It is that time of the year again when Lord Ganesh enters our lives bringing to fore the joie de vivre in us. In several places in India Ganesh chaturthi is a one day affair but in amchi Mumbai it could be anywhere between one to fifteen days. It is the season of gay abandon when people dance and jostle to welcome their favorite deity to their homes and mandals. The most eagerly awaited time for us Mumbaikars.
Ganesh chaturthi can be a logistics nightmare. The mere thought of transporting lord Ganesh idols across the streets of Mumbai can send a chill down the spine of any logistics planner. The entire operation of transporting the idols is more unplanned than planned but unbelievably much smoother than any planned operations. Like Mr. Amit Maheshwari, our CEO, often says, in India everything is ‘Jugaad’; things get done. The idols of lord Ganesh get transported with very few minor hiccups; not bad considering the sheer number of mandals and household that participates in this venture, not to mention the multitude of people.
Then comes the darshan time; long winding queues of spirited devotees throng the path along the barricades not minding the inconveniences of the makeshift pandals, resolute in their aim of having a glimpse of their lord. Some of the more popular mandals witness millions of devotees during the festival period, from early in the morning to late night. The devotees’ belief in their lord is total and absolute and nothing can deter them from visiting the deity at their favorite and chosen mandals. Much of the people management is done by volunteers appointed by the mandals and the general public, none of whom have any special qualification for it. The support from the government machinery to this whole spectacle can be at best described as rudimentary.
After the stipulated period of celebration it is time to bid adieu to the lord as he is reluctantly taken out in processions to be immersed in water. Again the logistics nightmare, the process of transporting the idols begins and once again the Mumbaikars sing and dance in gay abandon as they say farewell to their beloved lord. The atmosphere resonates with shouts of ‘Ganapati bappa morya, pudchya varshi laukar yaa’. The feeling of devotees as they return home after immersion is difficult to describe. It is as if they have parted with a beloved member of their family. With downcast eyes and heavy heart they trudge back to their respective homes with a lingering thought of the promised visit of their lord the same time next year…Pudcha varshi laukar yaa.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The art of writing
The title of this post would lead one to believe that it is about tips on improving writing skills or becoming a good writer; it’s neither. It is just that so often my colleagues ascribe me with good writing skills, which I not-so-modestly decline possessing, that I thought I should write about my take on what I perceive to be good writing. This post is for all those who look-up to me as a good writer.
To qualify as a good writer, I believe, first of all a person should have an excellent command over the language one writes in. Second, the writer should possess good knowledge of the subject. Third, the writing should be lucid and go straight to the heart of the matter without beating around the bush. Fourth, excessive use of jargons and showing off one’s vocabulary must be avoided at all costs. Well there are lots of other qualifications which I may have failed to mention here, but these are some of the required qualities I could remember. I do not want to go too much into the technicalities of writing, I mean I can’t.
As for writing in English or understanding of the queen’s language, Softlink has many worthy people who can be spoken of as having this trait. There is Abhai for one, and then there is Arun, Girish, Rajesh, all these people have very solid grounding in the language. Abhai’s skill is ofcourse well know but few are aware of the proficiency of the other three. It is sheer happenstance that I was entrusted the task of communicating for the company, being the only person who could be spared for it. This should not be mistaken for any talent on my part for any given day one can punch a bunch of holes in my writings. I am a rookie as far as writing is concerned and I have this habit of complicating the sentences and twisting them so as to make them uninteresting to read, incomprehensible at times. Incidentally this is the only language I can write in and I can’t even do it without the help of a dictionary.
But one thing I must agree; the power to communicate gives one a high as no other thing can. And there is no shame in committing mistakes if one learns from them. Human beings have strived to express their thoughts and feelings from time immemorial. So guys if you feel disinclined to share your thoughts and feelings, atleast the ones which can be aired openly, because of public censure or ridicule, I entreat you to shed aside your fears and inhibitions to come forth boldly to convey your thoughts. Why should we worry about people who ridicule us or do not try to understand us? It is their inability and they should be ashamed of it not us.
To qualify as a good writer, I believe, first of all a person should have an excellent command over the language one writes in. Second, the writer should possess good knowledge of the subject. Third, the writing should be lucid and go straight to the heart of the matter without beating around the bush. Fourth, excessive use of jargons and showing off one’s vocabulary must be avoided at all costs. Well there are lots of other qualifications which I may have failed to mention here, but these are some of the required qualities I could remember. I do not want to go too much into the technicalities of writing, I mean I can’t.
As for writing in English or understanding of the queen’s language, Softlink has many worthy people who can be spoken of as having this trait. There is Abhai for one, and then there is Arun, Girish, Rajesh, all these people have very solid grounding in the language. Abhai’s skill is ofcourse well know but few are aware of the proficiency of the other three. It is sheer happenstance that I was entrusted the task of communicating for the company, being the only person who could be spared for it. This should not be mistaken for any talent on my part for any given day one can punch a bunch of holes in my writings. I am a rookie as far as writing is concerned and I have this habit of complicating the sentences and twisting them so as to make them uninteresting to read, incomprehensible at times. Incidentally this is the only language I can write in and I can’t even do it without the help of a dictionary.
But one thing I must agree; the power to communicate gives one a high as no other thing can. And there is no shame in committing mistakes if one learns from them. Human beings have strived to express their thoughts and feelings from time immemorial. So guys if you feel disinclined to share your thoughts and feelings, atleast the ones which can be aired openly, because of public censure or ridicule, I entreat you to shed aside your fears and inhibitions to come forth boldly to convey your thoughts. Why should we worry about people who ridicule us or do not try to understand us? It is their inability and they should be ashamed of it not us.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Bring About the Awakening
We all have weaknesses, all sorts of weaknesses, and we are nothing but slaves of these weaknesses. The question then is how do we fall prey to such weakness in the first place? How do we overcome these weaknesses and grow in strength?
It is the deceiving mind, which we are so much identified with, which is the root cause. These weaknesses manifest due to our identification with the mind. One may disagree with me on this, nevertheless it is true. It is foolish to think that we are in control of ourselves. If we reflect honestly on the nature of our mind we would know this to be true. One who is in control of himself would be totally devoid of avarice, envy, anger, prurience and caprice. The mind is a malady which affects us. The mind will do anything to ensure its survival, often diving into an abyss of dross and scum. Not knowing this, people vainly ascribe their weaknesses to all sorts of external sources, such as circumstances. The mind which can only dwell in the past and the future cannot exist in the present. It is this present that we must seek.
René Descartes says: "Cogito, ergo sum" (Usually translated in English as: "I think, therefore I am", but can be less ambiguously translated as "I am thinking, therefore I exist" or "I am thinking, on the account of being"). However there is an existence beyond this thinking existence which is our true nature. The thinking existence, which is absolutely false, takes you away from your true nature.
The mind is an imposter which gives us a false identity. The sooner one does away with this imposter the better, for it will bring forth one's true self. The best way to deal with the mind is to watch it without actually following the thoughts. If we follow this method scrupulously the mind will fall of its own. As Swami Vivekananda says: “Hold to the idea, ‘I am not the mind, I see that I am thinking, I am watching my mind act,’ and each day the identification of yourself with thoughts and feelings will grow less, until at last you can entirely separate yourself from the mind and actually know it to be apart from yourself.” He further says “Freedom can never be reached by the weak. Throw away all weakness. Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself. Go on saying, ‘I am free.’ Never mind if the next moment delusion comes and says, ‘I am bound.’ Dehypnotize the whole thing.”
One thing is sure, it is not an easy task. But if we persist with grit and fortitude we are bound to succeed. Let us bring about this Awakening in us.
It is the deceiving mind, which we are so much identified with, which is the root cause. These weaknesses manifest due to our identification with the mind. One may disagree with me on this, nevertheless it is true. It is foolish to think that we are in control of ourselves. If we reflect honestly on the nature of our mind we would know this to be true. One who is in control of himself would be totally devoid of avarice, envy, anger, prurience and caprice. The mind is a malady which affects us. The mind will do anything to ensure its survival, often diving into an abyss of dross and scum. Not knowing this, people vainly ascribe their weaknesses to all sorts of external sources, such as circumstances. The mind which can only dwell in the past and the future cannot exist in the present. It is this present that we must seek.
René Descartes says: "Cogito, ergo sum" (Usually translated in English as: "I think, therefore I am", but can be less ambiguously translated as "I am thinking, therefore I exist" or "I am thinking, on the account of being"). However there is an existence beyond this thinking existence which is our true nature. The thinking existence, which is absolutely false, takes you away from your true nature.
The mind is an imposter which gives us a false identity. The sooner one does away with this imposter the better, for it will bring forth one's true self. The best way to deal with the mind is to watch it without actually following the thoughts. If we follow this method scrupulously the mind will fall of its own. As Swami Vivekananda says: “Hold to the idea, ‘I am not the mind, I see that I am thinking, I am watching my mind act,’ and each day the identification of yourself with thoughts and feelings will grow less, until at last you can entirely separate yourself from the mind and actually know it to be apart from yourself.” He further says “Freedom can never be reached by the weak. Throw away all weakness. Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself. Go on saying, ‘I am free.’ Never mind if the next moment delusion comes and says, ‘I am bound.’ Dehypnotize the whole thing.”
One thing is sure, it is not an easy task. But if we persist with grit and fortitude we are bound to succeed. Let us bring about this Awakening in us.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
An earnest request
So many thoughts ramble through my mind but when it comes to putting it down in words I fail miserably. Inspite of it I try my best to express myself. Blog is a wonderful avenue to express one’s thoughts, views and the incoherent ramblings of one’s mind. Does one have to write for an audience? How does it matter whether anyone reads this blog or not! I write because it helps me understand my own thoughts, as I read it again and again.
Some of my friends whom I tried to rope in for contributing to this blog hesitate to do so, perhaps because they feel their thoughts are too insignificant to be expressed or they fear ridicule or do not wish to reveal their innermost thoughts. Some of them might also consider it to be a waste of time, a foolish affair not worth their while. Whatever be the reason, I urge, nay plead them to set aside their reservations and come forward to share their thoughts. I am sure all the contributors will agree it is a wonderful and exhilarating experience.
Some of my younger friends have talked about their lack of proficiency in writing in their posts, but have had the gumption to go ahead and put across their thoughts. I sincerely appreciate and thank them from the deepest recess of my heart for acceding to my request. I expect more from them, maybe it will encourage others to come forward and contribute to this blog.
Some of my friends whom I tried to rope in for contributing to this blog hesitate to do so, perhaps because they feel their thoughts are too insignificant to be expressed or they fear ridicule or do not wish to reveal their innermost thoughts. Some of them might also consider it to be a waste of time, a foolish affair not worth their while. Whatever be the reason, I urge, nay plead them to set aside their reservations and come forward to share their thoughts. I am sure all the contributors will agree it is a wonderful and exhilarating experience.
Some of my younger friends have talked about their lack of proficiency in writing in their posts, but have had the gumption to go ahead and put across their thoughts. I sincerely appreciate and thank them from the deepest recess of my heart for acceding to my request. I expect more from them, maybe it will encourage others to come forward and contribute to this blog.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Living Life on the Edge!!!!
Dear Pals,
At the outset, let me first express my gratitude to Gopal Sir for creating blog forum for softlinkers. It really helps us to share our thoughts & explore our ideas. Though writing a blog enables us to think out of the box, most of the times we don’t devote our quality time for some constructive work & keep on agitating ourselves with other things.
That reminds me about one incidence, a few weeks back, on my birthday; I was talking to my maternal grandfather, who is running 95. After our nice conversation I questioned myself that will I be as healthy & satisfied as grandpa at my older age. In last week there was an article in TOI about average lifespan of Indians. The life was totally different at our ancestor’s era, where they were lucky to breathe under fresh air, fully satisfied with their basic amenities with no further expectations in life. Where day by day our mundane has become chaotic, scrambling for toehold on trains, snaking one’s way through traffic snarls, increasing stress levels at work, and all apart from this our ambitions to strive success & excellence has hassled our span. But is it erratic to have expectations? Especially our young generation is striving to benchmark accomplishments in the prevailing competitive scenario.
During my management lessons, I had learned about Maslow’s hierarchical need theory which defines about Human needs. It is often depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the lowest level is associated with physiological needs, while the uppermost level is associated with self esteem & self-actualization needs, particularly those related to identity and purpose. Today our young generation is in striving to accomplish self esteem, which includes establishing individual identity by achieving desired standards & aiming for high in life. Due to augment in earning ability (especially thanks to IT Industry for their healthy packages, we have been inclined towards high criterions. For e.g. Today’s era have become technological savvy, indeed buying costly cell phone with latest trends, allure in purchasing branded items or spend money in costly restaurant etc. These all above mentioned things has changed our lifestyle also we chase to become more successful in life.
Despite of all availability of leisure I still find life more stressful & complex. But I have read somewhere that, unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. So don't worry about anything. Worrying never solved anything. All it does is distorting your mind.
On concluding this note, I would want all my friends to come forward to express your thoughts, put your thinking caps & share your views. Till then stay blessed, keep smiling & keep blogging!!!!!!!
Prachi Deshpande
At the outset, let me first express my gratitude to Gopal Sir for creating blog forum for softlinkers. It really helps us to share our thoughts & explore our ideas. Though writing a blog enables us to think out of the box, most of the times we don’t devote our quality time for some constructive work & keep on agitating ourselves with other things.
That reminds me about one incidence, a few weeks back, on my birthday; I was talking to my maternal grandfather, who is running 95. After our nice conversation I questioned myself that will I be as healthy & satisfied as grandpa at my older age. In last week there was an article in TOI about average lifespan of Indians. The life was totally different at our ancestor’s era, where they were lucky to breathe under fresh air, fully satisfied with their basic amenities with no further expectations in life. Where day by day our mundane has become chaotic, scrambling for toehold on trains, snaking one’s way through traffic snarls, increasing stress levels at work, and all apart from this our ambitions to strive success & excellence has hassled our span. But is it erratic to have expectations? Especially our young generation is striving to benchmark accomplishments in the prevailing competitive scenario.
During my management lessons, I had learned about Maslow’s hierarchical need theory which defines about Human needs. It is often depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the lowest level is associated with physiological needs, while the uppermost level is associated with self esteem & self-actualization needs, particularly those related to identity and purpose. Today our young generation is in striving to accomplish self esteem, which includes establishing individual identity by achieving desired standards & aiming for high in life. Due to augment in earning ability (especially thanks to IT Industry for their healthy packages, we have been inclined towards high criterions. For e.g. Today’s era have become technological savvy, indeed buying costly cell phone with latest trends, allure in purchasing branded items or spend money in costly restaurant etc. These all above mentioned things has changed our lifestyle also we chase to become more successful in life.
Despite of all availability of leisure I still find life more stressful & complex. But I have read somewhere that, unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. So don't worry about anything. Worrying never solved anything. All it does is distorting your mind.
On concluding this note, I would want all my friends to come forward to express your thoughts, put your thinking caps & share your views. Till then stay blessed, keep smiling & keep blogging!!!!!!!
Prachi Deshpande
Monday, November 16, 2009
Life in Moment
Hello everybody,
Today, here I am going to write something for the first time in life using such way, so obviously there must be some misteks, I apologize for that, just ignore it and read the feelings.
Still I am confused. What’s to write? And I don’t know what I am going to write, whether you’ll like it or not.
Everybody wrote their thoughts about life, about their own life or about others life, so it seems good theme to write about. So finally I decided to write about life.
What is life? There so many definitions about life, but I think “life is the moment which we are living at Present”. There are so many moments in our life like happy moments, sad moments, exciting moments and some serious moments. But most of the people lives most part of their life in serious moments, seriousness is in everything, whatever they do, and no time to share happy moment, actually no time to live, what I think why to be too serious; because too much seriousness is ugly face of life. And life is beautiful, happy and exciting…..
People are afraid about living freely or not being serious because other will think they are disrespectful about their life, but I think if you do not remain joyful or not celebrating life, you are disrespecting life. We have one life and it’s this one whether you believe in reincarnation or not. So live it to the fullest. Only we (Human being) have the special gift that we are able to choose happiness. Have you seen any animal, bird or other creature being serious, they are’nt be serious because they live in the Moment.
Now you all will ponder that the serious person is talking about not being serious, but I think I enjoyed and am enjoying my life in my own way, as Jitin sir written in his post about actual enjoyment and I really liked it, may be because I had same time…
Thanks for reading this post; Thanks again to all readers, I hope I had not wasted your precious moments. .
Sopan Magar
Today, here I am going to write something for the first time in life using such way, so obviously there must be some misteks, I apologize for that, just ignore it and read the feelings.
Still I am confused. What’s to write? And I don’t know what I am going to write, whether you’ll like it or not.
Everybody wrote their thoughts about life, about their own life or about others life, so it seems good theme to write about. So finally I decided to write about life.
What is life? There so many definitions about life, but I think “life is the moment which we are living at Present”. There are so many moments in our life like happy moments, sad moments, exciting moments and some serious moments. But most of the people lives most part of their life in serious moments, seriousness is in everything, whatever they do, and no time to share happy moment, actually no time to live, what I think why to be too serious; because too much seriousness is ugly face of life. And life is beautiful, happy and exciting…..
People are afraid about living freely or not being serious because other will think they are disrespectful about their life, but I think if you do not remain joyful or not celebrating life, you are disrespecting life. We have one life and it’s this one whether you believe in reincarnation or not. So live it to the fullest. Only we (Human being) have the special gift that we are able to choose happiness. Have you seen any animal, bird or other creature being serious, they are’nt be serious because they live in the Moment.
Now you all will ponder that the serious person is talking about not being serious, but I think I enjoyed and am enjoying my life in my own way, as Jitin sir written in his post about actual enjoyment and I really liked it, may be because I had same time…
Thanks for reading this post; Thanks again to all readers, I hope I had not wasted your precious moments. .
Sopan Magar
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Masters of our destiny
How many people have a set goal in their life? I mean there are people who just go through life, mechanically like automatons, not knowing its purpose and without any set goals. And then there are people who have certain goal in their life; be it Wealth, Health, Fame, Temporal Knowledge or Wisdom (Knowledge of the Self). It is for each to decide what it is that they seek in life.
Mahatma Gandhi says - find the purpose, the means will follow. Each of us have immense potential in us what is required is the conviction, will power and persistence to bring it forth. If we sincerely believe in ourselves we can achieve anything in life. Instead we see that people either lack self belief, considering themselves worthless or alternatively have a bloated self worth, believing themselves to be superior to others. A good character is the foundation of a great life. Apart from self belief It is essential we cultivate noble qualities such as humility, truthfulness and temperance and avoid negative qualities such as greed, jealousy, anger, arrogance and prurience. Any success that results in arrogance and makes one look down on others is absolutely not worth achieving.
The only obstacle in achieving our goals is our mind. Negative thoughts cloud our mind making us lose our sense of discrimination leading to delusion. It is up to each to chart the course of their lives. We can either accept defeat and lament our fate, or tread fearlessly on our chosen path regardless of the outcome. We are blind to the opportunities that life offers because of our own delusions, and tend to shift blame on circumstances for not being able to make best of it. The choice is entirely ours. We are the masters of our destiny.
If we stop finding excuses for every missed opportunity and instead turn each setback or challenge in life into a stepping stone for achieving our goal, we’ll soon be galloping merrily on the highway to success.
Finally I would like to quote Swami Vivekananda: “Each Soul is Potentially Divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work or worship or psychic control or philosophy- by one or more all of these - and be free. This is whole of Religion.”
Mahatma Gandhi says - find the purpose, the means will follow. Each of us have immense potential in us what is required is the conviction, will power and persistence to bring it forth. If we sincerely believe in ourselves we can achieve anything in life. Instead we see that people either lack self belief, considering themselves worthless or alternatively have a bloated self worth, believing themselves to be superior to others. A good character is the foundation of a great life. Apart from self belief It is essential we cultivate noble qualities such as humility, truthfulness and temperance and avoid negative qualities such as greed, jealousy, anger, arrogance and prurience. Any success that results in arrogance and makes one look down on others is absolutely not worth achieving.
The only obstacle in achieving our goals is our mind. Negative thoughts cloud our mind making us lose our sense of discrimination leading to delusion. It is up to each to chart the course of their lives. We can either accept defeat and lament our fate, or tread fearlessly on our chosen path regardless of the outcome. We are blind to the opportunities that life offers because of our own delusions, and tend to shift blame on circumstances for not being able to make best of it. The choice is entirely ours. We are the masters of our destiny.
If we stop finding excuses for every missed opportunity and instead turn each setback or challenge in life into a stepping stone for achieving our goal, we’ll soon be galloping merrily on the highway to success.
Finally I would like to quote Swami Vivekananda: “Each Soul is Potentially Divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work or worship or psychic control or philosophy- by one or more all of these - and be free. This is whole of Religion.”
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