Birth of a Religion

3 people, Chitta, Manas, Ahankar set out on a journey in pursuit of the creator, that created the earth, solar system and this universe. They wanted to meet the creator who is called God by everyone.

Wise men told them –

God is the brightest light in the sky which never sets.
God is a dark space where no light can shine.
God had no birth and has no death.
God is the beginning and is the end.
God is hot fire and also a cool breeze.
God resides in a place that is end less.

They did not find a person, place or thing that describes the above descriptions. Only thing that made little sense was “God resides in a place that is end less”. They set out to find a place that is endless.

They go North and reached the mountains. From below, the mountains looked endless.  These mountains must be God. They climbed for a few days in great anticipation.  After a while, they could see  the tip of the mountain. The seekers concluded that ‘Mountains are not end less. God cannot be here’.

They came down, went west and reached a desert.  Sand was endless. They thought this must be it. Even though the Sun was spewing fire from above, they continued. After days of walking in the sand, they did not encounter God. They were dehydrated and tired.
Ahankar and Manas wanted to go back, but Chitta was persistent. He has decided not to go back without finding God. Chitta went on, while Manas and Ahankar waited at an oasis. After few more days of walking Chitta reached grass lands and hills. The desert is not endless. Chitta was dejected to find it and headed back.

They head towards east and find flat land which stretched beyond horizon. Ahankar and Manas were tired and do not want to go any further. Chitta somehow convinces them. After a few days of walking through the planes, crossing rivers, they again encounter mountains!

Chitta convinces, we went in three directions, lets go South. If we do not find God, we will go back.
They continue their journey south. Chitta was tired but his longing to know truth was keeping him going. After months of travel, they reach ocean.  It was endless, deep body of water. “This must be God”,  a tired but elated Chitta said. Ahankar was not convinced.  Manas is undecided. Chitta jumps into the water and continues swimming.  Manas jumps after him half heartedly while Ahankar stays on the shore.
After a day of swimming, Chitta was tired and about to drown, he shouts, “Is this the way to God?”

A divine voice says, “Yes, this is the way. Keep going”.

Chitta asked, “Is this the only way?” 

Divine voice laughed and said, “You have not gone far enough in any other directions, you did not climb the mountains and see what is beyond. Yes, this is the only way unless you want to return to climb the mountains and see what it beyond them”.

Chitta got the point – If they have made effort to go beyond the mountains, that would have been the way too. Since he is already in the ocean, Chitta continues swimming. He sees a light far away and continues to swim with the little energy left.

Manas, from behind asks, “Is this the way?”

Chitta replies, “Yes, this is the way. Do you see the light?”

Manas says, “No”. Chitta continues.  Manas is confused and he just turns back. Reaching the shore, he tells Ahankar that, “This is the way. Chitta found a light”.

Manas and  Ahankar wait on the shore. Ahankar did not have the patience to wait for Chitta. Ahankar put up a board at the point where Chitta jumped into the ocean, “ONLY PATH to GOD”. People started visiting the place.  Structures were built along the place. Ahankar started managing the place. People started worshipping at the place in the direction in which Chitta swam. Word spread to far away lands and Ahankar trained his followers and sent them in all directions.

“ONLY PATH TO GOD” was their slogan.  Whoever questioned it, was brushed aside.

NO ONE DARED TO JUMP INTO THE OCEAN, BUT EVERYONE IS CONVINCED THAT IT IS THE ONLY PATH TO GOD! A religion is born.

PS: Chitta came back a few years later and told people that, “if you are willing, every path is a path to God.  I will help you.  Only few people went with him. Rest of them were with Ahankar shouting this is “ONLY PATH TO GOD”. Those who jumped into the ocean were punished upon return for questioning the path.

In this ever changing and evolving universe, nothing is fixed. Fixed means non-existent or dead. Similarly, if we make conclusions about spirituality, then spirituality is dead and a belief system is born. The belief system or religion might be expanding but the spiritual possibility is diminished to the point it is deemed a threat. With fixed beliefs, there is no scope for exploration and enlightenment is individual. A Guru can guide you but one has to strive for it.

By the way, what is your role?

After acquiring the Switter company, self-made billionaire Elom Tusk begins layoffs globally, affecting the majority of employees in India. The Indian headquarters is then relocated to Coimbatore and a new team is formed, with only a few retained employees.

The newly-formed TeamRed-Bharath, consisting of 5 members, is tasked with developing a localized @SwitterRed subscription service. TeamRed-Bharath works tirelessly, 100 hours a week, while also regularly tweeting and successfully launches the new application in India. Everyone is happy. A special congratulatory message came from Elom.

To celebrate their hard work, a party is organized at a resort on a Friday evening, with Elom Tusk himself scheduled to attend. Despite being late, the 5-member TeamRed-Bharath finally arrives at the party, where they are praised for their dedication and hard work. Before them, all the invitees have arrived except the CEO. The invitees included heads of HR, finance, IT, Operations and House keeping. By the empty appetizer plates on the long table, it looked like the party started in the afternoon itself. TeamRed members took the remaining spots between them. Everyone is praising them for their hard work and dedication. Before the pilots could pick few left over pieces of appetizers, they are are asked to choose the drinks.

Its drinks time!
The moment everyone is waiting for and the sole reason many of them are there, arrives in different sizes and shapes. Some of them get their wine in slim glasses, whiskey in big fat glasses, beer in tumblers. Most of the TeamRed members are shy. Some order beer and rest of them are content with orange juice. There is one empty chair at the center. It is reserved for the CEO who is yet to arrive. Everyone is waiting for Elom to come and make a toast. They get the message that the CEO’s car departs from the office and he shall be there in any moment. All of them are looking at their glasses and at the gate. The wait becomes unbearable for many with each passing second.

Can’t wait no more!
One of the heads of departments, named Sam Bhargav, could not wait any longer. He cannot believe the liquid before him is not heating his throat already. The moment appears to be far away and the wait turns eternal. He wants to at least smell his drink (breathe in) but cannot not dare to touch the glass. He has an idea!

What is your role?
All the TeamRed members are sitting on his side. he bends forward (breathe in) and asks the first member closest to him, “You did a fantastic job with the project, what is your role? The smell of the drink was intoxicating! Rajiv answers, “I am the system architect who designed the application”. Sam, replies, “nice job”, bending forward (one more breathe in) to make eye contact with Rajiv and nose contact with his drink! He moves to the next team member (again breathe in), “What is our role?”. Ramesh replies “I did coding in Java”.
Sam says, “Great (thinking of the smell)!”. Sam moves to the next member for smelling!, “What is your role (breathe in)”? Raman replies, “I am a testing engineer, I checked the application worked as desired”. “Like wine tasters smelling and tasting wine to test the flavor”, he adds. Raman smiles at Sam and winks. Before Sam could move to the next person, Raman asks Sam, “by the way, what is your role? You are asking everyone about their roles”. Raman bends forward (breath in) to smell his beer!

Sam replies, “I am the head of house keeping, my job is to make sure the office is kept neat”. He lifts the glass of whiskey and smells it leisurely and adds, “glasses are clean”. One more breathe in and adds while rotating the glass, “no stains and residue”. He places the glass on the table and bends forward, “make sure the tables are neat.”

Sam realizes that everyone caught on to his trick. He says, “whenever we go to outside parties, I make sure the tables and glasses are neat and food is hygienic”. Taking the que, everyone lift their glasses and start looking for stains while they breathe in the vapors of divine liquids. They all say in unison, “hmm, neat and clean”.

Is Recession Coming?

This holiday season, people are eagerly awaiting to see if recession is going to come more than Christmas! Lot of CEOs of reputed companies are airing their warnings of impending recession. But no one is providing any solutions as it they are expecting it!
Recession is reverse of a pandemic.
Virus (effect of interest rate hikes) is mold at the beginning. First it starts off mildly, no symptoms . Virus picks strength (Feds hike the interest rates further) – then many more people get serious symptoms (lose jobs) and need hospitalization (unemployment benefits). No medicines yet (The inflation is till high). Virus becomes more stronger (Feds hike the rates further). Then its a total collapse of medical (economy) system. Then government has to step in with more stimulus! Stimulus with no funding leads to more inflation!

Economic Roller coaster:
While we expect rollercoaster to go up and down, twist and turn but want the economy to keep going up and never fall. It does not work like that. Economy also goes down and stays there for some time! Is it bad? Not so if the fall is not steep and long!  

Revolving Door:
Why do you think the inflation is not coming down even though the interest rates are high? May be Feds have assumed, based on previous experience, that higher interest rates come in and inflation goes out. May be this pandemic induced stimulus has altered the relation! Inflation and interest rates might have learned to co-exist!
People have enough cash to spend and need not borrow! So raising interest rates may not be a solution for this unique situation we are in. Looks like the revenge spending and travel are not over yet and may run past this thanksgiving! Did the government not foresee it while giving away the stimulus checks? Did they not expect the Russia-Ukraine war to disrupt petroleum supplies and increase the prices?

Extra dollars that were pumped into the economy did not stay within US borders. World trades in dollars and extra dollars only made the reserves of foreign countries less valuable. But surprisingly dollar value against all major currencies is getting higher! You print extra dollars without any commodity being exchanged, and dollar value increases!

Democrats’ mid term dilemna:
How do we control the gas prices at least until mid term elections? Saudis are of no help. They de-listed themselves from USA yelp! The only way to do that is reducing consumption.  All the democrats should cut down on their travel even if they have EVs! Something got to burn to produce spark! Traveling in personal jets is even worse. Celebrate the weekends wherever you are. Without the heating gas, ocean water gets cold too! Don’t be tempted by Amazon sale!

Instead of giving away cash, government should have bought the debt of the people in need if they bought goods made in USA and essentials. This would have kept the supply of essential goods running while keeping the money inside the country. Not everyone lost their jobs and needed the stimulus.

Deflation through unemployment:
Fed’s reasoning of reducing inflation through higher interest rates is rudimentary and may not be suitable for current situation. Want to decrease demand by pushing people out of employment! The better way might be decreasing taxes on local goods and  increasing them on foreign goods. Goods from China will not become luxury by raising taxes by a few percentage points. Government can list out the items that are not essentials and contributing highest to inflation and provide a directive to the people. With people’s involvement, we can deflate the inflation with a pin, you don’t need missiles. 

Deflation through collection:

The stimulus package was given without a plan for funding. Its extra money that was printed in unprecedented times. May be the government should have a plan to pull that money back since its intended purpose is over.  

A few questions that government should look at are:

1. Money is pumped into the economy but where did that money end up after many transactions?
2. Is it with the corporations? 
3. Is it with the local governments?
4. Is it with foreign companies and countries in exchange of goods?

If it is equitably distributed among all the constituents of US, then we do not need to increase interest rates. People have extra money to dispense off and what will increasing interest rate do? People are not borrowing money except for housing and auto loans. Small and medium size companies without enough cash flow depend on loans to fund their growth until profitable. They are the most affected. By dis-incentivizing local production, we are further rising inflation. When there is lot of cash and less goods, it is ideal to boost local production since the bottlenecks surrounding global movement of goods  and shortage of raw materials are not fully resolved.  

Vicious cycle of Inflation and interest rate hikes:

Even after aggressive rise in interest rates, why isn’t the inflation cooling off? May be there is extra cash and people are not borrowing money enough to feel the pain!
Federal reserve should hike the interest rates with caution. There might be a tipping point beyond which the fall might be too steep and difficult to spring back quickly. If people lose jobs in great number, then government has to give more stimulus without plan for funding which will raise inflation again! With reduced economic activity, goods will be in shortage and stimulus will make it worse. The best solution is increasing domestic production of goods and services!

I am a wave

I am a wave bubbling with life
Churned by the vast ocean 
Excited I am to reach the shore 
Rolling on to a beach of sand

The Sun is red and warm 
The moon is round and cool
Before I could get a feel of the land,
I am pulled back without any strand

Unfulfilled I am, longing for more
Waiting for someone to open the door
The place is dark as a cave
Finally, I am back as another wave

This time I am taller, wider 
Able to push myself farther 
Rising high, pulled by the moon
I land on the rocks soon

The landing was hard and quick
I could not help but break
Into many pieces and go home
Hurt, disappointed, after a wild roam

I wait for another lunar pull to carry me
To the shore and set me free
Day, night, evening, and noon
Need a force larger than the moon

One day, when sun is in northern run
The plates under the ocean grind
Releasing a new spurt of force
Setting up large waves from the source

Time is ripe and I ride the Tsunami
Reaching as high as the sky
I am thrown on to the shore and beyond
I am no more a wave but a pond

I am locked between pieces of land
There I stand still and grand
Days and nights pass fast
There I am still as a cast

I am fattened by the rain
And sickened by the drain
Poked by the debris and plastic
No fish, no whale, so sick

The boundary on all sides
At first, I felt safe and sound
Stuck I am now with no movement
Feeling jailed and not content

With more sun, comes summer 
Turning me into air, lot thinner
I rise and rise towards the blue
Where am I now, I have no clue

 I am flying now, did I get wings
Moving up down in wild swings
Got caught in a storm so wild
Swirling and cruising so riled

Suddenly I turn heavy and dark
As a lump of clay in the park
At great speed I drop to ground
I split into drops so round

Now i am a river in mountains
Formed by so many rains
I flow through the winding lane
In between – rushing in pain

Then came a steep,  free fall
The moment I felt so tall
being pulled up and down
With rays of sun as crown

 I hit a rocky wall in no time
Adorned by green fungal slime
Back together as one stream
I walk into plains, with a gleam

In the flat lands, I turn fat and slow
So old I am, my boundaries grow
Then I split into many branches
Now moving only in inches

I slowly join the ocean, the destination
Sweetness turns into salt
White froth turns deep blue
Stroll turns into a wave

I ride the tides up and down
Reaching for the land so brown
I head deep into the ocean
Far away from any tension

I can be born again in this watery womb
To be married again to the moon
For a moment I shed my froth
And be the infinite ocean

I realize my elemental nature
I am the pond locked by the land
I am the cloud flying in the sky
I am the ice that is waiting in whites

I am the stream flowing down the hills
I am the river that wets the plains
I am the ocean that longs for the moon
I am here, there, everywhere
I am also a wave of nothingness going nowhere

Hell of a Heaven

Lot of us dream of heaven that no one who is living has seen. We just hear about it in religious texts and from religious heads. They promise of heaven that is exclusive to the people of one religion and are supplied with all the things one longs for, on earth and in abundance. Do you really think there are separate heavens for each religion?

We breath the same air everyone else breathes, we drink the same water. We share the same food. There is no Hindu air, Islam air or Christian air. I ask those who think that there is a separate heaven for each religion – is there any proof that it’s separate? The way there is no Hindu Earth, Muslim Earth, Christian Earth, Jewish Earth, Sikh Earth, if there is a heaven or hell, it would be for all -infinite and timeless.

Suppose you went to heaven and you encounter people of other religions or people from other doctrines of your religion, what are you going to do? You cannot ignore them since they are everywhere. You cannot kill them or blow them up since they cannot die. You have to face them for every moment and everywhere (no sleep in heaven). They will be doing their pooja, conducting Raas with Krishna or prayers according to their religion and doctrine. There will be infinite music, great food. There could be Shiva’s eternal Taandav “dance”. There could be ghazals, opera, rap, hiphop and actual moonwalk! What are you going to do? You cannot convert them or banish them from your thoughts. You might be a majority in the heaven and others might be a minority. Others are used to it and they will just relax in one corner of the heaven. But you have to face them every moment. With all the hate that has been poured into you against other religions and you go to heaven expecting it to be free of them. Surprise! All you will do is make hell out of heaven.

All that people expect is freedom to pursue their desires irrespective of caste, creed, doctrine and religion. BY their own nature do not have any hate against other religions. They acquire it through religious heads who dream of world dominance and religion is their means. You can ask them if they already saw heaven. They might have noticed infinite pooja, prayer, dance in infinite trans!
If they are guaranteed heaven, why are they the last ones to go fight or blow themselves up?

Heaven or Hell is here and now. It is how we experience life. Let us not make Hell out of Heaven!

While we still have an active and discriminatory mind, we have a choice to
– embrace all life as us.
– provide space for everyone to explore life and beyond.
– make this earth, a heaven through mutual respect, sensitivity and love.

AUM Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi hi 🙏
Amen
Ameen
Sat Sri Akal…………..

Sanatana Dharma

What is Dharma?
Dharma means law or duty. Law by definition is “The system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.” Law also is “a rule defining correct procedure or behavior in a sport.”
Laws are made by a society or country so that it runs smoothly or to play a game fairly. What would be the state of roads if no one follows traffic laws? (unless you are on Indian roads!). Are people safe to reach their destination? Similarly, what could be the state of a society with no rules or no one following the law? We have some examples in the recent history for us to comprehend that.

What is Sanatan(a) Dharm(a)?
Sadhguru says “Sanatana #Dharma is the law that governs your inner nature.” Sanatana Dharma means an eternal law that will always be relevant. It has to be relevant for everyone, males or female, old or young, rich or poor, tall or short, white, black or brown. day or night, in space or on ground. A law that has to be relevant to everyone, every moment and everywhere, has to do something with the fundamental nature of life.
If you are in California, there are laws to ration the use of water due to scarcity. There are no such laws in states around great lakes. Whether we ration the use or not, water is a life building material essential for the survival of most life on Earth. The Dharma is: water is essential for life. Same with air, soil which gives us food, fire from Sun that sustains us and the space that holds this universe in place. Whether we treat the five elements with respect or not, they are the building blocks of the universe. The body that we call as ‘me, you, he, she, they, them’ is a piece of Earth whether we believe that God created us or we are born out of mothers’ womb. The body is governed by the physical laws of nature whether you recognize it or not. If you are immune to the physical laws you cannot be pinned to the earth.

Sanatana Dharma is eternal or timeless law that governs life and how we can be in tune with it. Sadhguru says that, “Human beings have allergy to boundaries, they want to be more than what they are or have. There is an innate longing in every human being to be limitless”. The journey of a human being is from individual identity to cosmic identity whether we call it Heaven, Mukti, Nirvana, Jannat, Lap of God.

Science of Sanatana Dharma – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbUHzLNkOiM

In this journey from individual identity to cosmic identity, the vehicle available is cumulative of body, mind, emotions and energy. There is also society which can nurture the individual’s longing for mukti by creating support systems. This was done in all ancient civilizations. In the land we call Bhaarath, every aspect of life was scientifically structured so that the longing to experience something more than one’s self is cultivated and nurtured. All the rituals from birth to death are designed carefully. Guidelines for how one has to sleep, wake up, eat, work have been established, and passed on from generation to generation. Powerful temples were established in every village for the well being of all so that one goes through life process with ease. First step was, whatever nurtures this life, was revered. Soil is considered as mother which nurtures every life on this planet. If Moon is our target, we need the fuel from this earth to power the rocket!

Protect Dharma – Rules for thou!:
I hear from people in USA that Dharma needs to be protected. But how do protect a law? Writing a book about it and storing it in the library? No, only way to protect a law is to establish it. Where do you establish it? Not in the neighbor’s house but within ourselves. It is not fair to expect others to follow the rule while we ourselves are not established in it!

The methods that worked 5000 years ago may not work now. The methods that worked in Dwapara yuga may not work in Kali yuga. The methods that work in one country may not work in another. Its important that we evolve along with time so that the individual longing is still nurtured and supported. Else the longing shifts to other things like acquiring wealth, pleasure which are limited in nature. In present times when people use the mind more than the body, the processes have to evolve. Devotion became so prominent in Kali yuga because that people did not understand it any other way. In today’s world, everything has to be logically explained for people to understand.

Lamp of one – light for all!
Suppose I have a lamp that is lit and wish to light lamps of others, do you want me to go to each one and offer my light or let my light glow in glory and brightly that no one can miss seeing it? Definitely, I want the light to glow in glory so that others approach me. As an individual/society, we need to establish the dharma within ourselves so that others are attracted to it. The aura around the extraordinary human beings is a natural antenna for the seekers. All we need to do keep flame of seeking, burning.

Fire burns down a forest that is dry but not a rainforest. Its convenient to blame external factors for current situation of our lives. But, to some extent, we might have become dry, lacking the necessary organic content like today’s soil. Even if rain of grace falls on us, we do not have the strength to hold on to it. Time to re-establish ourselves in Dharma. Time to save soil.

Savesoil.org

Are you Rich enough to turn Left?

Opposite of ‘right’ is not always ‘wrong’. Opposite of ‘Right’ is sometimes ‘Left’. One’s journey is a combination of many turns, some towards right and some towards left but whatever turn we take, we feel its right even though some may think its wrong. If you have taken a vow to always turn right at each junction, your journey becomes a circle and you reach no where!

Many in the USA have turned their ideas into wealth compared to other countries. Whether it is Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Elon Musk and many many more, USA has nurtured innovation and rewarded perseverance. A stable and supportive government, aggressive US foreign policy worked as catalyst for businesses to thrive and expand. US, was and is the main country standing against the spread of communism. Many, who ran away from communist countries which purported socialism, arrived in USA and thrived.  But why are these billionaires, who have thrived in a capitalist ecosystem, have become left leaning? The leftists or political lefts promote socialism. Socialism refers to a system of social organization in which private property and the distribution of income are subject to social control. Socialist ideals include production for use, rather than for profit; an equitable distribution of wealth and material resources among all people; no more competitive buying and selling in the market; and free access to goods and services. Do all big corporations and billionaires want Socialism?

If tomorrow, US government turns socialist (a distant possibility), the first group that would be affected are the rich. The taxes would go up and government would control the access to the resources. But why are the billionaires of silicon valley, film personalities of Hollywood, owners of large TV enterprises and some of US have become left leaning? Suddenly did the compassion in their hearts awaken, while they are ruthless on their competitors? Did they realize their responsibility towards society while their worth was growing exponentially?  In that case, there would be no homelessness and poverty in California and Washington. Are they trying to please the external governments where they have their business and entertainment interests?

In any politically or socially stable country, middle class, lower middle class and working poor are a huge economic opportunity that is untapped.  Their aspiration to have a good  life, affordable health care is a big possibility for the businesses. How can the businesses tap this opportunity if these people’s earnings are not enough to fulfill basic needs of shelter, food and health care? The big businesses have turned right at each junction and established big companies, made enormous wealth and they have completed the circle. No more exponential growth since market is exhausted. They have gone abroad using the open market facilitated by WTO and used the government to arm twist difficult foreign governments. But how to expand the local market? Turn left!

There are two ways, a big corporation with some monopoly, can expand its customer base. One is, lobby the government to dole out free money to poor and lower middle class. Other way is, providing jobs to economically poor and  lower middle class. The big corporations lobby the government for free benefits because that is the quickest way in fulfilling their agenda while they produce goods in foreign countries. But is it sustainable? If it inspires people to participate in economic activity, its good. But is not the case. People lose interest in getting into the job market or lose touch with changing nature of jobs due to increased automation and increasing imports.

The big corporations and certain politicians want to forward their interests through a constipated socialism limited to governance only. These companies and billionaires do not want to donate their wealth to the poor or reduce the prices of their products or services.  Big hospitals do not want to reduce their bills. The prescription or over the counter drug prices in US are one of the highest even in developed world. They want the government to use tax payer’s money to dole out the freebies, subsidies, welfare programs while they become richer and richer. I am not against the benefits given to the poor and lower middle class. Everyone has the right to live and die with dignity and hallmark of a developed nation.  But, is this the most effective way? How can you control it? After a while, economic support becomes entitlement. There are also a fair share of politicians who promote and desire socialist form of governance. They call it democratic socialism! They do it for consolidating their vote bank. But is this sustainable in the face or increasing external debt, increasing cost of living, increasing medical costs and aggressive external governments?

Suppose, there are 100 people living on the banks of Mississippi river and each one had access to river’s water for drinking, to irrigate their fields and fish. They used the river to fulfill their needs and lived happily. In this case, it does not matter whether the government is capitalist of socialist.
As the days, passed by, flow of the river reduced, leaving the farmers downstream dry. This could have been caused by exploitation of water by upstream farmers, increased population or reduced rainfall. In this case, the farmers downstream need to be compensated either by regulating the use of water and to make sure they have equal access to the river or compensate them with money.  We have to choose what is sustainable. While compensating with money supports the immediate needs of the poor, it removes any incentive to improvise, adapt to the changing economy, society and ecosystem.

Socialism is the basis of nature. It exists in different forms in USA too. Take the example of health and auto insurance. People pool in money so that someone in need can use it in case of emergency or accident. The companies that manage the fund, have profit motive but the function of it is rooted in socialism. Though it is mandated by the government, it is the best way we could do it since not everyone can afford to save money for emergencies. But this cannot be expanded to every realm of economy through governance. It has to be through willing participation of all the citizens which is possible through compassion and guarantee of stable livelihood. The so-called democratic socialists, always talk about to bring down the vast inequality between wealth of the rich and poor through higher taxation and government control over production. A person earning  minimum wage might be a rich man in many other countries while he cannot afford basic needs in USA. If the politicians focus on bringing down the cost of living, the poor would naturally move to middle class. If everyone is above the poverty line, we need to worry about the rich poor inequality. If transport, healthcare, education costs can be reduced, many of the problems will be solved.

Sadhguru says that Socialism is a beautiful concept if rich are ready to share with less privileged. It turns ugly if rich are forced to share or if state takes up the task of equitable distribution of wealth and resources. The big corporations, billionaires should invest in jobs in the country and reducing cost of living  so that everyone has equal opportunity to earn a living. It takes lot of effort but it pays off in the long run. The money is only valuable as long as the society is peaceful and thriving.. Its always worthy to invest in sustainability. Also the people have to embrace socialism in reproduction. Human beings have enough compassion to support a few fellow human beings. But if there are too many people in need, compassion will be replaced by apathy since the help, one can do, is simply not enough! 

More than Democratic socialism which is prone to misuse or concentration of power, we need conscious market economy.

Growth – The Organic Way

Whenever I am driving on a highway, I try to maintain constant speed. Maintaining the tender balance on the accelerator gives a certain thrill.  I can only do this when no vehicles ahead of me.  What I observe is vehicles behind me turn restless. Even though I am going at max speed limit,  people look to overtake me.  May be they do not like to cruise at constant speed.  They either need to accelerate or decelerate.

That is what we see even in economies.  Companies are expected to grow, to look normal, else are considered stagnant or dead.  If everything else around us is moving at same speed as us,  we are stagnant with respect to things around, even though we are traveling at enormous speed.  In this race,  we tend to go ahead of others and try to stretch ourselves in all possible ways. This artificial stretch gives us a sense of motion but we are moving away from our core. This is what we are doing with our companies and economies. The economists in positions of decision making should understand that the size of earth is not growing by 3% every year, nor the resources growing. The only way to grow the economy in conservative terms is to produce and consume more goods, causing more pollution. In business, we target plausible growth but in the process push ourselves as if it is only way to survive.  We have heard this in history books.  Small kingdoms dreaming to be the empires, are in constant war with neighbors. Few of them get successful but end up breaking up into pieces as they cannot maintain the vast empire. In today’s world, actual wars are replaced by non-violent ways-economic and ideological wars.

Today’s businesses do the same to capture the market. As we pull ourselves more,  we break into pieces.  In this process, they break into groups, away from their core. We have seen many examples – Shivaite-Vaishnavite, Shia-Sunni, Catholic-Protestant ideological clashes. Both the groups, though sharing the same source, claim their path to be only true, but there is a chance that both are true.  If there are infinite possibilities of reaching point A from point B,  there could be infinite ways to know truth. If we traveled the path, we would know.

Running Behind Profits:
If we take the case of Facebook. In pursuit of profits, users’ data was allegedly given to other companies.  It lost the trust of some users.  Growth cannot be always be through stretching in one direction we think is best. If growth of a company is only measured in terms of revenue, profit alone then, it will not last long as it takes a lot from the employees, owners, stake holders and customers. Growth is best if it is in all directions, like a lake. A lake expands its shores in all directions during rains and humble enough to shrink back. Even though it expands or shrinks, it does not lose its core. Similarly, growth of a company has to be a product of willing contributions from all the employees, suppliers and customers. Also the growth should have a positive impact on the lives of the employees. Everyone should take pride in their role and contribution and supporting each other in ups, downs and flat roads!

Downtime is actually a good time to take stock of the company, resources, skill set and other factors. Its time to improve overall process, improve and upgrade skills through training. One has to experience stillness to enjoy movement! One cannot be in constant expansion, to miss the beauty of stillness. Let’s move with a sense of stillness; and be ready to become still while on the move.

UMM! Chilli!

When I was about 8 or 10 years of age, my mother used to cook curries without red chilli(chili) powder or green chilli peppers since my father had stomach ulcers.  Chilli pepper – green, red, cayene or many other varieties, is an ubiquitous ingredient of Indian, Mexican and Mediterranean cuisines! The curries looked very bland to others but we were used to it.  As my father got cured,  he started eating chilli peppers again and mother’s curries changed too.  But I did not graduate fully and I am not fond of this spice.  Recently, I realized what happens when I eat chilli peppers.

I noticed that when I put chilli peppers  in the mouth (as part of curry! Never I dare to eat it alone), it pricks the tongue at points it comes in contact.  As long as some portions of the tongue are spared, I could manage it. If its in excess, my mouth is on fire. You need water or sugar to cool off.  If my mouth is burning, what do you think might be happening in the food pipe and stomach?  I can sense it in the mouth,  but not many of us are sensitive enough to know what is happening in the stomach and intestines until food gets to the end of  intestines – My A*** is on fire! Paper will not work,  Need water. Menthol water would have been better!

Many people like the pricking of chilli and enjoy it. I am sure they had to go through “the fire at the end of the line” initially before the body got used to it. What I noticed is,  chilli pepper (with food of course!) when ingested,  inhibits saliva generation which is crucial for digestion of the food.  It’s like, touching a hot surface.  When you come in contact with fire, you retract based on how hot the surface – hotter the surface, faster the retraction. It’s  same case with food with chilli pepper – the hotter it is, the faster you try to swallow the food (touch and go). This is not like watching  a movie, where most of the action happens inside the theater and not at the counter. It is like playing a match- though you have to perform in the field, practice and warmup is very important. Chewing is important for digestion!

Over  time, getting used to chilli pepper,  we lose the habit of chewing food and just enjoy the taste and swallow.  This may be affecting the overall digestion process of which mouth is an important portion.  Hope you have seen cows sitting leisurely chewing the food! Our food is cooked but it still needs some chewing.

Black Pepper vs Chilli Pepper

Source: https://www.spiceography.com

When I added black pepper to my food, it actually generated more saliva (similar to lime or lemon) and I chewed longer and enjoyed food more. Black pepper creates heat but does not prick the tongue as chilli.  My daughter has difficulty eating food with chilli but no issues with black pepper. Children resist chilli in food but we force them to eat until they get used to it and cannot go without! Now don’t say chilli helps with constipation – You cannot use fire to dry a wet cloth, it will burn after some time!

Alternatives!
I am writing it here and dare not tell you in person.  I do not want to risk chilli powder thrown at me!  You can replace it with Paprika or black pepper. Try it out and see.

You could argue that people are using chilli for centuries. Our lifestyle has become more sedentary. May be it does not matter when one’s job is physically very intensive.  Culture is good as a template for us to evolve and grow, but not as an excuse for our compulsions.

 

 

 

Is your milk 100% pure?

In a small town in East Tennessee, there are two main family owned businesses, Joy Milk and Happy Milk, selling milk in a small Tennessee town.  They fought bitterly among each other for the market share. You see bill boards of these two companies across the town.  Joy Milk would show a a beautiful cow laughing  – ” Milk from a joyful Cow – Tasty and full of Joy”.  Happy Milk would say – “Milk from Happy Cow – Whippy and Happy”.

They were looking for new ways to sell more milk.  Joy milk started new campaign saying – ” Milk from grass fed cows”. This causes confusion among the consumers – what are they fed before? what are others feeding – chicken? With this Joy milk sales increased by 10% in a week.

Marketing team at Happy milk is on the hook now. Lot of pressure on them to come up with counter campaign. After a week they launched a new ad – “Our milk has always been from grass fed cows, it pure too.” Sales of Happy milk increased.

The campaign war became more intense as the bosses got restless.  Joy Milk brought about a new campaign – “Start your day with a glass of  Joy Milk- 100% pure!”

Now this has got to the limit! Can something be called pure if it is not 100% what it is expected to be?  Can something which is 50% called pure? Before the percentage business got into advertisement, if something is pure – its implicit to be 100% pure. Not anymore. Its pure only if it is explicitly stated as 100%! When I was small, milk was mainly sold by individuals either owners of a few cows and buffaloes or middlemen. Milk was mixed with water by most. You have to choose between the sellers based on who mixes less and offers cheap!

Both Joy and Happy milk companies have reached to 100% purity in their ads and could not push anymore.  The wise managements knew they could not go with 110%, 200% as it would only lead to larger banners!  After being quite for a few days, Happy milk came up with new campaign – ” 100% pure, rBST free milk!  Now they got into hormone business! To counter this Joy milk released a new ad – “100% pure milk from hormone free, healthy cows”.  This war became more interesting than the actual milk! Many thought this would be the end of it since they covered grass feed, purity, hormones.

Happy milk hired  a costly ad agency from New York. Until now, tussle was local, its going national now.  Within a few days a new colorful ad showed up on the billboards early in the morning before the cows were ready for milking. It showed a smiling cow with Bose headphones saying “Milk from cows listening to best country music – pride of Nashville!”
Joy hired a reputed Ad guru from California. They released  a new ad – “Our cows watch best shows and walk a mile daily” showing a cow before a rock concert with a fitbit attached to the ear!

A local journalist, who was following these ads closely investigated into the source of their milk and published an article in reputed local newspaper – Both Happy and Joy Milk source their milk from same dairy farm – ‘White Gold Farms’ in rural Tennessee.

God vs Sentinelese Tribe

John Allen Chau,  with an  intention to take word of God to North Sentinelese island, home to Sentinelese who, often violently, reject any contact with the outside world, and are among the last uncontacted people to remain virtually untouched by modern civilization. He was killed by an arrow possibly on Nov 17. John broke the rules by bribing the fishermen to take him to the island which is off-limits to outside people by Indian law.

His death raises a few questions in me.  After all, John was not seeking any adventure. He was spreading God’s word but God has deserted him.  Does this mean God was not on the side of John? Did God switch sides for this time?  Or did God lose to godless Sentinelese? Or the God’s words that John carried were truely not God’s words.

This creation of God is so diverse and it is foolish to think people with diverse cultures, beliefs, appearances, customs are not his creation. Every human being on this planet share the same earth, water, air. They are born and dead as all creatures.

The experience of life by an individual is inside him/her and very personal.  The  Sun, Moon, Earth, water and Sky are same for everyone but we experience them through your senses. Similarly, God may be one for all,  but the experience of God, interaction with God are very personal. We may call him with same name as others or with a different name, we have a shape for him/her or is formless, our method of invoking God is same as others or different but God is very personal.  Striving to reach God is individual. No one can take you there, except you. You can take help of an experienced person but you have to make the journey.

The first step to God is respecting other’s choice of path to God. Our path may be the shortest, but may not suit others. They may want to take a longer, less risky path.  If we are in harmony with everyone and everything around us, that is first step to Heaven!

May John’s soul rest in Peace!

Love Love Love and Love again!

Love Love Love and Love again!
This is the subject that is never out of vogue in Indian movies. The times have changed, from sending messages through birds to tweeting but Love remains. This is one human emotion that has guaranteed returns for producers, whether its combination of rich boy- poor girl or poor girl – rich boy,  good for nothing boy-calm girl and now boy-boy, girl-girl.

How do the male and female leads fall in love? Boy sees this most beautiful girl in the whole world and suddenly realizes he is a man! Till that point the boy remains a stone unmoved to any other woman and this girl appears out of nowhere and Sun rises for the boy.  He sends signals through his sly smile, send messages through her friends, send letters, sings a song. The female lead remains unmoved by this unrelenting attention.

Then one day she sees a benevolent act of our hero, and she falls for him! It could be as simple as donating a Rupee to a beggar, helping an old man cross a busy road, stopping his bike for children to pass by! The young people who look for ways to woo a girl miss this simple point – following a traffic rule may help you get a girl!  If benevolence does not work then she gets to see the hero’s masculinity through beating bad guys.  These so called bad guys need to be given Oscars for their acting. Its very difficult to act being beaten while they could have easily overpowered the hero with single hand.

We might have seen many instances in real life where, a not so good looking guy, gets a very beautiful girl.  Everyone asks how. Without pondering much we just brush it aside saying “Love is blind”. In Bollywood movies, a girl falls for silly reasons – beating bad buys, helping  friend’s love, helping her father!, singing and pestering her in public! Every time I see such movies, I wish young boys do not take girls for granted.

Most of these movies end by the time they overcome all the rich-poor, caste, regional obstacles. Not many dare to show what happens after they get married!  After the initial sparks are replaced by little skirmishes, much more love (patience) is needed between them to stay together!

One of my college teachers (with a broken heart) has given us a lesson on love! Never he stayed for length of class except that day.  He said there is no scientific basis for Love.  You cannot prove love! May be, he is still grappling with why his love interest rejected him.  Love between two young individuals is as natural as a plant’s tendency to blossom. Feeling love is natural but we expect that a particular person feel the same about you. Without approaching the boy/girl, talking to them, you expect them to feel your love! If that does not happen, you curse everyone, everything. Even a sunflower bends towards Sun for more light so do something or look somewhere else.  But youngsters should never take  the extreme step of harming themselves or the other person.  Relax and look at all the married people, I am pretty sure your anger dies down! Do not think you will be different, keeping two people together needs much more than love.  If love alone keeps people together, then there would be no divorces. All those vows of “staying together until death makes us apart”  will evaporate if you do not open up your life to accommodate the other person.

We have seen many instances where physical and emotional togetherness do not last long and people suffer the separation. While women demand more attention, men turn wayward. In India, there are no vows in a marriage, its an energy process where energies of the two individuals are matched to function as one.  While this has watered down to minimal rituals,  its expected that this process be repeated every year.  This does not happen anymore. It could be the reason why marriage is bliss for only an year for many!

Sadhguru says: “The English expression, “Falling in love,” is significant because no one rises in love or climbs in love. You fall in love, because something of who you are has to go. If not the whole of you, at least a part of you should collapse. Only then there is a love affair. You are willing to destroy a bit of yourself for the sake of the other. It essentially means someone else has become far more important than yourself”

If we think “Love is a quality but not a transaction”, then there is no suffering, no heart break, just love, love, love and love again….

https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/the-meaning-of-true-love-love-beyond-words

The Greek Party

A boy named Greece was invited to a party. He was a simple boy and was excited about going to the party hosted by EU.
He naively asked, “Do I have bring any presents?”.
“No, you just come and enjoy”, replied Germany

The boy was welcomed to a grand opening. There was so much food, different varieties of cakes – chocolate, vanilla, French, German.  “Can I have everything, Do I have to pay anything?” asked the boy.
“Yes, what you can have is unlimited, its free” replied France.
Greece had eaten enough for a week, he was so happy. He wished there was a party once every week.EU said, “Its pleasure having you here, you can come daily”,
“Daily!!”, the boy was dumbstruck.
He went to the party daily, he stopped cooking at home and sold his cookware, Spent his money in buying rich German cars, French jets, Korean TVs.

Life was a dream until one day, he was not allowed into the party.
“The party was free for only a week, You need to pay for rest of the parties.”, said IMF, the party organizer.
“But the invitation did not say anything. See, its here, written in Greek” bemoaned the boy.
IMF showed the little note at the corner, *CONDITIONS APPLY.
“Its not written in Greek!”
“You could have asked or found a translator” quipped EU.
“You cannot do this, I forgot how to cook, I do not have equipment to cook, I will go hungry.”
“You got a week to pay off your arrears, or you will be expelled”

If Greece does not meet Tuesday night deadline, it will be the first developed nation to default on debt payment.
The Free Trade agreements, to boost the flow of goods more freely are faulty and exploitative.  The goods are just moving in one direction and some nations are losing their work force, industries. Greek yoghurt is famous but I won’t be surprised if they do not make it in Greece anymore, they may be just importing from behind the Alps!

source:Telegraph.co.uk

The so called Free Trade Agreements(FTAs) have destroyed corn farming in Mexico (Mexico receives corn, it send drugs back!), shut many industries in eastern Europe,  FTAs are beautiful thing if they do not destroy the local industries and agriculture. They have to complimentary to existing livelihood.

The free money that is available world over to boost the economies around the world is destroying some. You will lose money in switzerland, if you invest in bonds, as there is enough free cash!
There is no limit to the money we can print, but there are limits to resources available. you cannot print water, oil, air!

ISIS, new global terrorist organization, has taken a leaf from globalization. They have  diverse fighters sourced from the banks of all world rivers. Britishers need not go and die in Tunisia if ISIS had stuck to its territory in Syria. Instead they are forging Free Terror Agreements ( FTAs) with different regions of the world. The way, the world has one factory in CHINA, ISIS(now you cannot blame it to be communist) wants to be the world’s Terror factory!

Greece has recognized that the party has come to an end the hard way. And now ISIS has to recognize that they cannot get weapons from its patrons forever, the Greek Party will come to an end one day, and also the world too should know it…..

Capitalism or Communism – What Works Best?

Once upon a time, but not in distant past, there was a small village in the middle of dense forest. A river flowed through the village. River flowed from east. No one cared to know where the river was coming from as it flowed all round the river. Some said its source is in the mountains and it springs out the hair of Lord Shiva. Some said it springs out of a crater made by the Sword of a demon. No one cared to explore as they had plenty of fresh water to drink and water their fields.

The village had 300 families but the old man living under the tree said village was a single family like a tree with 300 branches with leaves and he was the oldest leaf ready to wither. Others do not think so. they say ” That leaf does not wither even in winter. – very stubborn leaf!” He told people all kinds of stories from the past and they all thought they were true as no one else is old enough to verify.

The village was self-sufficient in all ways. They grew their own food, made their own clothes, had a school with a school teacher who also doubled up as village doctor. They recycled their waste and made manure for the fields.

EXTRA MAN
Everything was going well until one day they find that there is an extra person in the village who does not have anything to do. There were no fields left where he can work. There was no other place he can lend a hand. The village council calls everyone for a meeting. The old man asked “How did this happen?” He was very worried about what happens to the village. He told the village council that, “when similar thing happened 100 years ago, one of the elders went into the forest so as to not disturb the balance of the village. No one listened to him.

The Village Council created a resolution “This is a very serious situation which we never faced in our life time. We cannot have a non contributing member in our village, this will disturb the balance. We have two proposals
1. Everyone to contribute a share of their food and other essentials for the extra man.
2. Cut down part of the sacred forest to create an additional land to till.”

COMMUNISM or CAPITALISM
The village council was undecided and called for a referendum. This was the first time, the village had voting. The old man wanted to third choice added to the referendum – voluntarily allowing any one villager to decide if they wish to live in the forest. But the council was adamant. The village had to choose between Communism and Capitalism!

Voting day arrived and lot of the villagers are still confused what to choose and uncertain of the consequences. Voting finished and the results were out.

It was a tie with each getting 50% vote. The villagers got emotional about their choice and villagers were divided into two groups. One fine day there was a big fight between the two groups and many were injured. The women tried to stop it but to no avail. The village got divided into two with river being the border. Common resources were shared, relatives separated, friendships broken..

Seeing all these, the extra person went into the forest but the damage was done and here to stay.

WHAT WORKS BEST?
If we have enough food and space, the settlements are self-governing. They need protection from external elements.
If number of humans increase or their basic needs increase and there are limited resources to be shared, there arises the need for some system. With the system, there comes rules and responsibilities. The system to be successful needs full support of every member. Any kind of system works as long as it is fair and transparent.
The more the disparity between Demand and supply of material, emotional and other needs, more pressure on the system. There is no system that is perfectly suited for this as some section of the society will be unsatisfied and vulnerable for interpretation.

Source: ww.landryamps.com

We have experienced what an imbalance can do in Germany before World War II. Did Herr Fuehrer Hitler brain wash people into embracing Nazism? He merely channeled the angst brewing in the people due to sky rocketing prices and food shortages. And many of us experienced through movies what horrible things Hitler made his followers do and what price the world had to pay for one man’s foolishness.

Arab Spring is another perfect example of an over strained society with either increasing needs of the people or growing population. It’s not the growing awareness or education or the internet that was the main cause but the growing unrest (numbers or needs) that was channelized into an uprising. But what they got after the uprising did not fulfill their needs. The terrorist organizations, the world over, are channeling this unrest into creating more. Now ISIS is mobilizing the disenchanted population of the whole world into committing atrocities against their fellow humans!

China, though successful in arresting rapid population growth, could not cap the growing needs of the people. Its economic growth is remarkable. USA, the largest consumer of goods and resources of the world, is a perfect example of the success of Capitalism in generating wealth and prosperity, but needs of the people keep growing and it’s not environmentally sustainable. The growth is limited by the availability of resources, climate change. The climate change deniers will refuse to acknowledge until the water wets their pants.

It’s hard to decrease our numbers rapidly but for turning this world into more peaceful, sustainable and environment friendly, human consciousness has to grow and they should become aware of needs of the planet to keep supporting life. That sounds so utopian but we cannot wait until nature takes corrective action!

If Socialism, Capitalism, Communism were born because of people’s longing for a better society, If Buddhism,  Confucianism, Zoroastrianism were born because of spiritual longing in us, If Terrorism, Maoism is born out of radical thoughts, Its time for PRAGMATISM and HUMAN-ISM.

Source: http://www.sodahead.com

And an update on the warring villages – The dam they constructed upstream to cater to their growing needs was breached during a flood and both the villages were wiped out and along with it, their differences too….

Bhoomi Tantra – Soil the Greatest Carbon Sink

A short story on how soil is a great carbon sink which can fix climate change while helping the farmers increase their incomes and also increase bio-diversity and overall soil health.

bhoomi-tantra-soil-greatest-carbon-sink-cop28Download

The Real Freedom

Happy Independence Day to all Bharath-vaasis

The British left the land of Bharath 
But they left behind India
August 15, 1947 we are freed
But they left behind their greed

The greed that made them conquerors 
|Of Africa, Americas , Australia and Asia
Is the culture now that is poured into us
We carry it on to this day without fuss.

The ultimate freedom we all strive
Unconsciously each and every moment
Is not just  ability to do whatever we want
But is the ability to what is needed

Freedom is not shoving our beliefs 
And aspirations on our children
Freedom is nurture them to become
Fully blossomed human beings

Freedom is not building a nest for us
By destroying the habitat other creatures
It is being responsible to all the living
And to all those coming ahead of us 

Freedom is not just to be free of chains
It is not to chain ourselves in our minds
And limit the possibilities of life
And repeat endless strife

Freedom is the ultimate goal
From north to South Pole
Some call it mukti of soul
One with the cosmos whole

Fully blossomed life-A Poem

Does creation care if we have grown up-
To be the king or a soldier?
To be a farmer or a trader?
To be the owner of a big house?
Or stuffed in a hut as a mouse?

Does creation care if we have grown up-
To be popular like a star?
Or unknown in a place so far?
To be beautiful or handsome?
Or unpleasant even with a ransom?

Does creation care if we are grown up-
To be fair like daisy ?
Or dark like a cloud?
To be tall like a tower?
Or small like a dwarf?

All creation cares is if we have blossomed-
To our fullest potential like a full moon
High in the sky like Sun at noon
Happy and blissed out to the whole
No matter how small the role

We are nothing but a bling
In this cosmos ever expanding
For a short time that’s ticking
Not a big man we are thinking
Let’s turn inward to be one with everything 

The middle path no one wants to take

One is pro-life, Other is pro-choice
One supports no abortion
Other supports it anytime
But there is always a middle path

One wants only capitalism
Other wants only socialism
Life is not black and white
Too magical and short to fight

Every point has a four way junction
One wants to always turn right
Other wants to turn left every time
But there is always a middle path

One wants a welfare state
The other is industry mate
To decide on a common path
They are always late

One wants only right wing to flap
Other will not bring left hand to clap
Two wings are needed to fly
Two hands needed to make a sound

There is always a middle path
Devoid of frills, practical
Fast but not furious
That no one wants to travel

A Reiki lady, a Saint and a Cow

A business man named Vijay Madan has a big extended family. They all meet at his house for festivals. After the customary pooja and festival meal, they all play tumbola (bingo) and enjoy the sweets. This Diwali, everyone sit for a round of game. One notable addition to usual set of people is Richa, the wife of his cousin, Ajay. They got married recently. Vijay for some reason is getting tense in her presence. He brushes it aside thinking it is due to stress. When they meet next time during a casual visit, he feels the same thing again. For no reason, Vijay’s heart starts beating fast, faster than the overhead fan. He is getting agitated and angry. He shouts at his son for no reason. Every time they meet, Vijay has the same feelings surface.

He wants to know the reason but does not know how. He frequently goes to Hanuman temple near his company and this time a saint who sits under a tree calls him. Vijay tells him about his situation and how he is not able to sleep properly. The saint asks him to visit a Reiki place in old city.

Vijay makes an appointment and goes to the Reiki place. As he waits in the lobby, he looks inside. There is a young lady in her 20s sitting on a high chair and doing something with her hands over a person who is sleeping on a dentist chair. She has no dental tools in her hand and his mouth is shut. But they are talking which he could not hear through the glass door. On the other side, the wall is full of happy customers gleaming in full glory!

Next is Vijay’s turn. He goes in and she guides him to the hot seat. She does not ask him how he was. Looks like she understands his situation. Vijay feels calm in her presence. The Reiki lady looks at him and a gentle breeze starts blowing onto his face and Vijay could not stop himself from closing his eyes. Many of her clients close their eyes before they notice the cooler over her head. Vijay’s settles into a meditative state. Rieki lady asks him questions about the reason for the visit. He explains the Reiki lady his issue.
“Let’s look into your past if you had any encounter with her”, she suggests.
“I did not meet her before she was married to my cousin”, Vijay quips.
“I mean you past life”, Reiki lady clarifies. Vijay is confused a bit but excited.

In the first sitting, Vijay could not access his past life and was told to come back one more time.
Vijay comes a week later. This time he notices the fan above her head. He likes the fan so much that he asks her the brand. He wants to buy one for his house so that he can use it when Richa comes. The Reiki lady asks him to focus on calming himself down. She uses her Reiki energy to calm Vijay down and they are able to get into Vijay’s past life. As they traverse, through Vijay’s past life, they are able to see the house where he lived, the village, the fields upon which he grazed his cattle. Vijay is proud of all the cattle he owned. “I liked it when my cattle grazed in neighbor’s field”, Vijay said with a smile on his face. Vijay is veering into all the good times he had. It is a challenge for the Reiki lady to bring him back on track. Through pin pointed questions, the Reiki lady is able to guide Vijay to that situation where he encountered Richa. It’s confirmed, Vijay had a bad encounter with her in his past life and carried it on into this life. Through a process, Vijay is able to let go his bad experience and now he is at peace.

Vijay is now relieved and the encounters with Richa are no more stressful. The good times do not last long and one fine day, Vijay goes to a defense fair and comes face to face with his old business partner, Sujay, who cheated him and took over their business venture. Old memories come to the surface and start brewing anger. Vijay was heart broken at that time. Though Vijay has come out of that bitter experience, those memories rush back and he is once again disturbed. Vijay is walked out of his own office, the office, he personally saw growing from a rented one room shutter to a big office space and many employees. That night, he had nightmares of he being walked out repeatedly. Vijay did not count how many times, but if it were a daily serial, the night would have dragged for at least a week! He finds a new reason to be depressed and desperate to come out of it!

He goes to the Hanuman temple. He knows Reiki won’t help because this animosity is from current life! At the temple he meets a sage who has come from Rajastan. No one knew his name but everyone called him, Registan baba.

Vijay stands in line to meet the baba. Looking at Vijay, Baba says, “Reiki boy is here!”

“Baba please help me, I am so depressed,” Vijay pleads.

“You have given up the grudges of the past life but what about the baggage of current life?”, Baba says,
“My friend cheated me, how can I forgive him”?, Vijay answered expecting he was talking about it.
“I am talking about your belly”, Baba laughs.
“Sujay does not have it”, Vijay says feeling his protruded stomach.
“Sujay moved on, “according to him whatever he did is right. Right and wrong are very subjective,” Bab explained.
“I cannot let go what he did to me and my family. I had to go through lot of stress and hardship”, Vijay quipped.
Baba laughingly said, “Maybe due to that experience you have learnt your lesson. What you lost at that time is minuscule to what you have today. You are limiting yourself and your family of the possibilities by hanging on to the bitterness of the past!”
Vijay answered, “I am very successful now”.
“If you give up your grudges, you can make a more profound impact on yourself and people around you”, Baba says.
Vijay , “I want to forget it too but it keeps coming back”, Vijay answers.
“Do you want to carry it into your next life and look for Reiki”?, Baba asks laughingly.
“Too much Reiki will expose you to unnecessary encounters”, Baba explains, “what if your friend is born poor in the next life and due to your grudge, you may be born poor along with him when there is a possibility for you to be the king”.
Vijay, “May be I will be better off being poor”.

“When you have a chance to remove the thorn in your leg and let it heal, why do you want to poke yourself with it?”, Baba questions, “consider your friend as your family, like your foster child and forgive him. You will find freedom. There are many issues facing humanity, like soil degradation and pollution. Maybe you can play a role in addressing them”.

As the baba was leaving, Vijay asks, “do you know why I had a grudge on Richa in past life?”
“She took away you beloved cow for a debt you couldn’t repay”, Baba said.
Vijay asks, “where is that cow now?”
Baba says, “she is good wherever she is. If you are still eager to know, find it by yourself, not by Reiki.”
Vijay is impressed and asks Baba to take with him.
Baba laughs and says, “when you are ready for a spiritual process, a white cow with golden teeth will come. Till then get rid of your baggage”. Baba taps the side of head and runs the hand over his stomach, indicating the mind and belly.

P.S: Vijay, personally feeds all the cows that come to his house, in search of the golden teeth!

Oh Shiva

Oh Shiva, where do I look for you?
They say you are everywhere.

Oh Shiva, what do I ask you?
They say you have nothing

Oh Shiva, what do I offer you?
They say you own everything

Oh Shiva, how do I call you?
They say you have no quality 

Oh Shiva, how do I reach you?
They say you are within me

This Mahashivrathri, Oh Shiva,
give me strength to realize you

HONKBEAT OF INDIA!

On a trip to Indian cities, after a prolonged period of time, a person of Indian origin will be struck by the scale of development (how poor he has become while working hard in foreign land), the spending habits of people and the persistent noise of honks! 

Indian McDonald went on a ride, Ee i ee i o
And on the road, they were many cars, Ee i ee i oh
With a honk-honk here
And a honk-honk there
Here a honk, there a honk
Everywhere a honk-honk

Everywhere one goes, there are vehicles honking from all directions demanding attention. A honk means many things – 
Honk – “Move aside, don’t you see I am coming?”
Honk – “I don’t care how you all will clear the traffic jam, make space for me.”
Honk – “Why are you driving so slow?”
Honk – “The signal is red, but why did you stop? “
Honk – “I am changing the non existent lane, you stay in your lane.” 
Honk – “I am approaching a junction, I may turn left, right or go straight, watch out.”
Honk – “Side please, wife is waiting for me without watching TV (cannot believe it). Okay, I need to wash dishes.”
A reverse/revenge Honk – “I don’t care about your honks, I am the king of this road!“

If one is afraid of being alone, Indian street is the best place! Honks become person’s heart beat, even at night! Even though no vehicles are plying on a road one can hear the shrilling noise of the honks!

I was riding a motor bike (110CC only) in India recently. I am not a big fan of honking. A few times, I wanted to join the party, hearing everyone utilize their honking privileges, but the horn was not working! It was as if, drinking alcohol free beer while watching soccer world cup! All I could do was glare at others who were honking. There are traffic signals along the road but horns regulate the traffic between two signals! A person will get right of way, with a honk (if their traffic stars are aligned)!

 During my college days we used to live in an apartment (fourth floor) which was by the side of a busy road. We did not miss the amplified sound of road noise and honks. The people to whom the honk is intended may not have heard it, we in the apartments, heard it loud and clear, as if we were in the horn! And whenever there was a marriage procession. the sound of drums would surround us better than a Dolby system! One would hear it from all directions amplified to the highest possible noise! If you want the world to know that you are bringing the bride home, invite everyone for dinner. If you cannot afford it, play some soft instruments but not drums!

A National Honk Anthem!
Anyways, people in India cannot move away from honking. They should at least do that in proper tune and rhythm. Bhaaratha means Bhaava – Raaga – Taala (feeling – Tune -Rhythm). There are many feelings we go through while on the road, frustration, suffocation, anxiety, despair, home or work related and everyone spends some amount of time in travel, why not make it fun! Learn to honk with proper intent and in tune with the traffic and maintain the rhythm! Make a national Honk Anthem! A different tune for different feeling in proper rhythm!

We have become robotic in our actions, only reacting to things when honked at. We have taken our livelihood and beliefs so seriously that we have lost touch with the life process around us. Life does not honk at us but rather wait patiently for us to imbibe her and enjoy her embrace. The empowerment through technology, without necessary awareness and clarity, has brought us to the brink of a disaster, resulting in loss of soil, the very source of life. Soil, out of which all the animate and inanimate has churned out, is turning into desert at a very rapid pace.

Alert by a Horn only!

We only acknowledge a disaster, when it is unfolding, paying attention to what affects our livelihood and luxury.
Meanwhile, the soil is slowly silently turns into desert and we don’t hear the honk.
The degraded soils result in decreased nutrition in the food and we don’t see the link.
The frequent droughts and floods are caused due to eroded soil which can no more retain the rain water. We do not give a wink.
Every minute, we are losing an acre of soil to desert. All the agricultural soils are turning into desert.

The soil honk is so subtle or not loud enough to get into our priorities. its time we listened to it.
Time for action, time for soil policy.  Save Soil, Save Life, Honk for Soil!

Twitter and Meta layoffs

What was a happy post COVID lockdown life with work from home facility, metamorphosed into a met(g)a nightmare for Sam and Pam!

Pam worked for Twitter and Sam worked for Meta. They moved to Florida during the pandemic and worked from there. Pam was a fan of Elon Musk. She used to tweet all her so called funny tweets tagging Elon. She expected a reply from him. Unfortunately, he only responded to allegations against him with “True or False”.

After almost a year, of fruitless tweets and out of desperation, she tweeted, “Elon is going to buy Twitter and take it private”. She was expecting a reply as false. To their surprise the reply was, “True and there could be layoffs!”. After almost a year, the deal was finalized and my girlfriend lost her job as a policy engineer. I never understood her role even though she tried to explain many times!

At least Sam had his job and they were happy staying in Florida and eating skittles. A week later, Sam got a lay off letter delivered to his email. Now both of them are jobless permanently eating skittles.

Consider Twitter and Meta are normal people. While working from home, Twitter and Meta ate too many Skittles to metabolize and metastasized into obese, burdened sacks for which Mark (Zuckerberg) and Jack (Dorsey) took personal responsibility.

Jack said “I fully take responsibility for (eating) too fast”. Mark said, “I am sorry for taking in too many calories. I was at home too you see! I was pampered by the Federal stimulus too! I was expecting one more but it did not come and I have to cut down! Dr. Elon did it for Jack but I have to do it myself”. While they were nice to take responsibility, it is Apple’s fault. Earlier Facebook was feeding on Apple (user data) and stayed healthy. Now apple stopped sharing itself, companies especially Meta became frustrated and switched to Skittles! They were not receiving enough calories for the amount of food Meta were consuming!

Both Mark and Jack said, “We did not see this coming”. It is like – this Halloween, Zack and Jack tried the Meta and Twitter costumes that they did not wear since couple of years and the costumes of expectations didn’t fit! They now see overgrown bellies with fat everywhere! Mark added, “Again Elon tried the costume for Jack, I had to try it myself”.

Looks like Mark and Jack did not take their companies for yearly health checkups! Is that only for employees? “Go get yourselves checked, else you will not receive yearly HSA payouts”. May be the financial health departments in these companies might be working from home in Florida!

Twitter and Meta should have moved partially or fully to Florida/Texas. They could keep all their employees while paying them less! If there is such a plan in the future, Zack has to do it by himself while Elon does it for Jack!

Keep smiling