Excerpts from Sheryl Sandberg's commencement at Barnard.

You are privileged in the most important sense of the word, which is that you have almost boundless opportunity in front of you

What in the world needs to change, and what part do you plan on playing in changing it?

Of 190 heads of state, nine are women. Of all the parliaments around the world, 13% of those seats are held by women. Corporate America top jobs, 15% are women; numbers which have not moved at all in the past nine years. Nine years. Of full professors around the United States, only 24% are women.

Women became 50% of the college graduates in this country in 1981, 30 years ago. Thirty years is plenty of time for those graduates to have gotten to the top of their industries, but we are nowhere close to 50% of the jobs at the top. That means that when the big decisions are made, the decisions that affect all of our worlds, we do not have an equal voice at that table

We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and ignored.

You’re going to find something you love doing, and you’re going to do it with gusto. You’re going to pick your field and you’re going to ride it all the way to the top

So women need to take a page from men and own their own success.

Believing in yourself is the first necessary step to coming even close to achieving your potential.

Men make far fewer compromises than women to balance professional success and personal fulfillment.

So it’s a bit counter intuitive, but the most important career decision you’re going to make is whether or not you have a life partner and who that partner is. If you pick someone who’s willing to share the burdens and the joys of your personal life, you’re going to go further

If several years ago you stopped challenging yourself, you’re going to be bored. If you work for some guy who you used to sit next to, and really, he should be working for you, you’re going to feel undervalued, and you won’t come back

Put your foot on that gas pedal and keep it there until the day you have to make a decision, and then make a decision. That’s the only way, when that day comes, you’ll even have a decision to make.

What about the rat race in the first place? Is it worthwhile? Or are you just buying into someone else’s definition of success? Only you can decide that, and you’ll have to decide it over and over and over. But if you think it’s a rat race, before you drop out, take a deep breath. Maybe you picked the wrong job. Try again. And then try again. Try until you find something that stirs your passion, a job that matters to you and matters to others. It is the ultimate luxury to combine passion and contribution. It’s also a very clear path to happiness.

At Facebook, we want to connect the whole world. We want to make the whole world more open and more transparent. The one thing I’ve learned working with great entrepreneurs—Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Google—that if you want to make a difference, you better think big and dream big, right from day one

We have these posters in red we put around the walls. One says, “Fortune favors the bold.” Another says, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” That question echoes Barnard alum Anna Quindlen, who said that she majored in unafraid. Don’t let your fears overwhelm your desire. Let the barriers you face—and there will be barriers—be external, not internal. Fortune does favor the bold, and I promise that you will never know what you’re capable of unless you try.

I hope you find true meaning, contentment and passion in your life. I hope that you navigate the hard times and you come out with greater strength and resolve. I hope that whatever balance you seek, you find it with your eyes wide open. And I hope that you—yes, you—each and every one of you have the ambition to run the world, because this world needs you to run it. Women all around the world are counting on you. I’m counting on you.

You can do it if you lean in. So go home tonight and ask yourselves, “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?”

Do not lean back; lean in.

Sachin Tendulkar and my Privileged Day.

Sharing a fond memory. It was 8th Nov 09, India v Australia in my city. Got hold of pavilion balcony tickets, somehow. Caught glimpses of the man from within 5-6 feet during the match in the pavilion. Privileged to see him go through all the small routines that he performed, while about to leave for the field, padding up before batting. Such simplicity, joking around with team mates, hand gestures to team mates batting at the crease, shadow practices after padding up. Explaining to a team mate about the ball that he got out on, with hand gestures and feet movements and how he should've played that ball. Totally *Amazing* scenes those were!! As the match concluded, lunged into the balcony railing and screamed for half and hour non-stop only these words, 'SACHIN.. 'SACHIN' and pointed to him a poster made by me which said, 'Sachin, you're like God to me. Please bless me with your Autograph.' Alas didn't get an autograph but a wonderful wave and smile from him upon seeing my poster. Maybe would've come out for the autograph from the door of the pavilion, had it not been for a killjoy security guard and for that idiot Gambhir dragging him away for some talk. Still got that poster, maybe for next time surely.

Mamoni Baideo - Indira Goswami

When one heard those guns shots given to her as state honors by the GOI or when one saw her body being rubbed in turmeric as a final ritual, or to know that a countryman had cut his 50 year old chandan tree for her pyre, it was so heartwrenching. Tears couldn't be controlled. Neither did one want to control them. Within the span of a month, the Assamese  have lost a Father in Dr. Bhupen Hazarika and a Mother now in Indira Goswami (or Mamoni Raisom Goswami or Mamoni Baideu to many in Assam with Baideu meaning an elder sister in Assamese). Her  life was full of pain and how she humbled them everytime.  Losing her husband, Madhavan (a south-indian) only 18 months  into her marraige and she contemplating suicide from that grief but finally pulling  out after going through once again the letters from her dead father to her (again whom she lost when  she was a child) about doing something for mankind. And thus, she decided to  dedicate the rest of her life to humanity.
She did great work in the feild of women empowerment for  the happlessly exploited widows of Vrindavan and Mathura. Was a dedicated lecturer at  Dehli University (retiring as the HOD of Modern Indian Languages),  which offered her Professor Emeritus in 2009. Her research works the field of Ramayana is legendary. Her Book 'Ramayana from Ganga to Brahmaputra' which is an unparalleled comparative study of Tulsidas's Ramayana and the fourteenth-century Assamese Ramayana, is the symbol of that work.  A massive volume of Tulsidas's Ramayana purchased during her stay there for just eleven rupees was a great source of inspiration in her research. One book of her not to be missed at any cost is, ' The Blue Necked Braja'  which is about the plight of the Radhaswamis of Vrindavan who lived in abject poverty and sexual exploitation in everyday life, the plight of young widows for whom companionship beyond the confines of their ashrams and fellow widows become impossible and their urge to live. The novel exposed the uglier face of the city of Vrindavan - the city of Krishna, an Hindu deity,  inviting criticism of Goswami from conservative sections of the society. It remains a classic in Modern Indian Literature! My other favorite books of her include, The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker  (Animal sacrifice in temple) Pages Stained With Blood (Sikh riots), The Rusted Sword, Uday Bhanu, Dasharathi's Steps and The Man from Chinnamasta ( a critique of the thousand-years-old tradition of animal sacrifice in the famous Hindu Shakti temple to Kamakhya, a mother goddess, in Assam), Jatra ( or The Journey based on the problem of militancy/secessionism that has affected almost the entire North-East India frontier ever since Indian independence) among numerous other works of her. A particular poem of her which caught the attention of many is the poem titled 'Pakistan' due to amazingly poignant nature of that peom.
From Jnanpith Award (country's highest litereary honor) in 2000 to a Padmashri in 2002 and a host of other national and International awards like  the Ambassador for Peace from the Inter Religious and International Federation for World Peace, she had brought many laurels and accolades to the state and the country.
Hope she finds everlasting peace now for her innocent body was suffering for a year now being in a state of coma and not a sense of the fact that she was being sent in an air-ambulance from Guwahati  to Medanta Medicity in Guragaon and subsequently brought, upon slight improvement. Blessed will be the soul who will see this world through her donated eyes. Hope that person sees the plight of mankinf the same way she did and does something for them. An inspiring tale is that of a 72 year-old lady village woman, who completed her Masters at that old age upon receiving encouragement, inspiration and financial  support from Dr. Goswami to continue her studies. This among her many tales of service to the mankind. At the end of it all, just one arises question in my mind again and again which is Who will come over and fill the void left ?

Po is back.

Jack Black returns as the voice of mighty martial-arts panda Po in 'Kung Fu Panda 2', the sequel to that 2008 animated gem. After establishing himself as the Dragon Warrior by vanquishing the evil Tai Lung and retrieving the Dragon Scroll in the earlier film, the new adventure involves Po's search for his identity, and his quest for inner peace. He's pitted against an evil peacock named Lord Shen (voiced by Gary Oldman) who killed his parents when he was a baby, and who is now threatening to conquer China using a fiery canon that will all but end the ancient art of kung fu. Tigress, voiced by Angelina Jolie, is also more etched out in this film. But a superhero story is only as good as its villain and Shen, with his flaming red eyes and piercing fantail is nicely nasty. Who ever thought that a peacock could be evil? The action scenes are bigger and better than the last time, and the animation itself is exceptional in terms of textures and lighting. Flashback sequences unfold in rich, comic-book style, and a climatic sequence in which Po dodges deadly canon-balls is the most visually arresting set-piece you've seen in an animation film recently. Kung Fu Panda 2 is exactly what a family needs on a hot summer day.