Modes change but not basics

Everyday will bring a new medium and vehicle. but at the end of the day, it will continue to be all about the central idea. Call it anything you want from traditional advertising to digitization to osmosis. Technology and technology platforms will keep changing and evolving, and we will adapt to newer tickles as we always have basic human needs, emotions, differences, and everything else about us will remain the same. Clothes have changed, homes have changed, machines have changed, travel has changed, and work stations have changed. but hunger hasn't, love hasn't, relationships haven't, fears haven't, mortality hasn't, competitiveness hasn't, sleep hasn't, ambition hasn't, passion hasn't, religion hasn't, and how babies are born hasn't. Keep your eyes on the unchanging larger picture of humanity and our frailty.

क्रोधी बालक

एक १२-१३ साल के लड़के को बहुत क्रोध आता था। उसके पिता ने उसे ढेर सारी कीलें दीं और कहा कि जब भी उसे क्रोध आए वो घर के सामने लगे पेड़ में वह कीलें ठोंक दे।

पहले दिन लड़के ने पेड़ में ३० कीलें ठोंकी। अगले कुछ हफ्तों में उसे अपने क्रोध पर धीरे-धीरे नियंत्रण करना आ गया। अब वह पेड़ में प्रतिदिन इक्का-दुक्का कीलें ही ठोंकता था। उसे यह समझ में आ गया था कि पेड़ में कीलें ठोंकने के बजाय क्रोध पर नियंत्रण करना आसान था। एक दिन ऐसा भी आया जब उसने पेड़ में एक भी कील नहीं ठोंकी। जब उसने अपने पिता को यह बताया तो पिता ने उससे कहा कि वह सारी कीलों को पेड़ से निकाल दे।

लड़के ने बड़ी मेहनत करके जैसे-तैसे पेड़ से सारी कीलें खींचकर निकाल दीं। जब उसने अपने पिता को काम पूरा हो जाने के बारे में बताया तो पिता बेटे का हाथ थामकर उसे पेड़ के पास लेकर गया।

पिता ने पेड़ को देखते हुए बेटे से कहा – “तुमने बहुत अच्छा काम किया, मेरे बेटे, लेकिन पेड़ के तने पर बने सैकडों कीलों के इन निशानों को देखो। अब यह पेड़ इतना खूबसूरत नहीं रहा। हर बार जब तुम क्रोध किया करते थे तब इसी तरह के निशान दूसरों के मन पर बन जाते थे।

अगर तुम किसी के पेट में छुरा घोंपकर बाद में हजारों बार माफी मांग भी लो तब भी घाव का निशान वहां हमेशा बना रहेगा।

अपने मन-वचन-कर्म से कभी भी ऐसा कृत्य न करो जिसके लिए तुम्हें सदैव पछताना पड़े 

Nirmal Baba- not so ‘nirmal’ after alls

I have recently come across the latest BABA buzz in town and was a little sad to see how innocent people can be made fun of, on national television.

There was a time when every other channel i saw used to play baba ramdev’s CDs early in the morning. I was ‘lucky’ enough to witness the launch of a few ‘dharmik’ TV channels dedicated entirely to all the babas, behens and matas all over. Strange enough, i thought that these TV channels were actually syndicates( like the ones we have for freelancers), so that they may come together and preach in heavy words what my grandmother use to narrate to me in her stories.

Maybe these channels are like blogging platforms. ‘Come and speak’ being their motto.

Coming back to what i started the blog post with – Nirmal Baba. It all started one morning when one of my close relatives were home. Early morning he was flipping through channels in desperation. and as nobody at my home stays asleep till late, i have naturally cultivated this bad habit.

So i aksed him what he was looking for and i wished it was some news channel because i watch that in the morning and then surf through the cartoon channels and discovery and the likes all day long. To my surprise he said he wants to see babaji and he is getting late for his ‘darbar’. What? ‘Darbar’? Have the mughal emperors come back to power?

Anyway, the desired channel was found and he asked me to sit and see what ‘chamatkar’ baba does to his ‘bhakts’. Curiosity at its best was asking me to sit and my eternal expression of critique became dominant. Lets see what babaji has in store. Afterall, had i not been sitting there, somebody else would have taken the remote control later and i would have to wait for my turn to watch ‘kid vs. cat’.

A bhakt came over and told babaji that he had been facing problems. Babaji asked him to keep a black purse for money. That way money would stay in his household and he wouyld get of his financial troubles. Another bhaktan came over, she was very unhappy with her family life and wanted relief. Baba asked which state did she belong to. she was from bihar. so baba stopped for a a moment trying to remember the name of the nearest mandir to her place, told hger the name and asked her to go there once and all her probelms will be eradicated.

This trend continued. My relative was very delighted to see his dear babaji on TV. As if baba had cast a spell on him and that one hour inn front of the TV made him a better man. Not to forget, i obviously had an arguement over the ‘gospel of babas in india’.

In the end i was left wondering that just in case i went there to baba and told him i have some trouble( i dnt actually and even if i have, i can better look after them on my own), he would ask me where i was from and then ask me to either go to Daat Kali Mandir or maybe Tapkeshwar Mahadev. Are you kidding me?

The end of the program was bewildering. Yes, the baba asked for donations and was generous enough to give his various account numbers in numerous banks. Which saints asked for money? If they really did, would kabirdas and sai baba die in poverty? Should saints not leave all wordly pleasures and give in to a life of salvation or atleast try to get moksha?

पर क्या करें साहब? ज़माना बदल गया है.. सिर्फ श्रद्धा से तो भगवान् का भी पेट नहीं भरता, हर मंदिर में दान पेटी लगी है. ये तो फिर भी बाबा हैं. हाड़ मांस के इन्सान है. भूख तो इन्हें भी लगती होगी. ऊपर से महंगाई इतनी है. आम आदमी बेचारा कब तक कमा के खाता रहे. कभी तो मुफ्त की रोटियां तोड़ने का मौका मिले…

And what baba do you talk about? I have known a few people that sit in front of the tv with a ‘pooja ki thali’ and a water bottle because they think that baba would drink that water.

Amazing. This nation and its people deserve some praise. and what wonderful imapact does these people have on the commoners. Anybody and everybopdy can get fooled. look at that man’s body language, he sits like a maharaja and speaks while making faces. As if questions by these people are irritating him. These innocent fools who think that God can be found in a person who sits on a higher seat. these people who make rulers and leaders divine. The same people who are unable to find a God inside them. The very same people who do not believe that they are made by God and they have all the reasons to be perfect.

Problems and difficulties are a aprt of God. They are his messengers that make you a stronger person each day. You dont really need to go to a temple for some ‘prasad’. God gives you that every day, in every single breath. why not make use of it. Why not be better human beings than the worshipers of a man who thinks he has a higher authority.

I know half of the people who read this would call me an atheist and the rest half would not even understand what i said, but all in all one thing must be cleared, its my life and i dont run it on the teachings of a baba.

Post courtesy - Neha Joy Chauhan.

Neha is a brilliant writer on social issues. She is based out of Dehradun, India

True Quotes in My Life

"If you follow the crowd, you will likely get no further than the crowd. If you walk alone, you're likely to end up in places no one has ever been before. Being an achiever is not without its difficulties, for peculiarity breeds contempt. The unfortunate thing about being ahead of your time is that when people finally realize you were right, they'll simply say it was obvious to everyone all along. You have two choices in life. You can dissolve into the main stream, or you can choose to become an achiever and be distinct. To be distinct, you must be different. To be different, you must strive to be what no else but you can be"

"People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today
will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind. Think big anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack if you help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you've got anyway."

what’s in my mind right now?

So, what’s in my mind right now?

At this juncture of life, when I have almost all elements of a successful life (touchwood, in my own definition). I made money, I spent money in double speed. Having seen misery and riches alike, I thought nothing is permanent and hence my mind keeps struggling to seek answers to some everyday dilemmas faced by me. The dilemma has been simple, I should do something but million dollar question was what should I do, I started thinking too much on the vague ideas or aspirations/inspirations I had? Having said that I had to answer everything myself since I didn't attend any elitist schools which necessarily creates class divide. So to find the answers I left a decently paid job, reduced my living expenses drastically and pumped in my entire savings and effort in a social enterprise. Despite dilemmas I was always clear on one thing, individuals die but not an institution.

Knowing a thing and not practicing is equivalent to not knowing. Very true indeed! I always read that what people regret the most are often things which they didn’t do/say. Yet, all these days, I just didn’t practise this. And now, whenever I look back, I feel sad about things not said/done. There have been many times when I wanted to say something but could never overcome my mental inhibitions. But from now on, I would try to speak my mind.

So, what’s in my mind right now?

In life, just like management, nothing is absolutely black or white. Perhaps I want everything to be grey, which is inclusive in nature not exclusive to anything in particular. Everything is a shade of grey and it depends on us as to what colour we give to it. Speaking one’s mind may sometimes hurt other people while by not speaking it, one may hurt oneself. We may choose either but not always should we choose the same one. Consistency in situations like this could be detrimental. But then how do we decide which one to choose under what circumstance?

So I felt I am an employee by choice but an entrepreneur by attitude. Ideas are scarce resource so is people with entrepreneur attitude. I met thousands of friends online/offline, some became great friends, some became part of life on whom I can depend for ideas. If they dont talk to me, I become sad, if they are happy, I am happy. We share ideas, we share love, we share friendship, we share happiness,

It raises a question, If everyone cares for his/her own happiness, wouldn’t everyone automatically be satisfied and happy? What if everyone cares for some other people but still no one cares for some people? What ultimately should be our goal – to be happy or to make others happy? I know the ideal answer is to be happy by being a reason for others’ happiness but not everyone can achieve this. How do I convince myself to be happy just by seeing others happy? What should then be the code of conduct for lesser mortals like me?

In mid 2011, I got to know Dr. Vishwajeet, when I was invited for dinner by his elder brother Dr. Dilip Kumar. Dr. Dilip kumar is a rural livelihood scientist of international repute and an ex UN bureaucrat. Dr. Vishwajeet used to be a scholar at John Hopkins and was among highest paid community researchers in world. In early 2003 following his inner conscience, he moved to India, to start community initiatives. He chose to work in an impoverished area; Shivgarh in Uttar Pradesh on a not very interesting topic, neo natal health. For someone living in luxuries of Seattle, moving to Shivgarh was a holistic approach to give back, to be relevant for the community which needs you more than any organisation. His life story inspired me and we became good friends. I visited Lucknow several times to meet and explore his side of life. The misery, the depression and how one single person helped by his wife can bring happiness in millions of lives. He co founded Community Empowerment Lab and its innovations made millions across the globe believe that communities can empower themselves with little or absolutely no help from outside. That was an eye opener for me. Dr. Vishwajeet is a pushing force behind me and he inspires me.

Then I met Gurcharan Das and Nachiket Mor at an event. I was in audiences and they were speakers. I put up question from audiences on dilemma faced by social start ups. Post event I had the opportunity to discuss dilemma with Gurcharan Das and Mr. Mor. We were clear, we must make money but we should give back something and empower communities around us. But nothing came out substantial.

Man is a social animal and so I was greatly helped by 5 people to come at the conclusion. 1 Female and 4 male friend. The female friends has had best of educations, but her thinking is not confined in the laboratory. She advises start ups on sustainability and helps them with funding based of innovations. She is a real brave in her own rights. I never met such brave people in my recent memory. There was no sign of elitist attitude in her which made me believe that there are people beyond class divide too. I was greatly helped to come out of common man's inhibition to think big. Second motivator was co-founder of a leading financial institution in India but so down to earth that everyone from chairman to chaprasi swears by him. He is a reputed speaker, a regular on current affairs program across Hindi and English news channels, sits on board of some of the largest business houses in India but so simple that he advises me on start up. He is the main force behind this initiative. Third was a frank research scholar, who blunted most of my social prejudices and practices. Not to forgot his dislikes for my excellent marketing instincts. He is lucky to have married a lovely PhD qualified wife who must be advising him on how to nudge me. The fourth one is a lovely gentleman who is a writer, researcher and of course a lover. Lover of Art, Lover of girls, Lover of Criticism, Lover of empowerment and of course he loved my passion. He gave shape to my weird idea of social enterprise which can be sustainable and successful, enough to earn livelihood for people at work. Fifth was none other than my boss, who told me I can come back whenever I want, it was the biggest solace. So post employment break up, I was encouraged by these five to live upto my dreams or rather say dilemma. And now we have finally started social enterprise which will in fact work (jointly funded by bunch of like minded friends.

I will keep nurturing and propagating this social venture by taking time out from anything else I do!

Now I have less dilemma and hence more enlightened to explore new opportunities to create an eco system of sustenance in business. I always loved the lovely world of various advertising functions and easily got fascinated by story of internet. Meanwhile I kept meeting start ups, worked off and on with them, didn't find them interesting. One fine day I was introduced to a a gentleman, having run two successful start up. He is in fact few among the breed of new age internet marketer who understands internet not as we do but in Google way. It was a blessing in many ways, meeting him, learning new thing from writing editorials to planning global tie ups. It is in fact fascinating. Now I think I have got what I actually wanted to do. God is always kind to right people, I believe. More will come to our way!

At work, I may have been wrong or right in my journey at some point of time but I never let anyone who worked with me down. I have been cheated by some but I never cheated anyone in my conscience. My integrity (as said by people with whom I have worked)is what makes me different from others, while creating a value chain.

Or maybe, I should just stop thinking. Maybe, the happiest people in the world are the people who don’t think!