Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The paradox of rich and poor...

Today is Diwali - the most important festival of Hindus; the festival in which we pray to Goddess Lakshmi to bestow us with happiness and prosperity. And, I am one of those few fortunate people, who have their parents to ensure that all the world's happiness - the one I deserve and the one which I do not - is all mine. To celebrate Diwali with some street food I went out around 9:00 pm with a thought in the mind that we might not get much food due to early closing of shops. To my happiness, I found BTW open. I jumped out of the car and ordered food; telling mom and papa that we are fortunate enough that a decent eating outlet is open. However, while collecting my Rawa Dosa and Aaloo Tikki from them, I realized that I was taking food from some really sad people. Then, I thought, that they, like me, would have desired to celebrate Diwali with their kids, their family. That it was almost 10 pm, the time by which they should have reached home, had their dinner and should have been spending beautiful time with their family. While taking the bite of delicious tikki and dosa, I felt if I was being selfish, if I was taking advantage of belonging to so called "better off" family, if it was "my" society, if I would also become selfish when I become a full-fledged part of the corporate world.....

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

When I was a child.....

When I was a child, I always thought good people were respected

When I grew up a little, I thought intelligent people were respected,

When I grew up a little more, I thought smart people were respected,

When I grew up still some more, I thought rich people were respected,

It has now turned out that people aren’t respected, it’s just money

Some more money, and yet some more of it.



When I was a child, I always thought innocent people were loved,

When I grew up a little, I thought hard working people were loved,

When I grew up a little more, I thought sincere people were loved,

When I grew up still some more, I thought people at high position were loved,

It has now turned out that people aren’t respected, it’s just power

Some more power, and yet some more of it.



When I was a child, I always thought life was all about my chocolates and butterscotch,

When I grew up a little, I thought life was about my dreams and desires,

When I grew up a little more, I thought life was about happiness of my loved ones,

When I grew up still some more, I thought life was about uprightness and his blessings,

It has now turned out that there are some, for whom, life is but a choice between survival and survival.



When I was a child, I always thought, I could be innocent forever,

When I grew up a little, I thought, I could be good forever,

When I grew up a little more, I thought, I could be honest forever,

When I grew some more, I thought, I could be ethical forever,

It has now turned out that, it is, but a choice between being bad and pretending to be good.



When I was a child, I always thought I was free,

When I grew up a little, I thought my senses were bound by my childlike wishes,

When I grew up a little more, I thought my heart was bound by love,

When I grew some more, I thought my mind was bound by respect,

It has now turned out that my soul is forged with the chains of selfishness, greed, wants and desires.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

I dreamt a dream

I dreamt a dream,
A dream of beautiful butterflies,
Of royal house, of lush-green garden,
Of peaceful doves, of deep blue water.

I dreamt a dream,
A dream of selfless love,
Of pure beauty, of blissful happiness,
Of innate satisfaction, of wise enlightment,

I dreamt a dream,
A dream of unwavering faith,
Of innocent smiles, of pure blessings,
Of honest heart, of conscious soul.

I dreamt a dream,
Woken up by the knocks of suspicion,
I saw the half-burnt souls, fake smiles,
Preferring slumber of ignorance

I dreamt a dream,
I dream my dream in every breath,
For my people, for my faith,
For His love, for His blessings!!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

My letter to an angel or i should say "The Angel"

My dearest angel,

Well, you're an angel - because you're good, way too good. But you're an enlightened angel, in the sense that you know everyone out here isn't as good or even a neg less good as you. Also, you have some counted people in your life whom you respect and who you think are good people. However, it so happens at times that the people who "appear" to be good turn out to be just the same - selfish, political and callous. And it hurts! Yes, it does! I agree, I understand or at least that's what I claim.
Now, I want to tell you a story and here it goes( I always speak before you can ask me to just shut my mouth):
There was a sage called Uttanka who stood in the middle of the desert.  He was suddenly thirsty. He remembered a promise made to him by Krishna long ago, “I will bring you the nectar of the gods whenever you genuinely yearn for it.”  Yes, that is what Uttanka genuinely wanted at that moment: nectar of the gods.   He shut his eyes and wished for it.  He opened his eyes expecting a smiling Krishna to stand there with a cup brimming with sparkling nectar.  There was no Krishna. There was no one, just a vast sandy emptiness stretching to the horizon.
Uttanka was irritated.  He shut his eyes once more and wished for nectar and remembered Krishna fervently.  This time when he opened his eyes, he saw a beggar covered with filth holding a dirty stinking bowl in his hand. It contained water. “Drink,” said the beggar, “You look thirsty.”  Uttanka turned away from him, repelled by his ugliness. The beggar went away.
Uttanka was now parched. In fury he yelled, “Keep your promise, Krishna.”  A voice boomed from the sky, “I did. I forced Indra to offer you a bowl of nectar.   He just did. And you just refused.”  It dawned on Uttanaka that the filthy beggar who offered him a bowl of water was actually Indra offering him nectar.  He had assumed how Indra should look.  He had paid a price for his assumption.
 Keeping faith on your linguistic skills, and being brief( apparent to myself) I assume you understood what I so very wanted to convey - "You had an assumption, a long one, so much so that it had become hypothesis of some of your actions or so to say and now that the hypothesis has fallen flat, you must pay the price. Negotiate the price, and ensure that you pay the minima. That's the game theory way! Just do it!"
Now that you have listened so much, I'll come to our actual terminologies - yes, you guessed it right - Digital Signal Processing. It's like a Gibb's Phenomenon. In an ideal situation, all the happiness is in the fat main lobe and the side lobes tend to zero energy.However, being an electronics engineer with DSP major you know that there are two "prominent" side lobes with the main lobe. Trust me, but this one was one of those prominent lobes.
So, the last thing, as your mentor says " Khush Raho, Mast Raho". Be happy, keep smiling. There're a lot of people who love you and respect you; and for them you're their life.

With million smiles and lots of love,
Your FriendForever

Friday, May 13, 2011

Deep in anger I was….


All filled with ire, like flames of fire,
World seemed to be in mire of disgust,
I saw a happy rose, swinging in the air of my wrath,
I stared, it smiled, I stared some more, it smiled some more
I turned my face high, it danced in the happiness
With a red face, deep in anger, I stared again,
But at last, I had to paint a smile on my face

Spreading the wings of its petals,
My happy rose said, take my three advices,
And you would be happy like me forever,
Still deep in anger I was, but I nodded.

Angry you are, I understand,
But listen to me, listen to everyone,
Listen to the one you’re angry at,
For just one failure to listen,
May bestow upon you regret for lifetime.

Angry you are, I understand
But even if you are wise,
Answer not someone in anger,
For anger makes you bitter.

Angry you are, I understand,
But even if you are right,
Punish not someone in anger,
For anger makes you a beast,
And men of humanity, not beasts
Yes, not beasts have such rights.

The painted smile was now colored,
Colored by the enlightenment,
Smile was now my own, my heart’s ecstasy,
My intellectual mind posed a savior question,
Oh, why this anger does not leave me?

My happy rose was an intellectual too,
Cleverly he continued,
Angry you were, I understand
But make sure, the anger holds you
And not you hold the anger,
For anger leaves you, as promptly as it comes,
It’s you, yes it’s you who does not leave it.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Behaviour vs Belief

I owe my life, my ways, my demeanor to two kinds of people - the ones who have affected my behavior and the others who have altered my beliefs. While I believe that behavior comes by domestication, belief needs inspiration. And I am thankful to both kind of people, but I am indebted to the second. The difference between behavior and belief is the one between politeness and respect. The one, who respects you, would be polite towards you because being respectful is the belief. On the other hand, that someone is polite to you does not necessarily mean he respects you because politeness is just a behavior. It's sad that we all being intellectual human beings think about tangibles rather than intangibles. Because we believe in seeing and tangibles can be seen, while intangibles can only be felt. And we forget that given the same colors, two equally good painters cannot make exactly same paintings. Given the same ingredients, two cooks cannot make same dish with exactly same taste. Given the same education, two people cannot have exactly same knowledge. And it’s nothing but that unknown, unseen, uncountable element of uniqueness – the reflection of their inner self that makes them different. Because paintings are not always about colors, dishes are not always to satiate the hunger, education is not just about knowledge – these things are about us and our Self.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

I have qualms about what You are to Your angels and my best people.....


Dear God,

I have always believed that You see everyone and everything. I have always believed that You love good people. And whenever things go wrong with anyone, You know it, I always say "God has better plans for us". And I've been saying it to myself as well whenever things have not gone the way I wanted them. I've always believed that I want more out of my desire than out of my need , and so You sometimes ignore my request. But, now You are being callous, yes CALLOUS towards Your own angels and my favourite people. How can You not listen to the prayers for them! How can You just let things go so bad that people who have faith on You also break down! And it's not their break down, it's not their tears or sadness, I will not say, but it's Your inability to be a good Father. It's Your inability. I know You will never forgive me for saying or thinking all this. But, I am fine with it. It is very important for me to ask you "Why can't you take care of Your good people?".

With deep apology,
Your Child

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

I wish one could see the other.....


Walking on the populated street,
I saw two of the children sweet,
There was one whose caring father held his hand,
And then there was the other, carrying his sibling.
There was one, crying for a bigger chocolate,
And then there was the other, eating bread crumbs happily.
There was one, happily sitting in the car looking at bigger ones
And then there was the other, walking barefoot on and on.
There was one, buying chandelier for his home,
And then there was the other, seeing water dropping from the roof.
There was one, fighting for the bigger, red remote car,
And then there was the other, cleaning the real cars on road.
There was one, buying red, yellow and pink from Lilliputs
And then there was the other, fighting cold and sun all on his own.
There was one, jumping in his new woodland shoes,
And then there was the other, polishing shoes helplessly.
There was one, smiling all day like a prince, the king of his home
And then there was the other, crying for love.
There was one, asking for his desires to be fulfilled,
And then there was the other, waiting for his needs to be fulfilled.
I wish one could see the other, one could help the other.
I desire, one sees the other, one helps the other.
I believe one would see the other, one would help the other.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

When God stops endorsing what you think for yourself, then the best strategy is to just wait and watch what He has thought for you.... Because God has to either give you what you want or what He wants to.... Certainly, He's not going to leave you midway....!!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Liberation from anger...

Today morning, probably due to tiredness, i responded badly to my papa. Then, the very next moment, i said to him " Sorry papa, i don't know why i am feeling so angry right in the morning." He smiled and said that it was okay. He started telling me a story which goes like : Once there was a king, very intelligent, very wise but had one dis-quality that he was short-tempered. He goes to a wise sage and says to him "Oh Mahatma! I don't know why i cannot get rid of this anger. Why does this anger not leave me?" The sage smiles and asks him to sit down. Then, sage goes to near the iron pole, a big, strong iron pole and holds it with both his arms and starts shouting " Oh God, help me! Why this iron pole isn't leaving me? Someone help!" The king rushes from his place and tells sage that he was himself holding the pole and not vice-versa. Then, sage says to the king " Just like i was holding this pole and thought that the pole was holding me, similarly, it's you who is holding the feeling of anger in your heart. You can liberate yourself from that feeling."

Sunday, March 6, 2011

The attempt to buy freedom....

Right from childhood, we want freedom, freedom from the parental control, freedom from the studies and to buy it, we work hard. Yes we would work hard on Sunday morning so that, we can go out and play in the evening, without mom calling after an hour to return and do the homework. Then, as we grow up, pass out from our colleges, we realise we've to work, work alot; and we carve for ourself a shorter path. We go for post graduation, where we again work alot. That's out attempt to buy freedom from the pyramid of slow growth, and freedom to take decisive roles. Then, we join the companies, and then instead of reaching the office at 9 am, we reach at 8:30 am - just to buy freedom, freedom from the control of the boss. As we grow up further, we become part of family, with greater responsibilities. And then, we work towards them, just as our parents are doing for us - to buy freedom for ourselves in the old age. And then we grow old, we again desire to go to heaven or in Hinduism we call it, merging with God almighty and freedom from the life cycle; but we fear death.
I wonder we could, instead of running, stroll through the beautiful garden of life, take that sip of tea, look at the clouds more often, dream our dreams, talk our heart, smile more freely and realize the purpose of our one, wonderful life. I wish we could have ambitions not just for ourselves, but for others too...... I wish......

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Small things matter, yes they do!

Well, an old student of mine came to visit me today and while conversing raised a question "How does it matter if i am honest, if i am good, if i am sincere when rest everyone is not. How, the fact that i don't pay a bribe, would matter in a system which is immersed in corruption?" This one's for him. Yes, small things matter. They do. As an individual, i might be smaller than a speck on the great wall of universe, or may be even lesser but it matters; It matters to me, it matters to those who love me, it matters to those who respect me, it matters to my parents, my mentor, my teachers; it does. This reminds me of the story of Ramayana. When the bridge was being built on the ocean, it was being built by an army of monkeys, bears and vultures - all majestic creatures. A squirrel tried to help in the construction of the bridge and she was laughed at by monkeys. However, when Ram noticed, he acknowledged her effort and desire, and blessed her(that's why squirrels have stripes). What do you think was the contribution of that squirrel in the construction of the bridge? Nothing may be, that's true! Did it matter for the construction of the bridge? No, it didn't. But there's something more to it. It mattered to the squirrel, to Ram. And that outweighs everything or for that sake everyone else!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Three tests that will never.... ever let you down...

When you are in the biggest of your dilemmas of whether to do something or not, whether to say something or not, and whether to listen your heart or your head....or if you think, your soul has become silent for a while... use either or all of these tests... and if either fails, trust me, with a blind eye do the other way round....
1. G-test
Yes, i call it guru test. Think for a while if your mentor would ever give you a suggestion to do what you want to... Or if you will ever let your student that... And if the answer is No, it's the time to re-think or probably stop there and then..

2. M-Test
I call it, Mom-test. Think for a while, if your mom sees you doing that or listens you saying that, will she be proud of you...? Will that make her happy? If the answer is No, you've more than self-rejected your own proposition.

3. P-Test
That's papa-test. Think for a while if you see your father doing that or saying that, will you feel good? Will you still respect him and think that he's a sage and kindest of all the people you know? If the answer is No, God forbid, please stop, lest on your death bed you shall not be able to respect yourself...

All that might sound silly, and i must ensure it is, indeed it is. However, silly things sometimes help and work more often than not...!

Friday, January 14, 2011

FACULTY OF WONDER..... Dream"y" College

The vision of this institution is to help you unlearn all that you've unconsciously learned over the years through society and culture and you never wanted to. It aims to make you realize how amazing the world is, how incredible is it to be alive, what it means that we are mortals and the way a new born would have looked at this world, could he speak.
ELIGIBILITY :
Anyone from neg infinity years to infinity years of age can apply  provided the applicant meets the following conditions :
1. Ready to learn and unlearn(loop unrolling).
2. Understands that once the familiar becomes strange, it's never quite the same again.
3. Believes that skepticism cannot resolve, either the cases or the principles.

COURSE DURATION
The duration might vary from 4 years( 1 year for each subject) to lifetime depending on the person's interests and speed.

COURSE CURRICULUM
The students of the course are required to choose freely from the subjects given below in the order that suits them.
* Bhagwad Gita
The manual for life. Irrespective of which religion you belong to, whether you believe in God almighty or not, it'll give you an insight into rights and wrongs, dos and donts of life. It'll teach you the power of belief and answer all your questions. It is suggested to be taken up as the first  subject to be taken up. It'll transform you from a human to a humanE being.

*Stumble upon yourself
This involves standing right in the front of mirror, the way a child looks at a cat when he sees it for the first time - with amazement, with curiosity. The answer to the biggest question : "Who am i?". The question seems to be unanswerable and you may agrue - who are we here to find the answer when millions, more intellectual than us haven't. True, but the fact that the question has persisted and recurred suggests that though impossible to be found in one sense, it's unavoidable in another because we leave some answer to this question everyday.

*Justice and righteousness
Is it okay to torture suspects to find if they were involved in the last attack? Would you steal a medicine for your child's survival? Would you save a disabled person or a so called normal person, if you could save only one of them? Would you spend a crore to save someone dying or rather go on a world tour? Is it right to lie sometimes?
This course attempts to answer these questions.

* Game theory of life
This course attempts to explain life using game theory. It explains why, what often forces things to happen the same way so often. It explores the games we play in boardrooms, constitutions, relationships and the patterns of behaviour that reveal our hidden feeling and emotions. It shows the underlying motivation behind everything and explores the roles, games we're forced to play. It shows how the equilibrium situation, for everyone is to play strategically.

DISCLAIMER
The institution is not responsible for the change in thinking patterns of the student. The student must understand the risks of the course. Also, the student needs to understand that self-knowledge is like lost innocence, it can never be regained however hard you may try.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

When your mentor says "God bless you..." and you feel, you know that God indeed blessed you....!

There i was four years back, after preparing tirelessly for JEE right from 23 April'05 to 31 May'07, and getting admission into the so called "government" and "best" college of my hometown's university drowned deep into the wells of despair... looking at God, for giving me some explanation.... I fought with God, i got annoyed, i accused Him of neglecting me, and that's not all, i cried sitting in his lap, still fighting with Him though.... Not just for days, for months but for a year... i remained calm... praying Him, respecting Him everyday... but i didn't talk to Him... And then, He said to me with a smile... See what i've in this bag for you... Two people, who would love you, be with you forever, millions of blessings every morning, loads of smiles, birthday songs every year.... And ofcourse, what you so very wanted from me.... an institution of your choice.... And trust me, you now know and understand that institution better... He smiled yet again, and said to me in His baritone... "You're My child... you may fight Me... but I love you, I care for you and so, I ensured, if I could not there be with you all the time, I've My reflection and My angel, so that you can learn the ways of world, without getting hurt with their harshness... And now you know that."