Two epics

When the history of sports will be written, yesterday will find a special mention. The reason being two of the greatest game in the sporting history were played yesterday. One was ODI cricket world cup final between England and Newzealand. Other being Lawn tennis Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

I could not watch the second one as I was busy with the first one. I don't regret missing the second because the first game was full of thrill, excitement, climax and lot of fun. More specifically three things were very noticeable in the match.

First of it was heroics of Ben Stokes. He played a really courageous inning. As goes the adage: Fortune favours the brave. It definitely favored him vigorously.
Second was cool and calm response of Ken Williamson. It was fabulous. It requires great deal of experience, thought experiments and wisdom to remain that way.
Third was the shot of destiny. If something is not meant for you, whatever you try, it won't fall in place.

The whole game reminded me of Hitler. When Hitler had to choose his army generals,he would call them for a final interview and he used to ask just one question to them, "Are you lucky?". I think this was the difference between the two sides on that day.

Another thing which got stuck in my mind was importance of Hope. It is so powerful a mental state of mind that if it is strong enough, it definitely changes the outcome. It is like whole world conspires for you to succeed.

Anyway enough for the day. Rest will come later.

My 5 learning

A friend recently asked me a question "what are my 3 key learnings after appearing in UPSC exam?".
I could not answer with clarity. There was so much to dig in. There was lot of substance even before appearing in the UPSC. It was hard to distinguish whether a particular leaning is result of UPSC or belonged to pre-UPSC era. So I sat down and tried to remove some mud and here is what I found.

1. Destiny is more powerful than anything else. You try whatever is possible, if it is there you'll get it and if it is not there, you'll never get it. Hard work and all goes for toss in front of it.
2. You have to keep trying, keep walking whatever may be the direction. Destiny will automatically put you on the right path.
3. A routine schedule and disciplined life style is worthy living. In the long term, it is more joyful than anything else.
4. Real happiness is a reflex of mind. Convince yourself about it and you will be happy. Else, life will keep teaching you same lesson again and again.

5. Everyone is fighting a battle in life so be kind, considerate and empathic to people around you. 

Most beautiful blessing

Ability of backing yourself with the belief "If not me then who"
Disposition of enjoying the good and bad hits in everyday life
Tactic of taking life as a game
Courage of taking risk, making moves
Power of living a detached life
Understanding the futility or ephemeral character of everything around yourself
Discipline of following a routine or schedule unwaveringly
Generosity of ignoring and forgiving wrongdoers around you or helping them in rectification in polite yet firm manner
Living with a smiling face every second of your life
Virtue of dreaming big but enjoying every small events in life
Empathy and compassion for other beings specially for those subordinate to you
Attitude of service primarily for parents and for all the needy people,

are the most beautiful blessings which any one can receive from the nature or almighty.

Experiences I wish to write about in detail

1. Decoding the defeat of Rahul Gandhi and future predictions for him
2. Experience of managing the vendor
3. Experience of Writing magazine
4. Experience of DTRTI training
5. Biking/Cycling experience: My first 50 and 100 km tour
6. IIT-Income Tax collaboration
7. The Power of AUM
8. The curse of greed
9.  On and off the track: continuous struggle
10. Father and Grandfather

There are so many thoughts, experiences and learning everyday and time and again I fail to document them properly. So, I am dropping the topic list so that I'll not miss the topics and whenever I get the free time, I should write about them.

10 things for Modi 2.0

My predictions about NDA's second term have come true. BJP under Prime Minister Modi's leadership and Shri Amit Shah's meticulous planning have grown by leaps and bound. However, this victory should neither be seen as public endorsement of Modi's policies nor should it be seen as satisfaction of people with Modi's regime. This is a vote for stability and decisive leadership over corrupt, uncertain and divisive leadership of the likes of Bua and Babua. Therefore, Modi 2.0 has a lot of ground to cover if it really wish to bring real structural and transformative change in India's landscape. Here are listed top 10 policy priority for Modi 2.0 to bring some churning and produce fruitful results for our nation.

1. Financial profiling of each and every individual whether exempted or not. Major reforms in Income Tax necessary. Remove all tax declaration related exemptions rather public should compulsorily declare all the income(even single penny) and then whatever exemption/deduction rules are applicable, they should be put in place.

2. Real time communication and information exchange between all the government department. So for example, if a person is leaving the country then immediately Income tax and police and other ministeries should come to know by transfer of data in real time from customs to Income Tax etc. Similarly, if person buying new vehicle and getting registered with RTO, Income Tax should be informed immediately.

3. Technology wherever possible. For example, why can't we put camera in city and send fine notice after reviewing images on camera in the back office.Computerise wherever possible and focus on usability and data analysis. Punitive and technology intensive policing need to be emphasised.

4. Major emphasis on computer literacy, digitalization and digital linking so that information asymmetry can end in the country.

5. Land reforms like land register so that we can map property related to each and every individual. Similarly crowd control, pollution control and population control strategies should be clearly thought out and implemented.

6. 365 day 24*7 vocational education and business establishment workshops with substantive content.

7. Make  Rehabilitation and resettlement ministry and laws so that in every city, we can start planning things properly. Mandatory trees in every house. Road design. Street vendor management, urban planning. Whatever needs to be changed, should be changed. Take advantage of competitive federalism in this regard.

8. Electoral reforms by way of bringing changes in constitution. 2 times election in every five years. No confidence motion applicable only when we have alternate government formation possible like Germany. All the state and center election at be held at 30th month or 60th month. In between only work and development.

9. Deliver on all the big infra projects in a timely fashion and plan in futuristic sense of things.

10. Start planning now and in 3 years time, reduce the cash usage by 50% atleast. Make PAN declaration necessary for every cash transaction above 1000rs .

My article on Acharya Sushil Muni Ji

जैन धर्म में अहिंसा को सबसे प्रमुख स्थान दिया गया है | यह अहिंसा का सिद्दांत केवल कर्मों तक सीमित नहीं है अपितु इसे भावों एवं आत्मा के स्तर पर समझाया गया है| आज हम में से बहुत लोग जैन कुलनाम का प्रयोग तो करते है परन्तु जैन सिद्दांतों को आत्मिक व वैचारिक स्तर पर धारण नहीं कर पाते | आचार्य सुशील मुनि जी एक ऐसे तपस्वी साधू थे जिन्होंने ना केवल इन नियमों को अपने  कर्मों एवं भावों में उतारा बल्कि बहुत सारे अन्य जीवों को में इस मार्ग पर चलने का रास्ता दिखाया | 

आचार्यश्री के अनुसार अहिंसा नियम का पालन करना मन में प्राणी मात्र के प्रति प्रेम भाव उत्पन्न हुए बिना असंभव है | इसीलिए अहिंसा के मार्ग की पहली व आखिरी  सीढ़ी प्रेम भाव ही है | आज हम सभी किसी ना किसी से प्रेम करते हैं | कोई अपने माता-पिता से तो कोई अपनी पत्नी-बच्चों से या पालतू जानवर से | क्या इसे अहिंसा मार्ग पर चलना मान सकते हैं और क्या ऐसा करने से हमें शांतिपूर्ण ठंग से मुक्ति मिल सकती है ? आचार्य श्री ने इस विषय पर विस्तार से चर्चा करते हुए कहा है कि प्रेम भाव किसी व्यक्ति-विशेष या संप्रदाय-विशेष तक सीमित ना रहकर  प्रत्येक  रंग, भेद, पद्दति, विचार के हर छोटे बड़े जीव के प्रति होना चाहिए | यह प्रेम केवल सगे-सम्बन्धियों तक नहीं बल्कि हर कण-कण से होना चाहिए | जब ऐसा प्रेम हमारे रग-रग में उपस्थित होता है तो हमारे बैरी भी हमारे हितैषी बन जाते है | जब आप किसी भी प्रकार के राग द्वेष ईर्ष्या भय क्रोध मान माया लोभ  से ग्रसित हुए बिना प्राणी मात्र से प्रेम करते हैं तो आप उनके परमाणुओं से आत्मिक स्तर पर जुड़ जाते हैं और आपने भाव-व्यक्तिव्त्व से उस प्राणी को मानसिक एवं शारीरिक रूप से प्रभावित कर पाते हैं | 

प्रेम एक अभूतपूर्व शक्ति होती है|  यह श्राप को भी वरदान में परिवर्तित कर सकती है | आचार्य  श्री ने प्रेम भाव के एक ऐसे ही  उल्लेख भगवान् महावीर के जीवनकाल के एक उदाहरण से दिया|  जब चंडकौशिक नामक क्रोधी विषैले सर्प ने भगवान् को काटा तो भगवान के शरीर से करुणा और दयावश रक्त के स्थान पर दूध निकलने लगा |  ऐसा प्रेम जब हम अपने मन में धारण करे तो अपने आप ही हमारी काय चमत्कारमयि हो जाती है | एक अहिंसा मार्गी के लिए ऐसी करुणा और ऐसा प्रेम भाव अति-आवश्यक है |  

जब किसी शिष्य ने गुरूजी से पुछा की क्या ऐसा प्रेम भाव संभव है तो गुरूजी ने बहुत ही सरल स्वभाव से उत्तर दिया की क्षमादान और तठस्ता विचारों से ऐसा प्रेम संभव है | जब हम ऊंच-नीच, छोटा-बड़ा, गोरा-काला और अच्छा-बुरा की व्याकरण से ऊपर उठकर सभी जीवों से जुड़ते हैं तो अपने आप ही प्रेम भाव की उत्पत्ति होती है | 

शायद इसलिए आचार्य श्री ने सार्वभौमिक प्रेम की दर्शन को आगे बढ़ाते हुए एक नयी संस्था की स्थापना की और उसका नाम विश्व अहिंसा संघ रखा | 

आज मुझे बहुत हर्ष है कि  जो बीज आचार्य श्री ने बोया था अब वो एक बड़े पेड़ के रूप में विकसित हो चूका है | अहिंसा पुस्तकालय, अहिंसा भोजनालय, अहिंसा विकलांग सहायता समिति इसके कुछ उल्लेखनीय कार्य है जिसकी प्रशंसा चहुंओर  हो रही है | इन सभी कार्यों की सफलता का  श्रेय आचार्य श्री के अहिंसा, प्रेम, क्षमा एवं करुणा के सम्बन्धों को आत्मिक एवं वैश्विक स्तर पर  समझाना है | उनके उपदेशों ने संपूर्ण विश्व को एकसूत्र में बाँधने  का पुरजोर प्रयास किया है 

Mid term review

Today is 15th April. A little more than 100 days of year 2019 have passed and my new year resolution of writing 5 blogs every month has gone in the trash. It is little disappointing that despite so many fleeting thoughts, new ideas and worthy experiences, I have failed in penning down my learnings, observations and stories. However, all is not lost. There is always a new beginning and considering that new year day of the Hindu Calendar has passed recently, I think it is time to take a mid term review of my progress on all the targets and restart with a new zeal.

Now that the confession is over, let me list out few task which I have been able to finish in the year.

First was the small booklet on economic survey and budget for IAS aspirants. 

Second was the classes on economics for JATF students.

Third was my schedule for running. It has been mixed experience. March was not a good month but I am glad that I could manage to run or exercise at least 15 days each month till now.

Fourth is my extra-curricular classes which I have managed.

Fifth was finishing two books namely Outlier and economics book by Sanjeev Kumar sir.

Not to mention, I finished at least 4-5 web series along with all this.  

So the year has not been entirely disappointing. The result has been mixed. A large part of year is yet to occur. So with this blog post, I intend to make a fresh beginning and aim to cover my remaining targets of the year.