Business to the Buddha

Tag: Scrat

  • We are no different – Up or Down







    I am watching the highway from my hotel room at 6th floor, a bird flies just at the same level as I am currently. What an interesting sight that is – cars (and humans within) are down on road however fast they can drive and here up about 60 feet from the ground a bird is flying effortlessly. More interestingly I am able to witness all this in an AC room without any qualm of weather and being at a foreign country. The birds are not worried about the height they achieve while flying, unlike humans who care too much for the high’s their company share, fast pace of growth of their wealth et al. At times we humans do not even bother to play with numbers to show these growth figures which are fudged.Toshiba

    This weekend I read in the Economist that Japanese company Toshiba was involved with accounting fraud for last 7 years. In this duration there were 3 different CEOs, all let that happen. Where has it not happened – USA (Enron), India (Satyam) and Japan (Toshiba) sure there must be big/small cases everywhere in the world. I always had high regards for Japanese system and people – but Toshiba has let me down. The inference is same – many people are shortsighted. Here Keynes should not be blamed for making a comment – “in the long run we all are dead”, his context was different.

    The problem with corporate world is (specially with listed companies) the CXO and board is more interested in showing quarterly results over the long term. In fact, the plague of living quarter by quarter comes down to the sales associate level too. If they want their bonus or incentives they too hPoor on footpathave to jack up their sales numbers. How they do it, can be a different topic of debate.

    Such incidents let me ask the same question again and again – What more you need? When will we stop? Are the markets – that govern these listed companies – moral? And why do I think about these things?

    The last question to myself lets me relate us – Humans – to the character of Ice age – Scrat. Scrat is running behind its one corn seed and it is unending running for the same for last 4 series. We are the same – whether we become a CXO of Toshiba or just a daily wages worker on the streets of Mumbai – who has to think of this ability to feed his/her family tomorrow.

    My take is only one fold – Until we merge whole of human life (include business, economics, science, politics etc) to spirituality we would see the kind of frauds happening.

    This blog relates to LBC (Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium) blog topic but not exactly the same – Up and Down. Though I was supposed to write on that topic last Friday but could do it today. Other bloggers who write regularly are, in alphabetical order – Ashok,  gaelikaa,  Lin,  Maxi, Padmum,  Ramana Uncleji,  Shackman and The Old Fossil. Do drop in on their blogs and see what their take is on this week’s topic. This time I was the one who posted very late, do visit blogs of others they must have posted their opinions too.

    Image source – Toshiba executive – AFP Link, Rediff Indian Poverty figures

  • Cogito ergo sum







    I always wonder about these things… what is the difference between we human beings and animals? They are also living being, then what is the difference? This thought comes again and again in my mind. Recently when I was watching the movie Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. The thought again came in my mind – whats the difference? Most interesting part is – the protagonists in the movie are animals.

    Whenever I watch that movie, one character pops out – “on the face” – often and it reminds me of us – the human beings. It is the squirrel – Scrat. In every screen it is fighting for its corn – similar to our life. The corn represents our jobs, loved ones and issues faced regularly etc etc and alas! the list never ends. And secondly, the fight and the run never ends!

    Cogito, Ergo Sum is a philosophical statement by Descartes, meaning – I think, therefore I exist. Yes the proof of ‘my existence’ is that at least I am thinking that whether I exist or not, right? And the question of my existence is not just about existence; it is deeper, why are we doing what are we doing? And even further it goes to why do we exist? Because perhaps even without thinking of existence animals exist, right? And here the logic fails, I have heard saints saying – life does not listen to your logic. There has to be some reason of us having a more developed brain which gives us the capabilities to think about our existence and the question – why we exist? It is similar to phophobia – fear of phobia, existence of the question of existence :).

    Whatever the case is – I think, therefore I exist! And we all exist like the Scrat in the mids of the fish (e.g. ourselves, our friends and enemies) trying to save our corn e.g. ourselves, job, loved one etc etc.

    Image source – www.imdb.com