Finding Nemo

Just a week after the Ganesha Chaturthi, the Pitra paksha has started as per the hindi calendar. This period of 15 days is associated with our ancestors. This period is meant for us to remember them and all they have done for us. This is the period to pay our homage to them before starting the journey of a whole new year of festivals. A similar concept exists in people across USA, however it has lost its meaning and is today reduced to a scary fancy dress show - Halloween. I have often wondered the meaning and the reasoning behind the fortnight dedicated to our forefathers. The curiosity piqued as this period is considered inauspicious and starting something new is not advised. I often wondered why shouldn't my forefathers be happy for me if I try to do something new? Its only later I realized that everyone is busy in praying to their ancestors and trying to strengthen their bonds for this life and afterlife, that starting something new is pushed off until later. This fortnight ...

The popular management theories revolve around measurements, corrections and rewards. You measure everything through the eyes of meeting success, correcting what doesn’t and reward what does. A great thinker and a philosopher has remarked – “As is your belief, so is your behavior and hence so is your business.” In a nutshell, it means that to understand one’s business, it is important to understand what the person believes in. Looking through his glass, one finds a paradox – measurable business, but immeasurable belief. Yet, it’s the belief that leads to the business. How did it happen? Belief is the truth or the ideas that shape up the persona – identity, thought and the aura around the person. The beliefs make the person’s opinions. The beliefs are made out of the subjective truth the person lives by. They may not mean the same to others but mean the world to the person concerned. Hence, they are not the objective truth or absolute but subjective truth or relative given...

A few years ago when Ramanand Sagar directed “Ramayana” and then “Uttar Ramayana”, all of us suddenly became aware of the stories and the knowledge imbibed in the great epic. While Ramayana focused on the life and character of Sri Ramchandra as growing into a great king or ruler, the Uttara Ramayana focuses on the life of Sri Ramchandra as a ruler of Ayodhya. Along with the faces of Arun Govil as Ram and Deepika Chikhliya as Sita, Ramanand Sagar also became a face in every family. Ramanand ji touched upon the topic of Sita and Ram’s end very carefully and delicately so as not to hurt the public sentiments. While reading through the Valmiki Ramayan, when Ram finds out about Luv and Kush, he offers them to come to their kingdom as princes. When asked about Sita, Ram responds that he had never exiled or left his wife but the queen of Ayodhya. Ram had always upheld his principles. Knowing it all, Sita chose to return back to Mother Earth. Later Ram requested for solitary time in his cha...

It’s been a long time since my last post. One can say that I was running out of ideas or possibly thinking less. Well, looks like all the assumptions are going true at this time. But once again, thanks to an old mate who reminded me of the “Beating Retreat” ceremony performed by the Indian Armed Forces at Raisina Hills, better known as the front of the Rashtrapati Bhawan (President’s house). “Beating Retreat” ceremony was initially instituted by the King James II of England (James VII of Scotland) ordering the patrolling troops to return to their base castle with drum rolls, parading through the streets. This order was later improvised over the years to suit the need of the times. Yet, the central idea of the ceremony remained – return of the patrolling troops to base camp and deployment of new unit in its place. Though an English ceremony, this is now practiced by most of the commonwealth countries today. The ceremonial celebrations may have changed due to the place, people or time. I...

Today - January 15th, Indian Army is celebrating the Army Day. Its a great day and a proud moment for India. For many, who just like me who do not know the importance of this day - you are in luck! A refresher course is here. Today is the day when, in 1949, the outgoing British commander-in-chief General Sir Francis Butcher passed on the strings of the Indian Army to Lt General Kodandera Madappa Kariappa. Today, this day is marked by parades and other military shows in Army headquarters. Similar to the Army Day, the Navy celebrates Navy Day on December 4th and the Air force celebrates Air Force Day on October 8th. A friend of mine jolted me to read and think about this day and urged me to write about the significance. However, knowing the slight bent in my thinking, I acknowledge this day to be of great significance in understanding the most important event of our life - planning for our successor. We have all understood that nature changes itself continuously. And so are we. Many lear...

For the last couple of weeks, I have been tied down to a corner due to my broken foot. I am unable to move and unable to do anything. On top of it all, the painkiller keeps me drowsy and throws me off-balance when concentrating on something important. Yet we are doing well. My family is well taken care of and the kids are happy. All thanks to my wife who stood up as a pillar on whom the household stands. True, everyone has cracked jokes at her for her being busy with her community work. I am sure that they do realize the load she carries on her shoulders of taking care of her two daughters and a grown up kid. Last evening I was watching one of the soap-operas on the television, where the lady of the house takes it on herself to expose the bad guys all around the work place playing with the lives of their co-workers slyly. Despite of her solid plan, she failed in her attempt as the evil guys got to know of her plan somehow. The situation was then turned in such a way that the lady be...

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the US Declaration of Independence, he coined the famous phrase "All men are created equal". For centuries since then the phrase has gained popularity and has exuberated its meaning in different forms. The phrase has been used in decorating the speeches, writings and reflecting the intellectual bent of mind by many. Well, I am not untouched by the vast sense of meaning of the phrase either. I love it! The challenge though comes with what follows the initial phrase – "All men are created equal,…..". It is left for the others to supplement the phrase with additional words forming a statement. And this too has been a very populist subject. I remember in the late 1990's, the editorial of one of the leading newspapers of its time used the phrase to cause quite a stir. It read – "All men are created equal, but some are more equal". This became one of the common themes for essays, group discussions, debates and other literary wo...

Dakhsha Prajapati is a famous character in Hindu Mythology. Most of us remember him as a loving father who adored his daughter and doted her so muc that he did not approve of her marrying a hermit. His only flaw being the love of his daughter that eventually drove him to limits of sanity and eventually claimed the life of his daughter – Uma and thus forced Shiva to perform the tandav. What we overlook is that Brahma created Daksha as his son to be a "Prajapati" – a provider for his creation and help Brahma's creation grow. Of all the Brahma's son, Daksha was chosen to be a ruler who would create a mankind and would establish ways for it to grow. He was known to be the skilled one in every field and hence got the name – Daksha. He is known to have more than a thousand sons. Once Daksha wanted to teach his sons important lesson for future. He invited them all to his palace for a grand feast. He asked his cooks to prepare the best of the food and make sure that the...

The river Ganga – one of the pillars of Indian Vedic culture is also known as "Bhaagirathi". This name came from Raja Bhagirath who is said to be reason why Ganga had to leave her heavenly abode and descend to flow on Earth. It is said that once there was a great king Sagar of the Surya dynasty. He was a Suryavanshi and a forefather of Lord Rama. Once he performed an Ashwamegha yagna in which his army follows the yagna horse. All the area that the horse travels upon then belongs to the king who performs the yagna. If anyone resists, he shall face the king's army. Unfortunately, Sagar lost his horse and then he ordered his 60,000 sons to find the same. They went all over the place uprooting life and burning forests to look for the horse. Finally they reached the ashram of Sage Kapila and found the horse tied in a corner. Enraged, they thought the meditating sage was the thief and disrupted Sage's meditation and tried to burn the ashram down. Horrified at the accusation...

We celebrated Ganesha Chaturthi about a week ago. Right after the great veneration all of us immerse the Ganesha idol into water symbolizing he deportation and mingling with the five elements of the nature. When devotees carry the idol to the nearest water body or the place for immersing the idol, they chant hymns to invite the lord again next year. What we often overlook is the philosophy we emphasize through this ritual –the cycle of nature. Hinduism follows the lunar calendar – based on the cycles of the lunar phases – waxing and waning of the moon. Following the lunar phase where we bid farewell to Lord Ganesha, the phase is used for remembering our ancestors and paying them homage. Well known as Pitra Paksha, this lunar phase lasts 15-16 days. During the Pitra Paksha, it is expected for everyone to pay homage to their ancestors in form of "Pind Daan" and pray for their wellness in the other world. The "Pind" is actually a ball made of cooked rice & barley ...

Today we were celebrating July 4 th – the US Independence day. While waiting for the fireworks show to begin, the kids asked me to tell them a story. Even before I could start, the younger one interrupted me with a question – "Why do we tell stories? And how do you know all the stories?" the question left me thinking for a long time. Today's blog is my attempt to answer the same question with inspirations from many great storytellers. Recently, I had come across another alumni of my college. He has taken up a full time profession of being a story teller. At the same time, a lot of other colleagues have been stressing the importance of storytelling. What is storytelling and why is it so important? Let's first understand what is a story? A story is an expression of an idea along with the situation that helps explain the idea in a better manner. The entire scenario is laid out in such a manner that the central idea is easily understood by listener or the reader. The per...

When Parikshit was bitten by Takshak, his son Janamejaya started a yagna to burn all the snakes in the fire. All the snakes rose in horror and cried foul over this mindless massacre. At this time, Astika – newphew of the serpent king Vasuki, told the story of Indraprastha to Janamejaya. Many years ago, the Pandavas approached the king of Hastinapur, Dhritarashtra for their share of the kingdom. The kauravas very shrewdly gave a forest – Khandavprastha to the Pandavas to build their own city. Under Krishna's suggestion, the Pandavas burned the forest in order to clear ground for Indraprastha. Arjuna build a barge of arrows all around the forest and all pandavas killed any living creature – Yaksha, human, demon, bird or animal that tried to escape the burning forest. The forest incidentally was home to the families of serpents. Living under the earth, they escaped the burns but were forced to flee to save themselves from the heat and the manhunt. On this cleared ground, the Pandavas ...

At a time when there is no dearth of historical or mythological serials on the television, Star Plus went on to produce yet another version of Mahabharata. And they made it big – making it India's most expensive TV series – spent close to 100 crore as per statistics disclosed in September 2013. The producer of the show commented that it took him nearly 20 days to shoot the most iconic scene – "Draupadi's cheerharan" due to the grandeur that needed to be created. Since both, my wife and I grew up watching BR Chopra's – then state-of-the-art, now lackluster – retelling of Mahabharata, often find the current TV series appalling for various reasons. The topmost being the time spent in bringing out the emotions during the 'most iconinc scene rather event'. Definitely this is the turning point in the history which started the avalanche brining the entire India to a halt. This event is also a reminder of shame. While we kept discussing the efficacy of the epic an...

Time and again I have questioned the purpose of the happenings around us or even my own actions. Many a times, I have been able to find a suitable answer and sometimes I have suited myself to the answer that came to me and moved on. My teachers in college and school always complained that I lost my focus quite easily ad went too deep looking for meanings when others kept moving higher. Probably, I never grew as fast as them because of my questioning why. But ask yourself the importance of the question "Why?" The importance of the purpose in everything we do is critical. The purpose is what defines the path taken in the journey. A very famous quote of all times is that life is but a journey and we all need to travel it tirelessly till the last breath. Sure we do. But how? What path do we take, what companions we shall have, what company we shall keep, what shall we see and what we will choose to avoid – all of this depends upon what we want to experience during the journey....

We were celebrating our daughter's birthday over the weekend. She chose to enjoy the day with her friends in the water park. While playing in the water park, I accidently pulled the lever on one of the taps and a jet of cold water soaked me and my mind almost immediately. My very lovely daughters offered a facial for me to help revitalize my facial tissues later that day. The water and the facial left me thinking of something that had always amused me and troubled me at the same time. Years ago, when I was a little kid, I visited Sri Shravanabelagola – a small city in Karnataka, close to both Mysore and Bangalore. The city is a famous pilgrimage center in Jainism for the statue of Gomateswara Bahubali. Every twelve years, the giant statue is bathed in water, milk, sugarcane juice, saffron paste and is sprinkled with powders of vermillion, sandalwood and turmeric. Later, I visited Jatipura – one of the many villages around Mathura – a place associated with the advent of SriNath Ji a...

The Upanishads are a collection of Vedic texts, also known as Vedanta and are considered to contain the revealed truths about the ultimate reality – brahman and the character and the form of human salvation – moksha. While more than 200 Upanishads are known, the first dozen are considered to be the oldest and the most important, thus referred to as principal or mukhya Upanishads. Ever guessed when and how were they formed? So the story dates back to Sri Rama's father Dasharatha. Dasharatha had a daughter – Shanta – elder to Sri Rama. When the kingdom of Anga faced severe draught the king Rompada approached Dashratha and offered to adopt Shanta and marry her off to Sage Rishyashringa. This was to break Rishyashringa's celibacy and his father Vibhandaka's urge to control nature. Vibhandaka had realized the cycle of life and how the new life was created through the seed. He realized that no living beings had control over shedding their seed except humans. He understood that th...

During the twelve years of exile, the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi roamed around different forests and came in contact with many sages. The sages helped them by telling stories of their ancestors and of importance that had far reaching impact on their thoughts. In a way, the sages were helping the Pandavas grow as leaders. In their early years, with all the education and fun, the Pandavas had grown to be good warriors, administrators and providers. The exile years are considered as the bridge between the princes to the common man that gave birth to great rulers. However, the sages were not the only ones to have taught the Pandavas. In the period of exile, Arjuna once met a forest dweller Kirata, who challenged Arjuna to show his skill and claim the prize. Despite using all his skills, Arjuna could not come close to Kirata. Finally, Arjuna realized that he was no ordinary human being and prays the Kirata to reveal his true being. Upon surrendering himself, Arjuna then realizes the K...

Mahabharata has many stories and many heroes. Some of the stories have been narrated to us from ages and are imbibed into our beliefs. However, there are a few stories that have lost the attention even though they have carried enormous amount of knowledge and meaning for all of us. One such story is of the greatest warrior Karna. Karna’s archery skills were as illustrious as his teacher Parashurama and other students of his teacher – Bhishma and Dronacharya. Having learnt the art of war from Parashurama himself, he was second to none. His skills were noted even by Bhishma and Sri Krishna. He was acknowledged as undefeatable and surpassed Arjuna on many counts except one – Sri Krishna’s closeness. Along with being a great warrior he was a great man of principles too. Devotion and principles were just as great assets to himself as his weapons. It was his devotion to his friendship that made him stand in the court of Hastinapur when Draupadi was disrobed. An act, that Karna regretted th...

I was listening to the radio this morning and was stuck with a nice quote – “I hate you since I do not know you.” Quite true, isn’t it? In the last few weeks, I read Rajiv Malhotra’s “Being Different” and listened to my all-time favorite Dr Devdutt Pattnaik. While their story telling is a little different, the central idea remains the same – “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” and the measure of ugliness or beautifulness actually represents the mental state of the observer not the subject itself. Love, Hope, Fear, Hate are all the different attributes of human emotions that come into play when different people come in contact. Different mixes of these emotions help one formulate their stand during the interaction. This is the same concept as commonly referred to as “Stereotyping” or “Forming Opinions”. The interesting point however is which emotion is stronger? Like it or not the first default reaction of a human towards anything is of Fear. The fear of the unknown ...

Once Dronacharya sent Yudhisthira and Duryodhana to go in the city of Hastinapura and bring to him the most corrupt of all citizens. Yudhisthira returned empty handed, while Duryodhana returned with so many prisoners that it needed him almost an army to control. Dronacharya was the teacher of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. He had a difficult job! He had two competing factions of students – Pandavas, who were trying to gain their excellence and kingdom that they lost upon the demise of Pandu; and Kauravas, who were hell bent on roving themselves worthy of the throne that their father Dhritrashtra sat upon since Pandu’s demise. Dronacharya’s task was to impart the education impartially and then choose the better successor for the throne of Hastinapur. So who should he choose – Yudhishthra, who found to corruptipn or Duryodhana, who basically ransacked the entire kingdom for the corrupt people? The question is much deeper than the visible statements. Yudhishthira fo...