Life’s Ledger..

!!One day , some decades back my lungs tasted the first winds on earth …Days and then years have gone by …I am now a part of a story - like millions of others.!!

!!For some time i floated on the wings of life and it made perfect sense for me to embrace everything - the wind, the hurricane, the dust & the pollen , rose aroma along with the thorns & petals, monsoon nights to scorching summer days - all were so close to my heart, and why not? For Life was my best mate!!

And then basics of accounting were slowly introduced - The syllabus might look familiar -

Look for Good Friends..Well, how can a child know in such a short span? …Then Look for signs…

Get Good Grades..That’s the Life Saver

Be Punctual…

Always do your homework…

Go for the Eng. \ Doc degree …

Got a job in a MNC…Upscale apartment….Japanese make car will do for now

Huge pile of bills….To be paid on time..Then there are other things too - to be done on time else…

Nothing can be left for tomorrow since each day will accrue interests….

Yes, now we are on the treadmill….

The race gets faster & life seems such a distant thing…

The slow things are left behind –Including the hands that rocked the cradle

Got kids now…That’s good though

But, they have to be pushed to school…fast..or else how will they compete

THERE IS HARDLY ANY TIME TO JUST DROP EVERYTHING & SOAK IN EVERYTHING.

Now the twilight years are knocking…

Need to make plans for it…retirement plans

I am tired…I feel like slowing down…BUT, CAN I?

In the end, all of us are getting the same castle - Dust to Dust , Ashes to Ashes.

!! So there goes the years, faster than the hummingbird !!

!!Life is not a race…Its a Walk!!

Humility….The Jewel of saints

I am going to recount a true story…about a true saint and a great statesman, a rare combination indeed.

This story goes back half a century when India had just secured its tricolor. This is about the first president of the Independent republic, Rajendra Prasad.

Rajendra Babu (as he was affectionately called) was known for his simple lifestyle and modest demeanor. He eschewed the perks of the highest public official as much as he could. Very often he would sneak out to taste the freedom of the common man.

On one of his presidential escapades, he went to meet Pundit Nehru (the first Prime Minister) at his ancestral home in Allahabad. He reached there in the dead of the night when all the members had already resigned to sleep.

The caretaker could not recognize the president & told him that Pundit Nehru is fast asleep. Rajendra Babu asked him for a corner to lie and instructed him not to disturb Nehru.

The drama unfolded in the morning & the whole household was livid at the caretaker…but Rajendra Babu, the statesman he was, managed to save the poor guy’s job.

Everything ended on a good note with the promise from Nehru that story would not leak into the press…So that Rajendra Babu could continue his journey as he liked it……As a Common man & a humble servant of the republic of India!

Don’t we miss Presidents & Prime Ministers like Rajendra Babu!

Do we really listen?

We often hear - ‘Listening is an Art’ - Its not, otherwise everyone passing by you would have made an instant connection - As Art can be imbibed and Science can be learned.

Listening is - making a connection with the speaker - attuning oneself with the the frequency of the speaker - removing all screens so that the words are reaching our mind undiluted & unadulterated - BUT IN 99% OF THE CONVERSATION, WE THROW OUT ALMOST 85 % OF THE MEANINGFUL DECIBEL. The rest 15 % is digested and interpreted as the mind guides us to. No wonder PICTURES have a greater impact on our grey cells than scholarly essays.

How can we expect to live in harmony if we keep talking to stone walls?

Listening is hard stuff, much harder than preaching - Most of the Pastors, Pundits & Mullahs don’t listen - They just do the easy part of speaking - Gandhi was a good listener, because he practiced what he preached - So, a good listener is a good practitioner too.

Why don’t we listen to each other? - Parents to Children, Husband & Wife, Colleagues, Employer & Employees.

BECAUSE WE LIKE TO USE SCREENS TO PROJECT OUR UNTRUE SELF.

We need to demolish many types of screens - Of our culture & ethics, Society & region, Language & Nation, Social & Economic Status, Of our fears & apprehensions, of our physical & emotional security….The list is long.

But, we can do it - one step at a time. Even if we start listening to 50% of the conversation - 90% of the conflicts will take care of themselves.

This is a world of Monologues..for the moment.

Lets start listening!!

To Let Go…Its a virtue

We are in a strange era of evolution - of human consciousness & conscientiousness. The world has never witnessed such an organized movement to liberate the human race of pain, trauma, and soul malfunction.

Yet, there has been never been a greater need for the nirvana of the soul - The goodness all around us is being challenged by the caucuses of evil. Our politicians & religious leaders don’t look beyond their myopic & selfish visions.

Common man is shredded within the turmoil of daily existence, terrorism, racial violence, and other social & cultural maladies. Trauma & Pain have crossed the limits of imagination - and each of these traumatic episodes challenge the sanctity of ethics, honesty, spirituality - AND EVEN GOD.

How does the common man deal with this epidemic of violence, trauma, and misery?

The survival of the fittest no longer describes the challenges of survival. But, the most traumatic aspect is that we have brought it upon ourselves - Wars are waged not for justice but for doing justice to the egos - Religions are transformed not for unifying the human race but to drive a wedge between them - Linguistic & regional differentiation is the patent mode of vote garnering by the politicians.

And as if these external spikes were not enough - We keep running faster in order to find the oasis of peace, but all we do is distort the already convoluted life.

Now, to the question of coping with this pile of stress …

Most of us who have gone through such difficult times know that the human mind & heart loses its elasticity beyond a particular point.

How does a mother deal with the loss of a son in Iraq? How does a family cope with a terrorist attack? Racial violence in Africa? Ethnic cleansing in Zimbabwe? Old couple thrown out on the street by their only son?

No balm or words of solace come to rescue…Human mind finds it incomprehensible to grasp it…

That’s when we think of SURRENDER….TO THE ALMIGHTY.

That’s when the logical mind whispers to us …LET HIM TAKE OVER FROM HERE, I AM NO GOOD!

But, many times, we fail to surrender in time & the soul continues to suffer…

When the Ship’s compass is defunct, It is the winds which will take us to the right shore. If we interfere with it, the ship is bound to drown.

God Bless You!

In Pursuit of Happiness…..Still

Stop…Take a breather..You have been running for so long!

Who? Me? No time to relax - I am on to something - something really big. I am almost there…

This is the story of most of us. The goals of life are reset the moment it doesn’t meet the standards set by others.

We are always in hot chase - Chasing shadows of reality … Shadows of perception - We hardly perceive

Shadows of Happiness & Bliss…

By the time we have exhausted ourselves of the fuels of life - the reference point has moved somewhere else - We are living in fourth dimension all the time ….The future makes sense while the present is squandered in glory.

Why can’t we change our reference point from outside to inside - so that our heart & soul is in sync …..

Because that’s painful …That needs real courage….Lots & Lots of it…And most important of all-

It necessitates the removal of centuries of Baggage & Bias - Of our culture …Of rituals & religion…Of our family & Society…Of our fears & apprehensions…Of our hegemony & superiority….Of our race & nation…Of our language & literature….THAT’S A LOT OF BAGGAGE.

But, then the choice is ours - To keep running without a destination or

To start the process of self-purging

For me, the happiness is cocooned in -

Watching the babies sleep!

Watching the dog wag its tail at the sight of you!

Gazing at Birds flying away to their nests at twilight with food for their little one!

Seeing the first bloom of Tulips in Spring!

Rain drops making ripples in an isolated lake…

The list goes on…..And you know what…All this is right in front of us…Every moment…Right now - If we care to open our eyes & ears..

….Being Stifled…Set me free

School Bus - 8.30 am

Lunch - 11.30 am (away from home)

Back on Bus…Street Corner - 4.30 pm

Math lessons - 5.30 pm

Science tuitions - Just after Math lessons

Music & painting classes - Every alternate days

Back home - 7.00 pm

Bath - Next 15 minutes

Quick re-union & some advises

Homework time - 7.30

Dinner - 8.30

Back to bed - Best time of the day ….

Just got up…..The school bus is waiting at the street corner…

Sounds familiar. That’s CHILDHOOD for you.

Marbles, Kites, Fish catching, stealing mangoes, roof-top music concerts, Half-day school, Day off with grand parents, Weekend getaway to zoos & of course Ice creams in summer…

Seems not too long away…

So, here’s what our children have for the golden years of their lives. We are inculcating market driven thoughts into our children even before the alphabets seem to be coming right. Education system thrives on fear, peer pressure, and a false sense of security for the parents…

Grades are the God. Go get it any cost … even if it means losing your life …That’s what our children fill their their hearts with - The hearts don’t beat to the tunes of Tagore’s songs any more.

So, is it so surprising that we have so many suicides just around the exam time …So many shootouts in some of the best schools in US.

Well, Parents, wake up and stop this assembly production of future Rat racers.

Let the childhood bloom & explore the secrets of life & nature. Rest will come in proper shape & time. Nature shaped the greatest minds in the history - Einstein, Edison, Henry Ford, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Shakespeare … Not The Coaching Institutes.

Boats, Bridges & Success

When the human beings were conceptualized - GOD said “Let there be light, let there be darkness - an then air, water, and fire - so that the new creation could sustain & evolve -

BUT then let there be 4 types of human beings -

Maintainers - Those who are flowing with the tide & are bound by sunrise & sunset

Distorters - Who are like uncontrolled fire & who challenge the truth & the good

Moderators - Who do the balancing act between the good & the bad. They are

the peacemakers.

Shapers - This group shape the destiny for themselves & others.

They challenge creativity & architecture.”

This post is about Shapers - This is about Einstein, Shakespeare, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Henry Ford, Edison……..and about a king who invaded his enemy by crossing a mighty river and then he did the unthinkable -

He burnt all his Boats & all the Bridges. His soldiers thought that their leader had either gone insane or has decided to go for the truce…But neither was true…On the other hand, their leader had just experienced the GREAT AWAKENING.

The day of the battle had come & the army was restless and then their leader was there in front of them - Calm, determined, and strong - He had this to say this to his army.

“Today, for the first time, I feel that i have really saved your lives even before the battle has begun. I have made you 1000 times more strong”

This statement made his followers even more confused and the King could sense the restlessness. He continued - “I have taken away all the options of retreat - all the options of defeat.

The only option is VICTORY. We are staying here until the war is won - until the boats are rebuilt - and until the bridges have been constructed from the enemy’s money & resources”

That is a great lesson in disguise.

OPEN OPTIONS ARE THE ENEMY OF GREATNESS & GREAT SUCCESS.

The lesser the options, the more focused we are, the more challenges we are going to face, and after all of it - the taste of success will be much sweeter.

The option is ours - To be Moderator, Maintainer, or The Shaper.

Good luck & Cheers!!

The tuning of Inner Guidance

This post is in response to one of the questions on Deepak Chopra’s Blog -

The navigation system inside our subconscious is there to be utilized and is present in all beings - but like the navigation system in a ship, the compass & its magnets need to be aligned properly …

There lies the CHALLENGE - How do we reach this stage of perfect alignment - Where every cell of our body is tuned to the signal coming out of the inbuilt guidance or Navigation system.

This is what the ancient sage and hermits set out to achieve - perfect physical, spiritual & karmic harmony.

This can be achieved by the common man - Once their reference point shifts from outside to the inside. That’s where we start reducing the size of our mental waves. Big storms turn into calm waters.

Decision making is on Auto-Pilot at that point. Resistance goes out of the Window and you have just put the best grease in your mental machine.

Of lives and livelihood…

Jeetu (Jeetan) is like most 14 year olds - Now, he must be 19 - Loved Cricket, Kishore kumar, Orchestra shows, Jeans, Flying kites….If he had time. He missed his mother whom he could not remember …but he could envision her - always - particularly during the rough patches - or when he had a show down with his father.

Jeetu had a flourishing shop where he assisted his father. The duo used to sell flowers & garlands for the dead - There small unit is at the banks of ganges where he serves the departed. Well that was his job since he became aware. Everyday he was witness to the ‘past, present & the future’ in different states of acceptance.

Then, in the evening, he would take 2 hours off - spent all of it in flying kites - as if this was the only way to dissociate with the world of the dead.

Jeetu was synonymous with fresh garlands - everybody wanted Jeetu’s garlands for their beloved ones - To show their appreciation & love genuinely.

Then, one day, Jeetus’ shop was closed - no flowers - The departed souls were really missing something eternal.

Everybody was looking for Jeetu - but he was busy - bidding adeau to his companion and father. He had no flowers for him.

Jeetu was back to work for the night shift - This time alone - Now, he could envision his parents. He was glad that he had a job.

Sukhdeo - An occasion for a smile

We are separated by a Highway - Amravati Road. The day starts with a wave of hand and that’s the way we acknowledge each other’s presence. By 8.30 am, Sukhdeo trudges in with the modest wares of his mobile shop. He sets up his shop and gets ready for the customers in the day time temperature range of 40 - 45 degree cent.

You might be thinking - What’s so special as to write a post? After all, there are millions of tea vendors out there. True.

Sukhdeo has a very modest existence - He keeps himself well with only a couple of shirts & pants and one slipper - His mother walks down in scorching heat to feed her son which he will savor while devouring the sports page of the local newspaper. At first, we would be amazed at his forecast of the cricket matches which was backed up by a complete understanding of the strengths & weaknesses of all the players. Cricket was a common thread between us & the super-analyst, Sukhdeo.

But, Is this the reason i am writing this post?

Smile is one of the most precious formations that lies between the 4 quadrants of nose, chin & the two ears. How many times do we see people grinning from ear to ear (like Julia Roberts in Pretty woman)? - Its becoming a scarce commodity in this fast paced robotic existence. Like everything else, we wait for a reason & a season to smile - But, then that’s the most unnatural demand on nature.

We are getting back to Sukhdeo.

Well, he continues to defy the trend. His jaws are in perpetual motion and apart from selling teas, Smiling also comes as a second habit to him - Although, myself & Shri would identify some undercurrent of pensiveness from time to time, Sukhdeo will brush it off without much ado. He makes a meagre Rs. 3000 / month (around 75 dollars) but then he might be the richest guys by Mother Teresa’s standards. For us, his smile replenishes our spirit, courage, and passion for a natural life every time we see him from our Office windows.

Well, That’s Sukhdeo for you - a common man with a big heart & an evergreen smile.