Influential leaders: They are never fat

 

Ever thought about the common thing among all the influential leaders across the world? Is it their leadership qualities? Is it their attitude? It is their intellectuality? Is it their ability to win over odds? Philosophers might argue about these questions over centuries, but I have found a very simple thing that is common among all the influential leaders.

That quality is that, they were never fat during their peak years. I can’t think of a single influential leader who was fat during his peak years. Note, there is a distinction between being fat and being obese. Obesity is a disease, whereas being fat is laziness. From Mahatma Gandhi to Barrack Obama, from Nelson Mandela to Abraham Lincoln… none of them were fat.

Also, the larger question is, does success relates to fitness? Statistically, it appears to be true. Success indeed is dependent on the fitness of the person. People with athletic abilities are more chances of being successfull in life than fatsos. I list out the following reasons

1. By birth, if there is anything that accompanies a person is his/her physical body. If a person has already compromised with his own body, he/she can compromise on anything. Making compromises doesn’t lead to success.

2. Long term success is always achieved by persistent hard work.

English translation of “The Last Sermon” by Prophet

“O People, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and take these words to those who could not be present today.

O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Hurt no-one, so that no-one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed meet your Lord, and that He will indeed reckon your deeds. Allah has forbidden you to take usury, therefore all interest obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital, however, is yours to keep.

You will neither inflict nor suffer any inequity. Allah has judged that there shall be no interest and that all the interest due to ’Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib[Muhammad’s uncle] shall henceforth be waived...

Beware of Shayṭān for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.

O People, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under Allah’s trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers. And it is your right that they do not make friends with any one of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste.

O People, listen to me in earnest, worship Allah, say your five daily prayers, fast during the month of Ramadan, and give your wealth in zakat, Perform hajj if you can afford to.

All mankind is from Adam and Hawwāʾ, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.

Remember, one day you will appear before Allah and answer your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.

O People, no prophet or apostle will come after me and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the Qu’ran and my Ahlul-Bayt, and if you follow these you will never go astray.

All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness, O Allah, that I have conveyed your message to your people”

Hyderabad Weekend Getaway: Sagibanda Tanda

The motive behind this trip was to visit an unexplored territory. After lot of researching, I found this place called “Sagi Banda Tanda”.. a small village somewhere inside deep jungles of Andhra Pradesh. So, what’s there in Sagibanda tanda? Well, there’s nothing. People living in Sagibanda tanda are sufferring with no water and food. Moreover, this is considered as a naxal area. I felt, visiting this place would give me a view of India that I haven’t been able to see in my life. So, the journey began. Btw, this place isn’t that far away from Hyderabad.

Route: Hyderabad – Nagarjuna Sagar Rd till – Gangal – Bodakonda – sologutta tanda – sagibanda tanda – Ram das tanda – Mallepalli – Nagarjuna Sagar Rd till – Hyderabad.

Total distance of the journey is around 225 Kms. Started the journey at 8:00 in the morning. We had packed food for breakfast and lunch.. and some extra food for the locals if at all we meet needy people.

Overall, the journey was Ok. There are places were roads aren’t that good.. but good enough for Tata Safari to march on.

For the first time, I clearly understood, why people vote for politicians who promise 1Kg rice/white for Rs. 2...or politicians who promise free electricity. These people have nothing but a little hope.. that someday.. one of those politicians keeps his word. They hardly get food twice a day… hardly there is rain in the region… and hardly there is any scope for employment.

Hyderabad Weekend Getaway: Suryalanka Beach and Kotappa Konda

Finally, we decided to visit Suryalanka Beach. Got two cottages booked at Harita Beach Resort for Saturday night.

Along with Surya Lanka Beach, I also wanted to cover a place called “Kotappa Konda” as part of this trip. Therefore, I planned the following route.

Hyderabad – Miryalaguda – Narsaraopeta – Bapatla – Suryalanka Beach (night stay) – Kotappa Konda – Narsaraopeta – Miyalaguda – Hyderabad

The above route is slightly tricky. Below are the route maps for your reference.

We started at 8:00 AM in the morning from Hyderabad and reached Surya Lanka Beach at around 6:00 PM. We could have travelled at a faster speed but since it was family trip, I asked the driver not to push the acceleration peddle much. My didn’t have high expectation from the Harita Beach resort. I was expecting cottages with minimum facilities. But I was so wrong. The cottages have all the facilities that you would expect in a 2-3 star hotel. And the best part was… these cottages are right in front of the beach. Also, Harita Hotel has a good restaurant..

After a good night’s sleep, we hit the beach at 5:30 AM in the morning. Sun was just about to rise..

After breakfast, we started towards Kotappa Konda. This place is close to Narsaraopeta. Kotappa Konda has several temples on top of a hill.






At 12:30 PM, we started the return journey. Had lunch at a small town called Piduguralla. Reached Hyderabad by 8:00 PM.

Hyderabad Weekend Getaway: Hindupur, Puthaparthi and Lepakshi Nandi

This post is about my two days trip to Hindupur, Puthaparthi and Lepakshi Nandi.
Route: Hyderabad – via NH7 – Kurnool – Hindupur (night halt) – Lepakshi Nandi – Puthaparthi – NH7 – Hyderabad.
Places of Interest: Wind Mills, Kumbakaran park and Mosques in Hindupur, Lepakshi Nandi statue, Puthaparthi (prashanti Nilayam).

We started the journey from Hyderabad at around 9:00 AM in the morning. Took Nehru outer ring road from Gachibowli to reach NH7. Had breakfast at Hotel Munawvar at Jedcharla. On the outskirts of Anantapur (at NH7) had lunch at a dhaba. As you approach, Hindupur, you would notice number of wind mills installed on the hills. If you carefully notice, you would find that, there is a ‘kaccha’ route on each hill to reach the wind mills. So, we decided to take these kaccha route (note that, this route is dangerous, unless you have a good driver, don’t attempt this).. reach the hill-tops to observe wind mills.

Kumbakaran park at Hindupur:


Church at Hindupur:
Mosque at Hindupur:
There are several good hotels at Hindupur for accomodation. I forgot the name of the hotel we stayed. It was a two star hotel with decent facilities. There are several vegetarian and non-vegetarian restaurants in Hindupur. As such, you won’t face any difficulty in finding good food.

Next day, we started from Hindupur at about 8:00 AM in the morning and reached Lepakshi Nandhi by 8:30 AM. Lepakshi town is about 17 KM away from Hindupur. The famous Nandi Statue is in the middle of the Lepakshi town. For a moment, you would wonder, whether this is the actual one. Apart from the Nandi Statue, there is a huge temple in Lepakshi. The priest at the temple, showed me the a stone which had foot prints engraved. He mentioned that, these foot prints are of Sita and Ram. Out of curiosity I asked the priest, how come their marks got engraved on the stone.. were they so heavy? The priest smiled and said… ‘no, they stood on that stone.. and later their foot prints were carved on the stone’. I couldn’t resist myself.. I said to priest.. ‘so.. the person who carved the stone.. actually removed the portions of the stone on which Ram and Sita stood.. what I mean is, the stone you have was never touched by Ram and Sita. The portion of the stone they touched.. is removed’. I guess, the priest had never encountered a tourist who posed such a question. The priest had no answer.

Temple at Lepakshi Nandi:




We started our journey towards Puthaparthi at 10:00 AM. Puthaparthi is about 70 KM away from Lepakshi. The journey was smooth and roads are decent. Reached Puthaparthi at around 11:15 AM.

As such, I didn’t have any plans of going inside Pranshiti Nilayam (the palace of Sai Baba). One thing that you would notice in Puthaparthi is the number of people from Nepal. I wonder what they are doing here. Remarkably.. many of these Nepali guys appear to be drug sellers.. as shown in 1970s Indian movies.

At 12:30 PM, we decided to return to Hyderabad. Reached Hyderabad by 7:00 PM.

Hyderabad Weekend Getaway: Nagarjuna Sagar

Nagarjuna Sagar is around 180 KM away from Hyderabad and can be easily covered within a day. We started at around 8:00 AM in the morning.. reached Nagarjuna Sagar by 12:00 noon. Had lunch at Sagar town. There are three things that are worth seeing at Nagarjuna sagar. They are (1) The island museum and (2) Nagarjuna Sagar Dam and (3) Ethipothula waterfalls. Unfortunately, when I visited, the gates of Nagarjuna Sagar Dam were closed.

In order to go to the island museum, you need to take the ferry. The island has huge museum and scattered statues belonging to Buddhist Monastery that existed two thousand years ago.

Ehtipothula water falls are around 10 KM away from Nagarjuna Sagar. Make sure that you ask for directions from the locals.