Side Step Leads To Forward Step

"Lets stay focussed on a step backward to have 10 steps forward", 

"If the sword is too short, add to its length by taking a step forward"

These are quite a few quotes that I read by some famous people when they talk about positive attitude and success in life. This of course is definitely true, yet according to me, is not completely true. The longest step or bold step forward thus lays for a road for success, unless the road one is travelling is in the right direction. As poets and writers say life is journey. Different people take different paths yet converge at the point of destination. Some have belief the path they choose, while others follow someone else's path. 


Either way after sometime it comes to a point whether the choice they made was right or wrong. Some question their belief, while others question the credibility in someone else' path for the success. Then is the time when one should probably make a side step. 

About couple of decades ago, after completing my high school, I was so excited to watch a movie(my matnee idol, megastar chiranjeevi's Gharana Mogudu) first day first show. That was the first time I ever attempted to watch first day first show. I had no insight as to at what time I should be at the theater. I vaguely remember from my cousin that I should be there even before the gates are open(not the ticket counter). I, along with my neighbor, went there only to find out that, though the gates were not open, looking at the mad rush of crowd, it would take atleast an hour to touch the gate. Finally after the gates were open, we ran crazily towards the ticket counter and formed a queue. I do not even know how far we were away from the counter. 

After a little while, my friend asked me to hold his place in the queue. He stepped out made an estimate of the line and he came back and told me "its impossible to get a ticket from where we are standing, there are atleast 300 ahead of us, Balcony and First Class tickets are only 272, I am going for Second Class tickets will you join me?"  I replied back "I am not interested in Second Class, I only prefer Balcony"

He shot back "We are here to watch the movie, doesn't matter which class it is, if you do not know what your goal/priority is, I can't help you" and vanished. After some time, I heard someone ahead of me saying that they are unsure of getting tickets. I started to go anxious repenting for not going with my neighbor. When there were 5 ahead of me, tickets were over. In the meantime, my friend came running towards me showing a Second class ticket in hand and ran into the theatre

I started cursing myself why I couldn't do the same. After all, what he said was genuinely true. What it mattered for us was to watch the movie, doesn't matter where we sit. I went home disappointed only to come next day even more earlier and thus wasting one extra day and missing the first day first show fun.

In everyone's life there comes a point when one needs to introspect . To know that one needs to take the imaginary side-step to analyse and realize if he is walking the right path and right direction. This side step ensures if the already existing path is right or wrong. This side step will make one think about a new path to reach one's goal in life. The step for definite success and right destination.

This Side Step Leads To Forward Step. 

World Without Walls --- www.????.com

          When I first moved into a new neighborhood about couple of decades ago, the place was almost like those shown in RamGopal Varma's scary movies( Though RGV did not exist in film industry then). Barring a couple of houses diagonally opposite, street had no lighting. We had no TV, hence my whole world was to get drowsy while reading school books. I always used to wonder who were living in the opposite houses, but never had the courage to knock their door. I do not even know, if my kids of my age existed to play around. Slowly a family moved into our newly constructed adjacent house. From their voices, I figured out there are about 3 kids around my age. Yet the stranger feeling in me, still stopped me from making friends with them.

          One day, I could smell a nice dish from the adjacent house. "Why is that when we cook anything, we don't get that kind of good smell", I was saying it in a loud voice to my mother. She replied softly " They might have used different masala powder, if we use the same, we would also get the same smell". In the same loud voice I asked why don't she ask what masala they were using. She asked me to keep quiet. I went on nagging if I could go and ask them for which she denied. About an hour later, when we were about to sit for dinner, there was a knock on our door. I sprang to the door and opened it. There was a lady with a bowl in her hand with the same smell as before. Behind her were her kids( only heads propping out from either side) waiting for our approval to come inside. 

          She along with the kids came in and started to introduce, while I did the same with the other kids. The bowl had biryani in it. Initially my mother felt shy, if my loud comments forced her to do this. But she explained that someday, being neighbors, have to get introduced. From then on it was almost like both homes combined. Though there were physical concrete walls separating both the homes, the social walls ceased to exist. We could imagine what the other person was doing at what time without even communicating. The sync-up was so good that, we didn't have to call each other to come-out and play, we automatically used to guess the time and stepped out at the same time.

          In less than an year, these social walls started to diminish and all the kids from all the houses got entangled with one-another emotionally. It was like our own world without walls of separation or distinction. Everyone became part of other's own life. Every aspect of our daily life had become a common entity. The so called social network started to expand and friend's friends have become our own friends with same level of intimacy. These networks were though smaller yet thicker. The bond and the freedom to get into other's space was stronger then, than now.

          With the evolution of internet today it feels like the whole world is connected to one another. The social networking sites like facebook, orkut etc, help us in rebuilding the lost connections among us. We only feel we are connected to one-another. Each person is only an electronic entity in other's contact/friend list.  Though this connectivity extends all across the globe, the true social and emotional strengths of the network was not as it was before. There exists more of attach/detach policy on need basis within the same network of friends. Newer friends take priority over older friends. Electronically the network of friends increases yet, socially "most popular" take precedence, keeping the factual friends list low. Social walls seem to build up again. These walls go stronger when a person becomes more self-centric and is lived and contained within himself. 

          Take for instance an example of mobile phone. Of all the friends in the contact list, there is a speed dial/ favorites list where in you call the top 10 frequently. This itself creates a SOCIAL WALL around the remaining friends. The bond is thick with some and thin with others. Electronically all are connected, yet only few are emotionally and socially connected.

          When these social networks go stronger and stronger emotionally, the World Without Walls would be a more happier place than it was before.

Tail Piece: Sometimes these social networks are quite funny. In my linkedin profile, there is only one connection between me and US President Barack Obama. Electronically he and I are connected through a common contact, yet socially we are miles apart.

Reap When Winkle

                Many of us have heard and maybe sometimes experienced, lines like "Opportunity strikes the Door Once", "Make Hay while the Sun shines". Needless to say what they mean, but I did experience the insight of those couple of times. Opportunity(the cable guy) did only knocked the Door once, and that was the time, when I stepped out of my apartment for a brief moment. This so called opportunity failed and, left me in darkness(read lacking Internet) for an additional week. That's when I realized, how and why the wise people emphasized on Opportunity.

               Prior to the software bubble burst, every NASDAQ/Dow listed stock was roaring and soaring. One such stock was SUN(Sun Micro systems). The crash of Java and/or software bubble, tanked SUN the most.  It being a big company, instead of making "Hay" most of them were waiting with a "Ray" of Hope. Eventually, it reverse split and finally changed names. When someone was supposed to "Make Hay while the SUN shines", "Made the Day when SUN was in Dimes".

              The road to future is laid down by the actions in the present. A meticulous today can lead to a better tomorrow.  Too much Anticipation can sometimes lead to cross roads. Addressing the Present with attention and dedication is baby step for success. During my childhood, I was told that if I could read and understand everything  I learned that day at school, I need not worry about exams. For the most part of it, it always worked out. 

              Sometimes chances or occasions do winkle/flash enticing an opportunity for an unknown, surprising and new path. These winkles are perhaps are even fader than the lightening in the clouds. But these are momentary flashes only for the earnest ones who are sincere and desperate for progression. 

              Unfortunately, most of us today are Rip Van Winkles. Rip Van Winkle was a fairy tale taught during my childhood, how Rip Van Winkle ran away from his village for about 20 years, when comes back finds himself a total stranger in the society. Right from his attire to everything he finds that the people and the village was so advanced that neither they accept him as a part of their society, nor he feels comfortable living there. 

             Finally he goes back into the woods cursing himself for wasting all the good golden 20 years of his lifetime doing nothing but wandering in laziness. 

              The moral of the story is, if one needs to be a part of the system or a path one is travelling, it is always essential to be attentive and dedicated to the winkles that demand a change or help us reap/take advantage in our progression. 

             These earnest ones "Reap When Winkle" and turn successful. The rest remain as Rip Van Winkles.

ImPauseAble is NotAThing

Impossible!  Perhaps this word has come into existence after English Language was born but, the true meaning of it probably took birth along with mankind. 


Darwin's Theory of Evolution says that every organism evolved slowly and progressively by taking advantages to slight successive variations. Every member of the living species have developed a functional advantage. Few species learnt to fly, few to swim etc. 


Of all the species, Human Race is by far the best. It doesn't sound strange for anyone today, because, we could swim like few, fly like few and are possibly imitating every interesting aspect of all the possible species. 


This is a fact or an aftermath of what Mankind has achieved today. However, centuries ago, when the cave man co-existed with the gamut of species, at that point of time, all that he achieved today was IMPOSSIBLE to him then. 

Human race has a powerful quality unlike other species, the power of thinking and reasoning. This alone stands us apart from the rest and thus makes us Superior to all. 

The cave man used this quality progressively to his best and started to chase the impossibilities through observation, reasoning.

Looking at the fish in the water or bird in the sky, might have thought "wish I could do the same, yet impossible". 

Yes indeed!!, it was impossible when the thought first occurred. But it did not stop there. He started to observe how the other species could do and what takes him to do the same. He started to tame the wild and cuddle with pets. Eventually he started to live with the nature as a part of nature. Over a period of time, it wasn't impossible.

He hasn't stopped there, he started to explore the truth of nature, the very birth of nature. Started to distinguish between the living and non-living, living and dead, plants and animals so on and so forth. He used to find an answer for every impossible.

On a comparison between then and now, what it clearly shows is, from the midst of impossibilities, he started find out the possibilities.

Possibilities do not happen neither by snap of finger nor spur of the moment. They happen through the a series of lingering thoughts bothering about the same issue/challenge/task from all corners and angles before the spark is ignited and follows it to execution.

Time between Impossible and Possible is a PAUSE to think/question/challenge ourselves to see if I am ABLE to execute.

One is in a state of "I'm PAUSEing to find out if I am ABLE to Do" When the possibility is reached, the challenge one has faced is NOTHING or in other words "NOT a THING" to be worried off.

Unfortunately most of us do not have the patience or courage or will or zeal to fight that impossible. We are so happy to enjoy the so called material comforts or luxuries or amenities. 

But all of these are either discoveries or inventions from legendary people, who once might have felt, it was impossible, yet after so many thoughts in between pauses, made these possible. 

History proves, barring a few, that all of the scientific discoveries were made by them were only after their 60's. Their earnest and patient hard work all through their life, thinking about possibilities led to discoveries when they are close to death beds. 

If only they were content with what was then and tried not for progression and always chanted impossible, the human evolution in all aspects, what is today, would not have ever been possible. Even in this modern day era, we find so many who are chasing the impossible not only to make human life better, but also to prove there is no limit for innovation and progression.

Between the Caveman and Man, there is a sea of change. Today we still prefer to be only Man, when there is a possibility to grow as Superman, yet always chanting Impossible. But when the mind and heart goes into it, what is IMPOSSIBLE is only ImPauseAble. 

ImPauseAble is NotAThing (Impossible is Nothing)

The MARK of ZERO

A father and his 8 year old kid are watching TV. Guests(another father & is 8 year old kid) stopped by to share some sweets.

Host_Father took a sweet while inviting them inside. 

Guest_Father: "You know, My boy has Got First rank in 4th Grade annual exams"

Host_Father: "That's great, You must be very proud"

Guest_Father: "Indeed I am, (looking at Host_Son) how about your son? What rank did he get?"

Host_Father: " (Bending is head in shame), Aah, he managed to be in Top-10, He got 9th rank"

Guest_Father:" (Showing an air of attitude), 9th rank !!!, that is too bad, if that's what he could achieve now, imagine his future when he appears for Entrance Exams or higher studies, you should take special care about him, maybe join him in the same school as my son, try evening tuition also, make sure he gets first rank"

Host_Father: "Its not like that, last year he got 4th rank, but this time, he had malaria during exam time, that is why, he slipped in ranks, but sure, I will think about all you said"

Guest_Father: "Anything we do, it is for our kids own benefit, anyways, we still have more houses to visit, we will leave now"

The Host_Father waved as the guests left onto the next street and walked in with anger and insult on his face, he slammed the door hard and switched off the TV. He pulled his son out of the sofa and started yelling at him

"Are you happy now, for what you have done, aren't you not ashamed?. This is the worst moment in my life, its all because of you and and your stupid rank, how many times should I tell you to study well and do everything you can to get a first rank"

The grandfather stepped out of his room on hearing all of this yelling. The kid, who was frightened, ran into his grandpa's arms and started crying. 


Grandfather was trying to defend the kid. He started yelling back "Why do you shout at him like that? Just because you shout, will he get 1st rank? You very well know that he had malaria during exams, still u expect to get 1st rank? this is utter foolishness"

The father shot back at Grandpa, "Its all because of you. You take his side, every time I try to correct him. U should have heard what all brain-washing just happened now, if Malaria was the complaint, then what about last year? He got only 4th rank!!. The same drama happened last year too, not just once, its happened twice. Now tell me, how should I feel !!"

Grandfather sat in the sofa, with the grandson cuddled, and started laughing, "How come you talk so stupid, let me explain. First of all never compare apples with oranges"

Father irritatedly, too sat in the chair and said "What do you mean apples and oranges, don't you think I don't have that much of common sense?"

Grandfather said, "Yes, you are really lacking common sense, let me explain"

Father cooled down a bit and started to listen, the grandfather continued "Firstly, your kid and his kid go to different schools, so obviously there will be some difference in how each school teaches and how each student learns, also, your kid does his homework all by himself at home, where as, his kid gets his homework done with the help of tuition. 


Do you know the importance of homework? It is to estimate how much the student understood from what he was taught at school, if the kid never does his homework on his own and always gets help even for that, when will his IQ improve?"

"Secondly, the standard and syllabus of your kid is comparatively higher than his kid, so for the very obvious reason, your kid has got only 4th rank last year"

"Thirdly, last year  though your kid got 4th rank, he got 85%. where as the other kid got 83% and got 1st rank. Now tell me whether rank is important or marks are important?"

The father wore a confused face.

Grandfather continued, "Finally and most important, its not the marks the matter, its how much knowledge that is always with you. When I asked that kid to recite a poem from last year's English, you know what he said? "It is 3rd standard syllabus, I don't have to remember" 


That is how the kids of this generation are being taught and trained. They think marks are the only criteria and that learning is only a momentary thing. They start to develop an attitude where somehow get the marks and jump the fence without bothering how much of it they actually understood."

Father said, "What you said might be true, but in this competitive world, marks are the criteria, how can you escape from that"

Grandfather shot back "But in competitive exams, these marks wouldn't help you, its your knowledge and IQ what matters. I am not asking you to completely forget about marks, I am asking you to give priority on how much he learned and remembered" 

From the above arguments, it is quite evident that both have a point. Both are trying to do in the best interest of the kid, however their perception is levying a hidden pressure on the kid. He acts according to the teachers/parents directions. 


When the director himself is not clear on how things should be, then eventually it is the actor who fails. For someone who have an obsession of only achieving highest mark and to be called a HERO, most likely, turn ZERO. I personally know how HEROs turned ZEROs in competitive exams. Its purely lack of commonsense which MARK the supposedly HERO as ZERO

Have a Look At This:

Passed 1st grade with 95%(lacking 5% of knowledge which one is supposed to have by the end of 1st grade)

Passed 2nd grade with 93%(lacking additional 7% of knowledge which one is supposed to have by the end of 2nd grade).

In the best case, he would learned the missing 5% from 1st grade in 2nd grade, so overall lacking knowledge is 7%

in the worst case, he would not have learned the missing 5% from 1st grade in 2nd grade, so overall lacking knowledge is 12%

so on and so forth.

So by the end of say Bachelors, all this lacking knowledge adds up to a good sum and in the best case, one would be lacking 25% knowledge and in the worst case, one would be lacking 50% knowledge. 

The truth is, one only has a fair amount of knowledge on what he is currently working/learning, the rest is history gone down deep in our memory shelves and too difficult to access. 

How many of us remember Kepler's laws of motion?? At least, I am honest to say, I don't remember. But, thanks to Google(Man's best modern day invention) I have an opportunity to refresh everything I forgot.

If we learn only to forget, what is the purpose of learning anyway. I was born smart, education ruined me. A supposedly HERO, MARKED me to ZERO

MIS-TAKE

It was a busy day at a film shoot and the director was going restless with the hero, who was struggling to emote for a scene as per the director's demand.

After several attempts/takes, the director said "shot okay". The hero and the rest of the crew were relieved and everyone sank in their chairs. 


Then came a voice in somewhat low and shaky tone which fueled up the director's anger and hero's frustration.

The voice was from the Cinematographer who uttered "I Missed the Take" --> MISsed-TAKE --> MIS-TAKE

Essentially, the cinematographer was lost somewhere and forgot to switch on the camera and thus has become the greatest enemy for the rest of the crew at that moment.

For some it might sound silly or stupid as they could argue that they can always go for another take. However, its only them who are in the situation can understand how big the MIS-TAKE was, after a day long shoot with zero productivity. At the same time, it was not the intention of the Cameraman to miss it anyway. It just happened beyond his control.

Actions upon one's instincts yield different results. These results can sometimes be fruitful or otherwise. If it were really fruitful, the whole world including the person himself, justifies as a smart decision. 

Based on the result, a feeling like smartness or dumbness kicks in. This feeling is an aftermath of what has already happened. This so called feeling positions oneself as superior to some and inferior to others. We often hear many referring to someone as a smart person. 

Why is that person really smart??. Its just that his actions worked in the right way which other dumb guy couldn't understand/predict beforehand. Its a relative feeling to either acknowledge our inability and call the other person smart or expose the other person's inability and call him dumb. This so called relative deceitful feeling is either ego or jealousy. 

The truth is, even the person doing the action is not sure of what he is doing. We only hear from someone like "I made a smart choice or I made a mistake, but never(at-least in the world that I live) hear " I am making a smart decision or I am committing a mistake".  In the best case, former might happen but no fool would knowingly commit a mistake.

But why does anyone commit a mistake?? According to me, I can think of two reasons. Either the person is completely blinded by everything around it and has full-faith in what one intends to do OR did not do any kind of homework about the possibilities of failure on what he intended.  

Both the cases, the opportunity to TAKE a probable right decision/choice is MISSED and hence ends up committing a MIS-TAKE

However, one would never learn unless either he experiences personally or through others. Life is a learning process. One failure/MIS-TAKE does not and should not kill the very spirit of trying.

As Great Thomas Alva Edison quoted "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

I would rather see myself try and fail than to drive my strengths from other's failures

WHOof AM I !!!

If Face is the Index of Mind, Name is the Index of Character/Identity/Quality/Uniqueness.

While the former is almost true, the later, is true sometimes and dubious otherwise.

Even though it is hard to know as to when did the tradition of naming a person started, at-least from our Epics we conclude that it happened at some point of time. Why does some one needs to be called or referred by a name? What does a name mean a person?

If someone is asked who Rama or Ravana or Krishna or Sita or Mohammad Bin Tuglaq is, so on and so forth, the answer comes out in the unique quality or identity the name possesses.Their name carried an identity not when they were born but after surpassing some of their life and by their acts or deeds. Good or Bad, right or wrong, these people were landmarks in history only because of their acts.

There are several Gandhis, yet when we talk about Gandhi, it is needless to say that we are referring to none other than Mahatma. Such is the impact and identity, that name GANDHI carried of that great man. 


A strict father or a stern principal are often tagged as HITLER. The common usage of the names of those people marks their character.

One is known not by the behavior, but by the actions or the deeds that spark a uniqueness out of that individual. By carrying that identity one might be popular. Its not necessary to be of celebrity status or known by all,
but to be different some way or the other from one among the few set of people around is what that matters.

As Swami Vivekananda quotes, "Every individual is a center for the manifestation of a certain force. This force has been stored up as the resultant of our previous works, and each one of us is born with this force at our back"

True identity is tagged when this inherent force translates to a visible affect.

Having said that, here is the mysterious part. If a person is referred to by just one name, his or her identity is easily related. An individual with multiple names is referred differently, the identity is either lost or confused.

In an Object oriented form this is how it takes many forms before the actual person is completely known

class name_base;

char[] first_name, middle_name, last_name;

endclass


class parent_given_name extends name_base;

char [] middle_name_2


 constraint names
  {
    first_name        == {"Venkata"};
    middle_name     == {"Ravi"};
    middle_name_2  == {"Kiran"};
    last_name         == {"Vemuri"};
  }

endclass

class name_at_home extends parent_given_name;

  constraint names
  {
    first_name        == {"NULL"};
    middle_name     == {"NULL"};
    middle_name_2  == {"Kiran"};
    last_name         == {"NULL"};
  }

endclass

class name_at_undergrad extends parent_given_name;

  constraint names
  {
    first_name        == {"NULL"};
    middle_name     == {"Ravi"};
    middle_name_2  == {"Kiran"};
    last_name         == {"NULL"};
  }

endclass

class name_in_USA extends parent_given_name;

  constraint names
  {
    first_name        == {"Venkata"};
    middle_name     == {"NULL"};
    middle_name_2  == {"NULL"};
    last_name         == {"NULL"};
  }

endclass

class name_with_colleagues extends parent_given_name;

  constraint names
  {
    first_name        == {"NULL"};
    middle_name     == {"Ravi"};
    middle_name_2  == {"NULL"};
    last_name         == {"NULL"};
  }

endclass

class name_with_ex_manager extends parent_given_name;

  constraint names
  {
    first_name        == {"NULL"};
    middle_name     == {"NULL"};
    middle_name_2  == {"NULL"};
    last_name         == {"Vemuri"};
  }

endclass

The same ME exists in so many names, each name carrying different identity.
My name_at_home gives an identity of a kiddo still stuck decade and half ago.
My name_at_undergrad throws a good for nothing, fun-loving identity
My name_at_work gives an impression of a movie buff and a movie database so on an so forth. 
From each of these carry different opinions of the same ME. When tried to combine all of these identities, its a mere puzzle to draw a commonality and there by shoots me a question "WHOof AM I???


In some instances, these middle names form a big array and never carry any effect nor usage nor purpose yet, they for the reasons best known to the parents, get assigned.

Tail Piece: Its only ME who knows the TRUE ME.

I was born CREATIVE, but raised DUMB

During my childhood days, for festivals, my grandmother used to give each of Rs.10 and asked to spend it to our wish.  Since it was a small amount, our parents did not try to interfere with what we wanted to do. It was so exciting to have some money at our will and wish in our hand. Each of us had different ideas. One of us wanted to go to a movie, the other wanted to go have some fast food(Samosa Chat, Ice-cream), so on and so forth. Given the circumstances, each of us tried to "think" what the best came up to one's mind and then compare with other's ideas before finally agreeing to one idea.
     
Through comparison, we understood, why the other person's idea was superior and that prompted us to "think" more and more creative every time such situation arises. The superiority and creativity of an idea happens as a result of the level of maturity and knowledge one person has. Sometimes these ideas appear foolish. But, it being foolish is only an aftermath of an idea. Only when the creative idea fails, it can be termed as foolish.

The IQ levels are based on individuals' span of thinking and understanding. Most of the times, those who follow others, rather than acting independently end up being dumb. When they always see an answer in the other person, their questions remain unanswered when the other person is not present. 

The creativity is at its best when we are born and as we grow up, it gets killed, perhaps diluted. When we observe any new born kids growing, each of them tend to act differently in the surroundings that they grow. Their acts are a direct observations of what they encounter. Parents patiently wait until they rollover,crawl,sit,stand, walk, etc... The parents let them learn all of these on their own. The outcome of their creativity is sometimes, funny, amusing, scary etc. yet, that's how they learn.

As they slowly grow up, parents try to teach various things and in the process, sometimes overlook if the kid is trying to do something new and prevent him from doing it. For eg. A kid is given a toy and even before he figures out how to play, the parent try to teaches him how to play. For that moment the kid is happy for already knowing how to play, but the opportunity to be creative and play on his own is killed. Even if he breaks the toy(which is probably $10 worth, its far less than the creative parent who blows up few thousands in the stock market ;-) ), which again is never his intention, it is still an art of learning. 


When someone is doing something new, there is always scope for failure. If one can excuse the 7 million gallon worth of oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico for "A BP investigator indicated to the lawmakers that the fundamental mistake may have been made because heavy pressure on the drill line of 1,400 pounds per square inch (98 kg per square cm) was an "indicator of a very large abnormality." , why bother a $10 toy

As this keeps on progressing, the kid slowly leaves behind the art of trying and simply waits for help. Anything that is tried, either hurts the kid or spoils the thing he is meddling with. The parent denies everything and anything the kid wants to try on his own. They expect to simply follow what was being told. Thereby the kid grows dumb. This causes an inherent fear being developed right from that tender age and as they even grow up to be mature adults, it compounds to a stage where the inherent fear is now named as risk. Risk is a superlative form of fear. Risk occurs when one loses the belief and courage to be creative. If one is so scared of failures, then its too hard to be creative. 


At the same time as Azim Premji, quoted, if one is always successful, it shows that he is not trying something new. Without being creative innovation doesn't happen. If only man did not thought about how to fly like a bird, this whole world would have been a lot different.


For anyone who experiences anything for the first time, they are bound to have a lot of questions. When it comes to kids, it is even more. They learn a lot from the questions that arise through observations. Just by shutting them off or by asking them to follow, an inherent fear is slowly grown by the parent himself. They always like to imitate what the others do. 


I wish I was guided more, than taught all through my childhood. If only that had happened, I would have been more creative.


Though it appears harsh, I couldn't resist to push the blame on my parents to say, "I was born CREATIVE, but raised DUMB

Omnipotent or O-Mini-Potent

A 10 year old kid was walking in the neighborhood along with his father. As they were walking, they heard few cries from the nearby house. When enquired, they came to know that the father of that deceased family was dead and that the whole family was in grief. This kid noticed that the son,who was around 12 years, was crying uncontrollably. They moved on and started walking back home.


Few days later, while walking they happened to witness the same scene, but this time, the father of that deceased family was very old. His son was around 40 years. This time, the cries were not very loud. Even the son was only showing signs of grief, but wasn't crying as much as the 12 year old kid in the previous case.


After coming home, the kid questioned his father, "Why did the 12 year old cried more when his father died where as this 40 year old did not cry that much?" The father was surprised at the question. He initially faltered and then thought for a moment and then said "The 12 year old is a young boy, that is why he cried a lot, but a 40 year old is grown-up man, so he wouldn't cry that much!!"


The kid stared into his dad's eyes for a moment and then asked "but the dead person is a father, in both the cases. How is that young ones cry more and grown-ups cry less? A dad is always a dad right?? no matter how old we are!!"


The father was a bit shocked at his son's answer. He couldn't find fault with the kid's theory. He raised his eyebrows, took a deep breath and then said, "You are right, but the thing is, since grownups are more mature and strong it appears like that"


The kid was not satisfied with his dad's answer. He shot back "Does that mean, the father is more important when we are young and less important once we grow up??"


The father was stunned, He did not have anything to say. He couldn't condemn that fact nor could over-ride it


The kid continued "I come to you, talk to you and ask you for everything and anything because I don't know many things. But you don't talk to grandpa the same way because you know everything and you can do all on your own. I am more dependent on you, but you are not dependent on Grandpa!!"


The father's face was filled with shame and guilt. He couldn't admit the fact nor did he had anything to say, he just walked out.


 All of us come into the world with zero knowledge or an empty jar. As the days pass by we tend to learn from our parents, elders and teachers, the jar keeps filling in. Until the Jar is full, we show great respect, faith and importance in our parents. 


All of a sudden, when maturity and adolescence kicks in, one gets a feeling that they are already above the standards of the people around them and suddenly these people, until little while back who are considered important, seem to be less worthy.


They drool around the myth that they have enough knowledge(not complete knowledge-- knowledge is never complete) and consider oneself Supreme. Everyday, one tends to encounter something which is relatively new, or perhaps newly discovered, scaling one's knowledge one more step ahead. Man spends his time understanding the new, once did, he feels he is above all. But this is an unending process.


If this theory is assumed to be true, then the concept of existence of GOD is also somewhat true. For Believers, this whole universe was created by an unknown, unidentified, imaginary SOMEONE named GOD. For non-believers, it is a mystery that has to be chased. Anything that cannot be explained is assumed as GOD's miracle. However Atheists find it difficult to accept that. 


Slowly when certain theories get the rational analysis, these Atheists simply jump upon to say, GOD= Bullshit, yet they fail to understand, that there is so much beyond their knowledge in this universe to be discovered. According to me sometimes, just like a mature adolescent person claims he is already above the parent, they act as if all is done, but the truth is, the jar is still not full.


As the parent wishes his kid to learn and know everything the parent was knowledgeable and capable of, GOD on other hand is also probably wishing us to reach his level through learning, inventing and exploring. Neither there is a point in just having a blind belief in GOD that he does all for us, nor there is no use in simply rejecting him. 


Just imagine a 20 year old asking his mother to brush his teeth vs a 2 year old asking the same. It is quite obvious how the reaction would be. GOD as a parent reacts the same. He will definitely not help us in anything that we are capable of, and for anything that we require support, he never shy away from us. So it is up-to us to keep doing what we want and help comes in our way in some form or the other. Instead many tend to do the opposite and question his existence.


So the day when all the mysteries in the universe are rationally understood, Man has attained the power of GOD.


That day, the Almighty who was Omnipotent(All Powerful) will become O-"mini"-Potent (Small Force)


Tail Piece: I read a good line from someone named "Sneha"(I cannot refrain from posting, so I would give her the credit) who had the best words in this context.


"If God does not exist, one will lose nothing by believing in him. But if he does exist, one will lose everything by not believing in him"

The Power of one SUN

As a kid, I always felt more comfortable answering "multiple choice questions", rather than "fill in the blanks" during examinations.

The reason, as everyone knows, is simple. However this is is always not true. Having a multiple choice, doesn't really mean to choose the right answer. In fact sometimes it becomes even more tricky and so confusing too. Classic example being the reality shows like "Kaun Banega CrorePati".Despite a multiple choice, still the contender is given 3 options like 50:50, phone a friend, audience poll for critical, make or break situations.That being said, it explains how difficult it is to make the right choice. The good part however here is, every option here is intended to work in favor of the aspirant.

However in real life challenges it is always the opposite. If we go back in time and land in Thretha Yuga, King Dasaradha had 4 sons. He had a "multiple choice" for choosing the next heir for his legacy and kingdom. However, as everyone knew, it did not work out so smoothly. The king himself had to face the challenge of why not Bharatha, son of Kaikeyi instead of Lord Rama. Thanks to the good nature and unity among them, all the brothers agreed and waited for Lord Rama's return and attributed the Kingdom. Thankfully, the seed of power struggle had existed in elders(Kaikeyi) and not children(Lord Rama & Bharatha)

As time forwarded to the next Dwapara Yuga, the power struggle started to land from elders to children. Supposedly close cousins(Kauravas and Pandavas) had initiated the power struggle among themselves. While Pandavas fought for their right, Kauravas on other hand tried to crush the Pandavas based on "minority numbers". "సత్య మేవ జయతేయ్"-- Truth and Justice Prevailed. In spite of this, the good part was, the Pandavas were united for a common cause and Kauravas stayed together under one man  సుయోధన"(Duryodhana). At least the siblings of same blood never had any enmity.

Come, KaliYuga -- The age of Demons in Human Form. The so called enemity, power struggle, supremacy, what not, is being witnessed right among the blood brothers. A father, after sacrificing everything, after bending back and burning the mid-night oil, builds an empire. The only probable mistake he did was to have more than one son. These grown-ups fail to recognize all the hardships his father went through and simply try to fight over control of power and empire. The poor father neither can make the right choice, nor can distribute evenly. To some extent, all the countables can perhaps have a solution. 


But, Power is an abstract thing that cannot be distributed, it will only make one person meeker, inferior and finally a conspirator. Power and authority cannot be shared. The dimensions and entities keep changing the strengths of it. Alas, worthy or not, if only the father had only ONE SUN, he would have had a peace in retirement. I feel pity for the DMK Supremo Karunanidhi for not having an answer on whom to carry the legacy. The two sons have forced the King Karunandhi, to postpone his retirement. The purpose on which DMK was born will have to face some threats of weakness and instability in the generations to come.

A highly motivated, disciplined, yet NOT so educated DhiruBai Ambani builds an Empire and two SUNS from Wharton & Stanford School struggle over share. Having ONE might probably have more peace for some one who dreams of something this kind. This kind of in equalities and ill-feelings exist in every tier of the society. Sparing a few, most of them either try to bury the pain or sort it indoors. But when surfaced to the outside world, I only feel, if only that father had ONE SUN!!!

Tail Piece: If only we had 2 SUNs in our solar system, wondering how the nature would have been??

The Days When God Was Missing

A 3 year old kid was playing while his parents and grandparents were watching. The kid got excited and started jumping on the couch. The grandparents were bit anxious and tried to warn him. The parents were okay with that as he keeps doing that all the time. 


Now the kid got excited and started to jump from the couch on to the floor. This time the father along with the grandparents got anxious and tried to warn him. The mother was okay with that and said thats what she witnesses all day. But deep inside she was also worried at the kid's behavior. So she softly said not do that. 


The kid was not at all bothered, he kept doing that and this time instead of jumping on the floor, started to jump onto the coffee table. He missed it and landed with his chin on the coffee table and hurt himself. Mother came running and took him into her arms. Everyone started yelling at each other. 


The grandparents felt that the kid should have been properly warned when he was jumping on the couch and were yelling at both the parents.The father started yelling at his wife for letting him jump onto the floor.Finally the mother was cornered. 
Of all the four,according to me, she feels the greatest pain when the child was hurt but the father and the grandparents made her the culprit for not taking the right care. 


In an attempt to defend herself, she said, "I know how to raise my kid, and let him learn from his mistakes, the next time he would not do". No surprise, the kid found more solace in the mother's arms and not anyone else.


In the actual world, we as matured adults do similar mistakes, but do not attempt to correct ourselves later try to find whom to blame. As a teenager, I witnessed many stampedes during the release of my matnee idol "Mega Star Chiranjeevi's" movies. I used to get sandwiched between stout and hefty personalities. Yet my blind intention of watching on first day let me bear the pain without any regret. As far as I know, I never heard anyone complaining of it, instead felt thrilled.


On the contrary, in the recent past, I read about stampedes at Temples. Be it Naina Devi Temple or Vaishnavi Devi Temple, the death toll is alarming. I even heard some comments like, "If God is really present, why would these happen?" Firstly, these are man-made mistakes. Why blame God,for believers, when your rationality is over-ridden by stupidity. How many times one needs to commit the same mistake and still blame God for the incident and question his existence!!!. 


Whenever something bad happens, it is most obviously due to our own mistakes, but still try to defend ourselves and feel God being unkind to us.


As long as we have this inherent defect of committing mistakes out of our foolishness and try to blame God, those are "The Days When God Was Missing"

InterFEARance

 "Your Freedom ends where my nose begins", this was a famous quote I heard quite sometime back.


My understanding of it is, freedom is a shared space in the society where every individual is allowed to think and act according to one's wish. 


One is free to do anything that does not "interfere" with other's freedom. Hence my freedom ends where the other person's nose begins. Fair enough.


Coming from a Science background, I learnt that Efficiency(Actual/Expected *100) is never 100%. 


The "loss" in the scientific system make it less than 100%
where as the "laws" in our socialistic system make the efficient usage of freedom less than 100%.


The hypothetical infinite freedom has now become a definite and everyone is required to act within a large boundary so to say. 


In spite of that, everyone is tied to few others through a social, professional,ethical, moral and perhaps a religious thread too. These strings when attached dilutes or even reduces freedom space one has. 


The lessening of freedom is more because of Interference. As a kid, one is more meddled with parents and elders with regards to behaviour, discipline and uprightness. The obvious reason to cite, since the elders are more "mature" than the kid and since they have seen the world more. 


Biologically a kid is mature in the teens, but for a psychological and rational maturity, it is not age that matters, but the experience that matters. 
Nevertheless, there is never 100% maturity since learning and empowerment of knowledge is an unending process.


Adolescence is the age of threshold maturity and that's when everyone seems to think that they are always right and they are the best judges of themselves.


The seed of ego(which everyone claim as self-respect) starts to grow. Then on, any good advice coming in, turns out to be an "Interference". When a mother tries to warn her child about late night comings, "Mom, I know what I am doing, stop giving advices". What was followed as a rule, will no longer be the same just because one is mature enough to know. This is debatable. Sometimes, one can feel that the other person(be it anyone) wouldn't know better than oneself. 


As long as it is "softly" preached there is no discomfort otherwise it leads to fear, hatred and enemity.


When Overindulgence and Micro-management, kills the freedom, it is no longer Interference but InterFEARance.


This is not just at individual level but is more predominantly seen and witnessed at global level.


Some countries with an entitlement of "Developed or Super Power" tend to "interfere" and force certain norms on the other countries in an attempt to have a common ideology and thinking. It is always a welcome move.


But for sheer supremacy, instead of educating about the goals and prospects, they tend to dictate in various aspects starting from culture, religion and lifestyle and thereby hurting the "sentiments and emotions". 
That is when the recipient sees a FEAR in the Interfering Individual. 
Often battles/wars happen when these are hurt. 


A universal(I say universal since I heard about it in majority of countries through TV shows) situation that I can think of is the "सास बहू जगदा "(Mother-in-Law & Daughter-in-Law Quarrel). 
Initially my immature mind thought it was only restricted to the Indian society, but after watching "Everybody Loves Raymond", I understood it can happen anywhere. 


Both tend to compete each other by "InterFEARing" with other's motives and actions for supremacy. If one can respect the other person's actions and let them have a little amount of freedom on the common goal, neither would feel deprived of freedom. 
The so called unity and family structure stays intact and strong.


This is just an illustration but the same is true between groups of individuals, cultures, nations, religions and many more. Only then a balance, peace and harmony can be maintained and bettered.


By not only letting the other person have the freedom, a soft denial of advice will not throw into warlike situation. Both parties need to know the cause for resistance rather than fight over it.


When properly understood and acted with a rational maturity, it is no longer InterFEARance.
Hope PEACE Prevail.