An increasing relevance in a degrading world.

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary, the evil it does is permanent"

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

"I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people."

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err."

"A "No" uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a "Yes" merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble."



Hope. It's probably the most important phenomenon in this world. It reminds us that even in this morally-corroding-away world of ours, we can't give up. He's one person who never ever gave up. He believed that even as years go by and we face the atrocities that he predicted for this world, we shouldn't lose hope. His views transcended all concepts of time and space and his ideas are probably easier to explain than those of great spiritual leaders and preachers alike.

In spite of all the crap that's been written about his methods (and some of it may even make sense), it's now when a lot of us realize that at least half of what he said wasn't complete hogwash. I mean, come on... the man had a knack of pulling off the concept of what many of us call "high thinking". He could look at a problem in a most unbiased, profound, logical and fiercely rational way... a quality that even most engineers today don't possess. He was emotionally stable, compassionate and highly caring.... qualities that put the best psychologists to shame. What's more... his greatest strengths were his undying will to serve and to let his work speak for what he is, and not heaps of accolades or glory... Smug doctors, ring a bell ??

So the way I see it... He was not just a person responsible for motivating a people, but he sowed seeds of himself in each one of our consciousnesses ... seeds that we have not nurtured and cared for as these years have gone by. We have forgotten the feeling of the most motivated that we have ever been, in order to have our cake and eat it too. What we don't realize is that it's ok to want to be the best and have the best things in life... but not at the cost of your humane spirit.

This post is actually very unlike me... I normally never ever write about things that bother me. And come to think of it, this doesn't really bother me, so much as remind me constantly of his relevance in this world today. And it leaves me thinking that, there is a big void in most lives today that needs to be filled by someone like him.

I miss him more today than I ever have. May his soul rest in peace.

But how?....What if?... When did?...

Why are we here ?
Who drank my beer ?
Why do we grow ?
What's wrong with going slow?

Why do some beg ?
Is that a fake leg ?
How do you do ?
Do you have this in blue ?

Can we do this ?
Isn't that just total bliss ?
Why do we love ?
Is there anyone up above ?....


You'll always hear your boss/superior/mentor/teacher complain to you that you aren't asking the right questions... What if there's no such thing as a wrong question ? Is it written somewhere that only a limited number of questions have the privilege of being answered in this world ? And are those questions the chosen right ones ???

Often in my experiences, I've realized that no matter how much knowledge and experience you can gather from anything, it is the Socratic approach to any situation that will help you gain an edge. I always love to talk to my parents about when I was growing up, and eventually the conversation shifts to "kids that age". The first thing they say is that kids absorb so much in that period of their lives, and it's because they're always asking questions ! The wonderful thing about a little child asking questions, is that he/she possesses an innocence centered around really wanting to learn and grow as an individual. Why is it we lose that as time goes by ? Suddenly we have too much ego to ask questions at the risk of sounding silly or stupid !

Picture this scenario : If a student reads about something fascinating and wants to explain it to his classmates, how does he do that without sounding like a good-two-shoes-know-it-all ? Simple... he raises his hand and asks a question about it (even though he already knows the answer). The teacher then proceeds to tell the entire class the answer to that question thereby educating the people. All he does later, is add something to the teacher's answer in case she forgot it (by asking more questions accordingly).... which brings me to my next query - Why can't people share knowledge as easily as they acquire it ? I once read the following analogy - If you and I have an apple each, and we exchange the apples, we still have one apple each ! But if we each have an idea, and exchange those ideas, then we each have two ideas !!! Sharing acquired knowledge is crucial. And somewhere along the lines of overtaking each other in the thirst for more and more knowledge, I feel we've forgotten that simple courtesy. We can't afford to be selfish in sharing knowledge, because the source that provides us with the same knowledge was not selfish at all.

We live today in the ultimate age for learning. There's all this knowledge just waiting to get into our heads. All we need to do is ask for it... with a simple, divine, non-complicated question. There are no stupid questions, only stupid people.


I leave you now -

ए सवाल.. तेरी अहमियत अगर भूलें,
बिगड़ जायेंगे हम , जितना भी धुलें,
रुक जाएगी प्रगति की यह पतली सी डोर,
सवाल न होते नालायक, होता पूछने वाला मोर ! - me

What's your sound ?

ना मन्का फेर , ना माला तोल ,
ना मन्दिर जा, ना मंत्र बोल ,
जप-ध्यान की फिज़ूल है तेरी यह लगन ,
सच्चा मोक्ष उसे मिले , जो है धुन में मग्न । - me


Louis Ferdinand Celine said - "To hell with reality! I want to die in music, not in reason or in prose. People don't deserve the restraint we show by not going into delirium in front of them."

We live in a world dominated by overflowing iPods and multiple-genre-rich concerts; a world comprising of people who listen to artificial sound that helps them reflect on their own psychedelic minds; of people who like fresh music produced out of instruments in front of their own eyes where they can see the expressions on the face of the performer; of people who just treat music like medicine and let it slowly work its magic in the background ; of people who think it is inauspicious to do anything else while listening to music, hoping to pay respects to the performer......

If you're not able to exactly determine which one of the above categories you belong to, you probably belong to them all ! The funny thing about music is that it's able to enter your head even from no exterior sources, and the funnier thing is that we don't care to find out how that happened :).

People go through their whole lives associating their behavior, characteristics, living with tunes or songs, or even lyrics.. and try to find meaning. That really gets me thinking... what if music is just a means to find out the answer to why we're all here ? And what if one day when we find our sound ? Will we have all the answers and no longer be confused ??

While I ponder over these questions, and over my next post... I only wish that you don't find your sound anytime soon.. as there is so much to hear in this world... so much that our minds have to be opened up to... and so much that we need to experience, through music or otherwise...

Shalom !

A global culture ?

Time and tide wait for no man. A pompous and clichéd proverb no doubt – something that was true a long time ago; but in our day of electric wires, broadband internet and click-of-the-mouse money transactions(to name a few ), we turn it around and say: “Man waits not for time nor tide”. There are many phenomenon in the world that are changing popular belief to the fact that the world is, in fact, flat ! Could this be the trigger to all cultures in the world, uniting one day to be called one global culture ? Lets look at this one aspect at a time :-

1. Languages shall merge, where the world, depending on the language they communicate with online, shall communicate with one another with the same language.

2. Cuisines and food habits shall unite- With the increase in food programming and satellite TV in so many countries, it won't be long before all countries are exposed to all food habits and varieties of food. This will cause them to accept these various aspects and integrate them into their own culture.

3. With major clothing brands investing with their stores and manufacturing plants in many different countries, there will come a time where all brands and types of clothing are available across all countries, thereby causing the customer to choose from a list of so many realms of fashion.

4. How can we forget music ? Thanks to the Internet, the power of downloading, and the free music movement, there will come a time where each individual in the world is exposed to an almost infinite selection of genres and sub-genres of music, thereby opening the mind to a plethora of sounds and experiences.

Technology like this brings us closer, makes us equal among equals, or what I like to call “level the playing field”. Whether it is a mother who programs her child’s computer to block pornography on the internet , or whether it is a highly skilled network professional providing billion dollar solutions to some of the biggest IT giants in the world – technology has touched all our lives, and will certainly pave the way in revolutionising the way we see culture – whether we’re India, the US or anywhere else in the world.

The secret to existence - I think....

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the one of the biggest mysteries on the face of this earth is a common one to all - Why are we here ???

Some people find their destinies, some die trying, some simply watch people try to find theirs and live in denial of their own. I still don't know which category I belong to, but I do know that I've met one from each of them.

The trick to living life, according to me, lies in the need to realise that there's always someone who stands superior to yourself, in whatever aspect you can think of. The constant need to be better than that "someone" is what will elevate us above everyone else. It is this constant strive towards getting a little better, is what helps us find our destiny.

During this journey towards perfection, we are bound to falter and stumble. It's very easy for one to simply live in complacency and corrode away the life that can be so much more beautiful. Life is like an onion - you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep. But it is, again, during this journey that we realise what living life to the fullest is all about. It is important to love your life, appreciate every single detail of every single object, never hold grudges, and most importantly never live in denial of anything in the world.

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

A constant and infinite learning process

Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.

I've been a part of the MF for such little time, and I can already pin-point the differences in my way of thinking and in the perceptions that I have about certain things in my life. What I love most about the MF is that it makes me appreciate teamwork at a whole new level; a level that supercedes any differences.

During my team-up paper, a few months ago, my team apart from me, consisted of two chinese, a german and chilean, and two people from the United states. One astonishing thing I realised about us was that we weren't just appreciating our cultural differences and different points of view, but we were learning to work as a team in spite of those differences. Variety is the spice of life. And cultural differences are too small a barrier when the paramount objective is to achieve unity and co-operation.

A lot of times, when a team loses focus of its vision and goal, the team players get nervous about their own capabilities and caliber. In times like these, it's essential that a leader keeps his cool and continues to have faith in his men; sometimes when he's not sure of even himself. A leader apart from just being dominating needs to realise that in the worst scenario, he is the only one who must think clearly and objectively.


It's hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.

Once upon a time in Cologne...

On August 28th 2006, when I opened Outlook Express to check mail, my heart beat the fastest it’s ever beaten, and I saw Winthrop’s mail titled "Congratulations and welcome to the MF”. After weeks of celebration and shopping, October 13th finally came and I dragged my luggage into the youth hostel in Cologne. I had to hug 27 new fellows for it to sink in, that I was finally there.

The MF opens so many doors in one’s life. It has shown me how lucky I am to be where I am, that there are endless opportunities just waiting to be grabbed, and that there are infinite different points of view to every aspect and they all are related to us in some way or the other.

The Orientation meeting is probably the most important thing that I’ve ever experienced. Teachings and experiences from the OM will not only strengthen my confidence in the MF, but also make me a complete human being. My only quarrel was that it was over too soon !!

A wise man said- The purpose of life is to have a purpose. I think I’m that much closer to finding mine thanks to the OM and the MF, and I couldn’t be happier.