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!

It's our time!

Brothers, Sisters, Mothers, friends and girlfriends; please hold your breath and till you read entire piece. It will be a sinful thinking. Indulge in sin but don’t call the police. I know I always commit crime but let me go scotfree. I never imagined that I will commit crime. But yes it’s true, I have killed time. I have been killing time for last few year @12 hours a day. And now I know what professionals are paid for.

Just after porngate in Karnataka I realized, in spite of kharoos people and strong IT polices almost all professionals (esp. consultants) do the same set of things at office i.e killing time. They check all their mail accounts every two minutes hoping that some of their counterparts would have forwarded a mail. Thanks to numerous proxies, chatting is still considered to be one of the favorite time pass. We buzz every person online and in very desperate situations send offline messages also. Some intellectuals among us also rack their brains in solving online puzzles and playing games. Facebook is the great human invention so is internet. Now days to waste more time people have started carrying mobile data card and smartphone. People of this league have klueless mornings, klueless afternoons and klueless evenings!!

Some furzi consultants like me read news, foreign policies, poems, novels, stories so that the client/seniors thinks you are racking your brain with some user guide or implementation manual. Some other intellectual consultants keep themselves updated with the latest happenings round the globe. Other esteemed ways of killing time are downloading songs, checking daily horoscope, searching for status messages etc.

A couple of precious office hours are also reserved for managing the hard earned money. Share market, online investments, online bill payments, internet banking form an integral part of work. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So after all these tiring hours of surfing, consultants add some spice to their office life by conducting meetings. And thus another couple of hours fly by. And if still some time is left, people like me update their blogs.

Well and few of us really put good work work on reaching by making some delicacies to suit taste buds, cleaning the bed and listening to good music. Again internet comes to disrupt sleep over a surf on social network. A chirpy kid in the neighborhood tell you how beautiful life is. And her parents make you will how ugly it is. Then you just dream of some mithe sapne! By the time you try to finish your dream you will have to Wake up Dudes and Dudettes!

My two cents on India's Independence Day

When I was born I was so lazy, my parents had to feed me and dress me and carry me around with them all day. Our policy makers have become what I was as a Kid. Help them to grow!

Day before yesterday it was Rakshabandhan and it was very unusual for me to wake up early at 6’O clock so I decided not to sleep as it was already 4:30 AM. I was quite busy on twitter reading and replying messages. Anyways I reached munhboli sister’s place in Malviya Nagar just to find that she was sleeping, I decided not to disturb her. Flashback says I was a tenant in his house 10 years ago when this landlord family adopted me as their extended family and I became brother to 2 sisters. This Rakhi I couldn’t go home but seriously I didn’t miss it. I have a real sister too who is married and has two kids. Finally I got Raksha Sutra knot on my right wrist, which was looking beautiful and I was getting emotional. Both the families have become extended families. When I was born I was so lazy, my parents had to feed me and dress me and carry me around with them all day. Even today I feel like being a lazy one and want my parents with me.
I grew up in a village which boasts of its proximity to a city generally known as Muzaffarpur in United States of Bihar. I have had my own luck of growing up in green lush environment where you have pure desi ghee like every season, a dhibri at night, no telephone. The entire vicinity was our park where we could have had Mango, Jackfruit, Litchi, Guava, Papaya, Barhar, Amla, Amra, Sharifa, Cheeku, Aloobukhare and many such things at whims and theft. N 1999 I saw Road and electricity in my village. I used to play every form of rural games in gardens and in fields but we were happy to play on Pakka road. I never played Cricket, I don’t know why but I never liked this gentlemen’s game, last I saw World Cup final and boys took the cup to create a sense of revolution in India. While I marched towards my home after watching match at a Munirka Enclave home, I saw traffic was chocked, people were in drunk dancing mode on the road, everyone was shouting, Gulal was applied, I though some revolution has come true. Main dar gaya ki kahi koi coup to nahi ho gaya, but to my disappointment there was nothing as such thing except India won another world cup. Alas they would have had the same sense of patriotism to root out the evils we have.
I was just thinking of Independence which is a word from the lexicon of British concept of colonial rule. Liberation and freedom have separate meanings. In 1947 it was one country called “Bharat” but today everyone will agree with me:
“Swatantra huye din beet gaye par loktantra ek mithya hai;
is desh ke bhaiyya roop hain do ek Bharat hai ek India hai.
What happening is Swaraaj is a tractor brand, people know August Kranti as a road name,
Main to bhavnao me bah gaya. So my sister decided to buy me a cocoberry and a movie ticket out of the small amount that I offered to her after tying the knot. Even though it was long weekend and day of chhutti, we managed to get two front row seats to watch Prakash Jha’s Amitabh Bachhan starrer movie Aarakshan. Movies with social cause have always attracted me and Aarkshan was no exception. The movie took me to flashbacks of childhood. While first half was true about the sentiments of that Mandal Era. I could remember I was out to see Durga Puja with my dada jee when a mob attacked us. I don’t remember how old I was, I don’t know if it was pro reservation or anti reservation mob but it made me sad, I couldn’t see Durga Mela. Then came another part where menace of coaching was shown. I am a direct victim of it. I was admitted in a government high school to pass matric (those who don’t understand, matric is 10th class). There was a teacher at Navrashtra High School Patahi named Dharmnath Singh, over 50% of the students were taking his coaching classes. I always preferred to sit in back rows. One fine day in front of everyone he told me to join his coaching class and threatened if don’t join I will not be able to pass. He had the feeling that I am spreading anti Dharmanath coaching campaign in school. How shameless a teachers can be, he was the best example. In fact most teachers were more interested in giving private tuition than teaching at school except the teacher of Hindi, Sanskrit and arts subjects.
Few teachers who shaped up my studies in middle school includes Rajeshwar Mahto, Babulal Das, Maulavi Sahab (I don’t remember his full name) and Umashankar Singh. Today I realized they were most innocent and a role model for today’s greedy teachers. When I was in seventh class, Maulavi Sahab gave me chance to unfurl the national flag on Independence Day for teaching in a nearby colony. He said this is biggest honor I can give you. I couldn’t understand this then but today I realize he along with my late Dada jee cultivated my mind to become socially sensitive. My dadajee used to teach local kids for free till he died in 1992. He was no scholar but a freedom fighter who was cheated by his own elder brother during freedom movement. Even after freedom he didn’t claim freedom fighter pass but many other did. I am proud of him. I supported many social initiatives especially in the field of education starting from my village to works spread across Delhi, Bihar and Rajasthan. Today I support various non government organizations in capacity of executive member.
I don’t recollect exactly when but I think in same period I was influenced by Maoist literature as I was witness of police and feudal atrocities by so called upper caste and backward caste powerful people alike towards the so called poor upper caste, backward castes and Dalits. Even today Maoism could become primary force of India, if taken in right spirit.
Sorry I was watching Aarakshan, and put so much backwaas on you to read. Forgive me if you didn’t like it and if you liked it, say your two cents on independence.
Celebrate the feeling of being free in the meanwhile today our Prime Minister suggested not to protest whatever the reasons are. In protest of PM’s statement I have decided to be pro Anna after opposing him for so long.

PS - Next post will be on my tryst with destiny and transition from village to city life. I am co-writing a book which is projected to published by January 2012. Regret any spelling and grammar mistake in the piece of writing.