O Father, Father!!

Once upon a time, Father and son were sitting on the porch. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and the father was enjoying the time with his kid, “Grown up” kid. Suffering from fractional sightlessness, the father’s vision was not able to spot a beautiful kiwi bird sitting on grill of the veranda. Since the father lost his hearing aid a day before, his hearing faculty was not up to the mark. Just when the father heard a faded chirp besides him, he got inquisitive to know about the bird. He asked his son- “My beloved son, please tell me which bird is this”. The son told him that it’s a Kiwi bird. Unable to hear clearly, the father asked again. Again the same reply, with an aggravated tone, “Kiwi Bird”. Cautiously, the father asked the same query. The son lost his temper and screamed, “Father don’t you see, I am doing my work. Why are you irritating me like this? I don’t know about the bird”. The father got up from his chair, and peacefully walked down to his old room. After 30 minutes, the father went to the porch with an old, worn-out book. He sat beside his son and started reading few lines. The old man’s diary read- 21 December 1981- “I have become a father of a healthy 3 kg son. He looks stunning. The feeling cannot be described in words……..” (Rest of it could not be read because it got wiped off by the happy tears of the father). The father flipped few pages and the page dated 21 December 1983 read- “My son is 2 years now. He is the cutest baby. He called me ‘Papa’ today. I felt so contented that I invited all the relatives for a celebration.” The page dated 21 December 1985 read- “Today was my son’s first day to school. He came back with his tiny little bag. Aww.. He is so adorable and charming. He asked me the spelling of LION. My little son did not understand the spelling at the first go. I made him learn the spelling again and again. It was at my 30th effort, that he was able to write LION. Every time my son asked me to spell LION, I got so thrilled; I got so happy that my little darling angel is learning to write his very first word. If he would have asked me this same question 100 times, my happiness would increase with each of his question”

The moment, the father completed reading this line; the son broke down in tears. Afterall, the father had asked just 2 times about the “Kiwi bird”, and the son lost his temper!!
On the other hand, the father was filled with joy when his 4 year old son asked him the spelling of Lion.

Our parents love us a lot. They are the very few people on earth who shower their unconditional and unrestricted love on us. The mother has sacrificed her sleep, so that her child can sleep serenely. She has given up her beautiful sari to buy her “little princess daughter”, her first prom dress. The father would do anything to see his son on top. He is the only male in the world who would want the son to exceed his stature in society.

Why after all this, we leave our parents in old age? Why after so much unconditional love, the son thinks that his father is not intellectual enough to solve his day to day tribulations. The person, who taught you to solve problems in mathematics, is assumed to be a problem in old age. Why it happens that the people who taught you how to walk, become an obstacle in your “run” for wealth, fame and money.

Aren’t we losing out on our treasure, our real treasure, Our Parents?

They have done enough for us, its time for us to repay the gratitude to them. It’s our time to hold their hand and assure them that come what may, we will give them all the happiness possible on earth. Let our vision be for them. Let our eyes be the doorway for them to see the world. Let our ears be totally dedicated to them, to hear the beautiful and magnificent music of life.

Let us all be proud of our parents, for we owe a lot to them!!

Graduating from Life

What should you do with rest of your life? About three thousand years ago, a Jewish king named Solomon aired his opinion on the subject. As he put it, he "wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives".

Solomon was an interesting character, and he had a lot going for him. He was intelligent. Indeed, this sage king still has the reputation of being the "wisest man who ever lived". He also had the means to do practically anything he wanted to do. In his old age, Solomon found time to reflect on his lifelong experiences. And he passed his thoughts down in writing. He starts off by telling us that everything in life is meaningless. "I know, because I have seen it all. You name it, I've done it. I not only did it, but I did it in a big time, kingly fashion. I denied myself nothing, nothing at all. But looking back on it now, I can tell you none of it amounted to a hill of beans."
"What do you think is worthwhile in life? The pursuit of pleasure? I had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines. I had music from men and women singers; all the wine I could drink; and a palace full of people falling all over themselves doing everything they could think of to get in my good graces. "Sure, it is enjoyable up to a point. But when you get everything you want whenever you want it, you quickly discover how meaningless pleasure really is.
"Here is what I've learned: Whenever you seek pleasure, pleasure eludes you. The only way you may find pleasure is by seeking something else first. It could be nothing more than paying someone a sincere compliment, or giving someone a hand with an unpleasant task.
"The idea is that when you least expect it, happiness suddenly bubbles up like a well inside of you. You don't find pleasure; pleasure finds you. Pursuing pleasure is like chasing after the wind.
"If not pleasure, then what? Wealth? Do you think you should dedicate your life to the pursuit of wealth? I had houses, vineyards, gardens, parks, fruit trees, reservoirs watering groves of trees, slaves, more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem, horses and chariots, and more silver and gold than anyone can imagine. I had it all. But if money and things could buy happiness, then I would have been the happiest man that ever lived. "But what did I discover? Just this: Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. A rich man doesn't even sleep well at night. He's too worried about his money. "Money has its uses, but don't lose perspective. We were born naked, and when we die, we're going to take with us just what we brought into this world. Whatever we acquire will be left to someone who had not worked for it."
If neither pleasure nor wealth are worthwhile pursuits, how about the scholarly pursuit of knowledge?
"Oh yes, I spent a great deal of time in study. I learned everything I could about every subject under the sun. That's how I got my reputation for wisdom. It didn't fall out of a tree, you know. What did I find out? Only this: The more you learn, the more you discover there is to know. Even the brightest of us are ignorant of many things. Certainly, wisdom is better than foolishness, but remember, in a few years, both the wise man and the fool wind up in the grave. Before long both are forgotten."
So, pleasure, wealth, and knowledge all have limited value. What's left? Work? "Yes, I worked. I built houses, planted vineyards, gardens, parks, fruit trees, and groves of trees. I delighted in my work. That was my reward."Of course, it was merely a temporary 'feel-good-about-it' sort of thing. In the long run, all of our toil is useless. Whatever you make, you can't take with you. And in due course, whatever we create will be torn down or destroyed and soon forgotten."
So, the wise man threw a wet blanket over most of the things people devote themselves to today. Then what should we do? How should we spend our brief time on earth?
The answer is simple: "A man can do nothing better than to eat, drink and find satisfaction in work. Enjoy life with the one you love. Be happy and do good as long as you live. Whatever you do, do it with all the might because you never know when life might end. "While we are young, enjoy life as much as possible. But don't forget, God will judge everything we do. The years slip by quickly. Infants turn into youths, youths into adults, adults into middle age, and middle age into old age. It doesn't take long at all. "All too soon, the troubles and afflictions of age sap the strength and weaken the mind. Then death calls your number and body returns to the ground from where it came, and soul returns to God who gave it."
Solomon concludes his advice with this warning: "God will bring every deed into judgment including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked."
Has Solomon's 3,000-year-old advice stood the test of time?
Some things have changed. Primarily, we have more gadgets these days than they had back in his time. But our basic choices remain the same. We can dedicate our lives to pleasure, money or possessions, or knowledge, or work. Then again when we reflect on the brevity of life, the certainty of death, and the promise of judgment, we might decide Solomon knew what he was talking about.But what about God judging the good and wicked? The moral law certainly implies that God cares about us, what we do with our lives, and the choices we make. Also our longing for justice, often frustrated in this life, leads us to believe, we will get whatever we are due in the world to come. By the end of the book, Solomon reaches a different conclusion: Life has a point after all. Our sojourn can best be described as a sort of boot camp or school of hard knocks. We are here to learn. Learn what? Learn that pleasures, money, possessions, knowledge, and work all have only limited value. None of these pursuits should be the focal point of our lives.
Our primary task is to develop character, that is, a certain type of character. Earth, we discover, is nothing more than a large training centre for character. Those who graduate have learned their lessons on: fair play, unselfishness, humility, courage, faithfulness, honesty, truthfulness, and treating others with respect.

The Platinum Handshake

Golden Rule: Others would like to be treated the way “you” like to be treated

Platinum Rule: Treat others the way “they” want to be treated.

Well, these are the two set of laws which most of the Top Leaders pursue. Not only leaders, but people who have established a definite stature in the society, quite agree with these above mentioned rules. But if we examine the two statements in seclusion, they transmit two separate ideas.

The first rule, the “Golden Rule” is based on the hypothesis that the population would respond in a similar fashion in almost all state of affairs. For example, if confronted with a unconstructive grave proclamation on my outfit, I would have a tendency to retort in the similar way to that of my coworker; or in that case my response to a pleasing and flattering remark would be quite analogous to that of my best friend.

On that contrary, the second rule, the “Platinum Rule”, runs on the postulation that the people would react quite differently when faced with a similar episode. Since people have different set of values, dissimilar interests, their comeback on a particular event would be quite divergent.

The corollary of the Golden rule holds quite true in case of various marketing campaigns. Our greatest Marketing Gurus state that understanding the human behavior, of its target audience, would facilitate an organization to sell its products and services in the most competent and lucrative approach. In short, they segment their product and services for different set of audience and come up with dissimilar campaigns. Well, major corporate giants use this rule for their advertising crusade. For example; IBM came up with their punch line- “Don’t sell what you have, sell what they need”, clearly wanted them to be positioned as someone who understands their customers better that any of their rivals.

I stoutly believe that the Golden rule has become obsolete and it’s time for the Platinum Rule. “Customization is the key”. It is the time when the companies are particularly targeting on the segmentation of the population.

On the personal front, treating people based on the “Platinum Rule” would be the wisest thing to do. Two girls, Anjali and Pooja, best of friends, had a heated argument one day. Anjali was quite a sensitive person and she got furious when Pooja gave a “blunt” healthy advice to her. Pooja, on the other hand, was a very candid and an outspoken person. Her intention was not to hurt Anjali; rather she wanted her to improve in a particular area. Pooja, being a candid person herself, would not feel bad if someone gave a suggestion on her improvement areas. She assumed that, just like her, Anjali would not feel offended by her statement. Consequently the relationship got strained because Pooja was following the Golden Rule, the rule which said that, others would like to be treated the way “you” like to be treated.

If Pooja would have given Anjali the same advice in an ambassadorial fashion, Anjali would not have felt awful.

This fictitious example gives us an idea on how we can improvise on our relationships with our Clients, Our Parents of for that matter, our friends. It’s an era of Customization and the time of Platinum rule is now.

The Jerry Side of It !!

“We have to pay attention to what the child in our heart tells us. We must not allow this child to be scared because then the child is alone and is almost never heard.”

Last night, I was feeling really down because of diverse things. Sitting comfortably on my couch, I was thinking about the jagged era I am going through. Numerous issues were bothering me. Questions like- Will I ever be able to play at some Gig? Will I ever be able to strum “Hotel California” on my guitar? Am I on the right career trail?

Just when I was utterly lost in my thoughts, I clicked onto a “savior channel”. This was Cartoon Network. A cat was chasing a mouse with high bouts of dynamism. This cat never gave up, neither the mouse faltered running away. Yes, you got it right! It was our very own “Tom and Jerry”.

Examinaning their efforts, I thought, that how easily we, in our every day lives, give up on our dreams, the dreams which would give us gargantuan contentment. Everyday we leave our dwelling with a spanking new determination to accomplish something, with a resolve to achieve something King-Size. Alas, we give up so easily when faced with an unfavorable state of affairs. The vulnerable efforts perish long before the initial stages of a voyage, to Victory.

The Spirit of “Tom & Jerry” is of grand inspiration to all of us. Even when Tom is thrown down from a 1000 feet tall structure, still he manages to get up and proceed with his never ending Endeavour to chase Jerry. Correspondingly, Jerry, with his entire valor, tries to flee the courageous chase of Tom. It gave me immense motivation when I saw the “half tailed Tom” running after Jerry. He didn’t give up, He would never give up.

The clear message is “Never- Ever Give up on your dreams”

“The universe always helps us fight for our dreams, no matter how foolish they may be. Our dreams are our own and only we can know the effort required to keep them alive”- By The River Piedra I sat Down and Wept

Bonafide Equality

"Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity"- Lord Acton

The chiefs of the three armed forces were recently exempted from the security checks. In the build up to this decision you get arguments like. “It is a shame that India cannot accord a small privilege to the people who guard the country”. Well, this concern was taken up, and the government finally gave in and decided to give privilege of security checks to these people. All the ministers supported this decision and said that there is no need for security checks for people who secure the borders. No Big Deal? All is well that ends well?

NOT REALLY. The basic hypothesis for this or any other VIP privilege is that a certain person’s time and pride is more important than that of an ordinary citizen like you and me. But the question is, aren’t we breathing in a democratic country? This thing is utterly out of my perceptive about the democracy. As far as my understanding of a democracy is concerned, it clearly reflects that no politician, no minister no Prime Minister can be a VIP. A dictator can be assumed and treated as a VIP but not a person who is elected to lead and not to rule the country.

In a supposed equitable society, my cook, my driver, my boss should have the same value to that of a Prime Minister, at least on paper. We can’t afford to have a government sanction for discrimination.

Why should an ordinary folk stand in serpentine queues at security checks, immigration offices while bureaucrats, ministers easily get there by breaking all the queues?
Why does a government sticker on a vehicle exempt it from paying the toll tax?

Again, we need to understand that we need not treat our leaders as rulers or masters. If we are going to treat these people as rulers, there is a guarantee that we would be pushed around. Please give this a consideration. If an ordinary citizen jumps a red light, it is assumed as a crime, but on the other hand we sanction the jumping and privileges of public servants. Isn’t that unfair?

Some people might argue, that they are doing their duty. Even if we take this statement to be accurate, still these people cannot get liberty to bypass the laws which are applicable to ordinary citizens. If they are really “public servants”, they should volunteer to be the last ones in the queue.

Even a Narayan Murthy or a Tata travelling to seal a deal that will get employment to 1000s has to stand in queues and suffer multiple security checks. So if one is to think that important people are VIPs that certainly isn’t true. I anyway am not asking for exemptions for any businessmen but for equality.

This whole situation adversely affects the long term prosperity of the country. These politicians get so much used to the preferential treatment, that they would do anything to keep in power.

Lastly, if politicians stop being VIPs, we would certainly see a reduction in the mistrust and dislike which is quite evident in amongst the masses today. If I am not mistaken Mahatma Gandhi spent his life living like a Common Man. A true nationalist/ democrat must get in line along with the countrymen.

The Everyday Patriotism

A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of all humankind. These words of encouragement by a great person (Dr. Daisaku Ikeda)- who has transformed numerous personal sufferings into brilliant creative energy- are profound and fortifying

Isn’t this a powerful declaration? Indeed it is, at least for me.

There are countless instances, when we assume that how can an individual, transform the fate of a nation. We think that we are excessively powerless and unaided to do anything that would facilitate us to see a dazzling and vibrant nation. As a matter of actuality we have radically underrated our potential.

I have thought about few things that might facilitate us in moving up one rung higher to a great nation.

Clean Country, Vibrant Country: In our every day lives we come crossways with people who treat the roads as a garbage bin. They stray around throwing wastes on the street. Regrettably, majority of us boorishly spew out on the lane. Why do we have to do that? If we keep our home neat and hygienic, why do we mess up our Big Home, Our Nation? If we have a crap plastic bag with us, all we can do is, bowl it in a bin. I am confident that, by doing this we would get enormous satisfaction. There would unquestionably be a sentiment that we have contributed in our own slight approach.

Let the Tranquility triumph: Let’s not be short tempered. Most of us have a tendency to squeal at a person driving frantically. Quite often we misplace our temper on trivial things. We are driven by intense jealousy towards our colleagues, friends and various other people. Without giving a ensuing consideration, we screech at them in a fit of rage. We undoubtedly can’t afford to breathe in an environment of copious hatred and abhorrence. In order to see the country in a serene status, we have to thrust aside the hatred feeling from our hearts.

Stand by the Country: In every relation, nothing is worse than ingratitude. Same holds true for our bond with the country. Whenever, India wins a cricket match or an Olympic Gold Medal, we take pride and brag around. But whenever something grisly happens, when position ourselves as someone who has nothing to do with the prevailing state of affairs. Let us vow to stand with the country in time of crisis. Let’s not just go about complaining on a variety of gaps. Let’s set an illustration of Unity, for the humanity.

Education devoted to the Motherland: Many of us are obsessed with fame and personal profits. In this fixation, we fail to think about our very own country. There are many people who, after carrying out their education, opted to settle overseas and serve other nation. They consider that living in their country would not assist them in any way. They earn for themselves but somehow forget to re pay their gratitude to country. There was one person, who preferred to serve his country after finishing his studies from a premier institute. This real life hero was Shanmugam Manjunath (1978-2005), a marketing manager for the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) who was murdered for sealing a corrupt petrol station in UP. We can’t let his sacrifice go in drain. Let our profession contribute to the well being of our country.

It is my firm belief that if we bring about these little changes in our everyday lives, there would be a time when everyone would see India as a prosperous, flourishing and a thriving country. That would be the day of our eternal pride, our eternal victory, and our eternal glory.

Lastly, I would not fail to re pay my heartfelt gratitude to my mentor, Sensei Daisaku Ikeda, by sharing with you all, his thought ;

“No matter how harsh the realities or the adversities a society may face, if the people who make up that society are strong, they can become a driving force for a brilliant turnaround, recovery and growth, and succeed in leading society to prosperity”.

The Sensei Within

The Sensei is within us. Sensei is a Japanese Title used to refer or address a “Teacher”. I strongly believe that each one of us has Sensei within us, an educator who trains us to distinguish between the right and wrong. In other terms, Sensei symbolizes our inner consciousness. It is inherent in each human. Quite frequently we turn down the voice of our inner consciousness which results in something ghastly happening to us.

I have been practicing Buddhism, and it teaches that we as human have the potential and competence of achieving the unattainable. The power resides within us. It’s exclusively up to us how and when we plan to unleash the human potential. Nichiren, a 13th century Buddhist reformer, based his teachings on the Lotus Sutra and its core message of the dignity and self respect of all life. According to this sutra, all people possess and can manifest the Buddha nature--an unconstrained, intrinsic life state of freedom which enables them to create value out of any situation. But the big question is, if we have the potential to manifest the Buddha nature, why do we undermine such immense power and leave it unexplored. I leave this query for you to answer.

Quite habitually we leave our cheerfulness and pleasure on the external sources. Our bliss completely depends on the mercy of someone else. Also, we base our frame of mind on the occurrence or non occurrence of something in the environment and this justly makes us very feeble and fragile. This happens because the human race doesn’t scamper on our sugary and sweetened will; neither do people act in response as we would want them to. Sooner or later we would have to recognize the actuality, that only we can decide our level of contentment. That implies that our mind has to be focused, it has to be so stable and unwavering, that the external commentary cannot jeopardize our well being.

The focal point of our mind comes with meditation. Before sleeping we can take out at least 15 minutes and pay attention to what our Sensei (Inner Consciousness) has to teach. Plainly in that little time we would be able to classify, dos and don’ts of the day. We would be able to identify that what things could have been done in an improved way, so that we could organize ourselves for the approaching day. Next day, at the crack of dawn we can spare 5 minutes to sketch the plan for the entire day. I am sure that our teacher would channel us to do the apposite thing, because before each action we take, we get coded by our conscious of what is right or wrong.

Why do we have to penalize or punish ourselves, when we know that hurting oneself is affirmed a sin by the almighty? If we do so, we are challenging the will of God. Keeping oneself blissful and cheerful is the principal virtue. Only the person, who is happy, would be able to keep others happy. So the struggle starts right from our spirit and spreads out to our environment. A spiritual workout should be of chief importance. Working out on a daily basis through meditation makes a person high in spirits and keeps him in accord with the universe.

Let’s commence the day, with high spirits. Lets have a merry smile on our face when we leave our dwelling, before taking any action, lets just take note to what our Sensei has to say, and it would be then, we would be able to see a launch in the “Human Revolution” , our own Human Revolution.