More signs of the times....

From success to significance!

Can you remember the richest man in 1967?

Or for that matter the richest man in 1975?

Or the wealthiest guy in 1983?

Does anyone come to mind?

Nope not to me and I am sure it would be the same for a majority of the people who would read this.

But on the other hand if I say “Mother Theresa” you will immediately know who I am talking about.

Success leads to material wealth. But if we need to go beyond success and be Significant then we can achieve it only through our actions.

And to be truly significant we have to touch the life of someone who CAN’T repay us.

But still...

...I will take what ever I can she says.

I know it is not a lot yet its better than nothing.
Because when I am with you I feel safe and loved and cared for... I never thought I would love again with all the hurt I have been through before...

I thought my heart was closed forever...

till I met you...

The peace and tranquility of wasgamuwa...

If you like to enjoy the wonders of nature in solitude this is the place tobe...

The next few views are of riverstone which you have to pass through if you choose the long and scenic drive to the park. It is well worth the extra two hours the journey takes.

Miracle in Wasgamuwa:

Screwed Dude and Tattooed!

These were the words which crossed my mind as I realized I was well and truly stuck in a mud patch in one of the less traveled tracks of the Wasgamuwa National park.

Originally the fact that this park has so few visitors was an added attraction - according to a tracker we spoke to 10 vehicles is considered a lot - but now it seems that this would be the cause of an extremely long wait for help. It was late afternoon and the light was fading fast and a
night inside a vehicle in elephant territory whilst help arrived was not something I was looking forward to. Fortunately the mobile phone signals were working in the area we were stranded in. And that was reassuring otherwise the tracker would have to walk leaving the occupants in the
vehicle completely at the mercy of the elements.

I took a deep breath and was wondering what we should be doing when we heard the rumbling of engines. And as if in the finale or an epic cinema production we saw two Land Cruiser cabs drive into where we were. All that was missing was a director with his mega phone shouting lights music action!
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when we realized that the guys in the cab were off road junkies and the cabs had everything which was needed to help us to get out of the situation we were in. Also they were extremely nice and friendly and quite willing to help. First they tried to tow us out with a rope but that did not work then they winched us out in a couple of minutes.
So finally we were free to go home have a shower and discuss the amazing miracle of these guys appearing as if on cue over a drink. Instead of being stuck in the dark swatting mosquitoes wondering if there were any elephants lurking in the darkness.

Some pics from my journey

Snow the first time I have experienced it... the view from my room.

Just an interesting shot at a Japanese restaurant

Was scared to try this dish

A really tiny room I had to spend the night in Tokyo but it had everything one needed except space

The even tinier toilet but ohhh warm toilet seats are so heavenly

Tokyo at night

Mall interior

Trying to focus on Shinkazen the electric train...

Ooops too late... it was so fast by the time my camera focussed for second pic it has passed.

Beautiful music made out of bells

My favourite store - Muji

These are the place mats at the restaurant in the Toyota Automobile museum it looked so good I wanted to bring them home instead of eating off it.

The beautiful seat at the Automobile Museum with the first Toyota ever made in the back ground.

Sadly my good camera got messed up when I was there and I ended up taking most of my pictures from my trusty Black Berry.

A great opportunity to spend two weeks in Japan.

Would you like to spend two weeks in Japan. Learn what makes Japan one of the most powerful economies in the world and what drives their business culture. More importantly visit some of the shining examples of Japanese production excellence? All this for just 30% of the cost. Well the good news is you can.

JASTECA (Japan Sri Lanka Technical and Cultural Association) in Association with AOTS Japan send out to teams of people from Sri Lanka to Japan on training scholarships. Every year they send close to 100 people on various programs which include management, leadership as well as production and logistics. They put you up in their facilities throughout Japan which are actually mini star class hotels. In addition to that they take you on a study tour of Japanese companies and put you up in Star class hotels.

Amazingly not many people know about this scheme and the competition to get in is not as intense as what one would think. Also they prefer to give these out to people who hold senior managerial positions. I just returned from one of these scholarships and I found it an amazing and life changing experience. I think everyone should give it a try.

Want to find out more please visit the websites which I have hyperlinked on this post.