Job Dilemma

रहा नहीं ब्रह्मास्त्र एक इससे क्या आता जाता है,
एक शस्त्र बल से न वीर कोई सबदिन कहलाता है।
नयी कला नूतन रचनाऐं नए ग्यान नूतन साधन,
नये तेज नूतन उमंग से वीर बने रहते नूतन॥

----------दिनकर “रश्मिरथी”

Gone are the days when people used to get a degree, get a job and that’s it. Life is secure, no tension of bread and butter. Those people were working in the same organization for all their career. My father, for example, is in his 33rd year with Hindalco Industries. But now, he askes me to change the company for “faster growth”. He just got his B.Sc. before getting this job and never studied after that. And the other day he was suggesting me, “May be you should go for an MBA degree, full time or part time. This will give you that extra edge.” Enough proof of the changing time. Now I can not expect to get a monthly pay cheque all through my career for the skills I have acqired.

Alvin Toffler once said, “The illiterates of twenty first century will not be those who can not read or write, but those who can not learn, unlearn and relearn.”
Continuous innovation and change is what in demand. If I can’t do this work better, there are many who can. So I have to do it to survive. Yes, this is living in FEAR. So the best option is starting own business. Innovation is required there also, and the work is much harder than the 9 to 6 job. But I will be doing my own work. Other’s mistakes will least affect my growth.

किसी के तजरिबों का क्या भरोसा,
मैं ख़ुद गिर के सम्भलना चाहता हूँ॥

Let’s see.

Happiness

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.
----- Albert Schweitzer
उद्देश्य जन्म का नहीं कीर्ति या धन है।
सुख नहीं धर्म भी नहीं ना तो चिन्तन है।
विग्यान ग्यान भी नहीं ना तो दर्शन है।
जीवन का अन्तिम ध्येय स्वयं जीवन है ॥
------- दिनकर

The aim of life, in simple language, is being happy all the time. Some people get happiness by amassing money, some by playing a game or pursuing certain hobbies, or by following relegious activities etc. But while doing all these, many a times we forget the very purpose of life.

“We run so fast for so long that we often forget what we are running for.”

Sometimes we take life so easy that we don’t care what is happening, why it is happening and so on. Just doing the essentials, eating and shitting (of course breathing also, but it happens effortlessly). Too much of carelessness may cause troubles in a long run.

Some people take life too seriously, analyzing every fact, each incident. While it is good to be wise and cautious, there is a risk of being lost in the infinite maze of thoughts and principles. It is not necessary that you apply all your knowledge acquired in the simplicity of life. You just need to extract happiness out of life every moment. And if your complex thoughts prevent you from doing so, forget those thoughts and principles. You can not be a slave of knowledge. Freedom Zindabad!

Understanding Mind

Somewhere I read a Sanskrit shloka meaning, “The state of mind after reading a good book or after visiting crematorium or after having sex, if persists for a lifetime, no one will indulge in bad deeds.” So that justifies Osho’s “Sambog se Samadhi tak” principles up to some extent. By the way, I am not a fan or disciple of Osho, nor have I read any of his books. So this article is not about Osho or sex.

Many gym going people separate body development from mind development. The body can not be healthy without an equally healthy mind. Both are linked together. The body can only be temporarily shaped in gym. A saying goes, “A chain is as strong as its weakest link.” So a balanced personality is a harmony between body, mind and soul. All of these are created and maintained by the food we eat, the air we breathe and the thoughts we follow. You are a renowned intellectual, don’t eat anything for 3-4 days and see how intelligently you are able to think. Even thoughts are generated by food. Ever experienced, we think differently when hungry and thoughts change after filling the belly?

Sometimes mind becomes impulsive, e.g. after reading a book the writer type people may get excited to write, after listening to a motivator one may get charged up to do something etc. We need to assess whether it is an impulsive thought or a more stable prolonged desire. We can also use the impulses for a small duration works, e.g. if you got involved in a spot fight, the impulsive fit of rage (catalyzed by gaalies) will give you enough strength to win the fight. But if it is a more strategic, longer duration fight, the impulsive anger will not help. Similarly one cannot expect success if s/he starts preparing for CAT/GATE/GRE/GMAT inspired by an impulsive motivation. It requires strategy and continuous hard work. Understanding mind will enhance probability of success. Hope so.

Morning….Ah……Wonderful Morning

I used to get up late in the morning. Then rush for the daily routine and run to office. Life was hectic, not much time for exercise and breakfast. I had a feeling that mornings are beautiful. So to experience that, the other day I forced myself out of bed and went for a walk at 5:30 AM. To my amazement, what a pleasant feeling it was. Cool pure breeze, I felt like filling my lungs with as much fresh air as I can. In a city like Bangalore one cannot expect to get such pure, cool, pollution free air at any other time. I tried to have a rough estimate; I had missed this beautiful time for almost 90% of my life so far because of my laziness. And almost 90% of all urban people (In India, not sure about other countries) miss this poetic, pure and beautiful time daily. Probably that’s the reason this time is so pure.
The whole day we exploit and pollute the nature in as many ways as possible. In metro cities, I think we inhale more petroleum smoke than oxygen. But Mother Nature purifies all this by each morning to gift us such a pleasant morning. Just like our mothers used to clean up all our dirt and shit when we were babies. And I had ignored this gift till now. Today my eyes are tearful in gratitude of such a love by Mother Nature. I will try not to miss this wonderful time again. Promise Mother.

Changing Mood…..

The other day I was feeling irritated and sad about something which was totally beyond my control. When I think in this direction, I find there are millions of things which are not happening the way it should happen, and most of them are beyond my control. I can not make those things happen the ideal way. And a cloud of gloom shadows my mind.

But after some time, I see somebody laughing, I see a pretty lady (my wife) smiling, a cute little kid playing, birds friendly playing and chirping. All these events mock my intelligence and understanding of life. I see the birds, playing, singing and flying. They don’t even know whether they will get enough food tomorrow or not. Still they are happy. At least my food is fixed for a couple of months (presuming my company will give me at least 2 months notice before ditching me).

After a little introspection, I am happy again. Planning for an exciting future, expressing my heart through writing, watching a good movie, cracking jokes, playing with my friends…..and all this transforms my mind from a gloomy bundle to an energy pack.

I feel this is a cycle of mood. From happy to neutral to dull to sad to happy again. This happens with everybody. Only frequency of this change of mood and duration of each state varies. We can stay happy for longer time by reading good books, watching good movies, spending quality time with friends and/or partner, playing like kids, singing, painting, dancing, playing on musical instruments, blogging ….whatever suits the individual. This will make life very light and simple.

For every task I do, I ask this question to myself, “Am I doing it because of some compulsion or because I am interested to do it?” The percentage of time I spend with a happy mood is directly proportional to the percentage of interesting works I do.So, mood changes, but the frequency of change can be well controlled.