Selected Sanskrit Shlokas With Meanings

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एकं सद् विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति।

- ऋग्वेद [१.१६४.४६]

सत्य तो एक ही है लेकिन विद्वतजन उसे बहुविध प्रकार से समझते हैं। / एक ही ब्रह्म है, जो विविध नामों से विख्यात है।

(There is a single Truth, which wise people describe differently.)

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आयुर्नश्यति पश्यतां प्रतिदिनं याति क्षयं यौवनं

प्रत्यायान्ति गताः पुनर्न दिवसाः कालो जगद्भक्षकः।

लक्ष्मीस्तोयतरङ्गभङ्गचपला विद्युच्चलं जीवितं

तस्मान्मां शरणागतं शरणद त्वं रक्ष रक्षाधुना।।

- शिवापराधक्षमापनस्तोत्रम् [१३]

प्रतिदिन आयु नष्ट हो रही है, यौवन का क्षय हो रहा है।

बीता हुआ दिन फिर वापस नहीं आता, काल संसार का भक्षक है।

लक्ष्मी (धन-संपत्ति) जल की तरंग-भंग की भांति चपला है, जीवन विद्युत के समान क्षणभंगुर है।

इसलिए, आप जो सभी को शरण देते हैं, अब इस शरणागत की रक्षा कीजिए।

(Every day life is seen reducing and youthfulness decaying. Days that are gone never come back. Time is devourer of the world. Wealth is as fickle as the breaking of the waves of water, and life as transient as lightning. Therefore, you who gives refuge to all, protect me now who has come to you for refuge.)

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ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविः ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम्।

ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना ॥

- भागवत गीता [४.२४]

- जिस चम्मच से अग्नि में आहुति दी जाती है, वह ब्रह्म है। जिन (घी आदि) पदार्थों की आहुति दी जाती है, वे भी ब्रह्म हैं। जिस अग्नि में आहुति दी जाती है, वह भी ब्रह्म है। आहुति देने वाला भी ब्रह्म है। उस ब्रह्मरूपी कर्म में समाधि को प्राप्त योगी को मिलने वाला फल भी ब्रह्म ही है।

Human Side of Shopping Should Not Be Ignored

Bought a cellphone from a small shop in our neighborhood market. Online shopping portals have made their life so miserable (they have to work longer hours to make the same revenue, which is only to reduce with time) that it felt like a social service to buy from them. The human side of shopping can also not be ignored.

In our childhood in our small town, shopkeepers were important part of our society. People depended on them and they depended on customers. There was a mutual respect. Society functions when people bond together and no one is isolated. Today, since I was not getting the cellphone model I was looking for, I had to do a survey of 6-8 shops. I visited all these shops for the first time ever. I talked to all these shopkeepers for the first time - person to person. Despite living in the same locality for so many years I had not "needed" these guys till yesterday - for me they had not existed or if they did, fulfilled some purpose alien to me - all due to shopping from online portals.

When I visited these shops, I saw so many new things; got to know a bit about my fellow neighbors (shopkeepers), and their places. For me as a part of society, this is important.

I also negotiated with them a bit and when we made the deal - I could see a sense of satisfaction in the eyes of the shopkeeper. I was happy too as a customer. I saw how respectfully he treated me. I saw him writing my 'name' on the receipt with his hands. Online portals don't care about my name - they even don't care if I am a man or a robot - until they are getting orders which are getting paid for.

I can go on but I think you have understood the message. I think it is a good idea to buy from our neighborhood shops every once in a while. The smaller the shops - more humane would be our experience. Even if they are not as good, not as polite as we want them to be, but remember - they are "us". And we should take care of each other.

- Rahul

Disclaimer: Written by Rahul Tiwary on 18 Oct 2015. Views expressed are personal.

Durga Puja and Nav Ratri

या श्रीः स्वयं सुकृतिनां भवनेष्वलक्ष्मीः 

पापात्मनां कृतधियां हृदयेषु बुद्धिः। 

श्रद्धा सतां कुलजनप्रभवस्य लज्जा

तां त्वां नताः स्म परिपालय देवि विश्वम्।।

- जो पुण्यात्माओं के भवनों में स्वयं ही लक्ष्मी के रूप में, पापियों के यहाँ दरिद्रता के रूप में और शुद्धचित्त वाले व्यक्ति के ह्रदय में बुद्धि के रूप में, सत्पुरुषों में श्रद्धा के रूप में तथा कुलीनों में लज्जा के रूप में निवास करती हैं, उन देवी को हम प्रणाम करते हैं, हे देवि! आप समस्त जगत का पालन कीजिए!

Sustainability of Loss Making Online Companies

How do you swallow this: Flipkart which was established in year 2007 has never earned profit till date. It has accumulated losses in hundreds of crores till now (e.g. it reported Rs 281 Crores in losses in FY 2013). But this year Flipkart founders Sachin and Binny Bansal have become India's 86th richest persons with wealth of $1.3 Billion each.

Compare this case with Kingfisher and Vijay Mallya. The company was making losses while Vijay Mallya was India's 84th richest man till year 2013. Perhaps not many would have raised brow even at him if he kept finding investors to keep his loss making company running. But ultimately his company went bankrupt and he also came out of India's 100 richest persons list. It was not only a personal loss for him but it meant disaster for thousands of his employees.

Can the story repeat itself with Flipkart? Most likely no - but it is only a guess. Flipkart has some 33,000 employees. What if the company fails? It would surely be tough for its employees and their family members. Same case with so many other online retail companies.

My point or concern is simple: what are our regulators doing about it? Is not some government regulator meant to keep track of such risky businesses - losses for 8 years straight with owners rising high on the Billionaires list? Of course I am not saying ban them; but owners should be held more responsible by regulators if their employees count goes > a threshold.

I think there is a strong case to bring out some sort of mechanism to protect workers and other stakeholders in case of such companies.

- Rahul

[Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal]

Recent Reading List

Book: ‘The Business School’ by Robert Kiyosaki

‘The Business School’ by Robert Kiyosaki is a book written to promote and sell network marketing business - pyramid scheme businesses where you acquire another customer who acquires another and the chain goes on, each member in the chain earning a little commission while trying to make some ROI on the initial investment done. I am not much of a fan of the network marketing business. Although the book started by trying to address the concerns of people like me, at the end of it I was still unconvinced. So I shall leave it at that.

Book: ‘Fools Die’ by Mario Puzo

‘Fools Die’ is a novel by legendary Mario Puzo revolving around the business of casinos and gambling. The story is by and large set a Las Vegas in USA. Apart from gambling this novel also touches publishing and the film industry. 

After reading many of his novels I have observed that each of his novels is a commentary on some business area or the other. In this respect Mario Puzo has created a niche for himself. 

I loved the way the story started – by introducing four friends each a different than the others. But afterwards the story moved into a lot of things and connection was broken. 

Main characters in the novel are John Merlyn, Cully Cross, and Jordan Hamley and the initial portion tells their gambling plays at the legendary Hotel Xanadu. One night Jordan kills himself in his room and then the story takes a turn. 

In the later parts of the book several other characters die in different fashion. 

This book is relatively new as it was published in 1978. 

After reading most of his books I can say that this is the weakest of all others. I had to turn pages in ‘fast forward’ mode later on in the book. 

The author has tried to get into too much of technicalities of the business of gambling as well as of show business in later sections; forgetting that not all may be equally interested. 

But like all other classics, this one is also a Mario Puzo classic and hence I recommend it to all of his fans.

Book: ‘The Last Don’ by Mario Puzo

'The Last Don' is one of the masterpieces from the brilliant novelist Mario Puzo. I found this one equally chilling like The Godfather. 

After reading almost all of Mario Puzo novels I have observed that each of his novels is in the backdrop of some profession or the other. In this novel the author brings to us the background of movie industry. Along with that it also touches casinos (in Las Vegas) and of course the mafia. 

The story starts with Don Domenico Clericuzio who is a mafia boss now in old age planning legitimacy for his family. Then story gets into life story of his grandnephew Cross or full name Croccifixio. 

There are several parallel side-stories going on, a lot of which I did not find too interesting, but the central story is amazing one and really brilliant. 

A warning: the novel, like other mafia stories from Puzo involves violence. Chilling ones to be specific and hence you should read it only if you like reading crime or mafia stories. 

This novel is also the basis of Mini-series on Television. 

Book: ‘Omerta’ by Mario Puzo

This is a mafia story and competes with The Godfather in brilliance as per my opinion. 

Book: ‘The Forth K’ by Mario Puzo

"K" stands for Kennedy and this is a story based on presidency race of a Kennedy and the tragedies involved. A very different line of story from other books of Mario Puzo, but as brilliant as it could get. 


- Rahul

Recent Reading List

Tuki's Grand Salon Chase

‘Tuki's Grand Salon Chase’ (Flipkart Link) by Parul Sharma is a wonderful story of a young girl’s struggles with professional and personal challenges in a city like Mumbai. Tuki works at a high end salon and a large part of specially the initial portion of the book talks about that. Later the story gets into her flings with boys who chased her and one whom she chased in a way. The story is never boring and extremely well written. Highly recommended for light pleasant reading.

A Hundred Lamps

‘A Hundred Lamps’ (Flipkart Link) is a compilation of short stories about doctors. Stories come from a few legendary writers like Premchand, Renu, (all translated into English) as well from several other authors. I liked the story ‘Alloveda’ by Ramesh Upadhyay most which deals with how relative fates of Allopathy and Ayurveda changed in our country as well as the mindset of recent generation of doctors in India. It is written wonderfully. ‘Mantra’ by another gem which deals with how doctors being emotionless and only commercial minded can take toll on common masses. There are some other stories which I did not like as much but nonetheless the book is a selection of stories throwing light on different aspects related to life of doctors.

The Family

‘The Family’ (I bought from Flipkart) is Mario Puzo’s last book and tells the story of Borgia family of Italy and how scandal and crime ridden persons can even hold posts like Pope of Vatican. 

It is a chilling story filled with violence, suspense and crime all along. 

But it also tells the humane story of Rodrigo Borgia (became Pope Alexander VI) who tries hard to protect and strengthen his family. 

It is a dark and chilling story of how his plans for his sons and daughters are rather shaped by the events of chance and fate and the end is quite different from the one he meticulously planned. 

There are so many different characters all developed very well. Minute events and sentiments are captured so well by the brilliant author. When I reflect on it; this is hell of a story. Mario Puzo is mainly known for writing mafia stories; but this is very different yet as intense one as it could get. 

This is a story which you won’t forget ever. Highly recommended only if you like Mafia stories or other books from Mario Puzo.

The Dark Arena

The Dark Arena (I bought it from Flipkart) was Mario Puzo’s first novel, published in 1952, years before The Godfather. Set in Germany during World War-II, it is the story of a young American soldier called Walter Mosca and his love with a native German girl called Hella. Apart from being an intense story of a young American soldier and his sad love story with a German girl, it also tells about the life and the times. I loved the historical account the novel presents to us. Nazi Germans tortured Jews but after reading this book I realized that Germans in general suffered not less at the hands of the "victors". American soldiers could pick any girls from the streets; children begged for food all around; and people paid anything to get essentials like food (and 'American cigarettes') (only the army was stocked with plenty while common people struggled every day for everything). Whole society was corrupted due to the instability. But this is only in the background of this brilliant book which deals with stories of multiple characters, primarily of Walter Mosca. It is the story of teen revolt and pains of growing up. It is a touchy sad love story of Hella, a German helpless girl, and Mosca, a strong American officer. Another character is Leo, a Jew, whose father was German and mother Jew and he lost his childhood to the concentration camp. There are so many different characters all developed very well. Minute events and sentiments are captured so well by the brilliant author. When I reflect on it; this is hell of a story. Mario Puzo is mainly known for writing mafia stories; but this is very different yet as intense one as it could get. 

The Fortunate Pilgrim

‘The Fortunate Pilgrim’ (I bought it from Flipkart) is Mario Puzo’s second book – and importantly before he became famous and all after publication of ‘the Godfather’. Away from his previous book, the protagonist of this book is a woman. Lucia Santa is an Italian migrant who came to the United States of America to live forever. Her life journey is truly filled with struggles and difficult decisions. It is truly an amazing one. The little stories within the stories have come up so well. At so many places I broke out laughing and at many places my heart sank. The way it ended felt like a relief of a lifetime and a personal achievement. Truly a masterpiece...

Disclaimer: Written by Kumar Rahul Tiwary. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect views of organization author is associated with. 

In the Month of August...

Confession (Promoting Hindi)

Many a time when I have to dial a Customer Care number, and when as first step the machine asks me to select language of my choice, I choose "Hindi" and not "English". I do it so that the company or call center sees demand for Hindi speaking customer-care executives and hence would employ some more. A speck in the ocean, my intent is not 'favoritism' but to help create a level playing field for people who just happen to not know English very well.

You can do so for your local language too...

In the Journey called Life...

How time flies. I was thinking about this in the morning. We are first kids, then become youth, then middle aged and then old. It is just a matter of a few years and many of the things that we counted relevant would become irrelevant and perhaps a lot of things we thought irrelevant would be counted as relevant in the end. Are we doing enough good karma to ensure a good life in next birth? You may laugh at it but I do think about all this many a time. When I review my karma, I don't feel confident enough. Our job and our career etc - where we spend most of our energy - do these things help us earn any punya at all? Or occupation is merely a means to support life and family and other things matter which we mostly ignore...

Prize in Quiz

Happy to share with you that I got Second Prize in a technology Quiz during ‘Technotsav’ at Infosys Pune. It was a one week event similar to college days' tech-fests - with lots of events, stalls, guest lectures, and quizzes. I received a certificate and small gift in an award ceremony from the Pune DC Heads.

My Message on Independence Day 2015!

At the end, it is us who make our country either great or poor. When you buy Indian products; Indian companies' employees, suppliers, transporters, all get employment and the companies get to reinvest in India. Make a pledge to consider buying quality Indian brands every time you have to make a purchase. While buying just imagine how your money is not only being spent but also befitting a lot of your own fellow countrymen.

Happy Independence Day!

Our Security Guards!

While going in and coming out of the office campus, a string of security guards scan our laptops in order to earn their salaries. Earlier they used to do manual verifications; now they just scan a bar-code and a QR code. They are literate and adequately educated; whatever that means.

This evening while I approached them for the daily ritual; another colleague had just been there and done that while talking over his cellphone all the time. And one security guard was caught telling his fellow colleague in full attention – “wo bol raha tha… wo 'client' ko 'reference' karega…” and concluded with “aur apna 'biodata' bhejega…” Wow!

So I realized that our security guards actually 'think behind our back'! I still don’t understand what was meant by “wo client ko reference karega”, and if the security guard got confused between 'biodata' and 'big data'; but I was definitely impressed by his curiosity! I think if the security guard could actually understand what was being talked about over phone, his life would be dull. As of now he does not understand it, so his life is 'out of the box'!

Picture of the Month

Family of African Elephants. Just look at the little ones! (Pic credit Bing.com)

Website of the Month

http://annamrita.org/

Annamrita is an NGO that provides 12,00,000 meals everyday to schools all over India. Checkout its website and contribute towards a noble cause. What are you waiting for? Click: http://annamrita.org/

Disclaimer: Written by Kumar Rahul Tiwary. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect views of organization author is associated with. 

Book: The Life and Times of Layla The Ordinary by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

I finished reading ‘The life and times of Layla the Ordinary’ by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan (written popularly on the front cover as Minna Madhavan) recently. I would definitely say that I am immensely impressed by her writing quality. And the book gave me mixed feelings due to miscellaneous reasons touched upon in subsequent portion of this blog post.

If I have to rate the author on writing ability; I would give her 10/10. In this book, she appears witty and funny and shows an understanding and maturity so demanded on such sensitive stories. The story told in the form of ‘journal entries’ looks very appropriate and natural. I also noticed that Layla explained why she was writing a journal and it showed author’s care for details. There are sketches in the book, making the experience very interesting. Author is very innovative in such aspects. When I started reading it; I got to know it that I had not read something like this before.

The book mentions that it is meant for ‘young adults’. I think it can also be called ‘teenage melodrama’ or ‘growing up pangs’; or any other interesting way to put it. I confess that I have already crossed the (teen) age and hence I can afford to be skeptical about it. Anyways, that counted as my nostalgia for the beautiful years gone by. The main character of the story is called ‘Layla’ (she is touchy about the spelling btw!). She is still (blessed to be) in school and the story is written from her viewpoint. Here, I did have some objections. I believe that a girl of her age can’t have that much knowledge and understanding (or pretend to lack it) of herself; as it comes out from the book. In these pages, I guess the author has taken over the stage from Layla. And if Layla indeed was like Layla; she could not have been a bit confused and a self declared ‘ordinary’ at all. 

Btw, I did not like it that Layla had to break it with Advait (the most popular boy in school). In fact what she did could very well be called ‘use-and-throw’; which boys popularly accuse girls with. But I also think that she won’t have broken up if her so called brave friend Suze was not there. It may be comforting to know that someone knows you better than you do; but we can never be sure about that. And I also think that Layla starting to flirt with Akash even when she was Advait’s girlfriend was indeed ‘cheating’. But it seemed that for Layla, the joy of no longer being an ‘ordinary’ girl was so high that she did not care at all about what was right and what was wrong. Anyways, it was her learning experience and we can’t be correct all the time. But I felt sorry for Advait; and I felt angry at Akash.

While the beginning of the book is brilliant and the author keeps the story exciting till very far; the later portions of the book became a bit boring and predictable. So I had to skip a few pages. But at an overall level, this is a good book.

Recommended only if you like to read such teenage stories; otherwise not.

- Rahul 

Why Petrol Price Won’t Reduce with Same % as Crude Oil Slumps

A newspaper published a big news item saying that in last n months, international crude oil prices have come down by 20% but in India petrol prices have come down only by 8%. It says that price of petrol should also have been reduced proportionally.

Now imagine if govt has do reduce finished product's price by the same fraction its primary raw material's price has reduced. Govt will need to reduce salary of all staffs by 20%, reduce payments to vendors etc by same 20%; each cost component's % reduction may vary but overall should necessarily reduce. It is near impossible to achieve this.

Now add to that the complexity of inventory. Public sector oil companies and refineries bought crude oil at the rate of Rs A. It takes time to refine, process and make finished product. Due to this time lag companies can't start selling petrol and diesel at much lesser price at the moment, since price will be according to the cost of crude oil it paid several months back; and that was much more than current price.

There may be other several other factors than the important ones I have highlighted. For example these companies may have long term contract with crude oil suppliers. Or they need to offset the losses made in recent past. Obviously this subject is as complex as it is interesting.

But then why newspapers and media houses run such populist stories which are half-understood? It is said that half knowledge is worse than ignorance. If you don’t know that you don’t know; it is a worse situation than when you know that you don’t know.

- Rahul 

[Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal]

Why don’t Dogs learn how to cross the road

Today a dog while trying to cross the road got hit by a moving bus. It was hurt and came back crying to the side from where it had started. We don’t need to imagine what urgent or important business the dog had on the other side of the road. Hope the dog gets well soon… 

But I wondered why don’t dogs learn how to cross the road? I have seen only a few dogs having learnt it – they try to accompany any human being who they guess is crossing the road. But if the dog is alone – it is helpless. It is painful to think about. Once I saw a dog struggling to cross the road and I tried to seek its attention as I started crossing the road – but I guess it did not find me trustworthy enough to accompany me.

Can you think of any solution to this problem?

The Magical Journey Called #Baahubali

I watched ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ during the second weekend after its release. I would confess that my expectations were very high; given that the movie had garnered some very positive reviews and also because it was Indian film industry’s biggest production. It was supposed to destroy Bollywood’s over reliance on a mediocre genre of same old aged superstars dancing around with new actresses 20 years their juniors. I would also add that before this I have watched only a few movies produced in the Southern states of India and I was not impressed. This time though, Baahubali was to bring not a gush of wind but a ready storm.

As it turned out for me, I had not watched anything like Baahubali before (from Indian cinema). I love this genre of epic war movies and hence I judged Baahubali critically after comparing it with some of the greatest ones from Hollywood. And I can say with confidence that I loved Baahubali at least at par or even better than those Hollywood flicks.

As the screen opened in the theater after mandatory singing of National Anthem (customary in Maharashtra), the opening scene of an injured queen running away with an infant in her arms with a pack of enemies chasing her was mind-blowing. You put that intense scene in the beginning and you risk being judged with your own standards all through the length of the movie. But Baahubali turned out to be a magic – whole length of it was as intense and as enjoyable. Of course there were scenes where ‘hero’ chased ‘heroine’ on the mountains; and where both sang some romantic songs even if in imagination – but such songs mostly did not appear imposed or ‘out-of-place’. The war near the end of the movie was as epic as it could get.

If you have not watched Baahubali: The Beginning; yet, the best time is now. But there is a warning: the movie has plenty of violence. Though you must have learnt to manage it, for example by closing your eyes, so as not to get affected by it. If you don’t mind such scenes, go there with a feast waiting for you.

My Rating: 5 Starts out of 5.

- Rahul

[Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal] 

Mother Cat

A cat in our neighborhood started crying and moving around restlessly some days back. Cats do that when they don't find any of their babies at their expected place. When cats cry in this manner, their voice resembles human voice and it is heart-wrenching to hear. But this cat continued doing that daily; never giving up; and we wondered what the matter was. Yesterday we got to know what had happened. 

One of the houses in the neighborhood had picked one of her babies to keep it as "pet". When cat was restless and crying, a man from the house brought the kitten in his hands to show it to the mother cat. This is typically a "human" behavior. Was the man expecting that when mother cat would realize that her baby was in "safe hands", she would stop pursuing it? Cats have not learned such evolved human tendencies and she still cries every evening; waiting to get her baby back... 

I think our "humanity" is overrated.

- Rahul Tiwary

Finally Watched ‘PK’ and a bit Disappointed

A few days back the famous movie 'PK' appeared on TV; and I watched most of it. I had not watched this movie in a theater when it was released because of the negative controversy around it. So you may find my opinion interesting.

Having watched it now, if I have to summarize my feelings in one word, I would say I found it "undeserving". Here is how:

The movie did not really appear 'controversial' to me; the scenes which were publicized as being offending to Hindus were actually funny and silly. I did not even find 'Shiva chasing' scene insulting to Lord Shiva despite being His 'fan' (modern word for 'disciple').

While watching the initial portions of the movie I found those as hilarious, interesting, funny, stupid and idiotic. A lot of scenes were 'supposed to be funny' while those were actually 'hyped'. The later part of the movie after a Guru took over, was actually 'boring'. Bollywood has simply ran out of ideas when it comes to making religious Gurus as villains - it is the same old story of fake Gurus in saffron robes fooling followers, pick up anything from year 1975 to 2015.

I found 'PK' an average and hyped movie. It should have come on screens and gone away after doing 'okay' business. But alas, religious and social organizations made it appear like an 'apocalypse' which it was not. I am sure it gained popularity due to the controversy around it. People like me who actually did not go to watch it because of controversy would have been outnumbered by people who actually went to explore it because of the hype around it. (Also because other big flicks were not released for weeks following it.)

It appeared like a casual movie but it had gone to be the most successful movie of all time from our country; earning Rs 700 Crores worldwide. It is sad that while our movie industry has produced so many really great movies, those have done average business. But this average movie did greatest business ever.

The message for religiously sensitive audiences and genuine social organizations is - the more you protest against it, the more you will do disservice against your own cause; so don't be hyper about such movies. But one interesting lesson for other movie makers is - hire some PR agencies to inflame religious sentiments of some from the previous set; and if they are not inflamed, make them appear so by planting stories in the media; and soon you will see the magic - your rotten potatoes will start selling at the price of potato chips!

- Rahul Tiwary

[Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal.]