Rahul Writes

Hindu Temples I have visited (Part-III)

2012-01-08T04:16:00.000-08:00

Akshardham Temple, Gandhinagar.
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Akshardham Temple, New Delhi
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Belur Math, Kolkata

Birla Mandir, Kolkata

Dakshineshwar Kali Mandir, Kolkata

Somnath Mandir, Somnath, Gujarat

Sri Venkateswara Temple, Tirupati

Also:

Hindu Temples I have visited (Part-II)

Hindu Temples I have visited (Part-I)

Attachment

2012-01-06T04:57:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks back, a senior colleague happened to visit our work location. He had helped me many times before on some assignments and I thought I shared good rapport with him. Memories of how I had questioned him on technical topics and he had explained things so well to me, were fresh in my mind. When we met, we went on very well. We talked about a host of things, from work related to personal. We also discovered a common friend, who was his classmate and my ex-colleague. I thought I had found a good pal in him.

Recently he was relocated to another location onsite. In fact it was like a promotion for him. When he joined from there, he stopped replying or explaining things to me. I was conscious about his elevated position and hence didn’t push, but his ‘silence’ was troubling me. It also so happened that I would ping him but he won’t reply and would leave the chat as it was. I would send him emails asking for some clarifications to which he won’t reply, even though he was designated to help me in this project! I thought he may be busy, but his “status” on Communicator was always “green”. Now I started wondering what the reason was. Thought came to my mind if it was the common friend who had spoken something ill about me to him and hence he was cutting me off? Or was it that he was too much conscious of his elevated position and hence won’t reply to me like before? Was he finding his new position challenging, was already troubled with the things he was doing, and hence he found my enquiries uninvited?

Today, I couldn’t contain myself. I had sent two emails to him this morning, to which he hadn’t replied. Of course I had sent separate emails to other senior colleagues too, as my plan B, and I had managed to do my work, but that was not the point. I seemed to be troubled by him ignoring me! Despite the fact that I thought he was a friend! I pinged him and asked him exactly this: “you have become very silent these days :)” with a smiley and all small fonts, to appear friendly. This time, to my surprise, he replied, “may be....but am quite busy”. Just this much. I didn’t want to appear pushing, so I accepted it readily and replied, “ok ok, your status remained green so I wondered... no issues..”. And then I went for tea. When I got back, I saw his reply to the last one as “i don't bother to change the status msg :)”

So it indeed was because he was busy. May be, or maybe not. It can be that he has grown snobby and was indeed avoiding me. No matter what the reason was, why was I troubled? I think the reason why I was troubled was because I felt an “attachment” for him. I thought I cared for him and hence was hurt when I couldn’t feel an affirmative “return gesture”. The roots of my trouble were not in his behavior, but in my own feelings. My attachments.

When he said, “may be....but am quite busy” I felt hurt. In my true self, I cried in my inside. Why? Because his behavior was not nice to me; he whom I cared about and “expected” a similar return gesture. He may be behaving like this to everyone now a day, but not everyone would be feeling hurt. Was it because no one else cared for him? Certainly not. But may be others didn’t feel that kind of attachment which would require a return gesture. Was I selfish? Was I really “expecting” something in “return”? I wonder if I am like this to a colleague in office known for a month, how I would feel if someone I loved truly behaved with similar “unaffectionate” way. Why to keep such a sensitive heart, which gets hurt so often?

I think getting hurt because of being sensitive is “part of the parcel”. If one has not got that sensitive heart, one would not enjoy those small little joys of life which one doesn’t see from one’s physical eyes but can only feel from heart. Only those can fall who have risen first. Only those can feel lonely who have had a company. Only those can feel hurt who have been touched before. I think yes, it is part of the parcel… It is part of being us… Part of being me.

- Rahul

PS: In the above text, I look like justifying attachment, which I also think is the reason of human misery; yet it is so very part of us…

---

PS: (after 1 month): I think it has become quite clear now. He has taken his new position/responsibility very seriously and is working in much cautioned manner. He is now more introvert and formal with everyone. (At times bossy too) Perhaps he had to make this forced transformation because he is quite young by age for his role. Anyways by now I am perfectly at peace with the change. :)

School of Hinduism (Lesson-1)

2012-01-01T01:42:00.000-08:00

These days I am reading some Books on Hinduism; here are some pointers I have underlined:

• In Hinduism there is no concept of Devil. There are angels and demons, good and bad people, but there is no Devil. Only there is God.

• Every Hindu ritual is concluded with chanting "Shanti, Shanti, Shanti" - Peace, Peace, Peace, which is achieved only when we appreciate the world in totality, looking from every point of view. It is symbolized in Brama's four heads facing the four directions...

• According to Vedic scriptures, God didnt "create" this world. God simply made all creatures "aware" of it. Awareness leads to discovery, Discovery is Creation. I think this concept is so different from those in other religions...

• Lord Vishnu rests on a serpent. Serpent is symbol of earth, regularly regenerating itself with the seasons and tides. Lord Vishnu rides into battles when faced with disorder on an eagle. Eagle is a symbol of sweeping wind of change, the revolution that brings back hope...

• A Hindu temple is not a prayer hall or the space where the faithful gather. It is the residence of God. Each day the deity is bathed, fed, bedecked and adored. In earliest phase of Hinduism, known as the Vedic age, there were no temples. The need for permanent shrines came much later.Temple or no temple, the need of invoking the divine in all phases of Hinduism has been the same. The present phase of Hinduism is Age of Worship, Bhakti era. I think in this era, temples play an important role.

• Dakshina is a fee paid for services. It clears debt. Daan is an act of charity. It earns equity.

• Lord Vishnu carries Sudarshan Chakra, a discus, in his right index finger. Sudarshan means Positive Outlook. The Chakra's whirring round God's right index finger is indicative of nature and culture's rhythmic order.

• Lakshmana-rekha, the line that Lakshmana traces around Rama's hut, is the divide between nature and culture. Within the line Rama's law applies. Outside in the wilderness, the realm of Ravana. Another word for Rakshasas would be barbarias, jivas who follow the rule of the jungle known in Hindu scriptures as Matsya Nyaya or the code of fishes, which tells that might is right. Manavas follow code of Dharma which is based on roles and responsibilities.

• Bhagwan Shiva, the fountainhead of Yoga is associated with all things that never die and never change. He sits atop a mountain, under a banyan tree, located under the pole star, in the north.

• In Maharashtra, following the rains, Gauri, dressed in green, is worshipped along with Ganesha. Green is the color of vegetation, motherhood, fulfilled desires. Gauri represents fulfilled desires, the fructification of earth's fertility. She is the domesticated form of the Goddess. Her hair is tied in a bun with a string of flowers.

• Hindus are advised against reading the Mahabharata inside their homes for the fear that ideas in that book such as brothers fighting over property will pollute family values. They prefer reading the Ramayana because in it brothers never fight over inheritance. The principle underlying this custom is called "sympathetic or imitative magic". According to this events in a household are influenced by the ideas expressed in sacred symbols, rituals and narratives. That is why during marriage and childbirth symbols associated with fruition and fertility and opulance are placed in all corners of the house.

(The title of the post(s) may look curious. As I explained to a friend's query; I said, "I am a part time student of Hinduism; taking evening classes in self study mode" :)

Book Reads during the Year

2011-12-10T01:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my reads for this outgoing year 2011:

Rewarded for Pune DC Level initiatives

2011-11-28T19:03:00.000-08:00

Pune DC had an Executive Council Meet a week back, where DC-HRD decided to reward some individuals who had served various DC-level Councils and Committees and made remarkable contributions for improvements. Yours truly has also been participating in some opportunities available, and was one of those who received appreciation from DC-HRD Head.

I could collect the award today, which is a nice glass-framed certificate of appreciation, and thought to share the news with you.

- Rahul

Gender Biased Media

2011-11-19T05:15:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I got too infuriated with the Times of India (TOI), due to the way it handled a news report. Some policemen had misbehaved with some women-protesters in Punjab, and the newspaper chose to show the face of the woman being harassed, her horrified friend’s face, but the camera angle made sure that policeman’s face would remain unclear and unidentified. It happened in both the two pictures it printed while reporting the news. That was a wretched show of journalism and my dislike of TOI reached a pinnacle with that incident (but many more cases had to follow).

Now a day, especially when I am in office, I browse through news.google.com to keep track of the latest happenings around the world. With time I started getting surprised as to why even Google News props up images of women in unrelated news, at the slightest opportunity. One day I just scrolled down the page and found that pictures of women were dominating the news page unnecessarily and almost unjustifiably. Since news hosted on google news is coming from various sources, and each source has multiple images on it, google news should have some logic to select which image to prop up on its main page. Was there a gender bias even in this expectedly gender-neutral programming?

I look at this page which is from any normal day.

With the news item titled “OBC admission: Supreme Court upholds HC order”, there are lady students featured alongside. So if the media has to post a picture of some students, it will be girl-students in most cases.

Second item is on rains and calamities. News titled “Heavy rains in UP, Bengal, Meghalaya; 12 dead” Here too, we can see a group of five women joining their umbrellas and captured in the camera. So if some people die out of heavy rains, our newspapers will show the pictures of some women commuters walking or suffering in the rains.

This kind of gender bias in the media is disappointing, and even offensive in a way. Such a practice keeps positioning women as an object and material, whose bodies would be for “display” to generate more eyeballs and raise some TRPs when it comes for the media. Advisers have historically used women (women’s beauty) to create a buzz around their products and services to an extent that we have stopped seeing any wrong in it. But it is surprising to me that even online portals running by unbiased search logic are selecting images of women only, for display.

- Rahul

Celebrating Indira Gandhi’s birthday

2011-11-19T00:36:00.000-08:00

Today is late Smt. Indira Gandhi’s 94^th birthday. I come to know this through a news item displayed on google news. The news item also carries Indira Gandhi’s black and white portrait, with pallu of her printed saree covering her head. This reminded me of our childhood association with her.

When we were in school, my two sisters and I used to collect images of great personalities from our history and our freedom struggle. My elder sister and I were born in our grandfather’s professors’ quarters. Baba had kept many framed portraits of our freedom fighters in our home. When we shifted to a new home after his retirement, mother got many new portraits (all collected from the middle pages of magazines like Dharm Yug) framed in glass. We had Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Gandhiji, Indira Gandhi, and many others. (One curious picture of Nehruji and Indira Gandhi was taken from such an angle that it gave the impression as if their noses were touching each other). Mother got the portraits displayed on the high walls of our drawing room and bedrooms (one nail at the top, two nails at bottom, and the frame would hang slightly tilted towards the ground). Every year during the Diwali, we used to clean the pictures to make them new. After many years, some of those became fragile, so we put them on a support. We grew up under the shadows of our great freedom fighters…

While growing up, once I heard an interesting remark of one of our guests. Some visitors who were from his bank had come to see father. They saw the picture of Dr. Rajendra Prasad in our drawing room, and appreciated our father for being impartial to caste. Dr. Prasad was a Kayastha by caste and they said it was a great thing that Papa didn’t choose pictures of personalities like Pt. Nehru (who was a Brahmin) for the drawing room. I still remember this episode which happened many years ago.

When our collection of the pictures cut out from newspapers and magazines grew big, one year an interesting plan came to our mind. We decided to celebrate Indira Gandhi’s birthday. We glued some of her pictures on hardboards and some on other sheets, and displayed our whole collection at a place in our drawing room. We had plenty of very nice pictures of her, thanks to the Soviet Nari magazine which came from the USSR. We also decorated the place. Neighbors and visitors appreciated our effort. After that, we celebrated many more of such ‘days’, like Nehruji’s birthday (Children’s Day), and also days related to Rajiv Gandhi.

When I reflect on those days, I think the innocence of our childhood had kept us isolated from the realities of the world. We saw Indira Gandhi as a strong lady who had become our PM thereby inspiring all of us. We didn’t think if she could do that had she not been Pt. Nehru’s daughter; also we didn’t know about the Emergency Days when she acted like a near tyrant. We loved the immensely good looking Rajiv Gandhi without knowing the corruption charges against him. We loved Chacha Nehru oblivious of his flawed decisions leading to humiliation and loss of life due to China’s excesses. Though we still had Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel and Subhash Chandra Bose, who were almost “all good”. Now from our present generation, if I have to choose some of our great leaders, whom shall I choose? Narsimha Rao? VP Singh? Manmohan Singh? Sonia Gandhi? Laloo Yadav? Or Mamta Banerjee? I think Atal Behari Vajpayee and APJ Abdul Kalam would be an exception and their portraits can still be revered; but not a single more name would prop in my mind. With a situation like this, I think if my children decide to celebrate the birthdays’ of great personalities, they would have to stick to my own old list – Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Mahatma Gandhi and a Subhash Chandra Bose.

Are there great leaders coming anymore?

- Rahul

Disadvantages of SIP

2011-11-16T02:17:00.001-08:00

A few years back ULIPs were market’s favorite investment option. Everyone wanted to invest in ULIPs and ULIPs for income tax (IT) savings were quite popular. All financial experts used to recommend it and agents used to call unsolicited, selling ULIPs like hotcakes. They sold ULIPS in one city while sitting in another, using phone to communicate and courier to send and receive documents. Even I got a call from a salesperson selling Reliance Life plans and her promise was: you deposit Rs 30K for 3 years and at the end of the period, you will get back Rs 1.2L; apart from saving taxes! That was a very good return and I was anyway looking to invest some amount for tax-saving purpose, so I subscribed to the plan. When I received the document, the company had clearly mentioned that I could return back the policy/plan within 10 days if I didn’t like it after going through the detailed terms and conditions. I wanted to take a chance, so I went ahead. And today after 3 years, the net market value is no more than half the principle.

The problem with ULIP was that there was a large initial allocation to economically wasteful accounts (for the investor), like to the broker, the agent, etc. Did the financial experts tell us about it? No. But by the time investors found out the hidden truth about ULIPs, the financial experts too became prudent and started speaking against ULIPs. Thanks to the government intervention which has taken the shine off from ULIPs. But till the time investors didn’t know about it, no financial expert thought it his or her duty to tell the fact in the open.

And now, is it happening the same with the SIP?

SIP, or the systematic investment plan, is being touted today as the best investment option. The logic is simple: since market goes up and down, it is safer to invest in small amounts over the long term rather than in bulk at one go. SIP has less risk, as they say. But the question is: will SIP give me higher returns? (Higher than other options available to me?)

If SIP avoids the high risk associated with lump sum investment, doesn’t it also avoid the opportunity along with? For example if I know that the market would move between 16000 and 19000 and the market currently is at 16500. I would like to invest more at this point of time. 2 months afterwards when the market is at 19200, I would know that I am at the top of the curve and would like to sell and book profits and I won’t like to invest more. But through SIP, you would be forced to invest even at these high rates! And after one more month if the market comes down to 18000, all the profits you made while investing at lesser rate gets wiped out and adjusted by the losses made by investing at the time when the rates were high. Anything that is equity linked runs an exact risk like this in the long term. I don’t see the point in making 20K profit for the first 6 months of the year and then making 15K loss in the next.

If market keeps growing, say for a period of 2 years, you shall make less money through SIP than through lump sum investment. Also, SIP doesn’t take our financial wisdom into account. If the market is too low, I would like to invest more. If the market is too high, I would like to invest less or none. But in SIP, you keep investing whether the market is high or low; it doesn’t give you the flexibility which could have been more financially rewarding for you.

I think SIP is good for the finance and share marketing companies. It gives them a constant business, de-risking them from the ups and downs in the market. Even when the market is at sky’s top and everyone knows it will come down, there will be people putting money in, thanks to the SIP plans. SIP makes sure that the brokers and finance companies never get out of fashion. Also, the fixed elements of the cost when users place orders, like stamp duty or brokerage etc, would be higher if we place 100 small orders, when compared to place one big order.

I think SIPs are not the best investment option available to us. It may be a structured and disciplined way to invest, but I think when it comes to money and finances, flexibility helps and a straight line rigid method harms our chances (of making more money). For a lot of investors RDs and FDs are still better option due to risk free growth and for those who can take up some risk, lump sum investment gives much better returns. SIP in my opinion needs better evaluation from the investor’s point of view while for the brokers and financial advisors, SIP would remain the best recommended option because of their own self interests. We need more number of honest evaluations to come out in the open whether SIPs are really the best option for the investors, or if these have been tagged so for milking more money out of investors, just like ULIPs.

- Rahul

Note: The views expressed are entirely personal and don’t express the views of any person or organization associated with the author. The author has taken care to maintain the facts mentioned in the article to be true, but there can be non-deliberate errors and mistakes.

Are Temple Donations Charity?

2011-11-05T03:14:00.000-07:00

While visiting temples, I think most of us would be dropping some money or some coins in the hundi or cash collection boxes. We would also offer some coins (dravya) as part of our offering during worshipping the deity. Bigger temples display written notices directing the devotees to drop money only at the designated places. I guess at some point of time all of us would have wondered if such donations to temples are worthwhile. Some of us might be thinking that it is a waste of money and it goes to the overfed priests. I think there can be a serious misconception and lack of awareness if our views are on these lines.

Bigger Hindu temples carry out a lot of social welfare activities. For example, the list of social welfare work being done by the famous Tirupati Mandir consists of:

· Giving free medical treatment to the poor

· Maintaining shelters for poor

· Home for treatment of leprosy patients

· Free boarding, lodging and education to orphans and destitute

· Training center for handicapped people

· Schemes to conserve underground water and rain water

· Planting saplings and developing forests

· Protection of cows

· Preservation of temples and religious symbols

References: [Link1] [Link2] [Link3] [Link4]

Similarly, Mata Amritanandamayi Math carries out a host of social welfare activities including:

· Homes for the Homeless (Amrita Kuteeram project to build 100,000 homes for the poor)

· Free monthly pension for the poor

· Prisoner Welfare

· Tribal Welfare programs

· providing free legal services to the poor

· Mass Marriages of impoverished couples

· Free food and clothes to the poor

· Care Homes for the Elderly

· Running Orphanage

· Vocational Training & Self Help Groups

Reference: [Link1]

While bigger temples carry out a lot of social work using the money received through donations, a lot of bigger Hindu temples are actually managed by the state governments. In such cases, the money collected in the temples is also spent on developing infrastructure of the cities and areas around it. For example, you can read about how Shirdi Sai Baba Temple funds are being used by the state government for infrastructure development projects like building roads, footpaths, and parking places. [Ref1] Although this is a controversial topic whether state governments should take temple donations to carry out work which they are supposed to do anyway. [Ref2] In my opinion, government’s control over Hindu temples is undesirable and it should be decontrolled over time. (Though the current trend is just the opposite.) Until the decontrol happens, even if the governments take a big portion of temple donations for other work, if there are lesser donations the actual money left with the temples to do social work would be lesser and hence our donations are needed to maintain the current running set of social welfare activities.

Smaller temples depend hugely on donations to maintain themselves and to cover expenses like regular puja, cleanliness, security and infrastructure maintenance. In my opinion, we should donate more at smaller temples than at the bigger temples because of this reason.

If we look at the historical account too, the need for funding our temples is very genuine. For centuries during the Islamic invasion of India, temples of all sizes were destroyed and desecrated by the barbaric forces. Somnath Temple is a classic case, but such cases are scattered all over India, especially the Northern part. Almost all major temples were attacked. The Ram Temple at Ayodhya is a recent example where the court had to rule out the inconvenient fact that there was indeed a Ram Temple at the site of the Babri Masjid. Over a thousand years of foreign rule left our temples in pitiful state. Therefore there was a severe need to start rebuilding our temples post our independence. There have been some extraordinary efforts in this area by the Birlas who built Birla Mandirs in all major cities and institutions like ISKCON who have built world class temple complexes. I think we need more number of grand temples of the scale of Akshardham or Somnath Temples. I think we should therefore definitely fund construction of any new big size temple.

Apart from making new temples, there is a serious need to develop the infrastructure of existing temples. Every year we hear some stampede or calamity at the crowded ancient Temples which were not designed for so much rush. How else will they be able to make better arrangements, than by using our donations?

Now coming to the question if such donations are charity? Why not? Charity is defined as “The voluntary giving of help, typically money, to those in need”, or “benevolence or generosity toward others”. I think without doubt our donations at Hindu temples can be counted as charity. It is a charity towards causes which are both noble and in dire need.

Looking from all positions I think we should continue donating some money at the collection boxes of our temples.

- Rahul

Unnamed Story (Part-1)

2011-10-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

She pulled the sheet up to her neck. When the nurse comes she would ask to raise the room temperature a bit. Or at least she will ask a warmer blanket… The clock tells the time is 1:20 PM. It must be very hot in Delhi at this time of the year. She doesn’t remember when she felt Delhi’s heat the last time, as she has been in this hospital’s air conditioned room for more than two months now. Still no sign of when this will get over… She starts looking at the ceiling; searching for anything which is not white; any sign of something new… Something unexpected…

She picks up her i-Pod with one hand and fixes the earphones one after the other.

Jab bhi ye dil udaas hota hai,

Jane kaun aas paas hota hai…

Jab bhi ye dil udaas hota hai…

As if she woke up from sleep, she trembles and changes the track in haste… This was the only old song in her play list. It is not that she doesn’t like old songs. She avoids them because she doesn’t want to think about the past and the old songs take her to her past… At one time she had such a huge collection of old melodies. She had built her musical library on one shelf of Rahul’s library… One summer, Rahul had arranged all his books in that tall cupboard and called it his library. When she came back from work, she found Rahul sitting on a chair in the front of the cupboard, with a book in his lap but eyes fixated on the shelves of the cupboard. Did he look happy? He looked elated! In no time, he started making plans to buy some dozens of more books to fill up the empty space on the cupboard. She just sat on the chair next to him and looked at his ‘library’… “I can fill that empty space now”, she said. “How?” “Just watch”. And she arranged all her music CDs and DVDs in that empty space. Now “his library” had become “their library”! They celebrated this new adventure in their rented flat with the baigan ka bharta she prepared in dinner. And Rahul promised to prepare the breakfast next morning. She smiled… ‘Rahul’s promise!’ :) Her lips tried to smile but eyes betrayed, as tears dropped from them… What were those days? They seem so far… Hot tears slipped off from both her eyes... She pulled her iPod off and let it lie away from her pillow. The music was irrelevant for what was going inside her heart… If there was one thing which was closest to her in the recent troubling phase, it was her pillow. Though the nurses changed its cover everyday, she had asked them not to change the pillow itself; ever. She can only assume that they had indeed obliged her… In her good days, she was very touchy about her pillow… She would make sure that it doesn’t get exchanged with anyone else’s; not even with Rahul’s…

Using her right hand she wiped off her tears with the towel… But fresh gush of tears came trickling after… Outside the room, someone wiped his eyes with a handkerchief…

***

Realizing that she had allowed herself to go back in her past, she tried to move her body alternately in both sides as if to shrug off all the bits of past from herself… She looks in a different direction, keeps her iPod on the table, tries to bend her head towards the right, where she could see the bottle of blood being transfused into her… When she was a kid, she would not be able to control herself at the sight of anyone’s blood… Once her cousin sister fell down from a stationary bullock cart and had a cut on her head. Instead of helping her, she had run away… shouting… crying… in all tears… first to the bedroom, then to the roof, then to the varandah, then ultimately to the bathroom where she cried for good half an hour. By the time her mother came to her and took her out again in her lap to meet Rachna, she had her eyes red and swollen. But Rachna had already started her game of kit-kit and welcomed her back into it. All that remained as a mark of the cut was a white piece of cotton hanging loyally from her forehead due to a patch of yellow Dettol. Then there was that accident of her teacher. His motorbike had skidded off the road in an attempt to avoid a little goat. He came to teach her the next day with a bandage on both his arms with red spots showing the depth of the wounds. At the mere sight of it, she started crying again, and this time instead of going inside the house she ran outside, in any direction where her feet followed, and ended up falling in the little pond dug at the neighbouring construction site. Her father called her to him that night and asked her to sleep with him… She liked his smell and craved for the warmth of his arms, when he took her to sleep gently patting on her shoulders and tinkling her forehead… Baba was not generally accessible to her, unless he specifically asked her to come to her. This was often inspired by some of the misadventures she would end up doing, or when she picked up a fight and never gave up till the end of the world. She would also have the privilege to hold his finger and walk to the school on the days when Munna Chacha would have gone somewhere and Baba would decide to take her and her brother to their school himself.

She wiped her ears again, as a nurse came for vigilance and swiftly went back out of the room finding everything normal as expected.

Baba had a bushy moustache which matched his personality… He was the Daroga Sahab of the nearest thana. Not only children of his village but almost everyone revered and feared him… Every morning when she would wake up and go out, she would find him in front of their house sitting on his large chair, having finished his kasrat. In some time a massager would be coming to massage his body with sarso tel, after which he would go to take bath. He would also call Santosh for bath who would eagerly wait for this moment perhaps as a means to end his morning study session. She envied him for this exclusive opportunity. Though at times Baba will also let her in; often on Sundays when her mother would send both the kids to take bath with Baba. Her brother and she would sit in the laps of their father who would pour buckets of water on himself, thereby making them enjoy a splashing fountain bath. At times Ma would watch their bath from a distance, laughing and giggling. In those moments, they would call their mother to join them and never could understand why she didn’t join in on any of the days. It was so much fun to take bath with Baba…

***

(To be continued)

Infosys: Building Tomorrow’s Enterprise

2011-10-08T01:52:00.000-07:00

Our generation (those born in the 80s) grew up seeing this strong tagline for Infosys:

“Powered by intellect. Driven by values.”

This tagline was so strong and impactful that it generated a high feeling in the audience immediately. It also gave the employees and the associates a matter of pride and a challenge to make this self-assertion true; every single day and hour. But many felt that this tagline was “inward focused” – to which even I agree. It strongly proposed what Infosys stood for, which was very inspiring in the company’s initial years. I am sure this tagline shaped the way Infosys grew up in the earlier years.

After the above slogan another brand positioning statement came which told where the company was heading to. It said:

“Win in the Flat World.”

This new tag was outward focused. It told about how Infosys can help its clients win in the ever globalized world. It told that the company was in touch with the latest technologies and skills which will enable “winning”. I think this new line put Infosys in the league of world’s best companies and gave the Infosys brand an international feel.

And then, the present tagline has happened:

“Building Tomorrow’s Enterprise.”

The new visual brand identity is here:

This journey is captured in the below description which a TOI article quoted Infosys COO SD Shibulal saying:

Infosys 1.0: (First 20 years): focused on developing and managing technology applications for customers and on building a global delivery model.

Infosys 2.0: (Next 10 years): developed end-to-end service capabilities, systems integration capabilities, and added consulting and innovation expertise.

Infosys 3.0: (Now and onwards): To be at the intersection of the client's business and technology and of global trends, and use the knowledge and expertise to help them transform and move into new directions.

And hence, "Building Tomorrow's Enterprise" makes perfect sense!

I think the above tagline is a perfect brand-positioning for Infosys. It also is an appropriate one given the legacy of Infosys brand positioning statements. Also, it is an honest one, given that the company is focused on breaking away from linear business model where business growth is proportional to new human resources hiring and is aiming towards more consulting and business transformation projects. I am sure the new brand identity and positioning statement are perfect and will be helping Infosys in its 3.0 journey.

- Rahul

PS: The views expressed here are entirely personal and do not represent the views of any organization or firm. There is no associated claim of 100% factual accuracy of everything that is written in this article, though care has been taken to avoid any error or misrepresentation.

Infy Heritage Club

2011-10-08T01:48:00.001-07:00

We now have 'Infy Heritage Club' within Infosys. Some time back we were asked to nominate ourselves voluntarily for this newly created club. I just received a mailer welcoming us and also invited me to an online survey to ascertain my skills which can be of use for this club. The mailer informs us that under the banner we have some exciting projects lined up using our skills in the field of project management, creativity, IT expertise, and above all, as it says, “through the passion & spirit of Infy!”

The Infy Heritage Club is proposing these projects in collaboration with Ministry of Culture (Govt of India) and some of the prestigious institutions and subject matter experts in the country.

- Rahul

Visiting ISKCON Temple, New Delhi

2011-09-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

I and my wife visited ISKCON Temple, New Delhi some time back. While in Mumbai, we used to visit ISKCON Temple at Juhu many times and it was nice to visit one in Delhi too. ISKCON Temple in South Delhi is situated in East of Kailash.

The Temple structure is grand and we need to walk up the stairs to reach the main temple (the height is because the temple is situated on a hill called Hare Krishna Hill). The prime deities Radha and Krishna are so wonderful to visit. The Krishna’s idol here is made of black colored stone. On one side of the main deity are the idols of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai along with Srila Prabhupada and his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. And on the other side very beautiful deities in the form of Ram Parivaar are installed. The main prayer hall in front of the deities has a very peaceful energy and environment and the devotees sit for some time and soak themselves into the positive energy of the temple.

One door from the main prayer hall takes us towards a gallery which has beautiful and large portraits showing different leelas and life events of Lord Krishna. It also has a series of portraits of Radha and Krishna from many ISKCON Temples from all across the world. It is a matter of pride for us to see such beautiful temples made by ISKCON all across the world.

When we come out of the main temple, we find some restaurants and also a beautiful shop selling religious literature and music CDs. There is also a museum gallery. We also got to know that the temple conducts Multimedia Shows for the visitors.

Some other useful information:

Name of the temple: Sri Sri Radha Partha-Sarathi ISKCON temple

Address: Iskcon Temple, Hare Krishna Hill, Sant Nagar Main Road, New Delhi, Delhi 110065, India +91 11 2332 0005

Timing: Open on all days. Morning Prayer Time: 4.30 am, 7.15 am, 7.45 am. Evening Prayer Time - 12.30 pm, 7.00 pm, 7.45 pm (Prayer Hall Remains Closed from 12 pm to 4 pm)

Website: http://www.iskcondelhi.com/

Recommended webpage for a very good review: http://www.shubhyatra.com/delhi/isckon-temple.html

Now I am posting some of the pictures we took during our visit:

(The deities of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai along with Srila Prabhupada and his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati)

(Lord Krishna had acquired the name Parthasarathi because he had driven Arjuna's chariot duing the great Mahabharata war. It can be seen symbolically as he promises in Bhagavad Gita that he reciprocates as per the devotee's desire.)

(Lord Ram, Sita mata, Lakshman, and bhakt Hanuman)

Management mythos by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik

2011-09-30T02:37:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik and I wait for his column “Management Mythos” in the Economic Times every Friday. Dr. Pattanaik, a medical doctor by education (MBBS from Grant Medical College, Mumbai) turned to become a renowned mythologist. He works as a leadership consultant and holds the innovative position of Chief Belief Officer at the Future Group. You can check his website at: http://devdutt.com/

I am reproducing his today’s article from ET:

Management mythos: Read situations in all the perspectives

30 Sep, 2011, 05.49AM IST, ET Bureau

The sage Narada wanted to marry a young princess. But she said she wanted to marry only Hari. Hari is the name of Vishnu , who is God and the guardian of earth. Narada went to Vishnu and began singing his praises. So Vishnu offered him a boon.

"Give me the face of Hari," said Narada. Vishnu granted that wish. Narada went to the princess but instead of garlanding him, she turned around in disgust. There behind her stood Vishnu. The overjoyed princess garlanded Vishnu. Narada wondered what was wrong. Then he saw his face reflected on a mirror.

It was that of a monkey! He accused Vishnu of cheating him. Vishnu smiled and replied, "I gave you the face of Hari, which literally means monkey, though it happens to be my name."

Narad can be read the situation in two ways: a strategic narrative or a sincere narrative. In a strategic narrative, Narad can see Vishnu behaving like a lawyer, playing with words to make him feel like a fool. In a sincere narrative, Narada can see Vishnu behave like God, using a play of words to enlighten him not to trick a young girl simply because he can.

In a strategic narrative, Vishnu is the wily trickster who wants the princess for himself. In a sincere narrative, Vishnu stops Narada from being a trickster and grants the princess her wish. In a strategic narrative, Narada feels like a fool. In a sincere narrative, Narada is enlightened.

Every situation can be read strategically or sincerely. When we read a situation strategically, we feel manipulated; we feel we have been reduced to a performing monkey. When we read a situation sincerely , we learn from it; we feel someone cares for us enough to demonstrate to us our shortcomings rather than simply pointing it out.

After completing his course in Australia, Jason returned to India with plans to start a fast food joint. His father, Paul, was a renowned restaurateur, with many small boutique hotels in East and South India , saw the business plan and knew that it would not work. But he gave his son the seeding capital he needed.

The hotel started with much fanfare but was in the red in less than six months. That is why Paul sent his team to help out the son. They made two key changes, in the menu and in the advertising. The same place, which was empty for six months, was now full of customers.

Now Jason has two options, just like Narada. Read his father's actions strategically or sincerely. He can see Paul as a manipulator, a dominant father, who wanted to put him in his place. Or he can see Paul as a teacher, a caring father, who wanted to show him what actually works in the restaurant business. Jason can feel like Hari, the monkey, or thank Hari, the teacher. The choice is very much his.

The author is the Chief Belief Officer of the Future Group. He can be reached at devdutt@devdutt .com

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/corporate-dossier/management-mythos-read-situations-in-all-the-perspectives/articleshow/10178045.cms

Perfectionism Vs Being Human

2011-09-17T03:54:00.000-07:00

Most of us would have come across someone in our life whom we consider “perfect”. For me, one of our professors was one such with his exceptional academic brilliance, amazing sense of humor and a great strength of character. I will always remember Dr. Narayanan as a “perfectionist”. It is natural for us to strive towards becoming a perfectionist too. Though I am not saying that we would become “perfect” one day because perfection is not a destination but a manner of doing things.

Some days back I read the following paragraphs, which made me think about the same issue again with a different angle.

“Neurologists say that our brains are programmed much more for stories than for PowerPoint slides and abstract data. Stories with a little drama seem to be enjoyed by our feelings and, more importantly, are remembered far longer than any dry slide filled with analytics. Personal stories also create a more intimate atmosphere. Intimacy suggests friends. Friends suggest people who are not trying to take advantage of one another.

Our logical minds worry about awkwardness in a presentation. But up to a point, most people seem to feel more comfortable with less-than-superman speaking qualities. It makes the speaker more human. It makes the speaker look more vulnerable. Vulnerable means he is less likely to aggressively attach our decisions or beliefs, and that makes us more comfortable. A little awkwardness also feels real, not slick or phony. When we feel someone is being slick and phony, we are much more likely to reject the message.”

Ref: P54, John. O. Kotter, A sense of Urgency.

The first paragraph would still sound doable to a student of perfectionism as it tells that at places using the right brain would be more appropriate than the logical left brain. It tells about the learning pattern, which each perfectionist would also understand. Not everyone is blessed with very accurate memory and engagement activities in the form of stories etc. are very effective in achieving higher retention by our brain. But how should we take the second paragraph?

Should we then purposefully make some mistakes in our PPTs or make some fonts appear bad in contrast? Or should we fumble during our delivery or at times fake losses of memory or slips of tongue? If such things happen by mistakes, should we grin and smile? Should we borrow some words from the kids or street children or should we also drop some tea over our neckties? I hope I am making my point clear, though I am a bit exaggerating.

What do you say? While I don’t doubt the second paragraph, I am more worried about the implications. Should we keep it as “comforting” words for those who don’t achieve the “perfect” result, or should we actually look forward to practice it? If we agree with the later, are not we planning to make a mediocre world?

- Rahul

Omar Abdullah on his divorce with Payal Nath

2011-09-17T03:13:00.000-07:00

Some time back, the present J&K Chief Minister and son of Farooq Abdullah (I think this is the introduction), Omar Abdullah joined the micro-blogging site Twitter. I am not sure if he took blessings of Shashi Tharoor, the former UPA minister of state (I think this is not his introduction though) who lost his ministry due to his Tweets (his famous ‘holy cow’ address to the reigning dynasty of India). But Omar seems to have made a quick progress. He has now divorced (I am neither saying Twitter-wallas get divorced, nor that divorcing is any progress) and he is making use of Twitter. I don’t say whether he is using right use of it or wrong, because by the time you understand if it was right or wrong you are either sent packing or forgotten, but I am just saying that he is “using” Twitter. That may sound like a useless usage of use, but I hope you would conclude something only funny after following his adventures with the tweeting:

“J&K CM Omar Abdullah and his wife Payal Nath have separated after 17 years of marriage. This was confirmed by the chief minister on Twitter on Thursday.

Reacting to the report, Omar tweeted: "While it's true my wife and I have separated, speculation about the motives and my future actions are unfounded, untrue, I appeal to the media to please allow me and my family privacy. Am sure you will appreciate that I have not let this affect my work."

"Stories about my remarriage are completely false, concocted. It's a pity, while repeating these lies, no effort was made to ask me the truth," Omar tweeted.

He further added: "My family and I will not be issuing any more statements or taking any further questions about any of this."”

Source: TNN, Sep 15 [Link]

There are many inherent issues here.

First of all, he is speaking all this on such a public platform like Twitter and he is speaking all this on indeed a private matter (divorce). Yet he desires to be granted “privacy”. Even people with no interest in his family life would have got to know about his marital affair (not used in conventional sense) due to his own Tweets. Secondly he claims to have kept his work life unaffected by this separation. What kind of a husband would remain immune to such a tragic happening like a divorce with a wife of 17 years? Thirdly, while he is complaining that “no effort was made to ask me the truth”, he adds in the end that he and his family (excluding his now divorced ex-wife I guess) will not be making any more statements. Forget about making statements, they will not even be “taking any further questions about any of this”! Yet, his complaints persist that the media didn’t ask him “the truth”! Well, for any such matter people are not expected to tell the “truth” and would rather be making political statements. And on the top of that, people of India (of which his home-state J&K is a part of) have given up believing on politicians’ words (I hope he remembers that he is one politician) a long time ago!

I don’t really think his statements and Tweets needed such a serious dissection. But blame Twitter, as even I hang out there some times.

- Rahul