In Love

Standing on the banks of river, breeze was playing gentle on their faces…

He was calm and pristine in his looks as always…

She could sense her heart beating fast than ever before…

This happened to her only in front of him and she never knew the reason for same…

She: Why did you call me so late in the night?

He: I am in Love with you…

She: This is what only I fear…

Sensing the fear he put his arm around her…

And the comfort was immense to see the effect in her eyes…

He: You fear your existence being taken away?

She: You always know the answer, still you ask and that is what I hate of you…

He: Every time I see this fear in you, I feel like laughing as you know our embrace has and will always make us Immortal…

She: I know that, but, this time around I am in love with someone else…

He knew this was bound to happen every time he left her among them…

Still, he knew she will always be back, sometimes early sometimes little late…

And while she feel to let her be with them for few more days…

He: Love is not about attachment and we do beautifully teach them the same…

She: But, I can’t see them cry…

He loved this confrontation and flirtation with her...

As every other time, she did embrace him, but, with initial bit of resistance…

He: They cry for your physical being and not the soul within…

The cycle has come to an end, for new one to turn up again…

And this will happen if only you allow me to take you across the river for sometime…

Make you relax and send on a new mission…

She: But, how will they, the new ones, be with me?

He: The ones you are leaving behind were also some time back, New for you…

It is not the purity of yours will ever get contaminated…

It is the deeds of them which will taint the physical being of their own…

And nowhere a mark of you will be left behind…

She: Why can’t we be together forever in love…

He: You want our love to be immortal or our being with each other…

As being with each other, will create a sense of attachment…

And that only will not suffice our love…

We are on a mission forever and let not our understanding be taken over by emotion like them…

She: Some time back you did bruise with me, what was the reason then…

He: I thought you lost the purpose of your being…

So, just felt like reminding the path again…

I am sorry for the same, as it was not you who was wrong…

More important the lesson was learnt and the purpose was finished in due time…

She (A Glow in Her eye for His Love): So, that was just to have me back soon…

He (Felt shy in eyes, but, calm in mind): You can say that, as the time was running around fast…

With nowhere to lead and the purpose of yours forgotten…

I felt bad and thought of teaching a lesson that you are mine…

So, shall we make our way across the river…

She didn’t understand when she started walking with him along the river…

Calm was she now, as for some time, nevertheless small, she will be with her true love…

Just to be back on a new mission again…

P.S:

Characters over here are played by:

He: Soul of Death

She: Soul of Life

Referred to as Them / They / Their: We the Human Beings…

A New Way to Learn

As I am about to start with 2nd Innings of my blog: A Thinking Mind, which I hope was well received among all of you in the last season, new possibilities and responsibilities have been seen and experienced by my soul in the span between end of last innings and afresh in front of us.

To start with it is always something new which is welcomed across the globe, be it then good or bad. Like a child newly born will be welcomed across all the religions, cultures, rituals, and whatever present under the sun, but, the same child over a period of years will be judged by globe based on the thoughts and actions carried over by the very mind, heart, and shoulders of the same child.

So, for a new start, was just thinking of the way, by which, over the period of years we are made to ingrain thought process, and which build up our actions to shape the world around us and in overall totality.

It was a fine afternoon sometime in 2011, when I was nearing the end of my academic career in Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida, had a very good conversation with one of my very close friends: Bharat Pande, on the various ways implemented by us to learn every other day through our experiences.

Did I say: Nearing the end of my academic career? Yes, then I made a mistake.

Grace Llewellyn, an Educator, Author, and Publisher, says: Your life, time, and brain should belong to you, not to an institution.

This I personally feel applies to every one of you reading this blog, and to everyone else to whom I am unable to reach through my blog, cause of my limitations of not knowing the whole world. So, if all the 3 elements mentioned above belong to you, then why after passing out from an institution we are unable to grasp new things and unearth new knowledge from the old database.

For 1st part of learning new things, I feel relates mostly to the Attitude of a person, which determines the readiness to learn.

For 2nd part of unearthing new knowledge from the old database, this relates to thinking out of the box or having a new perspective for the same old thing learnt. This requires quite a lot effort, as it involves brain storming to understand something new from the one which we feel is ingrained in our thought process, and nothing else is required to be learned from the same.

In one of the articles, Learn How to Think Different(ly), on my favorite blog: Harvard Business Review, Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen effectively reason this ability of ours lacking to innovate:

If thinking different can make such a positive difference, why don't more people spend more time doing it? Researchers at Harvard Medical School opened our eyes to one compelling answer. Sixty to eighty percent of adults find the task of thinking different uncomfortable and some even find it exhausting. When adults must connect the unconnected through associational thinking, it wears them out. Why? Because most adults have lost the skills they once had (just watch almost every four-year old who relishes the chance to think different. And all of us were once four-year olds). We don't lose this skill because genetic coding automatically shuts it down on our twenty-first birthday. Instead, most of us grew up in a world where thinking different was punished instead of praised (at home or school). So while roughly one-third of anyone's innovation capacity comes from their genetic endowment, two-thirds of it is still driven by the environment.

*http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/09/begin_to_think_differently.html

Going back to that wonderful afternoon in Room No. 433 at Nalanda Boy’s Hostel, Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida, after refreshing myself with intellectual ability and oratory skills of Bharat, I was pondering upon a video which we saw during the discussion.

Nothing special as such this video was of. It showed the same age old story of: Hare and Tortoise, with same old moral: Slow and Steady Wins the Race. And I think it is the only way we are learning and will be teaching again to our next generation.

But, wait a minute. This moral is from the perspective of: Tortoise. Did we ever give it a point to think about the moral, which can be relevant in today’s competitive world, from the little sweet Rabbit’s point of view? The one which I came up with was something like this, and felt like sharing the same with all of you:

Don’t let yourself grip into the fancies of Rest/Leisure/Lethargic until and unless you achieve your goal/dream of life. Have No Mediocrity in your dream quest. Be Passionate, Sincere about the goal. Have Perseverance, Patience for until and unless it is achieved as per your own desire.

Alvin Toffler, a Writer, and Futurist, says: The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but, those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

So, it is this unlearning and relearning part which seems to be a herculean task.

I sincerely feel if we want to feel great and proud about ourselves, which is a natural human tendency for every human being, then this thought of legendary Chinese Teacher, Editor, Politician, and Philosopher: Confucius would be of great help:

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”

It is this noble cause of Reflection which can make us realize the potential residing inside us to think over the wisdom learned over past decades, and reinventing the same for renewed learning.

To have an another example of different knowledge extracted from the same old age story, let us get back to the one which over and over again imbibes in us the moral of: United We Stand, Divided We Fall. The story of: Farmer and His Sons, whom he teaches the moral by demonstration of Sticks.

I read this part given further in one of the calendar’s, which was presented by one of our distributor’s to the company where I am currently working, which has to be delivered without any dilution of the message:

A father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring a faggot of sticks and ordered them to break it in pieces. They all tried with all their strengths, one by one and were not able to do it. The father then opened the faggot and took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into his son’s hands, upon which they broke them easily.

The moral conveyed was to remain united like faggot and unity would be their strength.

But the inspiration derived is:

Nothing is particularly hard, if you divide it into small parts.

People, who get into trouble most often, are the ones, who are overwhelmed by the sheer size of their tasks/troubles, and then falter at the solving. When you face with huge tasks or lot of problems, never try (to do or solve) all at once in one go. Make them line-up one-by-one and then do and solve the one you are working on, before moving on the next one.

Use divide and conquer method to get big jobs done by breaking them to ‘bites’.

This Divide and Rule strategy we Indians are quite familiar with from our lessons of history, wherein English ruled us for over 100 years. So, why not learn the same for better purpose of: Dividing our insurmountable tasks of Professional as well as Personal Life.

To end this very First Post of 2nd Innings would like to refer over here Father of Management, and my personal God of Management Studies: Peter F Drucker

“We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.”

And to make all of our fancy Diplomas/Graduation/Post Graduation Studies seem of very little value, would like to give a very inspirational quote by, Eartha Kitt, Singer, Actress, and Cabaret Star:

“I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma.”

A Talk with Almighty

Sitting despair on the porch He was near the End…

The Almighty was on a stroll only to find Him Cluttered…

Ignoring The Lord seemed to Him as a mean to surpass the Fate…

Smiling at His agony The Divine made the way near the Gate…

Him: At last you are here to take me away (and the anger had its way out)…

Lord: Calm down my Son, need not worry until I have your acceptance (a gentle pat on the head)...

Him: Are you mad to ask me the same and take me to the place where I have never been (unable to understand the purpose)…

Lord: Were you here ever before the day I sent you, and that day too you cried (understanding the nature within)…

Him: Because you threw me away from your own closet, and now you want me to be taken aback…

Lord: They were ready to accept you then, and now the rejection is on the upsurge, I cannot see you like that…

Him: It is the part and parcel of life, which you have only created, but, now I be love them the most…

Lord: You are my instrument to spread the word of Values; Ideals; and Wisdom to the mankind…

Interrupting the Lord

Him: Still you want me away from the one where I have my own purpose created by you…

Lord: Shall I complete my Son, you have worn out in the way of making people learn and I need to overhaul you for the same…

Him: Do it right away, and I will be back on my mission…

Lord: I can sympathize with you, but, you are old and they need always new to learn…

Him: It means you will change me…

Lord: No my Son, the flesh has rotten and it needs to be pulled off, but, the soul is intact inside the frame…

Will give you the new skin, but, with your own self beneath, to be on the mission again…

Him: What if, till then others lose out the purpose of living…

Lord: Are you confident enough of your teachings, then that won’t be the case…

Your heart is meant to stop, but, not your Wisdom… Let the thought prevail and you be remembered for a long way, until you come again with a renewed passion and you would never know you will be praising your own self along with others for the deeds in the past…

You have ingrained your soul in hundreds of them, and let them carry forward the goal…

A day will come when their flesh will rot and till the time, you will be in the charge again…

The life is meant to enjoy at fullest with a purpose and you have completed the same early, for which I am proud of, as you can work upon new things quicker than others, as and when you are back…

Him: Is it true that I would be back…

Lord: Trust me Son, your soul is needed here, and I just want you to be in a renewed frame…

I want this creation of mine to sustain for a long time, and that is why I created you to be into Start – End mode, but, not the creation itself…

I again repeat: Let the Values; Ideals; and Wisdom prevail for each and every one to understand the purpose of this creation and make it always as a Happy; Healthy; and Evolving destination for the innumerable soul created right there up above…

Shall we then make the way my Son…

Him: I am here Almighty at the Gate…

As I have already submitted the Fate…

Sitting despair on the porch others witnessed His End…

He was all smiles for now the secret being known…

As He will be back soon with a renewed frame only to sustain the Creation He loved…

P.S:

Sharing a recent incident happened with me, to think upon our Intellectual Abilities rewarded with Degree:

I was travelling back from office in company’s bus… Roads were crowded as usual… At one of the cross road, when our bus was waiting for its turn to go ahead, I noticed something unusual…

An elderly couple was trying to cross the road from the half way, but, due to traffic found it difficult… Literates in terms of Degree like: Men, Women, Youngsters, and Couples, were in hurry on their respective vehicles to reach their desired places early… When, a person of age around 50, looking like a construction worker, seemingly illiterate in terms of degree, did his bit in helping the elderly couple to cross the road…

My heart saluted the illiterate and felt ashamed of knowledge we get in our aesthetically designed course curriculum…

I got my turn the same evening, when I was able to help an elderly uncle to cross the road, where situation was the same in my neighborhood… Then only I realized being worth Literate of Course Curriculum called: Life…

Take care and have a nice time…

What to Follow

It has always been my passion to see myself: Standing in front of crowd, giving them a talk about: Right and Wrong of Life (Though everyone else is aware of the same better than me); Management Ideas to keep the System Sustainable and Progressive at the same time (This is something most Simple and a salt of common sense is required).

I do visualize sometimes: Having loads of followers and they cheering/applauding for each and every word of what I say from the stage. Sounds like a dreamy affair :)

Way back, when I started this blog on 2^nd June, 2010, I really never expected to have 61 followers. Did create Facebook page, but, in terms of future prospects, and it got around 41 people known to me liking the same.

Sometimes, I do feel proud about the same, though there are millions of Blogs and Facebook Pages, which have Fan Following and Likes uncountable, and the reality is: I don’t stand anywhere in the crowd, let then my dream of standing in front of the crowd.

But, at the same time, a question arises at the threshold of my brain and it pops up: Does mere listening/applauding to someone’s talk or appreciating someone’s work make you a follower of the same, or is it walking on the same path as of your role model, which in true sense makes you a committed student of his/her.

Now, again don’t misunderstand the concept of: Walking on the same path. Most of you must be having your role model as: Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, or someone else. But, it doesn’t apply that you should take up your career as: Acting or Sports, etc.

Rather it would mean, to perceive the passion of fighting back from dire circumstances of life, slowly, but, diligently, as most of our role models (including the 2 listed above) have done in their life, be then that related to personal or professional trauma.

A talk on this title had seeds sown, during the recent drive of ‘Anna Hazare against Corruption in India’. As they say: ‘Charity begins at home’, the first person to receive criticism on the concept of ‘Followers/Likes’ from me was my father only.

Now, my father is a 55 year old person, who has fought his own battle through lows of life and who better than his son would be a witness for the same. He has always kept pace with modern times and is ardent user of Social Networking sites for spreading of ‘Philosophical Messages/Criticism of Government Policies’ etc.

One fine day, I just checked out him visiting the Facebook Page of ‘Anna Hazare’ and ‘Quit Corruption India’, and while this was happening with lakhs of supporters of the grand old man fighting for the noble cause of the country, I gave it a thought.

Does Liking the Facebook Page/Follower of Blogs, in relation to or by your role model, make you a person of Integrity, and Character as same as of your role model? How can you guarantee a person pressing Like button on Facebook, is not indulging him/herself in corrupt practices in his/her real life. Also I don’t want to criticize the person for his/her past deeds of corruption, as it is always good to start at some point of your life, but, are these people or so called followers were/are following the same path, which Anna was/is asking the Government of India to follow. I want to question the same to all of those who did the same by just Liking that Networking Site’s Page or certain Blog on the topic or even to them who participated in huge rallies conducted across India.

I am not against the usage of Social Networking Sites for spreading messages, which I am also using nearly from last 1 and half year period, but, I am against the mentality which is driving us today. At the end of every day I like to question myself, if I have followed what I have written in my Blog.

‘Gandhigiri’ doesn’t mean just having a Wall Paper/Wall Portrait of Father of Nation in our home or office, but, to follow the path of Truth in each and every act and word of our life.

As rightly quoted in one of the Scenes of: Lage Raho Munnabhai:

“Woh naujawan ke haath main patthar dene ka, aur bolne ka ke bapu ka full putla gira do… Yeh full country main bapu ka jitna bhi putla hain na, sab ko gira do… Bapu ki jitni bhi tasveer diwar pe latkeli hain na, sab ko hata do… Woh kya hain ke har building, note, board, road se bapu ka naam nikal do… Agar bapu ko rakhne ka hich hain, toh apne dil main rakho na… Samjha kya idhar rakhna mangta heart main heart main… Arey kya nahi kiya usne apun ke liye, jail gaya, fasting kiya, ek dhoti pehen ke akhey country ka round mara, goli bhi khaya idhar idhar… Aur apun ne uske liye kya kiya, ek tasveer banakar diwar pe latka diya, aur uske niche aaram se rishvat leta hain”

While reading one of the posts on HBR (Harvard Business Review) Blog, I came across a recent article, which was written after tragic death of the legend Steve Jobs. I would sincerely recommend all of you to go through that post once, and you would then only be able to appreciate the thinking which I am trying to imbibe in your mind.

Link: http://blogs.hbr.org/hbreditors/2011/10/on_dr_ralph_steinman_and_steve.html

In the post, there is one particular paragraph, which captures the essence of that article and most probably of this one also, which goes like this:

And somehow, Dr. Steinman is not someone we’d choose. Maybe this says more about the perfunctory* nature of social media and its ability to create an echo chamber of thoughtless attempts to be part of the conversation. What does it cost me, really to click like, or swap out a picture, or link to a YouTube video, or profess to the world that a phone has fundamentally changed my existence?

(*The word Perfunctory means: Unthinking)

What We Do?

Place: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

Match: India vs Australia

Brad Hogg took Sachin Tendulkar's wicket. At the end of the match Hogg gave that ball to "Sachin" for autograph. "Sachin" signed it with one beautiful sentence: "It will never happen again".

Till this second Hogg could not take his wicket for the second time. After this incident Brad Hogg and Sachin Tendulkar came face to face 21 times. But, he could never get the Master Blaster out.

This is how the status update of one of my connection on Linkedin looked like after the World Cup 2011 Quarter Final Match between: India and Australia.

A brief thought on this gave me a chance to interact with all of you on the title for this post.

Now, how can Sachin Tendulkar or for that matter Brad Hogg be related to: What We Do in our life. But, it is not just about our doing, but, also largely related to our behavior in this society.

Just think about it: Little Master signs a ball with a sentence and he gives his perfect to stick to whatever he had written on that ball.

This news or update might not be holding any truth (I didn’t even try to check about the same), but, at the same time we can just look at the career graph of Master Blaster and indeed he is an example of: Practice makes Man Perfect.

Now, ask yourself a question which forms a title for this post. I asked myself the same and came up with an interesting analysis of human behavior.

Take up an example:

2 friends: A and B. They are fast friends, let say from Graduation days. Now, comes the most hurtful day ever of any graduation student. In a day everything is finished after final examination. Each of them gets on to a different route in search of a destiny. Promises are made: Keep in touch, Stay in contact.

For next 6 months or say 1 year, the contact is kept, but, slowly the link starts weakening itself. A kind of Self Respect gets initiated in each of them which say: Why should I contact, and the count of: Who contacted first to the other one, starts.

Reading this might seem silly to each one of you, but, do agree with this: It happens or is it that we let it happen? Why we expect the other front to contact us at the first place, if we are only not ready to initiate?

There is a saying: Have new friends, but, not at the cost of old ones.

A proverb in hindi: Pyaar karna aasan hota hain, par usey nibhana bahut mushkil.

Sachin did love cricket, but, he didn’t stop at that. He did give everything to the game for last 22 years and is still striving hard to do the same.

Why it happens then with all of us: To make love with friends at the first place and at the time when we are supposed to give justice to the bond made, we just drop off the responsibility.

Again whatever I am saying herein is not applicable only to: Love or Relationships. Look at anything and you would find out that everything under the sun is bound with this.

When was the last time, you gave your perfect to something which was supposed to be done in a team, and didn’t crib about the partner involved in doing it with you?

We always ask someone else to be perfect, but, what about you being perfect at the first place. Do we ever ask our self a question before cribbing about someone: Have we given in our best to the job being done?

I would love to quote herein Peter F Drucker (Father of Management) from his article on “How to Make People Decisions” for HBR (Harvard Business Review) July – August, 1985 edition:

‘If I put a person into a job and he or she does not perform, I have made a mistake. I have no business blaming that person’.

This is my personal favorite, guiding me to try it hard each and every other day of life to be good, I don’t know how much successful I am in this, but, it is never bad to give it in a try.

The quote of Drucker is for professional life. Think of the same in your personal life in a different perspective: If you are not in contact of your very dear friend, for say last 5 years, then: Who is at fault?

I agree other side is at fault, but, at the same time we are also equal shareholder of the wrong done and not the only one side has to be held responsible. But, at the end of the day, it is very easy to crib about someone’s imperfection, than to introspect our own doing.

We can have numerous examples like Little Master, wherein, the commitment to something is not just for the sake of it, but, the responsibility is also carried upon shoulder.

To make it simpler and sound better the title of this post, let me describe you in brief: Want and Need.

Would like to point out the ‘Wants’ of human life, and it never has a red signal to it. A human being is always looking in for:

Good Parents; Good Relatives; Good Friends; Good Education; Good Job; Good Life Partner; Good Children; Good Government; Good System; Good Life and at last, we are so greedy that we want A Good Death also.

Now, how about thinking the other way round, or do we ever give it a try about the Need for us to be:

Good Child; Good Relative to someone; Good Friend of someone; Good Student; Good Employee; Good Life Partner of someone; Good Parent; Good Citizen; Being Good to our own Life and Death also.

As it is not in our control regards to, how one should behave with us, but, at least our own behavior should 

be in control of us.

Would like to share with you a story, by which I am very impressed, and will feel really blessed if someday in my life, I would be able to behave the same. This was narrated by: Prof. Ankita Batla, during one of our MBA Lectures in last trimester, for subject: Managing Mind, Body, and Soul.

A child, (we will call him: Ram), was very much fond of sweets, and used to munch upon them twice or thrice in a day. Ram’s mother was worried due to his habit, and always made an effort that he should be able to cope with his health and there should not be any ill effects of the same on her child. But, somehow she was unable to handle Ram’s habit, and day – by – day; she started getting tensed for his health.

Ram was ardent follower of Gandhiji. So, one fine day his mother thought of sharing the anxiety of hers with Mahatma. She did the same by going with her child to Mahatma’s Ashram in Sabarmati. After listening to her, Gandhiji didn’t comment on the same and asked her to come with child the next week.

She did come with her child the very next week, but, again after listening to her same anxiety, Gandhiji asked her to come the next week. This continued for nearly 6 weeks, but, as Ram’s mother was pretty much worried about his health, she would patiently listen to Mahatma’s words and return every next week.

In 7^th week, after listening to her problem, Mahatma asked Ram to sit near him, and told him in a very calm tone: “Ram, listen to me eating too much of sweets are not good for your health, so please refrain from them as much as possible”.

Hearing this, Ram’s mother was astonished, and in an enraged tone, she asked Mahatma: “What is this, you would have said the same to him, on the very 1^st day also, when I visited you with him for the same purpose. Why you kept calling us then every week, and that too after 6^th week, so plainly asking him to stop the sweets?”

On this Gandhiji answered: “My child, I was also very much fond of sweets the day when you came here for the 1^st time. At that time, I didn’t have any right to ask Ram, to stop eating sweets, as I was also doing the same. All these 6 weeks, I refrained from having sweets, and now I am very much confident that I can be away from the same, so I have got this right now only to ask the same to Ram”.

Ram’s mother had tears in her eyes for whatever she just listened from Mahatma, and touched his feet in gratitude.

Just give it a thought after reading this real life incident of Mahatma’s life, and question ourselves: Do we really stand in terms of: Integrity, Responsibility, and Commitment anywhere near to this great persona.

I have been writing articles/poems on various topics from last around 1 and a half year, but, at the same time a sense of responsibility is shouldered upon me, which sometimes ask me: Do you also stick to whatever written in these posts. As it goes very simple in learning curve of life: Practice as you Preach.

Answer this one now: Who is the best person in this world, who can judge you on your every right/wrong behavior and who can guide you on the right path, if and only if this is done without any biasing?

I am pretty much sure, for everyone it would be they only.

So, give it a try and start introspection of your own self, than someone else, and ask every other day of your life: Is it that I learnt/preached to someone, that I am practicing right now, and you will surely go into a deep thought of: What we do?