The Nobell Knight :)

Naturally, i was overjoyed by announcement of Nobell peace prize. What comes to my mind are the memorable dialogs from the The Dark Knight (2008). What I tried is to replay the dialog in the various scenes with the protagonist,Mr. Bhama, (a recent Nobell Prize Winner for peace) and rest of the characters being the same. Before you jump to conclusion about my protagonist, let me declare that Mr. Bhama is a figment of my imagination. Bhama apparently means light in Samskritam and I thought the name suite the Hero, who seems to be the only ray of hope in the world of "The Jokers". Please refer to the original dialogs (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/quotes).

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Scene 1: Mr. Bhama is rudely (yet respectfully) woken up by Alfred Pennyworth. He announces that Mr. Bhama has won the Nobell peace prize and how there are some skeptics were howling out there.

Mr. Bhama: Targeting me won't get them the prize back. They crossed the line. They are blaming me for paucity of hope.

Alfred Pennyworth: You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them, you talked and lectured the world to the point of desperation. And in their desperation they they did something that they didn't fully understand.

Mr. Bhama: Yeah, the prize committee members aren't complicated, Alfred. Just have to figure out what they're after.

Alfred Pennyworth: With respect, sir, perhaps this is a prize that *you* don't fully understand.

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Scene 2 : but Why ????

Mr. Bhama: Then why give the Nobell prizes in the first place?

Alfred Pennyworth: Because the committee thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world get confused.

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Scene 3: Conversation between Mr. Bhama and The Joker

The Joker: Oh, you. You just couldn't let the prize nomination go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable speaker meets an immovable (read dumb) committee. You are truly incorruptible, aren't you? Huh? You won't let go of this prize out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't stop poking you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.

Mr. Bhama: You'll be in this illusion forever.

The Joker: Maybe we can share one. You know, they'll be doubling up, the rate this committee's members are losing their minds.

Mr. Bhama: This prize committee just showed you that it's full of people ready to believe in good humor.

The Joker: Until their spirit breaks completely. Until they get a good look at the real heroic Tibetan monk and all the heroic things he's done. You didn't think I'd risk losing the battle for World's peace in a fistfight with you? No. You need an ace in the hole. Mine's monk.

Mr. Bhama: What did you do?

The Joker: I invited him over to our country and I brought him down to our level. I made you run scared in that funny costume to avoid a monk :) It wasn't hard. You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!

[the Joker laughs hysterically as Mr.Bhama races off and the cops come to take the Joker into custody]

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Scene 4: Mr. Bhama meets Joker

Mr. Bhama: Then why do you want the peace prize?

The Joker: [laughs] I don't want the peace prize! What would I do the prize? Go back to supplying arms to rogue countries? No, no, NO! No. I just want to play with You... you... complete me.

Mr. Bhama: You're garbage who buys nobell prizes for money.

The Joker: Don't talk like one of them. You're not! Even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out, like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.

Mr. Bhama: Where's Monk, I want to show him the prize?

The Joker: You have all these prizes, and you think they'll save you? Bad Karma always catches up dude :)

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Vyasa on Vices

It is not very difficult for us to imagine how difficult life in Kaliyuga is going to be. I was always wondering what our rishis had to say about Kali Yuga and what foresight they had about the iron age (Kali yiga).

I happened to read Vidyeshwara Samhita from Shiva Mahapuranam and that was very interesting. It seems Vyasa had visions into how much life would be degraded (well... its again perception .. some would say .. depending on our faith in scriptures, our history and willingness to open up to ancient wisdom). So, Suta, disciple of Vyasa, describes the following as significant indicators of Kali Yuga.

People in Kali Yuga would engage earning pleasure by usurping wealth and wives of others. They would not be able to differentiate between the body and self (brahman). They would invariably be atheists, be passionate by nature and denounce their parents.

Those who are responsible to learn the vedas, will be greedy by nature, earn living by selling knowledge(vedas) and get intoxicated by learning worldly knowledge (devoid of knowledge of brahman). They would indulge in cheating others, not perform sandhya vandanam (how can Vyasa come so close) and be foolish. They would be merciless and consider themselves very learned by learning worldly knowledge. They would not have knowledge about shastras. They would have very harsh temperament and be deceitful (how close).

Those who are supposed to be protectors of people, will never take side of noble people (if any). They would be engaged in corrupt,sinful activities. They would be cowards by nature and fear the battle field when it comes to defending their people. They would earn their living by stealing from people that they are supposed to protect. They would always be engaged in passionate activities. They would not have knowledge of weapons. They would indulge in destruction of their own people and kill creatures without any reason.

Those who are supposed to do business, would be engaged in earning wealth by evil tricks of trade. They would not engage in charity or support vedic learning. There would be complete loss of ideals and business people would derive pleasure by snatching wealth and wives of others.

Those who are engaged in providing labour support, would benefit from the degradation of all other sections of society. They would find ways of evading work and behave as protectors of vedic knowledge. They would become wealthy, engage in evil deeds, become learned, incite controversies, give lectures on dharma and destroy dharma. They would act as kings, project themselves are donors and protectors of society, be extremely proud and punish/denounce vedic learning. They would derive pleasure in oppressing people pursuing vedic ideals.

Like men of this age, women would also indulge in misconduct. At home,they would engage in cooking of prohibited/non-sattvic food. Children from such households would not be interested in service of their parents. They would learn un-holy knowledge and be extremely proud and arrogant. They would suffer from various physical ailments right from childhood.

From here, the sivapuranam goes on with how the defects of Kali Yuga can be addressed. Now, what is interesting is Veda Vyasa's ability to perceive the social unrest several thousands of years in advance.

Reading this also gives me a sense of relief. I always had this sense of unrest in my mind. Why is everyone (including me) behaving in such a way that seems to so chaotic. There seems to be a feeling of discontent and mismatch in everything that is around me. Now, reading this section of SivaPuranam shows that this was not unexpected. People, have foreseen this problem, several thousands of years in advance, to such a granular level. So, the good thing is there might be an antidote to this unrest in our minds. I am sure other scriptures and puranas would also have some mention of the ailment and its cure. Now, all I need to do is find the cure and implement it on myself to see if it works :)

Taskaranaam Pataye Namo Namo - Salutations to the lord of thieves (Rudram)

My salutations to the lotus feet of the Lord who steals unholy thoughts from the hearts and minds of his devotees.

I found a rather interesting article on how an dacoit from UP decided to erect a statue for himself (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/UPs-ex-dacoit-to-put-up-own-statue-/articleshow/4913201.cms). The 59 year old dacoit did not have a fairly tale rise in the field of politics after an rather dull career as a dacoit. To quote the ex-dacoit (sounds fancy like ex-MP, ex-MLA, though the JD is rather similar), Jagannath Bind, "If people can erect statues of themselves, why not me?".

What attracted my attention was a slightly different point in his reasoning. Jagannath Bind was inspired by Valmiki to turn a new leaf. Now, I am not sure how much of this is true, but that is certainly inspiring. How many of us actually look upto inspiration from the history to turn a new leaf in life? I cannot talk on behalf of anyone else, but personally, I have a long way to go to reach my own personal ethical/moral benchmarks and have never corrected myself inspite of having read about many of these mahapurushas. My biases are intact; my mind is wavering and deceitful; my senses are not under control; lack of discipline; superficial bhakti; and the list is unending.

How inspiring the story of TulsiDas (http://www.ramcharitmanas.iitk.ac.in/manas1/html/tulsim.htm), whose love of worldly life was switched into love of Rama in a second. Yogi Vemana (http://www.manmaking.com/Chastity/Stories.html#_Toc441557047) saw the dawn of intense vairagya by the blessings of Lord Shiva. I can only hope that the Lord shows his mercy on my fickle mind.

Now on the point on how I can make an effort to develop Bhakti, I want to highlight a lecture by Periyava (Voice of God, "The third way"), in which he talks about 3 ways in which we can approach the Love of Lord based on our mental capabilities. 2 of them are मर्कट किशोर न्याय (Markata Kishore Nyaya) and मार्जार किशोर न्याय (Maarjara Kishora Nyaya).

The cat family (including the tiger) have very sharp teeth. Inspite of their ferocious teeth, they are able to carry their kittens with utmost care, holding them by the same sharp teeth that can shread the toughest of their prey. Hence, the kitten (मार्जार किशोर) are effortlessly carried by their mothers without the slightest harm. Such an approach to, Bhakti in which devotees the Lord in their hearts and leave it to AmmaiAppan (the lord who is their father and mother) to carry them safely in this tumultuous world, is called Markata Kishora Nyaya.

Another approach to Bhakti is like that of a baby monkey (मर्कट किशोर), which clings to its mother's abdomen. The mother monkey does not have to bother about the baby monkey even when it jumps across branches.

Adi Shankara has the antidote for our minds in the Kali Yuga. He says in the SivanandaLahiri

"Me hridayakapim athyanatha chapalam
Dhridham bhaktya bhadhva Shiva, bhavadh aadhinam kuru Vibho"

Which translates to, "O Lord, my mind/heart, which is like a monkey, is very fickle. Please bind it firmly by the rope of bhakti and make it subservient to you.

Reflecting on it, these are days of scientific temper. We do not have the capacity to "let go" and leave ourselves to the flow of affection from the Lord. We also do not have the determination to "cling on" to the bhakti marga. Adi Shankara BhagavatPada seems to have understood our inability to follow wither of these. Hence, suggested that we pray to the Lord and request him to take control our our lives, putting the responsibility on our beloved Lord to take control of our mind and lives. A classic example in this case is how Sundarar asked the Lord that he take control of his life just when he is likely to get carried by the waves of Maya.

What I take solace is the world is full of instances of people reforming by looking at examples from our glorious spiritual past. I pray that, just as the decoit changed his ways by seeking inspiration in Valmiki, let me be inspired, by all these saints, to tread the sweet path of Bhatkti.

Spirituality and Corporate Governance- RaviC and Gurumurthy

RaviC and Sri S. Gurmurthy on the same stage was always going to be interesting. Chennai welcomed these 2 interesting speakers with ceremonial sprinkling of auspicious water and manvasanai.

Having attended RaviC's class, I knew his style of lecture delivery. He had neatly segmented his talked into 4 parts. His subtle humor undercurrent was visible as he talked about the evolution of management education and how its seeds were sown in India. He described how we neatly copied the American management school of thought and applied it to India, not fully understanding its impact.

The first section of RaviC's talk was about the evolution of corporations in America. Corporations rose on the pillars of "purpose, knowledge and innovation". He talked about how Ford was focused on his purpose of delivering a car that was useful for farmers. The corporation did very well for itself and the society as it focused on this "purpose". As corporations grew, they started focusing on performance at the Wall Street and the "purpose" of the organization become to deliver superior results Q-o-Q. Finally, it reached a stage when corporations became focused on the "purpose" of delivering "performance at the Wall Street at any costs". Corporations, that were initially, a part of the social fabric, became entities that bothered about its own well being. This toxic unbridled greed eventually shook the very society that it sought to serve. It was an interesting perspective. I was reminded of the maxim "Bahujana Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya" which means for the benefit for "maximum number of people and for the happiness for maximum number of people". It makes me wonder if corporations think that the world economy zero sum game... someone has to lose for someone else to win :)

Next, RaviC went on to talk about how the ecosystem and the society, in general is forcing the its younger generation into parochial system of materialistic excellence. Students walking out of premier educational institutions aspire to be materially successful and finally become become brands or icons. I guess, he was trying to point out that this race again makes them aspire for "performance at any cost" even if it hurts the very society that nurtured, admired and valued them for being superior performers. The lack of spiritual insight into life fails to temper the material aspirations of our extremely talented young professionals thus eventually turning them into gods with feet of clay.

RaviC talked about how he introduced several programs at IIM-Indore on spirituality and management. I just pray that these initiatives pay off and we can create spiritually mature business leaders - Rajarishis.

Now, any effort from my part, will fail to recreate the subtle humor that RaviC effortlessly weaves into his lectures.

Sri. Gurumurthy is a very energetic speaker. The point in his speech that impressed me most was the transition of societies from "relationship based societies" to "contract based societies". It was subtle but interesting concept that I did not notice for so long. It was glaring how the change in our society was staring at my face and I did not realize this. Superficially, it would look like contract based societies would be more efficient. The interfaces between individuals, families, states are based on contracts between parties. Finally, it has come to the extent that parents, children, husband, wives, brothers and sisters are bound by just contracts. Today, we have contracts with gods. Students feel that teachers are bound by contracts because of the fees that pay. How will we ever learn if we just try to assess if our teachers are fulfilling our contracts. I don't think I have either the knowledge or the skills to argue on this topic. I have a ton of things to learn and very little time left.

Coming back to the main topic, I feel that many issues arise in corporations as they see themselves bound by contracts to the government, to its employees and some sections of the society. They try to make sure that these contracts are adhered to. Hence, this becomes an exercise of legal compliance rather than overall social well being. Transition of mindset of our corporate leaders into thinking how they relate to the society will help them govern themselves better. This will help them think on the lines of "Bahujana Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya" and eventually focus on purpose rather than just "performance at any cost".