Be what you are

He who understands something and leaves it, but takes to something else, forgets the first without learning the second.

In a certain region lived a hermit. One day a traveler came to see him and gave him some fruit and they sat and ate and talked together.

The traveler admired the hermit’s language and wanted to learn to speak as the hermit, but the hermit warned him that if he wasn’t careful the same thing would happen to him as what happened to the crow.

When the crow saw a hen strutting as she walked, he wanted to walk like her and began to copy her step. But he did not succeed and forgot his former pace, continually stumbling.

In practising a language to which you are not accustomed , you may forget the one to which you are accustomed, and be considered foolish and without knowledge or intelligence for practising what neither you nor your parents before you were brought up to.

You are what you are. Do not try to ape others. You will look and sound hollow and silly. It doesnt mean that you should not try to change. But change takes time. One needs to learn, practice and perfect anything new before adopting it.

Let people accept you for what you are. You are quite good. Why spoil it?

Whom does the baby look like

One of the social obligations one cannot avoid is to visit the parents of a new born baby. Now to me, every new born baby looks like every other new born baby. Red, wrinkled skin, eyes closed, fist clenched and wrapped so much that you can only see half of the face.

Well, the scene goes something like this.

The proud parents welcome you to the hospital ward. You walk in with a gift for the baby, which that baby is not in a frame of mind to appreciate (Always buy a gift for the older child, if they have one. A gift for the mother is also quite thoughtful).

The beaming parents insist that they place the delicate, happily sleeping bundle on your lap. Suddenly all the stories of Six Sigma ratings and how 6 defects in a million transactions comes to mind (I mean, even if we are at Six Sigma level, we are allowed to drop the baby 6 times in one million visits. This particular visit could be one of those. I shudder at what would happen then)

And the parents (well grandparents)  expect you to take a bit of sugar in your dirty fingers and thrust it in the mouth of the child saying 'umm. pretty one..........here is some sweet for you', giving along with it all the known infection in the world (I would personally like to shoot every single person who gives sugar to a new born).

Now that you are out of the tough part (Well almost. With people using Diapers these days, one can be safe of not being showered with Morarji Desai's favourite drink and then the bally parents will say "Oh! He/She likes you so much. It is why he/she squirted a bucketfull of piss on you". Imagine as adults if we piss on people and say that we did it because we liked them so much)

Then the final ritual. The most dreaded question.

"Come on tell me. Does he/she look like her father or her mother?"

As I said, all newborns look alike. And one can hardly do a PhD on resemblences at this stage.

I keep a deadpan face and reply,

"Won't look nice if he/she looks like the neighbour. Will it?"

A frosty silence. Sullen looks. And Rajan is personna non grata in one more house.

The price one has to pay for being honest! Sigh................................

Remembering a great teacher

Dr.Sarvepally Radhakrishnan, remains one of the towering figures of modern India. A statesman, thinker, writer, teacher and a philosopher, he was also the second President of India. But, it is as a philosopher-teacher that he is reknowned. He was also one of the foremost scholars on comparative religion.

He argued that Western philosophers, despite all claims to objectivity, were biased by theological influences from their wider culture. In one of his major works he also showed that Indian philosophy, once translated into standard academic jargon, is worthy of being called philosophy by Western standards.

His main contribution to Indian thought, therefore, is that he placed it "on the map", thereby earning Indian philosophy a respect that it had not had before.

After 1946, his philosophical career was cut short when his country needed him as ambassador to UNESCO and later to Moscow. He was later to become the first Vice-President and finally the President (1962-1967) of India.

When he became the President of India in 1962, some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, September 5.

He replied, "Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if September 5 is observed as Teacher's Day."

Since then, Teacher's Day has been celebrated in India.

Here is to all the teachers in India. Your selfless work wont go waste. It is a thankless but mentally rewarding duty that you are performing. A real teacher is a true Nishkama karmachari.

Rama Rajya

Rama Rajya is considered to be the ideal. The Ayodhya Kanda, the second chapter of Ramayana, speaks about good governance. Bharata, the younger brother of Rama, goes to meet the latter in the forest to request him to return to Ayodhya and rule (Bharata is one of the most unsung heroes of Ramayana. A truly great soul, who ruled through proxy for 14 years without expecting anything in return. True practioner of nishkama karma). Rama politely refuses to return and opted to fulfill his fathers vow. Then he goes on to advice Bharata on Rajaneethi or sound governance. From quality of ministers and the importance of strategy sessions, to temperance in administration to justice, Rama expounds on all the subtleties of statecraft in a lucid manner.

According to Rama, a critical factor in good governance is the quality of ministers. Rama asks Bharata whether he has appointed courageous, knowledgeable, strong-willed men with a high emotional quotient (EQ) as his ministers, because quality advice is the key to effective governance. The emphasis is on competence and confidentiality. Rama's advice to Bharata is to take a decision on a complex issue neither unilaterally nor in consultation with too many people. There should be an efficient core group.

Rama tells Bharata to prefer one wise man to a thousand fools, as it is the wise who can ensure prosperity during an economic crisis. Even if there is one minister who is really effective, the king will gain immensely.

Moderate taxes should be levied on the people, lest they revolt. Rama wants Bharata to treat his soldiers well and pay their legitimate wages on time. Delays in payment of wages and other allowances can lead to dangerous consequences.

Trade and agriculture are important and Rama wants Bharata to ensure good irrigation facilities rather than being overly dependent on rains. Traders need to be ensured of a fear-free environment and their grievances should be redressed promptly.

Protecting the forests and maintaining livestock have also been dealt with as important aspects of effective governance. In fact, the vision of the Ramayana has eternal relevance.

I really wish our Government follows these simple principles. They have flouted every single one of them. Manmohan Singh has surrounded himself with 100 fools and there is not even a single wise man amongst it. Or else he would not have been exposed so cruelly as a liar in the N-Deal. He and P Chidambaram have taxed everything that even moves. The only thing that has not been taxed is marriage and f****ing. And you can see the benefit of that in the increased productivity in this sector (1.2 billion people and counting). Soldiers are extremely unhappy with the new pay commission report which is for IAS offices, by IAS officers and of IAS officers, the dimwitted beaureaucracy, who qualifies as the biggest stumbling block in India’s growth. We are still dependant on monsoons for agriculture activities and not much has been done to increase the irrigated land. Traders are burdened with taxes and have no protection from the protectors of law. Do I have to say more?

In search of excellence or (?)

In 1982, management gurus Tom Peters and Robert Waterman transformed the market for business books with their bestselling In Search of Excellence, a celebration of excellent management in corporate America.

Two years later, Business Week published an issue bearing a cover reading "Oops" - and pointing out that many of Peters's so-called "excellent" firms had since suffered a sharp decline in performance.

This was an interesting development as I had always held the above book in high esteem. Still it is worth reading.

The Overflowing Cup

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master.

While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen.

The master poured the visitor's cup to the brim, and then kept pouring.

The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself.

"It's overfull! No more will go in!" the professor blurted.

"You are like this cup," the master replied,

"How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup."

This story can be analysed as follows,

One cannot learn anything if one already feels that he knows everything. Preconceived ideas and prejudices always prevent us from seeing the truth. One should open his mind before he talks. The master was trying to show the Professor that when you can no longer take, it is time to give - and you must sometimes give in order to receive.

What is your take?

Karma

‘Karma’ means one's action. An individual is characterised by the ‘Karma’ performed by him or her. It is ‘Karma’ which make a man great or small, noble or criminal.

Man has found it very difficult to exactly classify what action is right and what is wrong. Definition of right and wrong keeps on changing. Within the same period of history, different cultures and different religious come up with different definitions and classifications.

Even within the same religion, people of different generations will have different view of right and wrong and even if one does not consider the external situation at all but looks within, one finds that his own understanding fluctuates a great deal.

In 'Balyam', one’s understanding of right and wrong was on one level, in 'Koumaram'it changes, in 'Grahasthyam' it has changed yet again. Finally, one has a totally different outlook during 'Vanaprastham'. This is like reading the same book at different stages in life. At every stage, the perspective changes.

Lord Shiva has explained the Law of Karma in a lucid manner by defining three specific types of Karma:

Sukarma (Good or Positive Actions) – Action performed for the benefit of others—without any selfish motive--by which happiness and joy is experienced by both--the Giver and the Receiver.

Vikarma (Vicious or Negative Actions) - Actions performed in the state of body-consciousness and based on vices and therefore, cause unhappiness and sorrow to the individual and the receiver.

Akarma ( neutral Actions) —Actions which are performed in soul-consciousness—which produce neutral effects. They neither do good nor bad.

Try to increase your Sukarmas, shun Vikarmas and manage your Akarmas. Most of the people, though they dont do Vikarmas, tend to spend lot of time and energy on doing Akarmas. Hence the need for managing Akarmas.

In short, be selfless and do good.

Let that be the motto for this month beginning today