Business to the Buddha

Search results for: “water”

  • No water!

    During this lockdown, there were a few instances that taught me some lessons and reminded incidents. In past those incidents did mean little, however, during the lockdown, there were some learnings that emerged. This small incident happened recently which reminded me of two lessons. Lesson one, it is better to be calm when dealing with people or situations. Once again, my recent experience reinforced this lesson. Lesson two, of Hindi class during school. There is a Doha by a saint Rahim, which uses water giving a wonderful message. The message is “water is most important, without water, there is no pearl (shine in pearl), person (respect of person) or lime (use-ability of lime)”. The author uses “water” in different contexts (in Shlesh alankar – Pun decking).

    रहिमन पानी राखिये बिन पानी सब सून

    पानी गए न ऊबरे मोती मानुष चून

    https://business2buddha.com/2015/01/reaction-and-response/

    I have written a lot of blogs on water, be it on economics, meditation, rainwater harvesting, current affairs, or others. You can read the different flavors can be read here.

    No water

    Last week, we woke up to know that there is no water in our wing of the building. Recently we read the news that due to lockdown water usage in Mumbai reduced. It was a surprise how it is possible that we don’t have water?

    drop-meets-ocean

    I was not upset, probably because there are more pressures of work these days than water crisis. Probably, I was unmoved because I did not have to rush to the office. Or probably I reasoned out in my mind better – I quickly accepted the situation. “Ok there is no water, now what?” Actually it was case number three. I went down, spoke with security, and came to know that there is a new fellow on duty. He was unaware of switching on the water pump. Result? this whole trouble.

    It was a revelation – once again – to me when I was talking to him. We take things so much for granted that when we do not have it, only at that time we notice them exist. We never care for who made it possible for that thing to reach us. Water in this instance. It is stored somewhere. We receive water when an unknown BMC employee timely switching on and off of the switches. It is one of the largest supply systems in the world. It traverses the distribution line put in place by god knows who and when. We never think about these people who were the foundation for making our water tank full every morning or for that matter who made our water tank in the first place. Forget about being mindful of the security guard of our building who switches on the button daily. We take the availability of water for granted these days especially in the cities like Mumbai that we don’t realize those who make it possible actually exist!

    Lessons

    These are some important things that come to my mind with the incident

    • Be grateful

    Every individual makes some contribution to our life, we should be thankful to them for this. Yes, if today this security person is not there someone else will be, but his being there today made you feel safe at home. So for that at least – be thankful.

    • Be compassionate / considerate

    There are possible reasons for mistakes so try to look at correcting situations and not criticizing people. You may not know what a person must be going through. Or it is possible that he is new to the system and genuinely unaware of his all responsibilities. A leader must inform his team members about the end results or the basic responsibilities.

    • Own your mindfulness

    If someone loses mind the overall surroundings become tensed. If I am not mindful, it may cause harm not only to me but also to the people around me. Also, if I am mindful I can better handle the situation isn’t it? If you lose your calm the situations are going to get worst.

    These lessons are useful irrespective of personal or professional life. One has to be grateful plus considerate to people, and mindful of self, isn’t it? These factors help a person retain (water) respect – पानी गए न ऊबरे मोती मानुष चून! According to Rahim – No water is no respect too.

  • Budget 2013 & rainwater harvesting

    I was on twitter when Budget speech was going on. I read investment in so many good projects and felt good about it. Suddenly realized – wait, should I objectively look at the expenditure? How are these expenditure be accounted for and use? What best use is possible of this money? Can we reduce some expenses by approaching a lot of things differently? Though I did not mean overlooking required support to common man, but still is there any alternative way? Is there any Jugad as we call in Hindi.

    My previous blog was on the plight of farmers in Maharashtra – Self respect. In Budget 2013 Drinking water and sanitation is allocated 15,000 Cr and watershed 5000 Cr. So, I connected these thoughts and remembered a discussion with my father last Sept when I went to Indore. We discussed that the area of Indore is about 500 square-KM. Each year Indore receives average of 39 inches of rainfall about 1 meter. Rainfall is calculated as based on a simple method – how much water would a container receive in the rains, if the container is kept open under the sky?

    If only 10% of this rainwater is harvested, how much would it be? This 10% is very least which can be done. Right now I can think of  this 10% as roof tops of private & public buildings, unused space under Govts possession e.g. polo ground (a place in Indore), University &  college grounds and say roads (with proper water canal diverting water to the harvesting area).

    Based on the definition of rainfall measurement if that 10% is the container, this container would be of a size of 10% of 500 square-KM

    Container size would be about 50 square-KM.

    This container can accumulate a whooping 50 square-KM water upto 1 meter height during the rains.

    Let me convert it into cubic meters – 50X 1000 X 1000 (Square meters) X 1 meter

    50,000,000 cubic meters of water!

    If it is assumed that population of Indore is 2,000,000 and each individual uses 40 cubic meter water per year, 63% of the water requirement (50,000,000/2,000,000X40) of Indore can be fulfilled by harvested rainwater itself. The surplus saved water (which otherwise required in Indore) can be used by farmers around Indore. What if that is done all over India? Government can save a lot of extravagant expense on  irrigation & drinking water schemes.

    Advantages –

    1. Budget money saved by water harvesting

    2. Life saved by reducing chances of drought

    3. Increased agriculture produce due to availability of water – addition to the GDP!

    I belong to a small district headquarter Dhar in MP. About a thousand years ago a King ruled Dhar – Raja Bhoj. It is said that during his tenure he made 12 lakes for water. All these lakes were connected to each other for collecting rainwater. If during rains one lake overflows, the water would flow to the other. This was 1000 years back. I wonder what are we doing now.

    Now watch this Ted talk for solution implemented even before Britishers came to rule India. There is hope, just Wake up and take action.

    [ted id=702]

  • Business and the Buddha – Does It Still Stand?

    In 2010 when I started the blog Business to Buddha, my hypothesis was simple – there is a connection between business, economics, management and spirituality. At that time, I found it very logical. But today, I sometimes stop and ask myself – does it still stand true? Or was it only a nice thought to start a blog?

    I go back to Buddha’s teaching of dependent co-arising – we grow when others grow. In business language, this looks like collaboration, co-innovation, ecosystem play. One company wins, but not at the cost of the other, rather both become stronger in the process. In my first blog, I had taken the example of BMW launching Z3 with James Bond movie. Or even in racing – Ferrari and Honda compete, but they push each other to make better cars. Competition, yet mutual growth.

    That is why I felt Business to Buddha makes sense.

    But where does it not work? The reality of quarterly numbers, investor pressure, market share fight – these are not spiritual conversations. Here sometimes compassion or equanimity takes a back seat. You can’t tell your board, “let’s wait for the muddy water to settle before we act.” In these moments, spirituality looks like a luxury.

    Krishna’s Wisdom

    This is where I feel balance is important. If you see Mahabharata – Krishna himself ran away from one war (Jarasandh and Kalayavan, if I recall right) but later encouraged Arjuna to stay and fight at Kurukshetra. Same Krishna, two different situations, two opposite responses. Business also needs that balance. Sometimes retreat, sometimes full action. The wisdom is to know when to do what.

    Chanakya also wrote – artha (economics) and dharma (ethics) go hand in hand. If either is missing, the state collapses. Maybe that’s what we miss today – we run only for artha and leave dharma behind.

    So does Business to Buddha still stand? I’d say yes, but not as a formula, more as a reminder. It is not that every board decision must sound like a sermon of Buddha. Rather, it is about remembering there is a middle path – between hard business realities and human values. Between quarterly pressure and long-term trust.

    The Buddha said walk the middle path. Krishna showed both – running away once, fighting another time. Chanakya tied economics with ethics. Somewhere in between these, lies the balance for us – in boardrooms, in markets, and in our lives.

    Maybe that’s why this blog continues. Not because I have answers, but because I still feel the question is valid – can we connect business with the Buddha? For me, yes – because life itself is this balance.

    Image generated using AI model

  • Hanuman in Ashoka Vatika: A Lesson in Stillness

    Occasionally, I share stories from Indian culture with my daughter – Adviti. Though, we’ve not watched the recently released movie Mahavatar Narsimha, but I have read the story of Bhakt Prahalad in the form of Amar Chitra Katha for her. I wish I get more time with her to explore, once she grows up, it would be the other way round, probably she would not have time for me.

    Last December when we went to couple of cities in Tamil Nadu, we saw strange carving of animals, seeing those I and my sister were discussing – perhaps our ancestors knew genetic modification or mutation etc thus they had animals with body of horse, head of lion and hands of humans etc. These thoughts have been very unique experience for us. My sister and I were discussing probably Indian culture was too evolved with science (say mutation) and inner science – a balance between physical realm and meta physical realm.

    These fascinating ideas are making me read further more Amar Chitra Kathas with my daughter, plus other books on Indian spirituality. I think even more about what can be additional deeper lesson in these stories? So, here is one.

    Hanuman’s wait

    After leaping across the ocean in search of Sita, Hanuman finally finds her – under the Ashoka tree, distressed and surrounded by demons. He’s done the hard part. He’s made the impossible journey.

    But now comes the real test.

    Despite his strength and speed, Hanuman doesn’t leap into action. He doesn’t rush to speak, fight, or “rescue.” Instead, he climbs a tree and waits. Silent. Still. Observing.

    He watches. He listens. He reads her state of mind. He becomes a witness, not a reactor.

    And when the moment is right – when she’s ready – he gently steps forward, offering only what’s needed: a sign of hope.

    Catch the beautiful song from that moment in the animated film Ramayan.

    The Business Parallel

    Sometimes in business, not acting immediately is the most strategic thing you can do.

    • The product is ready, but the market isn’t
    • A deal is in motion, but approvals are stuck
    • The team is tired, and pushing harder will do more harm than good
    • There are conflicts, but you have to wait – like Buddha told Ananda: wait for the water to flow, only then can you fill the flask with fresh and clear water

    The instinct is to jump in, solve, fix, escalate.

    But good leadership often means holding steady. Watching. Listening. Reading the moment before making the move.

    Just like Hanuman did in Ashoka Vatika.

  • Reality Check: When Life Throws You a Curveball (and a Puddle)

    Reality Check: When Life Throws You a Curveball (and a Puddle)

    A few weeks ago, a scooter accident shattered more than just my collarbone. It cracked my illusion of control. I’m always been a confident, “in-charge” kind of person, a planner – “get-things-done” kind of guy, proactive with reflexes sharper than most.

    Just after the spill, the first blow was to my self-image. With reflexes honed from years of being a decent athlete (trophies gathering dust are proof, at least!).

    The Fall:

    Let me rewind. I was just in our society’s entrance ramp on my electric two-wheeler, the one with those big, supposedly stable 14-inch wheels – unlike most 10- or 12-inch options on Indian roads. I was barely going at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour (12.5 miles per hour).

    Bangalore’s water woes were on display again, a spill from a water tanker creating a slick patch right on the entry ramp to our society. It all happened in a blink. The scooter skidded, and before I knew it, I was on the ground, the impact jarring my right shoulder.

    Driving for almost 25 years, this was a first. It was funny and it was sad, quarter of a century, driven bike from Mumbai to Indore – a distance of 600 km – with just one stop. At least 60,000 km of riding two-wheeler experience on my back (this excludes experience of driving four-wheeler), it was funny that I fell at such a slow speed. It was sad that it happened even after full control, no highway, neither a vehicle ahead of me nor behind me.

    The pain in my ankle was immediate, but it was the throbbing in my shoulder that told a different story – a fractured collarbone. As I lay there, a question gnawed at me: Was this a sign of age catching up? After all, until recently, my reflexes had been my saving grace. I could even pick up and steady my daughter while teaching her to skate or cycle (you might have seen those dads saving their kids videos! I have done almost all that kind of stuff).

    The throbbing in my ankle seemed worse at first, but the X-ray revealed a fractured collarbone needing surgery and a metal plate – not exactly ideal for a guy who loves picking up his daughter and teaching her to skate.

    Beyond Reflexes: The Illusion of Control

    This initial worry about reflexes soon morphed into a bigger realization – the illusion of control. I kept replaying the accident in my head. How could I have fallen when everything seemed under control? The big wheels, the slow speed…it just didn’t make sense. Especially considering I’d been driving accident-free for almost 25 years!

    Digging deeper, a chilling thought struck me: Are we ever truly in control of our lives? Looking back, I thanked my lucky stars that there weren’t any other vehicles around. The worst case could be, a water tanker running over me! Had that happened, you probably had read my obituary and not this blog.

    Just imagine I had the whole Sunday planned. At 9 am, I was on my way home, 10 am this, 11:30 am that, lunch by 2 pm. In reality, at 10 am, I was in a hospital bed, unable to even lie down properly because of the backache (which, by the way, lasted two whole days!). I cannot imagine, the pain last very long even though I was on pain killers. The worst thing, I still cannot believe at such a controlled riding and slow speed, there could be such pain and problems. Life, it seems, has its own plans.

    This whole incident shattered my illusion of control, my tendency to plan smaller things in life, and of course, the nagging question of age. But in its place, it brought a well-known yet hardly practiced appreciation for the unexpected and the importance of living in the moment.

    These last couple of weeks were a reality check – a reminder that sometimes, life throws a curveball when we’re busy planning the perfect pitch.

    Image source – Photo by Kumpan Electric on Unsplash

  • Virtue of integrity – a story

    Long back I received this story – Virtue of integrity. I liked it so kept it sharing on the blog, unfortunately missed publishing it. Now I don’t know the source where I read it, a Google search gave me this link, so assume this is the source. No copyrights claimed. Without further ado, here it is.

    Virtue of integrity

    A successful businessman was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

    He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you..”

    3-small-lessons-from-;leader

    The young executives were Shocked, the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED… I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”

    One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

    Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

    Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.

    By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

    Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.

    A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

    Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

    When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

    Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”

    All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”

    When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed – Jim told him the story.

    The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!

    His name is Jim!” Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.

    “How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.

    Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow.

    All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!

    Summary

    The author summarized the story as below

    • If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
    • If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
    • If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
    • If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
    • If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
    • If you plant hard work, you will reap success
    • If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation
    • If you plant faith in God, you will reap a harvest

    So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

    Basically, the virtue of integrity, honesty, loyalty, etc is too expensive to expect from any person. Only those who are valuable and value-conscious they keep it and can offer it.

    “Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back”

  • The space

    Last week I went to a salon to take a haircut. All this resulted in in lot of thoughts. The thoughts started from body, to space to the consciousness. For simplicity I believe until we end the contest of God let us call the God or consciousness as space. Coming back to the thoughts, the barber put a cloth around me and sprayed water on my head. In winters, water becomes cold. I was surprised by this sudden spray of water. A couple of thoughts ran my mind. Had I drunk this water, this water would have become part of me. In fact, for the world, it would have lost its existence; for the world, it would be simply Pravin no more water as an entity. At the same time, for me – or say my body – it would not have been the surprise experience of sprayed cold water.

    The barber started trimming my hair. Some hair fell on the cloth that was covering me. A thought struck me again – “my hair”. The moment I thought of my hair. I realized it is no more “my hair” it is just “hair”. We start identifying things with possession – my car, my mobile, his chair, and so on. In reality, this possession is very superficial.

    We breathe in and out every few seconds. The moment we inhale; the air becomes “my breath”; after we breathe out, it is again simply air! How ignorant we are about every tiny content, visible or invisible. We inherit it from the earth, and we will leave it here, but we start identifying it with ourselves and ownerships.

    The space

    Slowly, I have started looking at things differently. Last time, I wrote about science and spirituality. In that blog, I tried connecting the dots of space and consciousness. We have space within us and space is everywhere. Similarly, Consciousness is everywhere – some call it God.

    I was talking to my wife about it. When I told her about space within us – I went to the level of atoms. Every atom has space between the nucleus and the orbit of each electron. This space is bigger than the size of the nucleus and the electrons. I tried explaining consciousness and space relation to her. Let us say you go to the water purifier and fill your water bottle with water. Next, I go and do the same. We start saying this water in the bottle as “my water”. On one note, if someone takes water from the purifier and deep freeze it – the same water becomes ice. Our, body is like the ice, we see it separate from everything. It is part of the same whole as the ice is from the water purifier. We become from nothing and end in nothing. As I wrote in a previous blog – tender coconut. What remains with us? We start calling water “my water” or my body – in my analogy. Does it remain with us forever? No. It is the other way round – we leave the body here. We do not take anything with us. We end up in the space. When I say “we” – what is that we? It is not the body.

    The essence

    The haircut connected me to the consciousness once again. This haircut was very profound, it gave me a lot of thoughts and ways to connect multiple dots. We are not just this limited manifestation – as this Autumn leaf states. We are the past, present, and future of humankind. Every generation gain from the predecessors and leave for successors. Additionally, everything around us – the space – is conscious enough. We make an impact long after we have left a place. Our whole family has been reciting Bhojan Mantra twice daily, at mealtime. The meaning of the Mantra is very profound. The Bhojan mantra explains everything very profoundly – everything comes into existence from the Brahman and goes back to the Brahman.

  • Spirituality and Science

    Mahavir – the Jain Tirthankar – was traveling – walking – for his rainy season retreat (Chaumasa). As is the case with any enlightened master in India, Mahavir too had followers traveling with him. One of his followers – named Gaushalak – was mischievous and wanted to have Proof of his enlightenment.

    While they were crossing a rivulet. Gaushalak asked Mahavir, do you see that plant? Mahavir responded in the affirmative. He further asked Mahavir, would this plant grow into a tree? You know all, you can see the future, and you are enlightened can you please confirm this?

    It is said that enlightened people can talk to even the non-living, or in other words, they can understand beyond the perceived too. In fact, someone told me that in Indian Ayurveda, Rishi’s came to know about some of the herbs when they asked the plant for a cure.

    So, Mahavir reached to the plant, apparently, he asked the plant would you grow into a tree? The plant responded to Mahavir in a Yes. Only Mahavir was at the consciousness level to hear the plant, none of the others. He continued his walk and responded in another affirmative to this follower.

    As this follower wanted to test Mahavir, he went to the plant, pulled it off the ground, and threw it aside. Further, he said – I have removed the plant; I am proving you wrong right now itself. Mahavir continued his walk.

    The rain retreat was over. Mahavir and his followers walked back, cross the same rivulet. Mahavir pointed to a plant and told Gaushalak – do you see the plant? This is the same one, it has not only found another ground but also grown within the past few months. Gaushalak was ashamed of his deeds and doubting the master.

    If I related this story to us as professionals, it is the will to cross the hurdles and blossom in adversities when you have been uprooted.

    My experience

    What makes enlightened masters different than the others? They have a consciousness level of super-consciousness. Super-consciousness can be defined as omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. It may sound a bit off from the spirituality where God is not a matter of discussion. The Buddha did not answer the question of the existence of God. Consciousness has a higher level that is beyond the manifested world.

    I attended a meditation silence retreat of the art of living foundation during the new year’s weekend. It was a wonderful experience. It helped me to understand and experience some unique things. Many experiences cannot be expressed in words. However, the concept of spirituality connected to present-day physics (quantum mechanics) was very easy to grasp and experience. We are all wave functions. Hinduism states that we are made of five elements – Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Space. Space is omnipresent. All the other elements according to the Mass Energy equation of Einstein are interchangeable to mass (I would call it manifestation) to energy and vice versa.

    The Indian sages have achieved multiple manifestations and changes of form. Read Autobiography of a yogi or At the 11th hour for some examples. Basically, we believe in things that we can comprehend or think are possible. We call things as miracles that are incomprehensible or beyond our perception “as possible”. Slowly science and spirituality seem to be merging. Now our experience can connect the dots to scientific proofs. Slowly our perception of miracle, manifest and unmanifest will be even more blur.

    Two miracles

    In a place named Agar Malwa in MP, there is a Samadhi of Swami Jaynarayan Ji Upadhyay. He was a lawyer and a meditation practitioner. It is an incident of July 1931. Once he was in deep meditation (Samadhi) and missed attending the final hearing of one of his clients. When he came out of meditation, he ran to the court. There he came to know that his final arguments were unbeatable, and his client is acquitted. He was physically in meditation at a temple and there he was in the court too. He knew he missed the session. People say that after hearing this about himself, he left everything and became a monk. Recently, in the same city a law college started and it is named after him.

    Similarly, there is another incident of Guru Nanak dev’s manifestation. It is said that when Guru Nanak dev Ji died, His mortal remains turned into flowers. There was a dispute about his last rites. His Muslim followers wanted to bury, Hindu and Sikh devotees wanted to cremate the remains. Guru Nanak dev Ji avoided this dispute by suggesting the followers bring flowers and keep the same on either side of his. Whichever side’s flowers remain fresh, that sect’s custom should be followed with mortal remains. After his death, only flowers remained, the body could not be found. It is documented as well.

    Spirituality and science

    Some things are beyond comprehension – at least as of now. However, those things can be possible. Science is able to provide an explanation for some, during and after the silence meditation retreat course, I could connect some dots relate to some experiences. Earlier I used to dismiss such stories as fiction. Now, I feel that there is something unexplained for science – call it the ether or Space element – that can be experienced with deeper meditations.

    The point I want to drive home is, we are spiritual beings in physical forms. The idea is not to discuss miracles but the possibilities. Finally, each one is a wave function condensed into a manifestation. In some cases those who are evolved can make change manifestation too. Probably, the self-realization spirituality talks about is the realization and experience of the wave function – that is the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.

    Image source – https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-in-context/introduction-quantum-mechanics

  • Politics, self-interest and the results

    I started writing on self-interest. However, the larger scheme of things conspired to include politics in it. Most of the time, self-interests do less good than the general betterment of everyone. All of us apply self-interest in many ways. At times, the actor is unaware that his/her actions are driven by self-interest. However, most of the time actions are more motivated with the expected end result in mind – self-interest. Self-interest that is called profit maximizing approach in game theory. However, in game theory you’ve an opponent; here the case we’re going to discuss is related to self vs the larger public good.

    A humble Indian farmer

    Recently, a final closure of Brexit has happened, we have seen farmer protest in India and even the western countries are talking about it as if the law impacts their farmers.

    Self-interest

    The king was talking to his confidant. The confidant was none other than his younger brother. He told his brother – why are you just a spectator in the courtroom? We have studied together, you know the subjects, law, and Ethics as much or better than the other ministers. You must take part in day-to-day activities and decision making discussions.

    The confidant was very insightful; he knew the functioning of the courtroom, decision makings of the kingdom, and a great deal about the ministers. A great observant, yet a humble right-hand man of the king. He responded – you are correct my brother, it is not that I have limited understanding. In the courtroom, many have their self-interest ahead of other things. Many times decisions are not made in the best interest of the kingdom but in the self-interest of the most powerful in that regard.

    I will quote a recent example. It is regarding our dispute with the neighboring kingdom for the distribution of water of the common river. Our ministers proposed a solution either based on incomplete information, or the detailed information was not shared with the committee. The reason? Our minister wanted to influence the decision in support of the other kingdom, reasons may be best known to the minister. The whispers are that minister’s brother-in-law lives and own the land touching the river and could benefit most from our agreement. The minister is corrupt and it is not unknown in the whole ministry; am I right, brother?

    The King knew all of this. He took a pause and responded. At times, you have to close an eye for the larger good of society. Let us assume we had not budged on the water agreement, it might have resulted in a war – however, limited it could be.

    The confidant said – that does not absolve you of your duty as a king, you have the power to get rid of the minister! The minister, though was not as powerful as the king, knew the inner workings of the ministry so he could rebel. At last, the king was also working in the self-interest of staying in power.

    Results

    This is how even the less powerful control the kingdom. This is how democracy undermines good governance too. An example is recent farm law protest in India. Though personally I could not make my mind for or against it as such. At times this is how organizations are at the ransom of these less powerful yet resourceful people. At times these insiders can damage the organization more than the benefit they may offer. Greed and self-interest can make a kingdom or government or an organization average or at worst failed one. There are umpteen examples of this – the Kuru clan in Mahabharat, most likely Pakistan (or other examples of the Middle East of the early 2010s) in coming years or read the HBR article. 

    In essence, though I find it difficult to write – “politics is not bad”. I may not be particularly good at it. However, the self-interest that drives many actions and decisions end up making few organizations or kingdoms average or moderately successful if not a failure. And lastly, self-interest defeats the concept of interdependence – interdependent co-arising.

  • Deepavali, rangolis and a lesson

    Diwali is the biggest festival in India. As a kid, I used to love Rangolis the most besides other interesting stuff such as sweets. During Diwali season, making Rangoli was a morning and evening ritual for about a month from the beginning of Dussehra till Bhaiduj. I used to ask my elder sisters to make one Rangoli each that too twice a day – in the morning and the evening. Those were some days! Recently, watched a video rangoli and a lesson dawned on me.

    Source – Rangoli by my friend’s niece

    Rangoli making was an elaborate process. First, bring some bricks and arrange them in a square or rectangular format. Second, fill it with mud, mostly made using cow dung. Let it dry. This is our platform for making Rangoli. We bought different colors, sample Rangoli design books, and some stationery. Further, the creation of dots required another list of activities. We bought a large piece of paper, an A0, A1 or A3 size. Then we made horizontal and vertical lines on it. Once this table or grid-line is prepared made holes on intersections with incense sticks. This paper becomes our grid-line or ruler. During the festival, clean old Rangoli every time, spread cow dung mud on the platform, let it dry for some time and start Rangoli making. Rangoli making started with making dots using the grid-line.
    About a month back, Youtube gave this link on my timeline. It is a famous Rangoli channel with millions of views for many videos. I watched one of the videos. I still like Rangolis though we do not make it in our apartment as we used to in Dhar.

    Yesterday happened to go for my yearly health check up in a hospital. This is a big hospital and during Covid, it is designated hospital too. The staff there was full with energy and making Rangoli, wearing traditional cloths, and after decorating their department they lit diyas too. In such a tough place they were full of life, and enjoying the activity. All this while, I went to different departments for check-ups and was happy to see the staff engrossed in the celebration. Even during such tough time and treating Covid patients these people were celebrating. I was very happy to see that.

    Deepavali, Rangolis and a lesson

    I was watching one Rangoli on the channel, staff in hospital, and my childhood. A thought struck me instantaneously. Rangoli making can teach life lessons. Every day morning, you clean your verandah. Sprinkle water and make Rangoli. In the evening, clean the same Rangoli that you made with a lot of interest, and love. This is a daily chore at least in many rural areas in India, especially in south India. If one has to clean it in the evening, why make it? Or why make it so beautifully? The creator knows it; in the evening after making it, within a few hours no one will be there to watch it. Still, the creator makes it with interest. The creator also knows that tomorrow morning it will be cleaned. The lesson is – even if you know you have to leave the elevator, and everything is impermanent whatever you do, do with interest, love, and full devotion.

    Happy Diwali

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