Brother

People moving slowly, so it seemed
And I walking along, as if in a dream
Twenty years of togetherness will go away
My brother's leaving;his career, his own way.


Separation is not easy, it is a pain
Expecting his return soon will be in vain
He is looking at his future; that's fair
I too must do the same; should take care.

Gandhiji - Birth Anniversary

Today is October 2. The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. A national holiday.

Needless to say Gandhiji was born in Porbandar on October 2, 1869. Every Indian knows it  by heart. Also there is no need to mention that Gandhiji said "Truth and non-violence are my weapons".

It may be necessary for interested Gandhians or those who want to follow Gandhigiri in their personal life as to what Truth and non-violence may mean. Of course I have no idea as to what Gandhiji meant by those two words and I have learnt Gandhism from school textbooks only.But having a great respect for the great leader and being an accomplished blogger it may interest a few visitors to my site as to what truth and non-violence means to me.

The easier one first. Non-violence. I read in the papers what Baba Ramdev said before he began his protest fast in Delhi. He said,"I create no fear. I have no fear". I have absolutely no idea in what context he was talking. But the statement attracted me. I began to wonder. Then after a few minutes I realised that to me non-violence is "I create no fear. I have no fear.". It made logical sense. If you are non-violent you do not have to fear. You do not kill anyone or pain anyone. So you are free from fear. And secondly you do not create fear. Because you believe in it.

Truth. Truth is a difficult one. It may have meant God to Gandhiji. God is truth. Makes sense. Assuming it is true, then I look out for what God meant to Gandhiji. There is another thing that Gandhiji said. He said, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness.". So maybe being clean is Truth. Quite a far fetched one!!

Anyway when talking of cleanliness it is important to talk about excreta. Human excreta. How do you handle it in your mind. My advise is excrete thoughts of excreta. Do not think about it. Just let it go as you do in the toilet.

Gandiji was a great leader. I wonder whether he would have been happy with the state of affairs in our country. I doubt it.

Google's 13th anniversary - Successful entrepreneurship

The Google story teaches us how an idea can churn millions of dollars.
The best time for entrepreneurship is during the college days. Ideas are fresh. Enthusiasm is at the peak. So what if you do not have ideas of market, so what if you are ignorant of banking; the enthusiasm takes over and all that is needed is an understanding venture capitalist.
Any attempts to be an entrepreneur after landing up in a job is equivalent to being a traitor to one's current employer. It makes more financial sense to work in synergy with the current employer than attempt a jump into entrepreneurship.

Anant Pai's birth anniversary - 17th September

It will not be complete to understand the growth of Indian education system without acknowledging the contribution of Shri Anant Pai (Uncle Pai to children).
I was an avid reader of Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle comics. I was fortunate to participate in a quiz competition organised by him and win the first prize. He spoke to all the children between questions. He was against the 3 R of Indian education system. Reading,wRiting and aRithmetic. He was deeply interested in the growth of personality of children.
This is a day to remember not only Uncle Pai but also Tagore, S.Radhakrishnan, Vivekananda and all such known and unknown souls who reformed our society in ways obvious and not so obvious.
What do you have to say about Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle ? And what about Partha? Is it still around?

9/11 - 10 years over. USA emerges strong.

What are the lessons India can learn from USA?
I feel India should become more federal. States should have more power in economy, law and order, education and other areas. Being in Delhi, I feel this need more because there is a confusion between state and center. I really do not know about other states, how independent they feel.
Do you feel corruption is the main issue? Is it federalism which is what is needed?
One thing I feel is opposition to any stream of thought will always be there. If a person opposes me does not mean he is my enemy. I should take it as a credit that he has considered my view and still feels he has much more relevant points in his favor.

Krishna Janmashtmi - Message on Action and no focus on results

Yesterday was Krishna Janmashtmi. Krishna's birth anniversary. Krishna is a beloved God of Hindus and is widely regarded and respected. His upadesha of Gita to Arjuna is a very practical advice.To all his devotees it is instruction from Krishna as to how action should be performed.

In our daily talk we talk of percentages. 30% of work has been completed. My son has scored 85%. The neta is demanding 10% commission. And more . . .

What is 100 %? 100% is the result, the objective, what you aim for, what is correct . . .

When we speak in % terms, are we not speaking, looking at results expected? Yes we are. Speaking in percent basis is speaking and concentrating on results. Especially speaking in percent of a future thing is speaking in terms of results.

So talking in percent terms of a job to be done in future, of a assignment to be completed, of a deal to be undertaken are all focussing on results .

The ultimate formula I was looking out for - the formula of UNITY (एकता)

I was searching and searching for over two years as to what causes unity. India desperately needs this.

It was yesterday. I saw the pledge to be taken on the occasion of Sadhbhavna divas. Sadhbhavna divas is today. 20th August. Rajiv Gandhi's birth anniversary. Two words from the pledge to be taken made it clear as to what is unity. The two words struck me so hard that I wondered why this did not strike me earlier.

What are the two words? The two words are emotional oneness.

My dear fellow bloggers, emotional oneness is UNITY. Rajiv Gandhi, the great visionary saw the importance of it. We all need to be emotionally one. Happy together. Sad together. Angry together. Disgusted together. Surprised together. As together as possible. As much as possible.

If Marathi feels happy with Anna Hazare, then the people of Arunachal Pradesh also need to be happy.
If Tamilian is sad with mid-day meal program, then a Kashmiri also needs to be sad.
If we have emotional oneness, we have unity. This has to be spontaneous. But I feel, we can cultivate this habit gradually too.