Speech...?

Learning...!

The New Digital Age vocabulary reads something like – A for Automation, B for Bio-tech, C for Consumerism, D for Development, E for Economy, so on and so forth. It is not all bad and hence need not be discarded immediately, however to maintain the balance of the ecosystem and keep the disparity under control to prevent it from converting into sabotage; this New-Age dialect should seek company of some ancient humane and sensible expressions like – A for Agriculture, B for Bio-diversity, C for Collaboration, D for Decentralization and E for Empathy. The giant wheel of ‘Profit Maximization through Technological Development’ in motion cannot be reversed, agreed, but the speed could be controlled and direction could be adjusted to make our ecosystem last a little longer.

Way to go…

GD...!

"Of course, it's much easier to agree on the height of the Eiffel Tower than on moral, political and ideological issues. But in a time when the world's problems are more complex and people are more polarized, using science to help us understand how we interact and make decisions will hopefully spark interesting new ways to construct a better democracy..."

Way to go...

Gratitude...!

This beautiful poem, 'Drinking from my saucer' by John Paul Moore is a Gratitude Prayer that is more of a Prayer of Empathy and Co-existence, just like a Prayer of Serenity... 

I've never made a fortune,
And I'll never make one now
But it really doesn't matter
'Cause I'm happy anyhow
 

As I go along my journey
I'm reaping better than I've sowed
I'm drinking from the saucer
'Cause my cup has overflowed
 

I don't have a lot of riches,
And sometimes the going's tough
But with kin and friends to love me
I think I'm rich enough
 

I thank God for the blessings
That His mercy has bestowed
I'm drinking from the saucer
'Cause my cup has overflowed
 

He gives me strength and courage
When the way grows steep and rough
I'll not ask for other blessings for
I'm already blessed enough
 

May we never be too busy
To help bear another's load
Then we'll all be drinking from the saucer
When our cups have overflowed...!

Wisdom...!

 

Ivan Illich, a Croatian-Austrian Philosopher and critic of the institutions of Modern Western culture known for his exemplary work "De-schooling Society", reportedly exclaimed that, "...this Prophet (Vinoba) has written it 30 years earlier...!" when he learned about "शिक्षण : तत्व आणि व्यवहार" in Marathi by Vinoba. There are two constraints for Collective wisdom of entire Indian Philosophy works - Vernacular Language and Inaccessibility. The first constraint is a huge challenge as it requires a herculean task of understanding the content for their intent and translating them in the universal language without losing the gist of it.

Another, seemingly easier, task is to provide access to all this hidden pearls of wisdom. Recently we learned about IIT Kanpur's effort of developing 'Gita Supersite' where about 6,00,000 pages are scripted and made available in 11 languages for the readers. Yesterday, another such event took place when Dr. Abhay Bang released 'Vinoba.in' - an extraordinary effort by MKCL to digitize about 1,00,000 pages of works of Vinoba on various aspects of life from Education to Spirituality and Politics to Karmayog.

 

This website is a treasure of Indian Wisdom that has opened doors of the quantum (literally!) analysis of each and every concept that touches and affects human life in any form and at any scale. Although many people missed the insider perspective of this sage narrated explicitly by Dr. Abhay Bang - a close and dear disciple of Vinoba right from his own Birth to Vinoba's demise - as the Chief Guest at the event who was. However all the works of Vinoba he talked about are available on the portal which is a 'Must Learn' (not just 'visit' or 'watch') Knowledge Portal (and not just another website). You can learn about this treasure here.

Stay tuned and Way to go...!

RIP...?

TINA...?

Have you ever been to a Circus or a Zoo or an Animal Sanatorium or a Monastery? If you have, did you see the Elephant petted by owners of these places for their respective purposes? And if you have seen the mighty animal standing still, fanning its huge ears and waving the trunk, chained to a small peg grounded just beside one of its legs? And have you ever wondered why this (al)mighty mammal never tries to escape when it can easily shatter the feeble chain and tug the peg with a swift jerk and set itself free? Being a little curious and having this habit of probing into the things makes an Einstein of a boy labeled as Learning Deficient! So a little study and analysis into the matter could make you richer with a life lesson – talk to the Elephant Trainer and he will tell you that he used to tie the Elephant with the same chain and peg since it was a baby. At that time it was not as strong as it is today and hence could not break the chain despite its desperate efforts to break free. In fact it got hurt with the escaping efforts and eventually started to believe that it is impossible to get rid of the chaining, it developed a sense of being a prisoner and slave of the skinny creature called human even if it has NOW outgrown everything – its size, shape, strength and superiority! This is called… Conditioning!

The Jackal in the Panchtantra stories went to a nearby village in search of food, was attacked and chased by the dogs there, fall into a barrel of indigo making it blue from tip to tail. Upon returning to the jungle, no animal could recognize this blue animal and as they got frightened, the Jackal, being shrewd that it was, took this opportunity to declare himself God-sent King of the Jungle to take care of his subjects! However it was too clever to risk his ‘blessing in disguise’ and hence chased away all other Jackals out of jungle as they might have recognized him sooner or later. It was so far so good for the cunning Jackal as he was enjoying his Lordship till one night when few jackals passing through the jungle decided to take rest. As the night progressed, all the Jackals with their basic instincts started to howl in chorus as it came to them naturally. On hearing the chorus of howling, the self-imposed ‘King’ couldn’t resist its natural instinct and he too joined the song by howling free and loud as he could. All other animals heard him howling, discovered the fact and as they realized that they have been cheated and exploited for all these days, all their outrage fall onto the ‘King’ as he got a good beating and thrashing by all his ‘subjects’ and he had to run away for his life! This is called… Autocracy!

A lion woke up one morning feeling really rowdy and mean. He went out and cornered a small monkey and roared, "Who is mightiest of all jungle animals?"

The trembling monkey says, "You are, mighty lion!"

Later, the lion confronts an ox and fiercely bellows, "Who is the mightiest of all jungle animals?"

The terrified ox stammers, "Oh great lion, you are the mightiest animal in the jungle!"

On a roll now, the lion swaggers up to an elephant and roars, "Who is mightiest of all jungle animals?"

Fast as lightning, the elephant snatches up the lion with his trunk, slams him against a tree half a dozen times leaving the lion feeling like it had been run over by a safari wagon. The elephant then stomps on the lion till it looks like a corn tortilla and ambles away. The lion lets out a moan of pain, lifts his head weakly and hollers after the elephant, "Just because you don't know the answer, you don't have to be so mad about it!" This is called... A Joke? Seriously...?!?  

In physics, the law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system in a given frame of reference remains constant — it is said to be conserved over time. In other words, this law means that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it can only be transformed from one form to another. For instance, chemical energy is converted to kinetic energy when a stick of dynamite explodes. Similarly the law of universe believes in the cycle of Creation, Development and Deterioration. Nothing is permanent or invincible as long as the ecosystem is in place taking care of itself. If nothing is permanent or invincible, how could it be irreplaceable? TINA is nothing but a socioeconomic, sociopolitical myth, developed and maintained by the Rulers who want to Rule their Subjects or the Capitalists who want to Sell to their Consumers and not any condition that cannot be altered or removed completely.

If the Elephant is de-conditioned and made aware of his strength and the Jackal is demystified of his masquerade, Democracy sure can prevail and Nationalism could thrive with or without mandate of standing to honor the National Anthem played in the Cinema Halls.

By the way, this entire episode of thrusting Nationalism needs a serious attention. I mean how could one expect an extravagant crowd that can afford to spend thousand rupees for 2 hrs for a thing that inherently is fake, show-off and is shrewdly overrated, to respect the national anthem by standing still for 57 seconds? If all these people do their respective job dutifully, conscientiously and HONESTLY, wouldn’t that be more like paying respect to the Nation, forget the National Anthem? What’s the point in saying your marriage vows if you blink at the beautiful best friend of your fiancée while doing it? The analogy might seem a little filmy, but that exactly is the subject matter, isn’t it…?

Supplement…?

According to a study and survey of the global job market, 50% of tomorrow’s jobs do not exist today, 30% of yesterday’s jobs have become obsolete and only 20% of today’s jobs are likely to sustain the speed and dynamics of technological and other developments for couple of years, if at all.

In near future, barring the jobs requiring physical labor, all Knowledge Workers would be dealing with the problems that the world has not witnessed yet. This will demand a fundamental ability developed in all the aspirants – ability to learn new things and master them quickly... being ‘Agile’ and think on their feet. Training, developing others and delegating would be the close second ability that would be sought in the entrants who look forward to grab the opportunity and scale new heights on their career path.

An Architect, a Businessman, a Doctor, an Industrialist, a Lawyer, a Politician or even a Criminal; all are Human Beings – products of logic driven by emotions – only if the EQ is developed equally and properly in all our fellow men. In today’s explosive digital world any information is available at the click of a button and hence any ‘knowledge’ as such is not a sacred commodity anymore locked in unreachable scriptures – it is almost free and easily accessible to anyone seeking it with passion and patience.

For mastering any skill, practice is the only option which is not a herculean task for a committed soul. So what remains after learning some skill from pool of available knowledge resources and mastering it with disciplined effort, is its application for its best potential. Such application should principally be governed by self-awareness, social-awareness, responsibility and principles of sustainability.

All these traits are developed only if they are cultivated properly at the early stage of formation of self-concept, typically a period when a child attends school and is made to learn all other subjects with ready-made solutions… what an irony! And instead of addressing the fundamental issue(s); quick-fixes are offered and applied to patch-up the broken structure!

No matter what profession or occupation one selects, what business or industry one runs or in what sector one offers its intellectual or other services; the bottom-line would always be same – as it has been since the beginning of trade and economy – it would be a business of People, for the People, by the People. Appropriate human interaction and dealing with people of all types, sorts, characters and temperaments is inevitable for any human being to be successful in its endeavor for all practical purposes. This underlines the importance of certain soft skills like communication, creativity, empathy, delegation and leadership.

Unfortunately these skills or traits do not make it to the list of Subjects or topics taught in any traditional educational institution OR such type of institutes that never needed an additional subject of ‘Value Education’ and were committed to developing a holistic personality by their virtue of existence, have become distant past, alas!

Although, it is neither feasible nor advisable to turn the clock of time backwards or transform the education system overnight; however this inevitability of the current education system must be provided with supplements if it is expected to produce breathing humans who are sensitive to their surrounding, understand not only market dynamics but also the implications of their decision and show the empathy to take responsibility of their actions and endeavors – voluntarily and not as compliance of any Act or Law – and not the tools for consumerism or the machines for mass production and mammoth consumption for the profit maximization that uplifts the GDP by any means!

The first Protein Supplement that would wake-up and shake-up the system would be Awareness Campaigns followed by Counseling Sessions and concluded with Interactive Workshops – for all 3 elements of the system – Parents, Teachers and Students.

Awareness Campaign will take the people through a journey of where we have come from to where are we headed? Counseling Sessions would try to enlighten them about what to expect and why to expect it. And Interactive Workshops would show them the way to do it and do it effectively for consistency and sustainability.

Initially it could be done in small chunks of 60 – 75 – 90 min sessions of small groups of about 20 to 40 people and gradually it would develop into regular activity at various centers with predefined objectives, timeline, outcomes and evaluation.

This is going to be big and if you want to be part of it, get in touch on –beacauseorg.wordpress.com

Let’s give our Children what they deserve… Dreams, Wings and FUTURE!

Way to go…

Newton...!

Borrowing it’s style from the DNA of Black Comedy on the lines of ‘Silent Wedding’ that makes you poignant before you finish the laugh on a seemingly funny sequence, ‘Newton’ hits all the right notes and delivers the message through its logical conclusion while maintaining the sarcasm unfolding in the incidences that look extremely common place at times and surreal otherwise depending upon viewer’s frame of mind. Original Isaac Newton, the otherwise well-known scientist for his theory of gravity and action-reaction, is being explained as the pioneer of equality by an Election Duty Controller to our Newton who has re-named himself to get rid of the ridicule he faced for being Nutan Kumar. Our Newton, casually biting into an apple in his first scene of the film, makes it clear where and how this ‘Election Duty’ will take us through the Jungles of Chhattisgarh.

Amit Masurkar, a Mumbai boy and an Engineering drop-out, had taken all the efforts to make his bold and honest statement on this severely amputated and awfully manipulated system of democracy aka voting for elections, looks absolutely effortless. The underlying principle of the 106 minutes movie is – it’s difficult to be honest in the system that is rotten inside out and moreover, it could be fatal being arrogant about your honesty. Amit has managed to do a job that is world-class (no wonder the movie is nominated for Oscars!) as the movie reminds the viewer of all such movies around the globe that do not fear to take a stand against the system they are part of… Kudos to Amit… with or without Oscar!

Movie is Director’s media, indeed, but a strong story-line with a disquieting message needs equally strong actors who could actually live up to the characters they are portraying. Rajkumar Rao is one of the finest actors of the date who easily secures a place in the league of Irfan and Nawazuddin. With his breathtaking performances in Kai Po Che, CityLights, Aligarh and a small but significant appearance in Queen, he already made it clear what he had in store and where he is heading… Newton is not just another feather in his cap but a jeweled Crown that he deserves well. Pankaj Tripathi taking a second seat just behind the protagonist, makes it sure that his impeccable quality leaves marks on the overall impression so deep that he could not be forgotten. After ‘Nil Battey Sannata’, it could have been difficult to imagine a sober School Headmaster in a role of a stubborn Commanding Officer, but this surprisingly isn’t the case, all credits to Pankaj Tripathi for his unpredictable style of playing with characters and perfectly picking their peculiar behaviors.

Raghuveer Yadav and Sanjay Mishra have nothing much to do but with their natural ease that belongs to theater and experience of years both deliver exactly what is required of them. The last but not the least is Anjali Patil, an intense young actress who has a long way to go, seems extremely promising with her effortless appearance as an educated Tribal Girl and reminds the viewer of Smita Patil in Jait Re Jait and Chakra. All in all, with this out-to-out political satire (as it is acclaimed by critics) Amit has made a tremendous effort with a sarcastically stark and bold comment on the dictatorship at every nook and corner camouflaged in the overrated democratic system that is already started losing people’s confidence in it. With actors that are class apart, locations and cinematography that is unbelievably natural yet absolutely engaging and editing that is undoubtedly flawless, Newton is the Indian Movie of this year and let us keep our fingers crossed till the Oscar night.

Another young and fearless Director Neeraj Pandey made some powerful comments on the system in ‘A Wednesday’ (2008), ‘Special 26’ (2013) and ‘Baby’ (2015). Baby the most recent and most candid movie offering ultimate solution to terrorism across the border had a sequence where fictional secret agent Ajay (Akshay Kumar) gets up, closes the door of the cabin and delivers a tight slap to the PA of Defense Minister in response to PA’s loose comment about Soldiers dying on duty as ‘Log to marenge hi, unka to kam hai…’ (People will keep dying, it is their job...). It’s not only Soldiers who die on duty, there are people dying every day for duty, on roads, in queues, on stations and in hospitals… without any fault of theirs. Neeraj and Amit have this tool called Cinematic Liberty where they can slap these cheap shameless chair-warmers and the duo is putting it to good use.

When a nation has National Media that is lubricated and Social Media that is fabricated, for a Democracy to respire we need more youngsters like these two to come forward, take up a subject of public interest and educate the people through edutainment, for that is the only way India prefers to learn…!

Way to go…

Injustice...!

After years of filmy courtroom ‘dramas’, lately Indian cinema got some real courtroom ‘actions’ that were as convincing as reassuring; Jolly LLB II topping the list. Apart from excellent performances by Akshay Kumar and Annu Kapoor, the film concludes on a positive note and the Verdict Speech by Justice Tripathy - Saurabh Shukla at peak of his performance - ends it on a high note. In this speech the Honorable Judge mentions a fact that in spite of the pathetic condition of the courtrooms and deficient number of Judges vis-à-vis the pending cases, all Indian citizens have unwavering confidence in the Judicial system compared to Administrative and Legislative systems for, in smallest of the dispute and deceit, we hear a common expression… “I will see you in the court!”

Indeed the common man has deep faith in and respect for the judicial system as the last resort when it comes to any kind of injustice. No matter how long the ‘case’ goes on with ‘Tareekh Pe Tareekh’, no appellant looses hope as he or she believes wholeheartedly that ‘Bhagwanke Ghar Der Hai, Andher Nahi…’ In God’s Command there could be Delay but not Denial – to justice! This faith of millions puts the onus on the Judiciary and raises its responsibility to a great level. Why all this becomes note-worthy and suddenly relevant today is the past month that witnessed 3 historical Judgments by the Honorable Supreme Court of India, a matter of proud for every Indian indeed!

The Supreme Court struck down the validity of instant Triple Talaq setting it aside by terming it unconstitutional on 22 Aug 2017. On 24 Aug 2017 SC declared that the Right to Privacy is now a Fundamental Right and is protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. 28 Aug 2017 saw justice being made to the victims in a 15 year old case against the self-proclaimed Baba Ram Rahim Singh Insan, Chief of Dera Sachha Sauda, when the accused was sent to jail for 20 long years. There were stories of his ‘supporters’ causing harm to the public property and disturbing the law and order in the vicinity. His supporters were so great in numbers that their sheer number explained system’s espousal of him, and many more such Babas, in world’s largest Democratic country!

Although these reassuring and positive judgments by the Supreme Court is a welcome change showing the real strength, power and position of the Judiciary against all other systems – certainly a thing to celebrate – what is more essential is to read between the lines of those judgments. While all three rulings underline the dignity of a human being living in an Independent Nation of the world; they also make a comment on the submissive character of those who surrender to the system and become soft-targets and vulnerable victims for their oppressor(s). This conspiracy and unethical alliance of forces that want to govern the masses needs to be understood and questioned from time to time to keep the system in check. Government, Corporations, Institutions, Organizations, Religious and other Establishments, Cults and Sects or any other governing system based on some value system (supposedly!) for that matter, must facilitate the living of its ‘subjects’ and should not make it subjects the means of its own facilitation! The Mother Monkey in the Isapniti story was a Monkey and we have evolved from that stage long ago.

But for this, questions should be asked to and clarifications should be demanded from the Administrators of the system, keeping in mind that they are just the facilitators of the system built for the people and not the rulers of the people. Asking questions, particularly demanding and disquieting, is a difficult and dangerous job… sometimes even life threatening. But as they say, ‘Honesty is a very expensive gift; don’t expect it from cheap people…’ Being honest is hard, difficult and expensive, but then it’s always your choice… Do you want to feed the wolves or protect the dear(s)!

Whenever you make up your mind and ready to go, you are most welcome to join… Way to go!

Happy Teacher’s Day!

Why do we celebrate Teacher’s Day on 5th of Sept? Because it’s Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s Birthday! Apart from being a Statesman and Philosopher, what’s so special about this First Vice President and Second President of Independent India? Well, read on and you might just get the hint! If you don't, you will need many more teachers to learn lessons of ‘Being Human’… 

“It is wrong to think that man is in the grip of determinism either of Karma or biology or environment. He is endowed with the power of choice. He can rebel and protest against unjust social order. The ethical basis of democracy is faith in the significance of man. The human person is not a mere wave on the ocean of history which fancies that it pushes the flood while it is carried on by it ... Man can cause new currents to surge up in history. It is from history that we learn nothing. Will man learn lessons from history and live with responsibility towards future?

The saga of scientific progress is spectacular and breath-taking. But morally the world has not registered an inch of progress since the birth of man. Man’s greed and selfishness increased in proportion to his material advancement. Consequently there is no guarantee that he will make a right choice and make the world safe for future. This should not be deemed as pessimism and that the world is steadily heading towards a certain doom. One bright thing about man, which ought to be borne ever in mind, is that he is different from nature and hence utterly unpredictable. No external force or necessity can ever drive him to the wall. He is essentially free, living in a dark cozy cell. He is the king of infinite time and space. His potentialities are unlimited. He can transcend his own limitations if only he wills…"

The end-product of evolution, according to Dr. Radhakrishnan, is a morally evolved society shaped evenly by freedom and responsibility. He calls it Brahmaloka. It is his equivalent of Gandhi’s Ramarajya. His ideal man is a holy man; a saint, not a genius or a man of power. His ideal man reshapes human institutions with freedom coupled with responsibility with compassion which embraces all. He does not work merely for his own salvation; he accepts to uplift the entire society around him. Thus he works for Sarvamukti – liberation of the community as a whole. He transcends his own limitations. Hence, he is unique and uninvolved.

“History”, says Radhakrishnan, “is a matter of unique individuals involved in unique events. It is those, who stand outside history that make history.” Dr. S. Radhakrishnan thought of an ordered society in which equality, liberty and fraternity are a really realized reality, a society, a haven of freedom, dreamed of by Rabindranath Tagore in his famous lyric beginning “Where the mind is without fear…!”

Radhakrishnan was awarded several high awards during his life, including a knighthood in 1931, the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, in 1954, and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963. Radhakrishnan believed that "Teachers should be the best minds in the country...".

Now believing that Teacher is someone who Enlightens, Inspires and Elevates you, the choice couldn't have been better, I guess...!

Way to go...

SOL...!

There are times when I go to Google to find the formula to calculate the circumference of a circle. I was good at Mathematics and even excelled (supposedly!) in Geometry at some point in my adolescence. It’s not that I am being forgetful or old enough to show signs of dementia. Still I go to Google every now and then for petty doubts and solutions except for locating my misplaced clothes; I have a wife for that! And don’t get it wrong… I don’t misplace them, she does so by arguing that they are well-placed NOW! How dearly I wait for the day when she does the same with me and grace me with the same remark…!

Now why do I go to Google so often… like Everest-man George Mallory’s famous three words reply… 'Because it’s there'! Nah… that’s not the only reason. There is more to it, like… accessibility! Wi-fi connectivity is no longer a Chunavi Joomla nor is Smart Phone a luxury anymore. If you have both, accessing Google is piece of Cake with a Cherry of ‘I am feeling lucky…’ for the topping. With such a lure, it’s difficult for Banta not to lookup to Google for his lost car keys. ‘I mean, if Google Baba Sab Janta Hai to I should give it a try, you know…!'

Second thing that Google offers – no matter how irritating it gets at times – is suggestion and prompting. You start typing a word and it will come up with hundreds of suggestions prompting you to complete the word. Many of the curious souls decide to listen to Google and end up reading about ‘How to kiss…’ while searching for ‘How to meditate…’ as Google thinks the prior is more appropriate to your gender, age, ethnicity, inclination, priorities, surroundings, upbringing, Social (Media) status and your Search History… Google KNOWS IT ALL, period!

What I am trying to suggest here is the changed scenario of ‘Learning’ and the absolutely vibrant dynamics of Information, Knowledge as well as ‘wisdom’. The entire quest of Human Evolution is about finding, sharing, developing and applying the ‘knowledge’ (or ‘Gyan’ as even Google recognizes the word!) It took millions of years for Humans to figure out the shape and size of the planet they live on, four seasons and the pattern in their rotation, characteristics of other species, creatures, flora and fauna and naming them accordingly. And finally the groundbreaking (literally) discovery of Agriculture that changed everything for Homo sapiens in just a matter of 10,000 years or so!

The startling speed of development in recent 200 years made the journey of millions of years look obsolete. With the new age Gurus like Google and WhatsApp, it is not difficult to get a college degree or accumulate some Academic Credit Scores ‘virtually’ (By the way do you know that India’s premier tech institute IIT Kharagpur has launched a mobile app that brings as many as 65 lakh books, journals, periodicals and research materials to anyone who has a Smart Phone, check it out - https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/), appear for telephonic interview with your Video Profile followed by a Skype Call, get an online job that you could do from the comfort of your home and your salary would be credited to your bank account through net-banking which you can spend on online shopping for the goods and apparels delivered to your doorstep that you might never need but must buy to show-off on Facebook, Instagram and other social media to all your ‘friends’ whom you never meet in person and it is most likely that you never would. What’s more, you can even find your ‘love of life’ on Facebook, saving the cupid from winking and shooting that arrow or ‘Partner for life’ on any of the matrimony site without any Aunty acting as a mediator… (Little pun intended!) Sad that you couldn’t order or download babies as per your required configuration yet and you still have to do some physical ‘work’ for it, if you don’t choose to remain the DINK family, that is. However, with AI, Cloning and Thinking Robot, that too is not so far, it seems. Japanese have already made remarkable progress in that direction, I heard.

So, is it a so far so good situation…? I don’t think so. No, I am not some anti-development, old-fashioned, prehistoric caveman even though I just love to be in the wilderness and could actually connect to the bliss of the nature, I am equally fit to qualify as a modern-day man who could survive in the Digital Era and this Blog stands as one of my compatibility proofs, I guess! So why am writing this seemingly irrelevant and conceptually paradoxical post?

Well, with the outburst of technological advancement and outraging growth of gadgets that control your body, mind, thoughts, habits, behavior… in short your entire existence (read: being), is something that upsets me. One of the alarming sign of this overtaking of machines (no matter how intelligent they become) is the rising number of un-employability of all college graduates in general and Engineering Graduates in particular. Many of the grads are found to be reasonably sound in Hard Skills of their respective area of study or specialization, but majority of them lack in the Soft Skills; many research and survey reports suggest. One of such reports, by World Economic Forum in collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group, even lists some Life Essential ‘Competencies’ and ‘Character Qualities’ that the current education system worldwide lacks in.

It is interesting to note here that this entire list is about ‘Human’ traits. Out of Reptilian, Mammalian and Human Neo-cortex brains, only the third – the most evolved one – has the potential to develop these listed ‘skills and competencies’ and if it is not utilized to its fullest potential, the entire Humanity looks like Seven Deadly Sins that will destroy the world as Mahatma feared… and we are witnessing them around us in abundance already. I have added Eighth Sin to the list to sum it all up – Activity without Purpose! And to find the ‘Purpose’ we need something beyond (if not instead) the schooling.

A tiny seed has a potential to grow into a tree that would develop a foliage as big as providing shelter to 100 cows. But that is the Potential and not the Projection! Projection is imaginary and has an element of speculation that has greed in the undertone while potential is ability, capacity and worth that is yet to blossom. With the help of right ‘Environment’ the seed is bound to sprout and flourish. Same is true with the ‘Mind’, it needs to be trained in the right ‘Environment’ to become conscientious and responsive to its immediate surrounding and ecosystem it is part of. While human Neo-cortex brain hosts the cells that make it intelligent, it also has elements that make it sensitive – to its own self as well as others and the entire existence when it expanses beyond proximity… Only if it is trained to do so, however! If you find all this too philosophical and idealistic, I would give you a practical example of this theory – MIT, known for its absolute professionalism, launching a World Peace University with human-centric courses…

We live in the era of externalities – things that are neither organic nor helpful in the truest sense of the word – popularly and frantically called as supplements or accessories. We have protein supplements for a healthy body; all the anti-biotic (just learn the word cautiously and you will get the hint) in the name of medicine to give us instant relief from anything under the Sun, apparels and wears to make a fashion statement while showing off and hide the inner uncleanliness; expensive be-longings (once again, get the hint) to cover the poverty inside… so basically we have more accessories than the substance and we are used to it already. So it won’t be a herculean task for us to consider an Education Supplement, the only part different with this being its organic, all natural and actually helpful (even enlightening) quality than the original substance aka conventional education.

If we could stand to these supplementary education, we could eventually replace the existing non-functional, long-trodden, consumerist education system with this holistic option as the mainstream. This might seem an overconfidently optimistic and unimaginably long-term dream but then ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’, they say…!

If I have such a long prologue, I certainly have a ‘Course Structure’ for it that could overwhelm the reader. But for that you will have to wait a little longer or Sponsor my course…😏… Choice is yours! I intend to conduct my course of ‘Seed of Life’ in all languages that could be scripted and make everybody experimenting with it ‘feel at home…’ in the truest sense of the phrase.

While the quote, ‘Never let Schooling interfere with your Education’ is attributed to Mark Twain, I recently read a T-Shirt, ‘I was born intelligent but education ruined me’… neither is completely sarcastic, I believe!

Looking forward to glorious days of humanity, stay tuned…!

Pay it forward...!

Recent version of 'Pay it forward...'

RoW...!

Image Courtesy: Times of India, Pune - Sunday, 04 June 2017

Here's another 'joke' that made rounds on Internet few years ago and, with its sarcastic tone, even managed to become popular for a while.

A while ago, a worldwide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was…

"Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"

In Africa most didn't know what "food" meant.

In Eastern Europe most didn't know what "honest" meant.

In Western Europe most didn't know what "shortage" meant.

In India most didn’t know what “you” meant.

In China most didn't know what "opinion" meant.

In the Middle East most didn't know what "solution" meant.

In South America most didn't know what "please" meant.

And in the USA most didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant...!

In my last post you heard about the Post-tortoise, now here's the American version of it! I am not sure what Mr. President is up to but one thing is sure that he is proving to be an American to the core who truly believes that USA is an independent planet (attacked by the aliens in their wildest imaginations!) altogether and is not connected to the Rest of the world! The biggest relief is his mindless acts are being ridiculed at home (literally!) only and RoW can hope for a sensibility prevailing in the world's most powerful country again, soon. 

Amen...!

My fault...!

A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts, "Excuse me. Can you help me? I promised my friend I would meet him half an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." 

The man below says, "Yes, you are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 40 feet above this field. You are between 46 & 48 degrees N latitude and between 52 & 56 degrees W. longitude." 

"You must be an engineer," says the balloonist.
 

"I am," replies the man. "How did you know?" 

"Well," says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct but I have no idea what to make of your information and the fact is I am still lost." 

The man below says, "You must be a Manager" 

"I am," replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?" 

"Well," says the man below, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You have made a promise which you have no idea how to keep and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met but now it is somehow my fault...!"

This certainly is an old and widely circulated ‘Management Joke’ which I myself have shared many times in get-together as well as through mail and WhatsApp. The reason I am putting it on my blog here is that it would remain as a permanent ready reference to provide me some solace that neither I am the only person who has to go through this in this world nor there is any dearth of post-tortoise ‘Managers’ whenever I have an encounter with them!

By the way, according to an old farmer a post-tortoise is… “When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a tortoise balanced on top, that's a post tortoise. You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, he's elevated beyond his ability to function, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put him up there to begin with…!” No pun intended and no offense, please!

Simple Reminder...!

Titanic...!

Iceberg is one tenth visible over the surface and lies nine tenth below the surface of the ocean. Not just that, it is pyramid or cone shaped, which means its bulging volume under the water is huge than what a human eye can see or the mind can imagine. This same iceberg causes shipwrecks, most infamous in human history being the Titanic, so much so that anything on the verge of complete destruction easily qualifies as being Titanic! The tip of iceberg doesn’t look that scary or dreadful, in fact it’s a good view to please the eyes with its sparkling conical shape like a lampshade that illuminates the ambience of any living space. At times it shines like a diamond and manages to make a woman indulge in its seamless beauty. However the fact that it holds a potential of shipwreck under its mesmerizing tip could not be ignored while planning a safe and smooth voyage.

Secondly, a completely natural and momentary distraction from the path – no matter how romantic the reason of distraction being – can cause a havoc, is what Titanic has to teach the humanity. For the safe and smooth sailing, focus is as important as the thorough knowledge of the expanse you are venturing in. In absence of both these essential elements of a voyage, a shipwreck is not just likely it is almost imminent! And no voyage could be called successful that concludes in a shipwreck. History will take a note of it, no doubt, but would it be for any good reason? Well, what this philosophy implies is plan your voyage conscientiously, be prepared for the worst and yet have an action plan ready for the situations that you can neither anticipate nor seem to have control over. Hmmm, quite a tough job isn’t it…? But that’s what life is all about, in the digitally modern world, for sure!

Along with rampant verbal violence spread around through all the media, all the incidences of violence right from – farmer’s suicide to domestic violence to attacks on Doctors to sexual abuse and molesting to fighting and firing on the streets to heinous crimes like murder, rape and acid attacks to stone pelting on the army crews to terrorist attacks – are nothing but the outrage of a feeling that has only one thing at its core – frustration! Now what causes frustration could be a topic of a research and its outcome might list out hundreds of things in various scenarios and different contexts, however the string that will run through to tie these reasons together could be termed as – apathy; with nobody in particular to blame but apathy of entire evolved (or developed?) humanity towards its fellows. Now before you label and typecast me with some pseudo-humanist title so that it would be easier to outcast me eventually, take a deeper look all around with all the senses wide open and try to decode the message all those hideous incidences are trying to convey through their outrages…

A little concern, a small act of kindness, an expression of empathy and above all, a listening heart, a helping hand and a genuine recognition can work wonders. There’s no bigger solace than having a shoulder to rest on for an irritated mind and unfulfilled soul. Take out some time and first lend your ear to what the other has to say. Then extend your hand in the gesture of being helpful and not hateful. It could be followed by offering words of appreciation that would at least soothe the wound, if not heal it instantaneously. Finally provide a purpose for every being so that it could realize its potential and start a fulfilling journey by contributing to the common good in its own capacity and finding that dignity, self-respect and empathy, virtues of a being, in due course. No being is borne a trouble-maker or a criminal – circumstances and environment it develops in forces it to take the path of rebel.

This might sound very idealistic and philosophical, but then there is no Dr. Fixit with quick-fixes that would offer instant solutions to chronic problems. Fevi Kwik might be a wonderful adhesive, it cannot fix everything… alas! Even Allopathic treatment cannot claim to ‘cure’ a disease as it intends to suppress the pain for the quick relief the subject expects while nature takes its healing course. The remedy for recovering and regaining health is neither easy nor quick but it is the only way to regain and improve the health. When administrators of a system realize this principle, they will stop gazing at the classic romance between the capitalists and the market for the outcome called ‘development’ and will be aware of the locale masses that are being the iceberg. The moment the ship of development hits the bottom of the iceberg, it explodes like a dormant volcano that can erupt at any moment and burn everything with its lava. We need to be extremely careful while planning the route and steering the ship of development en-route as it in no way should hit the bottom of the iceberg that can transform into an erupting volcano and destroying everything around.

Let us be more empathetic, a little less ambition can do… Way to go!

Day of the Jackal...!

Today is the Day of the Jackal... not by any tradition, custom or ritual... but for my yet another attempt to understand life and reflect on it! Here are 3 stories taken from Hitopadesh, Isapniti and Jatak Katha, with different morals but a same vice, I guess!

1.

Once upon a time, a hungry lion went from one place to another in search of a prey. He was soon exhausted. He decided to hide in a jackal’s empty cave and eat him when he entered. The idea of an easy catch watered his mouth. He waited patiently for the jackal to return.

The jackal reached his cave. He was about to enter when he sensed some danger. He thought of a plan. “Hello cave, how are you?” he said. Nothing happened. He said again, “Dear cave, what is wrong with you?”, and waited. Inside, the lion thought, “May be the cave answers the jackal and if he does not get the answer, he will think there is something wrong…” The silly lion roared in reply. The jackal now knew about the presence of the lion in the cave and ran away...

Moral of the story...? Force is no match for wisdom.

2.

One day long ago, Jackal was trotting through a narrow, rocky pass in the mountain. He was sniffing the ground trying to find something juicy to eat when he saw movement ahead of him in the pass. Jackal stopped in his tracks. The mighty Lion was coming straight toward him. Realizing that there was no way to escape, Jackal became very frightened. He had played so many tricks on the king of the animals in the past, and he was sure that Lion would take this opportunity to get his revenge. Suddenly Jackal thought of a plan.

"Help! Help!" cried Jackal. He cowered down on the cliff path, looking above at the rocks. Lion stopped in surprise. "Help!" Jackal howled, "There is no time to lose! See those huge rocks above us? They are about to fall and we shall both be crushed to death! Oh, mighty Lion, please do something! Save us!" And Jackal cowered with his paws over his head. Lion looked up, most alarmed. Before he even had a chance to think, Jackal persuaded Lion to put his strong shoulder against the rock and heave.

"Oh, thank you, great King!" yelped Jackal. "I will quickly fetch that log over there to hold the rock, and we will both be saved!", and with that he bounded out of sight.

So Lion was left all alone to struggle under the weight of the rock in the hot sunshine. We will never know how long he stayed before he realized that this was another trick, but the clever Jackal had once again escaped from the mighty Lion! 

Moral of the story...? Wisdom is more powerful than strength!

3.

Once there lived a mighty lion in a cave of the Himalayas. One day, after killing and eating a buffalo, when he was on his way back to his cave, he found a jackal prostrating before him. The jackal, in fact, wanted to enjoy the leftovers of the lion.

He asked him, “Why do you lie like this, Jackal”. The jackal said, “Sir! I would like to be your servant”. The lion accepted his proposal and treated him affectionately.

Since that day the lion offered him the leftovers of the animals that he killed. Being fed on those the emaciated jackal soon bulged; and so did his pride. Further, he fostered the false idea of having equal power like that of the lion. So, one day, he said to the lion, “O lion! So far I am fed on your leftovers; but today, I shall offer you my left over as I shall kill and eat an elephant…!”

The lion advised him to refrain from any such act, as he did not belong to the species of lion-like animal to kill a strong elephant.

The haughty and foolish jackal did not listen to the lion. Feigning like a lion he moved out of the cave and uttered the cry of a jackal thrice, as if it was the cry of a mighty lion. He then looked for an elephant; and saw one at the base of the mountain. He jumped at the large animal from the top of the mountain. But instead of falling on elephant’s back he fell on his feet. The elephant without paying much notice to the existence of the jackal lifted his fore-leg and placed it on his head and mashed his skull. Thus the foolish jackal was killed instantly.

Moral of the story (Uncut, uncensored and unsolicited)...?

Surviving on leftovers of a lion doesn’t make a Jackal a Lion and cunningness is no match for bravery…!