ATITHI DEVO BHAVAH

This is the new punch line that we hear quite a bit in the latest ads by Indian tourism department. What we don't hear is the complete sloka. And this is the real reason why we still have not grasped the true picture. Let me first put the complete sloka here and then I will sort of try to link this post with the last one written yesterday

MAATRU DEVO BHAVAH! PITRU DEVO BHAVAH!
AACHAARYA DEVO BHAVAH! ATITHI DEVO BHAVAH!

The translation is very simple (even I can do it!!). It means mother, father, teacher and guest are god or god like and we should worship them. What we listen regularly is just the last bit. The problem is that we are all loosing the first 3 bits and then expect that we would follow the last bit ... that's not how it works. I would like to point to the fact that the flow starts with mother, then goes to father, then to the teacher and lastly to guest. I might be reading too much into this but this is also how I think it is supposed to be. If you don't respect your mother, you cant respect your father, if you cant respect your father you cant respect your teacher (after all father and mother are your first teachers) and finally if you respect all three you might respect your guest!! This is again my understanding of things and not the literal translation of the sloka.

Basically what I am trying to say is that if we have to achieve the goal of being a hospitable country we have to get in touch with our roots. The same roots we are moving away from. The same roots we thing are not worth aspiring for. The same roots that start by respecting our elders especially in our home. Its our tradition that we need to follow. Unfortunately in the blind race of being modern we have sort of lost complete touch with that. We in the past have been the country which have always kept our tradition albeit modifying it with the new good things we get from other cultures. But over the last few years we have started completely westernising rather than modernising. This definitely does not bode well for us as a country. We might progress but we will never be truly happy. You just need to have a look at the western countries and see that they have more problems in life than we do even after having far more resource.

To just summarize I think that the initiative of tourism industry is great but we need to take it to the next level and preserve what little we have been left with!!

Ek doha har roj

I have this mission for the next few days that I will try and memorize one doha per day. I read one today which I liked a lot and it applied too aptly on me. The doha was:

Deh dhare ka dand hai, sab kaho ko hoye

Gyani bhugte gyan se, murakh bhugate roy

Now I don't know the real meaning of this is but from what I can gather and translate there are multiple meanings to this and I will try to give my understanding of this which might not be correct.

(This is part of a bigger poem and I could find out complete poem and post it but I did not. I read the complete poem and its also good so those who want to can do a google and you will find it.)

So here it goes: To me this firstly describes that no matter who you are whether you are very wise or as dumb as a dodo you will have to suffer in the world in one way or form. (Another apt poem to look up here is "Ek EK baar sabhi sang biti" I did not find the complete poem but if some one does please post). The wise suffer as they try to see meaning in all the actions around, they try to dissect every thing no matter how small and hence are always anxious and the fools always cry about what happens to them. So no matter what you will always suffer in the world. Another way to look at it is that no matter what even if you are extremely intelligent or dumb you will ultimately be treated equal when death comes to you. Its like saying in the long run every one is dead so why be materialistic. Lead a simple life. This meaning comes out more clearly from the entire poem in which Kabir says that why I should be afraid of anything because death, old age and peril comes to all and not just me. Also too me its like a warning for people like me not to think too much about anything as over analysis leads to anxiety.

Now as to why this was apt was because I went to Manhattan today and generally around saw a lot of Indians but just didn't like how they were behaving and what they were wearing. Without going into too much details let me say that what I felt was they were trying to mingle too much with the people in NY. Its nothing new for me as I have seen this time and time again and this is not necessarily wrong but what I felt was that we as a nation and a group of people are loosing touch with our traditions, our clothing, our culture of being humble and respectful of elders and this lead to a sort of chain reaction of thoughts. I sort of started thinking that am I right in questioning these people correctly because to a large extent I also behave in a very similar way. i wear a shirt and a trouser, speak english, eat all kinds of food so am I not guilty of the same thing. Yes I am and this is even more sickening to me. In a bid to gain ground in career I have lost things which are and will always remain very dear to me. I regret this very very much. I dont have an answer to what I can do about this but I will keep the question hanging in my mind. Just in case one day a sudden thought comes to my mind which might be able to solve this question. But one thing is for sure - whether I will be able to get an answer or not this question has definitely ruined my evening. That is why one should not think too much :(

The verdict

         The verdict is finally out and I have lost. Not only have I lost I have lost huge. I have had that one moment when you realise that you have been living a pseudo life a life which is far from reality, a life in which what you are and what you think you are are like two shores of a river - they never meet. It is in this moment I realised that I have lost. The only real surprise to me now is not that I figured this out but the fact that it took me this long to figure it out. There have been signs all along of this but I have always turned a blind eye to it and people around me have never pointed that to me. Not that I blame them because I don't think they could have figured that out - I duped them too as I had duped myself.

       I am talking about having a fighting spirit. I always assumed I had a good figthing spirit and that once there is a big problem I will fight even harder. But I realised recently that this is not the case. I was reading various things that people have written about me. Every body was unanimous in their opinion that I was destined for big things. But the irony of the thing is that I never felt the same way about me. I always had a doubt that although I have done reasonably well in my life so far my expectations of myself was very different from what peoples expectation of me were. And this made me think what is the real reason of this. I could have brushed it aside by saying I am a person who is not confident about myself but I think I know this much that I am a confident person. So I thought and thought about it. and then..

      it came to me in a flash - sort of after the last 7-8 years of my life flashed in front of me. It was crystal clear to me.  I have always shied away from a real fight. I am not saying that I have never fought in my life but I will say this that there is a an optimum size of problem and if I think the problem is bigger my will to fight sort of diminishes exponentially. And this is the thing that bothers me the most. I think people who succeed in life do fight hard and fight the hardest when chips are really down. I thought of incidents in the past where I can see that happening over and over again. I can see that in my day to day life - on sports field and in class rooms. In career and personal problems alike. To sum up I think I am a very bad competitor.

     Naturally the thing one should do is to get rid of ones weaknesses. Now I thought the same about this one as well. But the thing is to be more competitive you need to compete and since I dont have the will to do so I dont. I can only say I am stuck between rock and the hard place. I want to improve myself but I am just not able to. I have always sort of taken the "easy way out" and it seems like I will continue to do so. I think from now on since I have realised it I will fight a bit more but this is not my innate nature and to go against it will take some doing. I will try but I have doubts about the success - serious doubts I must say. 

Environment and India(ns)

I have been thinking about writing this for about a month now and just did not have enough enthusiasm to write but I could feel the urge slowly increasing and now the time has come to set my laziness aside and write it. I might offend a few (if people actually read this!!, which I truly doubt) with my thoughts here and examples but so be it.

Few days back I was with one of my very close friend and was discussing why I don’t take cab back home from work if I am late. Its free (for me at least) then why not was his argument. My reason was unless it was very late 11.15 or later it takes me same time to reach home from a cab or via the tube and in using the tube I save some carbon emissions. So why not do it. His response was who the $#$$ cares about carbon emissions. I was taken aback! I have great respect for this guy but this is somewhere I think he is wrong and his offhand manner was a bit of a shock for me. Having said that, I have heard some comments like these from a lot of people, whom I come in contact with on a day to day basis. I have had a lot of discussions with people who don’t turn off their comps on the weekend and I have asked them a number of times to do the same but no changes.

What bothers me is not that they have least regard for the environment but that these are the guys who are amongst the most educated in the world and if they take such a stand what can we expect from the others. What is more regretful is the fact that most of them have roots in India. They must know how we used to worship the environment. The five elements from which the human body is made and to which it returns at the end of the journey - Each being an integral part of the environment. I know all this in today’s world seems a load of crap and you don’t have to believe in this. My guess is that the whole concept of worship of the elements, the sun, the water, the air etc was because we thought them as important and sacred. I think that there is no reason to believe that it does not hold true even today. If anything I think they have become even more important. We Indians were at the forefront of preserving the nature and we are the people who don’t care about it anymore! What has happened to us?

The answer should not come to you as a shock - I think that we were so blinded by globalization (westernization?) that we forgot our own culture. We did not think about the fact that we should only be taking the good things from the new culture we were trying to adapt to. We had mastered this art in the past. We were good at integrating with a new culture, keeping the good things and improving our culture but this time we failed and failed miserably. The price we are paying for this is huge and we need to get back to our old ways. Even if you don’t believe in Sun being a god and Air being worshipped no body can argue to the fact that they are important. Its still time for us as Indians to lead the world to a better tomorrow before it is too late and our children drown in the very water that has been the source of our progression through ages or die of the gases that we have produced so that we can have a more comfortable life. Aren’t we the country where parents do anything for their children?

It is time we paid more attention to the environment and may be to our culture

A day can do a lot in your life

From being the most revered figure in the financial industry, Dick Fuld, the ex-CEO of ex-Lehman Brothers has gone to be one of the most hated and disrespected figure. While most of the people were busy figuring out where he went wrong and what will it take to get the financial mess in the global banking sector cleared I was thinking about something else. I was thinking how important can a day be in life of a man?



It turns out a day can break you and we have enough evidence of the same. I know that I have made a blanket statement here without really giving explanation about it. I think it can be argued that fall of Lehaman was not a one day event but the decisions they had taken over the last 3-4 years. But

Good Bye

It is time to say good bye to the place which has been home for last 2 years. I will be leaving IIM Bangalore tomorrow with a heavy heart. What a turn around? I hated this place in till the end of first year but few weeks into my second year post my summer internship I was in love with this place. This place has given me all...fame, riches (definitely in the future),knowledge, confidence and above all it has given me few gems as my friends and for this reason alone I would never forget this place. This is my second time in a hostel environment and I must say I have not enjoyed any part of it more than my second year stay at IIMB. You enjoy becoz of your company and H-Mezz rocked. It was a great experience... all the batchmates were amazing... all the night outs we put together mugging, doing projects .. some just dicussing... all the time we spent dicussing on trivial(do mosquitos have eyes?? :P) and not so trivial things (how to improve the placement process). The juniors at H-Mezz were also amazing. It was great fun to intereact with you guys. Apart from it the juniors, seniors and batchmates with whom I interacted frequently were all great fun. Finally it would be amiss not to mention A^2 and Swati who made my life here much easier. The nights we spent together playing 29 or generally chatting was great fun and I would miss that too. I would miss the fact that they were always there when I needed them the most. So were Pabbo, Sahil and Patil. I could not imagine IIM Banalore without you guys. It was just great knowing you guys and I wish that all of us will one day assemble back at one place and have a great time together.

One another key reason why I liked IIM B was the fact that I was given respect here. I was an important pesonality who was looked up to be it acads or be it sports field. People always gave me respect. I was the one to whom they approached to clarify their acad doubts and it made me feel good about myself. I would also remember this place for the 5 days I was part of the placement process during our senior's final. It was one of the most gratifying feeling to be part of the process. Vikasana another entity that would remain with me forver. My first full time experience with social activity. It was great fun and great learning experience.

It was a great journey and I will miss not being here. To my juniors..please make full use of this fantastic opportunity and enjoy while you are here!!

I want to improve

There are certain days when you can’t look over the obvious deficiencies you have in life. And these deficiencies are something which I have already known but have never worked on it because I have never felt that it could hurt somebody. But then as you mature you realize you need to change. So from today onwards I would like to change my self. I think I don’t have enough will power to change so putting it in black and white always helps. There are certain expect that I would like to change about myself and these are:

1) I have always been a person who has sought attention and enjoyed it. I would like to change this as I don’t think this is a healthy sign. It leads to unnecessary tension when you don’t get it and then you think of the possible reasons. So from today onwards I would like to have a low profile. I would and should try to make my presence in any group as low as possible
2) Secondly in any relationship I think I expect a little too much and I think I don’t give as much to the relationship as I should. I think keeping expectations low is a way of healthy relationships. After all an individuals interest is more important than anybody to him/her and to expect anything else is not fair. Although this is not an easy job to do but I would try to implement this.
3) I think I need to organize myself better and from today onwards I would try to maximize the utilization of my time. This is something that I did in the first term here at IIM B but then some how I lost this capability. I need to be more focused and damn it I would be.
4) I judge people very quickly and also base my judgment on other people’s judgment. Although I am open and change my judgment later but I should not draw conclusions this fast.

I seriously hope that today is the dawn of something new which makes me a better person. I think enough effort would go into making me a better person. I hope I have enough will to do it!!