What is proved just before 30 seconds of our heartbeat stops! Did we compile our memory book for last reflash? Need for Happy Hour in Institutions. Read this interesting perspective.

Dear Friends and Students

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience Journal published an interesting article on near-death experience (NDE) of an 87-year-old Canadian man! Scientists captured unique data on the activity in the brain at the very end of his life. “During the 30 seconds before and after the man's heart stopped, his brain waves were remarkably similar to those seen during dreaming, memory recall and meditation, suggesting that people may actually see their life "flash before their eyes" when they die”.

This is the first scientific evidence! The researchers recorded around 900 seconds of brain activity leading up to and immediately after the patient's death. Just before and after the heart stopped working, researchers saw changes in a specific band of neural oscillations (brain waves). Brain might be recalling all the important events as similar waves are observed during recall during normal circumstances.

5000 years back Lord Krishna mentioned this in the Bhagavad-gītā 8th Chapter and also suggested to remember HIM as NDE to nullify all our bad memories- “anta-kāle ca mām eva,smaran muktvā kalevaram, yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ, yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ”- whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body remembering Me at once attains My nature.

 

If we just quote this, a few communities discount and argue for scientific evidence. Why might Lord Krishna have said this? If we sum-up our life events and flash them, it contains both good and bad. I am sure in this age, bitter events exceed sweeter! True. We are living in an age of deceit and untruth. We all pretend to be good but a lot of malice is engulfed in our consciousness.

 

In 2014, there was an interesting article published in BBC- “Why bad news dominates the headlines”. Researchers made an experiment with invited participants. The goal is to track the eyeball movement. The volunteers were first asked to select some stories to read from a news website so that a camera could make some baseline eye-tracking measures. It was surprising to see,” Participants often chose stories with a negative tone – corruption, set-backs, hypocrisy and so on – rather than neutral or positive stories”

 

People respond quicker to negative words! We cannot blame anyone as there is natural attraction to the bad NEWS due to the hunger springing from the darkness within.

 

Infact many educational institutions are introducing a concept called “Happy Hour” to address this issue. Students are given an opportunity to hear some inspiring stories, or recite poetry, narrate jokes, etc. In 2011, we started "Inspire to Innovative Storytelling Movement", with the same mission. However, it is not going at the pace we anticipated. Probably the reasons are evident!

 

The last reading in our life is Near-death experience (NDE). It is an opportunity for all of us to develop a book for our NDE reading! The choice of the book, content and stories are all ours!

 

Reflash is scientifically proven! Let’s develop our book now, we never know when those last 30 seconds will arrive in our life!!!

 

Ravi Saripalle

 

 

Corona Left Economic Damage, Prolonged War, Current Economic Impact and Sentiments- Decoding for Your Future Job and Current Job!

Dear Friends and Students

IMF said, "The ongoing war and associated sanctions will also have a severe impact on the global economy." "Price shocks will have an impact worldwide, especially on poor households for whom food and fuel are a higher proportion of expenses," "Should the conflict escalate, the economic damage would be all the more devastating."- CNN

What is it for you? Last week I sent a warming message,not warning!!.

I wish to send a similar note with specific instructions as a lot of final year students & those below 5 years experienced are planning for their work, work place, work location, work remuneration, and more!

You need to understand that if this situation cripples, we might have to prepare for more than 2008 subprime crisis (The fall of 2008, borrowers were defaulting on subprime mortgages in high numbers, causing turmoil in the financial markets, the collapse of the stock market). Some of the current final year students were 7 year old kids in 2008. They would have not experienced the fall. They might have not seen any great recession or job loss after 2008. Sometimes it leads to overconfidence.

The purpose of this message is to educate and inform or ignore if it is not appealing! Here are the 10 possible scenarios before selecting a Job or Internship.

• I am offered a good work (latest technologies) but less package- Recommendation: Join without thinking much about package

• I am offered a good work and high package - Recommendation: Check the company’s previous history of employee layoffs, where they are investing this technology (exposure to primary domains or fancy domains, major revenue sources at region level). If they are exposed to primary domains like agriculture, education, energy, livelihood and healthcare, you might still consider. If they are into non primary domains, if the investments are going to cut, you have to rethink

• If the company is struggling to get investments: If you can manage with less pay, If they give you good work, still you can experiment as you get end to end experience

• If the company is stable and offering a low end job: If your finances are tough, don’t experiment now. Continue to work at the same company but develop more competencies and invest for the future

• If the company is stable, pays high, good work and great employee friendly policies- you can continue to work but be conscious about your package. Later many companies may not be able to give you the same package and discourage you. Continue to work better and try to be in the top 20% of your organization. No room for complacency

• I want to experiment in life. Quit my job and do something on my own- Wait for some time till the market revives. It might take another 1-2 years. This is not the right time for experimentation. World is already struggling with the employment crisis. As of 2021, the employment-to-population ratio worldwide was estimated to be approximately 55.9 percent, indicating that just over half of the global working age population were employed. If war continues, if this number increases, there is no room for experimentation. God has already gifted us a job. You need to be happy at least you have some secure job.

• I want to start my own startup. If your financial condition is stable, it is the right time to start because many would join your startup for less cost to the company, they work hard, prove themselves and the success rate would be high once market revives. However, you have to bootstrap as investors' sentiment is less.

• I would like to shift from one location to another location within the same profile/company. Avoid this as team building requires sometime. Understanding a new set of people, a new set of managers takes some time

• I want to switch careers from one field to another- This is not the right time to switch as the time to prove would be thin. Rather strengthen your current competencies and wait for an opportunity

• I prefer working from home than working from the office. If it works and is manageable, working from the office is better in these conditions. Face to face interactions always improve sentiment, emotional bonding and togetherness. Avoid WFH if it is possible in your circumstances and your company offers WFO.

Having said that, these are mere suggestions and guidelines. Every individual context is different. You have to make SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) in your job context and future job context and make a wise decision.

Underline- Focus on Competencies and Skills- Not on Work location, Work Remuneration!

Ravi Saripalle