Chocolat on divinity and humanity

"Do I want to speak of the miracle...
of our Lord's divine transformation?
Not really, no.
I don't want to talk about His divinity.
I'd rather talk about His humanity.
I mean, you know, how he lived his life here on Earth.
His kindness.
His tolerance.
Listen, here's what I think.
I think we can't go around...
measuring our goodness by what we don't do.
By what we deny ourselves...
what we resist and who we exclude.
I think we've got to measure goodness...
by what we embrace...
what we create...
and who we include." - Pere Henri, Chocolat

PS: This entry is inspired by alpha mu rho's letter to God. Made public at http://brewingpotions.blogspot.com/2008/05/dear-man-or-woman-who-lives-above.html

What is it that really matters?

The prev entry on the differently abled reminded me of my interactions with Muttu sir. He was the accountant at the greeting cards section of the Spastics Society of Northern India(SSNI), Delhi. I used to go to SSNI often while I was at NSIT. Whenever I would meet Muttu sir, I would have a decent conversation with him. The prev entry reminded me of him as Sir was differently abled and some of his movements also used to take time. But there was something even in that slowness. Something that helps me not to over emphasize speed.
Shalu shared something recently that taught me not to over emphasize efficiency. As an occupational therapist based in London, she is seeing a 100% disabled child these days. There are 20 professionals who see that child. The parents have some limitations of their own and in the eyes of some professionals are not doing the best job. But Shalu feels there is something that the parents have which the professionals/system can do with more of - humanness. There were the "Fountainhead" days in my life when it was all about my intellect/rationality. But as I moved on the relevance of the other aspect i.e. spirit/faith began to rub on me. And, now I feel maybe it's not this or that, it's both. Have you seen "I am Sam"? Very relevant to what I am talking about. Something on the lines of "Forrestgump".

Of incidents that leave an impression.

11th May: 6:30 pm

We organised a meet for the students who have been made admission offers by IIM B at campus today along with similar meets being organised at 4 other cities in India.
We were escorting the 60 odd students from the academic block to the venue for the lunch.

I had noticed this guy with crutches at the beginning of the meet.
As we headed towards the lunch venue (which was quite a distance), I asked the guy if he'd be able to walk all the way.
He said it was difficult but he did not want to miss the interaction over lunch and so would come. He stopped by to speak to another batchmate and I moved on.

After a while, I looked back to see this guy walking alone.
I asked the students with me to move on and I waited for him.
We decided to go back and get his vehicle as the venue would have been a long walk.
He would sit down in between esp. when he would have to climb a few stairs.
He said that walking is fine but climbing stairs is difficult.
We chatted in between about his background, the college etc etc.
He looked around the tree filled campus and said that once here he will resume his walks.

And, then, he said something all of a sudden which will stay with me.
He said, "I have not been like this since childhood. I mean mine is not a polio inflicted physical handicap. In my final year of engineering, I had a very bad fall doing some exercises. I broke my back, had a spinal cord injury and was on bed for 6 months. This is surely better than those days. Atleast, I am independent."

Someone said, inspiration some times greets us in the most unexpected of circumstances.

As I sat with him for lunch, a thought crossed my head. Given that just an incident is what turned him from a normal human being to a differently abled. And that he was and could have easily been just like any of us. Would not it be very natural for him to curse bad luck? And feel cross about life.

Maybe, it was. But looking at him and his attitude, I think that was n't the case. He seemed to have put the past behind and said 'yes' to what is.
May the force be with him always and with each one of us.

Art of Living - Part 2 course.

Last week, I went to the AoL Bangalore ashram for the first time. I was there amidst 700 other participants (!) to do the advanced course. Sadly, I had to leave the program on the 2nd day itself due to ill health.
People say that falling ill was a part of my body's internal cleansing. Possible. For now, I just wish I get to do the course again soon.
I am of the types who touch upon a lot of practices but find it difficult to go deeper into just one. However, I have been fairly regular with the Sudarshan Kriya that I learnt in the Basic course. Like many other doers of the Kriya, many a times Kriya is the difference between a positive energy day and a negative energy day!
Maybe, I do not like to go deep into one practice as that makes it difficult to be an observer of the practice and practitioners. And I love to observe.
There were 1000s of people from all over the country and abroad at the Ashram. It was humbling to see so many people there for something so intangible, so difficult to define, so abstract and so elusive - happiness and peace of mind. I met a 2nd yr engg student from a pune college who was doing his 4th advanced course. He had done the Basic course just an year ago! One thing he liked about being at the Ashram was the feeling that it is yours. So, you don't wait for somebody to do something for u. You just go and do it - like wash your own utensils. The instructor echoed the same feeling by saying often that "aapke ghar mein aapka swagat hai".
Be it ashrams or practices or organisations, once the members have a sense of belonging and ownership it just is a different story. You do not see blame games as one can't possibly criticise what one completely is one with. Energies are focussed on doing and creating. Is love an underlying emotion in such cases? My experiences say yes. Dig a little deeper into yours and tell me :).

Interesting copywriting - Orkut.

This is what Orkut said to me today morning:
"Bad, bad server. No doughnut for you.
Unfortunately, the orkut.com server has acted in an unexpected way. Hopefully, it will return to its helpful self if you try again in a few minutes."
Mazedaar copywriting naah.
As I intern in development of web products; I learn that the copy write, visual design and user experience must be thought through to reflect the character of the product. This copywrite of orkut makes it come across as a witty guy!

More on small things.

If you read "Round white thermocol balls", carry on.
Else, read that and come back. Hee hee, a programming student never forgets conditional statements.
Have small things ever made you feel that there is so much that happen even with so little?
Have you looked at a small feather of a pigeon being moved by the breeze? Every bit of it moves, making you wonder how so little space can have so much movement.
Try writing on an A4 white sheet with a small bit of pencil lead. As small as an ant. I did, it filled the entire sheet. Sometimes, small things humble me.

Round white thermocol balls.

Last term at IIM B around the last days of the senior batch, a lot of bean bags were being dismantled. And the key constituent of a bean bag, small round white thermocol balls were all over the place. I used to find them very amusing.
(a) Tap ur feet, they run in the opposite direction. Tap your feet from the opposite direction, they swiftly change directions. They were so light. The slightest of breeze would make them run.
(b) I would spill a few outside my room keeping the door open. I would then close the door swiftly and they would rush into the room - waiting to make an entry before the door closed on them.
Yahoo! office has a room which has piles of bags full of our dear balls. The room has bean bags too. Today, a zipper on a bean bag tempted me to open it. And out flew our dear balls. Weightless n directionless - but ready to move as ever.

Of inanimate things that communicate.

Yahoo! gave us a welcome packet last term. Among other things, it had a white cuboidal box with a few holes on top. I thought it's just a placeholder for papers inside. Curiosity made me tear it open. Whoa! An electronic circuit, after so long! Application? Wait and watch. I put the circuit on my room table. One night, I came back to the room and switched on the light. The shout "Yaahoooo" greeted me. The next morning when there was sufficient sunlight, it exclaimed "Yaahooo". This light triggered ckt has been my constant companion ever since. I place it in my drawer or my bag; and hear it say "Yaahooo". The New Hire Orientation at Yahoo! was filled with intermitten "Yaahoo" cries from multiple welcome packets. It brings alive the child in anyone who tries to subject it to different combinations of darkness and light. Inanimate things communicate. The other day, friend X was upset with friend Y. I was working on my laptop then. I made the software "Word Web" say in its amusing voice, "Dear X, Y is sorry. Know that Y loves you." It cheered X up. When animate things find it difficult to communicate, inanimate things that communicate come handy.

ADDITION ON 25th APRIL: Got to know y'day that the Yaahooooo sound that the ckt makes is a characteristic Yahooo Yodle. It goes Yaaahoo oooo. In the all-hands meet at Sunnyvale last week, the President Sue made the entire audience Yodle along with her :).

Dropping a few shoulds.

The last few days taught me a lot about myself. It brought me face to face with Ms. Theorist in me. Interestingly, Ms. Act took birth and won her over.

Ms. Theorist moves around with a book of definitions in hand. She has an ideal defined for every situation and person. She pauses in time to open her book and read out the ideal definition against which the situation or person is to be compared. So, is that wrong? Is not a striving for the ideal the basis for incessant improvement?
No, it’s not. Don’t get me wrong. All I ask of Ms. Theorist is to change her attitude. Why does it have to be an all or none? Has Ms. Theorist come across a single situation/person which was “all” perfect? A situation / person which is “all” perfect will stop growing and won’t the staleness that ensues make it imperfect. Does n’t Ms. Theorist recognize that the non acceptance of anything but the best from a situation/person outside of her rob her of the learning she can have from the situation/person Ms. Theorist is in/with? The time is less even to learn what even the “Not-so-perfect” situation/person has to teach. Yet, why does Ms. Theorist shake her head in refusal till a situation/person became picture perfect? Ms.Theorist should let Ms. Act lead. Because Ms. Act knows that Ms. Myself will not move if she just stays a “judge” of the situation/person. Prolonged “judgement” will only take her out of the setting. The sense of separateness from the situation/person will make her unable to reach out to the situation/person. The inability to influence will further increase her resistance. Ms. Theorist should call Ms. Act before Ms. Judge follows. Because Ms. Judge cannot help it. As a Miss, she always misjudges J. The Power of Now will tell you that Ms. Surrender works well too in situations where Ms. Act does not apply.

Reminds me of a paragraph from the poem, “Psalm of Life”:

“Not enjoyment, and not sorrow;
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow;
Find us farther than to-day.”

And

“Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o'erhead !”
Adios!

Interesting tid-bits from Orkut Communities.

The community "I hate to get up early" has 2.8 lakh members.

My fav dialogues from "Before Sunrise".

1. "50,000 years ago, there are not even a million people on the planet. 10,000 years ago, there's, like, two million people on the planet. Now there's between five and six billion people on the planet, right? Now, if we all have our own, like, individual, unique soul, right, where do they all come from? You know, are modern souls only a fraction of the original souls? 'Cause if they are, that represents a 5,000 to 1 split of each soul in the last 50,000 years, which is, like, a blip in the Earth's time. You know, so at best we're like these tiny fractions of people, you know, walking... I mean, is that why we're so scattered? You know, is that why we're all so specialized? "
- Jesse
2. "I believe if there's any kind of God it wouldn't be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between. If there's any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt." - Celine

Gratification for Google Maps.

A friend sent a marriage invitation recently. It read, "....The Google Maps location of the place (Chembur Gymkhana) is at http://maps.google.com/maps=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=chembur+gymkhana,mumbai&ie=UTF8&ll=19.059035,72.903514&spn=0.008944,0.01442&z=16".
If I were the Prod Man for Google Maps, I would feel gratified.

Of random seat allocations.

As I do not have a fixed seat yet, I occupy seat of whosoever is absent.
This week I'll be at Rajiv Rastogi's seat. Just y'day I had read a press release that featured him as he heads Yahoo's B'lore research labs. I turned back and saw that my co-cubicler for the week is Sharad Sharma. Sharad's main seat is at the EGL office and this is the MG Road office. He happens to be Yahoo! India's CEO. He came a while ago. A few guys were playing cricket in the open space next to our cubicles. He joined in too to test his bowling skills. I could n't resist and faced a few of his deliveries. This place is a lil out of my ordinary.