Business to the Buddha

Tag: Flight

  • Change in belief

    Incidents shape our experience, experiences shape our opinions and opinions in long term shape our beliefs and set of belief become our religious practices. With time everything must evolve and must change! We must always remember – This too shall pass and should always be ready to accept change in belief, questioning our assumptions based on new experiences. Here is an incident that changed a laughing stock of our life into a serious affair after the Corona pandemic in which more than 2,00,000 reported deaths have happened until now.

    Our incident

    It was the year 2015, I had married to Simple – my wife – for only 8 months. In these 8 months, I had to travel out of India twice for a month or more. So before leaving for the second time, I had arranged for my wife’s travel to join me in Toronto. Due to her half-yearly audit preparation, she flew later. This is a story how things make or change us.

    While in flight, Simple sneezed. Fellow passenger, who was flying to the USA, was somewhat taken aback. She quickly took out her first aid box and gave a tablet to Simple. Initially, Simple was a bit hesitant to take this medicine. Remember we were told in our childhood – “while traveling do not eat anything given by others.” She said I am alright, it was due to the cabin temperature I do not have a cough or a cold. Probably the co-passenger was also told something like, don’t eat anything given by strangers, in her childhood. So the co-passenger read the content line by line and said it is just multivitamin. Somehow Simple got away this time. However, she sneezed again, this time she could not say no to her. Simple had realized by now how petrified the lady on her next seat was. So, this time around she took the medicine – unwillingly though. So, the whole flight afterward was peaceful for both – Simple and the passenger.

    Simple landed in Toronto and the first thing that she narrated was this incident. We laughed together on this and, I told her somehow in India it is not a big deal, I think we are so immune to it isn’t it? We remembered this incident whenever we flew, smiled at each other. Karma you call it. This small smile and fun started haunting me recently.

    Change-in-belief

    This Corona happened and we are all locked down at home. Now whenever we go out for buying essentials, we get hand sanitizer at the entrance of D-Mart as if it is a Prasad! Honestly speaking, touching the shopping trolley I feel scared and giving cash or card, I tell myself hope this person is safe. Now, I realize how that co-passenger must be feeling about sneezing of Simple. How life, experience and opinions change, isn’t it?

    One virus that is bothering everyone across the globe has given a new perspective to the joke we used to tell each other almost every time we flew. Small or big all types of incidents shape us as we grow up. So I changed my opinion about coughing, sneezing and more! If someone coughs around us now the eyebrows rise. Simple and I changed our opinion towards the fellow passenger of Simple in 2015.

    http://business2buddha.com/2019/11/10/this-too-shall-pass/

  • Shashi Throor in us







    There is a Shashi Throor hidden in all of us. I did not mean the English one – “…farrago…” whose English is such that even native speakers (Brits) need to sit with dictionary. I meant Throor who feels besides him all others are “cattle class”. We all have that Shashi Throor hidden in us; if not all, many of us.

    Well, this feeling of “I am special” is too ingrained in the politicians and bureaucrats that many feel they are the god’s gift to the mankind – more precisely to India. If you have heard the statement – “You don’t know who my father is (you don’t know who am I)” in all likelihood you have confronted son or small time sidekick of some politician. Or “this will go upto the PMs office” you have lived in Delhi. The swagger is higher in politicians of higher level – like Shashi Throor. Also, this bullying happens by many other son’s of neta / small time netas to commoners like you and me.

    Throor’s cattle class comment is special. When he made this comment I believe he was to board a flight. A country where at least half of the population never traveled by a flight, calling the rest of 50% – who are rich enough to fly – a cattle class either makes one feel India has not progressed or there is some disorientation in the minds of few.

    At the same time, other mortals like you and me too have the feeling of being unique (watch a 1 minute video of Madagascar which will let you know – we are all unique – but still the same). We – most of us – have a feeling that I am one up over others and a (smaller than like of Throor) gift of god to the mankind. How it occurred to me that we all have a Shashi Throor in us (like Marty of Madagascar) was a brief chat with my sister.

    Once, my sister and her daughter was flying from Delhi by Indigo. They were in queue for check-in, a lady just cut through the line and went for check-in. Others in queue said – “we are all here in queue for check-in, Please get in the queue?” The lady said – “there is so much crowd.” My sister was second for check-in at that time, she told her – “Madam, everyone has a flight and is a passenger like you“. Some people when they realized the sarcasm, of crowd and passengers, told her – if you feel so special why dont you take Jet or Air India Business class why are you traveling Indigo? Isn’t it below your dignity to fly an economy flight if you are so special and not like others?

    The lady got the message – she is a part of crowd too, she is no different. But she didnt budge. After narrating this story to me my sister said you know we feel special for ourselves but feel other’s as “crowd”. We forget we are part of the same (in general and spiritual context too). The reason she told me this was – I was driving, picked her up from airport and was cribbing about traffic stating “driving is no fun here, it is a ordeal”. She told me we are all equal why are you cribbing?

    This cribbing was specially for those who drive Innova or other very long car – monster actually – alone to office or for those who cut lanes just to save their two-three minutes – end up messing whole road. She told me – accept this mess, you will be peaceful. Also, if you think the person cutting lane is crowd, you too are the same for him/her. Accept that traffic is going to be here – you are no special – in fact at times you are the traffic! We laughed, I learnt my lesson, though I still crib about traffic – bit less though. Knowledge will sink slowly.

    I wish Shashi Throor (and many others) too had a sister like my sister who can teach him/her – we are unique, yet same. We all are Marty of Madagascar – we need to identify that others are equally unique and like us. At times we’re the traffic. We’re the cattle / sheep – pun intended – following the one ahead of us – by wheedling someone (praising an incompetent).

     

    PS – The blog is to make a point – we are unique yet similar and are equal humans. There should not be any ego. “Cattle class” of Shashi Throor happened to be a pertinent example. The author does not intend to malign political personality or defame/demean anyone (including Shashi Throor).