Finding Nemo

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

On the occasion of Janmashtami – day of Krishna's birth, we visited the temple. A large number of devotees had gathered together to offer their gratitude to the God for everything he gave us. I could see men and women of all kinds. The thought provoked me to write this post. In my previous post, I started thinking about efficiency in a diversified environment. Many communities have adopted ways to boost their efficiencies and put their differences aside. Considering the thought of improving efficiency in a diversified environment, requires choosing the most applicable path. Talk to any statistician or a process expert and they would tell you innumerable ways to calculate the best fit line amongst the so many observation points (read individuals). Economists and even human resource organizations are the biggest proponents of finding the bell curves for the best fitting policies. Each of these measures improve efficiency in operations, actions and policies for future. Unfortuna

Being brought up in a middle class family, I have always been taught lessons in ethics and moral conduct. I grew up listening to stories of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Rani Lakshmi Bai and other great heros epitome of morality. Having received high values, I married into another high valued family. My wife complements my quest and struggle to infuse our values into our kids. Last night the whole family was watching Mahabharata and we saw how Duryodhana finally dies when Ashwathama kills the sons of Pandavas and shows him the blood stained weapons. Draupadi sees the horrific incident of her sons being killed at the hands of Ashwathama and realized the curse of Gandhari coming true. Tonight, we shall be looking at how Aswathama invokes the Brahmastra to kill Abhimanyu's unborn kids. Looking at the entire set of events we were discussing why so much of massacre? Why Krishna allowed so much of bloodshed? Why was he partial towards Pandavas – was it just his relation with Kunti

Thinking more about the diversity and the inclusion, I started to visualize the concept everywhere. I was asked to take up a diversity and inclusion training at my workplace the other day. To make the matters worse, they had actually tied it to my job compliance. What they told me in the training was that we work in a multinational organization and we need to be aware of different cultures and their considerations. The training was mandated by the human resource group and requested us not to form judgments by just one or two incidents. It asked us to be cognizant of the difference in cultures and develop patience. In a subtle tone, it asked us to be able to develop the sensitivity towards others - their needs, their fears and their backgrounds. Having said that, I wondered what is the organizational culture then? Why the same HR dept. does strives to instill a common set of values? Why are we all the time chased through the hallways for not following te corporate templates? Why

My wife has already started on her project for the 68 th Indian Independence Day program in our town as well as the county. She is doing an amazing job convening the program with so many different volunteers and great helpers. Out of curiosity, I asked her the theme and her answer was "Of course, it's Diversity!" I started thinking the real meaning of the word diversity and its implications. Trust me it has been a very interesting journey through the thoughts. Diversity means the state of being diverse or having variety to be precise. Variety can be in multiple forms – dresses, food, mannerisms, opinions and thoughts. In the various interactions with people, systems and processes we all come across so many diversified characters on a daily basis. Yet we harp on the need to understand the diversity and understand it. This is what drive my curios and inquisitive mind to ponder. I believe diversity is a fact of life and nature. The Mother Nature supports so many living

जाग उठा हूँ मैं, उस बेदर्द नींद से, जो हमेशा साथ में, कितने सारे सपने ले आती है। उन्हीं टूटे सपनों की टीस, अब भी महसूस होती है। उन्हीं अनकहे सपनों में न जाने, किस किस से बात होती है। इन्हीं सपनों में, सारी ज़िन्दगी उतर आती है। कभी शिखर पे ले जाती है, कभी खाई में पटक जाती है। हर सपना मुझे घाव नया दे जाता है। जमीन के नीचे और नीचे, दफ़न कर जाता है। सपने सच नहीं होते, यह मैंने सीखा है। पर सपने ना देखूं, यह भी कहाँ हो पता है? सपने मन का आईना हैं, तभी तो मैं सपने देखता हूँ। और हर बार चोट खा कर, अपने घाव पर आंसुओं का मलहम रखता हूँ। जाग तो चुका हूँ मैं, उस बेदर्द नींद से, पर फिर से अपने आगोश में लेने को, चले आ रहे हैं, यह काँच के सपने।