Finding Nemo

We recently completed the fundraiser for Nepal earthquake victims. Thank you all for all your support to us for this great event. It was a well attended program and very well organized. My wife has done a great job for a noble cause and has collected amazing amount of funds to be given to the Red Cross. I am so proud of having a partner who is passionate and keeps me on my toes in the quest for good deeds. While we were working our way with the fund raiser, we met with a person who is to go to Nepal and help rebuild homes. We hope that our small contribution makes an impact in someone’s life. At the time when left out grey cells in the right hemisphere of the thing called brain were working on the event, the whitish grey cells in the left hemisphere were busy thinking of another story. Let me retell it for you. When the armies of Kauravas and Pandavas met each other face to face, ready to fight, there was a moment of stillness. A surprising quietness filled the atmospher...

I have had been unsure of what I wanted to write. Don't get me wrong - this has been a common thing with me - being unsure or being confused. If I think deeply, I believe this is the same situation for almost all of us. We are highly unsure at the moment of taking a decision or committing towards something. Committing is like entering a contract - you shall not back out of a contract! Isn't that management? Guess what? breaking a contract was the topmost crime that must be dealt with iron fist as taught to Yudhishthira by Bheeshma Pitamah on his death bed. Recently, there was a earthquake in Nepal claiming many lives and livelihood of many others. Followed by the earthquake, the nature showed little pity through a snowfall and series of quakes that have left the people shaky. Being in the Himalayas, the worst affected places have been cut off from the rest of the world as the roads and the bridges have been affected too. This has jeopardized the rescue and relief efforts ...

My previous posts – " Generosity or Charity?" and " Generosity – contd. " have been focused on the power and effects of giving. The act of giving and sharing s so beautiful in countless ways. However, we have to be careful on what we want to give away and got to be cautious of what is being asked of us. This is the theme of my today's post. We know we need to possess the material before we can pledge it to someone else or in easier words – give it away. What we do not have, cannot be given. At the same time, it doesn't takes much to share the love or spiritual comfort from within yourself. As the luck would have it, meeting the requirements most of the time, renders a thought of being omnipotent. And this is where we tend to make mistakes and overlook the power of the ask. Let ponder on some of the very well-known stories – Vaman and Bali – When the Asura king Bali became powerful and expelled the gods from their heavenly abode – Swarga, Vishnu took the ava...

Expanding on the thought I seeded in the previous blog, generosity is also the display of the mental state of the human being. This is seen through a comparison of two interesting stories from the Mahabharata. Both the stories start on similar grounds with two friends spending their childhood together playing, learning and growing up. One of the two friends grows up to be a king and the other a poor Brahmin. Bowing to their family and financial pressure, the poor Brahmin friend goes to the king friend asking for help. Now the stories take different turns. In the first story, the Brahmin is unable to ask for any help. Yet the king understands the need and provides everything without being asked. In the second story, the poor Brahmin approaches his friend and demands for provisions as they discussed in the childhood. The king, in return, derides the Brahmin and throws him out of the court. The first story is of Krishna – Sudama, while the other is of Drupada – Drona. It's the den...

Generosity is often described as charity. Are they same? I believe not! While charity is an act of giving away something from your possession to the needy, generosity is the spirit that helps you think about charity. Charity is materialistic and is related to tangible resources only. While generosity on the other hand involved intangible resources like love. A generous heart soothes the needy more than the charity. Charity is transactional in nature – you give what is asked for – nothing more, nothing less. While generosity goes beyond the boundaries of transactions and gives away without being asked or looking for anything in return. Throughout or vast history, there are stories of generous kings and their subjects that have stood out as examples of greatness. Be it Karna, Bali, Virochana, Bhoj etc. However, in each of the story we always focus on the act of charity than the spirit of generosity. All these great men gave what they had and much more, when asked. At the same time, there...