Karma

While reading some random articles sometimes back, I came across an interesting thinking somewhere that the nature has failed to evolve in tandem with the evolving technology. I found that quite interesting. We have mobile phones, we have internet, TV, books, newspapers- many of these evolved radically in the last few years in terms of technology, availability and affordability. On the other hand, thousand years ago we had two hands, eight fingers, two thumbs and just one brain. That hasn’t changed with time! To overcome this gap, that one little brain has commanded its senses and its bodily servants to adapt to the new requirements, albeit to some extent. That brain has developed a skill to do things simultaneously, which is the skill of the new era, ‘multitasking’. It is amusing to observe the change in our lifestyles - at home or at work - over the years. We have different communication mediums at our disposal, which makes us available for more number of tasks simultaneously.

We are trained to think that life is easy with various scheduling programmes- from basic Outlook to more complex ones- which allow us to multitask. I will cite my experience to illustrate how flawed this thinking is. Earlier, I used to work on my tasks one-by-one. If something with higher priority came up during this, I would simply attempt the new more important one and then again resume the current task, mostly in chronological order. A task was never postponed in a sense that no new date or time was assigned for such low priority tasks. Now, for any task, I simply schedule it and assign a day to it on Outlook. I will also set a reminder for the task, which sounds cool because I need not bother remembering that task. So far so good. The trouble starts with postponing of the task if it is of lower priority, which I will do because I can still attempt it later when my gadget or software would remind me. Other new tasks will still keep coming up meanwhile. In the process, the task of lower priority will not be attempted whenever I can, but will be postponed to be attempted when I will be reminded for that. What I don’t realize is the stress it creates on my subconscious by remaining un-fulfilled during all this time.

There are countless such situations where we actually go on adding stress. In all these changes, we have stopped enjoying what we do. We have moved from the principle of ‘karma’ to more technical- ‘tasks’. The gadgets, which were meant to simplify our lives, are actually becoming our masters. We are so much engaged with our gadgets, be it mobile, web or TV, that we are losing touch with the real world. Solution? No one can offer that. Because the solution lies within us. Do not become a slave of time, of your tasks or your goals. Live in the moment and enjoy what you do. The tasks will be performed and the goals will be achieved in the process.

Dreams

Dreams... small or big, dreams during sleep or day dreams, single occurrence dreams or recurring dreams, sweet dreams or nightmares... everybody experiences them. Dreams can be insignificant or they can have profound impact on one’s life. For my five year old child, her dream is mostly repetition of the events during the day, at home, at school or the moments spent with her friends. On the other hand, for some people, dreams are equivalent of ambitions. They possess the skill to visualise future, to visualise what they want to achieve. In a nutshell, dreams have so many facets and, I believe, are still a mysterious phenomenon.

What is a dream? Webster’s dictionary defines dream as ‘the thoughts, or series of thoughts, or imaginary transactions, which occupy the mind during sleep; a sleeping vision’. A SLEEPING VISION – isn’t it an over simplistic definition for such a complex phenomenon? This definition is highly incomplete to explain visualisation of future while being awake or lucid dreaming, where one has control over his/her dream, its characters, its events and so on- even while sleeping, or day dreaming where one is semi-awake. In fact, science always deals with dreams in a very technical manner. It often associates dreams with a neurophysical theory of Rapid Eye Movement (REM). Infants and even foetuses are said to have dreams through REM. But what would constitute the dream of a foetus is beyond my imagination! (Please explain it to me in the comments section if you know the answer). The movie ‘Inception’ went many steps forward and introduced us to a world, where dreams could be switched on and off, anybody could enter into somebody else’s dream at will and there were multi layered dreams (a dream within a dream, which was in another dream, all dreamt by different persons)!!!

I believe, dreams are beyond science and not just a technical term. Dreams are reflections of one’s subconscious mind, one’s soul, one’s persona. They can be just repetition of events, as in the case of my five year old daughter and many others. They can be nightmares, if your subconscious is occupied with some fear. If your subconscious is obsessed with someone (or something), you will have fantasy dreams. Your dreams can recur if your conscious mind is unable to interpret what your subconscious mind has to say.

One of the most important factors differentiating visionaries from others is how they exploit their dreams as their guiding force for achievement of a purpose. Even more important is that they are able to instil the same habit in their followers. A dream does not have a copyright; it can be dreamt by anyone. But to succeed, you will have to imprint it in your minds, both conscious and subconscious. You will have to develop a habit of visualising your dream, till it is fulfilled. Mind you, you need not be asleep for that. If you are not able to develop that habit yourself, find some mentor who can help you with this. This habit will come naturally to you with practice and perseverance. Follow what Swami Vivekananda has said:

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.”

Have a good day. Sweet dreams.

Power of Passion

A light in the deep recesses, craving to be free;

Embracing the infinite world, was its only earnest wish.

Countless obstacles lay ahead, ominous at every step,

Evil darkness threatened, guzzling all its strength.

The darkness was conceited, overtly boastful and proud,

Unaware of the strength, of the light hidden in the cloud.

Laced with tingling passion, the light was destined to shine,

Washed out the darkness, with all its strength combined.

The darkness again returned, with fierce retribution,

The light wasn’t afraid; it possessed the power of passion.

Valenversary

Expectations, curiosity, nervousness, dreams .... a bouquet of feelings flooded my heart that day. It was 14 February 2005. Valentine’s Day, a day with a lot of significance for folks around the globe. A number of hearts were going to bloom that day and probably a higher number of hearts were going to break as well. For me, my heart and my life was destined to flourish that day onwards, forever.

The Valentine’s day of 2005 will always be a special day for me and also for my wife. After a courtship of four years, we were getting married that day. That is why those feelings... expectations, curiosity, nervousness, dreams and a lot more unknown ones... flooded my heart. Was my life going to change, forever, with a sense of security of a companion or will I lose my freedom? Will the love we had for each other will flourish or was it born only out of yearning for each other and fade out with time after we were united? Lot of questions arose in my mind and, I’m damn sure, in her mind too.

The Valentine’s Day in 2011 is our sixth marriage anniversary; I call it ‘Valenversary’. As we are completing six years of the journey of the life together, I have not yet found complete answers to those questions which arose in my mind on the day of my wedding. In fact, the complete answers cannot be found as it is a continuing process and our journey is not yet complete. Nevertheless, the answers I have found, to whatever extent, are gratifying enough for my heart.

Yes, there was love born out of yearning for that girl I was engaged with. Probably it was what is called infatuation. That is the feeling, many confuse with love. The bond of marriage provided anchor to that infatuation. In the meanwhile, we got the gift of our marriage, our daughter, who grounded this anchor even more firmly. The bond has actually grown stronger during the journey. The infatuation has converted into love and it has flourished ever after. When? I don’t even know that.

Yes, I have lost some freedom I enjoyed earlier. I have lost the freedom of doing the things which are harmful to me- to behave irrationally, to do whatever I like without considering consequences, to exert “It’s my life” when actually not being in control of it. But, on the other hand, I have got more freedom, the ‘freedom of expression’. I can share anything with wife. I can share the worst of my behaviour without being judged. I can share the worst of my fears with the sense of security that my companion will understand it. This freedom, believe me, it’s priceless.

Thank you my companion. Wish you have a very happy sixth Valenversary.

Fear of Change

The world is deprived of much of the potential talent, for which the fear of change plays a major role. Amitabh Bachchan started as a radio announcer (RJ was not in vogue at that time). His talent was hidden in acting and he went on to become one of the most celebrated actors India has produced. What he would be today had he not changed his career path at the right time? For that matter, just imagine Rajanikanth continuing as a bus conductor throughout his life or Sachin Tendulkar continuing with fast bowling. They became icons, but only after they changed their life paths in the right direction, unlike many talented individuals reluctant to change because of fear of uncertainty.

Change is the only constant in life, they say. It is probably one of the most clichéd statements. If people acknowledge this, why is change the most dreaded phenomenon at the same time? I have seen individuals dragging on with their lives because they fear change. Many suffer from frustration and depression because they fear change.

The justifying philosophy for reluctance to change, in most cases, is ‘why fix something which ain’t broken?’.  Even if we acknowledge ‘what is broken’, we ‘move on’ with life unless the change is a compulsion and thrust upon us. Only when we are on the verge of being broken ‘entirely’, we are ready to change. This level is the ‘threshold’ level.

We need to identify the threshold level for any situation in advance in order we can manage this fear of change. This process of identification is the first major roadblock in the process. Once we overcome this roadblock, we need to define different levels of alertness based on the threshold level. We need to define an alarming level. We also need to define a ‘decision making’ level. All these levels necessarily have to be lower than the threshold level.

The next roadblock comes at the time of decision making, which is the most difficult part in the management of fear. With any decision, uncertainty is associated. This uncertainty is in fact the root cause of the fear. Even with detailed planning, we cannot guess all the repercussions of a decision in advance. We should seek the solutions for all possible adverse repercussions. But in any case, the decision making should not be held back till the situation reaches the threshold level. Once we have identified a ‘decision making’ level, the decision must be made at that level.

Stay committed to your decision. The resultant situation, even if adverse, won’t be worse than being entirely broken.

Euphoria

Read whatever, login to whatever- be it a newspaper, facebook, twitter or SMS today, you will find euphoria of the New Year. Every other person is wishing an individual, selected individuals, a group of people, or all the people in the world. I have even received official wishes from my credit card company, my life insurance company and the list goes on. I have received mails of wishes from those colleagues from far-off locations, whom I do not know. What am I supposed to do, if my mail ID is included in a long list of IDs in a mail wishing happy New Year? Should I feel happy? Should I reply at all or delete that mail?


At times, this behaviour feels childish. But, what would become of life if we delete such behaviour from the log? Would you remember 1st January as a special date, if there were no wishing of a New Year? Without them, it would just become another date. It is this euphoria, with which you associate 1st of January or a New Year in any calendar. Life is not made of just dates, calendar is a suitable place for them. Life is made of memories and memories are built by moments. These moments never recur. You have to live them NOW. If you don’t do it NOW, it will be lost FOREVER.


Paulo Coelho has rightly said: "There are too many serious people trying to get everybody else to be too darned serious." Don’t fall into a trap by such people. Spread happiness. Live in the moments. Cherish them and build memories. On that note, wish all the people in the world very happy 2011.