Beauty and the Beast

 This is about the futility of war, mostly. The thought hits you hard when you see any war begin- India-Pakistan, U.S. -Afghanistan, or Russia-Ukraine. Or the latest, Hamas-Israel. What does it achieve? Is it worth it?

I am not saying that self-defence is necessarily bad. But can it also be limited to defending without going too far? If we end up killing a large number of people and losing a large number too, what exactly is the gain from it?

There is so much productive work we can all be engaged in, and a lifetime is not enough to do it in. If not work, then at least one can enjoy the nature, man-made attractions and all the rest, without becoming destructive. There is so much beauty around to enjoy.

Just a thought for all the brainwashed armies around the world that have to go out and kill or get killed. Yes, they are doing their job. But what a job! To please an egomaniac or a megalomaniac in most cases.

Crying Wolf

 This story from my childhood is quite pertinent. In world affairs too. Not the romantic ones, but war-like situations. 

When Putin decides to invade some neighbouring country, others cry wolf. But what about Iraq? Afghanistan? Or earlier, Vietnam? They were not even neighbouring countries, for invaders.

The tendency is to view themselves as holier-than-thou, and this has little to do with religion. The Napoleon-Alexander mentality still shows up from time to time, among global wannabe policemen of every ilk. Amusing, but also tragic for people in the crossfire.

Being peaceful is so much easier, and better!

Good Governance- Lessons From Monarchy

There were good monarchs too. We sometimes forget that. What did they do?

Ideas that work.

Jobs/work.

Peace.

Justice.

They had respect for wise people, many of whom were advisors in their court.

They had a witty humorist too, to break the monotony. Tenali Raman and Birbal come to mind readily.

Did they build walls with the neighbouring countries? Probably not.

They were well-informed, and used multiple channels to get information, including personal visits to corners of their kingdom.

They assigned the right people to the jobs they had in mind.

Fifty Six and More

How long you live is not known. But you do have aspirations for yourself in the years that you do. Here are some of mine.

That I have lots of small joys every day. An unexpected mail, or meeting. A smile, or a guffaw, a shared joke..

A well-made cup of tea, with the right amount (for me) of milk, sugar and the tea. With music.

A nice book.

An intelligent, witty comment, or turn of phrase from someone on a facebook post. Or a funny forward.

A beautiful photograph, of a person, place, thing.

A pleasant memory coming back to haunt me.

A great biryani at regular intervals. Hyderabadi, preferably.

7th Pay Commission being implemented ( a sour note? I just want the govt. to be more efficient).

Opportunities to travel, as long as the limbs can move.

To see the sea, every once in a while. Hoping to make it to Sri Lanka in 2017.

Peace (no news channels, hopefully they'll disppear from the face of the earth one day).

War and Peace

It is hard to say this under provocations of the kind that Pakistan keeps throwing at India regularly. But it needs to be said. War is never a great idea, for the victor or the vanquished. It may be necessary in self-defense or extreme provocation, but shaming, sanctions, or any other way (proxy, covert or guerrilla war) is always better than war. It results in destruction on both sides, with many lives being destroyed-innocent lives too, in addition to those of soldiers-those are also unnecessary losses, by the way.

Look at any ongoing or recent war around the world- Palestine/Israel, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, etc. and you will find misery on both sides. We are unaware of the casualties that India suffered in 1971, though Bangla Desh was liberated and Pakistan defeated. Just because the military complex in Pakistan has no better ideas, India does not have to engage in full-scale war at a cost to its civilian population. It could try many other options.

Birthday Wishes

I am now 55...well, almost, starting tomorrow. What do I wish for?

Mostly, peace. For myself, of course, and for others.

I wish people get what they want, and also peace. The opposite, strife, or tension, I have learnt over the years, is not good for you. If you can, you should live your life as you like it. If you can't, smile through the life that you might have to lead.

Cherish all that you have. Wonderful parents, siblings, friends, spouse, relatives - all of them could be irritating at times, but are priceless to keep one going. And we might be irritating to them at times, so that's Ok.

Excellence comes naturally to those who try and do their stuff sincerely, and maybe like the Bhagavad Gita seems to suggest, without actively looking for the reward. Work, hobby, activity of any kind (inactivity too) can be its own reward. Enjoy all phases of life, do not regret anything beyond a point, and look forward instead of back.

That in a nutshell, are my thoughts on the day- actually a day ahead of time, like some wishes I have started getting :)

Festivals- Private and Public

What exactly is the purpose of a festival? I am not really a religious guy, but this is not about religion anyhow. It is about the festivals, traditionally celebrated by us.

To my mind, it is to bring joy and peace to ourselves, and maybe to others. Whatever we want to practice in terms of rituals and diet etc. is our business, and no one else's. Similarly, what other people practice at home as their rituals, diets, etc. is their business, not ours. That is not only fair, it is also a sensible, common-sensical approach.

Why the State wants to get into this and muddy the waters for people, giving a chance to all kinds of strife, is what beats me. The State must endeavour to maintain peace rather than stir things up, in my view. If it is not doing that, it is a failure of Governance, however small. Something to think about.

I Think.....

I decided that I would write a thoughtful blog. Therefore, I sat down to think. The only problem is, whenever you decide to do something, that something eludes you. So the thoughts which otherwise run riot, ebbed to a trickle, and after a bit, completely vanished.

So then I decided I will write something thoughtless. And promptly, my thought process was back where it used to be-on track. I now have a wealth of thoughts on conventional wisdom, and what it does to all of us. Will share a few.

Conventional wisdom says that we have to grow up. That childhood and its glory are at best ephemeral, with a life of a few years. Grown up life is the majority of our life. The impact of this is that there are too many grown-ups, acting, well...grown-up, all around. And the wars and the competition grows by the day, and innocence and fun are hard to come by.

Conventional wisdom tells us that one must categorise people- by the clothes they wear, the cars they drive (or whether they do) how they smell, how well-groomed they are, by their skin colour, by the amount of degrees they accumulate, or their accent. This deprives us of some valuable interactions that can teach us a lot about life. And in the worst case, results in hate crimes.

Conventional wisdom says that you must be loyal to any member of your family, even at a cost to the non-family members of society. A lot of times, this results in nepotism, and a loss of meritocracy and a possible fall in living standards of society as a whole.

Conventional wisdom says that one must put up a show for the outside world, in terms of achievements, material or otherwise. This may result in losing sight of inner happiness, and a loss of peace. Not to mention indebtedness through spending beyond your means.

Orange County

Don't know where it (Orange County) is, probably in California, but the name sticks to my mind, for some reason. But my reason for titling the post thus is more Indian than Californian. I am back in the centre of India (if not the universe), in my previous role as Director of IMT Nagpur, at least for a while.

This time I am experimenting with living on campus, unlike the previous time. I get an extra hour to blog that way- readers should be scared! With an upcoming convocation to be addressed by the WIPRO chief, and all the excitement of students graduating (bidaai of a sort), it is probably the most exciting time of a campus, perhaps only rivalled by the first few weeks of the new batch's entry.

The greenery and peace are unrivalled, however, and the anticipation of something new (in spite of the fact that many of the faces are actually old- old colleagues, students) is always in the air.

Looking forward to the second innings here, and wishing everyone at Nagpur well.

Nagpur and More

Don't know why, but coming to IMT Nagpur feels like coming home- hope my wife is not reading this, sitting in Pune. But jokes aside, it is a homely feeling on campus. I can understand the pangs of students who have to go away after spending just two years here. I am also reminded of some 'professional students'-mostly Indians on American campuses who did not want to leave the campus, and continued to enroll in some program so they could continue living there.

I was recently in two other campuses-Bangalore and Kolkata IIMs- in my quest for faculty to join us. They also had a unique feeling to them, though my stay was only a part of a day. Of course, I did spend almost two years in my avatar as a PGDM student at IIMB many years before. We played Frisbee footer then. Nagpur also has golf, if one is so inclined. But it does not matter much what the physical facilities are. It is the feeling of being away from the so-called 'real world' of anxieties, EMIs and all, that gives you incredible peace-barring placement season, if you are a student, of course.

I also find faculty here more at peace compared with those in bigger cities-including Bangalore! Maybe the monks got it right when they built monasteries in inaccessible places. I am afraid I might become a monk (without a Ferrari) if I stay too long!

Nagpur Interlude

Got to spend a day or two in Nagpur on my way back from Goa. And boy, was it refreshing! Also managed to squeeze in a bit of golf on the IMT campus, but apart from that, a lot of other highlights.

Met a few of my erstwhile colleagues, spent a lot of time soaking in the mild sun, after the extremist weather in Delhi. Also had a couple of meetings (WORK), but lots more.

Met my blogger friend, a couple of other students, and a lot of the non-teaching staff who all make IMT such a great place. It gives you a feeling of peace which is a little different out here, more like the Wild West of American legend. You almost expect anyone (even without a hat of the cowboy fame) to start a shooting duel! Of course I am exaggerating, but you get the point.

Might do me a lot of good to take that drive from the city to the IMT campus there, on a regular basis. Picked up some Mario Miranda cards from Goa, and a book which promises to be a nice read. It is a take-off on the famous (and frequently pretentious) authors. I love take-offs, much more than landings.

Golfing in the Rain

Firstly, a saying known to Golfers- "It never rains on the golf course." It did yesterday. But not enough to sap our enthusiasm. We played, and for me the highlight was a par on a 5 par (long) hole. Good company is the key to a good game too. My classmate from engg. college and two others, one young: another of 'golfing age' were our foursome. We enjoyed the occasional rain, the green, the ruins of some unknown buildings around, and the search for missing balls. I lost two, but it was fun nevertheless.

The Delhi monsoon, such as it is, seems to be here at last. Heard the Pune blast news yesterday. If these guys played golf, they would have a blast, without having to kill. My 18 hole solution for lasting peace!