Decennium

Winter, chill, silence in dark, sound of rain, flowing water, mountains, emotions, love, attachments, spirituality, divinity, books scattered on the bed, coffee, familiar stranger(s), conversations - I wonder how just thinking about such things can make me pen down some lines in my blog. There is multitude of thoughts going across my mind right now. Sigh! Let me put down something.

Rain hasn’t been too kind lately. Dark clouds fill up the evening sky only to disappear within minutes. A sudden cold breeze crosses in the sky. No rain drops even an hour later. I remember there were times during college days when standing on a bus stop on busy road amidst heavy crowd, rain would splash without a signal of caution.

Rain is something which I have always adored - it gives respite, solace to the seeking soul. The beautiful sound of rain is a blessing for a writer or for someone who wishes the ink to flow. And as I write this post my memories take me 10 years back when the city/people were unknown to me. Yes I am 10 year old (not by age certainly) although I wish I was.:)

I just realized that this is my 10th year in the city. A decade of my lifetime has been spent in this wonderful city. As I look back - I see so much has changed - life, relations, and friends. It has been a surreal experience to spend a decade in this city with wonderful lot of people around. So much to learn from every one's experience. So many conversations - funny, happiness shared, love, fights, friendship, emotions, feelings and what not.

Unbelievable how time just flies. Right before your eyes, but you don't recognize.

Desires, Experiences

                                                                                                       

Rishikesh, 15/03/2012 - 2:30 PM

As Swami Ji says - "Nobody loves division. Any division, physiological division for that matter, yields a cause for conflict and also a lack. When "I" find myself a seeker seeking for the sought the desirable is away from me. The very fact that I seek is because what is to be gained is away from me. And therefore until the sought is gained the seeker goes on."

Human beings always seek and I am not an exception to it. I have been seeking (still don't know what) and I will do so till I find it. Sitting peacefully in font of a river and watching it flow aimlessly and mountains behind had been my long lasting desire. I had been (in fact still have)  having dreams and dejavus of it. Today as a seeker my desire is met - sitting closely on the banks of the river Ganga and mountains in the vicinity. The serene environment - hopefully I am not dreaming. Even if I am who cares - I realize that moment is here. I will enjoy it to the maximum.

Valentine's Special - From the extracts of "The Alchemist"

Why do we have to listen to our hearts?” the boy asked, when they had made camp that day.

“Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure.”

“But my heart is agitated,” the boy said. “It has its dreams, it gets emotional, and it’s become passionate over a woman of the desert. It asks things of me, and it keeps me from sleeping many nights, when I’m thinking about her.”

“Well, that’s good. Your heart is alive. Keep listening to what it has to say.”

“My heart is a traitor,” the boy said to the alchemist, when they had paused to rest the horses. “It doesn’t want me to go on."

“That makes sense. Naturally it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you’ve won.”

“Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?”

“Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. ”

“You mean I should listen, even if it’s treasonous?”

“Treason is a blow that comes unexpectedly. If you know your heart well, it will never be able to do that to you. Because you’ll know its dreams and wishes, and will know how to deal with them.

“My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer,” the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky.

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”

Women Power - Breaking invisible barriers to realize dormant potential

Amongst the numerous things that fascinated me a month back in Udaipur, the historic capital of the Mewar Dynasty (I had made a quick visit to the astounding City Palace - built by Maharana Udai Singh - sitting in all its majesty on a hilltop overlooking the marvelous Lake Pichola and the Lake Palace), the ones that caught my attention the most were the Zanana Chambers (segregated chambers built for women) and the various paintings showing women behind screens and inside chambers. They stood in stark contrast to the celebration of the strength, might and power that the 'men' stood for. I came into the airport a few hours later and came across an article in Forbes India that listed the 100 most powerful women this year. Couldn't help my mind drifting into thoughts around how the role played by women in society has evolved over the centuries and more significantly, what it would take to tap into this huge reservoir of unrealised potential.

Over a period of time, my perception of women and their role in society has changed quite dramatically. There were times at school when boys and girls used to engage in the 'battle of the sexes' trying to prove the futility of the existence of the other sex to eachother (now, how cruel could that be!). There were times a decade later when the 'feminist' movement became stronger in cities like Delhi demanding 'equal rights' and equality in treatment. In the years to come, I have seen them play that 'complementary' as well as 'independent' role in every walk of life (family, society, corporate, politics, academics) - providing leadership where necessary and providing that critical balance in family for men to operate at other times.
I am writing this note as I realize with every interaction that this immense potential in a large percentage of women today still remains dormant and slowly fades away without being realized. Let me start with what I have learnt from the various kinds of women I have seen, interacted and heard about.

1) Working closely the last few years with the players in the Microfinance industry, I understood partially the basis of this enormous strength in the Microfinance model - women. While the industry itself may be in doldrums today, there are a lot of learnings that can be taken away. There are 30 million borrowers today in the country availing Microfinance loans and more than 95% of these borrowers are women. All Microfinance Institutions in India and most of them globally (with the exception of a few who also have men) as a rule work almost solely with women. The model is so well understood and appreciated today that none of the new institutions even spend time questioning this rationale. Having spent time in various villages interacting with numerous rural women (old and young) who are part of Self Help Groups and Joint Liability Groups, and looking at their male counterparts, I realize why.

2) My own experience with women labour at home - be it the maid, the cook or the nanny. To me, they characterize what people with single-minded dedication can achieve. Most of these women are those who are willing to work all kinds of extended hours and stretch themselves to the hilt to make sure that their children can go to school and do not suffer ignominiously like their parents. Mind you, it is not making the two ends meet that they are most concerned about. The ability to fight against all kinds of odds with unparalleled grit and determination comes from this single-minded focus on the goal of educating their children and making them successful. Whenever I find youngsters today immersed excessively in various kinds of distractions with easy access to money, I remind myself the virtue of setting goals and working towards them. While your maid or cook could be examples, there are scores of women out there who exemplify what men and women are capable of achieving when one is working towards a goal, how priorities automatically get assigned in one's life, how you start looking for those distractions that help you achieve your goals.

3) My wife, and mothers - seeing within close quarters what it is like to be a mother and take up the full-time responsibility of raising a child. I have seen other women who have otherwise been perceived as nonproductive and wasteful become more efficient and productive naturally and purely by virtue of this transformation in role. Not only does one begin to manage one's time better, but one tends to become more assertive and oriented towards results and outcomes rather than the process. It is a fabulous management lesson on how a person transforms as soon as they take up a larger role with ownership, responsibility and accountability coming naturally to them. In short, they end up imbibing all the qualities that would be considered fantastic to have in the typical corporate world.

4) My experience with women in the Corporate world.

Entire Corporate World is full of examples of women who have made it big notwithstanding the numerous challenges of motherhood, gender bias

etc.https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Organization/Talent/A_business_case_for_women_2192

5) Women in politics and activism: While there are numerous examples of women who have held positions of power, the three women musketeers today of Indian State politics (the leaders of UP, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal) are fantastic examples of the immense power and influence that women can wield.

Senseless Scribbling

We may be apart but we still bind with an unseen force,
Like moon and sun we are, like water and sky, like waves and ocean
We may be poles apart, we may be like parallel lines with no defined destination
Yet I am sure we will meet some where........
Somewhere where there are no norms and where free birds soar to the heights in the sky
We will meet somewhere where being lone does not hurt
Where feeling and emotions are valued much more than rules and regulations of society
Where there is no religion, no caste, no creed, where there is serenity, where divine is soul and where there is -  JUST YOU and JUST ME! :)

An Aimless Wanderer

So many dark allies
So many dead ends
Ways around and above
All roads leading nowhere
But the same place
Returning where I started
Crossing roads
Going backwards
Going forwards
Doubting the end of it all
Finding no redemption for my soul
Stomping on my footsteps again
Repeating the same lame scene
Shouldering countless years of repression
Following that stupid trace of humanity
There is still in me

I am - an Aimless Wanderer  - Gustavo Lucas Luna

My Best Shots - Banaras