The Grand Race of Exhibition

Just read the following lines from a colleague in my company. Her name is Manisha P. and she writes amazing and profound lines like these:

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“वो तो इश्क़ की नुमाइश करते हैं उन्हे इल्म नहीं. परवाने जल जाते शमा पर बिना उफ्फ किए हुए.”

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Now this is so deep a comment on the attitude of our present generation. (I would take the liberty to extend this Sher to more real life situations.) We can find the attitude of “नुमाइश” (“exhibition”) everywhere. We buy a costly cell phone and announce it in Face Book. We go on a trip to a foreign location and we rush all pictures and snaps to online albums. We hardly care for privacy. We hardly care for moderation. Some of my friends think they have got beautiful wives, so they keep posting their wives pictures on social networking sites. There is a race to “exhibit” as much as we can. Be it our house, our car, and what not. While doing all this, we forget that those who really “have”; don’t need to “show” it. If we divide people in classes, the upper class doesn’t need to “prove” its class by such “exhibition”. And the middle class can’t do it “enough”.
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The same attitude of “नुमाइश” (“exhibition”) is also visible in situations where we get either success or failure. We “broadcast” almost all our troubles and happiness on the net, among all our friends and those in our “friend list”. We make it appear as if we are going through something that happens in a century – either an illness, a bad day, or loss of a cell phone. Or even happy moments like a baby born in family, a delicious cake prepared at home, new LCD TV, and what not. Such exhibition of our troubles or happy moments in fact add to both respectively – we gain by deviating our minds from our troubles but forgetting troubles is no solution to our troubles. And if I am sharing happy moments spent with my family in front of all in my “friend list”, I may invite congratulations and envy, but in a way I would lose the time that I could have further invested in my family. And I hope we never reach the stage in our society, where we do good things only so that we can broadcast or “exhibit” such things in front of our “friend list”.
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So we should think about the proverbial flies that die for their love – the proverbial candles - without making a hint of a noise. They don’t want to show their love in front of the world, they don’t want to exhibit the pain in their heart, nor do they want the world to even notice their sacrifice, but they only want to do the thing they believe in. I think sacrifice is the highest form of love. Sacrifice of ego, sacrifice of comfort, sacrifice of choice, there won’t be a love story in this world without a sacrifice made from both the lovers. But all this is in so contrast from the way our society is moving towards… They say it is because of foreign influence. Indian/Hindu society always was inward-looking and looked highly at spiritual advances than material gains. The West always looked at material power as the salvation. I think this hypothesis is true to a large extent. But I hope if we do a little introspection at each stage of our life, we won’t be swayed from the right path.
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Let us wish we have poets like Manisha to wake us up. But just like clear conscience is the best pillow, self-reflection is the best mirror. Let us be watchful.
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- Rahul

P.S. This article got published in Alumni Newsletter of my alma mater - NMIMS, Mumbai, in my name.

When Pushed to the Wall

When we are pushed to the wall, all of us behave in different manners. How we would behave depends on many factors. But collectively, I think it is the sum total of all our efforts before that point of time. I had had one such situation and even now I reflect on it sometimes on how it unfolded.

I was not great in finance. Though I loved maths since childhood and a thumb rule says guys who like maths should take up finance in MBA, the rule didn’t apply to me. A great contribution also came from one of our very popular professors who taught cost accounting, the first finance subject for us, in such a pathetic way that many of us got serious disillusion from finance, for our life. The episode which I am recollecting happened in the second trimester and the subject was financial accounting.

The professor was an accountant. His classes fell at 8.15 in the morning. Often I would be among one of the first students to check in. By the time class got over and it was time for attendance, almost whole of the class would be present. He was a gentleman and only smiled at such acts of smartness. I didn’t like the subject much, but I loved the way he delivered his lectures. Also, I loved the practical significance of whole of the finance he was teaching. Now trimester was about to end and it was exam time. I was confident of doing badly in the written exams, so I was staking high on the internals. For internal assessment, his proposal was unique – it would be eloquence on random subject related topic that he would throw at us. Some of us were scared and some happy. I was happy, thinking that it would be easier to speak about a topic than to do complex financial calculations for him.

Some guys spoke very well while many spoke inadequately short. Some very good students were found to be not good orators, while some who didn’t understand the subject but had memorized things, performed well. When someone was confused, we helped him/her with hints and hand gestures from the audiences. The session was going on well.

I got a topic to speak on, which was related to corporate credit valuation. There were five elements that he had taught us. I was confident and started writing the five elements one by one. But when I reached the third point, my mind became blank. I had forgotten the third point. I stopped and tried to recollect it for a moment. I couldn’t get it. I turned back and looked at the class. I expected someone to help me. Even a murmur would have helped, or they could have written the word on their notebook and raised it for me to take a peek :) But every face was blank. I was shocked. Some inconvenient moments passed. I was hurt that my class didn’t help me. Perhaps they were in a state of inertia. But the feelings of hurt suddenly made me remember the point in a flash. I wrote the missing point on the board, and resumed my speech. And then I went on and on.

I spoke for about 40 minutes, perhaps the highest in the class. While speaking, my mind just recollected the way our professor used to stand and speak every morning, in front of a largely vacant class room. My speech was a huge success and everyone appreciated it. But later on, I understood everything differently. Since I had goofed up in the beginning and then I was shaken by my friends, I took a kind of revenge on the world by putting more efforts in my speech. I could have settled to stop my speech short, but I was kind of making up for the loss. And my speech helped me immensely. As I had guessed, I didn’t do well in the written exams. But since I had got high marks in the internal assessment, I could clear the paper comfortably.

The episode gave me a glimpse of how we perform better in difficult situations. When we are pushed to the walls and have no one to support us, the best within us comes out to help us survive. The survival instinct propels every fabric of our efforts to put up a brave face to the opposition. Also, a feeling of hurt can do miracle in adverse situations. This is how a lot of heroes make stunning ‘come back’, be it in movies or in real life.

I think in such situations, right attitude is very important. We should accept the adverse and hostile situation as a challenge and then raise our limits to give it a tough fight. I am sure all of us can do it.

- Rahul

Michelle Obama proves Women as Eye-candy

I was reading the news about Chinese President Hu Jintao’s recent US visit. The newspaper had come out with a colored snap of Obama couple along with Hu Jintao. I was shocked to see the dressing sense and choice of appearance of Mrs. Obama.
 

Have searched the pictures from net and posting here:

While searching for the pictures, I also read the media discussing her dress, its color, and its designers.

When Barack Obama became the US president, Michelle Obama had quit her job and chosen to almost become a fashion model and a host. Since then, all the news she makes are about her designer clothes. At that time I had criticized her for choosing to become a “President’s Wife” rather than maintaining her own identity. Her gesture made other male-chauvinists justified – as soon as they start earning well, they make their wives quit their jobs. How was Michelle different, other than her choosing it instead of her hubby forcing her into it? 
 

Just viewing these pictures makes me feel bad. What is Michelle Obama trying to prove? If all she wants is for people to praise her ‘beauty’, in my view she looks ugly and inappropriate in her pictures. Her choice of dress for the occasion is pathetic and Chinese president and Barack Obama are looking awkward in her dominating but abject presence.
 

I wish Michelle Obama could have inspired women across the world, by not choosing to be an ‘eye-candy’ for men. 

Lessons from Ramayana by Khushwant Singh

Perhaps the only Indian (self-proclaimed) Atheist I have read properly is Khushwant Singh. But when I read what he wrote about the great Indian epic of Ramayana and its place in our society, I loved all his words. Here it is:

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Lessons from Ramayana

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It could be said that Indian children start imbibing the Ramayana with their mother’s milk. It is the first story they hear in their childhood. It has found its way into their vocabulary. Their most popular greetings are Ram Ram, Jai Ramji Ki, Jai Sitaram. We are reminded about it every year through performances of Ramlila which take place in all towns and cities ending with the burning of effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkarana and Meghnad on Dussehra.

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Then there are Bharat Milap and Diwali. The reason is simple. For us, Sri Ram is God personified, his wife Sita, our mother goddess, Lakshman, the loyal brother and Hanuman the faithful servitor. They represent the powers of goodness. Their enemy Ravana and his brothers represent the powers of evil.

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In essence, the story is of goodness prevailing over evil. We carry it to the end of our days on earth. When our dead bodies are taken out to cremation grounds, one mourner chants Ram Naam Satya Hai - the name of Rama is the truth; other mourners reply: Sat bolo gut hai - speak the truth and attain salvation.

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Taken from: Khushwant Singh’s review of ‘The Story of Ram and his friends in the forest’, written by Pratibha Nath and illustrated by Sujasha Dasgupta (Rupa). HT, Dec 12, 2010 http://www.hindustantimes.com/Ethics-of-journalism-and-lessons-from-Ramayana/Article1-637347.aspx

Smile Chain Inc.

Though I am now cured fully, my disease cost me 2 years of my life. I didn’t notice when I was beginning to delve into it. Gradually everything around me started getting blurred. And they reached me on the verge of suicide. First I stared feeling lonely at my house which I didn’t share with anyone. Then I started feeling lonely in office where I sat single in a glass cubicle which announced my privileged rank. Then I started feeling lonely in the car which my chauffer drove to my home. I had arrived after all. I had arrived, after all.

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My colleagues still shared their flats in order to manage high rents. They still sat in 1X4 cubicles. And they rode motorcycles. They had not arrived. I had arrived. And I had arrived at the cost. I had strictly controlled everything, sacrificed my pleasures, sacrificed family, and sacrificed the girl who loved me, all, to get that success. And when I finally got that, I started feeling a vacuum. A vacuum which no material buys could fill up. And then a visit to the hospital and everything changed.

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But one thing remained same throughout. She was my classmate actually. When I studied books, she took part in blood donation drives. When I spoke in seminars, she collected old clothes for the poor. On one day, as I came out of the airport, I saw her along with 20 poor children: she had brought them from far away village to show the city. To show an airplane. From a broken boundary of the airport. I didn’t think about her. I didn’t think about whatever she was doing.

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I didn’t think about her even when I saw her in my own office. In my own office building. What was she doing in an MNC where money was religion and dollars flowed in everyone’s veins? It was the first time I stopped and talked to her. She recognized me with a smile on her face. Her smile reminded me of my mother and I ran away from her. I ran away from her to my own glass cubicle. In my own world.

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Today, I have all the answers. I can see the past differently. And today, I think about her. Her parents had forced her into doing an MBA. But she chose to specialize in HR and took optional in CSR. Our MNC hired her because it wanted to appear more responsible and wanted the media to know about some charitable activities which she planned to start with. I remember her sitting in her cubicle very near to the pantry. She sat there every morning when I entered the office. She sat there when I went for lunch. And she sat there the day things started getting blurred for me. One day, when it was too tough for me, I tried jumping from the open balcony. But before my leg could rise, I saw her sitting there. And her smile came in front of my eyes. I fell down, but not from the roof but only on the floor. They took me to a hospital.

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I didn’t feel anything. How could anyone feel it after those medicines? Two years, made from moments saved from not doing non-profitable work throughout my life, were wasted. But ending it, I felt a relief. So I quit. I quit from the job where only my name was retained on the payroll out of respect. I quit from all jobs in this world. And I started a small company which sold flowers.

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Now, I live amidst flowers. Every day, I see so many young people come to buy flowers in my shop. I see her smile in all their faces. During the days of my sickness, I avoided mirrors. I was scared of seeing my own smile. Today, a smile is the logo of my company.

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I don’t know where she is working right now. I don’t know where she is. But I know her smile would be there on the face of so many lives she touched. Today, I understand that life is not about sitting in the costliest chair or drinking the costliest wine. Life is all about sharing smiles.

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Rakshit,
CEO, Smile Chain Inc.
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PS: This is a fictional story and all names mentioned here are fictional.

The Dormitory

Our office has a dormitory where employees can go and take a nap even during office hours. Unlike other industries, IT is very flexible and caring in this aspect. We were new and in the exploring phase. One day, our friend felt sleepy and thought to try out the dorm.

When he went there, it was 11 AM, perhaps not very popular time for many, because the dorm was almost vacant. There was only one other guy sleeping carelessly at the extreme end of the big room. But our friend saw that the guy was in his bare minimum. He thought that maybe it was a rule to sleep like that, so he also pulled out his shirt and even trousers and entered the world of dreams. When he woke up, it was 3 PM. Slowly, he looked around. And! He jumped! He jumped to get himself clothed ASAP! What had actually happened was like this:

Finding that the dorm was empty, a security guard had relieved himself into sleep without clothes. Our friend went there at that unfortunate moment and thought it to be a rule :). When he woke up, he saw many guys sleeping well dressed and the hall fully occupied! Only he was there without clothes! :)

What a scene! :)

PS: Though there are so many hilarious stories from my friends, I don’t feel like sharing them with all. But let me start with this one :)

The Anti Harassment Policy

Our company has a very strict code to prevent sexual harassment. Its acronym is ‘Shashi’ (name changed by me here to prevent identification). They don’t hesitate to lose the best of the talent, if one is found guilty in this case. The time I recall was from when we had joined recently and we were sent for an induction to know about this policy. For the days to come, references to this code with a curious name were to circulate in the fun moments at work.

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All of us were young, only a few were married. One day, a friend tells another, pointing towards another lady colleague, that she was married and had a baby. He perhaps found it difficult to believe, but confident that he was, he went straight to the girl and asks, “Do you have a baby?” :) The girl was clever and witted. And more relevant: she was unmarried. Hearing his query she appeared furious and scolded our friend saying how he dare could ask her that! Our friend was embarrassed in front of everyone. The girl went on to say that she would apply Sashi against him to take revenge. Our friend tolerated everything curiously and kept saying sorry, sorry. But when he returned, we didn’t find him either sad or embarrassed. The first thing he spoke when he came to us was a question:

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“Who is Shashi? Is she nice?”

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:)

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PS: Our friend is the same one who appeared in “The Dormitory”.

How Narendra Modi is Much Better than Barack Obama

After Obama’s 2010 India visit, no one had a doubt about the primary purpose of his trip. It was by and large a business trip with purpose to make business deals and job creations in the US.

Thanks to Obama Visit, the US made deals worth 10 Billion USDs, and generated 50,000 jobs in the US.

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/189058

Now let us see the figures from the recent Vibrant Gujarat meet.

Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit 2011 resulted in investment promises of 462 Billion USDs and that amounts to job creation for 52 lakh people!

http://www.sify.com/finance/Record-breaking-Vibrant-Gujarat-a-resounding-success-imagegallery-others-lbomkvadgfe.html

Agreed that these are only promises and not confirmed orders, but even if Gujarat makes through 30 or 20% of these in the worst estimates, these are much higher than the Obama figure!

:)

- Rahul

Indian IT to Pay for 9/11 Healthcare

Ever since I started to understand him, I have kept an opinion that Obama is a man with a big mouth and a small vision – big mouth because he promises everyone a moon (each) and small vision because he thinks like he were administering a class of 20 students (who would always obey him). In his recent move to make me think about him the same way, he has made India and Indian IT companies pay for the healthcare of 9/11 Islamic terrorist attack victims!
 

Obama signs 9/11 health bill, sticks India with paying for it
 

https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_obama-signs-9-11-health-bill-sticks-india-with-paying-for-it_1490018
 

Indian techies slam US visa hike to pay 9/11 healthcare bill
 

https://www.ndtv.com/article/india/indian-techies-slam-us-visa-hike-to-pay-9-11-healthcare-bill-74675
 

I am sure Obama won’t have looked at India to pay for these medical expenses without being infatuated by and envying India’s success story. I wonder how far he is going to take his anti-India policies. Will he make Indian auto companies pay for toilet paper expenses in the White House? Or Indian biotech companies pay for yoga expenses borne by unemployed Americans? I wish he loses his next elections – and India and this world get rid of his low-vision populist decisions. I believe a partnership between India and the US is the need for both, and the partnership has to be on equal terms. And I think Obama doesn’t believe in such equality. At least his actions prove this.

Wisdom of Ganesha

Throughout our childhood, we learn so many lessons taught to us by means of stories. Often such stories contain our gods and hence they leave maximum impact on our minds. Here is a small portion of a legend, retold by Devdutt Pattanaik, explaining the concept of our insatiable want:

Kubera, the king of Yakshas, is the treasurer of the gods. One day, he paid a visit to Kailasa, the abode of Shiva, the hermit-god, where he met Shiva’s elephant-headed son, the corpulent Ganesha. He thought to himself, “Ganesha clearly loves food and Shiva can clearly not afford to feed him to his heart’s content.” So as a favor to Shiva Kubera offered to feed Ganesha one meal. When Ganesha accepted the invitation and entered Kubera’s kitchen, the Yaksha-king said, “Eat to your heart’s content.”

Kubera regretted these words. Ganesha’s appetite was insatiable. He ate everything that was in the kitchen and still asked for more. Food had to be bought from the larder and then from the market. But Ganesha was still hungry.

“More please,” he said raising his trunk. Kubera had to spend all the money in his treasury and buy all the food in the world to feed Ganesha but still Ganesha was not happy. Finally, Kubera fell at Ganesha’s feet and begged him to stop, “I don’t I have enough food to satisfy your hunger. Forgive me.”

To this Ganesha said, “You really think food will satisfy hunger! The difference between you and my father is that you seek to provide more food while he seeks to reduce hunger. That is why I sit in his house and not in your kitchen.”

Ref: “Rationalising Greed: Everyone wants more” ET, 14 Jan, 2011 (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/corporate-dossier/rationalising-greed-everyone-wants-more/articleshow/7279101.cms)

Bhishma’s Role

It is interesting to note how Devdutt Pattanaik evaluates Bhisma’s role vis-a-vis the ideal role during the Ramayana times:
 

1) Family more important than Kingdom for Bhisma: In the Ramayana, the kingdom of Ayodhya is more important than Raghu-kula, the family that govern it. In the Mahabharata, the Kuru-kula family is more important than the kingdom of Hastinapur it is responsible for. In the Ramayana, Ram, son of King Dashrath, upholds the tradition of the Raghu-kula, goes into exile so that the integrity of the royal family is never questioned and Ayodhya feels secure under its leadership. [u]In the Mahabharata, Bhisma, son of king Shantanu, gives up conjugal life, not for the sake of his kingdom, but so as to satisfy the lust of his father who wishes to marry Satyavati, the ambitious daughter of an ambitious fisherman.
 

2) Renouncing throne results in Dharma collapse: In the Mahabharata, like Ram, Bhisma gives up his claim to the throne for the benefit of his half-brothers. His half-brothers however do not behave like Bharat. They claim the throne. Focus of the cousins is all about inheritance rights, not royal responsibilities. Dharma collapses. Rather than share, the kingdom ends up being divided.
 

3) On Bhisma’s inability to Retire: The ashrama system of Vedic times was an attempt to ensure smooth transition to the next generation of kings while the old king was alive. After being a student, one became a Yajama or head of the household, then when the son came of age, one had to retire and finally renounce the world. This explains Dashratha’s decision to retire when Ram comes home with a wife. Bhisma, however, is never happy with the capabilities of the next generation and refuses to retire even after his grandnephews (the Pandavas and the Kauravas) have children of their own. His over-protective nature results in over-dependence upon him. No talent is nurtured and the family collapses. In the end, Bhisma has to be pinned to the ground with arrows, so that a new world order can finally be established.
 

Ref: Devdutt Pattanaik; ‘Indian corporates are looking to mythology for inspiration’, 19 Nov, 2010, Economic Times.

Ramayana: A Love Story

Ramayana can be taken in many ways, but I think it’s also a love story. It’s a love story of a prince who had to be separated from his wife when already banished from his kingdom and then he fights with evil forces and hardships to find and regain his love. When Seeta was abducted by Ravana and Ram was gathering army of monkeys and bears, at one point of time he says something like this, “They say that with passage of time our love and pain of separation calms down, but I have not felt any such relief…” How could he, when his love for Seeta was purest and divine? Rishi Valmiki describes it well. At another point, the prince says, “Whenever I see a beautiful thing, I feel how much Seeta would have enjoyed this!” And then he cries… The prince, who could move mountains and dry up oceans by his mighty arrows, cries in the memory of his beloved wife… At many places throughout Ramayana, the distressed Rama is shown to be consoled by his younger brother Lakshamana. Often Rama starts lamenting wondering how princess Seeta, his beloved wife and daughter of the great king Janaka, would be surviving amidst dreadful Rakshashis and demons. He is shown neither be hiding his feelings from his followers, nor letting his sorrow carrying him away from his righteous path. Seeta, on the other side, waits for her love every moment and spends every passing day in hope that that day would end her wait. Her love for Ram is so great and honourable that even for a moment she is not diverted.

Rishi Valmiki who was the first person to write about Rama’s story and to introduce Ramayana to this world, doesn’t mention anything about Sita’s exile to the forest after she and Ram had reunited, so we can take this for granted that once Ram restored Sita, they spent years of happy life together. As they say at the end of love stories: “And they lived happily ever after.”

After Ramayana, so many stories, poems, plays, and movies have been written and made, telling a love story in very similar lines: there are two lovers, and one villain; lovers get separated and hero fights to get back his love. In the end, they are reunited and live happily ever after… But no love story is as powerful, as divine and as elevating as the one between Ram and Seeta… It’s because Ramayana stands as a torch of light showing us the righteous way of life, and reminds us of the very high levels of moral standing that we should practice in life…

- Rahul

Lessons from Ramayana – Part 23

Reproducing a part from the book which I believe all of us should read and understand:

Now, a word to those of our times who read Raamayana and Bhaarata and other Puraanas. In these works, there are frequent references to Devas and Raakshasas. The latter were wicked, had no regard for dharma, and revelled in evil deeds. Asuras were also like Raakshasas. But even among Raakshasas there were a few wise and virtuous people. There spring up bad men even in the best of races and vice versa. On the whole, Asuras and Raakshasas were those who rejoiced in doing wicked deeds. It is a pity that some people in their ignorance identify the Asuras and Raakshasas with ancient Indian tribes and races – a view not supported by any literary work or tradition or recorded history.

The conjencture of foreigners that Raakshasas were the Dravidian race, is not borne out by any authority in Taiml or other literature. The Tamil people are not descendents of the Asuras or Raakshasas.

The Devas were generally upholders of dharma and took on themselves the task of putting down the Raakshasas. According to the Puraanas, they had at times to deviate from dharma in dealing with the Raakshasas, some of whom had attained great power through tapas.

The Devas were generally good; and those among them who swerved form the path of righteousness paid the price for it. There was no separate code of conduct for the Devas; the law of karma admits of no distinction between the Devas and others. The law dealt with the Devas as with others.

Wedded to virtue as the Devas generally were, lapses on their part appear big to us, like stains on white cloth. The Raakshasas’ evil deeds are taken for granted and do not attract much attention, like stains on black cloth.

The honest, when they happen to go astray, should evoke our sympathy. It is however the way of the world – but it is not right – to condemn in strong terms casual lapse on the virtuous, while tolerating habitual wrong-doers.

It should be noted that in the Puranas we see the gods getting entangled in dilemmas of dharma. Indra and other devas are shown often as committing serious sins. Why did the sages who told the Puranas involve themselves in such difficulties? Their aim was to awaken people to a sense of the dangers of adharma. Else, the sages need not have deliberately attributed sinful acts to their own heroes and created difficulties for themselves.

Some persons take pleasure in jumping to wrong conclusions from the incidents in the Puraanas. They argue, “Raavana was a very good king. Vaalmiki has falsely accused him of wicked deeds.” They ask: “Did not Raama act unjustly on a certain occasion? Did not Seeta utter a lie?” and the like.

Valmeeki could well have omitted incidents which are not edifying. Both Raama and Raavana were first presented to us by the poet Vaalmiki. There was no earlier work referring to Raavana that can be quoted to contradict Vaalmiki and stamp him as being partial to Raama, Seeta and the Devas, and twisting facts to deceive people. Vaalmiki’s Raamayana is the fountain source of the story of Raama; in it, one comes across seemingly wrong deeds.

Calm consideration of such situations would show that they are just portrayals of similar difficulties in our day-to-day life. It is for us to benefit from the moral trails contained in them. The lesson of the Ahalya episode is that, however deadly one’s sin, one may hope to be freed from its consequences by penitence and punishment. Instead of condemning others for their sins, we should look within our own hearts and try to purify them of every evil thought. The best of us have need for eternal vigilance, if we would escape sin.

(C. Rajagopalachari; Ramayana; Chap VIII, Ahalya; P40-42)