Count Your Blessings

Count your blessings

Whenever we encounter any problem the very first question that strikes our mind is why me? But during the moments of happiness we never even bother to ask the same question.

Just a clear understanding about life and our expectations about it can set right things. In this context it is important to define what constitutes a problem?  Most often, problems  are the most difficult decisions we need to make in life. These are also matters involving doubt, uncertainty and difficulty. If we consider any hiccups in life to be greatest problem, no matter how richly you are endowed with resources of happiness , life seems to be doomed. Objectively, there is not a single living being without a problem. It is very important not be intimidated by slightest disturbances.  When we face a problem, it is always best to accept and own them. Instead of blaming somebody else for it. It is important to realise that we control our own destiny.

On a lighter note, I feel I am fortunate when compared to millions of people  to have luxury of  good education, which enlightened my intellect to  put forth my ideas on a public platform. Most of us fail to recognise our true potentialities , inner strengths  and tend to give up our resolve during crucial times. It is time to muster courage and boost confidence. May be it is time to count on our blessings instead of lamenting about the problems which we encounter in life. A little change in the attitude might bring a new light and brightness into our lives.

 



 

"All the problems in the world could be settled easily if men are willing to think. The trouble is men very often resort to all sort of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such a hard work".

 –Thomas J Watson

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Ramifications of Outsourcing And Offshoring: An Indian Perspective

Ramifications of outsourcing and off shoring: An Indian Perspective

Past two decades have witnessed a great change in the Indian social and economic scenario. A move towards globalisation has opened up the economy for the new trends- off shoring and outsourcing. Two major industries: IT and BPO have generated employment to millions of Indians. There has been substantial increase in the foreign exchange cash flows through a steady increase in IT & ITES  industries.

Just as everything comes with a price. Outsourcing comes with its share of burdens and implications on the economy.  India  must understand the long standing repercussions. IT companies and BPO's  are now slowly experiencing the tremors. BPOs  are  already experiencing saturation and there seems to be hardly any more growth and bleak chances of further employment generation in this front. IT companies are now bored of doing same kind of repetitive work as the most advanced and technologically challenging work is never outsourced. This kind of trade is not going to be beneficial for a developing country like India on a long run.

 

Though outsourcing  has given a good boost up for the economy. It has generated a hype and adoration for western kind of life style in the newly evolving breed of tech-savvy people. Further, concentration of the IT hubs in cities eventually lead to mushrooming of satellite towns around the major cities. The existing fragile network of the cities is further weakened by   mass migration from villages, thus exerting a great pressure on scarce resources of the cities. IT boom has created great rift in society due to huge difference in income levels of the techies and the rest which might lead to a growing resentment and frustration among the poor.

 

Under the garb of development and growth country is at tremendous risk of putting the meagre natural resources under pressure.  Several farm lands around cities are cleared for constructing big infrastructures to house the IT centres.  This is massive blow to the delicate environmental balance of urban ecosystems.  Several  smart and educated graduates employed for a fraction of wages are grossly unaware of  exploitation. Every new technology they developed or every  new program worked out generates intellectual property.  By potentially surrendering their rights over this property they are empowering the multinationals with the ownership of several patents. Intellectual Property rights would eventually be claimed by the multinationals and our future generations would end up paying huge amount of royalties for availing the same technologies. 

Developing country like India with an overwhelming population of 1.2 billion and meagre energy resources should have a strategic planning.  Huge population has been both a boon and  bane. But for a stable economy the prerogative should be a sustainable growth with long term planning. Still majority of the population are deprived of the basic amenities like- food, shelter, health care, sanitation and primary education. Development should bring change in standard of living of the masses.

 

Future economic policies must concentrate on development and regulated use of the available natural resources. Government must identify core areas of development and should strive to attain a holistic growth. First and foremost priority should be to have renewable power with low polluting energy resources, water purification & conservation and reliable health care. Energy independent country can boost growth of industrial and manufacturing sector which provides gainful employment. Major thrust should be on Biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industry  to produce vaccines, life saving drugs and contraceptives for effective population control. Concerted efforts should be made to  build good infrastructure, transport facilities and supply chains that can transform the economy.

A global economy needs to have a hawk-eye in protecting the intellectual property rights.  So far, outsourcing had a significant impact on the urban economy but the rural economy is largely untouched. Any industry must be capable of bringing about noticeable change in wider sections of the country. The impact of this new trend has been confined to few sectors. Thus  a lopsided development might be dangerous as it might increase existing disparities.

 

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Outsourcing And Offshoring

Outsourcing and off shoring

 

Most people conflate these two terms, Outsourcing and Off shoring. Outsourcing is contracting out a part of the business process to a third party / organisation. Whereas off shoring is relocating a part of the business process or the business unit to a different country. Off shoring results in creation of jobs in a different country, i.e offshore. This eventually results in sending off jobs to offshore country. These two issues have been the bone of contention in recently held U.S. Presidential Elections. These terms have changed the facade of Indian Economy to a considerable extent with IT exports of more than $10 billion annually. The effects have been imminent. It has paved way for the creation of vibrant middle class, which is more empowered and started dreaming of a bright and unbridled world.

 

Companies like GE have flagged their presence in India by setting up their first off-shore fully equipped private office in Gurgaon in 1997. Slowly several IT companies from west started percolating Indian markets by establishing state-of-art centres at various locations in India. During 1990’s rapidly developing west has found developing countries to be a lucrative places for setting up their offshore offices. Adequate availability of skills and lower labour costs have been the rationale behind setting up their fleet. Productivity was high as people were willing to work in night shifts. This has increased their profit margins. Further, governments of putative off shore counties stretched out themselves by providing subsidies and tax holidays to promote their investments.

 

Countries like China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand have been favoured for setting up bigger manufacturing units. India has lagged behind in wooing manufacturing industries owing to poor infrastructure and lack of supply network chains. But India has been a hot favourite for business services, especially IT owing to availability of good number of graduates/Engineers every year. Good English speaking and communication abilities has given India an edge over other east Asian countries. Philippines has been another contender with India for business services owing to their closeness to the American connections and English accent of majority of the people was good.

 

China prevailed as the most preferred off-shore destination country for three decades. Consistent financial growth over past one decade has changed the face of the Chinese economy. There has been rapid increase in the labour wages. Labour unions became stronger entities. Strikes have become a common event drastically effecting the productivity. Slowly, it moved away from the status of "sought after off-shore" to that of a "lucrative market". This has changed the dynamics of the off shoring and outsourcing marketing strategies of Western countries. Big companies are no longer able to maintain their profit margins due to costly labour. Added to this increase in transport, freight charges and the exercise duties had a dampening effect. Transportation of goods to the potential markets was taking weeks. Business become counter-productive. As a result, companies are making a big U-turn and slowly shifting the manufacturing units nearer to R&D so that innovation doesn’t lack behind. Some of them are venturing into far east Asian countries like Thailand, Indonesia where labour wages are nominal.

 

The financial crisis in 2008 world has hard hit the world economy, leading to major revamp of business strategies by major companies. With mounting political pressures in home countries, due to rise in the unemployment, companies are forced to "re-shore". Owing to threat of job displacement, semi-skilled workers are willing to work for optimum wages. This sudden change in the attitude of the workers has started turning tables in favour of parent companies. Re shoring business can cut down transport charges and delivery of goods to markets will be faster. R&D can also make quick advances this would result in better innovations. Already companies like GE, GM are seriously contemplating on re-shoring businesses. If this trend continues, off shoring will be completely withdrawn by 2025 (The Economist). Optimal profit calculations indicate, if labour cost makes upto 15% or less of their product costs, it is advisable to re shore.

 

America and Britain are two major giants that has off shored most of their business activities. Economic scenario in Europe is little different. It has large number of family owned business and those companies tend to be loyal to the countries of origin. In Europe, labour markets are relatively inflexible and costly. Due to restrictive rules in firing employees it is difficult and expensive to shut down capacity. Most firms are held back by political and social pressures especially in Italy and Spain. But some of them are contemplating the idea of “near-shoring”like sending of their workto eastern European countries where wages are little lower and this also avoids some of the transport costs and cultural differences of sending back the product to their home countries.

 

In spite of serious thoughts of re shoring, Western countries have major set backs. Poor out turn of graduates and high school drop out is major hindrance for obtaining personnel. If they plan to re shore, majority of the processes will be highly automated hence the manpower requirement will be less. World class skills and training, along with flexibility and motivation of workers, extensive cluster of supplies and sensible regulation will still thrust areas.

 

Outsourcing and off shoring had a great impact on the economies of developing countries. If major stake holders wish to pull back their investments, nations would experience severe monetary losses in terms of exports of services. They would be immediately burdened with the arduous task of providing employment to the educated youth. Though it might have great impact initially, nations would be forced to rethink about alternative strategies to better their individual economies.

 

 

 

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Appraising Child's Skills

Appraising Child's Skill

Now a days one of the biggest problems faced by parents in nuclear families is rising a child. Parents are really preplexed about the future of their children. The biggest question before them always see to be : "how will my child succeed’’? .  The answer is : there is no quick-fix solution.  But most of them seem to be obssessed with the idea of dumping the younger minds with tonnes of information  from a very early age.  Most of them think that equipping the child with all the known information might keep in good stead and thus would help him in long run. This idea needs to be totally revamped and should altogether be abandoned. Just making them as walking encyclopeadias would be counter productive. Due to this irrational thinking, most of the kids are forced to endure ruthless schooling.

I guess it is the time to change, reinvent the our education system which is onerous and robbing the kid of their beautiful childhood. Lets take a look at the subject from a scientific angle. Each individual is endowed with two kinds of skills-cognitive and non-cognitive skills. It is very important in this context to realise that each child is endowed with unique skill set.

Cognitive skills  refers to ' cognition'  and mainly refers to things like memory, ability to learn new information, speech, understanding of written material. These are mostly  brain-based/mental skills. Brain is capable of learning all these skills from a very younger age. With age these skills diminish. But, cognitive abilities can be improved at any age. These are the skills which can be objectively assessed and all our kids undergo different tests in schools. These are the tests we totally really on to count on the intelligence of the child. These skills can be enhanced by rote learning.  This is just the academic intelligence and we often believe that individuals who excel in these cognitive skills are brainy and smart. A good grade in these skills naturally ensures a good graduation percentage. But this alone is not enough for a successful career.

Non-cognitive skills on the other hand, are inter-personal skills and cann’t be objectively measure. Persistance, self-control, curiosity, consientiousness, grit and self-confidence- termed as soft skills or meta-cognitive learning skills.  Not mind –based skills.  Emotional maturity, verbal and non-verbal communication, empathy are all traits of this skill set.  Special curriculum, in schools are not yet developed improve these skills. Parents are the people who can impart them. Sometimes they are innate, sometimes family intervention, help in improving these skills. Can be developed through deliberate learning, practice or experience. Better non-cognitive skills can help in improving cognitive skills but unfortunately, vice-versa is not true. Non-cognitive skills-sets of behaviour, skills, attitudes and strategies  are crucial to academic performance.

Since the system of education and organisations are entirely dedicated to the cognitive hypothesis. This is taken as standard measure for testing the intelligence of the child. Strong parent-child interactions in the early stages helps child’s mind and body to cope up with the future stress. Real problem is parenting, we find most of them are not parenting. During adoloscent stage it becomes very important to teach certain skills in person. There is no computer assisted learning program to teach some qualities like grit, perseverance, patience. Ultimately the character of a person is the one which helps him to succeed in life.  Character of the person includes both the skill sets. Truly leadership, which is key to the success is determined by skills like- self-awareness, high emotional intelligence quotient, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. Traditionally, success is  associated qualities like determination, intelligence, vision, toughness  but they are insufficient.

Other things which play a crucial role include- goal-setting, time management and self-regulated learning. Social and emotional develoment of children is very important for over all development of a child. Efforts should me made to inculcate a positive attitude/ positive environment in learning places. Increasing emphasis on development of cognitive skills at a very early age may not be helpful on a long run. Tools for developing the emotional intelligence of the child may be a path for greater student success.

 Studies show  that children who are subjected to traumatic , stressful, disadvantaged  environment during early childhood are not likely to succeed. As these intimidating circumstances  have a profound  effect on skill development.

 

A detailed analysis shows that  good parenting alone can ensure success in children's life. A good parent-child interaction is crucial for development of child's personality. Instead of hankering for admitting in expensive schools and forcing  them go through hours of study parents should spend their valuable time with their children to safeguard child's future.

 

 

 

 

 

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Pain Is The Window To The World

Pain is the window to the world

Any person who hasn’t ever experienced any pain would never understand  the essence of life. Though  it is foolishness to anticipate pain but  in reality it is frightening  to live through it. Pain is not just living out of comfortable zone. It is such an excruciating feeling that each and every cell of the body would experience it.  It would leave a deep impression in the mind. A life without any hardships can never know the real picture of the world.

Pain altogether changes the total personality and fine tunes the attitude and transforms a person.  The change would be to the core. A change which would stay with them till to the death and lessons learnt after experiencing pain would stay forever.

But the most difficult part of course has always been the courage to undergo the writhing pain. Pain can tear the chambers of mind, heart and soul. In the process it cleanses the whole system and person himself would be totally appalled by the new out look he has gained.

The hardships, disappointments, humiliations, defeats faced during a life time would definitely leave their trail. A person of wisdom and character would make pain as stepping stone for climbing up the ladder in the right royal way. The heart that feels and the mind that deals with the utter despair will  find expression in various forms. Behind every beautiful thing lies pain. All the master pieces in different fields-like music, dance, art, painting, sculpture, sciences, literature  in most of the cases are brain child of pent up anger and pain experienced by people. People who could successfully channelise their energies after undergoing greatest suffering have made miraculous contributions to the world.

People who can endure pain and go through it will rise as champions in life. Most people lack the guts to endure the pain. The moment we master it, a path breaking success will lie ahead in life. For without pain there can be no pleasure. Without sadness there can be no happiness, without misery no beauty. Without all these, life is endless, hopeless and doomed. The world with all its beauties lying around would never seem to be so wonderful and the nature around us would never be alluring. Had people not experienced misery.

 

" Tragedy can be successfully utilised as a source of strength. No matter what sort of difficulties , how painful the experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our disaster"-  Dalai Lama XIV

 

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Its All In The Mind

Its all in the mind

" If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience" .

There are days when everything looks so rosy and beautiful. We enjoy the real beauty in every object around us and we deeply appreciate it. Why does it happen only on few days?

What is it that stops us from enjoying the beauty of the nature which unfolds before us everyday? Just as the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. But in reality the small world we live in, doesn’t change much everyday . We fail to enjoy the beauty around us.  To cherish the joy and beauty, we need to have the right frame of mind. When mind is teeming with happiness it is reflected automatically in the things lying around. And it is the same mind we makes the world dull and gloomy  too.

Happiness is the state of mind. When mind is overflowing with positive energies, everything seems to be under control. We suddenly feel so strong from inside and external disturbances seem to effect our mental poise. This happiness and peace of mind is the outcome of the positive energies and is the driving force for us. It is the invincible internal energy which keeps us going even through the worst phases of life.

Positive energy is our life line, just like oxygen it generates great vitality and mirth. A life brimming with positive attitudes can shower light of brilliance at the people living around them.  The key is to have good thoughts. It is a cycle, if we think good, do good and be good then we will be incapable of doing anything  but good. To keep positive energies running in our life. It is essential to  flush out bad thoughts with good ones. Negative thoughts and  ideas are like a pin hole ready to sink a gigantic ship. Positivity brings a new hope and charm in life.

 

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Inner Light Of Love

Inner Light of love

This is the first book I have read of the most widely read author Paulo Coelho. I was impressed by the philosophical touch and novelty in his writing. The  book  “Eleven Minutes”  tries to address the subtle difference between love and sex and how often these words are interchanged. Though there are related but the concept and intricate bonding in these relationships is radically different.

It is a story of a young Brazilian who wants to explore the world on her own and want to have a luxurious life. Just like a typical country girl, dreams of a marrying a prince-charming, young, handsome and rich. She dreams of a being a happy housewife and having a good family life. But sudden turn of events brings rapid changes in her life. On one of her dream visits to Rio di Janerio, she eventually gets introduced to a man who takes her to Geneva . Though she was initially excited at prospect of working in a different country and earning in dollars. All her dreams slowly shatter weeks after joining the new job as a samba dancer at night club. She leaves the job and when her attempts of a career in modelling fail, she ends up working as a  prostitute.

 

The protagonist of the story was a very brave, dynamic and independent girl . She had great fighting spirit and high will-power. In spite of being in a profession which is least respected. She starts reading good books on positive thinking and self-help as she felt that all her customers don’t come to her just for pleasure. She starts categorising them into three different groups and offers different kinds of services accordingly. She was soon envied among her colleagues and was considered an intellectual for her unusual traits. She notices that a large section of men suffer from loneliness  and stress which have been their constant accomplice. People in the high profile are under severe depression, as the level of expectation in the job and family were  extremely high. Life takes a new turn when she meets a painter by accident who discovers some kind of light in her. This kind of individual attention and help offered by him brings some unexpected change and an internal turbulence between the ecstasy of sex and real love in her life. She starts experiencing true love in his company. Finally realisation of this inner light of love fills her life with complete joy and happiness. She shuns her profession starts a new live a fresh.

This book made a sincere attempt to bring about some facts about sex into life. During medieval period, sex was considered sacred but in later days it was treated with profanity. Though almost entire humanity is ready to lose anything for the intense pleasure of the eleven minutes of encounter. Sex is still looked upon as a taboo and the problems associated with it are least  spoken and discussed in public. The story is based on the life of a prostitute who lives in Switzerland.

The new definition and concept of love elucidated in this book emulates profound, reasonable, logical understanding of the author. Some of the greatest attributes of Love when realised would bring a great change in individuals perspective about life. Love alone has the strength to change a person. Some of the aspects which are relevant in our daily lives are briefly discussed in the book.  A person who loves himself alone can offer real  love. Love is not voluntary enslavement. Love without freedom is just a slavery. A person who loves whole-heartedly alone feels free. In love, nobody can harm any one else; we are responsible for our feelings and cann’t blame someone else for what we feel. No body loses anyone because no one owns anyone. Several  emotions like pleasure, pain, jealousy, patience, desire and passion are well illustrated in different instances.

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The Modern Monarch

The Modern Monarch

I still remember the kind of exhilaration I experienced when I saw an 86 year old woman descending from a parachute to declare the “London Olympics 2012 open”. No body else could ever think of performing such a feat at that age on the world stage. But truly that Royal humour was the most memorable event of the biggest sports fest. As conventional wisdom dictates, as people grow they tend to become more conservative. But in fact, this saying is not applicable for the Modern Monarch. This is greatest attribute of the Queen Elizabeth II born as Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. She created an impregnable impression that people started believing that perhaps monarchy is a feminine institution, which was indeed a male bastion. She was the last of the head of state who donned a uniform during World War II.

The book “Our Queen by Robert Hardman” elaborates the life and the greatest contributions made by the Queen in the world history. It deals with several crucial issues wherein the audacity and instinctive judgements of the Queen had made a lot of difference and brought a new change in people’s lives.

When we look at the political system in our country, it is always in a precarious situation. We have consciously chosen democratic form of government to elect leaders of our choice to power. Unfortunately in our current system we never had a single leader  who could win the confidence of people for longer time. This is in sharp contrast with reign of the Queen Elizabeth who celebrated Diamond Jubilee in 2012. I am just awed by the fact that how is it possible for an individual to reign in people’s heart for such a long time. Her reign is second largest after Queen Victoria who ruled for 63 years. But Queen Victoria was largely hated by people. Queen Elizabeth as a grand daughter of the monarch was never expected to ascend the throne. She was initially Princess of York went on to become to the Queen of United Kingdom and Northern Province of Ireland after coronation was regarded as after Grand Mother of the nation after Golden Jubilee is now acclaimed as  National Treasure. The transition has never been so easy. But the persistent efforts, sacrifice and the determination to do good for the people has changed it all.

We tend to believe that life of Kings, Monarchs or the higher echelon of the society is pleasant and gratified. But life is always solitary at the top. They have to fight it all alone. With great power comes great responsibility and greater are the expectations of the people. Reading this biography is like a journey through all the milestone events in the history of the world. There is hardly any part of World which hasn’t been influenced by the majesty. She had played a great role in world affairs, consequentially bringing changes in the fortunes of several countries. Her role as the Queen of United Kingdom is invincible. She has been instrumental in conveying the British policies to the World. She has thus made a tremendous contribution to her nation . She is  the head of fifty- forty Common Wealth of Nations. She is constitutional head of 16 Sovereign Nations. Her reign spans 12 US presidents, 12 British Prime Ministers and 6 popes.

Through her illustrious life, she had been through several highs and lows. Like many other leaders world over, there has been several assassination attempts on her. But that never deterred her to deliver her duties. Though security around her has been tightened she would never allow any guard to be seen around in public. She believed that “there are people in happiness business”. She refused to lose her temper even under extreme duress. She has been through times of personal sorrow. She waded through the mud's of gossip and criticism during death of Princess Diana, her daughter-in-law. For all her inherent conservatism she has changed and steered the monarchy through more transition than anyone else in modern times. Initial 20 years of her reign she has shunned the media and never allowed any kind of publicity. But soon she realised the importance of staying connected with people. For she believed “seeing is believing”. Soon she had her own active press office. She represents not the arguments that divide the government role but a force that unites people. She proved that power of monarchy lies not in the power it endows the Sovereign but the power that is denied to anyone else. She had the genuine majesty, leadership and humility and balance between spectacular pageantry and common sense. It is unbelievable how she could keep a pace with the interests and faith of her people in this ever changing world. Though the world continues to change her central figure remained resolutely same. She strongly believes in her faith and delivers her duties with utmost sincerity. She is aware of the state of affairs around the world. But very little is known about her inner feelings. She never airs her views in any public forum. 

The wife of King becomes Queen but the husband of Queen is not King? Why this indifference????? Isn’t is too puzzling…… All of us are aware, behind every successful man there is a woman. But is vice-versa true? This question very often lurks in my mind. After seeing so much of suffering and subjugation of woman. Sometimes I find it really hard to believe if such tribe of supportive husbands do exist. Behind this successful woman is the Man Prince Philips/ Duke of Edinburgh. She openly acknowledged, the secret and strength behind her successful life has been her husband. I was in awe when I read more about him. His life is based on just two principles one being busy and other to support the Queen. He allayed fears of most of her courtiers during the initial years of accession to throne by staying at arm’s length. He received lot of snub and was treated outsider but he simply laughed it off. He clearly knows when to stand back and when to make well judged intervention. He refrained from making any political commitments and started performing roles in support of monarch. He resolved issues which don’t have political or constitutional dimensions but which have been of great sensitivity to Queen. He has been instrumental in changing the financial affairs of the Queen’s household and brought some order and restraint. He is the royal innovator and catalyst. He had a great role in reforming the naturally shy and reserved woman to lead life with confidence and style for so long.

This book has provided an opportunity to understand and appreciate the duties and the responsibilities of a dutiful monarch and how successful a woman could make a indelible mark in the men's domain. Here is an exquisite example of a Royal lineage. Queen Elizabeth II redefined monarchy as an institution trying to reach to cross-section of people making them feel completely engaged and cared. It is a massive institution and just like our existing governance different agencies coordinate, cooperate and culminate their efforts to deliver their best. It is a team effort and not a solo performance. The taste of grandeur, power coupled with authority of monarchy can be better understood by studying her life style.

 

An Enriching Intellectual Experience

An Enriching Intellectual Experience

We often encounter ads for goal setting classes or destination careers as they answers the questions like the purpose of of our living and how we want to lead it?  Goal setting often help in channelising positive,  untapped energies within  and  gives wings to inherent creativity. This process is mostly a self-motivating exercise or at times through inspiring lectures/books. Most of the times an individual undergoes a series of trials and tribulations to discover what is his/her ultimate goal or aim or ultimate destination in life.

On the other hand,  Vision is something markedly different from this goal which is colloquially substituted for a goal/destination. Vision is much broader often it is a vivid, imaginative conception or anticipation about society, organisation or sometimes about the country as a whole. Any focused individual with careful  and clear planning  can achieve the set destination or goal in his life time with great conviction and untiring efforts .The success story, predominantly  self-centred has plans for just a life time or a generation and usually brings personal glory. But a visionary harbours a thought process and a grand plan that can bring a massive change wherein  people would continue to enjoy the benefits of the new change and progress for generations to come . It might sometimes be panacea of all the problems of the society at large. It has a humanistic approach and aimed at the growth and welfare of the people. India is fortunate to be endowed with such visionaries whose ideologies are class apart and whose  thought process can bring a sea- change in the growth and progress of nation. They characteristically  place society above self.  They are the ray of hope for our nation otherwise  muddled with cheap politics and mired with scams.

The book “ The Scientific Indian ” by Bharat Ratna Dr. A. P.J. Abdul Kalam and Y.S. Rajan has generated an optimism in the book and envisioned India  as a developed nation.  Writings by these kind of visionaries is always interesting to read as they ignite the mind and generate a spark of creativity  in readers. This books covers all the scientific aspects of our country ranging from the projects which are close to their hearts  i.e space technology and encompasses virtually every branch of  science from rocket science to fisheries. The book  helps any inquisitive mind to easily understand the nuances of the most advanced space technology with great ease. Great emphasis has been laid on the culmination of the latest advances of science and technology  with existing natural resources to meet the needs of our growing population. Precise plans and progressive schemes have been outlined for every sphere of  major activity like energy generation, public health , transportation etc  which can change the face of nation.  The book is a must read for youngsters whose  bountiful  intelligence, creativity, inquisitiveness has no bounds . It has answers to almost all the problems faced by our country and most importantly the solutions and the approach that should be followed too. There has been a huge public out cry when Chandrayaan was launched . Regarding  the audacity of the government  in diverting huge amounts of tax payers money for such  projects  when more than one third of our population is below poverty line. All these questions and several more scientific queries were convincingly  answered . The urgent need to endorse the  allocation of public funds for missile technology and building up new nuclear power plants at various places is clearly discussed .The  indispensable need  to make India an energy-rich nation to sustain its current growth  to tread  along the path of developing nations which have no dearth of energy sources is clearly elucidated. These kinds of books inspire, motivate and quench the thirst of an inquisitive scientific mind. It mirrors the dreams of the authors for a vibrant India.

Work out for the brain

Work out for the brain

"Fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day and night before you, and out of that will come great work".

-Swami Vivekananda

All human beings born on this planet earth has to swim through the sea of life, no matter whatever be their destination till they part from this world.  Death is the eternal truth in life. Nobody can ever change, deny  or escape from it.

Each of us,  sooner or later has to learn to live through the ebbs and tides of life. Sometimes, riding against rising tides to stay put in this mighty sea of life, without being either drowned away or washed to the shore.  Most of us are like the enthusiastic  fishermen who ventures into the waters  for the best catch. No matter how violent the sea turns to be fisherman has to find a good catch,as it is the sole source of living.

Everyone has to do something for living, identity, recognition and most importantly to find a meaning and purpose  life. Life is a great adventure full of surprises and set backs.  One should continue to live on through the powerful cyclonic storms and the tornadoes. Fortunately some of us are blessed with life jackets in the form of  parents, well-wishers and  friends  to  rescue us during the rough phases of life. But it is ultimately the fighting spirit and the tenacity of the person to hold on which makes all the difference. We have relatively advanced meteorological department to warn us about the violent storms, unfortunately we haven’t developed a system to forewarn us about the impending threats/situations in life. Hence, it is quite important sometimes to be mentally and psychologically prepared  to face any turmoil. To be on a vigil all the time.

Positive outlook towards life  can be  nurtured and imbibed at an early stage by parents and teachers. By imparting right values to the children at a tender age a strong character can be developed.  Everyone has to face their own life and thee are the masters of their own fortunes and destinies. The Greater the mental faculties of a person, stronger is their ability to ride through the rough and  greater are the rewards.  Turbulent  phases in life might hinder the progress for a while but it gives enough time to recover, recuperate  and the energy to surge back with rejuvenated spirit. Never let intellect clouded by fear and ambiguity. For people  who want to play safe and want to live in a “comfortable zone” life is mediocre.

 

Dream big. Dare to dream and work relentlessly to realise it. 

 

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An incredible musical odyssey

An Incredible Musical Odyssey

 I feel very relaxed when I read a biography as against any fiction. The reason being we can at least identify ourselves with the character which is more real, as it existed, survived, achieved something and marked their existence by accomplishing some wonderful job.

This book "An unheard melody: Annapurna Devi" by Swapan Kumar Bondopadhyay-has left a deep mark in my mind. I couldn't stop myself from brooding on the issue as "What defines Success" and "what people what to achieve excelling in any field or mastering an art"?. Is it to achieve personal glory and fame or to become communion with the art and finally attain the contentment and happiness in life...

 Success is defined by the outcome or result of an endeavour (as per dictionary). But in general the trend has been to judge a person who has attained wealth, position, honour as Successful. If the same issue is looked at an individual's perspective the parameters for success are often set by individuals themselves. So the standard and the literary definition here may not be applicable to all the individuals in the society alike.
 

This book has helped me to understand the most often misunderstood and laxly used term SUCCESS and how it is different from achieving the ultimate mastery or excellence in any field. This book provided an insight into the personality of a brilliant individual Annapurna Devi, daughter of the legend Baba Allaudin Khan, a court musician and founder of the Maihar- Seina Gharana of music, sister of the Sarod player Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and wife of Pandit Ravi Shankar, with single-minded devotion dedicated herself to music and lived a life of  seclusion. She is the sole female Surbahar player in India. Her life is a culmination of total dedication and deep passion for music.
 

She believed that music is divine and she obtained the real happiness by becoming one with music. She is the inheritor of the great repertoire of the Hindustani raagas as she was personally mentored by her illustrious father. Hence, a legendary bearer of the huge traditional knowledge of the Maihar-Seina Gharana. In spite of all odds, a tumultuous personal relationship with Pandit Ravi Shankar and the untimely and tragic death of her only young son Shubendra Shankar, she astutely committed herself to the strict regime of intense talim. She has lived a life of recluse and tried to seek solutions for her problems from within. Such was the discipline and the love towards music that she has shut herself from the rest of the world and hardly moved out of her flat for years together.

Two quite contrasting characters as they are, started creating a niche of their own through music in different ways. Annapurna Devi lived a life of seclusion and shut off from the rest of the world, shunning public performance and vouched to pass on the traditional knowledge to the deserving by teaching them with undaunted resolve. She was instrumental in mentoring renowned musicians of our country - Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia a Flautist, Nikhil Benarjee a Sitar player, Nityanand Haldipur, a Flautist, Basant Kabra a Sarod player, Suresh Vyas a Sarod player. Instead of prying for personal glory and fame, she sought to seek the ultimate happiness, refuge and divinity through music. She found mystic happiness for her communion with music with intense riyaaz through the medium Surbahar.

 Pandit Ravi Shankar on the other hand was an extrovert, went on to spread the flavour of the traditional Hindustani music to the entire world through his brilliance and expertise.

 People would remember and revere the unheard melody for the purity of the music and grit shown to keep up her father's legacy alive. But alas, the dictionary definition of success would fall short of describing the unique qualities of the living-legend —

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A Panaromic view of the epic Ramayana

 A Panaromic View of the Epic Ramayana

I have picked up this book as it would give me an oppurtunity to revisit illustrous Indian Mythology. It has always been a practice to narrate a story from the hero’s perpective.This book comprehends the character of Ravana, the popular anti-hero of the epic Ramayana, who is despised.  It is out of the curiosity to fathom the thought process of an anti-hero I ventured to read this book. It is the first novel written by Anand Neelakantan “Asura –The tale of the Vanquished,  The story of Ravana and his people”.

It is kind of an Alternative Mythology book, of late these kind of books have been a great hit among Indian readers. “The Immortals of Meluha”  and “The Secret of the Nagas”  by Amish Tripati do fall in this category. These writers has generated lot of interest in readers by weaving beautiful fables around the familiar Mythological characters. This kind of new fiction have been instant hit among the book readers  as they are retold in a way suited to the present generation and they satiate their curiosity to understand the true essence of the Mythological characters they have heard of or known.

The book takes us back to old times where Asuras and Devas , the two clan of the Sage Kashyapa, used to constantly compete with each other. Initially during  Rig veda  period, Asuras which includes Daityas and Danavas, were considered to be incharge of the moral and social phenomenon and  Devas for the natural phenomenon.  But during the course of time Asuras character was considered negative. Devas were associated with Daivi Sampada (Divine qualities) and asuras with Asura Sampada (material qualities) as mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. Hence the cultural, social, moral beliefs of these two communities are antithetical.
 

Though most of us know about the epic  Ramayana, this book  uniquely focussed on the exquisite qualities of Ravana. This book portrays Asuras in an entirely new way, with Ravana being accorded the status of the greatest Asura king ever born. He proclaimed, vitalised the Asura culture and brought back the lost glory & fame with his sheer determination and an unwavering determination to realise his dream of  becoming the Emperor of India.  Rama on the other hand considered as  representative of the Devas and there have been perpetual  battles between the both to claim supremacy over the Indian territory.  Ravana’s multifaceted personality, as well as his genuine interests in music, astrology and astronomy were well depicted. Ravana  a mere human, had an intense passion and undying  ambition to build a great Asura empire and wanted to bring  back the equality which the Asura society used to enjoy under the regime of Mahabali. The personality of Ravana like any other human being  had a spectrum of various shades of grey, fallacious, coupled with pride and  vanity was prone to several judgemental errors. Resulting in total downfall of the great empire in a battle with Rama who vanquished him. 

Rama  on the other hand was belived to be an avatar of MahaVishnu is shown to be associated with all the divine and humane  qualities. Being extremely orthodox, hell-bent on maintaining Dharma of the land vainly looses everyone close to him, including his wife and brother who were his constant accomplice through the arduous 14 year forest –life. Another important character in the entire book is Bhadra, a common man,  who doesn’t have any characterisitic identity to his credit except for  his deep-rooted vengeance which changed the game in favour of Ravana to gain his first  and much needed victory. But the trauma he undergoes to carry out the mission was unnoticed and never reciprocated. He becomes a lesser known devil whose services have been wilfully utilised in various mission but was never gratified.

Further, this book also gives a clear demarcation of the life of Asuras and Devas and details of their social demography , status of woman and way of living. The existence of caste system and how it was misinterpreted and the desire of the majority to have equality in society .

This book actually tries to picturise and emphatically show existence of different kinds of people, just like the ones which exist in our contemporary society. Like  Ramas - who were  portrayed as an incarnation of God , bearers of the Dharma of land, with time acclaimed the status of real God. He stuck to every word in scriptures, lived an unhappy life and sacrificied everything including his consiousness for dharma. Ravanas who were self-willed, obstinate, unorthodox , heavy-headed individuals lived life fully as per their rules and died as a warriors. The lower rung occupied by people like Bhadra who were simply used, disowned and cheated then thrown out ruthlessly. The other set of people like Vibhishanas who can commit any kind of in-human things  in the name of religion and the scriptures.  These people in the  last category are the ones whoconstantly bid for fanatics and inherit the world.   People like Ramas and Ravanas live and die in glory and have the satisfaction of sacrificing everything  for some abstract idea like dharma (in case of Rama). But these kind of glories are unaffordable luxuries for people like Bhadra, who die like the million other people leaving no trace behind.  So the entire concept reiterated in the book basically comes down to how we groom our selves and how we what to lead a life. There are several ways of survival in this world, the one in which we want to acquire some name, living for some morals, and if warranted sacrificing everything to attain glory and fame. Thus leaving  a trace of our presence in this mighty world, which can be reckoned long after we are gone. Or an ordinary life dream- less and often failing to have sufficient courage to fulfill any dreams if any. The lifes, beliefs, values and definitions of dharma were quite contradictory in case of Rama and Ravana. However, the truth is that both the actors  were engaged in a war and victory decided hero or villain in their legendary life stories. Finally, fine-tuning of the basic ten emotions - Anger, Love, Jealousy, Pride, Fear, Selfishness, Equanimity, Vanity, Success, Ambition will define the ultimate character of a man.

Haritha

5 Feb 2013

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