Experience 2500 Kms away from Mumbai

From Chattrapati Shivaji International airport to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International airport...exciting would be a much much milder word to describe the experience...I was visiting Kolkata for the first time in my life...I had heard a lot about the city and people...Was looking forward to see them upclose...as expected, it was a very different world!

The city has a culture of its own and everything I could see was reflecting it...they all seemed to be bound by a common thread. Unlike Mumbai where everyone moves at a different speed, this city has the same speed! It stops at the same time...starts at the same time...everyone seemed to be operated by a certain rule/a law which only the people of the city knew, not the outsider.

I was amazed to see that almost at the same width of the road where the traffic in Mumbai seems to be congested, the roads in Kolkata were generous enough to accomodate huge Ambassador taxis,buses(private and public seperate) private vehicles people and still it had place for the tram as well!

The entire traffic would come to a standstill, people would come out of their vehicles, dust them , yawn, start chatting and surprisingly knew when they had to return back and the entire traffic would move at the same time...buses, trams almost brushing people/vehicles on the way but not one accident happened,not one screeching brake, not even a quarrel as often seen between rickshaw and bus drivers in Mumbai.

Everyone seemed to be so used to the 'chaos' that the 'chaos' itself has become the 'rule' that operates the city!

I was Lucky to be in Kolkata at DurgaPuja time...Lucky to have a friend in Kolkata whom I met after years but he made me feel like it was just yesterday...Did a lot of Pandal hopping, travelling by cab/launch/tram/metro/cycle rickshaw and realized that everyone and everything there has its own set limit and boundry...unlike Mumbai where even a street kid can dream to be a millionaire...here the people seemed to be content within their respective limits.

what was missing in the city I thought was 'Change'...I am not saying that it does not adopt new things...all I am saying is they do not let go the old...hence the old and the new co-exist at the same time!
And 'people' are the centre of all activities here, not time(Mumbai), not money(Delhi)! Dats the beauty of Kolkata! There was a constant to and fro conversation happening between the city and the people and the city seemed to be taking care of the people. Even when on the road and travelling, it felt like home. Not in terms of Luxury and comfort, but in terms of care and affection.

Darjeeling:
Up in the mountains the story is quite different! Here also the similarity exists of the same road making way for tourist vehicles, buses and the 'Toy train'...however the of all activities here is 'self respect'.
It reflects in their demand for a seperate 'Gorkhaland'...not willing to succumb to the rule of west Bengal but very much commited and willing to die for the country India! The small shop owners getting upset when the tourists bargain to an already well priced product...People speaking much better Hindi than the people in Kolkata but the localites are seen to be neutral to the tourists...respect for self and love for the land was a dominant and striking feature in the mountains. They are not just willing, but aspiring and looking forward for the 'New' and at the same time preserving the old as well.

The scenic beauty of the place is amazing, snow clad Kanchanjunga range, Sunrise at Tiger hills, Happy valley tea garden, Lloyds botanical garden, Tenzing rock were few of the places I saw and liked. However, the way in which different cultures co-exist in Dargeeling at the same time is what amazed me. There is a Buddhist monastry, Hindu temples, Churches, Mosque even a Japanese Pagoda, and all seem to be an inevitable part of the place.

Two cities...beautiful people...full of emotions...wonderful places...memorable experience!
Inspite of its speed, Mumbai seems to be a dull place to me now coz the softer aspects of life are totally missing here...no time for watching sunrise/sunset, no time for emotions, no time for self respect, no time for 'truly' social events...everything here seems artificial and business minded.
I guess dats the reason why one needs a 'break' to go places and see things and meet people that appeal to the 'HEART' and not the 'BRAIN'

Refreshing my page!

It has been a long time since I wrote my last blog.

I thought I should write two lines atleast to keep myself alive.

I truly believe that it is very important to do things which will keep you alive. These absolutely need not be big tasks, but small things here and there which send out a message that 'you are still there'

Small steps are usually the key for accomplishing long journeys...

GOD...RELIGION...AND LOVE!!!

God for me is eveyone who lives in the heaven...or in other words everyone who believes in thinking/believing and doing good deeds...probably called 'Dev's'
what is the opposite of God??
(There is apparently a big debade on this as there is a set of people believing that God has no opposite!These are probably the optimistic set of people)
For the time being i'll consider the opposite of heaven i.e hell...
for me, all those who think/believe and do bad things are not god...probably 'Danavas'

Both Heaven and hell co-exist at the same time at the same place what we call as earth...
If you think good...you will do good and ultimately you will experience 'heaven'

If you think bad...you will do bad...and ultimately experience hell...

Life is all about 'experience'...
So it is important ro make the 'right choices' in life...

What is religion then...
For me, it is simply 'a forum'...wherein you try to understand 'GOD' i.e all that is good and condemn the 'danavas'...i.e all that is bad...

I am a Hindu...
Hinduism, for me it is not a religion...it is perhaps the most creative of all the various 'forums' to understand what is good and what is bad...

The basis for hinduism are the epics and books which contain the accumulated knowledge accumulated by the mankind century after century...
No wonder for initial thousands of years, these values were not noted down but verabally passed to the generations by making them recite the same in the form of verses...
These are the accumulated experiences which were confirmed and validated for generations after generations and found to be true all the time...
The executing pattern of these values differ from people to people and that is where the discrepancies creep in...in the form of caste and creed etc...that is purely bcoz the five fingers of the hand are not the same, because the conditions in the desert are not the same as the mountains...the rules of the city and the jungle are different and so on...
That doesn't mean that one set of people is good and the other is bad...they are just/simply different!
Hence I guess there is no opposite to GOD
Religion for me is not a rule book...it is an open forum where people have to keep adding there experiences...for a long time now we have been just following the rule book...few people dare to update it as per the current situation...

Brahma-Vishnu and Mahesh, for me these are Gods...(means something correct-right-good)
Brahma-Creator
Vishnu-Preserver
Mahesh-Destroyer

These are the main values and the eternal truth and for me, the Gods symbolize these values.
Life is all about creating preserving and destroying, unless the earlier is destroyed, new cannot be created ...the cycle goes on and all the three have important roles to play

Worshipping one of these means trying to imbibe the values of one of these...i.e either trying to be a creator, preserver or destroyer...
hence, the one who governs the universe is not someone sitting up there in the skies, but the very elements of the universe(including u and me) which perform one of these 3 important functions...
But that also does not mean the u and me govern the universe...we all...including the living and non living things collectively do it...the factor that governs the universe is 'yog' or 'incidence'...the exact moment when many elements come together to either create, preserve or destroy an element of the universe...hence it is said that we have to wait for 'the' right time...when all the elements are at their exact positions...just as in the solar eclipse...which make the event magical...
Probably because this phenomena explains the true picture so flawlessly, thats why the 'learned' tried to build an aura of fear around it which coud prevent most people from knowing this 'secret'...

Then why pray if there is a problem?
Praying to god will ony help if I pray for the right quality for myself which will help me solve the problem...continuously think about it will help me gain that quality(The Secret by Rhonda Bryne...like attracts like) and hence it will lead to the right steps being taken towards solving the problem...
Prevention is much better than cure...hence if we pray regardless of whether we have any problem or not, we will find ourselves in trouble less frequently!

What is Love...
Love for me is an emotion...like anxiety, boredom,confusion,guilt,hatred,loneliness, sympathy...probably the opposite of aggression

As with all emotions, we feel that we have control over it, but actually we dont...(no matter how much we control our rage, we end up showing our anger on something or the other or some soft target if nothing else) the only way out is to experience the feeling...for me, it is not the person that we love, but it is the qualities in the person that we adore...and we want those qualities to be with us for the life time...probably this is why they say that true love knows no boundaries and is timeless...it is an emotion in a totally different plane altogether...
Another theory I have about love is that it is always one sided...there is absolutely no need for it to be two sided...it is an emotion after all...one persons own personal emotion...it has nothing to do whether the other person acknowledges it or not...Drew Barrymore doesn't know me, but that doesn't mean that I can't love her...Here I would clarify that I am not talking about marriages...I am only talking about love...marriage for me is a social contract made between two people or an authenticated...stamped and certified live in relationship...ofcourse love is important in a marriage, but the essential difference is that in marriage there is 'committment' also which may or may not be there in love!

But what is the relation between Love,God and Religion?

For me...
And I would sum it up all as....

God is the final destination...
religion helps us show the path...
and love makes the journey beautiful!

Something on 'Thought'

What are the pros and cons of writing blogs...

This was the topic of discussion between me and a friend of mine (He who must not be named-Just kidding!)

Well, both of us agreed that blogs are there to put forth your frank opinions and there are no rules as such for writing blogs...The point where both of us disgreed was that others reading it tend to draw conclusions about the person who has written the blogs...One can probably map the mind of the writer...know his strengths and weaknesses and alter their behaviour towards the writer with a motive of dominating him!

This I guess is a fear of most of the people who abstain from this great pleasure.I would like to call it-Fear of expressing yourself!!

According to me, and I would like to tell this to my friend-(you know who)- that the human race has always been finding ways to express themselves...I believe that this has been the core essence beind every creation of the human being....

From Musicians to Engineers...from doctors to artists of all kinds...from employees to daily wage labourers...from Kings to Politicians...all have a voice and they want to raise it in front of everyone...prove a point...the point I feel is that-"Brooks was here"-As brought to light in Shawshank Redemption...Everyone wants to leave some mark behind...some trace of their existence...The ability to expressing onself in a better and simpler way enables him to reach the masses quickly!

Writing Blogs...I feel is one of the most simplest and easiest means of expressing yourself...Probably that could be one reason why people abstain from this form of 'expression'...their subconscious minds might be finding it too silly and hence not passing on the urge to the conscious mind to execute the action!

I chose to pause my writing at this point and ponder a bit over my decision to write blogs...and I find no reason whatsoever to stop writing...for me it is a forum where I can think aloud without actually disturbing many people!

Another input given by him-(you know who)-was that my blogs lack the 'out of the box thought' that one is looking for while reading something...The writing style is quite different, but does not give that something new which one is looking out for...

Honestly I do not make any such attempts. I do agree that my blogs are quite silly, but I would only like to say that 'thought' is a very powerful word. It is someting that truly differenciates humans from other species...Even the father of modern philosophy- Rene Descartes says

'COGITO ERGO SUM:I THINK THEREFORE I AM'

'Out of the box thinking' thus is way beyond the normal 'thought' and is definitely not something to be shared so easily...not in materialistic terms...but more psychologically...something of immense value...if shared easily...tends to lose its value and people start questioning its credibility!

Probably that is the reason why great minds of yesteryears like

Da Vinci...Michalengelo...Nostradamus...had there work done in some form of code language...It required some effort on the part of the receiver of this art to do some brain exercises...and hence appreciate the work...Guess thats what has made them genius...(See...the path is still the same as mentiond in my blog law of the universe-reaching the heart through the mind and not the other way round!)

All in all, I feel that the human mind has a very wonderful gift of 'thought' which can be transferred from one human to another (Infact if-mastered properly-to every aspect of nature)and that too with wireless connectivity!! I think there is huge potential in this 'market' of transferring thought which can be achieved only if there is communication between the senders and the receivers more often.

Thankfully there are many avenues to bridge this gap like Music-dance-sports-art-poetry-fashion-Interior decoration-swimming-horse riding-paragliding-stock market trading-designing jewelery-tree plantations-yoga-ayurveda-organising events-social service-cooking-advertising-maths-science experiments (Funsuk Wangdu)-podcasts-craft-pottery-Origami.................................................................................................and of course.....blogs!!!

The law of the Universe

"Inclusion"...this was the word that was hovering all over the Economic times corporate awards nite...with Aamir khan opening his heart out trying to explain this phenomenon (To which surprisingly the most acknowledging nod of the head came from Professor Ram Charan himself!!) I wonder how much did the other audience appreciate!
Nevertheless it was a very 'Rich' event...studded with personas and the who's-who of corporate India and as they say "The people who can make a difference"
Being an event of such stature, it was a given that each and every word said on the dias would be worth listening to...for me it was important because it was backed by immense experience and said by the experts of "current" corporate India.

If I had to make a choice, I would say that the three best speeches for me were by

1) Mr.Nitish Kumar: Reformer of the year
2) Aamir khan: with his theory of "Inclusion"
3) Ofcourse the attration of the event "Professor Ram Charan"

The Reformer:

The 11% growth story of Bihar as said by Mr. Nitish kumar, now projects Bihar on the map of India as India's growth story is projected on the map of the world. This I think was the crux of his speech...I totally agree with him when he says that the country cannot progress with Bihar staying behind...Bihar should only be glad of this achievement and hope that the "pitch" made by Mr.Nitish kumar catches the attention of those who matter...clearly the state has a lot to offer, for me, being a marketing person, every untapped market has the maximum potential for growth...and Bihar definitely is untapped territory by all means!


The Magician:

I always thought Aamir is the Tom Hanks of India and he has only been proving me right! I would also like to call him a magician...from nowhere, he just comes and touches your heart...with his speech he showed today that he is not only a 'fine' and I literally mean 'Fine to the details' actor, but also a great thinker!
He was invited to talk on 'Lateral thinking' given his credulous performances in 'Taare zameen par' and '3 Idiots'...however he chose to talk on 'Inclusion'...which as he again rightly said...is the starting pont of 'Lateral thinking' (And I will show it to you how, in my own 'lateral' way)
It was heartening to hear him say fom the bottom of his heart that he wants the parents of tomorrow not to ask their kids if they won the lemon and spoon race on sports day...topped their maths exam...or won in the tennis match...No...what he wants them to ask is "How many faces smiled because of you today Or whom did you give a helping hand today" things like these which will build up the human quotient first in the "Human being" and then the intelligence quotient...
According to me this is exactly how lateral thinking works!!
Its all about thinking from the heart(I always felt that there is no better symbol of PURITY than the HEART)...then using the intelligence of the brain we have to execute the thinking...thus ensuring that the end destination is pure as the heart and the path followed to achieve it is close to perfection!
what we currently do is exactly opposite...we think with the brain...think profit...think self interest...I want to come first...I want to become rich...but what we forget is the law of the universe!! which was best explained...perhaps best in the history of mankind...in the movie 'AVATAR'...and the law is that 'WE ARE ALL INTERLINKED'
The theory of lateral thinking thus justifies the theory of Inclusion which makes this interlinking bond stronger and allows us to work our way towards the RIGHT direction!


The GURU:Professor Ram Charan

His advice is taken as a final word by major CEO's around the globe including the company which gave birth to a host of strategies and business models-General Electric...It was a pleasure to listen to him live...The crux of his speech for me was "selecting the right person for the right job" (Including the CEO!) It was surprisingto know how even in the worlds biggest economies, the CEO's are wrongly appointed...people with expertise in cost cutting are appointed to bring about major growth...people who have expertise in acquisition are asked to bring Integration in the company...such mishaps are quite common across all levels in the organisation...and often are the root cause of the major concerns of the organisation.

So how do we select the right person??

I feel the answer to this lies in Professor's nod in appreciation of what Aamir had to say...the answer lies somewhere here deep within...lets try to decode it!

To identify who the right person is...one first has to underline what the 'right' thing is...I guess in finding the true answer to what is 'right' the 'heart' is more equipped than the 'brain'... If you let your heart free to imagine (and the heart knows only to think pure and dream good things) only then can it guide you to what your final goal should be...and then the brain should be used merely to execute this decision...usally what we do is think profit, think growth, and end up recruiting the wrong people when we actually need someont to just regulate or build relationship-in other words-to connect the interlink (AVATAR)!

The globe is interlinked...law of the universe..."Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'...this thought is the basis to understand even the corporte...the people who are buying your products...who are creating the demand for what you are supplying, basically have to be in a sound condition.
Stable at the level of socio-psychological-economic development wherein they can continue creating the demand.
The moment the corporate ignores this fact, temporary setbacks like recession will pull these customers back and bring them lower in the economic 'PYRAMD'...The corporate needs to understand the 'links' and make sure they stay connected...include people in the organisation who think with the same frequency so that they can serve faster and better(Corporate culture)...understand the 'people' who are customers and know their problems, strengthen their base...in turn your own base (remember-interlinked)

hmmm...
I have tried to decode it my way...donno if its right or wrong (but thats what blogs are for-to put forth your views whithot botherin what is right or wrong)...If anyone one of you reading can help further 'strengthen' these links, it would be fun to explore!! nevertheless it was fun to write today's blog neways!

All theories seem to be intelinked...sometimes supporting...sometimes validating...sometimes even negating...but in the end struggling to draw some sense...give some meaning...Afterall these thories are also a part of this universe and have to abide by its law!!

Climbing newer heights

Burj khalifa....the 800 metres, world tallest building was innaugrated !

The worlds tallest building now stands in Dubai....hey, isn't this the same city which faced a real estate crisis just a few months back...yes indeed!

It probably could be because most of the property was sold out before he crisis and that too to the speculators of the market who had been anticipating price rise...Looks like the tallest building in the world will have to remain empty for some time...

In the meanwhile, I am wondering whats the situation back here in our own country??

To my shock and awe a quick google search told me that the tallest structure in Mumbai is none other than...can u imagine??

Its the Doordarshan tower!! standing tall at 300 meters!!

Of course there are a lot of plans on paper for highrise buildings in Mumbai, but only God knows when the will materialize!! The great Bandra-Worli sealink, which should have been constructed atleast a decade ago, was somehow innaugrated last year! Now is the turn of Mumbai metro...wonder when this construction will be completed...

I am not blaming the engineers in India for this(one reason being I am an engineer myself!)...I very well know that engineers and architects have hardly anything to do with this delay...It is the planning system! There is no organised effort which goes into designing a city...there is no vision...foresight...the real problem being there are no leaders with this vision!

Even the poor Municipal corporation is kept occupied with cleaning the citygarbage, chowpatty and the Mithi river! when will it get time to remove encroachments and build highrise buildings??By the way the removal of encroachment actually falls under the jurisdiction of the Municipal corporation and not MNS!!!

Even in my personal case, since 2 years I am awaiting our 18 storey tower to be built...it will atleast take 2 more years now!!...half of the time being wasted in legal matters with tenents not ready to leave. Believe me, the files seem heavier than the blocks to move!

Roti,Kapda aur makaan being the 3 basic needs of man...the prices of all three have gone sky rocketing...how to survive now is the big question! At these difficult times, it is important not to loose what you have in your hand, not to loose hope...keep walking the distance hoping that someday we will get there where we intend to be...

who knows one day even the last flat on the 169th floor of the Burj would be affordable!!

A new concept: Is it?

"AMAN KI ASHA"...these were the first words, actually I should say the first concept, that the entire nation was subjected to by The Times of India on the first day of the new year.

Being an average Indian common man, I was first confused,
'Am I reading it correct??"
yes indeed.....
the next immediate thought was why??
which was immediately followed by the thought...why not???

And then the campaign gaining momentum with TV campaigns, articles in news paper about the social life in Pakistan, various celebrities including Mr. Bachchan joining the campaign......

I feel that such a thing can happen only in India and nowhere else. (Not that I have seen a lot of the rest of the world, infact none yet!!!) but still from whatever I have read and seen so far, I guess we are definitely amongst the very few in this world who are least bothered about themselves and think more about others...

There will definitely be a lot of Indians who would have stuck to the second thought which even I had...why?? why all this...for what???and most importantly for whom??????
The country which knows only the language of hate....
The people who only lie and who do not have the word 'ethics' in their dictionary....
Infact had we been like U.S or China for that matter,
this country would have become extinct by now for sure!

But...
(and there is a big silence here)............
(And this silence is called 'WISDOM').......
India is and has always been a land of the wise (mind you,the wise are not always rich).
No matter whatever they do to us, our tendency will always be to forgive them...
because, we can foresee that war is not what everyone wants...but peace is!

Although this may sound like an 'insult' to all the martyrs and brave men of India who have laid down their lives protecting their motherland, but if we think closely, the soldier is the first person who would say 'NO' to war... He too is a human and watches the destruction day-in and out more closely than anyone else!

A a common man however I wonder what can I do except for being a witness to all this and at max writing a blog...well a more deeper thought and I could understand that it is only I and millions of I's in India and Pakistan who can do this

It is we who have to break the age old thoughts and paradigms...change our point of view and focus from a new lens, a new angle at newer and more beautiful things..It is we who have to teach our next generation to love thy enemy, unike the previous who taught us to hate...

Wait, I can here some more noises...
Easier said than done...we have seen what has happened to the Poor Sri lankan players who had gone there just to play cricket..and we are INDIANS...Imagine how they will treat us!!

Oops...that is scary!!
But wait a sec...who is safe anyways today?
we are not safe in our own country...in our own city...in our own local trains...

So what am I finally supposed to do?????????????

The net takeout for me is:

1) I will still see an enemy soldier/terrorist who is trying to mess with my country's security only with hatred...and I am pretty serious about this
2) whenever I meet/read about Pakistani civilians I will think of them as any other foreign nationalists and greet them with warmth...try to understand the culture...take the good...throw the bad...and so on

hmmmm...
Sounds like a plan...lets see what happens!

Few things from the Idiot box

Dec 24
The Union cabinet on thursday approved amendments to the copyright act of 1957 for introduction in parliament. one amendment will give "independent rights to authors of literary and musical works in cinematographic films, whichwere hitherto denied and wrongfully exploited by producers and music companies" said information and technology minister Ambika Soni

Dec 25
The most awaited movie of the year '3 Idiots' based on the novel of India's best selling writer Chetan Bhagat , is released grossing 9 crores on the first day itself!

Dec 30
Chetan Bhagat is upset that he has not been given due credit as a writer

To this the team of '3 Idiots' stands united against Chetan chaiming that the script is etirely the genius of writer Abhijat Joshi and Chetan has been given due credit both monetaily and by mentioning his name towards the end of the movie

Chetan Bhagat says that the truth need not be explained, both the book and the movie are in front of the audience, he is only hurt because of not giving credit and thats about it

Case 1: Chetan is given the credit
Then the two biggest benefits will be he will no longer be hurt and he will have a chance to amass more wealth...but does he want it?

Case 2: Chetan is denied the credit
Then Chetan will continue to be hurt and he will not have a chance to amass more wealth.
Probably Vidhu Vinod, Raju and Aamir will be happy...should they really be?

Case 3: In any case
There is always a chance for some budding writer to write a book named
'Chetan and the 3 Idiots'

It is so true...'life is a race',
hey...wait a sec...was this satement from movie, or a book...
well...I think I should end this blog right here before 'I' get into any controversy myself.

New Year

With the start of this new year 2010, I have started blogging. They say its never too late to start anything in life...I totally agree...the question in my mind is what to write?? Not that I am short of topics, but there are so many things to write about!!! I am sure I'll figure that out soon. Right now I am just happy that atlast...I have started blogging!!