It was one of those rare days when I got a sensible forwarded email… About how the Japanese folks took the disaster in their fold and came out like Champs. Here are some points.
I highly recommend folks to watch movies like “The Last Samurai” starring Tom Cruise to understand the Japanese way of life.
My comments are in Italics.
1. THE CALM Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.
I have always respected the Japanese for their work ethic, composure and the general “zen” way in which they handle life. Stoicism - if I put it in English. To me, the Japanese folks have learnt more from the Gita than what the Indians did. When I saw the folks on TV, running amidst the shattered ruins of their own houses, the thought from Krishna’s advise to Arjuna “be like the lotus in water – in the water, but not touched by it” rang true.
2. THE DIGNITY Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.
When you learn to respect yourself, you respect others too. Its natural. Just compare it with what happens in other parts of the world, notably the civilized world and the New Orleans incident 3 years ago…. Just compare and you will know what these folks are made of.
3. THE ABILITY The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.
This is an area where they have been masters. And will be in the future too. Its what is called hoping for the best, but being prepared for the worst.
4. THE GRACE People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.
I believe it is again the zen like quality. And concern for the other person. It is too degrading to call these as “etiquettes” in my opinion. It is not a mannerism, but a genuine love, concern for the other person and the deeply understood need to stand together in times of disaster.
5. THE ORDER No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.
Have you thought about this: such simple civilized behavior surprises us? It shows me how far I am from civilization. But we get used to the fact, for everyone around us is also similar. The fact that in a country like ours where we take the moral high ground all the time, these simple things awe us is a clear indication of our moral depravity. Time and again I have seen this incorrigible superiority complex, that we are better than the rest. One of our national songs itself is “sare jahan se acha”. I am sure I can waste my life searching for proof of the same.
6. THE SACRIFICE Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?
Boss, we will only talk about Vedas and advaita and karma. No action. Just words, wallowing in intellectual garbage. When a testing time like this comes, you can imagine. We will sit at home and chant hanuman chalisa at 4 AM, but we will not move our bottoms. That’s been our heritage, at least in the recent past. These 50 people will remind us what it is to be human, what humanity and all the assorted scriptures mean.
7. THE TENDERNESS Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.
In our country, everything would have cost 100 times. Absolutely no doubt. But we will slit others throats by chanting “hare rama” “hare Krishna” etc etc. We bring god even into business, while looting hapless people.
8. THE TRAINING The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.
In our country no one would have had a clue. Its kind of ok, since we are not used to or trained to handle such things. But definitely not something to be proud of.
9. THE MEDIA They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.
Ha!! All the mass media channels would have had a field day. Repeating the same scenes of suffering day in and day out, and folks like Burkha Dutt coming and puking all over us, on air.
10. THE CONSCIENCE When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly
We would have even stolen the scriptures from the stores! And felt proud of it. And went home and prayed.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Skepticism
The dictionary defines skeptic as a person who habitually doubts, questions or disagrees with assertions or generally accepted conclusions.
Since "skepticism" or "skeptic" is a tough words to type, I will represent it by S.
I find that modern education makes everyone a S by default. Because of our insistence on proof for every iota of thing that we want to believe or do. It is good to be S about something new - but for a while. The skepticism should be a quality that lets you explore more of what you are "skeptical about". However, what I find is most people get stuck there. And this quality, which should actually bring about change and value in your life, becomes the very thing that prevents you from growing.
If one is skeptical about everything in life at 20 it is alright. At 30 too, it is ok. At 40 and 50 if you are still there, to me it just means you have wasted 10, 20 years of your life doing nothing. Because standing where you are, there is a limit on what you can see... one has to keep moving to see more, like seeing things from a train on the move. If you insist on remaining in the railway station only, the chances are you will just get used to that dirty place and its cacophony. Worse, you will misunderstand this for life and get used to it and later on in old age, even be proud of it!
When I am S about something, say work or new idea or a new person, I am saying that I dont believe if this person/ idea/ work is really any good. However, in most cases, my predisposition is to believe anything negative about it, but not the positive. To believe the negative I need no proof. But if it is something positive, I demand all the proof - and some more. I believe this is a very very stupid attitude. A skeptical person should be hesitant about making a positive or negative conclusion about anything. He cannot afford to be selective.
Our negativity comes from an instinctive watching out for the negatives, as it is a survival mechanism. But the modern day media takes it too far. You have newscasters belching out negative, horribly depressing news on you all the time, 24x7. And we guys go and gulp up their puke as if it is nothing less than "amrit" or the heavenly nectar. If someone watches TV four hours a day, my hope on that person is very less - this person will only believe negative stuff about anything. Dont take my word, just check - what is the kind of enlightening things you see on tv on a day to day basis.
And since you have "looked" at the idea/ person/ work, you will have an air of an expert - without knowing anything. The highly skeptical person talks like an expert - you will have to see through him to know his words are empty. He will be a real "armchair expert"; sitting in his chair, not moving an inch, and delivering judgements on the world. Again, these judgements usually are how bad this or that is. It is seldom that a so called skeptical person "approves" anything.
The fun thing is the above description fits most of us, in some area of life or the other, to say the least. Skeptic is not that rare person whom you meet once in a lifetime. It is the person who is reflected in the mirror when you stand in front of it.
My way to handle it is the "moving corridor" policy. I keep moving ahead on the area I am S about. I explore more, and as I move forward, new avenues open to me. I realise, OMG, this is so different from what I used to think. Or this person is far better than what he looks initially. But to reach this place, I need to move, explore and be willing to learn.
Since "skepticism" or "skeptic" is a tough words to type, I will represent it by S.
I find that modern education makes everyone a S by default. Because of our insistence on proof for every iota of thing that we want to believe or do. It is good to be S about something new - but for a while. The skepticism should be a quality that lets you explore more of what you are "skeptical about". However, what I find is most people get stuck there. And this quality, which should actually bring about change and value in your life, becomes the very thing that prevents you from growing.
If one is skeptical about everything in life at 20 it is alright. At 30 too, it is ok. At 40 and 50 if you are still there, to me it just means you have wasted 10, 20 years of your life doing nothing. Because standing where you are, there is a limit on what you can see... one has to keep moving to see more, like seeing things from a train on the move. If you insist on remaining in the railway station only, the chances are you will just get used to that dirty place and its cacophony. Worse, you will misunderstand this for life and get used to it and later on in old age, even be proud of it!
When I am S about something, say work or new idea or a new person, I am saying that I dont believe if this person/ idea/ work is really any good. However, in most cases, my predisposition is to believe anything negative about it, but not the positive. To believe the negative I need no proof. But if it is something positive, I demand all the proof - and some more. I believe this is a very very stupid attitude. A skeptical person should be hesitant about making a positive or negative conclusion about anything. He cannot afford to be selective.
Our negativity comes from an instinctive watching out for the negatives, as it is a survival mechanism. But the modern day media takes it too far. You have newscasters belching out negative, horribly depressing news on you all the time, 24x7. And we guys go and gulp up their puke as if it is nothing less than "amrit" or the heavenly nectar. If someone watches TV four hours a day, my hope on that person is very less - this person will only believe negative stuff about anything. Dont take my word, just check - what is the kind of enlightening things you see on tv on a day to day basis.
And since you have "looked" at the idea/ person/ work, you will have an air of an expert - without knowing anything. The highly skeptical person talks like an expert - you will have to see through him to know his words are empty. He will be a real "armchair expert"; sitting in his chair, not moving an inch, and delivering judgements on the world. Again, these judgements usually are how bad this or that is. It is seldom that a so called skeptical person "approves" anything.
The fun thing is the above description fits most of us, in some area of life or the other, to say the least. Skeptic is not that rare person whom you meet once in a lifetime. It is the person who is reflected in the mirror when you stand in front of it.
My way to handle it is the "moving corridor" policy. I keep moving ahead on the area I am S about. I explore more, and as I move forward, new avenues open to me. I realise, OMG, this is so different from what I used to think. Or this person is far better than what he looks initially. But to reach this place, I need to move, explore and be willing to learn.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Cycling: My Summary
I believe that you have read at least a few of my previous cycling articles written here. Otherwise this article may not make sense.
I believe nothing in life is possible without being a fanatic. Call me a cycling fanatic if you will. Sometimes you wonder, are there not better methods to be fit and save the planet? Of course there may be, but this is a method that I know and enjoy to the hilt and that’s why I write about it.
Just because I write this article, I am not the best cyclist in town. In fact, I don’t even qualify to be called a good cyclist! I am not into competition or macho stuff. That’s way beyond my interest. I slog and sloth it out to office at an average speed of 17-20kmph. There are a lot of guys who are intensely passionate about cycling, much more than I am. I salute them for their spirit and consider it an honour to know them, though I cannot list out all their names here.
My writing about cycling is not to exclude or ridicule other means of transportation. That will be stupid on my part. But know one thing: a cycle is one of the most efficient means of transportation known to man today. Why do I say that. If you have a packet of 1 byte with a 10 byte header, would you call it efficient data transmission? Yet that is what we IT guys do when we drive a car alone to office. A person weighing 70 kgs riding a car weighing 1400 kgs to take him to work. Where is the efficiency? Its like 20 bytes of header to take 1 byte of data! Whereas if he is cycling the weight of a good cycle is about 15-18 kgs. See the optimization.
I always believe that something that is simple to do (like cycling) is also simple not to do and that is a trap where most of us fall. I respect your right to cycle, I respect your right not to cycle. If you look for reasons to cycle you will find them. If you look for reasons not to cycle, there are plenty too. The choice is completely yours!
To me, the reasons *for* outweighed heavily the ones *against*. The feeling of the nice morning bangalore wind and sunshine on the skin and the slight sweat far outweighed the so called risks and other perceived notions. When I am on the bike two things come to a standstill - world and time. In a way I found my own private "get away" for the time I am on the bike. My own heaven. All the worries and tensions and such tend to amazingly melt away when I am on the bike. This one reason alone is enough for me to continue cycling for my life time.
Cycling is not an answer to all of humanity’s problems. It is not so glamorous as we think. It is not a magic solution for weight loss. You will not suddenly look like those ancient greek sculptures of men just because you started pedaling a few kilometers a day.
Good inclines will make you huff and puff, like a steam locomotive in full traction, inspite of having all those gears. You may look plain stupid to others.
There is sweat, rain, heat, irritated car and bike riders, cow dung on the road and that occasional idiot spitting on you accidentally from bmtc buses. Dogs run behind you, barking menacingly in dark alleys. All that happens. Or as we saw in Forrest Gump, “shit happens”. So what?
I believe nothing in life is possible without being a fanatic. Call me a cycling fanatic if you will. Sometimes you wonder, are there not better methods to be fit and save the planet? Of course there may be, but this is a method that I know and enjoy to the hilt and that’s why I write about it.
Just because I write this article, I am not the best cyclist in town. In fact, I don’t even qualify to be called a good cyclist! I am not into competition or macho stuff. That’s way beyond my interest. I slog and sloth it out to office at an average speed of 17-20kmph. There are a lot of guys who are intensely passionate about cycling, much more than I am. I salute them for their spirit and consider it an honour to know them, though I cannot list out all their names here.
My writing about cycling is not to exclude or ridicule other means of transportation. That will be stupid on my part. But know one thing: a cycle is one of the most efficient means of transportation known to man today. Why do I say that. If you have a packet of 1 byte with a 10 byte header, would you call it efficient data transmission? Yet that is what we IT guys do when we drive a car alone to office. A person weighing 70 kgs riding a car weighing 1400 kgs to take him to work. Where is the efficiency? Its like 20 bytes of header to take 1 byte of data! Whereas if he is cycling the weight of a good cycle is about 15-18 kgs. See the optimization.
I always believe that something that is simple to do (like cycling) is also simple not to do and that is a trap where most of us fall. I respect your right to cycle, I respect your right not to cycle. If you look for reasons to cycle you will find them. If you look for reasons not to cycle, there are plenty too. The choice is completely yours!
To me, the reasons *for* outweighed heavily the ones *against*. The feeling of the nice morning bangalore wind and sunshine on the skin and the slight sweat far outweighed the so called risks and other perceived notions. When I am on the bike two things come to a standstill - world and time. In a way I found my own private "get away" for the time I am on the bike. My own heaven. All the worries and tensions and such tend to amazingly melt away when I am on the bike. This one reason alone is enough for me to continue cycling for my life time.
Cycling is not an answer to all of humanity’s problems. It is not so glamorous as we think. It is not a magic solution for weight loss. You will not suddenly look like those ancient greek sculptures of men just because you started pedaling a few kilometers a day.
Good inclines will make you huff and puff, like a steam locomotive in full traction, inspite of having all those gears. You may look plain stupid to others.
There is sweat, rain, heat, irritated car and bike riders, cow dung on the road and that occasional idiot spitting on you accidentally from bmtc buses. Dogs run behind you, barking menacingly in dark alleys. All that happens. Or as we saw in Forrest Gump, “shit happens”. So what?
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