A few words

Bhaja Govindam by MS with Lyrics

2011-09-04T05:20:00.001+05:30

Star and the black hole

2009-10-13T21:48:00.000+05:30

Star and the black hole

Circling about you
In the hope of a view

Round and round
Far away from the ground

Fatal attraction
Beyond fourth dimension

Will chaos into chaos converge?
And still greater chaos emerge?

To seek is to serve
While space and time curve and converse

Reality glances out of the veil qnary
From her flowing gown Oh! So imaginary !

The PatchMaker

2009-09-20T16:52:00.000+05:30

“Has it ever struck you ...that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going?” – Tennesse Williams wrote in ‘The Milk Train doesn’t stop here anymore’.
“These scenes ...why do they survive undamaged year after year unless they are made of something comparatively permanent” – Virginia Woolf wrote in ‘Sketch of the past’.
These roads are ploughed over. Plain dark roads which are supposed to remain like that for some time at least, choose to mutate. Mere touch of rain transforms them like a glance from a dear one. Not that these roads are path less travelled and so left in derelict condition. It’s just that they have been traversed so often by people so less connected that their very existence seems to be a question mark? Or is it that they pay the price of others burden, accepting every blow and scratch in their stride. In any case, one can not but not avoid having to think about these warts and moles on the face of these otherwise swarthy roads. So just as my Innova wheel took a dip into one more of these, I wondered just why can they not be left untouched. Then immediately the question came “How long Sir would it be long enough for you?” Thank you dear Me, have no answer for you. I mused. Eventually all that has been made or formed or developed has to come to a pass, so how long is long enough? No answer.
Just then someone waved menacingly and I had to halt the car lest it bump the man.
I rolled down the window and he said something and I responded with my well practised response “Kanada gotilva”
He once again said something and I said “Tamil Telugu Kannada illa”. That’s the best have learnt over the past few years.
The puny little man said “Hindi malum?” And I nodded my head. With that he explained to me in broken hindi that he needs to quickly go to the nearby Hospital to get a medical report for his son. He is not getting any auto. With some hesitation I offered to give him a ride. I weighed the risk of losing my Innova and my purse versus the risk of a life and chose the former.
So on the way we talked. He in broken hindi. Sivaswamy was his name and his son’s name was Ayappa. After asking about his son and what happened to him we ran out of topics. Language is a palpable constraint. Yet why I prefer to dig into Sanskrit than Kannada is something have to think about. Is it like driving with windows rolled on shutting the humdrum?
Just then the car took a bump into one more pot hole and I told Sivaswamy in hindi “See how these roads have become. Not a small stretch is free of these”
Sivaswamy smiled. A strange kind of grin spread over his gristly face. Then Sivaswamy went on to describe how he had started his career with a contractor for road transportation development.
Sivaswamy said “We had to wait in the morning in a queue in the hope of getting picked for some work. With time I got proficient and was adept at laying the stones, the mix and helping the “coal tar gadi”. He mean the wagon that pours tar on the road before being pressed with rollers.
“However, this did not do enough. Besides, there was always competition from other daily workers. So one day when the chief contractor called me and asked if I can work at night also, I readily agreed”.
“Sir, but this work was both funny and dangerous. The element of risk made it even more attractive”
“What did you do Sivaswamy”, I asked giving him the looks.
“Not so bad Sir, it was just that I used to wonder what people think when they see the roads in the morning”
“But what did you do?” I asked.
“Sir, I used to dig pot holes on the roads. It was such a fun watching people curse the pot holes in the morning”, said Sivaswamy impishly.
“What!!” I almost came to a halt.
“Yes, Sir all these have been done by me. I got paid for my hard work”.
This was getting really funny. Sivaswamy very proudly displaying his act of creation by digging the holes. To him it was hard work before the rains hit and he got paid for it. He had to sacrifice his sleep. It gave him money to buy sweets for Ayappa. It is the same money he was taking to the hospital.
“Did you not even once feel that what you are doing is not right”
Sivaswamy replied “No Sir I used to work hard and used to barely get enough to buy a week’s rice for my family”.
We could not talk further as he had to get down. Sivaswamy got down leaving me with questions to ponder.
With Sivaswamy gone, I was once again within the quiet confines of the car.
Questions slowly started forming like drops slowly forming and failing to cling on to the faucet. How even a drop of water loves attachment but realises it cannot go on?
“So is that right?”
“Ill-got, Ill-spent or is it that what has been made has to get dissipated eventually”.
“They also serve who dig nice newly formed roads?”
Good or bad is perspective. Same event from another viewpoint looks almost necessity. Ofcourse, it can never be realised from the air-conditioned confines of an innova, but just where the rubber meets the road, it makes lot of sense.
And so we learn, one memory by one, one synapse by one, one by one , one lesson of going beyond good and bad, beyond happy and sad, beyond silence and humdrum.

Sep 20 2009

Quiditus - APJ's address - a week before BDay 2009

2009-07-12T03:09:00.006+05:30

This must have been one of the inflection points. So far the only chance to interact with APJ. Quiditus. Especially the Q&A.

Address during the inauguration of World Class Test Facility of WIPRO - Copied from APJ's website. All copyrights acknowledged.
07/May/2009 : Bangalore
Certification is Key to Competitiveness
Certification is Key to Competitiveness
“Competitiveness is powered by knowledge” I am delighted to participate in the inauguration of TARANG, Product Qualifications and Compliance Planet (PQCP) at WIPRO for the evaluation of computer and storage, telecom, embedded systems, medical, aero-space, military, automotive and consumer products developed in the country and by the international product developers.
When you see the dynamics of performing organizations, they create their challenges, they set very difficult targets, they develop good manufacturing practices and above all they set up a transparent mechanism for review and feedback at all levels. Wipro has developed a system which will enable production of the most competitive international product, along with a certification process.
What type of business world wipro has to compete and succeed? It is indeed competitiveness. The competitiveness is powered by knowledge power. The knowledge power is powered by Technology and innovation. The Technology and innovation is powered by resource investment. The Resource investment is powered by revenue and return on Investment. The Revenue is powered by Volume and repeat sales through customer loyalty. The customer loyalty is powered by cost, Quality and value of products. The facility TARANG has to provide design robustness, quality with a competitive edge. My best wishes to TARANG members.
My early personal experience
Let me recall test and evaluation experience in one of the programmes. It was during the middle of seventies. I was working with an enthusiastic youthful team on the SLV-3 project, the country’s first launch vehicle that is a rocket programme. We had to develop and qualify many subsystems for the first time. We decided to qualify certain systems in a small sounding rocket flight, Centaure, to gain the rigour of flight experience. One such system chosen was a reaction control system to despin the spinning rocket. Based on information from a magnetometer, the detected spin of the rocket had to be reduced by actuating the reaction control thrusters in a closed loop mode. It was a complex experiment at that point in time. A logic box was designed, reviewed and a total system evaluation was devised in the ground spin test facility. There were anxious moments, the system worked, but then the rotation resulted in enhanced spinning and rather than de-spinning! Our engineers diagnosed the problem quickly. They zeroed on a software change in the system, introduced corrective logic and the system was successfully flown in the sounding rocket. By today’s standard, it was a ground experiment, but it was an innovative validation initiative and paved the way for setting standards for sign convention checks, integrated system simulation and evaluation. Many of those engineers who were part of this simple experiment are today experienced leaders in many national technology programmes. When I am with you, I would like to talk on the topic “Certification is Key to Competitiveness”.
Law of development
When the software industry was doing well; the business was attracting the best of talents. It was triggering entrepreneurship. It was spreading global. The computer courses were the best preferred choice in engineering institutions. Suddenly, the economic turbulence has caused a sense of pessimism and anxiety all over the world. In the last few weeks, wherever I went, be it in Chennai, Mumbai, Thirupathi, Vizag, Abu Dhabi or Seattle or Boston the question uppermost in the minds of people was how the world would overcome the economic turbulence. But I am confident that this crisis will be overcome. How do I get this confidence? Based on my association with young and experienced like you, I am confident that professionals like you can come out with out-of-the box ideas.
I was studying the development patterns and the dynamics of connectivity between nations, especially in trade and business. As you all know, the world has a few developed countries and many developing countries. What is the dynamics between them and what connects them? Developed country has to market their products in a competitive way to different countries to remain as economically developed country. The developing country to get transformed into developed country; they too have to market their products in other countries in a competitive way. Competitiveness is common to both developing and developed countries. Competitiveness has three dimensions: quality of the product, cost effectiveness and product in the market at the right time. Indeed this dynamics of competitiveness in marketing of products by developing and developed countries determines the law of development. When the economy is in turbulence, developing new market will need promotion of enhanced competitiveness. We can see one of the important dimensions of competitiveness is quality of the product. Also the quality of the product has to include performance of the product in all the extremes of the environment in which the product is likely to be operated by the user throughout its life cycle. That is where product qualification and compliance becomes important.
Technological Self-reliance
Few years back, I participated in the handing over of SAMYUKTA system to the Army which uses state-of-the-art sub systems like fast scan receivers, high accuracy direction finding systems, jam resistance communication systems and re-configurable display system. Non-com segment of SAMYUKTA uses high-tech super components, broadband DF system, high power jammers and high accuracy servo systems. One of the typical items which was denied for the programme was CAM (Content Addressable Memory). This was designed and fabricated with SITAR input as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) in its foundry. Both public and private sector institutions have produced number of such components indigenously. This has been a major contribution to the industry by SAMYUKTA.
Initially it was thought that shelters for SAMYUKTA would be imported. Later with the active participation of R&D engineers and private sector shelter manufacturers, EMI shielded shelters have been manufactured with stringent specifications and have been used by the programme. These shelters will have multiple applications wherever EMI / EMC become a major operational issue. There are number of examples like this while developing integrated electronic warfare system for Army, Navy and Air Force.
Electronic Warfare is a force multiplier system, which needs high-level secrecy for maintaining surprise against adversary actions. In such a situation, it is essential that the system design, architecture, production, performance and environmental evaluation of the product and deployment knowledge has to be generated within the country and maintained as a closely guarded information by the services. This is essential for ensuring tactical and strategic advantage for our armed forces during an operation. Hence, the knowledge of environmental testing has to be developed along with the knowledge of producing state of the art system to the customers. Establishment of TARANG is a right step in this direction.
EMI - EMC Testing
I am glad to note that TARANG configuration includes EMI/EMC testing as a very prominent part of testing facilities at Wipro. Such sophisticated facilities were confined to ISRO or DRDO in earlier days: in 1970s for SLV-3 development, and 1980s during evolution of Agni, Prithvi and other missiles, primarily because of cost considerations. Availability of such testing and consulting services to conventional industries will surely cover existing gaps. It will be in the overall interest of the EMI/EMC community, particularly SAMEER and such other agencies, to share resources for most productive and cost effective utilization of existing and new facilities. It may also be advisable to coordinate with related professional societies such as Society of EMC Engineers (India).
I have noticed with interest that TARANG already includes Electrostatic Discharge and Lightning Surge testing for Telecom and Aerospace applications, in addition to conventional Conducted and Radiated Emission and Susceptibility testing. But the 40 GHz frequency limit may have to be reviewed soon, since new applications are emerging in higher frequency bands: miniature radars at 94 GHz for seekers, traffic management and collision avoidance, millimeter wave imaging for airport security and night time surveillance, WiMax and other broadband wireless services. The personal networks and home networks would soon be operating at 60 GHz and would have bandwidths of the order of 10 Gbits. Other areas gaining importance for EMC compliance are: Immunity testing for variation in power-line frequency; Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for hand-held wireless devices such as mobiles, walkie-talkies & cordless phones; and Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) on medical and biological systems.
On-site EMC testing is also gaining momentum in the recent times, because of problems observed after installation of complex systems, such as rocket launching sites, communication network management nodes, airports, TV networking ports, power system harmonics in captive generators, etc. This will involve transportable testing stations.
During my work at DRDO and ISRO I insisted the necessity of a design manual, design practices for EMI-EMC for all airborne electronic and communication systems. I am sure WIPRO will evolve a design manual, design practices, and preferred components for EMI-EMC compatibility based on the test experience in the anechoic chamber in partnership with the national and international designers.
Today’s processors and cell phones operate at several Giga Hertz and often switch at 100 Giga Bits per second. Thus what was considered till recently as the realm of Microwaves is being encompassed by the all pervasive digital world. The cell phones and other devices will also operate at high frequencies. Because of the miniaturization and the coexistence of mixed signal- analog and digital waveforms, the issue of EMI/ EMC has become very challenging and critical. I am sure that TARANG would focus on this emerging market of studying high frequency EMI/ EMC in miniaturized systems from this highly potent Digital Market place. The EMI/EMC studies through simulations and actual measurements would also give an additional benefit in understanding the effects of RF signals on the human brain and body which is very much needed to make the world of communication acceptable by the society without fears.
Simulation as a tool for system level testing
As Space, Nuclear Energy and Defence systems are becoming increasingly complex, testing is changing to computer based simulations and demonstrations. Conventional testing methods have several limitations: visualization, overall appreciation of various available options, failure mode analysis, etc. are some such examples. Computer virtual simulations can reduce these limitations to a significant extent, especially when customer or end-user is not fully conversant with overall performance requirements. Many times these simulations can help the system designers to fine-tune specifications and configurations to help meet the objectives. Today, the Electromagnetic simulations have matured to a level that they can be relied upon to give very high accuracy. There are several commercial packages available now in the market.

Self certification philosophy

It is important to differentiate between ‘third party certification’ and ‘self certification’ using third party or outsourced testing facility. Third party certifications are more related to safety, legality, protocols, inspection (acceptance or rejection), avoiding interference to others, administrative restrictions and government orders.

However, self certification using in-house facilities or outsourced testing agencies are also very important from the point of view of customer satisfaction and user-feedback related vender ratings and classifications. For example, when a customer purchases say a Laptop, he or she only checks stickers such as ‘Intel Inside’, ‘CE Compliance’, ‘SAR Certified’, ‘Guarantee Period’ and assurances such as ‘life-long free replacement for certain parts’, ‘regular free updates for certain software’; these can only be achieved through self certification by higher rated vendors. Most of the hardware and software products are becoming increasingly complex and highly competitive; therefore innovative ways have to be evolved not only for efficient manufacturing but also for effective testing and certification methods. Another important point is whenever a problem is reported either inside or from the customer; a transparent root cause analysis has to be carried out expeditiously to find out how the problem escaped the system and to institute further fool proof corrective mechanism.

Conclusion
I am happy that a company fully involved in IT and IT enabled services has felt the need for environmental evaluation of products and services to make them internationally competitive. This will definitely go a long way in making the Indian industry more competitive, especially when a turn around takes place after the present dip in the growth of the manufacturing sector. It may also be explored how the facility created by you can be opened up for certification of products of government or other laboratories.
Dear friends, I have seen three dreams which have taken shape as vision, mission and realization. Space programme of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), AGNI programme of DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) and PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) becoming the National Mission.

Of course these three programmes succeeded in the midst of many challenges and problems. I have worked in all these three areas. I want to convey to you what I have learnt on leadership from these three programmes.

a. Leader must have a vision.
b. Leader must have a passion to transform the vision into action.
c. Leader must be able to travel into an unexplored path.
d. Leader must know how to manage a success and failure.
e. Leader must have courage to take decision.
f. Leader should have Nobility in management.
g. Every action of the leader should be transparent.
h. Leader must work with integrity and succeed with integrity.

For success in all the missions, it is essential to have creative leaders. Creative leadership means exercising the vision to change the traditional role from the commander to the coach, manager to mentor, from director to delegator and from one who demands respect to one who facilitates self-respect. For a vibrant manufacturing sector, the important thrust will be on the generation of a number of creative leaders who will pioneer the promotion of product quality in the total environmental spectrum in which it is to operate during its life cycle. With these words, I inaugurate the TARANG.

My best wishes to all the members of WIPRO success in scaling new frontiers in competitiveness. May God Bless you

Quiditus - To lie by her side

2009-07-11T01:59:00.003+05:30

Ra had met Ti in his college. Two foolish children hooked to each other like a root to its stem. Only in this case the root did not realise its stem or rather realised it too late. By the time she realised, the stem had been hacked and grafted in another nursery.

At college it was a chance meeting. Just a casual walk and a casual hello. But the two foolish children did not know that in that moment a seed was formed of future events. Seed was formed of his life, his sufferings, his sublimation, his realization.

At college, they met and met, again and again. Parting only to sleep in their respective rooms. Then, even that became impossible. So he started sleeping in her room. Much to her agony and yet ecstasy. Like two innocent children they slept on her mattress without touching each other. Little did Ra know then that those were going to be the best sleeping nights of his life. Some are born to sleep delight and some to sleepless nights, indeed !!

Ti understood Ra in her own way. Some of the most precious moments she cherished were, when she would say teasingly -

“Ra , you are like an innocent calf. Love watching them grow and shrink – the black dark lobes“
“Ra, you are like a wooden chair. Hard and strong where I can leave myself to rest and at peace”
“Ra, this is my personal space and that is yours. Don’t you know two people are supposed to respect 18inches of personal space”. Then she would laugh and hug him and kiss him.

Like foolish kids they fought and yet they could not part. But they realised that they could never be together and so ended the college. Each went on one’s path. He to corporate world success after success after success. (Or was it?) Countries after countries after countries. (But back finally?). Houses after houses after houses. (Or a home?)

2009. After a decade and one, they exchanged email notes again. Once again the soul moaned. Valentine’s Day approached. The urge to meet intensified. Ra in his own way yearned to meet his root. But in a decade a grafted stem gives rise to a bed of nursery. In a decade, around a grafted stem whole greenhouse can be built, whole paradise formed. So union of Ra and Ti was ruled out. College reunion came. He went only to meet her. She could not come. She wanted to though.

His health improved and deteriorated. He lost weight and became very handsome. To describe Ra modestly – An Adonis ! He was a combination of masculine beauty with utmost intelligence and yet pure simplicity and humbleness? His interest became even more diverse – Quantum Mechanics, Evolution, NeuroScience, Cosmology, Process Engineering in addition to Mathematics, Physics, Classical ballroom – Rhumba to be precise, flute, oil painting and reading great masters.

So his health lost and found, finally lead him one day to the hospital ER. He was being operated for a spine surgery. Little did he know that Ti was in hospital too, kms away, in preparation for a child-birth. Both were being prepared for operation. For a new life – indeed .

Valentine’s day approached. Urge for reunion after a decade intensified. Each to his and her bed confined. Body stuck to earth and soul struggling. Like a kite tied to the hands of the earth and yet struggling to get free. Ra struggled. Some times to let himself free and sometimes to stick to the hands of his caretaker. Each breath was like a tug on the kite’s string. With each jolt the kite hovered violently in the sky. Spasms after spasms the bodies convoluted in their beds. Each in ones confined bed and yet in unison. Each breath became a challenge. Each moment became a decision. Should Ra die and fly to be born again to be able to lie by her side? Or should he remain with his caretaker. To die or to fly or stand-by? A moment of a life-time !!

Life won and death lost. Ra failed to die and continued to live. The exasperating breathlessness stopped. One final jab from the nurse helped. He could never be with Ti anymore. His duty was to be with the same nursery, the same saplings he had planted. Duty won over desire. Desire died once and for all.

Ti gave birth to a baby boy a week later. Once again life won. But, if all won then who lost?

From their first meeting when they went to the library in college, time never remained same. Ra recalled how they sat behind the library and talked. Gentle wind kept howling reminding them of time. They talked and talked like two souls meeting after a long journey. Talked to catch up on the years and shall we say lives lost. Talked -to fill each other. He understood her intuitively and realised her to be his root. (Another word for root is “Goatra” in Hindu philosophy and stands for lineage. Did they share the same lineage?)

Why the onus of realising his Eve always rests with Adam? Is it because the whole can realise the part better (Avante Garde Fem band please excuse )? Don’t know the answer just yet. Do you? Perhaps, a far more pertinent question is - Why was the part required to be removed in the first place from the whole? Or even better, which is part and which is whole – Adam oder Eve? Is Eve part of Adam or vice-versa or is it - synthesis as Hegel would have it? Have an explanation for that but rather would hold my breath in “kumbhaka” and be a silent observer.

Let Time Tell Truth.

Styles of Stamina

2009-07-04T02:28:00.003+05:30

Styles of Stamina

From Kamla Das - My Story

"..liken God to a tree which has its parts the leaves, the bark, the fruits and the flowers each unlike the other in appearance and in texture but in each lying dissolved the essence of the tree, the whatness of it. Quiditus. Each component obeys its own destiny, The flowers blossom, scatter pollen and dry up, the fruits ripen and fall. The bark peels. Each of us shall obey that colossal wisom, the taproot of all wisdom and the source of all consciousness."

From APJ’s The Luminious Sparks – Pursuit of Happiness
Flowers of different colours in abundance
Floating in the wind with a sweet odour.
Some buds, some young, some old
Some on the way to libery
Some in pursuit of happiness...
“The young one asked his mother,
“Why do we bloom?
Men come and destroy us ...
...”Man is kind, men are cruel!”
Do not worry, my dear child
Growing is our nature, destruction is theirs
We are here to give the world
The message of God..
Our touch makes him tender
Our touch makes him humble

Each stamen chooses its style for pollination

Why? Purquoi? Kim? Was?

2009-07-01T04:33:00.006+05:30

D'où venons-nous? / Qui sommes-nous? / Où allons-nous?

Woher kommen wir Wer sind wir Wohin gehen wir

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

is one of Paul Gauguin's most famous paintings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Do_We_Come_From%3F_What_Are_We%3F_Where_Are_We_Going%3F

O why was I born with a different face? Why was I not born like the rest of my race?
-Blake,William

The spirit shall look out through Matter's gaze. And matter shall reveal the spirit's face – Sri Aurobindo

The central theme of Sri Aurobindo's vision is the evolution of life into a "life divine". In his own words:
"Man is a transitional being. He is not final. The step from man to superman is the next approaching achievement in the earth's evolution. It is inevitable because it is at once the intention of the inner spirit and the logic of Nature's process".

The Ideal Student
Once Rishi Dattatreya was asked by King Yadu who his teacher was. In reply this is what he said:

1. I have learnt patience and doing good to others from the earth, for it endures every injury that man commits on its surface and yet it does him good by producing crops, trees, etc.

2. From water I have learnt the quality of purity. Just as the pure water cleanses others, so also the sage, who is pure and free from selfishness, lust, egoism, anger, greed, etc., purifies all those who come in contact with him.

3. The air is always moving through various objects, but it never gets attached to anyone of them; so I have learnt from the air to be without attachment, though I move with many people in this world.

4. Just as fire burns bright, so also the sage should be glowing with the splendour of his knowledge and Tapas.

5. The air, the stars, the clouds, etc., are all contained in the sky, but the sky does not come in contact with any of them. I have learnt from the sky that the Atma is all-pervading and yet it has no contact with any object.

6. The moon is in itself always complete, but appears to decrease or increase, on account of the varying shadow of the earth upon the moon. I have learnt from this that the Atma is always perfect and changeless and that it is only the Upadhis (bodies) or limiting adjuncts that cast shadows upon it.

7. Just as the sun, reflected in various pots of water, appears as so many different reflections, so also, Brahman appears different because of the Upadhis (bodies) caused by its reflection through the mind. This is the lesson I have learnt from the sun.

8. I once saw a pair of pigeons with their young birds. A fowler spread a net and caught the young birds. The mother pigeon was very much attached to her children. She did not care to live, so she fell into the net and was caught. The male pigeon was attached to the female pigeon, so he also fell into the net and was caught. From this I learnt that attachment was the cause of bondage.

9. The python does not move about for its food. It remains contented with whatever it gets and lies in one place. From this I have learnt to be unmindful of food and to be contented with whatever I get to eat (Ajahara Vritti).

10. Just as the ocean remains unmoved even though hundreds of rivers fall into it, so also, the wise man should remain unmoved among all sorts of temptations, difficulties and troubles. This is the lesson I have learnt from the ocean.

11. Just as the moth, being enamoured of the brilliance of the fire, falls into it and is burnt up, so also, a passionate man who falls in love with a beautiful girl comes to grief. To control the sense of sight and to fix the mind on the Self is the lesson I have learnt from the moth.

12. Just as a black bee sucks the honey from different flowers and does not suck it from only one flower, so also I take only a little food from one house and a little from another house and thus appease my hunger (Madhukari Bhiksha or Madhukari Vritti). I am not a burden on the householder.

13. Bees collect honey with great trouble, but a hunter comes and takes the honey easily. Even so, people hoard up wealth and other things with great difficulty, but they have to leave them all at once and depart when the Lord of Death takes hold of them. From this I have learnt the lesson that it is useless to hoard things.

14. The male elephant blinded by lust falls into a pit covered over with grass, even at the sight of a paper-made female elephant. It gets caught, enchained and tortured by the goad. Even so, humankind falls into similar traps and comes to grief. Therefore, one should destroy lust. This is the lesson I have learnt from the elephant.

15. The deer is enticed and trapped by the hunter through its love of music. Even so, a humankind is attracted by the music of those of loose character and brought to destruction. One should never listen to lewd songs. This is the lesson I have learnt from the deer.

16. Just as a fish that is covetous of food falls an easy victim to the bait, so also, the man who is greedy for food, who allows his sense of taste to overpower him, loses his independence and easily gets ruined. The greed for food must therefore be destroyed. It is the lesson that I have learnt from the fish.

17. There was a dancing girl named Pingala in the town of Videha. She was tired of looking out for customers. One night she lost all hope. Then she decided to remain content with what she had and then she had sound sleep. I have learnt from that fallen woman the lesson that the abandonment of hope leads to contentment.

18. A raven picked up a piece of flesh. It was pursued and beaten by other birds. It dropped the piece of flesh and attained peace and rest. From this I have learnt the lesson that a man in the world undergoes all sorts of troubles and miseries when he runs after sensual pleasures and that he becomes as happy as the bird when he abandons the sensual pleasures.

19. The child who sucks milk is free from all cares, worries and anxieties, and is always cheerful. I have learnt the virtue of cheerfulness from the child.

20. The parents of a young girl had gone in search of a proper bridegroom for her. The girl was alone in the house. During the absence of the parents, a party of people came to the house to see her on a similar mission. She received the party herself. She went inside to husk the paddy. While she was husking, the glass bangles on both hands made a tremendous jingling noise. The wise girl reflected thus: "The party will detect, by the noise of the bangles, that I am husking the paddy myself and that my family is too poor to engage others to get the work done. Let me break all my bangles except two on each hand." Accordingly, she broke all the bangles except two on each hand. Even those two bangles created much noise. She broke one more bangle in each hand. There was no further noise though she continued husking. I have learnt from the girl's experience the following: Living among many would create discord, disturbance, dispute and quarrel. Even among two persons, there might be unnecessary words or strife. The ascetic or the Sannyasin should remain alone in solitude.

21. A serpent does not build its hole. It dwells in the holes dug out by others. Even so, an ascetic or a Sannyasin should not build a home for himself. He should live in the caves and temples built by others. This is the lesson that I have learnt from the snake.

22. The mind of an arrow-maker was once wholly engrossed in sharpening and straightening an arrow. While he was thus engaged, a king passed before his shop with his whole retinue. After some time, a man came to the artisan and asked him whether the king had passed by his shop. The artisan replied that he had not noticed anything. The fact was that the artisan's mind had been so solely absorbed in his work that he had not known the king's passing before his shop. I have learnt from the artisan the quality of intense concentration of mind.

23. The spider pours out of its mouth long threads and weaves them into cobwebs. It gets itself entangled in the net of its own making. Even so, man makes a net of his own ideas and gets entangled in it. The wise man should therefore abandon all worldly thoughts and think of Brahman only. This is the lesson I have learnt from the spider.

24. The beetle catches hold of a worm, puts it in its nest and gives it a sting. The poor worm, always fearing the return of the beetle and the sting, and thinking constantly of the beetle, becomes a beetle itself. Whatever form a man constantly thinks of, he attains in course of time. As a man thinks, so he becomes. I have learnt from the beetle and the worm to turn myself into Atma by contemplating constantly on It and thus to give up all attachment to the body and attain Moksha or liberation."

Rishi Dattatreya was absolutely free from intolerance or prejudice of any kind. He learnt wisdom from whatever source it came. It is a valuable example and lesson for all seekers of wisdom and knowledge.

Gayatri Mantra - self notes

2009-05-15T02:42:00.002+05:30

Gayatri Mantra - notes
14th May – A birthday gift for self as have been wanting to write this for a while now so what better time then to commemorate once birth :)
Gayatri Mantra needs a lot of respect. While popularly Gayatri Mantra is given as follows:
Om Bhur Bhuvah Svaha
Tat savitur varanyam
Bhargo devasya dheemhi
Dhi yo nah prachodayaat
Om – All mantra start with Om
Bhur - Earth
Bhuvah - Sky
Svaha - Space
Tat – that (Also interesting to note: Om tat sat)
savitur – Sun
varanyam – welcome as guest of honour
Bhargo – God
Devasya – divinity attributes of God alone
Dheemhi – as in dheema i.e. slowly contemplate i.e. meditate
Dhi - as in buddhi i.e. intellect
yo –me/you
nah – you/mine
prachodayaat - enlighten
Rik Ved fifth mandala only has :
Tat savitur varanyam, Bhargo devasya dheemhi, Dhi yo nah prachodayaat
A simple meaning /Self-note:
Dear Sun – with respect please come (request for meeting) and grace my intellect, while I meditate on divinity of God.
Self -Notes: Illumination of intellect appears to be a secondary, by-product of the meeting in itself.

From Flute to Conch

2009-04-13T04:01:00.001+05:30

A friend of mine who is a brilliant writer of words, wrote a book on music. He got so obsessed with his music making and generating and revering the raags that till date he has been busy weaving the web of words to adore his acquired knowledge. That made me wonder, just when will a person realize the difference between a flute and a conch? Flute player creates beautiful raags but obsession makes him lose the ability to listen – the bane of the music maker. Conch can be used to give a call like calling cows home or a battle cry against all that is not good. It is difficult to be obsessed with a conch cause it creates sound with a purpose as opposed to sound for taste (raas)Just when will my friend and good friends like him move from flute to conch I wonder ?Hence, the hint “veet-Raag-bhaya-krodha”.

Lessons from a mango tree

2009-03-22T08:02:00.000+05:30

Lessons from a mango tree

A farmer who nurtures his mango plant might feel proud of the fact that the trees have grown up from being saplings and are giving fruits. He may be kind and let others enjoy the fruit while still feeling proud. Some other farmer may not only feel proud of the ripe mangoes but also get involved in enjoying the fruits of his labour. He may even become possessive and prevent kids from entering the orchard. He might even beat the kids who steal a mango or two.

And then there was the landlord who owned the land. Neither did he buy the seed nor sowed it. Neither did he furrow the land nor watered it. Neither did he remove the weeds nor provide the manure. All he did was provide for the resources. Thus he felt he is the sponsor and therefore the cause of all the orchards. He is the cause of the existence and sustenance of so many families.

Likewise the seed of the mango tree might feel proud “See how big I have become. I give shelter to so many. I provide food to the hungry. I provide employment to the farmer and therefore feed his family.” Thus, the tree might feel proud of its growth and generosity.

Continued the tree, “I was lying low in the dust crawling and at times even being dragged by the ants and see how I stand now. How I hold my head in heavens surrounded by angelic clouds giving home to the birds and bees”.

Hearing all this, an old man who had seen generations of the mango trees and many orchards smiled. Thus said he

“And what if the earth had not been kind enough to keep you in your lap?”

“What if the water had refused you and evaporated, not preferring to roll in the mud just to keep you healthy?”

“What if air had refused to blow your way, cutting its heart to reach your tangled leaves to help them breathe a sigh of relief?”

“What if your mother tree had refused to give seeds?”

“What if the farmer had refused to toil?”

Hearing all this, the farmer realized how small his contribution was in the process and at once his pride melted. The landlord’s head also hung low as he realized he certainly can not consider himself as the cause of sustenance. For neither the sun, nor the air nor the water ever make him feel like that even though they truly sustain him, the farmer , the mango trees world over and the seeds.

In every act of ours where we feel proud, only if we widen our perspective we will get to realize how trivial our efforts are and at once reduce the Pride to zero. It will also remove the feeling of sponsorship of the act and also remove the myth of us being as its cause. So next time when the Pride Alert rings, all we need to do is map all the players - the seed, the tree, the farmer, the landlord, air, water, wind, earth, sun and then compare our efforts compared to the contribution of all these players and wonder if we still should be proud?

Colours of Pride

2009-03-08T14:31:00.005+05:30

Pride needs to be addressed and hence its awareness and required actions are important.
It is important to be aware of the levels of Pride and the elements of it. One’s Pride of:
L1 – Attainment Level
1. Knowledge
2. Intelligence
3. State – peaceful, satisfied and happy

L2 – Self-Transformation Level
4. Skills
5. Abilities
6. Qualities
7. Powers
8. Achievements

L3 – Gross Level – Acquisition Level
9. Possessions
10. Status
11. Background
12. Family and friends
13. Appearance

L3 level elements are the ones which we are born with or acquired early on in life. Some of the elements we may not have much control on but not being proud of those is important.
L2 level elements are the ones we acquire with time and therefore it is easy to get carried away by them.
L1 are the elements which are very subtle and also very ironical.
अंहकार = सम ऑफ़ अभिमान
Actions:
1. Remove the unwanted attributes/objects/elements from all the appearances and representations (body, speech, facial expressions, actions, emails, blogs, writings)
2. Create mental alerts for each of the elements of pride where one is likely to err.
3. Avoid unsolicted teaching.
4. Keep reminding oneself and practising 1 and 2.

Sound of breath

2008-07-19T12:11:00.001+05:30

Majestic ocean returning home
On hearing mother’s call
Prepared to be a drop to be on her loving palm.

A child throwing yoyo
Pulling it back
Mother dusting mat with a stick

Ostrich retracts
As storm approaches
Living gulpful at a time.

Curious breeze
Playfully tip-toes in caves
Touching stones and statues.

Honey bee buzzes
Resonating
Unknown strings

Ocean leaves home to play
Sound no more
Silence prolonged.

Rajiv
Inspired by various Pranayama exercises – Bhastrika, Kapalabhati, Bahaya, Bhramari, Pranava, etc.

Wind’s whisper

2008-07-08T17:44:00.001+05:30

When the fountain springs,
Lilies bloom.
When the soul moans
Who hears the call?

Necessity of grief

2008-03-17T08:45:00.000+05:30

Some like to believe that all that happens around us is purely random and then other tend to believe that there is a dominant design in what happens around us. Then there are others who tend to believe that it is a function of time as well and so there are patterns set in randomness i.e. short predictable déjà vu patterns set in random order.

For those who tend to disregard all models, life is easy as they consider happiness and grief as ends of a continuum – almost like an infinitesimally long line circling to make its ends meet. For them it’s a mere point in time phenomenon and it does not matter which time slice of the oscillation of the random was seized for observation.

Those who seek patterns in the randomness and believe that there exists a dominant design, often a question arises what’s the need of pain or grief?

So imagine a system in equilibrium or rather lets consider “Everybody continues in its state of rest or uniform motion …” yes Inertia. Whether its slackness or hyperactivity of modern existence, equilibrium or inertia is bound to set in. So if the system is stable and self-sustaining, what should be the means to inject that impulse which will make it transform into something more elegant. What choice will the designer have but to inject an impulse that will rearrange the weights of the well settled neural network so that a richer equilibrium state can be reached? Again when the self sustained system believes itself to be self-fulfilling, what choice will the designer have but to show its limitations and therefore enable evolution? This is where grief comes in handy. It’s a simple and perhaps the most efficient means to rearrange the weights of a neural network so that transformation can take place. It’s the means to make the seeker seek for more elegant design patterns and therefore seek the same from the designer. It’s a means to make the seeker defocus and refocus on the pole star that will not move no matter how choppy the sea or how strong the storms. In simpler words, it will make the intelligence of the designed, however extraordinary, subservient to the intelligence of the designer.

While this is just a viewpoint, it should be doubtlessly understood that it’s only a poor reflection of a glimpse of the design, almost like blind men who feel the warm rays through a key hole and imagine and speculate the splendor and radiance of the sun.

Copyright Rajiv Bahl March 2008

Pendulum

2007-06-10T09:07:00.001+05:30

Pendulum

Primordial pendulum pulsates,
Picking pluckered pulses,
Pulses palpable personally.

Perpetual pendulum pulsates,
Pointing pillar-pillar,
Ploughing parallel plane.

Piercing pendulum pulsates,
Plumbing point-point,
Pushing pinnacle peak.

Playful pendulum pulsates,
Pulsating pulses proliferous,
Prancing perimeter periodically.

Profusely pious prayer,
Pregnates pre-dawn petrichor, (alternative: Permates pratakalin prahar, )
Purely personal phenomenon,
Pushes personal plane,
Plain-plateau-peak.

© Rajiv Bahl April 2007

Take me home

2007-04-26T23:17:00.000+05:30

Take me home

It’s been a long time since you delivered me here
I have had my fill, played a lot, learnt my lessons,
Now I need to sleep,
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Ma, Please take me home.

Toys do not interest me any more nor do candies,
Neither words nor numbers,
My caretakers love me a lot but
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Ma, Please take me home.

You told me to be sincere so I topped where I chose to
But that interests me no more
No more medals, certificates, recognitions
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Ma, Please take me home.

Can you not see how I howl for you
Or hear my tears falling
Or feel my body shake as I sob for you
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Ma, Please take me home.

They tell me you live far away
I do not know your address or cell or email
So I write this hoping some angel carries my words to you
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Ma, Please take me home.

Just appear once, only once
Touch me, hug me and cradle my head in your lap
And deliver me back to you
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Please take me home,
Ma, Please take me home, Please.

© Rajiv Bahl April 2007

E-math-otions

2007-04-20T19:39:00.000+05:30

Green woods plus loneliness equals tranquility
Ipod minus machinery equals silence
Touch multiplied by imagination equals passion
Soul divided by pettiness equals detachment
Belief compounded by hope is trust
Honesty squared is innocence
Breathe to the power of moments is procrastination
Root of truth is imaginary.
Idea exp Energy is Industries
Living Cell exp Energy is Planste

© Rajiv Bahl April 2007

ME2

2007-04-17T22:49:00.000+05:30

ME2

While walking down the stairs in EC2
He saw a fragile state-of-the-art computer
In a sturdy brown box, with words

PLEASE DO NOT DROP
KEEP ME STRAIGHT
PLEASE HANDLE WITH CARE

Silently he bowed his head
“Ishwar, Me too”, he said.

© Rajiv Bahl April 2007.

(Electronics City Phase 2 is called EC2 in short in IT circle in Bangalore).