Idols sans Ideals....

"If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal; not to people or things."

Albert Einstein

Mahishasoor-Mardini Durga is believed to be a merger of all goddesses into a supreme deity designed to destroy evil. An embodiment of a mother, a daughter, a sister who stands against tyranny, injustice and evil.

Lord Ganesh got his elephant head as replacement from his own father Lord Shiva whom he had the audacity to prevent entering the residential chamber while Ganesh's mother Parvati was bathing. He has been the God of Wisdom and again symbolic to standing up against what one believes is wrong.

Brothers Raam-Laxaman were great examples of respect towards ones elders, parents, brothers, friends, colleagues, and soldiers.

Shri Krishna is believed to be the greatest warrior and king - the friend, guide, philosopher and mentor to the Pandavas and one of the strongest proponent of the ideology of 'dharma first' - Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed !

Enough examples! Why have I all of a sudden went into sharing about our Gods after just above 4 months of not blogging? Well, because another of our 'God' is about to say good-bye!

Of Manekshaw, Modi and Mahi....

Following is one of the best speeches I have ever read/heard; I received this in email yesterday - a day when two of my idols re-affirmed why they are the best in what they do - Lead! This speech is by the legendary Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw at the Defence Services College, Wellington, 11th Nov 1998. He spoke on Leadership and Discipline; he spoke about the traits of great leaders. It becomes extremely long even for blog standards and I would naturally not edit it - but it is worth it if the reader wants to learn from what the great man had to say. At the end, I will explain why I linked this speech with NaMo and MS Dhoni and what I took out from it. I would appeal humbly to gauge how long this text runs and decide for yourself if you are in the mood to read - please come back again later if need be but finish it in one go - it is difficult to put in words what these 3 men have collectively taught me today.

Lessons of a Father....

This is a story of two brothers. One was a drug addict and a drunker who frequently beat up his family. The other one was a very successful businessman who was respected in society and had a wonderful family. 

Some people wanted to find out why two brothers from the same parents, brought up in the same environment, could be so different. 

The first one was asked, "How come you do what you do? You are a drug addict, a drunk, and you beat your family. What motivates you?" 

He said, "My father." They asked, "What about your father?" 

The reply was, "My father was a drug addict, a drunk and he beat his family. What do you expect me to be? That is what I am." 

They went to the brother who was doing everything right and asked him the same question. "How come you are doing everything right? What is your source of motivation?"

In a Spot-Fix

NaMo, fellow countrymen, NaMo!

(The background behind me NaMo-ing is in my recent facebook status update)

Disclaimer : The post might tend to hurt a few sentiments. (especially if readers are around that age of early 40s to mid 50s - though I doubt I would have even a decent number of readers in that bracket!) It might even be interpreted as offensive by some of us young men/women but I appeal that it should not be received personally. With all due respect, I have tried to speak what I believe is the truth - unabashed and unashamed to do that as always!

I hadn't anticipated a blog from my side today, to be frank, but a small instance yesterday put me into my 'ponder' mode. I had returned from office when the kids in my housing society were playing cricket. There was the usual banter; there was the usual aggression! Then there were those accusations of not seeing where the ball landed on a wall or a katta or some car's glass windows. Then an old lady shouted from the first floor about some rules of not playing inside residential premises. (which was categorically ignored as a minor disruption!) I smiled, dropped off my bag on my bed and headed out again for some snacks. By the time I came back, cricket was replaced by hide-and-seek and with still some light available, that appeared odd to me. I asked a nearby kid (say Jo) as to why had they stopped playing cricket. He must have been 12 or 13 with a complexion which could have glown in the dark! Slightly rotund with short hair, he answered, "Arey dada, we don't have a bat now that Shantanu has taken away his." I burst into laughter; he reminded me of our days when bat & ball sharing was a no-go because of varied reasons or the squabbles over the same! I told him to collect a bat which had been lying around at my place and he broke into such a broad and beautiful smile that he reminded me, given his features too, of another friend of long (let us call him Zi) who must have been the same age near and about when I had first met him. My laughter suddenly died down; as I turned the key into the lock and walked into my dark home, joy was replaced with pain. Not that Zi is dead; he is in a much worse condition - not according to him, but according to me.

Understanding India's Security Strategy : Jammu & Kashmir

25-27 Feb 2013, I had attended a seminar Understanding India's Security Strategy : With a special reference to Jammu & Kashmir and North East India at Keshav Srushti, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini located at a picturesque location near the Uttan village, Bhayandar, Mumbai. The Knowledge Centre built up at this place is an excellent location for study, thought and development of the mind. The melodious chirping of the birds in early hours of the day is a rare experience in a place like Mumbai for obvious reasons!

As clearly as the title suggests the seminar dealt with our security issues, current and future of the same along our borders and most importantly the need of enlightening the wide mass of Bhaaratiyas against these threats. Many sections of the seminar had thankfully reached upto me via the internet, through attending related seminars in the past and the general awareness created by many patriots and fighters in action before me. To say I didn't learn anything new would be a foolish mistake and some insights can only be presented by men on the field. When a multitude of ex-armymen Lt. Gen. Shekatkar, Lt. Gen. VM Patil, Brigadier Hemant Mahajan, Col. Gidh, defence/security/political analysts Nitin Gokhale, Alok Bansal, Historian/Witness/Professor K. Pandita (an elderly Kashmiri Pandit who has seen the Jammu-Kashmir story by his own eyes, RSS karyakarta Arun Kumar (with active and vast experience in all these regions) concluded by Ex-Intelligence Bureau Chief and current director of Vivekananda International Foundation Ajit Doval share talk space one should be certain that enlightenment is guaranteed! Describing the entire 3 day seminar (atleast 20 hours of talk) in its entirety would be an extremely cumbersome process and even if I manage that somehow it will be far off from live listening and interaction with such personalities. I will try and put up the gist.