Reaching There

As 2014 reaches its end on the calendar. I take a look back at the poems that have found their way onto this blog through me. As a writer sometimes you feel the emotions you go through seem to find their way out into the world. But most of the times the words bless you and you just manage to type it out. So thank you for the words and thank you to the unknown, mysterious and the mischievous soul that blessed me with these poems this year. And looking forward many more in 2015. Here is a neat little presentation of the poems of 2014. My poetic journey of 2014 from Pushkar Bajpai

Human beings live in chunks of moments spread across the fabric of space-time interspersed with spots of alone-time. We spend nine to ten hours at work or school or any other situation that can be counted under "interacting with other persons". However if we go the granular details of our lives we'll find that one-to-one interaction with any human being is still quite rare for any particular individual.  Kripalu ji Maharaj in his discourses on the ephemeral nature of human life would give the analogy of train. Our lives are like a train journey where somewhere along the way we meet someone and have our share of laughs. When the stop comes we or our fellow passenger gets down and goes on his or her way. We cannot stop them for even a moment more. It's the destination and we've to get down leaving any attachment or empathy behind. These chunks of our time we spend with others define our lives - who we are and who we will be. It's all in those moments tha...

We like to watch a good movie. There are some movies you like, others you love and then there are a few that touch a cord with your heart. It could be a drama, horror, romance or comedy. We love to watch people pretend on the screen with emotions that should appear true. Some of my favourite movies are Treasure Island, In the Loop, The Chaser, The Godfather, I Saw the Devil and The Shawshank Redemption.  As you can see my choices range from classics to murder mysteries. One of the movies is about a guy looking for treasure unintentionally accompanied by pirates and finally a fight ensues - everything else you already know. Another is about how world was forced into a war to fulfil geopolitical advantages for a group of nations; a political satire. The Chaser - is about a guy who is chasing a serial murderer, the "chaser" is a former cop turned pimp - yet I liked him. There is no particular genre that I can adhere too. So is there anything common in these movies?  Ap...

We all like things to be done certain way. Whether we call those personal rules or just call them that's-the-way-I-like; we all have defined a certain way of living for us. And for even two persons to cohabit there needs to be compromises and it always ends with one party being slightly (or extremely) unhappy about the compromise reached knowingly or unknowingly. There are times when egos are too blunt resulting in a sword-fight that have repercussions that we all are too familiar with. This is the reality of material realm. In a spiritual realm we want to cohabit with God (or some may say become an inseparable part of God or become God-like). Whatever the case be we've to first begin by knowing God and then try to be friends. In Hinduism (or for that matter any religion) there are defined certain "rules" in scriptures that form the basis of propitiating God.  As Hindus we are all too familiar with the concept of "vrat" (or fasting). Even if we go ...

A play in one act By Pushkar Bajpai Character List VIVEK: A thirty something man with clean shave and three small suitcases that are stuffed MAN/THE MAN: An enigmatic looking thirty year old man with blue beaded string around his neck. Fade In. — (Start of Scene 1) — INT: A TRAIN COMPARTMENT – DUSK WITH LAST RAYS OF SUNLIGHT POURING IN THROUGH THE WINDOWS The train stops at a train station of a small town. A man walks into the compartment; looks around for the seat number then places his almost torn & tattered bag underneath the seat. The man looks at Vivek and they exchange a slight nod of heads. MAN Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t see you were here too. VIVEK It’s alright, nice to have some company finally. MAN (Smiles) Where are you going? VIVEK New Delhi. How about you? MAN I’m going to….. (The train horn drowns the next few words) (Vivek opens his mouth to say pardon but is interrupted by The Man) MAN It’s awfully hot in h...

I'm not a manager but I've managed small teams and have been managed by bunch of managers during my career so far. I've come to a personal conclusion (with a strong chance of being completely wrong) that I've a Real value and a Perceived value. And from one manager to another there is a difference in these two values from time to time. This gap can lead to good career opportunities or a stale period in the career. So what is the Real value - these are the capabilities and differentiators I show on my resume. It's there on a piece of paper that goes to the manager and he makes a decision based on the black-and-white letters he sees on it. I'm experienced in some of those things and in others I would be a complete novice. Also these are tagged to you for future reference as well. A bit shaky definition, eh! Well, it's what people know about me, it could be simple definition about me - like an engineer, analyst, singer or a programmer etc. And what is...

It feels so much better to work out if you have a workout partner. It not only keeps us motivated which results in energy that constantly push us. So often your fitness partner would come up to you and shows you how much he feels good because of the muscles bulging out, during the exercise! He or she is not showing-off (maybe consciously he or she is showing-off) but subconsciously there is a bigger emotion at play. I like to call it 'back-me-up-mate' theory . It's like when we're happy we like to share it with others; it's not the pride that's causing it but it's the simple old sharing the joy. Research has shown if we share our goals with our friends or peers we tend to perform better. Workout is like any other training that begins with goal(s) that are laid out as per our desires. It could be looking like ‘Stallone’ or your any other favourite movie star, or it could the desire to lead a healthier lifestyle. Having an aim isn't enough - workout...

How often do you pass a small temple on the sides of busy roads? Very often, if you travel to any part of the country you'll see a temple dedicated to a God ranging from a huge temple with sprawling lawns to smaller ones that are serving a local community. India probably has thousands of major temples that pilgrims visit each year to mark momentous occasions in either the religious calendars or a special occasion in their earthly life journey. And then there are hundreds of thousands of smaller temples that occupy the nooks and crannies of the Indian maps. These are smaller in size, probably no bigger than a mid-sized studio apartment and house one or two Gods. Some time back I wrote a post on the majestic Prem Mandir inVrindavan , comparing any temple with a house of God. The concluding paragraph from the post is as follows: Temples are places of divinity but nothing seems to change in between the moments we go in and come out. However if we go inside a temple as a ho...

A s the world reels under another crisis at a global level there are some questions that linger about the origins of all this. It is difficult to understand the origins of the crisis as any investigation into it seems to mirror the puzzle - which came first chicken or egg. There are a few theories floating around that try to give prominence of one's existence over other. Leaving the science behind and coming back to our global crisis. Whether it's the crash of #MH17 or #GazaCrisis or just a fight among neighbours; all seem to have roots in the primordial human crisis that we can call #Ego. There could be economic or social or geographical justifications to crises. However if we follow a 5 Whys approach there is only a psychological justification (I'm ashamed to call it a justification). Ego can be interpreted as materialistic energy that hides the truth from us and separates us from the true identity. The simplified version of truth & the true identity (as pe...

W hat is creativity? It's a very difficult thing to describe. Some may call it a gift and other will call it divine inspiration. Some say its use of imagination to produce something valuable. It's an idea, work of art, a poem, an essay, a dance movement, a melody or recycling. If you Wikipedia 'creativity' you'll get a page that describes various approaches towards defining this elusive thing. While standing on the balcony on one evening I let my mind wander away while staring at the dusky sun about to set in a few minutes. I was trying not to think about anything as I was staring at a distance with no purpose or intention or expectation. While staring I decided to look up at the sky, an activity I've rarely done in the past few months. The dim voices of children playing in the park created a background melody that wasn't loud enough to distract my walk in the 'nothing-zone'. As happens often that a thought creeps into the mind when expec...

W hat does a saint feel? This is a question that struck my mind in the wee hours of last night. It is something about that time that magically erases the boundary between the conscious and the subconscious mind. It is the time when the mind seems to be bombarded with beautiful divine thoughts rather than just the fortuitous wandering it engages in most of the time.  I've   digressed too far from the question I asked you at the beginning. Somehow I felt the urge to describe the moment of origin of this post. So, what would a saint feel? I'm still clouted by the judgemental and biases of a materialistic human mind. But I can definitely imbibe some of the divinity through pretentiousness. Really! Of course I can pretend, or what's the other word for it, 'daydream'. The only thought that came to my mind was - constant love. Viola! That's how it must feel (my best guesstimate). A constant love for the world and beyond; that must be the feeling the saints mu...

W ell, it's notoriously difficult to get people to be far-sighted. But one thing that psychologists have tried that seems to work is to get people to imagine the future more vividly.  From Dan Gilbert's Ted Talk on 'Why we make bad decisions' Perhaps this observation from the professor of psychology at Harvard University hits the root of the question that has been hovering in my mind for some time now. The question is pretty simple one and been around since the mankind began exploring his or her mind. 'What happens after Death’? No, this isn't the question that's been bugging me. Although this is a significant question that can draw emotions ranging from pleasantness to worry. When  Yuddhishtra was asked 'what is the biggest wonder' by a disguised  Yaksha , he answered that people are aware that thousands of their kind die every day yet somehow the 'alive' feel they will live forever. Death is the most certain of all the certaint...

The world is divided into classes, based on socioeconomic system, based on education, based on color of skin and numerous other ways humans can think of satisfying their emotion that wants us to portray goodness over others. It's a human desire to somehow show I'm-better. I'm richer, I'm fairer, I'm smarter, I'm faster etc. are emotions that constantly hover around our mind as flies buzzing around a pile of dump. A rather strong analogy but whenever I'm suffering from any of these I've to say I'm dumping my mind with s%#t.  I'm an optimist but seeing a world full of bias and hatred sometimes is too overwhelming if given a chance to sink into the layers of my heart. In a world where the apparent ridiculousness of society can be measured by the malarkey of the media that is considered the voice of the society. This "coldness" was pointed out by Nicholas Kristooff in his NY Times column where new media was ready to discuss absurd co...

In the post-apocalyptic world of the movie Waterworld "dirt" is a rare commodity and used for trading. The soil of one's country is of paramount importance and some expats have gone through a lot of efforts to import soil from their home country to ensure their mortal coils can be buried in a familiar soil. In fact a whole industry has sprung to fulfil this human need. If that wasn't enough space burial seems to be catching on. Patriotism springs from the idea that one should be devoted to homeland like a patriarch or a matriarch. The soil of homeland is the key attribute that springs the feelings of devotion. Not surprisingly because who can deny the prosperity of nation that can boast lush green fields and blue rivers that can only be made possible from a fertile soil. The prosperity of Egyptian civilization was reliant on the fertility of the soil around the Nile Valley. The importance of soil traverses from the physical to the metaphysical realm. "Dust tho...

Nassim Nicholas Taleb I was watching Nassim Nicholas Taleb talk on his book Antifragility : Things that Gain from Disorder on Authors@Google. I was going through an interesting article on  Why Your IT Project May Be Riskier Than You Think on HBR. A new term " black swan " caught my imagination and a few hours later I ended up with Taleb's talk. Disclaimer - I haven't read the book yet so this is not a book review but a way to motivate myself and justify either buying the book or at least borrowing it from somewhere. I'm currently trying to laboriously and lethargically read the book The Signal and The Noise by Nate Silver. So it would be some time before I can put my hand to another one. What I found interesting in Taleb's Antifragile talk? So coming back to Taleb's talk there were a few key takeaways that managed to stuck in my mind because of the lighthearted conversation of the author as well as the simplicity of the idea; these key...

Politics and political satire go hand in hand. A little bit of Googling on these two keywords would result in the likes of Aristophanes  (called the prince of ancient comedy) to the modern day political satires in The Daily Show and The Colbert Nation on Comedy Central for those familiar with American television (or what's left of it after the flooding of realty shows that seem to defy rationality and creativity alike). I'm a big fan of The Daily Show which tags itself as political comedy and fake news. The show manages to bring out the ridiculousness of the various so called "news" channels which have become sources of sensationalist media that impregnates facts with heavy doses of fiction to bloat the straight facts to a state of perpetual chaos and bytes of information that can be fed to people through tubes rather than be chewed intelligently. IMHO! - Political parties are social unit of people whose aim is to gain authority and hopefully create enoug...