This is the situation in nearly every country around the world. Now more than ever we need leadership. Those who call themselves leaders need to learn from the likes of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Franklin Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela and Jawaharlal Nehru.

This change needs to happen, especially today where the public is trapped in the rat race, caught up in the latest gizmo and consumed in the latest gossip simply as a cover for the truth which they are incapable of coming to terms with.

All politicians are consumed with multiple agendas that lose their focus and concentration and thus no problem or issue gets resolved to the core. They are simply looking to make big changes in each area without full research and thinking, unaware that small inconsistencies are going to creep up. These big changes take place without the real questioning. They see something they like the sound of and then they chase it.

Then the public turn their heads. They start to speak up about the lack of control and poor decisions the government are making. In true reality, the so-called leader has the right idea, but the poor leadership turns him or her the other way.

The result today: the hellish war in Iraq, and talk of pouring more troops into the region. I can admit to my premature thinking. Who am I to speak up? But then again, who am I not to? You think what you want. I’m here to petition for change. Real change.

We need leadership today, more than ever.

As a result of the lack of leadership in our country, the public is following the same path. Lack of leadership in our life and the choices we make are putting more teenagers out of education, bringing about more drug scandals, violence on the streets and teenage pregnancies. More than ever, we need leadership today.

And for the Government to see this (which I really think they need to open their eyes too), it’s important that we as individuals don’t lose our lack of leadership. We need to become leaders of our life in order for the Government to take notice of the change that is required in society. We need to follow our inner guidance and do as we feel is right. We need to play our roles in society. We need to become intelligent day-to-day leaders.

In this week’s issue of TIME magazine, I came across a feature on Rwanda entitled “Seeds of Change” which talks about how fast Rwanda has grown since the destructive 1994 genocide that killed around 800,000 people in 100 days. Today it is one of the world’s leaders in coffee, one of Africa’s first to have complete wi-fi, very low AIDS rate and all of them are on anti-retroviral drugs.

The article was inspiring - a country led by President Paul Kagame for over a decade who is pulling together resources from the whole world whilst using the coffee trade to make friends with world leaders and company executives from Google, Yahoo, Starbucks, Mercato and others.

The government and country as a whole are also playing an active role in environmental issues. Since 2005, the government has banned plastic bags and this has made it’s roads some of the best and cleanest in the whole of Africa.

The next thing I read about really took me back and opened my eyes wider to the amazing transformation this country is having. They have “a mandatory national “tidy up” one afternoon each month, in which even government ministers clean the streets.” How amazing is that?

I want to go visit Rwanda now. It has become extremely attractive, inspiring and important to me that a country as a whole is moving forward in big steps after such a horrendous time 13 years ago.

Monthly “tidy up” events are a great idea and one that everyone should grab hold of - in the house, the shed, the garden, the local park, the streets, everywhere. Perhaps you could set aside 30-60 minutes once a month to go round a particular area and pick up all the litter you find to give the environment it’s natural space, clean of rubbish. What do you think?

Ever wanted to learn how to dive? Don’t follow this example - its was done incorrectly, but only out of my silliness. It hurt my ribs for about five minutes so I had to lie on the sand for that period to cool it down. The waves were big and fun. It hurt more than it would in the swimming pool. (I figured there’s enough instructional video’s on how to dive, so I’m giving you the opposite here).

I’m in Costa Brava this week in a tourist town called Lloret de Mar. The weather has been phenomenal, although I’m told by CNN that it’s equally great back home in London. As always, I was going to post photos of some great moments so far but I’m not sure how to upload photos using just Wordpress. I would have usually uploaded onto my site using dreamweaver but haven’t brought my laptop along this time. When I get back, I’ll post some of my highlights.

There are dozens of channels on the TV here but I’ve only discovered BBC World and CNN as the only two English speaking channels. Not the best for inspirational viewing on a pleasant holiday as all that’s being talked about is the Spanish footballer that died, the fires in Greece, the Senator’s sex scandal and Pakistani politics. If you’re on a low-information diet and haven’t seen the news, that’s all you’d need to know!

But those fires in Greece, they sure look pretty wild. I guess it was an idea whose time has come and perhaps a reminder of the need to seek more ways to stop our environmental pollution. I’m currently reading Senator Barack Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope” which I must say is a brilliant book and has taught me nearly everything I could ever want to know about American politics as it is today. (PS. Before you ask, I’m behind him for President 2008!)

He states that in order for America to keep up with global economies, it needs to focus on three things - one being science and technology. His discussions with one of USA’s foremost scientists reveals that there is lack of funding and therefore scientists are spending more and more time raising money than actually conducting lab research. Back 10 years ago, 20-30% of science proposals used to get funding, now it’s down to just 10%, mostly due to the lack of priority placed by the Bush Administration. And then there’s the rambling of less and less students going into science fields. Duh!

Anyway, I’ll stop there for now, but you can see the vicious cycle in action. How will we get more ways and ideas to stop pollution and CO2 emissions with no funding to research?

Nearly every day we’ve been either by the pool or the beach, dipping in and out in between short busts of playing cards, creative work, reading, napping and chatting with other holiday-makers. One couple yesterday from Surrey who I spoke to had been to Tony Robbins’ Unleash The Power Within seminar. The lady had completed Mastery University recently and we were talking about how she had changed her life, the transformations she had undergone and how she was really enjoying each day now. It was a really entertaining as well as productive conversation. It’s all about attraction.

Last night, we saw a magic show in the hotel we’re staying at. I’ve seen quite a few magic shows recently and I’m interested in learning a bit myself. Today, I was Dreamlining my next six months. If you’re not familiar with Dreamlining, it’s a technique made popular by my friend Tim Ferriss where you list what you want to be, do and have within the next six months and work out the expenses required and plan to earn that in the 6 months. The idea is to make lifestyle design easy for each and everyone of us.

One idea I’m going to be experimenting in my “being” section is to be a performer of magic. Watch this space in the next six months folks - I’m going to be storing a huge bag of magic tricks in my sleeve.

Alright, that’s all for now, I’m heading to play some cards before dinner and then the evening Acrobatics show. One last thought for you today - if you pray and ask God for something, you won’t get that “something” directly, but you will begin to see opportunities to bring that something to you. For example, ask for healing for your foot and you will get opportunities to make it happen, it’s then up to you to make it happen. God is within you - you can use this understanding as a way to further uncover your hidden treasures.

So I’m off today for seven nights to Costa Brava, approx 65 km from Barcelona, to the resort Lloret de Mar. It looks absolutely stunning and I can’t wait to get there.

I’ll try and post some pictures up mid-week. Heading out with family this week so my brother, the photographer, is going to be doing much of the shots. If he can upload them to the laptop, I’ll put them on the blog. Subscribe free to this blog to be kept updated.

P.S. In the meantime, you need to see Charles Ferguson’s documentary entitled No End In Sight. This is BIG!

When I travelled to Thailand, Malaysia and Bali in the summer of 2006, visiting the markets, absorbing all the action and watching people at work was very insightful. It also gave me a chance to practice my bargaining skills and hone them to perfection - something I learnt from watching my mum in action over the years.

It follows this simple process:

1. Look at the product.
2. Ask how much it is.
3. Estimate and name your cost based on your judgement.
4. Look determined and interested.
5. Stick to your price.
6. Flatter them with comments (Thai’s love this!)
7. If they don’t agree, leave it.
8. In most cases, they’ll follow you and reduce the price.

Here follows a vivid conversation I once had bargaining over three t-shirts on a market stall in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand:

ME: Hello, how much is this?

PERSON: 600 baht. Would you like try the shirt?

ME: No point, I no pay 600 baht for that. That man (pointing to other stall in the distance) offer me for 400 baht.

PERSON: How much you want to pay?

ME: 125 baht.

PERSON: (laughs), See sir, I buy from warehouse 400 baht so cannot sell that much.

ME: (thinking to myself: you liar!) Ok, well I like these t-shirts a lot and your material is good but your cost too much for me.

PERSON: Ok, how about 400 baht sir?

(At this point, I’m liking the ’sir’ bit)

ME: No, my last price is 150 baht.

(The idea here is to show him that I’m willing to increase but he needs to decrease - and that I’ll be more flexible if he is.)

PERSON: That is too less sir. I have family to feed. I give you for 300 baht final price.

ME: I understand, but its not good for that price. I give you final price: 190 baht. That’s my final price.

PERSON: Please sir. Increase it more.

ME: No. (Then I start walking off, that’s more than enough time at that stall).

PERSON: Ok ok, stop sir (after walking about 7 steps). You can take it for 190 baht.

There goes a great deal. Three top quality t-shirts for less than £3.00! Also at this point, using your feelings to guide, it may even be appropriate to tip him for his generosity. He didn’t have to (or maybe need to) sell. Finally, the great thing is, the man turns around and smiles to the person on the stall opposite him and they share a joke about it all. So relaxed, yet so serious. I love it!

Share with me one of your funny bargaining stories?

After taking much of last week off from my work, I was being told today that a hotel I had booked for a talk was now releasing it as I had not sent the deposit. Today, I asked for an extension of two days so I could post it tomorrow, reaching there for the day after. The staff on the otherwise, in fairness, disagreed and asked for me to fax it.

I chuckled when I read it, not in any way against their staff, but at the fact at how life for me is evolving so nicely that I no longer know what a fax machine is. Actually, even when I was in my little room for 16-hour days, I never had one. I run my business with my laptop, electronic bank account, a wireless internet connection and a phone.

A fax machine is a dedicated box that uses power and a phone line. It’s something physical that you have to have space for. If you’re a remote entrepreneur, there’s no way you can have that. Perhaps I could outsource my faxing - now there’s a thought to entertain.

Nowadays you take the document to your desktop multi-purpose scanner/ink jet printer, scan it, and email it as a pdf. No phone line, and permanent storage online. No more lost or misfiled faxes. My dad’s office is different. They have a fax machine (maybe a few) and send/receive a few a day. Dave Leboux says he has a fax machine on the filing cabinet in his home office and estimates sending 3 faxes a year.

What about you - what do you do with printers, fax machines, xbox’s and other box gadgets?

The ideas of peace, unity, love, compassion, non-violence and faith need to be at the forefront of our everyday discussions. There is less and less of it going in my local town and it’s time to step it up. Our community is strong, vibrant and active, but there is more talk of violence, sex, drugs and drink rather than peace, love, compassion, environment, unity and faith. It needs to replace gossip. It needs to stimulate people to think creatively, constructively and openly. We all need dialogue in our life.

We need more people to discuss these things. We need them to share them with their friends. This is not profit-making. This is joy-and-bliss-sharing. We need to bring them together on a regular basis, to share ideas, common themes and ways forward, etc.

With that in mind, I’m proposing a monthly (or regularly scheduled) meetup called Breakfast Conversations in which individuals are invited to join a round-table creative dialogue, discussion and collaboration on a focused theme. If you’re anywhere in London, travelling through our city, then please come. But only come if you’re juiced about love, compassion, faith, peace, unity and togetherness. If you are just interested and want to find out more, you are also welcome.

I prefer conversations like these to take place over breakfast - the start of the day provides each and everyone of us with a fresh outlook on the chosen theme and a great way to start the day.

With that in mind, I’ve gone ahead and selected the first date. I’ve gone for a weekday morning and a 9am meetup. I’m experimenting with the weekdays. If you want to come but can’t because you are working, please let me know. It’s best to run these things when there’s a majority presence.

The first Breakfast Conversations will take place on Tuesday 21st August 2007 at 9.00am at Amano Café, Northwick Park, Watford Road, Harrow, HA1 3TZ.

I’m hoping you’ll be able to make it. Even if there’s just two of us, this will go on. It’s nice if you can let me know if you’ll be coming. To do that, just leave a comment saying you’re coming. If you want to email me, my email is kavit@kavitharia.com.

I like to learn through stories and metaphors. Here’s one story that taught me a lot about obstacles and how I react to them.

The story goes that in ancient times, an Asian king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.

Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.

As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand.

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one’s condition.

When we were holidaying in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, one of our favourite restaurants was The Whole Earth. I was particularly drawn to it as it had this tag line on it’s menu: “Transformation of the Earth”

If you’re travelling to Chiang Mai, this is a must. I can say that I’ve travelled a lot in Asia and this is one of the best restaurants I know. Staying in Chiang Mai and not dining at Whole Earth is like going to Paris and not noticing the Seine.

The menu is vegetarian with some meat dishes. The watermelon shake is not oversweet as in many other Thai restaurants. Some spectacular soups and excellent starters.

We were in Chiang Mai for five nights and although we like to experiment, we went to this restaurant three nights for dinner. That’s how great it was. You have to take off your shoes to dine . I remember once coming here and telling the lady who welcomed me how hungry I was.

The atmosphere is quiet and relaxed and not as formal as in many other upmarket restaurants in Asia. You are literally dining in a peaceful and relaxing spot, set in a traditional Thai-style wooden house amid landscaped tropical gardens.

It really is a transformation of the Earth…