Affixing the responsibility for scams

Heard of “a” Raja (a king) involved in a scam? Welcome to Incredible India! And you can see it happens only in India. A Raja, telecom minister (now ex) is being probed for his alleged role in spectrum allocation which cost the exchequer Rs 1.76 Lakh crore. Whoa! that’s a whopping Rs. 1,76,000,00,00,000 scam. This amount can make 176,000 people a crorepati! These days when I switch my television on, there is news all about scams, their investigation, setup of commissions for investigation, not that only one scam but you get a variety in various fields, arenas and their magnitude, still they have something in similar. All championed by our politicians. I guess scams are the new buzzwords among them. I think we are the strongest contender for Olympic Gold, if corruption as a sport is introduced. An assured gold! No training or practice needed for the event.

If you try to spot some similarity in these scams, you will find that these are executed by person at the helm. You would have observed that a sports team which has an incompetent captain does not perform well. Similar is the case with a government. The position at the helm is the most powerful one. But one must understand that with power comes responsibility. Except the position of helm, it happens due to lack of control and monitoring on subordinates. The recent Supreme Court observation blasting the central government on the 2G scam and the bringing the “sanctioning authority” in the limelight is very much justified. If there is lack of control and monitoring on your subordinates you are bound to face difficult times ahead.

If we introspect, we will find that these chaps are holding the respective offices because of us. We are the ones who elected them. We wanted them to govern and serve us. Instead, they are engaged serving themselves, and their families too. So if we elected them then why to cry foul over their actions? A lion leads a pride of lions, an ant leads a troop on ants, and similarly a thief leads a group of thief. So, are we too, swindlers to nominate swindlers to lead us? Certainly Not. But our attitude towards the governance we receive is certainly the one like a swindler.

Lets dig deep now to know the cause of how these guys muster the courage to swindle this great amount of public money? Let’s find out the root cause.

We wont think twice to bribe a babu to get our work done fast. But have you ever thought how the babu has guts to ask for bribe. Simple. People above him too are corrupt. And the chain continues and this way reaches the top. But if the person at the top is honest, person with integrity. Same is reflected in his staff below. It’s a vicious cycle.

But who decides, who sits at the helm? It is “WE”. We decide who will govern us. We decide how we want to be ruled. Let me be more realistic, I know we can neither decide who will be the telecom minister, nor the chief minister. But we can decide the people, who will nominate a person for these posts. If we elect people, who possess good intention and will power, this good intention and will power will reach to those posts there, which in turn will be delivered to us in the form of good governance.

That way, we elected Kalmadi (a Congress MP from Pune), we elected A Raja, we elected Ashok Chavan. We did not elect them to create spicy recipes (scams) for media channels to serve us at prime time. We elected them to give us good governance. But most of us are unaware of this fact. I hear many people say, “What are we to do with these scams coming to daylight?” They feel they stay unaffected. But, they are wrong. Though these don’t affect them “effectively” now, they will in the near future. And there is this cynics’ breed that keeps whining, “may whatever they do, things really won’t change”. These are the people who are audaciously showing their ineptitude towards being a moral citizen of this country.

We need a change in our attitude towards the governance we receive. We need to be more informed, to make an informed decision. We need to be more responsible to elect a responsible government. On the Ayodhya verdict day I read a tweet, “We‘ve built many temples and mosques, now lets build a nation” Really, a good thought. And the response to the verdict has shown to some extent the maturity that our society has covered, at least on religion as a front. Now we voters, need to reach a similar maturity level at the governance front. The recent Bihar election results have shown that the people of Bihar have shifted their attitudes from caste politics to development so they elected a government which will fuel their progress & prosperity. Some thing similar awaits us. Best of luck for the next election voting!

Right now, I have kept my fingers cross, hoping there is no other scam bought to the daylight while I publish this blogpost :)

Which club do you belong to?

I got an opportunity to meet a friend of mine (too busy these dayz), who was confused as too which club he belongs to? For more details read ahead, but at your own risk. I will not be able to script exact conversation as I hardly recall it, but I will serve you a medley of my and my friend’s views and our insights on the topic.

Religion. Consider, Religion as a product. All religions have their respective logos (symbols). And all the respective Gods, represented as the brand ambassadors of their respective religions. Have you ever filled an application form where it asks for your religion? You write your religion and then forget it. What is religion? It is a belief, a faith on a set of principles that you will follow to live. It facilitates you to live a quality happy life. Absence of happiness will render your life as incomplete, non-compliant. But, do you need a religion for that? Don’t we know how to live our life, happily? We do know, certainly.

So no religion required? God is an integral part of every Religion. That brings me to next question. Do we need God? To me, it sounds, as you need an ambassador to purchase a product you need God for a Religion. Today, the more we adore an actor/sportsperson more chances of buying their endorsement. In case of religion, it is different, you are allotted a religion at your birth and you have to follow the ambassador, Hindus have more choice in selecting ambassadors to follow than any other religion (OMG so many Gods). Those who don’t like the product (here, religion) convert to another product. But what is the ultimate goal of following a religion? Or following a God? Simple. Live a happy life. That’s all.

There is a temple in Mumbai, Siddhivinayak, one of Lord Ganesha’s residences. The queue to worship the God stretches to kilometers, on Tuesdays it stretches to exorbitant levels. Lord Ganesha faces stiff competition from his peers, Saibaba at Shirdi and Lord Venkateshwara at Tirupati, and many more. Have you ever imagined how do they manage to draw such a huge crowd to them? Answer. To fulfill all the wishes, gain happiness, prosperity, etc. Are we ill-equipped to make ourselves happy? Should we rely on religion or God for all these things?

Let’s investigate.

The theists, people who throng kilometers for worshipping a God (and those who believe in God), see a ray of hope that a visit to temples, churches or mosques, brings to them. Some think they will be able to live their desires. Some people find happy living in owning a car, some in owning a house, and some in earning more money (in my profession people go far beyond, wishing to earn money in dollars!). And, this lot of the theists always stays far from satisfaction. They always have issues, they go to God, to get a veto for their desires, and some even dare to bribe him. Do not blame them. A recent survey rates India at 87^th spot in corruption in the world!

People in this club are unable to live happy lives because they worry, a lot. They simply live their life in short terms which emanates ephemeral happiness and so they compromise on their long term happiness. They don’t know what is going on in their life. And do you know Humans fear what they don’t know. Remember the complex unknown thing (algebra for me) you saw first, appeared very difficult, you were afraid of it. So, people worry and keep blaming God or some incomplete ritual for the mess that they are responsible for. People fear and make themselves unhappy.

I remember my childhood days when I use to run to God for all petty things. For exams, for marks, to win a game of housie, etc. Some grown ups, even do it today though to get a promotion, marks, college seat and for a girlfriend tooJ. I remember I use to go to temples, offer prayers, flowers, garlands, read many stotras and many other things, believing it will increase my bargaining power at God. But, as I grew older these offerings started descending. Further as I employed myself, I got occupied with work, and all those offerings ceased.

A friend asked me “Do you go to any temple?” I replied “I don’t go to temples but I still believe in God. You don’t need to go to temple to believe in him. What I believe in is that there is only one Supreme power which people worship in various shapes and names .i.e. God. That power keeps everything moving”. Sounded impressive of me. Huh? But, somewhere inside I feel, I am equivocal on my belief, of God. I am unable to explain certain phenomenon, thus cannot deny God’s existence. I feel, unknowingly I have transformed into an agnostic. And many of you too, probably some haven’t realized it yet. If you too give the same reply as mine, this corroborates that you have joined or about to join the agnostic’s club.These are people who hold that whether God exists cannot be confirmed with certainty. Generally, people are more submissive to this club after some age, and after gaining some knowledge (at least to question the existence of God).

There is another club. Atheists. These people do not believe in God. I really don’t know on what basis they have reached this conclusion. But, that is not the only thing that they believe in. They believe you must use your intellect and sense of reason to learn what life is about, they believe on evidence when deciding on their beliefs. There was an Atheist Bus campaign held in UK in 2008. Busses read “There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”. Life is all about living happily and not worrying. So, if you can stop worrying and enjoy your life, why to rely on God? So converting to atheism is the key to happiness? I really don’t know. Some more quotes flowed in ”An atheist has to be more morally responsible precisely because he doesn’t has a God to blame for his own actions”. Atheism is strongly based on reasoning. You are always told that something is right or rather good. But have you ever reasoned it. I mean. Have you ever questioned your wisdom itself, on basis of which, you decide whether a thing is good or bad (or, right or wrong)? For example, did you ever bothered to think why a thing is labeled as “good” or “bad”. Why is, speaking truth considered right or why is it good to help others? We all are just following what has been pre-established or told to us by our elders. So do we believe in God, because we were bought up believing it? So I started thinking that my friend may be right that probably God does not exist.

So what if he is unable to reason a few things. It is not a game of cricket were the batsman God will get benefit of doubt. J It doesn’t render their idea of non-existence of God baseless. Their belief does have a sound reasoning. Now here my belief of the one supreme power started weakening (yours’ too?)

Anyways now the guy has confused me too and I am being transmogrified like him (somewhat agnostic).

Religion and God are inter related you get a God free with a religion. But does it ensure you a happy life? Neither does atheism nor agnosticism. My intention is not to confuse people. I do not want to sound like a zealot. It is just my quest to find where I will be happy? Will I ever be able to reason on anyone side will I return back to theism or proceed towards atheism?

But it seems that it is unimportant, which club you belong to, what only matters is “Are you happy?” If you are worried that if you fail to show your belief in God then you will be punished then it defeats the purpose of staying in the theist club. Doesn’t it? Some people may find solace in being an agnostic then. By the way, which club do you belong? And most importantly are you happy with the club membership?

CHANGE to Innovation

Why does it happen that there is a lot of talk on change, but we don’t see any change? Mahatma Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world” He is right, until and unless we start changing ourselves, nothing around us will change. I have heard many such adages. A change brings in a change. Change is the only thing permanent. And many more. But the first time I heard them, they titillated my mind, they sounded encouraging and appealing to me. But this encouragement fades away with time. Is it that we forget the adage or we fail to understand the meaning? The reason is that people will be unable to stay inspired with a quote until they start practicing it. When we hear the quote we interpret it correctly in our thoughts. But we fail at the implementation (action) end. There lies the principal problem. You think something but you fail to convert it exactly in implementation, leaving you disappointed. Disappointment is the outcome of the difference between your thoughts and your corresponding actions. For example, you thought you will hit the gym from tomorrow but you actually don’t show up at the gym next day. Same drama continues for days, months and…. Then one day you feel disappointed that you have put on weight or are unfit and you should join the gym. But the story remains the same. And the outcome too. :) Here if you notice there is a difference or gap between the thought and the action. So what prevented you from converting your thought into an action? No time? No resources? OK. Let’s take another scenario. Suppose you are unexpectedly asked for shopping today (strictly for girls) or asked for a booze party (strictly for guys). You will MOST probably, and will go for it. Why? Now from where are you going to bring that extra time or resources? I think the reason is "unwillingness to change”. So why you showed willingness in the second scenario? It is because there is an established comfort zone. As soon as something goes out of this comfort zone, the change seems more painful, hence unappealing, unattractive and unwilling. You don’t want to think or go outside the established comfort zone, because it requires efforts (a change). You try to search for what is easily available to you, with fewer efforts (like trying Sauna belt?). So, here the gym lies outside the comfort zone. Similarly, people like to keep their day-to-day life unchanged as long as no unwilling efforts are required.

The above thought-action was one example; many such thoughts-actions together, continuously, shape your mind and influence your thinking. These thoughts-actions develop your mindset. It creates a kind of virtual zone for your mind. Your mind wanders/roams only inside this zone while thinking. Many a times we are unable to find a solution for some problem. The reason being that the solution lies outside this zone, but you can think only in a certain range (i.e. as far as the established virtual zone allows you to wander). But as you are applying a solution that is easily available in this zone itself, the problem refuses to fix. Yes, easily available, by this I mean a conventional solution. A conventional solution is built upon by repeated use, “no change” in thinking and lacks freshness. So here you need to think out of the box (or out of the zone!) to fix the problem.

The continuous thoughts-actions therapy shapes your mind (i.e. creates a zone and your mind wanders only inside this space) The therapy leaves the mind in a NO CHANGE state, as you look for easily available solutions only in the zone. To improve the situation we need to change the way of thinking (i.e. construct a window in the zone where the mind can jump out of the zone for other possibilities/alternatives). Innovation acts as the window from where you can jump out of the established zone. Innovation is nothing but the result of an unconventional “change” in the way of thinking. A person innovates only when he jumps out of the current thinking space.

We need innovative solutions for many problems surrounding us. But we deal with the issues with the same conventional methods. Why? Of course, because they are easily available!  We go for a strike, we do a couple of bandhs, we do stone pelting, etc. Most of you who fail to show up on a bandh day have to run the show on a weekly holiday or take a cut in their pay cheques. Worst, daily wage earners, hand-to-mouth livelihoods have to sleep hungry because they cannot earn their living for that day. But, nothing seems to change post the bandh/strikes called for, thus defeating the purpose. Solution lies outside the zone? Innovate.

Let me mention a small story here. A city college organizes a games event, every year. One year the college principal barred, particularly all the last year students (read victims) from assuming any berth on the organizing committee of the event. So, some “conventional” students decided to boycott the games event (as expected, easily available solution!). They thought this would deter the principal. As it happens in bandhs/strikes the opponent (i.e. principal) didn’t budge. The principal decided to go ahead with the event. With a different thought a guy emerged, he started thinking out of the zone, if they want to protest, what should they do? I know you will say do not participate in the event. But, the victims were not plenty in numbers. The victims tried to cajole the other (FY & SY) students. They didn’t budge too. The “emerged” guy thought either they should get negligible participation or a huge participation, such that the event is mismanaged and earn an unpleasant repute. None was possible here. So the guy jumped out of the window of the mind’s zone. Innovation struck! They all decided to participate. The reason will follow soon. They ensured that they conquer most prizes. Out of 60 they won 45 prizes. Now, comes the ace from their pocket. They decided not to receive any prize. Just imagine the prize distribution ceremony. The chief guest, a big celebrity, sharing the table with the college principal. For 3/4^th part of the ceremony no one goes on stage to take the prize. I know you would have liked to see the principal’s face then. The principal was left fuming. It was a huge embarrassment for him. From next year onwards, no one was barred from occupying a seat on OC. I know some of you may find this solution effective some may find some loopholes, I can understand. But the only intention here is to think out of the box. Citing an example, the recent bandh for fuel hike which was supported at many places or was rather forced to be supported, yielded no results. After a few days, everyone forgot (I know you too) :)

History is replete with examples of innovation (I call it, a CHANGE in thinking) being rewarded handsomely. The Apple Inc. launched the i-series, iPod, iPhone and now the iPad. No one ever visualized a sleek device like iPod which can be used primarily to listen to music or read notes, watch videos, photos and many other things. All this controlled by the movement of your thumb! Till date they have sold 260,000,000 ipods and still counting, this figure was achieved in just a few years. The iPad redefined a new product segment; tablet PC, which sits between a PC and a phone. Reports say that Apple Inc sold 3 million ipads in 80 days! That’s the power of innovation.

An innovation near home was that of a newly entered telecom operator introducing “pay per second” plan. It took the Indian telecom market by storm. From being a newcomer it raced rapidly to a double digit million subscriber base in just 3 months! Power of innovation, again. So, I believe you have recognized the power of innovation (CHANGE in thinking) by now. The only thing you need to do is make the “change to innovation”. One more inspirational quote comes your way. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower” - Steve Jobs. Got encouraged? Don't let it evaporate with time. You have the thought, now your action holds the key. So, make the change. And get ready to unleash that power of innovation within you!

"Mind" your knowledge

Ever wondered, the meaning of knowledge? The dictionary says it means the body of truths or facts accumulated in the course of time. Putting it simple, knowledge is whatever you have learnt, interpreted and stored, so that you can fetch it for usage, later. Rather for better usage. Knowledge is accumulated over a period of time. It never arrives at one go. You face many challenges to accumulate and retain this knowledge.

Let’s try to understand it with some fancy imaginations.
Our mind is like a bucket, which is filled with water. Our mind consists of knowledge. Here, knowledge denotes the water. We use water for daily purposes, similarly we use our mind for that matter knowledge to take various decisions in our day-to-day life. Knowledge is like water, it keeps you alive, gives you energy, and quenches your thirst of “knowing”, very much similar to knowledge. Your knowledge talks about you. You are recognized by the knowledge you possess. I believe, more knowledge, more understanding, better solutions. Sounds like, the more water you drink, more you replenish your body, more healthy you get? Correct. Therefore, Knowledge = Water.

Now, if the water is mixed with dirt, it will be of no use. Not for drinking, neither for washing clothes nor utensils. Still, if you use it, your clothes will be stained inspite of a wash, and your utensils will be soiled inspite of rinsing, or on consumption your health may suffer. The “dirt” I am talking here denotes/represents the bad emotions like grudges, selfishness, jealousy, malice, anger, bias, etc. All this “dirt” mixed with the knowledge is present inside your head. You can hardly take a rational decision when your knowledge contains such impurities.When you are driven by that “bad emotion” like anger or grudge, the water in your bucket is being stirred by a stirrer. You are riding on this bad emotion. The stirrer’s action denotes the riding action of the emotion. The stirrer mixes the knowledge with dirt, vigorously, to prepare a toxic concoction. Result. “polluted” knowledge. Remember the perils of using dirty water? Using this “polluted” knowledge, you won’t be able to make right decisions. Is there a way out? YES. Do not ride on the emotion. Be calm. Let the water settle. What happens when the water in the bucket is kept still for sometime? All the dirt settles at the bottom of the bucket. At this time you can access the upper layer of water which is free of dirt! Similarly, you must remain still when life throws those bad emotions at you. Be stable and then take a decision. Because the upper layer i.e. pure knowledge can be accessed only when your mind is calm and still.

Next, more important aspect. Knowledge management. Water will remain useful only if it keeps flowing. The flowing action denotes that it is “alive”. If it stops flowing, it stagnates. It becomes a breeding ground for dirt & insects to habituate. You will be reluctant to use such water. A good example, have you seen those ponds filled with water, the green bacteria floating on it? Using such water will add to your problems instead of solving them. Rather I will most likely use river water, which is flowing. Polluted water equals to polluted knowledge revisited! Knowledge must not be restricted from flowing. If it stagnates, it will rot. Our human body also cannot accumulate water for a longer time; we need to overhaul ourselves by drinking water and subsequently releasing it. We all agree for a good health we need to do that. Remember the advice given by our parents during our childhood “Don’t tell/teach this thing to your friend else he will get ahead of you” this would be the only parents’ advice, I would ask you to give up. Go share and increase your knowledge and take better decisions.

Life is a car journey

One night I was taking a walk on my building's terrace. I was just enjoying the breeze passing by me. Suddenly, a “philosophical” thought struck my mind. What is life? My mind answered “the way I live”. I thought that was a quick answer though the satisfaction was short lived. So, I dived more deep into the question to rise up with a better answer. I have a bridge running parallel to my building where cars were moving very fast (actually there was no traffic at that time ). Watching at those cars, a thought struck my mind, again. Life is like a car journey. Thoughts began to flow in. What do you need to drive a car? As far as I know, keys and fuel. But seriously, you should have three things. Direction, Control and Speed

You want to drive to your house but your car is heading towards the beach! Problem is wrong direction, no use of such a journey. No matter you drive a Lamborghini or a Maruti 800, it is dangerous if you have least control on it. You may probably land up with an accident if you delay a brake or a sharp turn. Every car covers a journey similar to a life. Our life is also a journey filled with different relationships, roles, emotions, actions, reactions, etc.

Imagine you have a Porsche 911 Turbo but you are driving at a speed of 30kmph! I cannot even imagine, can you? That is where speed comes into the picture.

Ok. Lets try the various combinations now.

One, suppose you have a Lamborghini moving towards the correct venue and you have complete control, but still moving at the speed of 30kmph. Boring? Right. This is what happens when you have a capacity of 3800cc and you are moving at only 30kmph. Heard people saying I am bored with life? Correct. Same case. Either they should step up the accelerator or they are on an inferior track (need to switch to a better road, job switch?). Now arises the question of how to know whether you are a Porsche or a Maruti. If you go further you will notice it is the engine they use and the power they generate. Lets call engine = your potential and power = your performance. So here we know the engine & power of the car. How to take ourselves to the Porsche level? Challenge yourself every time. Ask, can you do better than this? NO. Don’t give yourself a chance to doubt whether there exists something better than this! Just do it. You will be elevated to the Porsche level, steadily indeed. And obviously keep track of the track too. You never know when you will outperform and qualify for a better superior track.

Now another combination, suppose you are speeding in top gear towards the right direction with a Lamborghini but you hardly have control on the vehicle. No doubt, here you are prone to encounter an accident and book yourself a wheelchair or a pair of crutches. Heard of sports stars, film stars or celebrities moving up the ladder fast? Then sudden fall! These guys were caught unaware, no clue when, where and how to slow down or stop. You need to vaccinate yourself against this.

Even the third combination, won’t work. The only thing works is they all go hand in hand, synchronously. Let us derive a formula from above case studies. It looks like life must be balanced on a tripod stand, a platform atop a three-legged structure, where the three legs represent direction, control and speed. You can imagine how a tripod stand will look even if one leg has less/more length than the other two. Worst case all three legs have different length. For any difference, you run a risk of an accident/disability or getting bored or landing yourself at a wrong place or all of them at the same time! So, one must be well equipped with tripod’s qualities to drive his car alias life. That is what everyone would like to see and attain. Wish you Best of Luck for your car journey. Drive safely. Happy Journey!!