Reaching There

"Surreal but nice" that's what Hugh Grant's character managed to blurt out, mesmerized by the beauty of Julia Roberts (in the movie Notting Hill ). And this was the exact thought that was running in my mind as I was rising from a depth of over 35 feet under water in the Arabian Sea near Goa, India. I had just finished my first dive (rather second dive of my first dive) with grouper fish, tailor fish - and many more - knelt at the bottom of the ocean floor and touched a ship wreck that sunk more than sixty years ago! It was a surreal experience that has left me with a feeling of self-satisfaction as well as endless curiosity. The two feelings very rarely take a house together in my mind. Probably the last time they shacked up together was when I got an admit for my Master's from State University of New York . The feeling of gliding underwater among the fishes, water pressure trying to burst your ears drums, flying over huge boulders of rocks under sea; like an un...

The strange thing about being open or receptive is that both happiness and sadness can come in through the open door. But it is up to us to decide which lives in our house. Of course the house I am talking about is our mind. The openness is a characteristic you can't live without as well as can't live with it! (my U2 line :D) Openness comes with a disclaimer: use at your own risk! When I agree to being open I sign a contract with unlimited possibilities. The contract clearly states that the result may or may not align with my expectations. But the contract does guarantee an experience that would justify the suffering or joy. So eventually I might just end up with an experience. No more no less! But that's the cost of the openness. But can I define openness? To me it is the condition when mind is ready for possibilities. It is not restricted by its' own biases and inabilities. Openness puts me in a vulnerable state where I am like a traveler on the way to nowhere. I ...

There are some movies you enjoy and a few you admire. Peepli Live definitely falls into the latter category. The admiration comes partly from the entertainment portion and partly from the things you can draw out from the movie. The movie, in general, is perhaps the most expressive form of art that directly affect the human consciousness. The images, whether moving or stationary, play a very important role for the human society as well. This form of art carries with it two contradictory forms; openness and mysteriousness at the same time. The qualities were aptly described in another good movie, The Brothers Bloom. In it one of the characters describes photograph as a secret of a secret; the more it tells you the less you know. Good movies, or photographs or books take you to a certain place and leave you there to make your judgement whether about a character or a situation. They are not trying to tunnel your thought process but just providing with certain additives which would help you...

Am I growing? If I am, what is the parameter of my growth? Is it the right parameter to measure my growth? These are the questions that bugs me often these days. I try to ignore these questions. But they keep stirring in my mind as small storms which don't cause much disruption but gives a feeling of restlessness. I had a meeting  with HR department a couple of days back. The objective was to listen to employees' concerns on various matters. In a room full of twenty employees the majority of questions were about finances, promotions and hikes. All relevant questions but it left me a bit dumbfounded. Is this all to it, are we living the life with a sole aim of planning the finances? Is this the only way we measure ourselves, with the money we take home at the end of each month? So as long as my paycheck increases every year I am growing? I hope it is not the parameter of my personal success. I hope I can find and experience something beyond the bills in my hand. So what is a b...

The biggest challenge anyone can have is to adopt a different perspective than their own. It calls us to use every ounce of trust, respect and care we can garner from our conscience or heart. A perspective not our own leaves a feeling of vulnerability and insecurity; emotions we always try to run away from. Yet these are the emotions which can lead to higher rewards and realizations if we develop the patience to sustain them for longer periods of  time. What is a different perspective? It is the point of view you haven't explored yet. It is the deviation from the fixed, the desire to find out what's beyond the horizon or simply the desire to experience the unknown. Whatever we do with our lives there is always other things that could have been done too! But it is not always about taking the bold step into the unknown. It is just about accepting the presence of unknown. This itself leads to an enlightenment that it's not always about me. It's about somethings which may...

राधे राधे  “Acting is not being emotional, but being able to express emotion.” Kate Reid. An interesting quote to say the least. Expression is defined as "communication of your beliefs or opinion through various sensory mediums". It is the single most important tool for us, the social animals. It is the way to define who we are, not only to others but to ourselves too. Most of the time our opinion about us is based on the external inputs we get from our parents, peers, friends etc. But we have always lacked the courage to sit down and define ourselves. For in defining ourselves we come across flaws we have so far ignored for our own mental benefit. But like a beautiful building the weakness lies not in the facade we see but in the dark corner of the basement where a beam is slowing rusting. It is the dark corners in ourselves we have always ignored but continuously worked on improving the facade.  Laura Linney in describing a good actor's brains says the ques...

Why is red red? What is an amphibian? What is a right angled triangle? What is a galaxy? What is efficiency? Who was Deming? Who is God? What is spiritualism? Who are we? These are some of the plethora of questions that arise in our minds during our lifetime as we grow from an infant to an adult. Sometimes we struggle a lot before we arrive at an answer. And arriving at an answers through research and struggle brings us joy and increases our wonder.  Well, I am not going to answer any of the above said questions. However the question I am worried about is "Why do we stop asking such innocent questions as we grow up"? Particularly the last three questions which play an important role in our lives. The last three questions came in our mind a lot of times but we never delved into researching and finding answers. The inquisitiveness and sense of bemusement vanished as our age increased by a one every year on our birthday. Although the concept of learning organization is...

राधे राधे  I came across an interesting proverb while watching an interview of Sir Anthony Hopkins "Today is the tomorrow I was so worried about yesterday". It helped me to reinstate in my mind what Shri Krishna says in Gita "karm kar phal ki chinta mat kar". We always finally come to realization that we are helpless. We are a flawed species with far too many complexities going around in our minds. Our mind always races to form an image which is based on our prejudices and experiences. Whether it is forming an image that I am smarter than others or believing I will never be able to do "that" thing. The image make us believe that we have the power to change or not to change circumstances surrounding us. But ultimately we are too flawed to be powerful so He blessed us with uncertainty. Not knowing is the biggest gift we have. We are free to try unknown emotions, unknown fields, unknown feelings knowing that outcome is not known from the start. While wri...

राधे राधे  "Look at the bigger picture".  We have heard this phrase quite a few times in our lives from our parents, teacher, managers, peers etc. I have wondered at times what exactly does it mean! Is it looking at things in a holistic manner or does it mean putting myself out of the equation to observe something? I was never clear about it until a few days ago. But when it hit me I could not stop thinking about it. I have finally figured out what it means to me. To understand the roots of my understanding you will have to bear with another understanding of my own. I have believed for some time that we create a bubble of all things we are comfortable with around us. Whether it is our favorite newspaper or our family. This is the bubble which gives us a feeling of protection and warmth. We don't want to venture out of it. The same goes for our thinking. We have practiced thinking in a particular way that familiarity leads to monotonicity. In a movie called "Proof...

Hi, this is my first post for the year 2010. Happy new year wishes to all of you! As the year end approaches we all make new year resolutions. We decide to get rid of our vices in the new year. We all wish something good will happen to us in the new year. We believe we'll be better off than we currently are. But unfortunately new year is a moment when the date changes to a different year of the millennium. Sounds pretty depressing? For the new year I wish to share something with you. I got a chance to talk with my friend last year. We talked about our college days and how innocent we were about the realities at that time. We shared how our dreams have changed or have taken a backseat. Of course we are more mature than we were years ago. But have we lost the ability to dream? We have become so accustomed to living in the present that we are missing out on whole lot of dreams of the future. Leaders/visionaries always talk about the bigger picture and how we should always look for i...

I have always wondered what makes people successful in their lives. Although most of us relate success with only our professional lives. But our lives are a mixture of personal and professional achievements as well as failures. Both of these aspects are so interrelated that it is impossible to prioritize one over the other. There is always a need to see and continuously evaluate an holistic views of our lives.  All around us are people that we admire for their success. The success is not limited to monetary amounts but includes all possible roles we play during our lifetime. Success is about being a caring parent, an eager student, a loving son, a doting husband, a courteous clerk, a helpful manager, a great dancer, a passionate artist, a hard worker or just about anything we do in our lives. In all of these roles there a few similarities that stand out among other that all these "successful" people share. So what do all of the successful people share among themselves?...