Just imagine -a successful industry honcho with chain of successful ventures behind him is on a mission to sign a deal that he believes would bring him in the list of the who’s who of the corporate world. He is blissfully enjoying every moment of his flight when his thoughts are curtly interrupted by the co-pilot’s announcement.
“I have good news as well as bad news. The good news is that we are going very fast and the bad news is that we are lost!”
Yes, it is true of most of us having lost a sense of balancing in the rat race to attain our materialistic pursuits and in the process have tragically trapped ourselves. Tragedy is that it is happening when we have more time saving devices at our disposal than what we had at any time in the past but we seem to have less time at our disposal to think about what we are doing.
The Gita says that Yoga is all about balance. That one is required to perform all his duties- as the beloved to his wife, as the dutiful son, as the earning householder, as a selfless friend, a responsible subject and a caring neighbour etc. all in appropriate proportion. So much is the importance of balancing in life that even by chasing the blessings of Almighty all the time by ignoring our duties in this workaday world we will not get the much cherished salvation -supreme happiness.
Vedas by dividing the life in to four phases ie brahamcharya, grihastha, sanyas and vanprastha emphasize the need for a balance in life. Similarly Buddha says that best way to practice Buddhism is by performing ones duties towards parents, wife, children, neighbours, guru & seers and social groups.
In ancient India the individual was encouraged to live in harmony with himself, his family, his environment and community by bringing about a balance between his inner and outer realities. Growing conflicts, struggle to survive, broken homes, youth going astray, addictions, crimes and suicides all what we are seeing today even in the homes which are rolling in wealth is because of the fact that we are not maintaining the balance what we are required to do. For example TV is a useful gadget in the house but to use it to keep children busy when the working mother is away to her place of work harms the children enormously. Likewise mobile has made difference in the lives of every body but to use it where your physical presence is required spoils the things.
How to restore this balance? Spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. By the time we realize that our parents needed us by their side, they are no more.
Say a kind word to someone who looks up to you for every thing in his early days, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Even with your entire accumulated wealth you can not buy back the childhood of your child. Therefore give him time and attention even if it is at the expense of so many other things which your bigger pay package can buy.
Give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a thing. Don’t forget to spare some time to make difference in the lives of many who were not born as privileged as you were.
Remember, to give a feeling to your partner that you care for him, with your actions and not merely by words. Simply crooning ‘I love you’ “I care for you” to your partner will not do unless you really mean it and show it to him with your actions.
Most important is don’t look for some auspicious time to start all these otherwise it will be too late. Life is like a dew drop. We will do well to keep in mind the friability of life.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
OBSESSED WITH PROFITS
As a child I had the good fortune of having my grandmother around me. She had always educative stories and anecdotes up her sleeves to suit the occasion. One such anecdote she narrated to me was- your grandfather was an officer in the British Empire. Once when he was posted in Ram Nagar near Varanasi our neighbor happened to be a business man known as Seth ji who had a roaring business of Silk. His huge mansion ‘haveli’ probably biggest in the town, a fleet of horse carts baghees , an army of servants, his wife’s favorite pass time of keeping the famed jewelers of Varanasi engaged gave enough indication of his ever burgeoning wealth.
Our family would shift to Shimla in summer. Once when we were back after a three months stay in Shimla, life in the haveli,had undergone number of amazing changes, servants had reduced to a trickle, only one baghhi in the waiting and it was no more the favorite destination of jewelers. Off course, the most glaring change was in sethani (Seth’s wife)) whose ever glistening face seemed to have acquired a paint of grimace.
My inquisitiveness had bottled up to the point of burst and one day when Sethani exchanged pleasantries I broke the ice to know about the reasons of this change, sethani almost broke down “There is a sudden and unexpected change in our business fortune. We are making a loss of Rs 5000 every month. Till what time could we absorb these loses?” I departed after displaying an expression of sympathy..
After a week or so we were in splits when their Munim (Accountant) disclosed to us that earlier the monthly profit of Seth’s firm was Rs 10000 odd which had reduced to Rs 5000 odd and it made Seth to declare emergency and slap harsh measures.
I could never think that this mindset had percolated down to our IT honchos who despite making huge profits and comfortably sitting on cash reserves are issuing pink slips to the employees, have increased the working hours not sparing even females and have frozen the salaries. One of IT companies resorting to such measures is sitting on a cash pile of Rrs 11000 crore the amount enough to start a bank and finance thousands of small units. But then my mother had told me that hoarding of wealth is also an addiction. Once you become a part of it, you simply like to see the pyramid of wealth scaling new heights every month and have Zero tolerance if the increase is with a slower pace.
I also worked in the private sector for 35 years in a few big business houses. They all considered removing an employee unless found indulging in dishonest means a virtual profane even when the units would be making cash losses. Though in many cases appointment letters would not be issued but still the jobs would be for the life time and the word of mouth would be honored in the matter of salary and perks. But, now when appointments letters are issued much in advance, the selected candidate remains unsure about his being called to join and such cases are many when the call letters are with much reduced salary.
Indeed it is a time for our IT honchos to go back to the surviving captains of the old school of management whose general message was “Remember if job is important to you, it is still more important to the man down the line. Think hundred times before giving any benefit but once given don’t take it away because it will hurt him as it hurts you.”
BHARTENDU SOOD
Our family would shift to Shimla in summer. Once when we were back after a three months stay in Shimla, life in the haveli,had undergone number of amazing changes, servants had reduced to a trickle, only one baghhi in the waiting and it was no more the favorite destination of jewelers. Off course, the most glaring change was in sethani (Seth’s wife)) whose ever glistening face seemed to have acquired a paint of grimace.
My inquisitiveness had bottled up to the point of burst and one day when Sethani exchanged pleasantries I broke the ice to know about the reasons of this change, sethani almost broke down “There is a sudden and unexpected change in our business fortune. We are making a loss of Rs 5000 every month. Till what time could we absorb these loses?” I departed after displaying an expression of sympathy..
After a week or so we were in splits when their Munim (Accountant) disclosed to us that earlier the monthly profit of Seth’s firm was Rs 10000 odd which had reduced to Rs 5000 odd and it made Seth to declare emergency and slap harsh measures.
I could never think that this mindset had percolated down to our IT honchos who despite making huge profits and comfortably sitting on cash reserves are issuing pink slips to the employees, have increased the working hours not sparing even females and have frozen the salaries. One of IT companies resorting to such measures is sitting on a cash pile of Rrs 11000 crore the amount enough to start a bank and finance thousands of small units. But then my mother had told me that hoarding of wealth is also an addiction. Once you become a part of it, you simply like to see the pyramid of wealth scaling new heights every month and have Zero tolerance if the increase is with a slower pace.
I also worked in the private sector for 35 years in a few big business houses. They all considered removing an employee unless found indulging in dishonest means a virtual profane even when the units would be making cash losses. Though in many cases appointment letters would not be issued but still the jobs would be for the life time and the word of mouth would be honored in the matter of salary and perks. But, now when appointments letters are issued much in advance, the selected candidate remains unsure about his being called to join and such cases are many when the call letters are with much reduced salary.
Indeed it is a time for our IT honchos to go back to the surviving captains of the old school of management whose general message was “Remember if job is important to you, it is still more important to the man down the line. Think hundred times before giving any benefit but once given don’t take it away because it will hurt him as it hurts you.”
BHARTENDU SOOD
OBSESSED WITH PROFITS
As a child I had the good fortune of having my grandmother around me. She had always educative stories and anecdotes up her sleeves to suit the occasion. One such anecdote she narrated to me was- your grandfather was an officer in the British Empire. Once when he was posted in Ram Nagar near Varanasi our neighbor happened to be a business man known as Seth ji who had a roaring business of Silk. His huge mansion ‘haveli’ probably biggest in the town, a fleet of horse carts baghees , an army of servants, his wife’s favorite pass time of keeping the famed jewelers of Varanasi engaged gave enough indication of his ever burgeoning wealth.
Our family would shift to Shimla in summer. Once when we were back after a three months stay in Shimla, life in the haveli,had undergone number of amazing changes, servants had reduced to a trickle, only one baghhi in the waiting and it was no more the favorite destination of jewelers. Off course, the most glaring change was in sethani (Seth’s wife)) whose ever glistening face seemed to have acquired a paint of grimace.
My inquisitiveness had bottled up to the point of burst and one day when Sethani exchanged pleasantries I broke the ice to know about the reasons of this change, sethani almost broke down “There is a sudden and unexpected change in our business fortune. We are making a loss of Rs 5000 every month. Till what time could we absorb these loses?” I departed after displaying an expression of sympathy..
After a week or so we were in splits when their Munim (Accountant) disclosed to us that earlier the monthly profit of Seth’s firm was Rs 10000 odd which had reduced to Rs 5000 odd and it made Seth to declare emergency and slap harsh measures.
I could never think that this mindset had percolated down to our IT honchos who despite making huge profits and comfortably sitting on cash reserves are issuing pink slips to the employees, have increased the working hours not sparing even females and have frozen the salaries. One of IT companies resorting to such measures is sitting on a cash pile of Rrs 11000 crore the amount enough to start a bank and finance thousands of small units. But then my mother had told me that hoarding of wealth is also an addiction. Once you become a part of it, you simply like to see the pyramid of wealth scaling new heights every month and have Zero tolerance if the increase is with a slower pace.
I also worked in the private sector for 35 years in a few big business houses. They all considered removing an employee unless found indulging in dishonest means a virtual profane even when the units would be making cash losses. Though in many cases appointment letters would not be issued but still the jobs would be for the life time and the word of mouth would be honored in the matter of salary and perks. But, now when appointments letters are issued much in advance, the selected candidate remains unsure about his being called to join and such cases are many when the call letters are with much reduced salary.
Indeed it is a time for our IT honchos to go back to the surviving captains of the old school of management whose general message was “Remember if job is important to you, it is still more important to the man down the line. Think hundred times before giving any benefit but once given don’t take it away because it will hurt him as it hurts you.”
BHARTENDU SOOD
Our family would shift to Shimla in summer. Once when we were back after a three months stay in Shimla, life in the haveli,had undergone number of amazing changes, servants had reduced to a trickle, only one baghhi in the waiting and it was no more the favorite destination of jewelers. Off course, the most glaring change was in sethani (Seth’s wife)) whose ever glistening face seemed to have acquired a paint of grimace.
My inquisitiveness had bottled up to the point of burst and one day when Sethani exchanged pleasantries I broke the ice to know about the reasons of this change, sethani almost broke down “There is a sudden and unexpected change in our business fortune. We are making a loss of Rs 5000 every month. Till what time could we absorb these loses?” I departed after displaying an expression of sympathy..
After a week or so we were in splits when their Munim (Accountant) disclosed to us that earlier the monthly profit of Seth’s firm was Rs 10000 odd which had reduced to Rs 5000 odd and it made Seth to declare emergency and slap harsh measures.
I could never think that this mindset had percolated down to our IT honchos who despite making huge profits and comfortably sitting on cash reserves are issuing pink slips to the employees, have increased the working hours not sparing even females and have frozen the salaries. One of IT companies resorting to such measures is sitting on a cash pile of Rrs 11000 crore the amount enough to start a bank and finance thousands of small units. But then my mother had told me that hoarding of wealth is also an addiction. Once you become a part of it, you simply like to see the pyramid of wealth scaling new heights every month and have Zero tolerance if the increase is with a slower pace.
I also worked in the private sector for 35 years in a few big business houses. They all considered removing an employee unless found indulging in dishonest means a virtual profane even when the units would be making cash losses. Though in many cases appointment letters would not be issued but still the jobs would be for the life time and the word of mouth would be honored in the matter of salary and perks. But, now when appointments letters are issued much in advance, the selected candidate remains unsure about his being called to join and such cases are many when the call letters are with much reduced salary.
Indeed it is a time for our IT honchos to go back to the surviving captains of the old school of management whose general message was “Remember if job is important to you, it is still more important to the man down the line. Think hundred times before giving any benefit but once given don’t take it away because it will hurt him as it hurts you.”
BHARTENDU SOOD
Saturday, May 16, 2009
IMAGINARY FEARS ARE OUR BIGGEST ENEMY
In Ramayana when Ram was in exile with Laxman and Seeta, one morning Laxman spotted a huge procession led by his brother Bharat approaching towards them. His reflex reaction was that Bharat not content with grabbing the throne of Ayodhya which rightfully belonged to Ram wanted to finish his brother and to accomplish his mission he was coming with his warriors. Fumed, he started making highly derogatory remarks about Bharat and took his bow to wage a war. But Ram who by virtue of Yoga had a stable mind stopped Laxman and asked him not to act on the basis of imaginary fairs. Ram was right Bharat was coming with altogether a different mission. Unstable mind is a breeding ground for imaginary fears and it can make heaven of hell and a hell of heaven. The less energy we spend on unnecessary emotional gyrations the more we have for intelligent decision making.
Sage Patanjali, the father of Yoga, in his Ashtanga Yoga advises a man to create a stable mind with yoga. It is the training of mind which imparts equanimity. It is a mental state that looks with equal ease at happiness and sorrow, at misery and luxury and treats success and failure in a same way. It looks at the world and happenings around with an open mind free of biases, fears and has only good and positive thoughts. “Control your mind, your prana will be automatically controlled” says Satya Sri Sai Baba. Veda’s sukti “Shiv sankalpam astu” Oh God may only good thoughts enter my mind reinforce this view” The man who develops a stable mind rarely commits blunders which he might have to rue later on.
Sage Patanjali, the father of Yoga, in his Ashtanga Yoga advises a man to create a stable mind with yoga. It is the training of mind which imparts equanimity. It is a mental state that looks with equal ease at happiness and sorrow, at misery and luxury and treats success and failure in a same way. It looks at the world and happenings around with an open mind free of biases, fears and has only good and positive thoughts. “Control your mind, your prana will be automatically controlled” says Satya Sri Sai Baba. Veda’s sukti “Shiv sankalpam astu” Oh God may only good thoughts enter my mind reinforce this view” The man who develops a stable mind rarely commits blunders which he might have to rue later on.
SENSEX FORECASTS
Nothing manifests better this axiom that Sensex forecasts is cunning’s job who are capable of hoodwinking) for super idiots when we read that sensex is moving in sympathy with Lok sabha Poll forecasts. There is no change in forecasts in the last three months-position is same but sensex has moved up by 40%. Three days back when sensex jumped by 485 points it was attributed to BJP’s holding better prospectus, but the fact remains that no agency gave any edge to BJP and today it rose by 200 points when all agencies are betting on Congress.
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