Technology

Winston Churchill famously remarked "The empires of future would be empires of mind". He had the foresight to envision and predict the role of technology in times ahead even when the whole world was struggling with the hysteria of two world wars.

Technology benefited the growth process of western nations. They had sufficient capital earned from the loot of colonization which was channelized in right spheres. The capital along with the risk taking spirit of westerners to explore the unknown led to innovation and inventions. This spiraled the process of development.

However, the third world has not witnessed similar developmental trajectory. Here the technology-economy-demography fit is yet to occur. The magic wand of technology has produced mixed results.

On one hand, technology has made life easier for us. Take health for instance. Our mortality rate has come down from sixteen to approximately seven, life expectancy has increased from thirty three to sixty five since independence. Today a large number of jobs are created in IT sector which is at the forefront of technological revolution. New kind of jobs like computer reservation centers, cyber cafe and the sophisticated call center jobs are the direct result of technology.

However, there is a flip side as well. Technology has created churn in the job market. So on one hand we witness creation of new job profiles, but on the other hand we see a large number of jobs turning obsolete. For example, introduction of phone led to large employment opportunity at PCO booths. However, within a decade, the PCO became an artifact of past and people working as PCO operator became an extinct species.

The same is going to happen with mobile recharge or ticket reservation counters. Today a large segment of population is moving to next generation of technology i.e. smart phone. This has led to culture of apps where every single need or workflow is captured through mobile based software. The software eliminates the human element and automate the whole process. As a result, I can recharge my phone without having to go to nearest mobile recharge shop. Similarly, I can order my vegetables or book my movie tickets or wash my cloths just by a click of button.

In the age of technology, it is not about education or no education. Rather it is the individuals ability to learn unlearn and relearn which decides ones employability.

In this context, technology has unfolded in very curious manner. Every economy thrives on the interplay of four factors of production namely land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship.
Strangely, technology was never given the space in the factors of production.

In Indian context, land is limited and per capita land availability is nearly 30 times lesser than USA. So land is not our strength.
For capital, we are already in the process of liberalizing the economy. Our PM is visiting country after country, selling the ideas of Make in India, First develop India, Incredible India, Stand up India, Skilled India to investors and Indian diaspora abroad. So we are left with two other factors. One is labour and other is entrepreneurship. The foundation of technological spring board needs to be put on these two pillars. This would in-turn decide nature of India based enterprises and how they set out to achieve demography-technology-economy fit.

From labor perspective, our workforce needs to mentally prepare themselves for this churning. Given the abundance of labour, we need to thrive of labour intensive technology instead of labour displacing technology. So while technology can help us in feeling real shopping experience through online simulation tool, It should create parallel job opportunity for large number of delivery boys who could deliver things at home in line with Japanese principle of Just-in-time management. Secondly, labors should be mentally prepared for the churn. Thirdly, there is no replacement of a skill based job. Skill provides the ultimate hedge against any kind of vulnerability of the economy. Fourthly, labour workforce should compensate the land factor. For example, We do not have space for parking in some areas in Karol Bagh so technology should enable a solution where I could find a valet parking guy whenever I need and I could get my car at the desired spot within stipulated time.

From enterprise perspective, we need people who have the moderate risk taking ability and possess out of box thinking. India does not need monopoly organizations like USA. This wont fit here. Instead we need multiple local players each catering to their own territory. For example, Nandini brand dominating Karnataka. Amul dominating Gujrat and Mother Dairy dominating Delhi. Thus, we need state level or city level entrepreneurs. Secondly, we need social entrepreneur. This is the least tapped domain. Whoever is able to crack and monetize this could make huge social-economic impact. This would be definitely low profit margin business but one could realize decent turnover in scale. The underlying point is we need employers who believe that technology is not for displacing people. Instead technology along with people could make better, easier and comfortable.

'Richard Branson' had said In future we'll have just two types of jobs, one is entertainment and other is technology. India is poor on land front and dependent on foreign investors for capital. Therefore, our focus should be on utilising labour and enterprising spirit in the individual to create right kind of technology enabled ecosystem where general profit oriented ruthless
approach could be subdued.

Glimpse of the past

So I was collecting my thoughts on the Idea of Nation blog. I had this faint memory that I have compiled the thoughts on the fusion history of India somewhere earlier. I began sorting through my notes. And in the process, I found my diary of 2014. It was written when I had just failed in third mains and I was contemplating my future course of action.

I often find myself helpless in discouraging my sister from her unproductive passion of photography. First, she takes photos, photos in all the nonsensical poses. Though thankfully she has not come down to the level of pouting and tough flashing. She fits people in all permutation and combination to take maximum numbers of photos possible. And this is what irritates me most. But she is the photographer of our family. Then, she comes home and from time to time she put those photos on big screen and watch them in slideshows. For me, it is like wasting your present on memories of past.

However, I fell in the same trap with my diary and started reading it. It was somewhat nostalgic to read those unabashed thoughts. Here on the blog I use backspace a lot. At times, it is censored. But those thoughts were the real me. It was pleasing to see how I faced that tough time. I could see how little I have changed over the years. Though I am more calm and relaxed but even then I felt that piercing restlessness and desire to "do everything" in my behavior.

One of the very good habits I followed back then was I used to list all the behavioral and attitudinal mistakes in my daily routine. I used to analyze people around. I was not judgmental but I did my analysis to understand the diversity around. It helped me grow a lot personally.

Back in the years, If I get into any argument then my face would become stiff and unsmiling. But now I can smile while fighting back on an argument. And many other things.

It was also little depressing to read that diary. It prompted me to make comparison of my current efforts with my earlier efforts. My passion then and my indifference now. It felt little bad. It shakes confidence a little.

Anyway, Enough for now. Want to write a lot but possibly not on this public blog. And one thing, with all the critic of my sister's photography, whenever I go out, I wish my sister is around so that I can offload the task of taking some minimum photos though I do not know why or for what purpose?

Muslim contribution in freedom struggle

When Atal Bihari government came to power in 1999, the one of the first things he did was the reconstitution of a committee to look into the issue of a biased history of India. Many ideologues have rued about the present shape of Indian history. Right wingers consider it as a history of congress. Left wingers term it as a history of elite upper-class Indians. Dalits term it as a history of upper caste coming to power.

Left has got some space in the current history because left cadre and Congress has certain linkages. Rightists have taken care of themselves by developing their alternate literature praising Savarkar and developing their own class of organic intellectual. They have established a chain of schools "Saraswati Vidya Mandir" where children are taught other side of history as well. Further, with gains in the foothold in the center, they can revise the history to reduce its distortion. Dalits found their voice in enormous work done by Ambedkar. Unfortunately, Muslims contribution was totally overshadowed by Muslim league. That is why many of us would find it difficult to even name five Muslim freedom fighter.

Recently, honorable minister Mr. Rajnath Singh was giving the speech in Rajya Sabha on the issue of freedom of expression. And in the process, he was remembering the contribution of Muslims in Indian freedom struggle. One could see him at a loss of words when he was recounting the names. He could mince beyond Ashfaqullah Khan. Though he managed the situation well but the same is true for most of us. Many Indians see Muslims as a cause of partition and forget the immense contribution in the freedom struggle by many Muslim luminaries based in India or abroad.

The list is quite long so no one article or an even a book can do justice with the topic. But I would mention some of the important and lesser known one highlighted by respected Sugata Bose in his speech in Lok Sabha on Intolerance. He began with the rightist territory and mentioned that It was Abid Husain who was the sole companion of Netaji during his difficult voyage from Europe to Asia. When Netaji planned his great escape from India, it was Mian Akbar Shah who received him in Peshawar. The first commander of INA northeast division was Mohammad Zaman Kiani and It was Shaukat Malik who had hoisted the first tricolor in Moirang. And remember who was the only Indian companion of Netaji in his controversial final flight , It was Mr. Habibur Rahman. And for whom the slogan of "Lal kile se aayi Awaz, Sahgal Dhillon ShanNawaz" were shouted? It was Shahnawaz Khan, an Indian Naval army officer.

If we move to some familiar names then It was Saifuddin Kitchlew in Punjab for whom support, Jaliawala Rally was organized. It was Prof. Maulana Barkat Ullah who was a founder member of Ghadar movement in Canada. It was Mohammad Obidullah Sindhi who established the first independent government of India in exile in Afganistan. In fact, when all the top leadership was in jail during quit India movement, it was Abdul Kalam Azad, our first education minister who was spearheading Congress.

The list is endless. The whole leadership of India's first independent movement during 1857 was Muslim as claimed by rightist history. Bakht Khan was first to lead the revolt in Meerut. Begum Hazarat Mahal in Oudh, Khan Bahadur Khan in Bareilly, Liyakat Ali in Allahabad provided decisive leadership but all we tend to remember is Tatya Tope and Rani Jhansi.

The contribution of Syed Ahmad Khan and Kavi Nazrul Islam could not be undermined by any ideology-driven interpretation or any wave of the history of freedom struggle. The leadership of congress party itself tells about the role of Muslims in building congress and keeping the momentum of the freedom struggle. The learned Badruddin Taiyyab Ji provided guidance in the initial years. Hakim Azmal Khan, Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, and Hasarat Mohani each served as president of Indian National Congress. But how many of those names a common man or even a home minister remembers?

It is high time that we should also have a Muslim perspective of Indian history. I am sure that scholars must have worked on these front. But it should not remain limited to textbooks. Rather it should be taught actively in our schools so that the large proportion of frustrated, prejudiced and Musalman abhorring and Musalman suspicious junta will get their facts right. As Plato once mentioned, One who know the right thing will do the right deed. So if we wish to kill the evil of communal fundamentalism, we need to know the right history.

Idea of Nation

The most difficult task about writing after deciding on the topic is "where to begin or how to start"? So lets start with a territory with which most of us are familiar because all the digital media anchors are shouting at the top of their voice in their prime time shows about this. It is "The idea of Nation and idea of India as a nation".

Recently some right wingers asked other political whos-who to prove their patriotism by shouting "Bharat Mata ki Jai". After JNU debates the idea of nationalism had anyway gathered some fire. The denial of some parliamentarian to shout "Bharat Mata ki Jai" added fuel to the whole issue. The issue got mired into petty politics but it raised some substantial questions. Questions like "what is the Nation and what is Nation-state"? "How Nation-state is different from State"? "What do we understand by India as a Nation"? "What is the difference between nationalism and patriotism"? and does shouting "Bharat Mata ki Jai" hold any relevance in the debate of nationalism?

The idea of nation came into existence after treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The European countries were realigned on the lines of national identities. Nation-state as a new term was coined. While Nation is described as abstract or imagined community ( Benedict Anderson), hyphenating it with state added some geographical substance to it. Nation was considered a purely social concept to identify people with similar language, culture and living practices. After 1648 treaty it was extended with concept of sovereignty which is internal supremacy and external independence.

Therefore the idea of Nation-state is understood as entity with 4 dimensions. It should describe a definite geography. It should have its own army. It should be habitated by people who identify themselves with the land. The people should have certain common cultural practices. In short, geography, army, people and culture define the concept of nation-state. State on the other hand remains purely geographical term with no cultural connotation.

India as a nation stands tall as an exception. Scholars like Fitch and Herder had predicted that any nation with more than one language will be broken in equal number of nation-state as many are the number of language spoken. India has nearly 24 major constitutionally recognized languages and nearly 263 dialects. However India stands united refuting all the western thinkers. The culture of our land changes every fifty kilometers. The 6 C's namely cuisines, carnivals, communication (languages), costumes, customs, and creed changes with every single unit of longitudinal and latitudinal traversal.

To understand the idea of India, one will have to walk in the history. This is the land where Greek-Bactrian invaders Kushana adopted Shaivism. The named their kids as Vasideva, an Indian name for a foreign invader. Our culture integrated him into itself. Here King Ashoka gave a secular code of conduct Dhamma and muslim ruler Akbar proposed Din-E-Ilahi. It is the land where Mahavir Jayanti and Muhharram fall on the same day and are celebrated peacefully without any disturbance. India is a place where a hindu king contributed to Jains and Budhdhist art and architecture. Rashtrakutas helped in building Ajanta and Elora caves which became prime symbol of cultural history of both the religions.

Here King Akbar donated the land for Sikhs holy shrine Golden temple in Amritsar. Tipu Sultan of Mysore renovated the ancient Sharda temple. Here the text of Ibrahim Adil Shah finds frequent invocation of goddess Saraswati. The Akbar of Kashmir Zamiul Abidine forbade Cow slaughter and abolished jajiya. In many instances Muslim rulers went on to marry inter-faith. The two wives of Akbar were from christian and hindu religion respectively.

Even from the perspective of development of history, It was williams Jones who decoded Brahmi script which helped us in knowing about ancient kingdom of Ashoka. It was Max Mullar, a german scholar who translated Riga Veda in Sanskrit and Halhed who translated Geet Govinda and Manu Smriti, basis of our caste identity. There are numerous references of Alauddin-Khilji, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq and Akbar protecting and conserving identities of other religion.

Even in the freedom struggle, second person behind Gandhi's famous Dandi march was a muslim Imam Sahib. From Ashfaq Ullah Khan to Frontier Gandhi, the contribution has been immense. People from all faiths participated enthusiastically in giving a free character to our nation and helped in awakening its soul.

Even today, Meghwal hindus in Rajasthan keep fast during Rojas. People of Hyderabad immerse the idol of Ganesha in a lake named after muslim ruler Husain Sagar which has a statue of Budhdha installed in the middle of it. Any cross section of people and you can find people from eight different religions namely Budhdha, Jains, Hindus, Sikhs, Parsi, Zorastrian, Jews and Christian. India is a land where all the 90+ division of Islam are practiced. It is the land where a person from minority community with nearly 1% of total population, Dr. Manmohan Singh went on to become prime minister and was given oath by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam a Muslim. And the leader of coalition was a christian woman of Italian origin, Smt. Sonia Gandhi.

Even from religious perspective, diversity and mutual respect is evident in common day life. The major lord of west, Lord Rama is minor god in the east, state of Bengal. Similarly the goddess of east , Durga is portrayed as prostitute in the tribal and southern culture. There, the devil Mahishasur who was killed by Durga is worshipped as god.

Examples are numerous. The mutual interdependence, respect, tolerance and acceptance of principle of Anektantvad lies at the base of idea of India. Whenever this land received any new thing, it adopted, accommodated and integrated the novelty into its own whole. Thus expanding the whole bigger and bigger each time. Possibly that is why our ancient text says for us, Vasudhaiva Kautumbakam.

In such historical, cultural and social context any one definition of nationalism would not justify our rich cultural attitudinal heritage. Any one ideology can not claim the monopoly over concept of nationalism. And from ideological point also, we see as many differing opinion as there are number of Ideology. Centrist says India as nation in progress, rightist call it Nation since beginning of time and leftist says no nation at all. Who is right and who is wrong can not be judged by few text book principles and scholarly intellectual debates. Instead, our history, our culture and very existence of our vibrant harmonious society in a nation of 125 crore should act as a touchstone of concept of nationalism.

However, there are certain behaviours which needs to be rejected outrightly as not falling into category of nationalistic sentiment. These are lies, hypocrisy, violence and polarisation of the culture and society. For example, people gathering at the corner of street to shout Bharat Mata ki Jai and later rob the same Mata by not paying due taxes, acting violently and disturbing its cultural fabric. This is where we need to differentiate between nationalism and patriotism. Patriotism is much stronger and value based concept. Nationalism is shallow. We need to be patriotic means we need to love our culture, society etc. Nationalism as a sentiment arises when we compare ourselves with some other entity. Thus Nationalism has a negative connotation. George Orwell described it as worst enemy to peace. Even Tagore described nationalism as narrow domestic wall which are fragmenting the world.

No one should be asked to shout Bharat Mata ki Jai to prove his nationalistic credentials. Instead, a better way would be to ask the person to plant 10 trees or serve a poor family to prove his nationalistic sentiments. This would helps more in binding our society in common thread of peace, diversity, tolerance, respect, interdependence and harmony. Remember we should not make Aurangzeb as our focal point of history when we have the historical benchmark set by Akbar, Tughlaq and Zamiul Abidine.

Kohli

Indian cricket has evolved through various era. First we saw era of Gavaskar. Then came era of Tendulkar. Now after yesterday innings we have entered era of Kohli.

When Sachin would be on the crease, Indians would not shy to bet for India's victory irrespective of target or opponents. It was as if some miracle man is standing in the middle. The placards on the ground would read "If cricket is religion, then Sachin is my god" or "Commit all your sins now, even god is watching Sachin's batting". With yesterday innings Kohli has gone one step beyond.

Kohli's inning was class apart, very ethereal and perfected to the extreme. His shot selection, running between the wickets, and powerful strikes were a treat to watch. It was not against a toothless attack. Rather some of the balls he converted into fours were wicket taking balls. His hard work on his game, body, and most specifically on his mind was completely on display during the last few overs.

Most important was his controlled aggression and calmness under pressure situation. He played deflated shots except for one long on six, picking right gaps and right areas beating the most electric fielders.

After Sachin's retirement many of my friends had stopped watching cricket but with this inning and the twenty-twenty effect, we are sure that game would be as thrilling and exciting as they were before. Surely, With players like Kohli, we can bet on Indian victory with confidence.

Till last night, Many Indians would have been skeptical about anyone who could break Sachin's records. But with this class display, Kohli has certainly entered in the "Sachin zone".

Possibly, the time has come to redesign some placards with slogans like "If cricket is religion and Sachin is its god then Kohli is Sachin reincarnated".

Is Modi a god gift to our nation?

The 15th LokSabha elections were viewed as a make or break case for India's global aspiration by political pundits around the globe. Primarily, such call for a perform or perish situation was attributed to the policy paralysis at the center level. But, it was also due to desperation for a strong leader who could shoulder the intricate reforms. Mostly heralded as second and third generation reforms, these are the need of the hour for the political, economic and social progress of the country. Bills like women reservation bill, reforms like introducing economic basis of reservation, uniform civil code and making manufacturing as our engine of the economy were viewed as real challenges which needed a big heart.

Democracy has a self-correcting mechanism. People know what is best for them and deliver a decisive mandate when it is needed most. India needed someone with a big heart. Vox populi chose the 56-inch chest for shouldering these complex reforms. Democracy has a tendency to fall for outward perceptions. Nobody knew about the size of his heart so people assumed that bigger chest would mean a bigger heart. Mr. Modi made inroads in national politics and people's decisive mandate firmly placed him on the seat of prime minister of world largest, vibrant and chaotic democracy. The rightist brigade went berserk. His cabinet colleague went on to declare him as 'Hindu Hridya Samrat'. He was heralded as the first Hindu leader in 800 years of Indian history. Some started finding his reference in Nostredemes cryptic all-meaning-possible useless book. The paeans of his victory still continue as ministers and party worker try hard to come in his good books. The recent entrant was his cabinet colleague who termed 'Modi as god gift to India'.

This prompted me to assess the Modi leadership vis-a-vis previous gods i.e. former prime ministers of the country. Let's begin in chronological order.
Jawahar Lal Nehru was the greatest of all the prime minister as he steered the country in most difficult times. He reclaimed India's respect and place in the World order. He remains the senior most guardian of the nation after the godfather of nation Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi Ji took the title of Rashtra Pita so Nehru was rightly installed as Chachaji of the nation. Nehru's effort on institution building, procedure formulation, democracy and image makeover of the country is incomparable to any prime minister till date.

Indira Gandhi did her bit to the nation by converting East Pakistan into Bangladesh. Had 1971 war not happened, one could imagine the kind of double whammy India would have been bearing from two fronts. She also showed courage to carry out operations like 'Smiling Buddha'. We became a nuclear power of the world. Later she dealt with Khalistan demand with firm hands and brought peace in the region. She could be discredited for dark spots of emergency in her history of government.

Rajiv Gandhi with all his failings like the kitchen cabinet, Shah Bano case or Ram mandir issue, did one of the greatest task for India's digital revolution. He brought Sam Pitroda back to his motherland. Sam Pitroda in turn, brought Telecom revolution in the country. The proliferation of mobiles, computer and rise of services industry specifically Information Technology could be considered his contribution to the national progress.

Narasimha Rao also had a great challenge to manage the possible consequences of the fall of USSR and economic crisis in the country. In those turbulent times, he spearheaded the transition of the economy from mixed model to open and liberal principles. He took cautious steps in making new friends in foreign policy like starting 'Look East' kind of policy.

After Rao, India needed some one who could take India forward with style and confidence. Then came, Atal Bihari. He could be called people's prime minister. A first non-congressman to complete the full term and leader of big coalition dominated by rightist thought. He showed to the congress and the world that rightist thought of India can ably lead the nation and it is not a threat to our secular credentials. He conducted nuclear test which propelled Indian profile on world politics. The World took note of us, seriously. His curtailed the Kargil adventure of Pakistan. Respect.

Next came Manmohan Singh. A renowned economist and able administrator but unfortunately not a great politician. The country entered into 9% growth territory. He brought reforms like RTI, RTE and Right to food security. We graduated from welfare politics to the right based politics. India progressed visibly under him from 2004 to 2014. Though his second regime was marred with corruption incidents and he was poor on marketing himself.

In 2014, India was Modi-fied. People gave him an absolute majority to carry out all the second and third generation reforms which were pending for last 10 years. The jobless growth needed to turn into job oriented developmental inclusive growth. He had a mammoth task at his hand. nearly 24 months have passed. But we are yet to witness any of those most-awaited second or third generation reforms. Modi has shown intent and commitment to his words. He speaks well. He speaks extempore. It is really a big deal. He has great vision but is that translating into any sort of action on the ground?

Visibly nothing much has changed from social, political angle in the country. Unlike other prime ministers, Modi is yet to prove himself. He has nothing to showcase which he could term larger than life reform. Though he has time left and we should not be premeditated in our judgment but India's asking run rate is increasing exponentially. Every month 8 lakh new graduates or job seekers are entering in the job market. Therefore, the onus lies on the government to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.

Modi needs to show to people that he not only possess a large chest but also a big heart. He has certain measures which would be fruitful in the long term but people are getting impatient. And even he has not taken the full stride. Therefore, any of his minister should think twice before terming his god. No one becomes god or god gift while alive. This is especially true for politicians whom media image is well guarded and managed when they are in power. Only when he retires or quit politics, people should give him angelic status like god's gift. No one can build reputation on what he is going to do. Reputation has to be claimed. and It is claimed through one's work. So Modi uncle, please get your act right so that we can proudly put you in the league of your great predecessor. You have shown the commitment and intent but sadly that is not enough.

Binaries of life..

Life runs in binaries. This could not have been truer at any other time in the history as it is for our generation. Parents ambition vs. kids ambition. Happiness vs. Success. love marriage vs. arrange marriage. Social pressure vs. self-wish. Money vs. peace. Money vs. Family.

Why do one have to leave his home in the pursuit of the job? Why do one have to take a job which society regards as better than pursuing his own wish? Why do we need to fight for survival? Why has the economy become a base for our existence?

I often wonder whether Earth is a beautiful place or a miserable place. People tell me it is beautiful but all I see around me is the struggle, fight, sorrow, hardships. And on top of this, huge indifference, apathy, selfishness. But can I blame it on people for turning apathetic? No, comes the answer. The environment is so vitiated that no one can remain sane or happy. If you want peace of mind, you will have to turn apathetic and indifferent. Resources are limited and the fight is tough. Machiavelli noticed this long back. Even, Chanakya took note of it.

How can I convince myself to the one way of life when the whole world is going the other way? How can I remain happy when everyone around is sad? Even if I give the semblance of being happy, is it not self-defeating or delusional?

I was meditating and some mosquitoes began biting and bleeding me. Now What am I supposed to do? If I just shove them away, they will come back. If I sit quietly then will bleed me and would not let me concentrate. And then What use is of such self-induced pain? If I stand up and kill them then I feel guilty. They were not doing it intentionally rather they were doing it out of their need and nature.
And ultimately it boils down to the question, why am I meditating? Is it to attain some supernatural power? But these power do not come if you long for them. Is it for peace of mind? But how can I be at peace if a mosquito is biting me and I can not do anything about it? One or two bites I can tolerate but here the whole army is piercingly sucking my blood.

Life is complex. The same situation translates into real life. When You are living your life, seeking inner joy and some people around bug you. What to do with such people? Should we ignore them? Or should we giving them the taste of their own medicine or should we just push them away? But pushing is half solution. They will come back. It's their nature. Ignoring means either you get used to such biting or turn vairagi. but when I am living in the society, how could I turn vairagi. I don't want to be seen as meek or weak. and If I give them the taste of their medicine then it again enters into my head. Because that's not my nature.

I think the best strategy is to evaluate the situation, assess people and use the middle path. All fingers do not have same size. Keep in mind diversity. Use sam-daam-danda-bheda to turn the situation in your favour. Use the psychological tactics. Don't be afraid of hitting people's ego and seeing how far they can be pushed. But never misuse this tool. Use it only for your own defence.

In the end, I believe Darwin is more suitable than Mahavira for living a worldly life. Here only fittest survive the battle. But enjoy the battles. One has nothing to loose.


Some random thoughts. It does not relate to my life. :)

Don't let it slip

It is so bad that for last few days I am slipping on my self commitment of daily blog post. It is not lack of material or motivation, neither it is lack of time. I feel it is because of poor planning of the day. So now onward, I shall plan things in more realistic and execution oriented manner.

I was in Agra for Holi. Its good to visit the hometown on these festivals. We can reconnect with friends, family members and relive our old times. Agra is a strange city. As such our whole country is strange. As with rest of India, here also I witness lot of contradictions in day to day life. But even by those standards, Agra occupy a unique position in terms of history, politics, evolution, society and even economics.

Historically, Agra was the capital city of one of greatest emperor of Indian history, King Akbar. The city is replete with historical monuments of grandeur, art and architecture. Every kilometer or two, one can find some abandoned archeological sites. Most of the sites, the well maintained and the abandoned one are graveyard or tomb stones of moughal family members, kings and princes. However, city witnessed a quick downfall in later years. I sometimes wonder why Agra was geographically not considered a better option for capital city than Delhi. It is more central to Indian territory in comparison to Delhi which is somewhat more northish in nature. However despite being so central to history of India, Agra do not find much reference in the independence moment. Though the city is visited by almost every political dignitary but it is difficult to find mention of Agra in the books of modern and post modern history except for a futile and over-hyped Musharaff Bajpayee meeting.

From political perspective, Agra occupies a contradictory position. For last 30 years, the center and state governments have belonged to different parties. Agra is considered a bastion of BJP for national election. But at state level, it witnesses a fragmented verdict. Mostly it is BSP and BJP division despite its proximity with Saifai, the den of Mulayam Singh. Therefore while BSP is indifferent to Agra, SP is abhorrent to the city. BJP which finds considerable support has come to power only in the recent years but it also lacks intention to make things work. Possibly because either they are too confident about the city or they are too skeptical to put money and energy into something which is a divided house for state level election. As a direct consequence, the city has not seen any development in last two decades. Some superficial touch here and there does not count. One may be surprised to know that a city with urban population of nearly 2 million does not have a single mall.

From Evolutionary angle, a one time capital city which is home to big monuments like wonderful Tajmahal, Octogonal tomb of Etmad-ud-Daula, the formidable Red Fort, the gold mine of architecture, history, Indian culture and my favorite The fort of Fatehpur Sikri, Domeless tomb of King Akbar and a paradise for botany student Dayalbagh ( which is in the construction mode since the eternity) has now slipped to tier two category city. Roads are same as they were when I left the town fifteen years back. We drink the shit of Delhi which come to us via biggest sewer of the country named the Yamuna. On paper, it is supposed to get 24*7 electricity but I see frequent cuts whenever I am home. Of late with privatization, electric supply have improved but that comes with some cost. In fact my relatives in nearby villages enjoy full Air conditioned life thriving on free electricity provided to them while we have to think twice before switching the AC on.

The campaigns like "Clean Agra Green Agra" have failed in making city clean or green. Only a fixed stretch of VIP visit is relatively clean but otherwise it is in dirty state, thanks to dysfunctional municipal corporation. So when India is positioning itself in the world as champion of love, peace and non violence, the city host to one of the biggest symbol of its soft power Tajmahal is stuttering to retain its quality of life.

In the social domain, most population is Hindu but given the moughal history, a significant proportion is of Muslims as well. Most of the junta belongs to labour class. On one hand City hosts sarvdharm Mela where people of all the faiths come together to share ideas and improve harmony in the society. But in contrast, It us the root of ghar wapasi type campaign.

Economically, no malls, no international airport, poorly maintained amenities but simultaneous we have community of rich and super richs. Sadly the economic gains generated from tour, travel and petha industry have not fully percolated to the entire city.Tourist come and leave from the city without mingling with people around and without seeing day to day life. Thanks to tourism industry of Delhi and Jaipur.

There are many other peculiarities of the city. Will go in those details some other time. But despite all the political and economic failings, city has got some soul. It has a character of its own. The language (khadi boli), culture of paan masal, jalebi-bedai breakfast, sweetness of petha, close community connections, shoe industry, pagalkhana ( mental asylum) and the central jail gives a different taste to its air. Narrow lanes, crowded markets, hundreds of year old buildings, river Yamuna and the Brij culture of lord Krishna is admirable.

I wish this character is maintained with all the developments which time will bring to us. Good bye Agra. See you again. :)

Holi

I remember vivid and colorful scenes of Lathmar Holi from my childhood. My mother would find the most outdated and rejected cloths, a night before. In the morning, we would wear those cloths and put lot of oil on our whole body so that colors won't stick to our skin.

The earliest memory is of our courtyard and open area. I live in functionally disjointed but structurally unified family. In plain English, all siblings of my father live in adjacent to each other but we all have separate houses. So it was a large joint family of nearly 60-70 people. In the morning, everyone would gather in courtyard and we used to have lot of fun. The whole courtyard would turn colorful and every one would pour water over each other.

In the evening, my elder cousins would get a VCR on rent and whole family would watch movies in the open theatre that would go till 3 in the morning.

Our houses were interconnected through backdoor thus making it a perfect maze for hide and seek. We kids used to play for hours. Though I was kid at that age but I could claim myself as veteran in the game. I had discovered most unique places of hiding. For example cooler or water tank or even wheat trunk.

In the later years, we would go from street to street and put color on neighbors and strangers alike. It was often prefixed with phrase "uncle bura na mano, holi hai". And if ever we encounter any angry young man, we would disperse in a flick of second before other person could figure out who has put color on him.

We used to have balloon wars with neighbors and among each others. I would use all my cricketing skills to hit the target precisely.
Most of the afternoon was spent in the bathroom scratching the whole body to get rid of color spots from all the reachable and unreachable parts ( back ) of the body.

All the ladies would gather a few days before to help each other in making sweet items (Gunjiya). All the visitors were served thandai (a home made syrup) and Gunjiya on that day. Overall it was fun.

This time I had chance to be at home on Holi after so many years. I thought the excitement would have increased over the years but I witnessed a completely opposite picture. All the enthusiasm had evaporated. There were hardly any color or water bath on road. Most of the family members have dispersed so no noise or crowd occurred on the day. Everyone was at home.

I was never a fervent Holi enthusiast but I was always an interested observer who would relish the colorful scenes, playful bantering and mischievous teasing. It was strange and dis-interesting to see Holi becoming hollow in all this time.

Festivals are one of the three important pillar of our economy. Other being marriage and religion. Moreover Agra, being in close proximity of Mathura is flag bearer of Brij culture. Such festivals are unique opportunity to build a healthier and harmonious community. We can not afford to loose their fun, excitement and spirit in the land which is already facing dearth of entertainment avenues.

I wish a colorful holi for the next year. It is always good to connect with one's childhood and going back to past while moving forward in the future.

Principles of persuasion

Ref: http://changingminds.org/principles/principles.htm

Merely copy pasting because love it so much. But adding my own case studies and example.

Alignment: When everything lines up, there are no contradictions to cause disagreement.

Example: We came and development happened, Prices fell down. so Modi = Development.

Amplification: Make the important bits bigger and other bits smaller.

Example: Highlighting important points in your business presentation
Giving more time to issues you wanna push across to your client.

Appeal: If asked nicely, we will follow the rules we have made for ourselves.

Example: O the rich man, please give up LPG subsidy

Arousal: When I am aroused, I am full engaged and hence more likely to pay attention.

Example: Listen carefully, these is going to come in exam.
See, I challenge you to solve this.

Association: Our thoughts are connected. Think one thing and the next is automatic.

Example: Ira Singhal took this pill. You also take. She succeeded, You will also succeed.

Assumption: Acting as if something is true often makes it true.

Example: I am becoming IAS. So now whatever I do is correct. Confidence high and so the success chance is high.

Attention: Make sure they are listening before you try to sell them something.

Example: Please, listen carefully. I am your god.

Authority: Use your authority and others will obey.

Example: You dickhead!!!

Bonding: I will usually do what my friends ask of me, without negotiation.

Example: Could you please do me a favour? Please give me some honest feedback.

Closure: Close the door of thinking and the deal is done.

Example: You have to decide within a minute.

Completion: We need to complete that which is started.

Example: Give me another five years.

Confidence: If I am confident, then you can be confident.

Example: Take this path. This will lead to prosperity.
I am sure, you can do it. If I could do it, then you are any day better than me.

Conformance: People are driven to obey rules.

Example: See the rule book. Don't argue with me.

Confusion: A drowning person will clutch at a straw. So will a confused one.

Example: Are you sure, you dont want to come for movie. Come it is just two hour thing. I know you will waste it anyway.

Consistency: We like to maintain consistency between what we think, say and do.

Example: See you promised me, you will take me to movie. So stand by your words.
Raghupati reet sada chali aayi, Pran jaaye par bachan naa jaayi.

Contrast: We notice and decide by difference between two things, not absolute measures.

Example: This car is good than Maruti 800.

Daring: If you dare me to do something, I daren't not do it.

Example: Maa ka doodh piya hai to bahar nikal.

Deception: Convincing by trickery.

Example: I'll get 15 lakh rupee in your account within a month.

Dependence: If you are dependent on me, I can use this as a lever to persuade you.

Example: You love me nooo... please do it sweetheart... I won't wash your undies otherwise.

Distraction: If I distract your attention, I can then slip around your guard.

Example: Are chod yaar ye sab, aur bata ghar par sab kaise hai..... chal naa be movie ke liye.. kya pila raha hai...

Evidence: I cannot deny what I see with my own eyes.

Example: Le dekh le.... bola tha tujhe.. sunta nahi hai meri...

Exchange: if I do something for you, then you are obliged to do something for me.

Example: Saale kal chai maine banayi thi... aaj tera number hai...

Experience: I cannot deny what I experience for myself.

Example: yaar tujhe bhi bura lagta hai jab katata hai to... mujhe kyun nahi lagega...
tere sath hota hai to tu bhi to aise hi karta hai...

Fragmentation: Break up the problem into agreeable parts.

Example: Ok so you want to go for movie but not today.. is it?

Framing: Meaning depends on context. So control the context.

Example: Yaar koi correlation hi nahi hai.. teri analogy galat hai... this doesn't apply here.

Harmony: Go with the flow to build trust and create subtle shifts.

Example: Sahi baat hai... chal thik hai... khana khane chalte hai.. wahan baat karenge..

Hurt and Rescue: Make them uncomfortable then throw them a rope.

Example: saale kya boring aadmi hai.. most boring person I have ever seen... chal movie dekhne chalte hai

Interest: If I am interested then I will pay attention.

Example: Mallika ka sex scene hai.. chal be

Interruption: Break the flow.

Example: Ek second yaar.. phone aa raha hai... haan kya kah raha tha tu...

Investment: If I have invested in something, I do not want to waste that investment.

Example: Abe ab saala ticket kharid li hai bhai... chal le

Involvement: Action leads to commitment.

Example: Oye ticket tu book kar de yaar...

Logic: What makes sense must be true.

Example: Makes sense right? tu wahin se office nikal jaaiyo...
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. Isn't it?

Objectivity: Standing back decreases emotion and increases logic.

Example: Bhai kahan se movie dekhne jaaun... 300 rs account mein hai.. 200 rs ki movie hai..
Sex scene ke chakkar mein khana rah jaayega...

Obligation: Creating a duty that must be discharged.

Example: Look Titu, She is your guest. Dont bore her. Take her out.

Ownership: I am committed to that which I own.

Example: Bhai.. Apni acting dekhne to chal.
Bhai ye to aam admi ki party hai.. ye to aap ki party hai... Sab to sirf aapke doot hai..

Passion: Enthusiasm is catching.

Example: Hume chahiye aazadi.. Inquilab Jindabad
chalo chalo chalo chalo chalo chalo chalo chalo.. moooooooooooooooovieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Peer Pressure: We do what we think others want us to do.

Example: Bhai 6 baje aa jaaiyo movie dekhne.. Sab intezaar kar rahe hai tera..

Perception: Perception is reality. So manage it.

Example: Darling.. I am using polythene. It is like condom only. It's safe. Don't worry nothing will happen.

Persistence: In all things, persistence pays.

Example: oye chal yaar, chal. chal... chal..... chal.... chal........ chal.......... chal

Pleading: Asking with attitude.

Example: plss.. plsss. plsss... movie chal...

Positivity: Use positive methods.

Example: Lets go for movie. It would be rejuvenating.

Priming: Prior informational influence.

Example: Abe pichli baar kitne maje aaye the naa.... chal iss barr bhi aayenge..

Pull: Create attraction that pulls people in.

Example: Yaar 5 star diya hai Hindu ne... too good movie hai be.. kya trailor hai...

Push: I give you no option but to obey.

Example: Oye fatafat taiyaar ho jaa.. aaj movie dekhne chalna hai...

Repetition: If something happens often enough, I will eventually be persuaded.

Example: Sale har baar tera accident ho jaata hai... tujhe road cross nahi karna aata bhai.. maan le meri baat..

Scarcity: I want now what I may not be able to get in the future.

Example: Sale sale sale! Limited offer.

Similarity: We trust people who are like us or who are similar to people we like.

Example: Vote for AAM AAdmi party.

Simplicity: Simple means easy to understand and agree.

Example: Just two clicks and get your grocery. Buy from bigbasket

Social Compliance: The pressure to conform.

Example: No inter-caste marriage. Duniya ka sabse bada rog... mere baare mein kya kahenge log...

Social Proof: When uncertain we take cues other people.

Example: Saale dekh rani bhi movie dekhne gayi hai aaj... tu bhi chal...

Specificity: People fill in the gaps in vague statements.

Example: AAJ 6 baje ka show Rambo theatre mein "raja rani" movie ka dekhne jaayenge

Substitution: Put them into the story.

Example: Agar tu meri jagah hoti to kya karti....

Surprise: When what happens is not what I expect, I must rethink my understanding.

Example:

Tension: I will act to reduce the tension gaps I feel.

Example: dhokha mat de... tu dhokebaaj hai

Threat: If my deep needs are threatened, I will act to protect them.

Example: Sale khana nahi milega aaj....chalo movie dekhne warna...

Trust: If I trust you, I will accept your truth and expose my vulnerabilities.

Example: mujhe movie dekhna achcha lagta hai....
Achcha Darling.. chalo Jai gangajal dekhne chalte hai...

Uncertainty: When I am not sure, I will seek to become more certain.

Example: Abe Hindu ka review check kar le...

Understanding: If I understand you, then I can interact more accurately with you.

Example: Mein samajh sakta hun... mere sath bhi aise hi hua tha...

Unthinking: Go by the subconscious route.

Example: Poster dekh bhai... Kya shandar photo hai Shradha Kapoor ki...
Chal movie dekhne chal raha hai kya?

Next time do the same exercise for women empowerment, Job habits of individual, environment conservation, making people more tech savvy and sales perspective..

Milestones to Success

Last night a friend pinged me on WhatsApp. A very humble and cultured fellow, a story of success and inspiration for our younger generation. Nowadays he is a public figure and his post trends heavily on social media. We discussed numerous thing of past and present. I won't go into the details of our conversation keeping in the mind its sanctity and private nature. But as soon as I hung up the call, a powerful thought struck me. So I thought of writing on the same.

So without being too academic or preachy as some of my posts turn out to be, let me list the four milestones of success. Without these, the success will be ephemeral, uninspiring, shallow and devoid of substantial wisdom. These are not merely milestones of success but these are also milestones of happiness and self-actualizations. Most importantly, these are applicable in almost every walk of life. Be it the making of an IAS or an entrepreneur or a visionary charismatic leader. Rather than milestones, I must say these are phases which one must pass through to reach the pinnacle of true success.

First is confusion. The phase of confusion is very much necessary in the making of success. Confusion prompts a person to evaluate his options and available choices. It helps us in identifying about our passion, our love and also our dislikes. It helps people in figuring out what they wish to do with their life. For example, Steve Jobs was utterly confused with this life and in that fit, he decided to travel to India. After 8 months of random voyages, he crystallized his mind on what he wish to do with his life. The one thing which sails you through this phase is your conviction. Your conviction in yourself. Your conviction in your belief. For example, Sachin had a conviction of making it a good cricketer and represent our country. So in the age of technology and science, he chose cricket as his career.

Second is madness or passion. Once a person is through with confusion, he should enter this phase of madness. Madness in following his conviction. Madness in pursuing his goals. Passion helps in discovering and uncovering your innermost strength. It helps in building your confidence and strengthen the "can do" attitude. This attitude is utmost essential for successful people. This passion is reflected in person's work. For example, work of Snapdeal cofounders struggled for many years to figure out what problem they wish to solve. But once they knew what exactly they are trying to solve, they madly pursued their targets and entered the 1000 crore club in no time.

Initial two phases were very common day knowledge and every so-called successful person goes through this once in their lifetime. However, what makes you more humane and more resilient is the third point. It is Failure. Failure is the best teacher. It triggers you to introspect and analyze the causes beneath your failure. It injects much-needed resilience in our attitude. It helps us in understanding the laws of nature that nothing is permanent so be grounded. High and lows are part of life. And a true leader is one who remain bound to his conviction despite repeated failures. Someone has correctly remarked, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. It makes us understand that "Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue which counts." Failure makes you more empathic and humane. It helps you grow emotionally and mentally. It brings out the minutest flaw in your scheme of thing. And those who stick to their path of success, eventually reach their goals after learning from each of these setbacks. And eventually, they reached the pinnacle.

But, wait a minute.I was not writing this blog to talk about above three points. I was writing the blog for that fourth point. Because that was my nodal point of conversation with my friend. He has reached the pinnacle and with his humility, character, and magnetic personality, he is bound to remain there for long. But not before he crosses over this final hurdle.

It is criticism. Ability to take criticism, filter it as per your own conscience, stuck to your belief, do the relevant correction, accept your mistakes and ignore the noise. No one has ever achieved greatness without facing criticism. In fact being criticized is an indication that you are riding the path of success. Criticism is a test of one's conviction.

It is combined test of first three learnings. Criticism tries to confuse you by distorting your conception of self. so from the first milestone, one should know how to deal with this. To defeat your criticism, one should work extra hard. That's where one has the attitudinal learning of the second milestone. she or he should work extra hard to prove their detractors wrong. And thirdly, one may fail in the process. In the competitive world, not everything is in one's control so here the learning of phase three comes into play. Stand up again and keep walking towards goal.

There is all sort of people in this world. Your well-wisher, fanatics, sadists, haters, ill-wishers blah blah. The phase of criticism helps us in identifying people and filtering the desired piece of information that strengthen our conviction and is in sync with our conscience.

I know, this post has completely turned into some preachy stuff but can't help it. There is nothing right or wrong in this world. "Anekantavada" teaches us so. It is person's courage to carry his belief and put it on his sleeves which lead to the pursuit of happiness and satisfaction which is the ultimate success in life.

Enough for the day.

Introspection

Three very crucial skills to ignore the noise and negative energy around.
first, keep your mouth shut.
second, love what you do.
third, guard your happiness with same vigour and force with which you guard your self-identity and material being.

To stay happy, stop worrying about future. Stop worrying about deadlines, stop worrying about reaching office on time. stop worrying about stop worrying. stop worrying about status. stop worrying about security. feel free, live free, dream free.

Robert Frost once said 'freedom lies in being bold'. so be bold. be bold about everything. Fear is the greatest disease. Be it fear of somebody's approval or someone's disapproval.

Identify your love. how can we? See what are the activities I like to do repeatedly. what are the things for which I can skip my lunch voluntarily. what are the things about which I love to talk, walk, eat, sleep.

Do not let other people digress into your happy territory.

Some quotes I read in past few days:

Even Sun never sets on the British empire, even god could not trust Englishmen in the dark. [Tharoor]
Atmano Mokshartham, jagad hitaya cha: For one's own salvation, and for the good of the world. [Ramkrishna Mission]
Woman has in her the silence of the sea, the noise of the earth and the music of the air,
There is only one history, history of mankind. [Tagore]
Secularism is a Hindu without sacred ash, a Christian without holy cross and a Muslim sans the prayer cap.
No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come.
A nation is not fit for democracy, it becomes fit through democracy. [A. Sen]
Breakneck development in china has broken many necks.
Man does not live by bread alone.
Predatory, corrupt, wasteful, tyrannical, incompetent governance is the bane of development. [Larry Diamond]
Idea of India is one land embracing many
If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made. [Bismark]
We have arguments, You have votes. [A.B. Vajpayee]
Why Gandhi hasn't died yet. [Clement atlee]
India as functioning anarchy [Gailbraith]

Enough.

India Pak

Really tired of the humming and buzzing sound of mosquitoes around. Seems like they have had enough of my blood so they are on a sugar high.

Its been 68 years but Indo Pak conflict seems nowhere close to resolution. There are numerous reasons. Both sides are at fault so it is futile to elaborate the historical context of the conflict. But It is worthy to highlight the role of superpowers like Britain, America or China.

Britain created the conflict by intentionally following divide and rule policy and later arbitrarily drawing a line on map without taking history, culture, topology and resources into account. In fact, India Pak secretaries were locked up in a room for three days so that divide all the resources like typewriters, table covers, bicycles, or other government property in amicable manner. How absurd it may sound but such things happened. I wish if they could have resolved Kashmir also on that day. Or if they could deploy such out-of-box or in-the-room approach in contemporary times.

If Britain created it, USA fueled it. Those early years had the best chances of resolution. Both countries were kids. We had generation of leaders who enjoyed bonhomie with each other despite bitterness of violence at the time of partition. But like Shakuni led to Mahabharata, Uncle Sam's cold war tactics gave patronage to Pakistan under NATO umbrella and we had quick wars in 65 or 71. Uncle's infatuation has not reduced over the years and even nowadays he keeps providing ammunition (F-16s) to Pakistan which gives it a false sense of security or victory in the event of war.

Had it just been Uncle, things could be managed. But Pak has got bad company also. If USA fueled it, China tacitly encouraged it so that it could keep India busy on multiple frontier.

So with Alcoholic parent (Britain), pampering uncle (USA) and wicked friends (China), Pakistan is no doubt misguided about its power and future and ill-advised about India and Kashmir.

One generally can not defy the laws of nature. Same is true for life-cycle of Nations.The middle years are generally more enterprising and productive than childhood fun and old age inability. For Pakistan also, this stands true.
It enterprised the terror industry under guidance of Shakuni uncle. But the venture failed to yield it desired benefit. Rather, it ended up burning its own hand.

Now when Pak has tried almost arrows in the basket, what is the future of India Pak relation? Well, putting the conclusion first, Issue will be resolved by 2025 if politicians takes the driving seat. Alternatively, It could take up to 2040 if economics or businessmen drive the process. And 2050 if military drives the process. The end result would be same in all the scenarios with couple of fixes here and there.

Kashmir will be demilitarized. A joint force of India Pak army will administer Kashmir. But in the time, Kashmir independence issue will remain alive. India may keep the whole portion of Ladakh and Jammu. Pak may prefer to keep gilgit baltistan region in quid-pro-quo arrangement. The valley will become an independent nation 40 to 50 years after we achieve this setup.

Institution of SAARC will gain substance. The South Asia will become visa free from a tourism and health purpose.

My predictions seems so common sense to me that I don't even feel a need to explain the rationale behind them. Even the mosquitoes have gone to sleep by now. So may be I should also. Good Night

Democracy

Sen once remarked, question is not whether a country is fit for democracy, rather country becomes fit through democracy.

Today many people claim that India so go chinese way. And if not chinese then at least we could follow Singaporean model of benevolent dictatorship. Lee Kuan Yew

Sex, virginity, porn and prostitution

Well the title of blog itself is quite spicy and very hot. No wonder if it brings me sedition charges over explicit use of such inflammatory and arousing words on a public blog. But I was thinking of some topic and these words came to my mind so I thought of writing on this. I would limit my words given the sensitive nature of topic. Whatever, I am writing here may or may not be my personal views or practice. This is merely an exercise to reflect on the prevailing trend in the society.

So first comes the virginity. A prized possession of past but nowadays becoming anachronistic and irrelevant. Virginity is advocated on the count that your semen turns into oza and it brings magnetism to your personality. It also brings purity in the mind and soul. This was considered the secret behind aura of Swami Vivekananda who mastered the art of Brahmacharya.
However, in contemporary society, virginity runs the risk of being perceived as impotency or perversion. Last year India Today survey showed that nearly 47% of surveyed girls in metro cities below age of eighteen had lost their virginity. May be use of phrase "lost their virginity" shows prejudice of 20th century as the figure shows it is no more a prized possession. And mind you, these are girls. So for boys I can safely assume the figure to be some percentage higher provided girls have not left boys behind even in this domain. In such atmosphere, if an adult says he is virgin then he is definitely going to grab some eyeballs with raised eyebrows and expression of horror, disgust and astonishment. This followed with immediate question on his sexual orientation like "gay to nahi hai bhai, sab thik hai na or a more poignant one like khada hota hai na".

A level headed boy or girl can ignore these expression provided his semen really turn into oza and he attains some peace and purity. But I wonder if that is possible. With Sunny Leone, Savita bhabhi and Santas porn girls around, what level of purity can someone attain. By the way, another survey showed that girls watch porn more than boys. So they might have their own desi boys, sanju bhaiya or some other web sites. Point here is how can one attain purity with so much shit floating around.

So should this be banned? But is banning going to yield any benefit. In our society, boys are more than girls. Parents are reluctant to talk about sex, and teachers teach about sex as if they are talking about some other third world concept. The concept is taught in such a complex manner that many students realise after the class that teacher was talking about their dicks and pussies. Some may even take years to understand what exactly happened that day. In such atmosphere, pornography is good source of sex education.

However, what about research studies which points to pornography induced violence. Keeping in mind these dimensions, Child pornography, and hardcore porn should be banned. Only soft porn should be allowed to float around. You know even you don't like hard tight shit or liquid stools. Both points to disturbed stomach. As a society, we should adopt middle path on this.

So then what about prostitution? In childhood, whenever you insisted on a real car, parents would buy you a toy car. But once grown up, they wish to experience a real thing, how exactly it plays out. They are not satisfied with cheap toys.
Beyond that, allowing prostitution would help in providing better health services among this section of society. We can act on this targeted group to avoid the incidence of HIV Aids. Moreover, The government can protect their rights. Nowadays, they are paid for one guy but the whole team ends up exploiting her. So legalizing it help in protecting their rights and empowering them.

But then can we have such things in residential complexes? What about our culture and social morality? Well, we need to have dedicated regulated red light areas where such activities are allowed. And such things were present in our society from post vedic age so no tantrums on that. It has always been around.

But then why sex in the first place. Is it really a compulsory need of the body? I doubt it. Psychology behind temptation of entering into sexual intercourse shows a mix of various human needs. It is rooted in curiosity to touch and feel opposite sex body, domination need i.e. satisfying one's unconscious or subconscious ego or esteem needs. For girls, it could be the desire to connect and overcome electra complex as envisaged by Freud. They seek sex as insurance against future insecurities.

I do not know how much of this is applicable in the age of tinder or truly madly. One night stands have become integral features of cities of Gurgaon and Bangalore. No strings attached you see. And with group sex becoming so prevalent in the society, what sort of curiosity, domination, connection, status needs does it satisfy.

I always wondered if we can compare sex and hunger. Freud had said sex as instinctive need of human psyche. Some people construe it as physiological need of our well-being. But we can see celibates and spiritual beings around us. More happy than common and uncommon people around them. So definitely that is not the case.

Some view it as extension or expression of love or entertainment in the love. I wish to cover love here as well. But I am yet to understand this oft-said argument "being in love is the best feeling in the world". How can one say so without experiencing all the feelings of the universe. And some are mutually exclusive to love. For example staying alone and enjoying the silence or turbulence within. Feeling is such a subjective concept but this quote seems to have become universal. Whenever a celebrity enters into new relationship, this becomes a ritualistic media byte. Could it be a self suggestion strategy to convince ourselves that whatever time, money and mental energies we have invested were worthy? And then no body talks about the biggest pain when their sexual desires are satiated and they have grown bored of each other at physical, emotional and mental level and stands at the verge of break up.

Anyway, enough time invested. For me, even after so much writing, I am yet to find the right answers. But it helped me in clearing some mess.

Uniform Civil Code

Has time come to implement Uniform Civil Code in our Country and realize the vision of article 44 of our constitution under directive principle of state policies?

I was listening to parliamentary speeches of honourable Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji. He was making a lucid argument in favour of bringing uniform civil code in the country. He said, most of the Islamic countries have changed their laws so its high time that India should also move forward in this direction. Keeping aside the argument of should we or should we not, I find some conceptual flaws in this argument.

Firstly, somehow the whole issue of uniform civil code has been reduced to change in Islamic laws or personal law system. This blanket reductionism of civil code issue in a diverse country like India is akin to turning fuzzy logic into arbitrary binaries. What about tribals, or other religions, sects, diverse cultural practices practiced in different parts of India? Can we really sweep those identity aside and combine them under one head of hinduism?
Just to substantiate some examples, in Nagaa culture, the groom is captured by brides family member and marriage takes place.
Similarly, in South India cross-cousin marriages are allowed but the same is tabooed in Northern culture.
Some tribes in Chattisgarh have a tradition where girl lives in boy's house without marrying him for nearly one year and if boy's family likes the girl then they enter into nupital bond.
So it remains to be seen how a uniform code would capture all these peculiar practices.

Another big issue is of misplaced comparison between the Islamic countries and India. In the Islamic countries, the change came from the community itself. Progressive section of their society brought forth rules to nullify the menace of triple talaq system. However, story in India is somewhat different. Here muslim brothers are in minority thus any such attempt of change has to pass the litmus test of perceived feeling of majority communalism. Minorities may view this as machiavellian agenda of majority to disturb the minority identity and culture.

It is certainly possible to bring such common code but the moot question is 'should a law govern a change in the society or should society spearhead the process of change in the law?'

At least for now, the best strategy would be to fix our own house and place it in order. Hindus themselves have enough flaws in their extravagantly grand marriage systems which acts as mark of social status in the society. Such marriages indirectly promotes dowry and acts as exit point of black money. We should curb this trend. Though I must qualify my previous statement because such grand functions are big source of employment and consumption in the economy. Simultaneously, we should drive forward other communities to come with their code so that we can make a synthesis document which would cover all aspirations and different cultural traditions.

opportunity

I received a message on my whatsApp. It says opportunity comes only once but misfortune keep knocking till you open your door so never forget to capitalize on opportunity.

I think all such messages are nonsense. Firstly, you'll always get a counter message or maxim which would convey a contradictory point.
For example, one would say humans are thinking animal. The counter point would say that thinking man is a depraved animal. One would say he who knows what is right will do the right. The counter point would say that its not about what, its about how you do it.
One would say, never ever ever ever give up. Other would say, happy people are those who knows when to move on.
One would say, honesty is best policy or honest people are the tallest in the queue. The counter argument would say, when the storm comes, the trees who doe not bend are often uprooted.
One would say, small is beautiful. Other says, size matters.

so ultimately what matters, which one is correct depends on your own perception and conviction. All such messages are nonsense upon stilts. They are good for confused souls. One who knows his priorities, likes, dislikes is well poised to reach the pinnacle.

Look at the irony, this also has the counter point, knowing is not enough. Acting on it is.

RSS reincarnated

After 91 years of legacy of khaki frock style boxer, RSS has announced a new dress code of brown pants and white shirt for its shakhas.

It was amusing to hear this much venerated organization is putting efforts in image makeover by making such veneer attempts like dress code change. If the organisation is serious about its image among metropolitan class then it ought to think about changes in its thought process and its ideology.

The level of anti-muslim venom is breaching all bars in small towns. And somewhere RSS and its sister organization are making hysteria out of small episodes of conflict and violence which is increasing this anti-muslim venom.

The idea of brown pants is not a mere effort of changing with times rather it is part of conscious scheme of things to bring women candidates to shakhas and increasing their membership among youths and NRI class.

RSS has a huge organized cadre of patriotic denizens who could be put to productive use if channelized in proper direction. Instead of Love Jihad campaign, they should gear up for Swachch Bharat. Instead of preparing people for civil war, they should focus on plans like social forestry. But most of these organizations have got trapped in the riddle of religion, politics and fundamentalism.

It pains me more because I am a product of Saraswati schools. And a large part of my attitudinal resilience is attributed to my learning at these centers and shakhas in my formative years. But today as a grownup, I also understand the flip side of this setup. This flip side could not be covered by simply changing British age kachcha with brown pants. Rather it requires overall restructuring in the ideology and organizational setup of the organization.

Jack of all trade vs Master of one

I wont write the detail but my experience has shown that we are living in the age of specialization. The world belongs to masters and not to the generalist. Even an entrepreneur is an specialist in his domain of business.

Plato correctly said, One who knows what is right will do the right thing. Problem with most of the current generation is they do not know what do they want from life?

World Culture Festival Visit

The grand event of World Culture Festival is going on in Delhi. It is organised by Art of Living foundation of Sri Sri Ravishankar ji Maharaj. Delegates from 161 countries have come to participate in the event. It is like a mahakumbha of world's all religions and culture.

One of the sub event was an inter-faith meeting where all the dharmagurus or heads of various religious sects will come on a stage to send a message of unity, love and universal brotherhood in the times when the terror groups like ISIS are dividing the whole humanity.

One of my guru received the invitation to attend the event so I got this opportunity to witness the event by hanging onto his tail. We reached there at designated time. So here is a glimpse what I witnessed.

The event was really grand and very well organised. The stage was spread in 7 acre of space. The address by various heads from different countries were interlaced with huge symphonies, and cultural performances. Some 8500 artists performed in sync to play symphony. Some 850 artists performed Gudumbaja. Hundreds of artists from Sikkim and Darjeeling performed Marooni dance. And a huge many other performances.

I did not have an opportunity to reach the stage but I got the best seat opposite to the stage from where I could see the whole stage clearly and identify people sitting on the stage. Sitting there enjoying the event, I was wondering about magnanimity of the event. I closed my eyes when many gurus chanted in unison. And I had this ethereal feeling of nothingness. I wondered, in such a large scheme of things in this universe, where do I fit in?
I am just no one and nothing. And almost everyone present there including Shri Shri was just no one in the large scheme of things in the universe.

One more thought shook my mind. What is that one behavioral attribute which must have pushed shri shri to organise this grand event. Was it narcissism or need of self promotion or love for humanity or confidence in his brand or audacity of his imagination. Because apart from all the fun and bonhomie, such events also carry a political weight, cultural statement and expression of economic and social might.

After little contemplation, I felt it was his audacity of imagination along with courage of taking actions which catapulted him so high in the sky that he could organise such a grand event.

will write later. Enough now

Book Review: Algebra of Infinite Justice: Arundhati Roy

Having missed the book review for last 3 books, I desperately wanted to write this one. When I finished my last book "Kashmir: The Vajpayee years" by ex-raw chief and Vajpayee's Kashmir expert A.S. Dulat, I was not sure which book should I pick next. And somehow I stumbled upon this compilation of essays by Arundhati Roy. I have read her in newspapers but I never had chance to read her text so this was a good beginning to foray into leftist literature.

The book is compilation of her essays on variety of subjects. The subjects span over a diverse range like nuclear weapon, Narmada Bachao Andolan, capitalistic onslaught of society, US war on terror, democracy and much more. Sabine once said, 'Every thinker is child of her time'. The same stands true for Roy. The decade of 1990's saw a tectonic shift in world polarity. USSR, the exponent of socialism crumbled and the USA emerged as winner in the aftermath of cold war history. The world witnessed a wider acceptance of idea of capitalism, macro developments, and market theory of economics. Came together the concomitants like nuclear race, terrorism and privatization which are considered the evil face of capitalist induced competition and power politics. Thus her views are compilation of thoughts on these issues.

Author has presented a lucid and articulate argument on the pertinent subjects. She has used mix of saracasm, cynicism, and philosophy in communicating with her audience. She has punctuated her arguments with facts and figures in some of the essays which provides more depth to her arguments. However, in certain areas, arguments are more qualitative and emotional in nature.

In the first essay "End of Imagination", She begins with question mark over efficacy of deterrence theory and utility of nuclear weapon for Indian in specific and world in general. She considers nuclear weapon as antithetical to Idea of India. Her left leanings are clearly visible as she lambasted VHP and BJP for spreading nationalistic fanaticism. VHP had planned to distribute Pokhran desert sand as Prasad in Hindu houses at that time. She is critical of India's aspiration of becoming superpower. To quote her, she says that India's claim of demanding superpower status is akin to claim of demanding world championship because we have a ball. She even questioned the whole rationale of Swadeshi campaign and says it is against the base of Indian identity. For her, call for Swadeshi would mean we should ban Cricket, English, Chillies(Mexico), Tomatoes(Peru) and anything that our civilization has inherited from rest of the world.

In the essay "Greater Common Good", she is critical of Maheswar and Sardar Sarovar dam, havoc and disturbance caused due to this in tribal and rural community of Madhya Pradesh. She was a one of the face in Narmada bachao Aandolan. This essay is supported by facts and figures. With her articulate writing which combines case studies, facts and grass root stories, she leaves deep imprints over her readers.

In the essay on "Power Politics", She talks about evil face of capitalism. She cites the example of Enron bribing of Indian MP where Enron invested millions of rupee in India as education to Indian politician to pass their contract. She is cynical about capitalism because it generates disparity in the society.

In the other essays, she is critical of US war against terror. She describes US role in creating this hydra headed monster and highlighted US hypocrisy in its anti-terror operations.

She has attempted to capture chaos and confusion of daily Indian life and juxtaposed it with the contradiction prevailing in our society. However her arguments leans toward socialist utopian model. She does not provide solutions or alternative model rather she is simply playing the 10th man in this development debate. She has criticised centrist and rightist parties in the same tone.

Irrespective of all her rigid ideological posturing and fault finding, her writing has a humanistic touch and she is able to connect with her readers. The book is a good read for people who wish to know the alternative narrative of development model.

5 predictions of Vivek Wadhwa

First: Energy will be free in 10 years. Everyone will shift to solar or wind.
My 2 bits: This will take 20 years for developed countries and 30 years for developing countries. But buying a lifetime energy source would be as costly as buying a house nowadays.

Second: Most of the telecom companies will go toast. It means they will go out of business.
My 2 bits: Nothing new in this. Any company which does not change with time and does not adapt to new technology is destined to be toasted. Telcos will be acquired by Internet giants like Google, Facebook. We will see a hybrid company. Google will be able to survive the technological pace if it integrates Internet of Things, Virtual Media, Predictive Analytics, Artificially Intelligent Robotics, brain research and space exploration. It has talent but it depends on the leadership vision and audacity of doing these things.

Third: Phone will become a medical diagnostic tool.
My 2 bits: We need to think two steps further. Doctors as a species will become extinct. They would be limited to conducting complex surgeries. We will see a new generation of technocrat-doctors. They would act as support staff of genius computer scientist or they would be conducting hardcore research of developing tools and software/hardware for conducting hardcore surgeries.

He made two more predictions but they were sort of common day knowledge. I am shocked, how come top managers who try to save every single penny for their company, agrees to pay hundred thousand dollars for this bol-bachchan.

Dreams

Do dreams have any meaning? I have been grappling with this question for long time. Even today, I do not have a conclusive answer.

My dreams are very random. Generally, most of us have random dreams so I am no exception. Sometimes, I see the earthquake shaking the earth. Sometimes, I find myself in a different world. Once I saw my result of UPSC. At one other time, I saw trident and a lion.

I searched on internet to find their meaning. The meanings are as varied and as open ended as my dreams were. For instance, seeing earthquake or experiencing earthquake foretells great fortune which is coming your way. If you see some one dying, it means long life for the person. But in Islamic studies, It may mean differently. Seeing earthquake may indicate a disaster coming to you and seeing yourself dying may mean a disease or ill-health.

Being a student of psychology, I have good enough understanding of freudian concept of dreams as mental pathways which brings out your inner conflicts, desires and wants. Freud wrote the book "interpretation of dreams". He explained dreams as conflict of ego, superego and id(reality impulse). He searched for the hidden meaning behind vivid dreams. Freud believed that dreams are most direct way to reach your unconscious mind.

Psychology also proposed other theories explaining dreams. I remember Hilgard has done excellent work in this regard. Dreams could be attributed to random firing in our intra cranial cortical system. They have a cleansing effect which helps in removing all the misfired or unfired neurons from our brain nerve system.

Some other theories describe dreams as totally meaningless and random creation.
Anyway, whatever the mystery behind dreams may be, It is a timely pointer that I should revise my subject. I am missing names and theories.

So will write some more substance at some later date.

Meditation

If you find it tough to concentrate while meditating and your thoughts wander aimlessly squandering your mental energies then here are the six techniques to get your mind under control.

First, If some thought is intruding your mind repeatedly and piercingly then start observing the thought. Observe your body as an outsider. Don't feel good or bad, excited or depressed from the thought. Just observe it. Slowly the thought will die down.

Second, put your attention on your nose. Notice your breathing pattern. Sooner or later, your breath will become longer and slower. This indicates your mind is inching towards peace. Such phenomenon is associated with low frequency brain waves.

Third, Try to focus on the voice coming from inside of your mind. This is also called "Sannate ki Awaaz". Once you attend to this faint sound coming from unknown sources on a regular basis, you will realize it is nothing but sound of OM. Every religion says that at the beginning of time, we had only the sound of OM. Everything came afterwards.

Fourthly, If you are trying to focus on some particular God or Goddess, then think about the various positive traits of the god which you want to imbibe in your behaviour.

Fifth way is extension of fourth technique. You could focus on her or his beauty/ power/ magical or mythical figure or various postures. For example, one can imagine the Vajrasan posture of lord Hanuman or imagine lord Mahavira in meditation with all the natural forces like Sun, moon and all planets rotating around him and illuminating his soul which in turn is illuminating the entire universe. It is up to your power of imagination.

Alternatively, you could focus on the small source of light which appears when you close your eyes.

Meditation reduces the intensity of your brain waves and one feel at calm and peace as a result of regular practice.
There are some other techniques as well. Like Vipasanna asks us to focus on bodily sensations or Preksha emphasizes on recital of certain sound along with yoga.However, one will find these methods as common denominator in the process.

Anupam Kher speech vs. Barkha Dutt

Anupam Kher made the most direct attack to reject the leadership of Rahul Gandhi at the Telegraph event. His speech missed the whole idea of democracy. He was heralding Modi for his non stop without holiday work for last two years. But he missed a subtle point "Democracy is not about individuals rather Democracy is about groups". It is about group thinking. His andh-bhakti led to his criticism of Dr. Manmohan Singh and Kanhaiya Kumar. Probably he was not following the international politics of Singh primeministership. Otherwise he would refrained from making such derogatory comments. Yes Modi has taken it to another level by connecting with Indian diaspora. But possibly for the reason that they could be his future vote bank and are part of his social media marketing. It was a speech full of theatre, clamour and irrationality. Somewhere I saw traces of childishness. Suhel Seth fist thumping and personal attacks on honourable justice Ganguly were symptoms of the same.

Immediately followed the speech of Barkha Dutt. She pointed towards the worsening role of Media and lost art of conversation for degrading standards of Debate. She quoted beautifully scholar Karl Popper's view on intolerance. Probably his speech was a lesson to Kher on how to converse and how to debate, if at all he paid attention to it.

One disappointing thing in contemporary society is people identify more with noise, gets swayed
by rhetoric, and are influenced by passionate argument rather than absorbing rationale dialectics. Everywhere on media, I see people sharing Kher's speech and his bashing of Gandhi, judge Ganguly, and aunty-national Kanhaiya Kumar. But no body is talking about Barkha Dutt's lucid argument which questioned the role of their own fraternity, the media houses.

The very nature of debates, their contents and manner of presentation makes one understand "what is intolerance debate all about?".

Legacy

Jito visit

A good evening and insightful night

I received a call from a friend in the evening. He is police officer in Delhi Police. He invited me for semifinals of kabbadi league. I reached the venue. He took me along bypassing all the barricades without police checks and without ticket. :) "vardi effect"

We enjoyed the match between Patna pirates and Pune. Further, we also enjoyed the game between Mumbai macho and Kolkata. All of us were not aware of exact nature of rules of the game but somehow we managed to make some sense out of it. I was doubtful whether players are actually holding their breath while attacking other team. Later we did a little experiment ourselves to check if the person can breath in between chanting of kabbadi. And it tested negative. :)

Kabbadi is one of the best team game. Players have to take a quick decision whether they should be coming forward in defense of their fellow player from opponents or just leave of his misdeeds. I was reading a quote on whatsApp. It says a person needs two kind of friend in Life. One like Krishna and other like Karna. Krishna will not fight for you but make sure you win. Karna will fight for you even when you are wrong. When I look back at my life, I find the blessing and support of many Krishnas but I miss Karna.

It strengthens my believe in Karma theory. I am not sure whether I can play a Karna if ever a situation arise. I feel the only true Karna in one's life could be person's mother. There is nothing more selfless than the mother's love. Everything else comes with condition. That's probably the beauty of nature.

Another feature of Kabbadi is the "vicious trap" or chakravyuh style of trap. Defending players stand in group of 2. One holding the hand of other. If the attacker goes too deep inside on one side of square, the other side bulges out and try to put him in chakravyuha means try to trap him from his backside and lateral sides. In such situation, a person must have a lot of force to come out of trap. But if you don't go deep enough then it would be futile to even go because you wont be able to touch opponent. The same is true for life. Once you go too deep on one side, You have got more distance to cover to reach the finish line. So moral of the story is face uncertainty and use force to get out of difficult situations.

Later, when Mumbai machoed Kolkata and Patna pirated Pune, we had the privileged dinner arranged for organizers and core team. He took me to his Officers Mess where we had arrangements for night stay.

I have always been a fan of his calm, easygoing and free approach to life. He is a Vipasana champion. We had good philosophical discussion about life goals, and ideal life. He has decided to remain unmarried and live a relaxed life. His life epitomizes Osho's and Budhdha's text. Sometimes I wish I could develop similar calm and freedom in my lifestyle.

He told me about his journey of clearing UPSC.
This was the ultimate wisdom of the day for me. He said "What you think, you become". So most of the struggle in life is about finding out what do you want to do. Because once you know it, and you strive for it with full sincerity, The whole world conspires to help you meet your goal and fulfill your desire.

Happiness

Happiness is "living completely in the present and enjoying the moment to the fullest." Interested folks may raise some pertinent questions like what do you mean by living in the present or enjoying the moment or enjoying the moment to the fullest.

We living beings live our lives, each marked by our share of peculiarities , whim, fancies and behavioral traits. We breath, we feel the air and have an existence in the society. However, mere living is very different from "living in the present".

Let us understand it through another question and illustrations. What is not living in the present. To be fearful or anxious about your tomorrow or time ahead is not living in the present. To be emotionally attached to your past and comparing your present with your past is akin to not living in the present. To be fretful or angry or excited or depressed or impressed or irritated or frustrated or passionate about anything of past or future, even the minute ahead or second left behind is same as not living in the present.

Then what exactly is living in the present. And what is living the moment to the fullest. It essentially means having your mind, body and soul completely focused at your present activity. This is possible only if we have no tension or desire or expectation of future. For example, let's say I am coding something. If I have even iota of tension about completion of task then I can not call myself happy.

In order to realize these words in one's life, one need to internalize certain belief and emotions. In short, one needs to overcome desire, expectation, frustration, irritation, passion, anger, and so on. In short one should control the feelings of krodh(anger), maan(ego), maaya(temptations), and lobha(greed).

The text of Geeta has some very interesting shlokas. If we understand their essence then we can definitely overcome the feeling of anger. "prakrteh kriyamanani
gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma
kartaham iti manyate"

It means whatever we do, we tend to think that we are the actor but in reality it is our inherent traits which are interacting with each other and producing such actions. In a way, if we develop compassion towards each of the fellow being and just take 5 second pause and try to understand the cause behind their behavior then most of the time the angry feelings evaporate.

Same is the case with frustration or irritation. These are substitute feelings for anger. But if we try to decipher the cause of frustration or irritation, most of the time it lies in future. For example if I get stuck in traffic or stuck in a queue then mostly the reason of frustration is our desire reach home early or attend to a particular appointment. Let say you are not able to meet a deadline or study for an exam then reason of frustration would probably be our fear or anxiety regarding loosing our job or failure in the exam. Both are futuristic phenomenon.

I always believed some stress is necessary to pump myself for working hard. In psychology, this is called "eustress". However, nowdays I feel it is not necessary to get tensed or anxious to drive yourself in goal oriented manner. All it needs is peace of mind, and focus on task in hand to make your tomorrow a better deal.


I wish to write a lot on subject but will pick the topic again some other time. But I would like to submit one last point is about "fullest enjoyment". Living in the present is focusing on the task in hand. Enjoying the moment is free from tension or emotions of past or future. Enjoying to the fullest means "living with a smile". Smile not only on the face but also on the heart, on the mind and most importantly in your soul. It requires a big heart, filled with human values of compassion, empathy and self-lessness. It requires very deep understanding of uncertainty in our lives, finality of death, freedom from material desire, strong belief in hard work without expectation of rewards, and many other things.

But it all is easier said than done. Knowing is one thing but putting it in practice is entirely other thing. Possibly that is the reason, I am yet to find a single soul who I can call a happy soul. Today, I was seeing the advertisement of Sri sri Ravi Shankar conference. He has pioneered the art of living. I assume it must be arr of living happily. I am going to meet him soon. Hope to learn something more from him on the subject.