Life

I was just watching the movie "Safar" wherein Rajesh Khanna plays the role of Avinash who discovers that he has blood cancer and will not survive long. Neela played by Sharmila Tagore loves Avinash but another character Shekhar also loves her. When Avinash gets to know that he is suffering from cancer, he wants Nella to marry Shekhar because he feels that Neela has a future with him and Shekhar has a better future to offer her. I was taken aback by that scene. It made me think a lot.  It made me ponder over at least two things. First, what is the meaning of marriage? Is marriage just an alliance for safety and security? Will Neela be happy marrying a person whom she does not love just because he offers her security and comfort? What is primary for marriage: love or comfort? Will Neela be able to share what she shared with Avinash? I am not sure about all these. Probably a hungry stomach can't think of love and that's why Indian marriages are by and large driven by ...

I feel that insecurity is the root cause of almost all the problems in this world. Insecurity manifests in many different forms. Some people become insecure about money, some about relationships, and some about their careers and jobs. However, there is a fundamental insecurity behind all these masks. That is a lack of awareness of the meaning of life. Till the age of around 6-7 years, we are least concerned about the meaning of life and we are bust exploring life as it comes. But by the time we reach 7-8 years of age, society pushes us off the balcony where we feel safe in the custody and protection of our parents. Now we have to compete in the class and the whole of the world is sitting in judgment. We are falling freely off the balcony and desperately looking for one or the other support.  In the process of falling, we see many things that we try to take support of. We come across many friends and we magically form a bond with them. It looks so good and relaxing to share our thou...

While in a movie hall, we laugh, cry, and get excited with the script of the movie. Different scenes of the movie fill us with diverse emotions. Till we are in the cinema hall, we are completely engrossed with the screen and at times forget the difference between the reel and real life. The darkness in the cinema hall and the soundproof walls almost disconnect us from the outside world. There are no mobile calls and no chit-chat or office work. All these help us be completely engrossed with the movie and that's why Cinema Hall offers us a very different perspective of life, almost a parallel frame of life. Different movies are played in different halls in the multiplex. However, projectors use the same electricity to project the images stored in different reels on the same screen. What if life is also like a movie where our brain is disconnected from the rest of reality due to the limitations of our five senses. We can perceive only a very limited frequency of light waves and liste...

There is no doubt that we human beings are capable of exploiting others. We have proved that almost in every period of human history. So many books have been written about the exploitation of the human beings by the fellow human beings. The history of India is full of instances where one caste was explored by another, one religion was exploited by the other, Indians were attacked by outsiders who tortured and killed the native Indians, and the whole of India was exploited by the British who looted the resources of India. There is a similar history of exploitation by dictators in almost every part of the world. Few dictators started world wars and forced the entire humanity to face unforeseen consequences. Millions of people have been tortured in almost every part of the world by their fellow human beings. However, there is serious doubt whether we human beings are capable of love. As against so many glaring examples of exploitation, there are very few examples of true love. Love is qui...

Sometimes I feel sad looking at the cheap and selfish behavior of many people. The greed of the people has increased to the extent that they are using the nations, organizations, their families, relatives, and friends for their greed. Everyone has become a use case. Not only that, this naked dance of greed has become shameless and they consider themselves entitled to exploit others. Far away from love and harmony, they can go to any extent to perpetuate their self-interest.  However, then comes a different thought. All these people are also part and parcel of the same creation that is taking place within the consciousness. Thus, they have their role to play. The best of the bowlers have their role to play in the growth of the batsman. Similarly, the best batsmen have a role to play in the growth of the bowlers. Not only do the bowlers and batsmen have their role in the growth of a player, but the pitch also has a role to play. If a player always plays on a flat pitch, there will no...

Probably, one of the most fatal mistakes committed by Bhishma was that he could not distinguish between loyalty to a kingdom and loyalty to a king. He had a commitment to protect Hastinapur and finally ended up becoming a tool for the destruction of Hastinapur. He could not realize timely that the greed and insecurities of Dhritrastra would never be in the interest of Hastinapur and if Hastinapur is to be protected then the king has to change. Until Dhritrastra remains the king of Hastinapur, he will sell off each brick of Hastinapur for his self-interest.  On the other hand, Vibhishana had that foresight. He could see that the decisions of Ravana were not in the interest of Lanka and that is why he dared to leave Ravana and join Rama. By doing so, he helped Rama kill his brother but at the same time protect the interests and lives of many of the people from Lanka. He had the vision and foresight that "standing for truth" is the only way out and no amount of patchwork is goin...

 Are we, human beings, prisoners of our own minds? The trees, animals, atmosphere, and the entire universe are constantly functioning under some mysterious "law". The scientists have been trying to make sense of the same almost whole of their lives but they hardly get one little glimpse of the same in their lifetime, as if "nature" just wants to reveal its secrets at a "pre-scheduled" time. Apple was falling forever on this Earth so why did the same attract the attention of Newton/ Even Newton would have seen many apples falling before that moment in his life. Archimedes would have been taking a bath in his tub, many times in his life before getting that grand idea.  Our little brains try to make sense of the universe. In fact, most people make a very primitive sense of life and live the whole of their lives within the confinements of that meaning. I like this and dislike that, this is right and that is wrong, this is moral and that is immoral. We spend ou...

A few decades back, community rules were primary, and individual freedom always used to take a back seat vis a vis the community rules. Almost every decision used to be based on the acceptability of the community, Youngsters would not dare to drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes before their parents or elders. Times have changed significantly and no individual gives a damn about the society. However, this individual freedom may be like nuclear energy, which if used without awareness, may turn into an atom bomb and may damage and destroy the individuals. The fast-rising cases of drug addiction and crimes among children indicate that somehow, we as parents have failed to educate our kids as to how to use the newly acquired freedom. One significant fallout of the latest developments is that the top level of the "purpose of life" has disappeared. Earlier, there were individual goals in life such as getting higher education, getting a good job, and creating wealth, but there was also...

Krishna is one person who chooses to fight battles constantly. He fought battles with Kansa, Jarasandha, and the battle of Kurukshetra, the battle of minds. He always had an option to live in peace and avoid the battles, but he chose otherwise. He could have lived in Brij ignoring what was happening in Mathura and definitely, he could have decided not to participate in the battle of Kurukshetra. But in that case, Krishna would not have been Krishna.  Whether we like it or not, we too always make similar choices. Getting up in the morning is a choice between two voices within us, one saying that let's take some more rest and the other one asking us to get up to exercise, read books, or take a walk. Every morning, we make a choice to have a healthy or unhealthy breakfast and there is a battle between taste and health. In the office, there is a daily choice between an easy path of doing whatever is directed from the top or taking initiative and extra work and responsibilities. Similar...

"Ego" tries to protect our limited identities. For example, we identify with the body and we try to protect our body by staying fit and fighting against diseases. We identify with our ideas and opinions and ego tries to protect that in discussions. If we do not agree with certain views that do not conform to our ideas and opinions, we disagree and sometimes disagreement takes the shape of arguments and debates and even fights. We identify with our families and communities and our ego tries to protect them.  There is no doubt that ego has a role. It acts as a self-defense mechanism. If we do not identify with the body and make active efforts to protect the same, bacteria, viruses, and vultures will eat us away. In fact, it would not have been possible for human civilization to survive had our self-defense mechanism not been so strong. However, the same self-defense mechanism has to take a back seat when we go for vaccination and surgery. We trust the doctor and if he causes a ...

Sometimes, sadness sets in when we see people in important positions who do not take a stand for systems. Such decisions are motivated by different considerations, such as either wanting to be in the good books of their bosses or having personal ambitions to become larger than life or their petty interests, such as earning money, favoring somebody known to them, or retaining control. In either case, systems get compromised. The potentially best products get converted into sub-standard products.  Such people probably feel that the cost of intervention and stand is quite high. When they get fixated on a narrow frame of life, all these problems naturally arise. They identify with a few things and such identification is repeated again and again and therefore that is quite a strong identification. Generally, most people around them are also equally fixated, and we all keep approving each other's fixations. Society, in general, also supports these fixations. That is how these fixations b...

Just a few hundred years ago, we all were living on our own continents. People living in Asia did not know about the USA or Europe and the people living in Europe did not know about Asia or the USA. We were living in our continents as if living in our own islands unaware of the larger world. It took the courage of a few explorers who had the courage to venture into an unknown world and enable people to navigate across continents. In India Mythology, Hanuman entered Lanka by crossing the ocean that was unknown to the army of Surgiva and Rama before that. Buddha also set on such a journey of the exploration of truth and wisdom. The science of the day is also exploring what exists beyond the known world and they are sending expedition missions into space and also trying to explore the realities of the quantum world. It appears to me that all these explorations have something in common. I feel that all these explorations have certain prerequisites. First and foremost is "awareness of ...

 Life is full of infinite possibilities, yet many of us spend our entire lives being aware of only a fraction of them. Does life discriminate or do we choose to remain limited? I feel that at any given moment, there are broadly two reasons why we miss these possibilities: external and internal. External reasons vary from society to society. Some societies are quite loud and condition the minds of people quite young in age. These societies have very strong fixed linear views of reality and force these views upon young minds with huge force. Since young minds have yet not developed the capacity to question these views, they get caught and live their entire lives believing these beliefs and dogmas to be correct. On the other hand, some societies are open to different possibilities and therefore the people therein are also open to new ideas, opinions, and thoughts. Thus, loud voices attract our attention easily and unless we develop the capacity to mute the loud voices, we can't hear t...

Yesterday, we visited an initiative for the kids created by two young enthusiasts Ashish and Taukeer. It was wonderful to see their commitment. They have been trying to provide integrated learning to the kids, while at the same time preserving the traditions and local knowledge that have been gathered by that community while roaming around in the forests.  Some of the activities of the kids were also captured over the camera: In a society that is so doomed with divisions around religion, caste, and nations, it's so good to see such initiatives. While interacting with the kids, we realized at least two things. First, kids have an immense capacity to learn new things. We told them the right badminton technique, and they picked it up very quickly. We asked them so many questions and they could answer very well. I feel that all human beings have an immense capacity to grow and that does not depend upon our age, experience, culture, or exposure. That capacity to grow is innate to us and...

Changing the frame is not easy, primarily because we cannot see what lies beyond it. All of us live within the frame of society that provides great comfort to us and that's why social validation plays such an important role in our lives. Being a part of society gives us a lot of comfort and safety. We get sick, and we have people to take care of. We have people to share our thoughts with. We have festivals to celebrate. We have common beliefs and have common rituals. That makes our life comfortable.  However, there are movies across the world on the theme of love. When a person falls in love (or grows in love), he gets the courage to look beyond the limited frame of society. In Hollywood, especially, so many movies have been made around the theme. People from one religion marry the people of other religions. People marrying across regions, communities, social strata, and so on. It's not an easy decision because it forces all the family members to expand their frame of mind. The...

Probably one of the strongest frames, we all are tied to, is the frame of morality. This frame is so strong because it gets support from not only the law of the country but also the social conventions and religious texts. The frame of morality has the oneness of life at its center. Probably that is one of the widest frames possible but the problem lies in its selective interpretation. Somehow, we tend to divide this framework into pieces and pick a piece of the framework to suit our purposes. For example, the framework of morality is based on the concept of the larger good, and therefore our actions should aim at the larger good. But all of us have been using natural resources indiscriminately. We have been traveling for fun making the air polluted, throwing so much water every day into the flush, using different industrial products made by the industries that are polluting the air and water, and using pesticides and insecticides without awareness of the violence. How can the "mor...

Nowadays, we see neatly maintained gardens that look quite attractive. The plants are well shaped and the grass is neatly cut. Similarly, we see some modern cities such as Paris where all the buildings have symmetrical architecture. We see many townships where everything is so well maintained, including the roads, lawns, clubs, and gardens. Harmony attracts us. Similarly, systems attract us. They make everything quite predictable. We walk on the road and if there is harmony in the traffic, we will see all the vehicles following the speed limit and traffic lights. It would make us feel safer to drive on the road as against a case where people are jumping traffic lights and violating the speed limits.  On the other hand, we have organic growth, say for example, in the forest. In a forest, there is no law. Some trees grow extraordinarily strong while some plants are very tiny. There is no fixed law in the jungle or the jungle has its own law. There is a struggle at every stage. Strugg...

We often seek instant solutions. In this age of Zomato and Blinkit, Facebook and WhatsApp, UPIs, and Net Banking, everything has become quite instant. We do not have the patience to wait for the delivery of the goods we ordered. Gone are the days when one had to stand in queues to pay the electricity bills and not the bills that could be paid with just a click of a button. Suppose we want information on anything in this world, the same is available in a customized form as presented by Google AI. Probably, we have got so used to these quick solutions that we want the solutions in the spiritual world too instantly. That is why the entire business of Babas and spiritual products is at its peak. So many products are being sold in the name of spirituality. YouTube is full of devotional music. The market is full of different types of idols of God. There are so many Babas in the market and some of the parents have gripped the pulse of the market and have branded their young kids as babas who ...

There are two sides of every coin. We notice only one side of the coin out of foolishness and keep suffering our entire lives. For example, there is no doubt that money is very useful in this world and we can buy almost everything in this world with money. That is why there is almost a race to earn money in the society. The billionaires are the new role models of the new generation. While doing a session on mindfulness, we asked the students about their dreams and we were shocked to see that one student said that "becoming the son-in-law of Elon Musk" is his dream. Most of the career options are being decided based on the potential package. However, in this mad race, we tend to ignore the other side of the coin. From a different perspective, we have limited time and energy and when we allocate these limited resources disproportionately to earn money, the rest of the things suffer. In some cases, we fall ill due to work pressure and end up spending the money we have earned wit...

We get different teachers in our lives at different stages thereof. There are three types of Gurus we get in our lives, if we are ready to receive them. The first ones are the gurus that teach us the ways and means of doing what we are doing presently. the teachers at school teach us different subjects such as languages, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, etc. In the higher standards, teachers tell us more nuanced subjects such as medicine, engineering, accountancy, auditing, law, etc. Rama also got such a teacher in the form of Vishwamitra and skills taught by Vishvamitra helped Rama at every stage of life including while fighting against Rakshasas and when he attacked Lanka to fight a battle against Ravana. The skills taught by these teachers help us at every stage of our lives.  Second are the teachers that teach us to grow within a fixed frame of life. Rama got such a teacher in the form of Vashistha. When Rama was confused about the meaning of life, Vashistha helped him...

Just observing the acts of pure charity in this selfish world fills us with so much energy. Yesterday. I visited Ashadeep, a school for special children having difficulty in hearing, speaking, and also having certain cognitive issues. It was wonderful to meet the management as well as the students. The management is comprised of retired people from different government departments and banks. The school comprises a staff of around 20 people and 50 students. They are running this school with limited resources they have, charging very nominal fees from the students, which is also exempted in many cases. By and large, the school is running on donations. I met some of the students who have difficulties in speaking and listening and their young teachers. I was fascinated by at least two things. First, these kids have been given a frame of life that has few limitations and yet they were so full of enthusiasm to develop a new frame. They are learning their own language quite enthusiastically a...

There is a huge resistance to growth in society. People become comfortable in their frames of life and resist to grow. I have seen many bureaucrats who did their graduation from the best of the colleges in India and outperformed so many for that but after coming to the service, they just refuse to grow. As if they have done hard work for their entire life. I think the worst frames are the ones that have social approval. For example, in the Academy, there was a narrative among the probationers that Keen Type Probatoners, called KTP sarcastically, do not know how to enjoy their lives. This was an extension of the narrative I faced during school time where the kids who have decided to do their traditional business, which does not require much skill set, will make fun of the students who work hard. They are so fixated on their limited frame that they can't see any value in the larger framework of life. Those people could not see life beyond the easy choice of continuing with the tradit...