I drink this Pain for an Unknown Gain

I drink this Pain for my Unknown Gain
I drink this Pain for my Unknown Gain

I cry through Pain for my Unknown Gain
I try through Pain for my Unknown Gain

I live through Pain for my Unknown Gain
I give through Pain for my Unknown Gain

I shove through Pain for my Unknown Gain
I love through Pain for my Unknown Gain

I mile through Pain for my Unknown Gain
I smile through Pain for my Unknown Gain

I learn through Pain for my Unknown Gain
I earn through Pain for my Unknown Gain

I drink this Pain for my Unknown Gain
I drink this Pain because Only I know what is my Gain
Only I know what is my Gain

Creative Aniruddh, Competitive Bheebatsa and Consumeristic Puppies

Bheebatsa, Aniruddh and the Puppies are working for their course project in which they have to design, simulate and build a small robotic system which can track and follow a specified patch. So, the path is specified and the robotic system is given and the students have to mess with the controls of the robotic system to make it follow the path. The course grade is solely dependent on the performance in the project which is due in a month’s time. The instructor for the course is extremely strict and expects a lot from the students. He knows that the project is hard but not impossible to solve. The goal of this project is to improve the understanding and learning of the students.

It is evening, everybody is home and the first thing Hill Puppy does is to update his facebook status, ‘Hill Puppy is working on Path tracking Robot project. Hill Puppy is excited.’ Red Puppy is little better he has uploaded the pictures of the robot and updated his status ‘Will be busy working on this project for the next month.’ Bheebatsa has liked a page titled ‘Path tracking robots then and now.’ But Mad Puppy is unperturbed, he knows what he wants and he knows that it would be impossible for him to finish the project so he has given up and is quietly browsing for some cool ‘consumer electronic’ products to look cool. He has a hunch that Hill and Red Puppy will eventually given up but still ‘Likes’ their status messages which they are happy to acknowledge along-with many other comments and ‘likes’ they got for their posts.

Aniruddh is also unperturbed he knows the project may be tough and he might not be able to finish it even if he tries hard. But he is willing to work on it since he will be learning a lot in the process irrespective of the result which is very important. He is also willing to sacrifice his little enjoyments for a bigger and better goal. He plans to work for 4-5 hrs a day sincerely on the project and plans to keep his mind active rest of the time in some creative pursuits where he gets to use his brain instead of brawn. Two weeks into the project and Red Puppy is finding it hard, Hill Puppy had already given up last week and is with Mad Puppy now at ‘Bar and Lounge’ (Facebook update). Red Puppy cannot resist his temptation any longer he drops the course in a fit of rage ‘impulsively’ and leaves to join the friends at ‘Bar & Lounge’.

Bheebatsa is left alone without his friends, his competitive instinct has prevented him from dropping the course but he too is having a hard time and he desperately needs help. He cannot ask his instructor because he is scared that the instructor may find out that he does not know anything. In order to ask some intelligent questions he must know something and in order to know something he must take Aniruddh’s help which he is unwilling to take. He feels ashamed to go to him when he is in trouble since he spent all his good times with the Puppies and now when he is in real trouble they are gone. He finally realizes that it is better to be ashamed a little now than being ashamed a lot later when he will fail the course. So, he goes to Aniruddh for his help and they start discussing about the project and Bheebatsa is beginning to understand it (to his great surprise). By the end of the discussion which just took an hour he has a fair idea on what he needs to do.

Understanding the philosophy or a concept is just the beginning, implementing the same concept is whole new ball game and requires great CONCENTRATION. So, Bheebatsa with his Chaotic Mind is finding it extremely hard to concentrate on his project, he has disabled all internet, he has disabled his phone, he has stopped talking to people and he is even going to the library spending 7-8 hrs on the project. Like a man who wants to develop a six-pack abs avoids all kinds of fatty, spicy and tasty food; a man who wants develop a brain-pack should avoid all kinds of spicy things on the internet that slow down and rob the Concentration. Even after all these sacrifices he is still having unresolved issues but he sticks to the strict routine for the final two weeks. Aniruddh on the other hand has been managing his time creatively without any fuss and he too sticks to his routine, finally they both submit their projects. Like they say in Indian colleges ‘Aniruddh got FULL output and Bheebatsa got PARTIAL output’ but the instructor is happy with their performances and both of them get an A grade. The Puppies have also managed to get an A grade but in an easier course and they are Happy. Bheebatsa is very happy with the result and really loves the fact that he too can accomplish his GOAL when he makes a dedicated effort. He now feels that if he started early he could have achieved full output as well but forgets that soon enough. Aniruddh too is happy with his result, about all the things he could learn and happy that he could be of some help to his friend Bheebatsa. Mad Puppy ends up purchasing a cool Path tracking Robot and has made a video of him playing with the robot and of course he has uploaded it on Facebook and it is rage among all his internet friends. His other facebook friends just think he is a genius and this make Red and Hill Puppy very happy and proud of him. Everybody seems to be happy and proud of their achievements (even the Puppies) except now Bheebatsa wants to hang-out with Aniruddh instead of the Puppies which they don’t like; not one bit.

There are three aspects in all of us the creative aspect (The Good), competitive aspect (The Bad) and the consumeristic aspect (The Ugly). We rarely make use of the creative aspect but people who use it go on to become great leaders who can change the world (they give more to the world and take less), then come the competitors who looking at the creative leaders crave for the same success and adulation and compete hard to rise up the ladder (they give and take in equal amounts). Finally the consumers arrive and they end up either reading about the creative leaders or end up buying the products that the competitive guys market or both; either way they are the ones who are exploited (they take more and give less).

Each of you is uniquely positioned to reach the top and you and only you can find the path which leads to the GOAL, then only you can track the path, but you have to mess with the controls in your mind to make your life (Robot) follow the path. Your intuition is your instructor which can guide you and which will ultimately grade (judge) you. Remember you are not a robot who dances to Life’s tunes; you are the one who can make life (Robot) dance to your tunes and this you can if you control your mind. Please have a GOAL and please have good control over mind to reach your GOAL this is more important than anything else.

The year of Bheebatsa begins now

MAD Puppy: Wait right now isn't it June 1st, this way you will only have half year named after you. And you can't name a year after him though he is my friend. Anyway Happy Bheebatsa Year to you All!
This year has been chaotic by all means tsunami in Japan, tornadoes and floods in US, 2G scam in India, war in Libya etc. And of course our minds could not have been more chaotic in this chaos. What is happening outside is just the greater manifestation of the most complex thing in the world "our chaotic friend Bheebatsa".

Bheebatsa is a college going student who was named after his great grand-father’s uncle’s friend (which is not very uncommon in India). His name means ‘chaos’ and his life is chaotic. He is an average student in the class and is content with that. He knows he is talented but he doesn’t work to his full potential because he knows that in order to be exceptional he has to sacrifice lot of enjoyment and learn new things. But to be average he can just rely on what he has learnt in 12^th grade and stop using his brain for the rest of his life. He speaks nicely to people and has great opinions about life in general and knows about the problems that the world is facing. But he doesn’t want to solve any problem as he thinks somebody else will do it while he can have fun browsing web, watching movies, tv and posting his views on social networking sites.

He has friends in the Puppy family their names are Red Puppy, Mad Puppy and Hill Puppy. Red Puppy commits lot of mistakes because he cannot differentiate between GOOD and BAD, Mad Puppy knows the difference between good and bad but likes being BAD. Hill Puppy is a funny guy who can also differentiate between good and bad, likes being GOOD, but ends being BAD because he is madly in love with Mad Puppy. The Puppies hang out with him a lot and he likes them because they keep flattering him and he flatters them as well. It is as if they have a tacit agreement ‘You praise me saying that I’m super-smart while I’m dumb and I will praise you saying you are awesome while you are lousy.’ This agreement has been working well for years now and the only problem arises during the exams when the Puppies are nowhere in sight. He knows that the Puppies only flatter to deceive and in real need they wouldn’t help him since they themselves are busy, average and like him they too do not want to solve somebody else’s problem. But he has fixed his mind that these are his only friends and the whole world is selfish like them. He doesn’t search for the real selfless friend who will help him always when he is in need. He is always hoping rather gambling for a better life but it has not happened till now but he still hopes.

Aniruddh has been his class mate for years now and they were close friends during their childhood but in their adulthood they started taking different directions. Aniruddh is still like a child always smiling and playfully learning many things daily. He has great concentration like a baby, he knows exactly how to solve his problems, he relies on observation, and he keeps trying until he has understood the problem completely. At the end of the day he checks if he is reaching close to his goal and if the answer is positive he sleeps happily. Bheebatsa on the other hand has lost his childhood innocence and is a reasoning adult who always looks serious, treats every problem as a burden, he cannot concentrate long on what he wants to learn, one minute he is watching news, then movie gossip, then gathering knowledge on youtube, then posting his views on the gathered information on facebook, then chatting with his friends, football scores, cricket scores, deals2buy and all other derivatives of Adrenalin Rush. All the while he is thinking of his problems but not solving them; and before he knows the day is over and all he did from morning is to prove again that A+B=B+A without learning anything new and here is the fun part, he is extremely happy with his achievement. Since his effort is not complete he doesn’t know where life is taking him so he only hopes or rather gambles for a better future but never strives for a better future. There is also a constant fear of failure and anxiety in his heart which ruin his sleep.

By now you might have understood who the better student is. But life is cruel and funny where spectators knowing the result still watch the game, and players rarely see the faults in their practice but want to capitalize on opponent’s faults. So, even with all his faults Bheebatsa is always arrogant, thinks he is always correct and to top it all thinks that Aniruddh is the one who is wasting his life by not hanging out with him and the Puppies. Aniruddh on the other hand sometimes feels sad that his childhood friend is going in the wrong direction and he can be of no help to him. All these differences between the two friends are amplifications of the one major difference between them and that is in the mind.

To understand the mindset of the two students we need to take a leaf out of feedback control systems. Feedback control is a part of our everyday life, it is there in a car in cruise control where the car’s (the system) cruise control (controller) senses actual speed (Output) and modifies the acceleration to reach the set speed (Goal), controller should maintain the speed in ups and downs (disturbances). The cruise controller in a car has only one goal and it will avoid any disturbance to reach its goal and it will not stop till the goal is reached. People like Aniruddh and Bheebatsa (System) also have a goal (to find solution to their life’s problems); they also have disturbances (TV, movie, fb, news etc.) that are just a click away, but the output depends on how their controllers perform. The output depends on how they control their minds; a person like Aniruddh who has a concentrated mind will be able to find solutions to his life’s problems while a person like Bheebatsa who has a chaotic mind will only end up in thinking about his problems and is only able to partially solve them (see Figs. And spot the differences).

Each one of us is a combination Aniruddh and Bheebatsa and we all have problems, we generally curse the problems and have an expression on our face as if we are the only ones facing problems in the whole world. We also find fault in others for our problems but never do we acknowledge that our CHAOTIC mind along with the Puppies is the one which is robbing all our skill. Nor do we know that all our success can be tracked down to a CONCENTRATED mind that helped us in our exams. Just as a student who has practiced his homework problems well passes the exam with flying colors so also we should practice to solve our life’s problems with a concentrated mind to pass in life’s testing times. And here is the fun part, like a cruise control which faces disturbances and problems continuously even after reaching its goal, even we will have problems continuously throughout the life. Only the ability to solve them can be improved with a CONCENTRATED mind and all we need to have this concentration is a deep desire. What we desire, we generally get it.

You can excite the Aniruddh in you and be like a child smilingly learning new things or you can excite the Bheebatsa in you, look serious and burdensome all the time while getting very little done. Both are in your mind, Make a Bheebatsa Year Resolution and please keep your Resolution till New Year. Happy New Year to All of you! Do not hope for a better future, strive for a better future.

P.S. - Be careful of the Puppies they are very dangerous especially the Mad one. He is also in your mind.

A Tribute to a Great Hero

I told you that you would forget the great Hero (the greatest source of inspiration the world has during our times). I told that the youth of today is busy and keeps forgetting that January 12^th is the National Youth day in India. We want everyone else to remember our Birthdays but we ourselves forget the birthdays of great men. We don’t remember his sacrifice neither do we remember his teachings. He is a legend now but during his time he had to fight with his own disciples and friends to convince them that ‘Living for the sake of others is more important than any spiritual liberation.’ He wanted them to be Sources of Inspiration who could be of help to the society when they wanted to be lonely worshippers. He is Swami Vivekananda and today is his birthday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Day_%28India%29

I have always wondered how people are inspired to completely change their lives when they meet or see an inspirational person. Each individual chooses his inspiration based on his or her natural inclination. Some people like sportsmen and actors, some people like politicians, some people like scientists and some others may like saints. But the common thing is people try to model their lives based on the lives of their role models i.e. sources of inspiration have great power within them which can change others around them. And sources of inspiration generally try to lead their lives in order to make others happy. According to Superstar Rajinikanth, “Hero is one who emits positive energy”. Thalaiva is always correct. I will try to prove this in this blog. Does this look familiar if so you may as well stop here and go for the next more interesting facebook update. Otherwise you may just read this once more like the many movies you have seen twice.

In an electric circuit ‘sources’ supply power whereas the loads ‘consume’ power. So the ‘loads’ are invariably dependent on the ‘sources’ for power. In the simple electrical circuit shown below Sachin is the source of inspiration for 1 billion Indian cricket fans who are the ‘loads’ or the ‘consumers’. In electrical language Sachin will be called as the ‘Active component’ and the 1 billion Indian viewers will be called as ‘Passive components’. This is also true in cricket language since Sachin is the one ‘actively’ involved in the game and the viewers are ‘passively’ involved in the game. In the circuit below you can also see that the energy emitted by Sachin is positive. Hence proved Thalaiva is correct (Words of wisdom need no degree).

From a layman’s perspective Sachin has to work very hard to be a cricketer and it is a lot of pain and the consumers don’t want to go through all that pain, they just want to sit and enjoy. What is not very clear is the fact the consumers don’t just want to sit and enjoy, they also want to be like their role models, they want all the glory (name, fame, money, power, status etc.) that comes with it but they don’t want the pain and sacrifice that comes with it. Not just Sachin any hero has to make great sacrifices to win the hearts of the general public. But the youth of today is like the young Indian cricketers who want to make as much money as possible and they use cricket as livelihood to be rich whereas Sachin enjoys the game, wants to learn new things in the game and in the process he has become rich. This is true in any profession. But what sadness me most is the fact that India is the country with the largest youth population and most of them are trying to be more and more passive and lazy ‘consumers’. And they think it is ‘kewl’.

The youth of today are wasting the most productive periods of their life by being passive ‘consumers’. This will not only affect their lives, but it will indirectly affect the whole country and in a global scenario the whole world. The most common pastimes of younger generation today are:

1. Watching every new movie (there so many good old movies watch them instead)

2. Watching sports matches (but not getting inspired to work like the Sportstars)

3. Browsing facebook or other social networking sites (greatest time consumer)

4. Reading useless gossip about movie stars (passively enjoying again)

5. Reading negative news about India (there is so much positivity in India just look around)

6. Browsing for deals on consumer products (like iPhonu, iPadu, iPodu, iMacu etc. etc.)

7. Consumption of alcohol (again it is called ‘consumption’ so it will make the person ‘consumer’ and not a ‘source’)

8. Job search (Many also have to apply for jobs and in a period of recession it is hard to find the right one. But what you might want to note is the job seeker of 2010 is in California or in Hyderabad having biryani at both places. He is trying for 6 pack abs, listening to ‘kewl’ music, sports ‘kewl’ dresses and has a ‘kewl’ new iPod. This is progress as the job seeker in 1980 was living in poverty with not many good clothes to wear and not much to eat.)

9. Making money through evil means (Kanchana)

10. Consummation thoughts (Kama)

Perhaps the last two are historically the strongest enemies to man, it is not a new age thing. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said that worldly people were full of ‘Kama Kanchana’ long back in 1860s and today many Indians make money in ‘Sweat Shops’ called consultancies cheating their own brother Indians (Kanchana). And I don’t have to talk about ‘Kama’ you all know it. But you can see not one of them is productive and people are generally busy with it. A movie dialogue that I modified a little ‘Cheat a million people and sell them an iPad that they don’t need and you will be called ‘Steve Jobs’, but if you cheat yourself you will be called a ‘Fool’.’ Let us not be fools; let us not try to reason all our follies; and let us not have opinions without actually knowing about something deeply.

Japan produces fast cars, China produces cheap goods, France has best nuclear technology, America has great business creating skills and India has been producing visionary human beings like Swami Vivekananda, Paramahamsa Yogananda, Ramana Maharishi and even scientists like Sir CV Raman, Subramanyan Chandrasekhar, and CNR Rao who have sacrificed their lives for the country and its people. But does anybody atleast try to follow their footsteps, forget about following them, does the youth of today know anything about them. Do we atleast know that Swami Vivekananda is the National Youth hero and his birthday is celebrated as a National Youth day? Do we know any of his teachings and are they really practical?

Most of the people get away with it saying all these teachings are not practical in current society. God bless them because AR Rehman, Sachin, Rajinikanth, Michael Faraday, Tesla, Einstein and many other believers of God have ‘Actively’ contributed to the society instead of ‘Passively’ enjoying and all of them have been ‘Sources of Inspiration’ to many in their fields.

So the choice to be an ‘Active Source of Inspiration’ or a ‘Passive Consumer’ is yours. But Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita 6:46 has said ‘Tasmad Yogi bhavarjuna’ he did not say ‘Tasmad Bhogi bhavarjuna’. A bhogi is a ‘consumer’ and all the Kauravas were bhogis and you know what happened to them. Therefore, consume less and contribute more in your own field and be a ‘Source of Inspiration’ to others.

Hero worship very common in the world these days but the heroes are not properly chosen. Great heroes have great characters not great bodies. Great heroes like Swami Vivekananda are rare. Please appreciate their sacrifice and change your lives for better. "Emit positive energy and you will be a hero and source of inspiration". No Indian movie is complete without a song so here is a song by A R Rehman ‘Pray for me brother’ it has great lyrics. Are you searching for a reason to be kind?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1Ic5IKObQ

The year of Bheebatsa begins now

MAD Puppy: Wait right now isn't it June 1st, this way you will only have half year named after you. And you can't name a year after him though he is my friend. Anyway Happy Bheebatsa Year to you All!
This year has been chaotic by all means tsunami in Japan, tornadoes and floods in US, 2G scam in India, war in Libya etc. And of course our minds could not have been more chaotic in this chaos. What is happening outside is just the greater manifestation of the most complex thing in the world "our chaotic friend Bheebatsa".
Bheebatsa is a college going student who was named after his great grand-father’s uncle’s friend (which is not very uncommon in India). His name means ‘chaos’ and his life is chaotic. He is an average student in the class and is content with that. He knows he is talented but he doesn’t work to his full potential because he knows that in order to be exceptional he has to sacrifice lot of enjoyment and learn new things. But to be average he can just rely on what he has learnt in 12^th grade and stop using his brain for the rest of his life. He speaks nicely to people and has great opinions about life in general and knows about the problems that the world is facing. But he doesn’t want to solve any problem as he thinks somebody else will do it while he can have fun browsing web, watching movies, tv and posting his views on social networking sites.

He has friends in the Puppy family their names are Red Puppy, Mad Puppy and Hill Puppy. Red Puppy commits lot of mistakes because he cannot differentiate between GOOD and BAD, Mad Puppy knows the difference between good and bad but likes being BAD. Hill Puppy is a funny guy who can also differentiate between good and bad, likes being GOOD, but ends being BAD because he is madly in love with Mad Puppy. The Puppies hang out with him a lot and he likes them because they keep flattering him and he flatters them as well. It is as if they have a tacit agreement ‘You praise me saying that I’m super-smart while I’m dumb and I will praise you saying you are awesome while you are lousy.’ This agreement has been working well for years now and the only problem arises during the exams when the Puppies are nowhere in sight. He knows that the Puppies only flatter to deceive and in real need they wouldn’t help him since they themselves are busy, average and like him they too do not want to solve somebody else’s problem. But he has fixed his mind that these are his only friends and the whole world is selfish like them. He doesn’t search for the real selfless friend who will help him always when he is in need. He is always hoping rather gambling for a better life but it has not happened till now but he still hopes.

Aniruddh has been his class mate for years now and they were close friends during their childhood but in their adulthood they started taking different directions. Aniruddh is still like a child always smiling and playfully learning many things daily. He has great concentration like a baby, he knows exactly how to solve his problems, he relies on observation, and he keeps trying until he has understood the problem completely. At the end of the day he checks if he is reaching close to his goal and if the answer is positive he sleeps happily. Bheebatsa on the other hand has lost his childhood innocence and is a reasoning adult who always looks serious, treats every problem as a burden, he cannot concentrate long on what he wants to learn, one minute he is watching news, then movie gossip, then gathering knowledge on youtube, then posting his views on the gathered information on facebook, then chatting with his friends, football scores, cricket scores, deals2buy and all other derivatives of Adrenalin Rush. All the while he is thinking of his problems but not solving them; and before he knows the day is over and all he did from morning is to prove again that A+B=B+A without learning anything new and here is the fun part, he is extremely happy with his achievement. Since his effort is not complete he doesn’t know where life is taking him so he only hopes or rather gambles for a better future but never strives for a better future. There is also a constant fear of failure and anxiety in his heart which ruin his sleep.

By now you might have understood who the better student is. But life is cruel and funny where spectators knowing the result still watch the game, and players rarely see the faults in their practice but want to capitalize on opponent’s faults. So, even with all his faults Bheebatsa is always arrogant, thinks he is always correct and to top it all thinks that Aniruddh is the one who is wasting his life by not hanging out with him and the Puppies. Aniruddh on the other hand sometimes feels sad that his childhood friend is going in the wrong direction and he can be of no help to him. All these differences between the two friends are amplifications of the one major difference between them and that is in the mind.

To understand the mindset of the two students we need to take a leaf out of feedback control systems. Feedback control is a part of our everyday life, it is there in a car in cruise control where the car’s (the system) cruise control (controller) senses actual speed (Output) and modifies the acceleration to reach the set speed (Goal), controller should maintain the speed in ups and downs (disturbances). The cruise controller in a car has only one goal and it will avoid any disturbance to reach its goal and it will not stop till the goal is reached. People like Aniruddh and Bheebatsa (System) also have a goal (to find solution to their life’s problems); they also have disturbances (TV, movie, fb, news etc.) that are just a click away, but the output depends on how their controllers perform. The output depends on how they control their minds; a person like Aniruddh who has a concentrated mind will be able to find solutions to his life’s problems while a person like Bheebatsa who has a chaotic mind will only end up in thinking about his problems and is only able to partially solve them (see Figs. And spot the differences).

Each one of us is a combination Aniruddh and Bheebatsa and we all have problems, we generally curse the problems and have an expression on our face as if we are the only ones facing problems in the whole world. We also find fault in others for our problems but never do we acknowledge that our CHAOTIC mind along with the Puppies is the one which is robbing all our skill. Nor do we know that all our success can be tracked down to a CONCENTRATED mind that helped us in our exams. Just as a student who has practiced his homework problems well passes the exam with flying colors so also we should practice to solve our life’s problems with a concentrated mind to pass in life’s testing times. And here is the fun part, like a cruise control which faces disturbances and problems continuously even after reaching its goal, even we will have problems continuously throughout the life. Only the ability to solve them can be improved with a CONCENTRATED mind and all we need to have this concentration is a deep desire. What we desire, we generally get it.

You can excite the Aniruddh in you and be like a child smilingly learning new things or you can excite the Bheebatsa in you, look serious and burdensome all the time while getting very little done. Both are in your mind, Make a Bheebatsa Year Resolution and please keep your Resolution till New Year. Happy New Year to All of you! Do not hope for a better future, strive for a better future.

P.S. - Be careful of the Puppies they are very dangerous especially the Mad one. He is also in your mind.

Bhakta Charitra – Punch Line - The Story of a Devotee

So, before you guys watch ‘Raktha Charitra’ and start posting your views on facebook. And before you start thinking that history is full of negativity and bloodshed. And before you start falling into the trap thinking that ‘Revenge is the purest emotion’. And before you forget that ‘Mother’s love and devotion are the purest emotions’. Here is a positive story of a great devotee who lived in the 20^th Century and changed your world. His sacrifices had revolutionized the way we live and yet very few remember him. He was considered Mad by his contemporaries and criticized for his dreams. There was only a small portion of time before his death that he was considered a genius and now he is nearly forgotten. And yet he was devoted to his goal, so much so that he did not have time to get married. Even ‘his story’ is a part of ‘history’ but alas there is no director to make a movie on such stories.

If you guys have figured out by now who I am talking about then I bow to you. But I think you will have to read on a little more to actually know him. Ok if you are thinking that I’m going to tell you a story about Prahlada, Dhruva, Hanuman or Narada they did not live in 20^th Century. If you think I will tell you something about Ramakrishna Paramahamsa or some other saint you are still wrong though they are related. Generally we assume that only saints are great devotees and eliminate many other possibilities. This devotee was devoted to Science and Engineering and he courageously built a system which forms the basis of our lives today. I know you are getting little anxious to know the name so here is a hint. He was from Serbia and he got the patent for the invention of the radio. No it is not Marconi. He was a great friend of Mark Twain and when they met Swami Vivekananda he was influenced greatly and remarked that ‘Electricity and Hindu Vedic thought are so related’. He was a major influence in commercializing electricity and he emerged the winner in the ‘War of Currents’. The unit of magnetic field is named after him and he is the Father of AC Induction motors. He is none other than Nikola Tesla.

Tesla’s inventions, patents and life history are all available on the internet you should be able to find them if you have sometime. But I’m more interested in to showing the purest form of devotion with which he pursued Science and Engineering without thinking about money. Tesla initially worked under Edison who was already rich and famous for the invention of light bulb. Edison was working on the commercialization of electricity and proposing a DC Transmission system. Tesla soon realized that the DC transmission system was not very efficient and proved mathematically that AC Transmission was more efficient and cheap. You all know the solution for all life’s problems ‘All Things Cheap Always Win’ but then AC Transmission did not win solely for one reason. DC Motors were already in vogue and the vision behind commercializing electricity was to use the MOTORS to do the mechanical work. And it was not possible to convert AC to DC back then so basically you couldn’t use a DC Motor with AC Transmission. So ‘All Things Cheap Don’t Always Win. You Have to Make Them Win’.

Tirumala (The world’s most famous temple) was built by a King Tondaman who was great devotee of Lord Venkateshwara (the deity). Legend has it that Tondaman had a profound dream in which he saw God who asked him to build the temple. We don’t know if the dream part is true but the temple was built and still exists and is the most visited place of worship in the world. Tesla, the devotee also had a dream in which he saw the exact construction of AC Induction Motor. We don’t know if the dream part is true but the AC INDUCTION MOTOR was built and still exists and is the most widely used MOTOR in the world. Its design hasn’t changed much over time and the New MOTOR could do all the work and hence AC Current won the ‘War of Currents’. If Tondaman built the Temple, Tesla built the Electric Grid and we get to use all our electrical appliances. Their devotion is their secret which immortalized them.

We have Bachelor’s Degrees, Master’s degrees and other higher degrees but it is mostly to show that we have some knowledge and to make a living. Is a Bachelor of Science guy devoted to Science like a Bachelor or the Master’s of Science guy really a Master? Are we devoted to a Goal, why a goal, are we atleast devoted to a field of interest, are we devoted to anything but money and lust. There is inherent negativity within us which makes us ‘Lazy Consumers lacking devotion and a goal’ and smart directors capitalize on that portraying all the negative emotion ‘Rakthi and Raktha Charitra (History of Lust and Blood)’. But luckily for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction so we also have an inherent positivity within us. But very few have the courage to capitalize on the positive emotion but smart saints like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa did that by creating the ‘Bhakti and Bhakta Charitra (History of Devotion and Devotee)’. So the choice to excite the inherent negative or positive emotion is yours but blood breeds fear, devotion breeds love. For everything negative on the internet there is always a positive alternative. What you see, that you become.

Chapter 2: The Road is Yours Now

It is March 2001 Steve Waugh’s men had won 16 tests on the trot and were all over the Indians with a 1-0 lead in a three match series. To top it all the Indian batting line up collapsed in the 1^st innings and in the ‘Follow On’ they were nearly out of the match when Dravid came to the crease. Laxman was close to his hundred (I guess) at that time. At this point it is easy to give up and they could give any reasons (Azharuddin used to do this well). And congratulate the Australians for putting up a better show, praise their exceptional batting, bowling and fielding skills and criticize the Indian management and the cricketing structure in India. But the two people at the crease chose to forget all this ‘Reasoning’ and ‘Concentrate’ ball by ball and give it a good try and then see where it leads. Luckily for them it led to a famous series win and they were instant heroes ‘Active components’ whose ‘contributions’ have changed Indian cricket and made it the No. 1 Test team. Last week, Laxman could manage it again but this time he was under lot of physical ‘pain and his sacrifice’ is appreciated all over. He is the recipient of ‘People’s Love through Facebook’ award.

Twelve hundred years back (there was no America then, Europe was squabbling for land and fighting among themselves). Hindus were under the influence of Mimamsa which means following strict rules and not thinking about abstract concepts. And so people who wanted to ‘think beyond’ the existing rules and system were criticized. And the Mimamsa school of thought was ingrained into the Hindu system at that time. At this point it is easy to give up, when the whole system believes in a set of rules, it is hard to fight the system and easy to praise the system. But a 16 yr old boy decided to take on the system and fight the system. So, he argued for 16 days with the greatest philosopher from Mimamsa School at that time and emerged victorius. He is Adi Shankaracharya, the man who revived the Advaita Vedanta School of thought and monastic tradition. He is the ‘Source of Inspiration’ for all the modern monks including Swami Vivekananda. He travelled tirelessly throughout India and established some of the greatest temples in India including Varanasi. It is due to his ‘contributions’ that people in India have so many temples to visit in their free time instead of a pub or a bar. In return he got ‘People’s Love through worship’ award and they worshipped him. He just lived for 32 years but his philosophy and teachings live forever.

Four hundred years back the Mughals were at the height of their power with most of the Northern India under their control and had strong armies when compared to Southern and Central Indian rulers. And as always there were some war crimes and political misuse of power which led to desecration some of the Hindu temples and religious conversions (Much like Iraq). At this point, it was easy to give up and if that had been the case the Hindu population today would have been much different. But a young man chose to differ and decided to take on the system and he fought valorously to revive the Hindavi Samrajya. The man is Shivaji and he conquered the major portion of India from the Mughal Empire and established the Maratha Empire. His main ‘contribution’ was ‘Shiva Sutra’ which is to use the brain instead of brute force to conquer strong opponents. He also eliminated the mistreatment to mosques, muslims, war criminals, women and children after the war. And in return he too got the ‘People’s Love through (guess what) Mumbai Chattrapathi Shivaji Airport’ award.

Three Fifty years back the world was still in some sort of confusion about the heliocentric view. Science was still in its infancy. Galileo’s legend was still fresh in people’s minds (Galileo was left house arrest all his life by the Catholic Church for stating that the Sun was at the center of Universe). At this point of time, it would be easy for anybody to give up and say that Earth was the center of the Universe and the general population did that and so we do not know their names. But one young man who was just an average student in the school, instead of ‘Giving up’ saw why it was easy for people to ‘Give up’ and ‘Fall Down’ when he saw an Apple falling down. And he framed the Universal Laws of Gravitation. His name is Sir Issac Newton and he led the ‘Scientific Revolution’. And his ‘contributions’ have also helped in using brain instead of brute animal force. Because of him and his equations, people use cars instead of horses and it is because of him that we know ‘Solution to Differential Equations (or Politics) lies in Integration’. And in return he got ‘People’s Love through Scientific Learning’ award.

One seventy years back the Britishers were in India, they realized that the back bone of India was in The Gurukula system of learning and realized it would be hard to conquer India if such virtuous learning centers continued to exist. So they decided to replace them with modern education and people took to ‘English’ as they have taken to ‘Facebook updates’ and suddenly they had this new found confidence because they could speak ‘English’. They started forgetting their origins (Source) and started criticizing spirituality, idol worship, and the prevalent customs in India etc. Even the various Hindu Societies which were formed by learned Indians to propagate the age-old teachings of India were getting corrupt under the influence of the preachers who preached more and practiced less and did not understand what they taught.

At this time, a villager who did not have any sort of education, wanted to test if what people say is correct and see if at all the prevalent Indian customs were really bad. So he started his experiment with the idol in front of him and he decided to forget all the ‘Reasoning’ and ‘Concentrate’ breath by breath and give it a good try and then see where it leads. Luckily for him it led to the source which was present in the idol and which was present everywhere. He managed to do the experiment again and again and that led to the rediscovery of the scientific spiritual laws which define man’s existence. He was a layman without any education or reasoning when he started but he decided not to ‘Give up’ and ‘Bow down to temptations’ which changed everything. He had tried the experiment with other religions and was successful in declaring that ‘Truth is One’ and people call it differently. He is famously described by his student who criticized him initially as

“Sthapakaya cha dharmasya sarva dharma svarupine,

Avatara varishtaya Ramakrishnaya te namah”

He is Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and his student is Swami Vivekananda who had modern education and the new found confidence initially. But he had to Bow down to the layman’s ‘Infinite Love for his Divine Mother’. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is a world famous saint now and his contribution to the people is ‘Pure Love to all the creation’. And in return he got the ‘People’s Love through Divine Love’ award.

The Navaratri celebrations for this year have begun and it is celebration of victory of good over evil. People celebrate the Divine Mother Durga or Kali’s victory over the wicked demon Mahishasura (I don’t know when this happened). But if you have observed the pattern till now we have seen the ‘Active contributors’ have emerged victorious over the ‘passive consumers’ in all ages from all walks of life (politics, science, spirituality etc.). The people of the past have travelled the harsh road called Life taking it step by step and wanted to see where it leads. It is your turn my friends to travel the road, and if you take it step by step and forget all ‘Reasoning’ and ‘Concentrate’ and give it a good try, you will be the recipient ‘People’s Love for trying hard’ award.

P.S-Guys Laxman’s effort doesn’t guarantee Raina (his runner) a place in the team. Where Laxman’s road ends Raina’s begins. Where the road of a previous generation ‘Active Source’ ends, the present generation passive consumer’s begins.