Moments so Far ...

I have been running for a long time. I ran under wooden planks, with simmer of lights bursting on my head. I lied down besides railway tracks on green grass with speeding trains going past. I have been a turtle protecting my thick skin from onslaught of an hunter. I have been a bird with white bottom and huge dark wings running away from fire and settling on a huge rock gulping a spider. I have been a king marching on gold carpet laden steps and body with huge spear in one hand watching the moon sink into the dark sky. Slowly walking through the walls of huge palace and into it. A huge dark man sitting on a huge rock, bold and majestic, beside a lake. Thick jungle all around. Serpents flying. A king riding a huge chariot killing huge animals around. A hen beside a dark and huge farm of black soil. A child playing happily with his friends below a big banyan tree, until being marauded by a huge bully boy. An old sadhu with big white beard floating over blade sharp gr...

When you learn to cycle. You fall. You getup. You fall and you get up again. Some people fall 5 times and some 50 and some 5000 times. Ultimately you learn to ride bicycle. Once you learn, you will not have to learn again. Then you can only improvise. You can leave the handle or try more stunts. You need balance. You need to earn as well as learn. You have to use head for business and heart for friends/family. You cannot mix both. You need life. You need work. You need to learn from your enemies what not to do and from your friends and well wishers about what to do. You will love some and you will not not be loved by some. Know that more people love than who hate you. God has given variety in world to let you appreciate love through lens of hatred. Observe hatred but do not fall into cycle of reciprocating hatred. Balance it with compassion and thank the hated for showing you hatred. You are made up of spirit. Spirit consists of love, of compassion, of gratitude, of feeling connec...

Make your anger very expensive, very precious. Nobody should be allow to buy it at any cost. Make your smile cheap. Just let it flow without being asked for. It is the only expression which is closest to your core nature. अपना गुस्सा बहुत मेहेंगा कर दो. दुनिया मैं कोई उसे नहीं खरीद पाए. वहीँ अपनी मुस्कान इतनी सस्ती कर दो की वोह यूँही प्रकट होती रहे.  ज़िन्दगी मैं तृप्त रहो. यही सबसे बड़ा गुण है.  हम भिखारी की तरेह सबसे कुछ न कुछ मांगते रहते हैं. जब कोई भिखारी हमारे सामने आता है तो हम क्या करते हैं. हम चुप चाप रास्ता बदल रहते हैं या फिर गाड़ी की खिड़की ऊपर कर लेते हैं, उसकी तरफ देखतें भी नहीं हैं. प्रकृति का भी व्योहार कुछ इस तरेह से ही होता है.  कहते हैं जो ध्यानस्त होते हैं, वेद और ज्ञान उनकी तरफ ही अग्रसर होते हैं. जैसे पंडित मंदिर मैं दिन भर वेदों का उच्चारण करते हैं लेकिन फिर भी दुखी  दिखतें हैं, उनके चेहरे पर न तेज होता है न कोई चमक.   ज्ञान मांगने से या फिर दोहराने से नहीं मिलता है.  Knowledge comes to those who are in meditation. The c...

I was sick and resting on this Eid, a day before Ganesh Chaturthi, with blanket over my head. A call came on land line for me and my daughter gave the call to me. He : I am from Aditya Birla Group. [ I guessed he must one of those agents selling health insurance/ financial planning/ mutual funds or my latest relationship managers ] I :  Quickly tell me. He: I am from Income Tax department. [ By now I got confused and his temper went up in well rehearsed manner. I hope Aditya Birla is not training their troops to indulge in scaring unresponsive prospects.] He: I am SK Nanda, a senior income tax officer. Is this the way you talk to me? I am coming to your home. Is this your address? Is this your name? Tell me your house nearest landmark. [ I was really confused with the income tax stuff as Income tax department has recently sent notice for no reason, Our CA explained that with computerization the frequency of notice sending has increased and response ...

We have been talking about the Indian youth and Indian middle class for so long. With the advent of diverse career opportunities we have really transformed our lifestyles from being localized to government quarters to freely spending money. We have been lazy to vote. Thus, there was no love or affair with the political class. We were happy to pass the days until Anna Hazare pricked our nerves. He took an issue which has touched all of us. Its like the air around. We don't complain about air whether its stale or fresh or polluted or sticky. We have to breathe. Same way we paid bribe from traffic cop to post man to policeman to government bureaucrats to either get our work done or to escape punishment. An issue that did not pinch us much. We talked about it in isolation, over the tea/coffee and went back to life. Anna Hazare sat on a platform called as India against corruption. He was visible. He was on empty stomach. He was clean. He made us wonder. Why is he wasting...

I was experimental in my youth. We had the attitude of tasting everything indiscreetly and then learn from them. We believed that you must see, hear, touch and feel everything. The emphasis was on sensory pleasures. Nature was outside. Treks and hiking were the norms. Mountain peaks were location of peace. I went around believing that nature was the best teacher. Keep your eyes and ears open and move your fingers around and mother nature will take care of your learnings. We never realized why we felt so exhausted at the end of each trip of senses. We just wanted to get rid and drop dead to rest. Anything that led you to deep sleep was considered as cool. But again, the next few days would be tiresome and hangover would continue to haunt us. We would really not understand why our experiments with senses and objects were failing miserably. The hills were always lush green after monsoon. We cherished them and captured the moments on camera. We created printed photo alb...

It was raining hard. I came back into the car. Something fell on top of car from above, not heaven. I wondered lightning and dared not to open the door. Is it safe to be inside or outside of car if lightning strikes on the tree under which your car is parked? After few secs opened the door and checked, found the tree shedding some dry weight. I was still twisting the key. For the first time in 5 years the twisting key did not start the engine of Maruti Swift. I had no clue in the world. I twisted some more. The wipers moved in slow motion. Stopped them. I ran to the security at the parking entrance seeking help. Do you have any cab driver around? Do you know somebody who can fix a car? Do you have umbrella? All negative. "Today is Saturday, Sir, Nobody is around, rest of the days there are hundreds of cab around". Somebody from behind quipped in "There's a Hyundai showroom on the main road, why don't you go and check with them for mechanic?" It wa...

We look up to him. We seek his words. We seek inspiration and get from him. We did not witness Mahatma Gandhi. We are witnessing Gandhi incarnate. His humility, honesty and courage stands out. He decides to move and the nation follows him. He decides to fast and nation is with him. He brought in Right to information act. He is bringing corruption to death. He is not a sports star, not a business house, not a film actor. He has single focus. He will live and die for India and its people. A social activist. No accumulation. No money. No cars. No airplanes. A simple life. A simple house. A simple village. A former soldier who is shaping India of tomorrow. Issues he takes are the issues that hurt us all. Healing he brings will soothe us all. The beauty of his protest is that you don't have to do anything. Just be there. Just pray. Just sing. Just dance. He will carry the pain of thinking, planning, execution. In a society in which we seek nook and corner for rol...

A nation which had given up. A nation which had no hope in the system. A nation which believed in nothing. कुछ नहीं हो सकता , क्यों वक़्त बर्बाद करते हो, सौ रुपये दो और आगे बड़ो,  ज़िन्दगी मैं और भी गम है,  यह सौ रुपये बचा के क्या करना,  फालतू की कीच कीचक क्यूं करना.  Senior citizen narrated their times of less corruption. Youth wondered was there ever a time of less corruption.  The common man sweats and burns his blood everyday of his life.  He wants a little money to buy some bread. He wants a little money to buy some education for his kids.  We created a generation of whales who learnt only to gulp big money.  Huge monsters. You dare not raised your voice against them.  They were your representative. They were your killer too.  Murderers. More than the money they made you hopeless.  More than the society they forced you indoors.  You just bothered about your life.  You just cared to meet both ends meet.  What ...

A unique exposure. A unique game. A noisy venue. The day started with car washer taking away the car keys but not returning them in time. I had to scout for him in Brigade Gardenia campus. One of his supporting staff had the key. When I got into the car, suddenly he appeared from nowhere. Wish househelp on android market could send reminders to forgetful casual contractors (aha! a new term). The road was silken. The traffic was non-existent. The day was Sunday 3rd April 2011, fresh from India World cup Cricket Victory. No one in embassy golf links knew where Microsoft Signature Building was.  Parked the car in basement. Loitered here and there. Finally stumbled upon the building. I was late. The organizers were late in starting the first session. So got a chance to hear Sharad Sharma, a pleasant speaker who insisted that we were in cusp of another IT revolution in India. Here is our chance to grab it and live it. Did you know that Indian Angel Network is a group of ind...

India has got a single voice in form of Anna Hazare . Corruption has eaten into development and shaken the morals of Indian society. We know it for a long time. Political parties have known it for a long time. There have been mild protests now and then. Numbers have been thrown in tonnes of losses we incurred due to corruption. There have been instances of whistleblowers losing their life. No one had. No one could. No one dared. We took it as part of our existence. An unnatural truth. Now. One man stood up. One man held his head high. One voice shook the nation. A single voice has taken the imagination of youth. A voice of a 73 year old gentleman who lives in village temple somewhere near pune. He decided enough was enough. The simmering have led to flames. Now the jungle is witnessing wildfire. Corrupt will burn. Corrupt will be sentenced to jail. A hope is born for a society. A movement is shaping up. A revolution to clean. Beware. The new Gandhi  is marching...

The more memory you have the less you will be happy. The more you relive the past the less you will live today. The more you correct the world the less you will see corrections. There are three aspects. Nature, Maya and Money. Nature is composed of five elements. Maya is composed of five विकार vices like anger, lust, greed, etc., Money is the object.  Maya causes corruption in your nature, both within and outside. You blame money.  Can money be the cause of happiness or unhappiness?  Money is the instrument. If you play well you will produce soothing rhythms. If you are anxious you will break strings. Can money influence your feeling? Can money help you with your mental strength? Can money create courage, faith, love?  How you feel is how you think?  Your thoughts are pure, your feelings are pure.  Your thoughts are reckless, you feel chaos.  In reality you are not performing any action. You are dull, lethargic.  Your mind is racing. Your...

I saw a parent hitting a the back palm of a girl child aged about 5 in front of sweet shop, beside SLV in RBI Layout. Her offense. She was holding a pole that must have gathered dust during the day. She was merely playing with it. Of-course her palms would get dirty. She may acquire infection. But does that justify the swift hard movement of an adult arm to distract and hurt her. She managed to go into her mother's arm. Mother then changed attention of father to the sweets that they had to buy. The girl looked at the Frootie in the cold storage. Her mother followed her gaze and offered to buy her. The father would have regained his senses as he relented. Then we moved on to Everfine, a supermarket. Second floor has gift section. A girl aged about 6 was urging her parents for a fancy item. Her mother "Beta, you have so many of them at home, you have not yet opened them, play with them first and then we will think about this". Her father "Behave yourself, I don...

How many times do you judge yourself? How many times do you judge people around you? How many times do you form opinions on situations that affect you? How many times do you form opinions on situations that do not affect you? You are not this. You are not that. She is like this. She is like that. I wish she could behave better. I wish my situation improves. Why is she shouting at me? Why is she doing this when I stopped her from doing so? How many times do I have to remind you not to do that again? I want you to improve. That is why I shout at you. I cannot tolerate you doing mistakes. How dare the auto whisked past me? How dare the auto driver is asking me for extra 10 rupees? How dare the auto driver refusing to go where I want to go? Doesn't the bus conductor have minimum courtesy? See, the cop stopped me to take a bribe. See, the clerk across the counter is smiling and talking about everything else except my file. Smells like bribe. STOP Just be in th...

Do situations throw you left and right? Do you treat every situation as tsunami? You become and let it overwhelm you. Did you know that contentment leads to stability? Stability builds a protection layer around you. This stability allows you to witness situations as puppet shows. This stability allows you to impart positive assurance in your surroundings. It gives hope and support to your spouse, children, neighbors, colleagues and bosses. Stability is your energy state. If there is noise in your surroundings. If there is dissatisfaction, discontentment you will be engulfed in a tsunami of negative emotions. If your level of energy is lower than your surroundings then you will be swept away, blown apart and become hundred broken glass pieces. Your remaining life will be left for gathering the glass pieces. But if you are protected then you will nullify the chaos. You will bring stability around you. Your contentment will survive. How do I get stabi...

Anger is needed to get work done. You shout on the cook and he makes better food tomorrow. You show aggression to the pizza delivery boy and he waives off the cost of pizza. You honk madly at the car in front of you and he moves aside. You shout at your kid and he starts to study. You express dissatisfaction at your staff and their future delivery improves. You have seen it since childhood. You have responded to it. When people are angry around you only then you do work. You have achieved the honor of glorying anger as a tool to get work done. Now, Can you change your belief system to "Love is needed to get work done." You will be smashed with withdrawal symptoms. You will feel an irresistible desire to scream. This is not how it is done. People around you will not care about your soft manners. They can ignore you. They will not accept you as their boss, spouse,father,child. You will lose your relationship. Do you feel the grip of fear yet? If I change my belief ...

First it cut through in front, coming from the side. Then I was stuck behind a stationary broken truck and was slowly turning to right of the road. It continued to honk. I heard a thud noise. The road was full of noise so I ignored the noise. Spouse wondered "Did something hit the car?". I said No. Then it allowed me to go to the right side. I crossed to left side after crossing the broken truck. It raced beside me to send me a message. The driver of the Meru cab was gesturing and waving. Even I got animated and told him "You did not see the broken truck or what?". He pulled down the windows and threw few abuses and went past. Again in super speed. I did not realize then that he had the guts to be aggressive post a deliberate hit. I am sure he would have graduated from auto and recruited by Meru. The cab has distinct identity from outside. I thought they recruited professional drivers but post this ugly incident I really doubt. In the business of making quick ...

Photo is print media continues to inspire me to give a third in this series of posts. Hopefully trilogy end here. So lets get rolling. Mahesh kale , a college alumni left a message on linkedin.com . Harshal Gaikwad and Milind Deshpande have liked the blog post on Facebook. Priyank and Bhuvnendu have also liked the status on Facebook. Geeta ji who sits diagonally behind me. You don't notice when she comes, when she goes or when she is having her lunch. Her presence is quite. We share office space. The space is provided by elagaan.com . Navin at elagaan put out a notice in bangalore coffee club  and we took the opportunity. If you are nearby Arekera Mico Layout, Bangalore then do check out this place. There are few more seats left. But yesterday, she came over and whispered to me. "I saw your photo in paper. I told all my people. " "I reminded them that its the same person whose application I had described some days back. " Few days back I had give...

The adoration continued for the second day. Who said appearance in newspaper is only for day? Aynur, Google Sales Manager, " Good and interesting presentation.  I will definitely promote this in SG". Shafeek,  Your idea is excellent and your efforts to make it multilingual and international is great". Check out his mobile apps on Symbian OS . Ravi kiran, former collegue and alumni friend (VNIT) called up in the evening and congratulated @ourhousehelp.  Avi, a Brigade School going kid, came over from nowhere when I was in children park with my youngest one.  "Uncle, Your photo had come in paper yesterday." "Yes" "Nice application" "Do you want to see it?" I showed him. He played for a few secs and his interest waned.  "You are mushkans father no?" "Yes"  "I will tell my mother about it." He patted me on my back. And he ran away to his parked cycle. Prime Jyothi , an ardent ph...

"I hid at different places, but everyone found me. They all were telling 'Your father photo came in newspaper today'. The words of 7 year old kid whose fathers photo came in newspaper courtesy @ ourhousehelp . She went to the furthest park and played there. Kids do not like too much attention, I guess. She was getting ready in the morning when the first call came from Bhavna. Sunil, her husband has seen the photo and wanted her to call us even though they knew we would be busy with packing kids to school. But sometimes happiness overflows and it showed. Its good to let it flow. Its infectious. The poor paper was lying outside till then. With the call the paper was brought in and we opened the page number 2 of Bangalore Mirror. The photo was indeed there. Never before did I hold Bangalore Mirror with so much regard. Janki called up and shared her happiness. Srinis father informed them in morning and she came to know from Srini. Reetesh, the meta guy from Vrce , work...

It was fun at IIMB who were host to mobilecampindia which was co-sponsered by Flypp and Intel App-up. Thank you keshav, hari and rest of the 9 volunteers of momo's eleven. The above all helped me to present @ourhousehelp otherwise known as househelp at android market. It was pure fun. I could notice few grim IIM professors smiling during the presentation. The positives were lifting as I described the journey so far. In brief heres a  gist for you.  The idea belonged to my spouse who released the budget for me to buy Android powered Samsung Galaxy 5. I am also grateful to the thugs who took away my old Nokia and my love for Nokia in a tight BMTC ride. The development began in November end and househelp was released on Android market by end of december 2010. Now it has support for 51 languages and used by people across the globe.  The power of presentation was so strong that audience had already downloaded app and were asking of features which I had not covered dur...

I am this body. I need a stimulant to create sensation. The sensations through my sensory system create feelings. These feelings make me feel good or bad. This view is outside in. Stimulants are like drugs. Initially small grams of drug powder make you feel high. Then with time your body gets used to that quantity of dose. You are forced to increase the amount of intake. The cycle is kicked in. Stimulants generated feelings take you away from reality. They deceive you into a state which is unreal. A world where you are not creative, where you only react to external world. Your mind is not working but your body is reacting. This body reaction becomes your reality. Take example of movie. You are connected to the anger in movie. You are connected with the emotions of the actor. What you feel is his/her enaction? They are not your feeling. They are sad, you are sad. They are happy, you are happy. Take TV serial. You are addicted to watching them. If you dont get to see them, yo...

The School Van leaves at 8:10. There is anarchy at 8. Passions run high. Chaos is supreme. Everyone is panicked except the girl who has to catch the Van. She is sliding from one act to another like feathers on silk. It is common to hear. Don't you have sense of time? Why are you day dreaming? Dont you know what 8'o clock means? जल्दी करो वर्ना वन छूट जाएगी, जल्दी ब्रुश करो, जल्दी पोट्टी करो, जल्दी दूद पियो, जल्दी कपडे पहनो, जल्दी is utterly misused and loses its significance of its meaning. You give up, Okay don't take bath today, don't do combing today, skip breakfast today. Just go and catch your Van. One day she left at 8:15. We were in balcony and no one was in sight. We were discussing that it would be a good lesson for her as she will miss her van today? But the mother could not hold her concern and requested, Why dont you drop her? I was firm, NO she has to learn her lesson. Then the Van came out of nowhere. And we missed an opportunity to let th...

The BDA complex at Jayanagar 4th block, Bangalore is where most government related offices are. It also has RTO offices on 3rd and 4th floor. Another discovery for the day was parking on terrace of BMTC building right opposite BDA complex. The charges are Rs 20 for around 4 hours. You have to travel 4 levels to reach the level. It was afternoon so was easier to go up and down but I am sure during peak hours it will be quite challenging to get the car up and down. I was greeted by a stranger on Ground level. "Do you have work in RTO?" I said Yes. What is it? Show me your RC book? Come to our office at basement. I said I heard the office is on level 3. NO, come down and we will get everything done. I managed to ask him for the charges for hypothecation cancel and he quoted Rs 650 and delivery by evening. When I started moving the rates dropped to 600. I was greeted by similar people on almost all levels till I reached level 3. Another agent inside the RTO office dis...