitron was), and Sony is strugglig to keep itself afloat making me too MP3 players that even Singapore local hero Creative does a good job of. Why didn't Sony invent the iPod ? I thought they'd be the logical people to do it having invented the Walkman more than 20 years ago, but it was Apple.

Speaking of Apple, Steve Jobs has been named as another great manager. Pixar Animations 2003 hit Finding Nemo, apparently is the highest grossing animation movie ever. It also wasn't a flash in the pan - Finding Nemo was Pixar's fifth blockbuster in 5 tries ! Steve Jobs also found a way to get consumers to pay for music rather than swipe it off the net. While this is not a big deal in itself, the iTunes music store , which enables the whole purchasing expereince has done wonders for sales of iPod - I just bough an iPod in December of 2003, and its one of the best gizmos I have bought in my life.

I'll conclude Dig a Pony journal today by copying something that I read by Eckart Tolle:

Many people are waiting for prosperity
But prosperity does not happen in the future
Gratitude for the present moment and the fullness of life now is true prosperity