Breakfast with Champions

For past few months, I have wasted a huge amount of my time on America got talent. I call it a waste because even though it has some shockingly amazing performances but it is not inspiring. It does not provide life lessons. Most of it is magic where artists use sleight of hand or some even use magical powers to generate an awe effect. Thus, after getting bored from this series, I was looking for some more engaging material for my daily motivational appetite. Incidentally, I came across this series Breakfast with Champion. It is directed and produced by Gaurav Kapoor. He holds conversations with top-notch sportspersons. It is insightful and inspirational at times to listen to these people.

Today I watched nearly 7-8 of the episodes. It was good to know inside little details or anecdotes of cricketers life. Like Ashish Nehra's interview is so light-hearted that it motivates you to become little nonchalant and casual in life. Similarly, Yuvi, Yuvraj and Pandya's interview also gives glimpses in the champions life. One thing is they all believed in destiny. They were all focused people. and They lived life in a little fun way. Not very serious or planned manner. No unnecessary restrictions and things. The interview with Shoaib Akhtar is quite inspirational. It tells about winner's mentality.

At the end, champions are no different people. They are like you and me. They feel similar kind of anxiety and tension levels. They face similar troubles in life and goes through ups and downs. The most important thing in life is to live it in the fullest sense. Do what you believe and feel like. In a way, to become a champion, one needs to be little stubborn and little ambitious. Things start falling into place automatically.

Looking at the richness and opulence of Dubai, I asked my friend that what is the one thing he notices in the extremely rich people. His answer was quite predictable but assumed significance because as an investment banker he deals with people day in day out. He said "risk-taking ability". I wish he could have told me something more but his observations were limited. Looking at the riches of Dubai, I wondered how could one not be attracted to the pursuit of wealth and materialism. The whole atmosphere of the mall was filled with the fragrance of the exotic and expensive perfumes. The unlimited number of brand, unlimited number of stores and crowd at the sale made me say "man!! money seems to be flowing in the air here". For a moment, I imagined myself in that lifestyle but somehow I could not fit myself into that world. Maybe that's not my basic element but yes a desire for money did arouse in me.

Madhushala

Madhushala is Hindi poetry classic written in the year 1935 by legendary poet Shri Harivansh Rai Bachchan. It has 135 verses (rubaiyan). Shri Bachchan has explained the philosophy of life using the 4 analogies of Madhushala, saaki, haala, and pyaala. The depth of his poems is unfathomable. And the meaning is intenser than that. Anyone who understands this in detail will surely get nirvana from this earthly pain and disappointment. For such person, life will definitely become a wave of fun, pleasure, and happiness. Here I will try to explain my understanding of some of the favorite verses of Madhushala.



धर्म-ग्रान्ड सब जला चुकी है जिसके अंतर के ज्वाला
मंदिर मस्जिद गिरजे सब को तोड़ चुका जो मतवाला
पंडित मोमिन पादरियों के फंडोँ को जो काट चुका
कर शक्ति है आज उसे के स्वागत मेरी मधुशाला

Meaning: In this verse, the poet is explaining the characteristics of a person who can enjoy the life to the fullest. In this Madhushala refers to our life. According to the poet, only people who have overcome the artificial barriers created by religion will be able to enjoy the life in a complete fashion. One who is not entangled in the web created by priests, pundits, and others, one who become fearless and who has unshackled himself from restrictions and one who is like a madman whose inner dissonance and spiritual energies have burned down all the religious texts can only be the truly welcomed by life. For others, life always remains a pain. So live freely, live happily.

Party

Recently, I was invited to a full night out party by a friend to his place. I always wondered about what a full night party is like? What do people do? What do they discuss? What kind of activities people are involved in? In the past, I have had full night out discussions but they were more like bachelor discussions about girls, UPSC, and disclosing each other secrets. Some used to veer in the direction of serious political discussions. This was my first experience of an all-night party with settled high standard white collar population.

It was good to see people from another end of the spectrum. I wondered about the different degrees of discussion people have. They all were fun-loving suave junta with huge cross-cultural experience. Almost all of them had lived in 3 to 4 countries and traveled to nearly 10 or 15 countries. Apart from general bantering, the discussion revolved around marketing activities, Redbull, Padmavati and lot of ladies talks and drinks.

The skyline of the Dubai was beautiful. It was amazing to learn that how a visionary idea of Burj Khalifa changed the entire economics of a barren land. Once a deserted tract of land has turned into most beautiful and heavily populated area after construction of Burj Khalifa. I also learned about the interesting history of Emirates and how the oil had changed the economy of the region?

People danced and talked incessantly. I noticed that when we prepare for UPSC exam, our gossip level reduces. One most striking thing I learned by interacting and observing with the group is how outdated I am from the practical talks of art and culture. My knowledge of modern fads like football, movies, novels, cuisines, and finance is very limited. Further, I could feel a sense of detachment. Anyway, a lot more to write. Will write later about the experiences.

Burj Khalifa

There is so much to write that I feel neurotic at times about what to write and what not. I do not want this blog to become my chronology of life. Rather I wish to write some intellectually stimulating matter here. But I think a general diary note is a good beginning for a neurotic situation.
A week has passed in Dubai campus. I have engaged myself in numerous activities like counseling students, fitness regime, preparing my material and guiding students. It's all fun till now. I ventured out of campus to Mirdiff City center and recently was invited to an investment bankers party at a friend's place. Later the next day I went to Dubai Mall and saw the huge aquarium and Fountain show at Burj Khalifa. We also had Arabic dinner of Latef, Hummus, and khaboos.

The most striking thing about Dubai was the richness and opulence of people. The grandness in every scheme of things, details in the design, architecture, and orderliness are tough to miss or ignore. I asked my friend what is the one thing he would like to borrow to India? His answer was simple: Fear for the law. Fear of the sovereign.

Anyway, a lot of thoughts but all lying in the scattered fashion. I need to work on this. Will write more regularly in coming days.

Coming back to blog

Its been a long time since I posted my last blog. I could feel the itching in my palm. Everyday was a challenge in last 100 days. Covering the syllabus, meeting the daily goal and achieving the small targets were seeming like an endless acrobatics. But finally it came to an end. If not the end, then at least we can call it a pause. Mains exams were over and life seems to have taken a 180 degree turn. So turning over to the new page. The first thing to do in this pursuit is to begin the blogging. Hence comes this blog. 

As every auspicious work is started with some heavenly chants, my pursuit should also begin with the psychedelic other worldly chants of pink Floyd. Coming back to life.

Expectations

Budhdha spent his whole life teaching about the illness of expectations and desires but we the incorrigible ones falter every time. So addictive and pleasurable is the quest of expectation and its fulfillment.

Whatever be the walk of life, as soon as we invest even an iota of our energy, we develop expectations. Be it a love relation, or a work relation or even relationship with your own selves, expectations breed everywhere. For instance, if we study 6 hours for 6 days then the natural quest is to now study 7 hours next time. Even if we are a contented soul, the expectation of continuing with 6 hours on the seventh days arises. And that's where the trouble lies.   

We are fortunate to belong to be born and brought up in the age of great sportspersons like Usain Bolt, Sachin Tendulkar, and Roger Federer. They have made even impossible look minion. The single minded focus, persistence and highest level of work ethics they carry with them is an inspiration for the younger generation. But with great achievements come great expectations. 

For instance, today was Usain Bolt's last 100 Meter race in a competitive setup. With 11 gold medals under his belt, his is by far the best athlete world has produced in this era. Quite natural to human behavior, everyone expected him to win the gold once more, one last time as a tribute to his great career. Even he had similar expectations with himself. But just when everyone expects something to happen in some way, a twist occurs. This last race was also an opportunity for his fellow racer Justin Gatlin to beat Usain Bolt and break the jinx of being a silver medalist every time, just behind Bolt in every race.

The race began. Bolt was not off to great start neither was Gatlin. The irony of a 100-meter race is that it lasts even shorter than a premature ejaculation. So theoretically if a sneeze occurs as soon as the race begins, then there is a very high chance that race will be over before your sneeze. Hyperbolically, we can say it finishes before it even begins. Well, when the two greats are up against each other, time stops. Every moment feels like an eternity, a fight of skills, hopes, and expectations of not just the players but their millions of friends. Generally, Bolt is out and out a winner in the race between the two greats. Once on the field, he is just a different sort of person. Different confidence, a different persona. His running reminds me of the efficiency and accuracy with which piston of diesel engine works.

But today was a different script. It was a Gatlin day. He pipped past Bolt and unbolted his winning streak. Gracefully, he bowed before Bolt after the race and tears started flowing from his eyes. Bolt was also graceful in giving his trademark posture but didn't look cheerful as he generally is. The face was not glowing with satisfaction and content. And then came the words for his fans, "I am sorry, I couldn't finish on a winning note". The devil of expectation was roaring his head. 

For some, even the participation in the race would have been life time achievement. For some, even watching the race live would have been satisfying but for Bolt, nothing less than a gold, nothing other than gold could have brought a smile on his face. The devil of expectation took away his smile and peace. Winning a bronze did not look exciting to him. 

But wait. Is expectation a real devil? Is it not the energizer of his action-filled races? Was it not for his expectations in the past which made him perform exceptionally well and set new records every time? Afterall, expectations help us in rising high, pushing our limits and helps in fuelling our actions. And they are not as devilish as Budhdha portrayed them.

Expectations, hope, actions, and desires are the interlinked concepts of the wishful thinking. It ignites the flames of human action. But sadly, in the process, we forget the importance of contentment and satisfaction. We forget where we had begun. We forget what we had in the beginning. That's where the disappointment, anger, frustration, tension, anxiety, jealousy and other negative emotions occur.

So the trick is to engage in human action,  without any expectation of reciprocity. Accept whatever comes your way with grace. Try your best to beat your odds but don't loose your heart in the process. Just keep walking, keep working, keep laughing, keep cheering, keep praying, and keep enjoying all that life throws at you. May be that's what Budhdha also had in mind when he thought of expectations.

Vaccum within

Music is divine sound which fills the void in the space. All the holy and divine scriptures of the world call sound of OM as the beginning point of the Universe. I too believe strongly in the sound of OM and music especially ragas like Bhairavi.

But there are times when standing among thousands of people, surrounded by friends, family members, merrymaking gleeful crowd of people rocking on the dance floor, I feel a void in my heart. There are times when I look at the dense sky, big rain drops falling on the tree leaves, creating a crackling sound, air breeze hitting my cheeks, and I sense a kind of emptiness within. And what can describe the sense of nullity when I look at the full moon, the bright light of which falls on my temple and pre-frontal cortex and create an exhilarating sensation in the entire body? It feels like I am not a right fit for these worldly pleasures. I am made for something bigger. I feel disconnected with the force of nature. But then there are times when all I wish is to hear Linkin Park or Pink Floyd or Michael Jackson. It is difficult to describe. It is the innermost feeling of my self.

May be it is just the figment of my imagination? May be it is just the state of trance or overworked mind? May be I am giving too much importance to myself? It may be a state of schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder. But may be I am born for some higher purpose. All my life, I keep hearing that everyone is sent to earth with a specific purpose or vision. The forces of destiny conspire at every moment to push us towards our purpose. I feel too much curious and excited to know about the force of destiny and his plan for me.

Somewhere, I need a force which can fill this void. I feel the need of a force which is strong willed, loyal, loving, and courageous.

Yet the force should be forgiving, encompassing, enriching, polite, emotive, independent and soothing. A force which multiplies my prowess and does not become an investment over my resources. A force which helps in steering my energies in the right direction and through right channels. A force which can help me in connecting with the cosmic force. A force which becomes my strength and not my weakness. A force which can fill the void and not widen my emptiness. May be I am selfish. May be I am narrow. May be I am demanding. May be I am right.