All the random thoughts

The annual Himalayan trek - this has become synonymous with the reason I will be disappearing from the roll call of life during the month of May. I love these treks for various reasons ranging from fun to flora to physics (of the meta variety). But more than anything else for the opportunity it provides to connect back with ourselves - that genuine ourselves hidden behind layers of personas we created to wade through this complex journey called life. There is nothing more important and more invigorating to meet that part of us to get back the confidence that there is still a chance and purpose to this life. For all the things on offer during these treks, one thing that I never really indulge in is networking. Its a pointless pursuit and a wasted exercise if we end up trying to figure what people do in the world of business. It becomes a logical exercise in identifying common areas where one can continue to build a relationship but I don't think we should even bother abo...

"Now that all the euphoria is tapering down, let me ask You. Who deserves the credit for this?", I asked Rama. He smiled. "Obvious question. Who deserves the credit for getting You back into Your home?" He smiled. "Well there are many names floating around. Modi, Yogi, Advani, Ashok Singhal, Rambhadracharya, the Jain lawyers, KK Muhammad, KK Nair and some more from the more recent past. Then some are even giving credit to Tulasidas and to Your dear disciple Lord Hanuman. Some people even credit Babur, Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Mulayam - but I think that's a little crazy. What's Your take?" He smiled. "Do I see a hint of a wink there? You mean everyone did their job? How is that even possible? There is so much conflict in their actions. Some destroyed and some created. How could they have all contributed equally?" He smiled. "Well if You are asking what I think, I think it's the millions of Your devotees who never gave u...

A hospital or school could have been built instead of a temple - that's the objection of rationalists. You need to understand our relationship with our Gods. They are as much Gods as they are our father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter or a close friend. We will worship them and then we will scold them. We will lose ourselves singing their Bhajans and then we will lose ourselves accusing them for not paying attention. We will be submissive today and cry just looking at their Murthi and we will be authoritative tomorrow asking them to follow our orders. We are ruled and then we rule. We are them and they are us. If you try to fit our definition of Bhakti into the classic definition of religion, you have not even grasped the fundamentals of Sanatana Dharma. We probably don't fit into these stereotypes. Our Gods come in many shapes and forms. We will worship the playful and innocent Ram Lalla. We will see a child that is as much ours as of Kausalyas. Our relatio...

"Why were film stars invited? They lead a depraved lifestyle" "Why didn't the cricketers come? They are so arrogant" "Congress boycotted and BJP celebrated" "Modi is hogging the limelight" And finally when they unveiled the idol, nothing really mattered. I wasn't a big fan of Anup Jalota growing up. For one, his Bhajans were boring and didn't enthrall like a Kishore Kumar song. Secondly, he had a voice that was heavier than Chanchal but softer than Bhupinder. It felt like Manhar Udhas with a cold. Nevertheless his Bhajans were all around and one couldn't but hear and memorize them over the years.  So when I saw the idol of Bala Rama, all I could say to myself was - like what Anup Jalota sang in that Bhajan, Goswami Tulasidas was right when he said there is nothing in the seven worlds that could compare with the radiance of young Ramachandra. "Raghuvar ki chavi samaan, Raghuvar mukh baniyaa" - the only thing t...

Why is Rama important? Among the pantheon of Gods in Hindu life, Rama is one God who is not attributed with any super natural acts in his life. He was just a simple man who led a strife torn life like any normal human being. He isn't seen as a dominant character or the orchestrator of events in life's passage or anything subliminal. So, what makes Rama the most revered God of all? Heck, what makes Rama even a God? The Rama Bhujanga Stotram of Adi Shankara personifies Rama as the manifestation of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss (Satchitananda). He calls Rama "Ekam - the one" (the one without two, Ekamevam Adviteeyam), which essentially equates Rama with the supreme consciousness, realisation of which is the ultimate life goal of all who believe in Dharma. Shankara also equates Rama to Dakshinamurthy by calling out that Rama taught Brahma Vidya to his beloved disciple Hanuman. He beseeches Rama to be always in his mind so he can always be in a state of su...

"It's the elephant", yelled the mosquito in what seemed like it's Eureka! moment. "Sorry to be stallin' your train of thoughts" I interjected. "What's the elephant?" "It's the elephant that causes dengue and malaria", the mosquito shouted at the top of its voice. "It's also the elephant that ate all the lions , tigers and other endangered species" "What?" "Believe me. I am a very old mosquito and I speak from the experience and wisdom of a life time. What I am saying is the truth" "How old are you?" I couldn't resist. "Very old. In fact the oldest and most revered in my tribe", the mosquito said without sounding vain. "But if you insist, let me tell you, I am almost a day and half old" "But the elephant is probably thousands of times older than you. How do you know about it?" "Age is just a number" smiled the mosquito wr...

Sustainability. I was thinking about this and the whole brouhaha about how we should all be concerned about planet earth. Carbon emissions is a big problem. Let's solve it. How? Carbon credits, apparently is an answer. So company A has money but polluting the hell out of the earth. Company B doesn't have money but isn't polluting as much (or has developed an algorithm to prove that they are actually reducing the carbon in their environment). So company B will get some money and bear the brunt (and the guilt)of some carbon pollution from Company A. Everyone is happy. Right? Eventually, Company B will exhaust it's carbon credits but will use the money from company A to buy carbon credits from company C in a third world country at a lower cost. Company A continues to pollute at will, of course (and probably more than normal because the associated guilt of pollution is washed away with the profits that, let's say, the pollution enables). So what's in all this for po...