GOD, U THERE?

I had imagined Haridwar and Rishikesh to be small towns with quaint ancient temples. On the contrary these are towns with booming economies. The temples far from ancient are colored in the brightest pinks and yellows. Sanyasi’s dressed in orange seem to be the majority followed by tourists, both from India and abroad. Spirituality is big business here. “Almost every house has a temple of its own”, they tell me.

Lakshman Jhula - Rishikesh

Ganga Aarti - Haridwar

Washing away sins in the Ganges?

There is no time for prayer and silent contemplation in the temples here. Many times you are whisked away, before you even get a good look at the idol. This is often the case in busy temples. In many others you are made to hear their familiar sales pitch asking for donations. And you’d think charity was optional. Apparently not! In fact, many times you are left wondering if you are in a temple or attending an auction…

I bet the Gods must have long fled these places in disgust…

HUH TAJ

It is late in the night when we arrive in Agra. Its been a long day for all of us; covering mere miles of hot terrain. All for the TAJ, we assure each other!

Grubby with rumpled clothes and hairdos, we look totally out of place as we check-in at the Taj View. All I want is a hot shower, but all that only after I take a good look at the TAJ. We’re excited to have gotten rooms that boast of the grand view. In the glum yellow of the streetlights, I spot the familiar outline at a distance, standing tall above a maze of mediocre roof tops.

View of the TAJ from hotel Taj View Agra

Dinner is a somber affair as news channels cover the story of Pramod Mahajan’s passing away. It is indeed ironic; watching the tragic news of unrequited love in a city that immortalizes that very emotion.

Post breakfast, we hail a rickshaw to take us to the TAJ. The sun is blazing and the heat is unbearable already. I expect a grand entrance to this monument that is often christened as the 8^th wonder; instead our rickshaw makes its way through a maze of narrow roads and comes to halt at the entrance of a small alley. Small shops selling inlay work art items, miniature Tajs and other sundry stuff line the alley. I am disappointed with the façade. Couldn’t the tourism or whatever department deals with this be a little more creative?

As we buy our entry tickets, security personnel at the entrance inform us that we are to deposit food-items, drinks (water allowed) if any, even candy and chocolates! “This forces people to get out in a couple of hours, curbs hooliganism and littering”, they explain. We are told to walk past a security screen, which to me, appears like a rickety, unpolished wooden arch with some LEDs. Armed with a digital camera and a handicam we march ahead. One realizes the presence of the great monument only after stepping inside this entrance.

TAJ as seen from inside the premises

The premises are well maintained. I am glad I don’t spot any litter that seems to be common in any Indian tourist place. We are hailed by another security guard as we are about to walk past the last archway. We need to pay 50 bucks in order to take any footage. We do that with the understanding that we can take our handicam. We soon learn that we have misunderstood; the fee is so you can shoot the TAJ from that last archway. Handicams are banned beyond that archway. I find this silly, but we comply.

Artistic Arch - Inside TAJ premises

As we near the main marble structure I see people scuttling here and there. It is a funny sight; men and women of all ages and sizes running. It is not long before I realize why and curse myself for not bringing socks along. We admire the beautiful inlay work in the main dome structure and the architecture of the adjoining masjid. The murky Yamuna flows behind apparently reduced to a sewer. On our way out, we stop at the small museum that houses artifacts of the times of the Emperor.

TAJ Closeup

Masjid artwork

River Jamuna as seen from the TAJ

I am surprised that I am not swept off by this architectural wonder; perhaps it was the heat or the dismal entrance or simply the time of the day; I try to explain myself.

It is a full moon night and the sky is devoid of any artificial light. As I gaze upwards, the sky appears like a dark carpet studded with stars. The TAJ appears heavenly in the cool creamy light of the moon. A Santoor dhun fills the night air….

It is a crisp morning in early winter, the sun is yet to rise, but the sky has a rosy glow. It is quiet except for the azan coming from the masjid’s in the TAJ. A sense of tranquility descends upon me as I walk along the pathway that leads to the TAJ.....

Masjid inside the TAJ premises

Oh well; dream, that’s all I can do for now…

However, I do see a faint glimmer of hope. I happened to read a piece in the newspaper a couple of days ago. It talked about government's plans of acquiring the land around TAJ, beautifying the surroundings and organizing cultural concerts and light shows in the TAJ premises. I am keeping my fingers crossed…

LINKS

• Explore Taj - Courtesy Nandan

A ROOM WITH A VIEW

All my dreamy imaginations and assurances by my travel agent (about the cool climes) are shattered as our NON-AC bus takes us to Kausani from Nainital. Thankfully we see green all around, occasionally dotted by purples, yellows and bright reds of some flowering trees. Suddenly our bus comes to a halt and I see a long line of buses ahead. Apparently some road construction work is the cause of our stall. I get down to stretch my legs. There is a river trickling below (Unlike Himalayan rivers that are always gushing with water from the Himalayas.) and terraced farms, each a different hue of green. (I later learned that the elevations are drought-prone since all the water from the rainfall feeds the plains.)

The air suddenly grows cool as we start after this break. I go back to my day dreaming about Kausani. Kausani has been a fixation since I read about it in my Hindi textbook in school. I recollect the author describing the view of Himalayas from this little town and the Himalayan phenomenon of “Call of the mountain”.

Dark clouds dominate the evening sky when we arrive at our hotel (Hotel Jeetu). It seems that God is going to heed to everybody’s chants for cooler weather by sending some showers. This also means not being able to see the legendary sunset. I rush to my room and head towards the balcony; the backside of another hotel can be seen below and the usual pines and evergreens in the valley. I shift my gaze upwards towards the horizon and spot the ranges – NandaGhunti, Trishul, Panchachuli as I later learn their names. Excitedly, I call out to the others and point them to the ranges.

View of Himalayan peaks from our hotel balcony in Kausani, Uttaranchal

Hot chai arrives just as it begins to rain. Mesmerized we sip our chai and point out to each other as a new peak becomes visible from the cloak of clouds. A lone crow sits atop an evergreen, seemingly enjoying the showers and soaking in the view. It is interesting to even watch the clouds – a fluff on my right seems like an archer ready to shoot and the one on my left appears like the smiling face of a benevolent lady. A minute later the lady turns into a dragon spewing fire and the archer is no more, instead I make out 3 wild horses racing. An hour passes quickly cloud gazing and peak spotting. It stops raining and I decide to go for a short walk.

Sunrise - Kausani, Uttaranchal

We rise early (5:30ish) to catch the sunrise. The fireball slowly comes into view and illuminates the peaks one by one. The greys and blues of last evening are transformed into goldens and pinks. The air of mystique that surrounded the mountains last night is transformed into a serene sacredness by the rays of the morning sun. The sunrise is beautiful, yet, I prefer the view of the mountains of the past evening.

I hike up the hill in front of our hotel and collect pine cones on my way down. Post breakfast I take another short hike to a nearby temple. The peaks dominate the horizon everywhere I go. The hikes refresh me and am happy to have the opportunity to be in the midst of nature rather than just hop from one destination to the other.

Trishul peak as seen from Kausani, Uttaranchal

Soon it is time to say goodbye to Kausani. I take one last look at the peaks and make a silent promise to visit them soon.

AGILE??..........WILL SURVIVE

Change, accepting change, dealing w/ change, etc. seem to be the buzzwords of our rapidly changing world. Many good books have been written about the same. To successfully survive the changes of time and tide, one needs to accept the fact that change is inevitable and having accepted that, brace oneself to make the best of these oncoming changes.

Azim Premji; successful businessman, founder of Wipro gave a presentation at IIM-A about “The Changing World”. He based this presentation on his own experiences and it can be summarized in the following 11 points. I happened to read this presentation in a Marathi newspaper. My summary is a loose translation of the same.

• Be a good sensor - Know the signs of change and watch out for them.
• Change is always lurking around the corner. Be proactive and try to prepare yourself for the same.
• Change always brings along new opportunities. Look out for these.
• Avoid getting into the comfort-zone of your routine.
• It is natural to fear the insecurity that change brings w/ it. Use this fear positively, to plan for change.
• Renew yourself constantly.
• Be in the company of pro-change people Vs anti-change.
• Play to win; give it your best shot.
• Maintain your self-esteem.
• Never forego your values and morals.
• Being successful is far different and important than just living/existing. Your success not only positively affects you but also society at large.

TEACHINGS OF OSHO

Recently I happened to read “LIFE’S MYSTERIES – An Introduction to the Teachings of Osho”. Never before had I read or listened to the teachings of any spiritual guru – never felt like it. A family friend urged me to read the book, I agreed, partly to sate my curiosity that gossip about Oshoites and the Ashram had created.

It took me a while to finish the small book. Some of Osho’s thoughts made sense to me, some were beyond me, whereas some sort of made sense yet the traditional teachings of my mind did not allow for ready acceptance.

Osho says that all the religions of the world are anti-life and his arguments in this regard were convincing.

Here are my interpretations of some thoughts that I liked and would like to remember.

• Touchstone to differentiate between the important from the unimportant – Anything that can be taken by death is unimportant and that cannot be taken by death is important.

• Don’t be life negative, be life positive. Celebrate life – live life to the fullest.

• Focus on rejoicing instead of renouncing. Focus on the present and live this moment to the fullest.

• Don’t believe in anyone – find your own path and walk on it. Follow your inner voice. When you do so, you will be on the right path. You might stumble along the way, might commit mistakes, but that is alright. In the end all these efforts contribute towards your ultimate growth – no effort is wasted.

• Each individual is unique and each individual life has a beauty in its uniqueness.

• Life’s aim is life itself – more life, better life, higher life, but life always!

• Man ordinarily functions out of the past, out of the knowledge that he has accumulated in the past and thus has standard, mechanical responses. But life is continuously changing. Right and wrong are not fixed entities. So avoid functioning through your past. Act out of awareness. Awareness means being in the present

• Receptivity is the door to the divine; it is a state of no-mind, state of awareness. Being receptive means dropping all the garbage in your mind, like your past. If you can drop this then you become more open, more receptive.

• A man of awareness does not react; he acts or responds. He is responsible. He is his own master and acts according to himself and not by anybody else. Osho gives a beautiful analogy of a mirror to the man who is aware and that of a photoplate to the person who reacts. The difference between a mirror and photoplate is that the former is dynamic whereas the latter is static. Life is dynamic and hence one should try to be a mirror instead of a photoplate.

• Love can be dependent, independent or interdependent. In the 1^st two cases it always brings misery and should not be termed as love but as an arrangement. The 3^rd case brings happiness because it is when two people are in complete synchronism and this is true love.

• To grow during our life is a choice that we have to make. Osho compares our existence to that of the seed. The seed has the potential to grow and flower, so also we have the potential to grow. The seed is very safe and secure whereas a flower is vulnerable and fragile. People prefer this security over growth and the insecurity associated w/ this process and hence many of us choose to live as seeds and just remain as potentialities.

• Avoid nouns instead emphasize on verbs. So focus on living instead of life.

• Nobody is born for the other. Nobody is born to fulfill your ideals of how a person should be.

• You can give as much as you want, but cannot demand (love for ex.) from the other – nobody is your slave. You have control only on yourself.

• Ego is something that you can feel but that which does not exist. Osho compares it w/ darkness which is nothing but absence of light. To drive away darkness you have to experiment w/ light. Similarly to be egoless you have to raise your level of consciousness.

• Meditation is neither concentration nor contemplation. It is a state of no-thinking or no-mind. Simply put no-mind means that your mind becomes your servant.

• Meditation is when our mind, body and soul are functioning together in rhythm. Any activity that achieves this can be meditation. So running, dancing, singing….all these can be meditations.

• Everybody is born w/ the same potential. Differences arise because we do not use our potential to the same extent. Meditation can make you aware of your potential, can make the passage in which your potential can grow and can find its expression.

• Ego is the root cause of fear in you.

• Fear always exists – about security, safety. When surrounded by such fear, remember this- the only thing that is secure or certain in life is death. Being dead is the ultimate security. So if you want to live, grow then you have to take risks. Don’t be shackled by these exercises of the mind - remember you have nothing to lose. Stop postponement

• Freedom and responsibility are the 2 sides of the same coin. If you want freedom you have to be responsible. Responsibility means that whatever you do it is your response. It is different than duty. When you act out of duty it becomes a burden whereas when you act out of responsibility there is no burden because it is your response.

• The inner (soul) is as real as the outer (body, material aspects), both are equally significant. One has to attain a balance between the two.

Simbly Z(S)even

Alrighty………I have been tagged……..courtesy Kusum…..so here it goes…. :)

7 things to do before I die:

1. Globe trot (….squeeze in road trips and backpacking trips….fly business class)… Okay, if not anything, at least take a trip to Kailash Mansarovar.
2. Pamper my family crazy.
3. Anger management, learn to be more tolerant.
4. Start my own restaurant.
5. Be a cool dancer.
6. Stop swearing completely.
7. Do my bit for old people and/or something related to Indian heritage.

7 things I can't do: (for now…except the last couple )

1. Prepare Bhakri. (yumm….my favorite.)
2. Write poetry.
3. Think w/ my head instead of heart when required.
4. Tinker w/ gadgets and stuff.
5. Initiate and carry on a nerdy conversation.
6. Swim.
7. Be false.

7 things I always say:

1. Tch….or Mtch….
2. Whateverr!
3. I’m hungry….
4. I mean…
5. Like Helloow…
6. Cool….
7. Anyhoo…..

7 books I have loved:

1. Love Story
2. The 7 spiritual laws of success
3. The Monk who sold his Ferrari
4. Time Machine
5. A Cup of Comfort for Friends
6. arab bhASheteel suras va chamatkaarik kathA
7. badalata bhArat

7 things I get attracted to:

1. Nature
2. Rain
3. Smells - Cologne/after shave, earth after the first rain, warm spicy food.
4. Good vegetarian food.
5. People - Creative, Funny, Good cooks, Philosophers, Achievers, people like me ;)

Sorry can’t think of more….

7 movies I love to watch over and over: (Well not over and over…’coz I am not a movie buff…..but I could modify this to movies I have enjoyed)

1. Life is Beautiful
2. Iqbal
3. Dumb and Dumber
4. Austin Powers
5. Terminal

Sorry can’t think of more….

1 Person I am tagging

• Kedar
  

KNOWING DOING GAP

I think this post has been procrastinated enough. It all started a couple of months ago, when I mentioned a Marathi proverb to my Dad, that when literally translated means “I KNOW, but, I can’t DO”. Dad mentioned a book titled “The Knowing-Doing Gap” at the time and even got me a copy in the next few days. I was intrigued by the topic/title. For sometime then I had been thinking about things like “What motivates people?”, “Knowing-doing gaps in our personal and professional lives”, etc. I started reading the book to validate my analysis of why this knowing-doing gap exists. Although, the book was focused on knowing-doing gaps in organizations; the reason behind their existence and ways of overcoming the same, it made an interesting read. You should be able to find the book summary by googling the title and hence I will not mention that in this post. Instead I will focus my attention on my original thought; “Why do knowing-doing gaps exist in our personal and professional lives?”

Some sample KNOWs –

• I KNOW I need to lose weight.
• I KNOW I should not carry work home and vice-a-versa.
• I KNOW I need to exercise regularly.
• I KNOW I need to plan my finances and make the right investments.
• I KNOW I need to improve on my listening.
• I KNOW I need to learn that new technology that is hot in the job market currently.

Here are some factors that I have identified. I would love to hear your thoughts on the same.

1. You KNOW because you are told.

I think that this is one of the most important factors. Do you truly believe that you need to DO or is an external entity directing you to DO? Unless one is convinced about the KNOW, DO cannot happen. For ex. You KNOW you need to lose weight, but that is because people say you should.

2. Inertia/Who wants to leave the Comfort-Zone!

Many times the pleasure of being in one’s established comfort-zone is more alluring than the efforts involved in the DO.

3. Fear

Fear of change during the DO. Previous failed attempts or negative information from external sources can also prevent us from DOING.

4. Lack of motivation

5. Analysis Paralysis

Does one devote time for self-analysis? Is the DOING Vs the KNOWING measured, tracked?

6. Lack of momentum

Often times one starts off enthusiastically, but falls back at some point of time. I guess lack of measurement makes the failure difficult to be attributable to this lack of momentum or any other specific factors.

Anyhoo, I know I just surmounted one gap! (I KNOW I need to write a post on the knowing-doing gap.)