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As I pondered at the starry sky for the moments that were spent I could plainly see the spills on the carpet and the stains on the mattress. I kept thinking I needed to improvise, a change would be good said my sanely perplexed brain.

Again, the dove flew off like the starry night before. Today, it reminded me of a work of art from one of the famous Italian painters and my mind wandered into one such artists words. He had said that an object that has been assimilated or formed and now needs no addition, no editing and no change is pure beauty…

Thank god for those famous quotes by artists.

That’s what I felt today, at the end of the day… it was beautiful… it was stunning… it was pure and perfect ….. simply because it was “SIMPLE”

My brain came to the present and looked at the wonderful things that were gifted to me till date.

It did not make me overlook the demands and the twinge, but gave me enough nerve to keep fighting, never go down on hope and have a conviction, a stronger faith in myself.

I had a horrible yesterday but had an awesome day today.

Had an amazing and astounding 10 hour sleep (keeping in mind my usual sleep of not more than 4-5 hours), woke up fresh, had a glass of my favorite mixed fruit Tropicana, did some workout and had a stupendous brunch fit for a king with a great friend of mine who also is an important part of my routine, someone from whom I take a lot of advice.

The day ended perfectly with a call from my side to a very kind and sweet relative wishing him on his birthday today which is a huge deal because of the fact that I barely remember even my own birth day.  

At the end of the day, I had good food, great friend, amazing family and an awesome book to read not to mention my grand day with loads of real keeping fit routine and some virtual game plays on my computer.

So, I had grown up a bit today but with zest and loads of energy.

I was responsible for something that was not part of my job, I was with and around those who cared and vice-versa, I put enough energy into my physical and mental training today and after a long time could write a simple post for a blog, not too long and just like my day, could keep it simple.

So I guess, it’s not just the remarkable mind blowing things that make impact on us. It’s also these simple aspects from our everyday that make us cheerful, gives us hope and courage to face life with belief, dedication and optimism.

So….

When things go wrong

And life gets crude

Hang on to the soulful hope

That never keeps you aloof

Kiss her hand and breathe in her heart

Sing a song to the blues

and play your part!

— Ananth V

god bless and be well

Image source: http://ananthvclicks.wordpress.com

Ananth V

March 11^th, 2008

 Destination: Bapugoan, Dahanu Village, Maharashtra, India

Purpose: Being part of the Documentation shoot about the Warli art and one of its immense talent: Mr.Ramesh Hengadi.

About the Artist: Mr.Ramesh, will soon be reaching out to the world showcasing his skills and bringing India closer in the art front on the international map. He is from Dahanu, India and is a master craftsmen and artist.

His benign behavior and simplicity will take you off your feet when you see his artworks. He has done his MA and has been into Warli art since a very early age.

The Journey:

I left from home at 5:30 am heading towards Churchgate station where I was to meet Mr. Barney Hare Duke and Mr. Jeremy Theophilus and leave for Dahanu.

I touched the meeting place exactly at 6:50 am and the vehicle arrived with the curious and skilled duo Mr.Barney and Mr. Jeremy.  They both are partners of “A FINE LINE” and are project managers at HAT.

This program was being also funded majorly by the Art council UK.

As I learnt more about their work and about their travel around the world, I found something very interesting. They both actually loved art to the core….And instantaneously I knew that the journey would not be long and would be very informative and a great learning experience.

As Mr. Jeremy explained to me about their study on varied cultures, different art forms, distinctly varied media, about the totally unique cultures that each country offered them and the new discoveries about customs, traditions, people that they acquired, made the journey very much interesting for me. Mr. Barney told me about their research plans, documentary shoot about the artists and the art form at Dahanu village.

I then also came to know that I was going to meet the artist Mr.Ramesh in about half an hour, as he had travelled more than half the way so as to direct us to his home.  

As my cellular phone rang and Mr.Ramesh enquired about where we had reached, we finalized on one point of meet and then…. I met the talented to the core artist.

As he got into the vehicle and the questions about his village and art work kept barging, his soft spoken ways and smile eased the pace of questions from our side. We were closer to reaching the destination and as we looked around, we saw my country, India with its beautiful crude beauty. The sceneries around were breathtaking and very picturesque.

In a total of 2 ½ hours, we touched his home and were greeted by his mother with ‘Aarti & red Tilak’.

The whole place looked very neat, clean and was stunningly beautiful. The people there were living a very simple life with limited resources and means, but were living happily.

Why wouldn’t they be, one of their artist was being recognized for his work and was being interviewed and documented on, before he left for UK to showcase his talent.

We went inside his home, met his big and hospitable family and within half an hour or so we were out, for exploring his village, their culture, traditions, their way of life etc. We saw his school, as his brothers, friends and other villagers took us around the whole village. We saw how they grinded wheat, rice etc, and the way the kids were taught to greet the elders and anyone who was new to their homeland.

They explained to us of their faith in the god, “Vagobha” meaning ‘The Tiger’ whom they worshiped in idol and symbolic form. They took us to that temple that was built and has been maintained since generations.

We obviously found dust and mud all around us, but yet, the air was amazingly fresh and there was absolutely no pollution. So, in other words, I was having difficulty breathing the fresh air…. Hmmm…. Only pure oxygen to breathe. Being from the polluted side of the world, I had no idea how to take that in… but I managed and survived.

The village was amazingly clean which reminded me of the media coverage and other hoardings begging our city dwellers to keep the city clean. There were dustbins in the village and the garbage was properly disposed.

It reminded me of the ‘ruffles lays’ packet that was thrown out in the middle of the road by one of the Honda city owners kid while we were leaving in the vehicle for Dahanu today morning. So much for a civilized city, Huh!

As I came out of the horrible flashback, back to the clean and fresh village of Dahanu, Ramesh’s brothers and friends showed us few other houses and the art works and the style in which the house had been designed and coloured, amazed all of us. It was clean, neat, colourfull and had motifs and other different wall paintings on the in and outside of the house walls. They had kept God idols etc hanging from the ceiling, painted the invite to the wedding in the houses where marriages had taken place, the lamps and wedding turbans that were hanging on the nails on the wooden pillars of their houses. Even with so much humidity and heat, the inside of the houses were cool because of the cow dung plastered on their walls.

The massive support that the whole village showered on its talented son, Mr.Ramesh H was something that one could feel so much positively in the air with such strong and happy vibes that were hovering across the whole village.

We then feasted our eyes to the amazing Tarpa dance while the Head Tarpa player (who was easily in his seventies) played the amazing looking musical instrument and the other dancers, performers and singers showed us their skills and brought us closer to the village, people and their art forms. They danced, hopped, twisted and turned greeting us and sang songs of THE GAURI (the God and Goddess) and the harvesting of crops which were very important aspects of the village life.

Later on as we looked at the Warli art, it was very clear that the Tarpa dance, the Tarpa, the harvesting process of crops and the gods, idols, temples, their faith, religion and worship played a massively important role in their upbringing and were vividly seen in their Warli art.

We travelled across to majority of the places and areas learning about Warli art and were gifted to watch the young artists and the master of Warli art at work. As the master craftsmen Mr.Ramesh and the 10 year old Ashish with his friends and elder brothers Rajesh, Ramesh took small pieces of cloth dipped in their soil / mud and cow dung, which had dried up now to look like a great canvas place for their art to be etched or created, they slowly began the magic.

As we watched their undivided attention and focus on their art being converted to shapes, forms, figures we could see that they were actually creating the different dances and performances that we had just seen their today, few hours ago. It looked amazingly alive and breathtakingly beautiful. The flow and the rhythm of the art work were exquisite.

Throughout as Mr.Barney and Mr.Jeremy were shooting the whole thing and taking notes, I had a real blast as I could not only learn about the art of warli, but also meet such sweet, skilled and amazingly talented people and learn so much about my own culture of the village life in India.

By the end of the day after taking rounds of the places where the master artist usually works, where he gets his inspiration from, later on we also caught a glimpse at the various artworks created by his wife on cloth, t-shirts, Ramesh’s unique combination of using the gourd vegetable to be used as pots, moulds and create amazingly exquisite showpieces of Warli art on it, we headed back to the vehicle. Mr. Jeremy treated us to a nice lunch and we then headed back home.

The journey back home was very much different than the way it began.

There was so much curiosity and so many queries when we had started at the crack of dawn, but as we headed back home, I was filled with so much awe of the humbleness, simplicity of their lives and pure art that I could feel rushing inside my head. I rested in the comfortable and BIG Chevrolet and went back home with a day, that was fun, had a huge learning experience, meeting brilliant artists, great people, the partners of A FINE LINE who had shown so much respect and love for the art and Indian culture…..

(For pictures of this whole journey, click on the link below: http://ananthvclicks.wordpress.com)

The day had ended with the setting sun and I was grateful to a very good friend of mine, Mrs. Neela Shinde for introducing me to the brilliant researchers from UK, was Thankful to both, Jeremy and Barney for such a wonderful journey and humbled by the loving and talented villagers at Dahanu.

God bless art and artists for spreading so much life, culture, love, passion hope and dreams all around us.

Be well

Ananthanarayanan V

http://ananthvclicks.com

http://techdivine.cgsociety.org

http://www.art.in/artists/ananthanarayanan-v.htm

http://stores.lulu.com/techdivine  

March 11^th, 2008

 Destination: Bapugoan, Dahanu Village, Maharashtra, India

Purpose: Being part of the Documentation shoot about the Warli art and one of its immense talent: Mr.Ramesh Hengadi.

About the Artist: Mr.Ramesh, will soon be reaching out to the world showcasing his skills and bringing India closer in the art front on the international map. He is from Dahanu, India and is a master craftsmen and artist.

His benign behavior and simplicity will take you off your feet when you see his artworks. He has done his MA and has been into Warli art since a very early age.

The Journey:

I left from home at 5:30 am heading towards Churchgate station where I was to meet Mr. Barney Hare Duke and Mr. Jeremy Theophilus and leave for Dahanu.

I touched the meeting place exactly at 6:50 am and the vehicle arrived with the curious and skilled duo Mr.Barney and Mr. Jeremy.  They both are partners of “A FINE LINE” and are project managers at HAT.

This program was being also funded majorly by the Art council UK.

As I learnt more about their work and about their travel around the world, I found something very interesting. They both actually loved art to the core….And instantaneously I knew that the journey would not be long and would be very informative and a great learning experience.

As Mr. Jeremy explained to me about their study on varied cultures, different art forms, distinctly varied media, about the totally unique cultures that each country offered them and the new discoveries about customs, traditions, people that they acquired, made the journey very much interesting for me. Mr. Barney told me about their research plans, documentary shoot about the artists and the art form at Dahanu village.

I then also came to know that I was going to meet the artist Mr.Ramesh in about half an hour, as he had travelled more than half the way so as to direct us to his home.  

As my cellular phone rang and Mr.Ramesh enquired about where we had reached, we finalized on one point of meet and then…. I met the talented to the core artist.

As he got into the vehicle and the questions about his village and art work kept barging, his soft spoken ways and smile eased the pace of questions from our side. We were closer to reaching the destination and as we looked around, we saw my country, India with its beautiful crude beauty. The sceneries around were breathtaking and very picturesque.

In a total of 2 ½ hours, we touched his home and were greeted by his mother with ‘Aarti & red Tilak’.

The whole place looked very neat, clean and was stunningly beautiful. The people there were living a very simple life with limited resources and means, but were living happily.

Why wouldn’t they be, one of their artist was being recognized for his work and was being interviewed and documented on, before he left for UK to showcase his talent.

We went inside his home, met his big and hospitable family and within half an hour or so we were out, for exploring his village, their culture, traditions, their way of life etc. We saw his school, as his brothers, friends and other villagers took us around the whole village. We saw how they grinded wheat, rice etc, and the way the kids were taught to greet the elders and anyone who was new to their homeland.

They explained to us of their faith in the god, “Vagobha” meaning ‘The Tiger’ whom they worshiped in idol and symbolic form. They took us to that temple that was built and has been maintained since generations.

We obviously found dust and mud all around us, but yet, the air was amazingly fresh and there was absolutely no pollution. So, in other words, I was having difficulty breathing the fresh air…. Hmmm…. Only pure oxygen to breathe. Being from the polluted side of the world, I had no idea how to take that in… but I managed and survived.

The village was amazingly clean which reminded me of the media coverage and other hoardings begging our city dwellers to keep the city clean. There were dustbins in the village and the garbage was properly disposed.

It reminded me of the ‘ruffles lays’ packet that was thrown out in the middle of the road by one of the Honda city owners kid while we were leaving in the vehicle for Dahanu today morning. So much for a civilized city, Huh!

As I came out of the horrible flashback, back to the clean and fresh village of Dahanu, Ramesh’s brothers and friends showed us few other houses and the art works and the style in which the house had been designed and coloured, amazed all of us. It was clean, neat, colourfull and had motifs and other different wall paintings on the in and outside of the house walls. They had kept God idols etc hanging from the ceiling, painted the invite to the wedding in the houses where marriages had taken place, the lamps and wedding turbans that were hanging on the nails on the wooden pillars of their houses. Even with so much humidity and heat, the inside of the houses were cool because of the cow dung plastered on their walls.

The massive support that the whole village showered on its talented son, Mr.Ramesh H was something that one could feel so much positively in the air with such strong and happy vibes that were hovering across the whole village.

We then feasted our eyes to the amazing Tarpa dance while the Head Tarpa player (who was easily in his seventies) played the amazing looking musical instrument and the other dancers, performers and singers showed us their skills and brought us closer to the village, people and their art forms. They danced, hopped, twisted and turned greeting us and sang songs of THE GAURI (the God and Goddess) and the harvesting of crops which were very important aspects of the village life.

Later on as we looked at the Warli art, it was very clear that the Tarpa dance, the Tarpa, the harvesting process of crops and the gods, idols, temples, their faith, religion and worship played a massively important role in their upbringing and were vividly seen in their Warli art.

We travelled across to majority of the places and areas learning about Warli art and were gifted to watch the young artists and the master of Warli art at work. As the master craftsmen Mr.Ramesh and the 10 year old Ashish with his friends and elder brothers Rajesh, Ramesh took small pieces of cloth dipped in their soil / mud and cow dung, which had dried up now to look like a great canvas place for their art to be etched or created, they slowly began the magic.

As we watched their undivided attention and focus on their art being converted to shapes, forms, figures we could see that they were actually creating the different dances and performances that we had just seen their today, few hours ago. It looked amazingly alive and breathtakingly beautiful. The flow and the rhythm of the art work were exquisite.

Throughout as Mr.Barney and Mr.Jeremy were shooting the whole thing and taking notes, I had a real blast as I could not only learn about the art of warli, but also meet such sweet, skilled and amazingly talented people and learn so much about my own culture of the village life in India.

By the end of the day after taking rounds of the places where the master artist usually works, where he gets his inspiration from, later on we also caught a glimpse at the various artworks created by his wife on cloth, t-shirts, Ramesh’s unique combination of using the gourd vegetable to be used as pots, moulds and create amazingly exquisite showpieces of Warli art on it, we headed back to the vehicle. Mr. Jeremy treated us to a nice lunch and we then headed back home.

The journey back home was very much different than the way it began.

There was so much curiosity and so many queries when we had started at the crack of dawn, but as we headed back home, I was filled with so much awe of the humbleness, simplicity of their lives and pure art that I could feel rushing inside my head. I rested in the comfortable and BIG Chevrolet and went back home with a day, that was fun, had a huge learning experience, meeting brilliant artists, great people, the partners of A FINE LINE who had shown so much respect and love for the art and Indian culture…..

(For pictures of this whole journey, click on the link below: http://ananthvclicks.wordpress.com)

The day had ended with the setting sun and I was grateful to a very good friend of mine, Mrs. Neela Shinde for introducing me to the brilliant researchers from UK, was Thankful to both, Jeremy and Barney for such a wonderful journey and humbled by the loving and talented villagers at Dahanu.

God bless art and artists for spreading so much life, culture, love, passion hope and dreams all around us.

Be well

Ananthanarayanan V

http://ananthvclicks.com

http://techdivine.cgsociety.org

http://www.art.in/artists/ananthanarayanan-v.htm

http://stores.lulu.com/techdivine  

I was seven years old. It was barely seven am as I rubbed my eyes and was still lying on the comfortable bed. As my eyelids leisurely followed the cadence of the twinkling stars and I came back to full yet not so vivid vision of the place around, I looked for immediate comfort. I looked for my folks around.

Now this little kid that was me was getting a little anxious to not see his parents around him as he realized all of a sudden that the place he was waking up was also totally new and unknown to him.

I kept calling for my parents and no one answered.

My eyes opened up wholly and I got up in a jiff. As I looked around, my cry for my mom and dad only got louder as the room that I was looking at was at least about 3000 sq. foot big and there was not a soul around. My feet clamped the flooring and I took to faster steps and scurried around the first door that I found open.

I ran three floors downstairs still calling for my parents and now my voice was getting a little more raucous and whiny than before.

Bang!

I startled and shouted for help as I heard a huge clanking clatter to my left side where there was a huge door that was half open. I stood there motionless, scared and worried. I waited till I heard that noise again and then again.

Strangely though, I was a lot calm now and I slowly moved towards that open door and all I could see were massively humongous machines.The smell in that place was filled with fragrance of flowers. I step by step moved in between the clanking sounds and now a lot more confident as I saw a household face near one such machine.

It was my uncle, Mr. K V Ganesan. He owned that whole factory and as he looked at me and my eyes which had tears rolling down my cheeks from before, he immediately lifted me up and said, “Good morning dear. Let’s go and have something to freshen up your morning.”

Soon enough I was sitting on my dad’s lap and my uncle was narrating of probably what could have caused those tears to roll of my eyes. I was now too secure with my folks to admit it was right, so I just smiled and kept quite.

Ganesan uncle was quick to get that thought in my head as he immediately said, “You are a big boy. You were just curious may be and not afraid right?” and I immediately nodded.

That’s when he told me, “My dear boy, in your life never be afraid to accept your fears. As telling a lie and hiding it would only make it stay with you for a much longer time.” That was said to me almost two decades back and it still rings in my head like I heard it yesterday.

Whenever I had the chance to meet uncle Ganesan, I never missed the opportunity as when I grew up, I came to know that the man who was standing with the labourers that early dawn with the soap and machines working was the man who had built a huge business and won acclaims and accolades from all over the globe.

Ganesan uncle had even won awards / certificates from the then President of India for his contribution in the field of his expertise, for his work towards quality Soap products “Chitra Soap Works” and his loads and loads of contribution to the betterment of labour force in their town and city of Chennai which was then Madras.

He was an industrialist. He was a visionary and a true leader. He was the President of the Small scale soap manufacturers association of South India. He was someone who used to genuinely go down the line and help the less privileged section of society and was unbiased in helping anyone and everyone.

He was someone who always believed, preached and practised that the court of conscience is more supreme than the Supreme Court.

Ganesan uncle was someone who used to tell things as they were. He was a simple, straightforward, no-nonsense man. He always valued others time and was as brilliantly knowledgeable about the Holy book of Gita, the Vedas and the Upanishads, as he was about his flourishing company.

He could predict about people’s lives and he did not do it with anyone and everyone. He used to just talk and all of a sudden say something about someone and keep quiet. And he has always been right.

I do not know how he used to do that but I always still wish that I could have met him few more times and learn more about practicality and life and more importantly, the road to do things your way, your business and your hard work and as he lovingly used to put it, your profits.

He started his life from working in a hotel with a very modest beginning and reached to positions where almost everyone he met was influenced by him to the very core. He had an amazing charisma and optimistic vigor that he carried with him. It was probably this vibe which took him to the pinnacle of accomplishment and showered respect and laurels on him from scores of big shots from around the world.

The story of his never quit attitude sounds mesmerizing as he had told that to me once.

He told me that one day, when he had finished his work in the small time hotel where he was working, he saw that some customer had left a book on the seat. It was about midnight till when he had finished his that days errands and he was about to hit the sack, when something pulled him again towards that book. That book was about making something, something that was supposed to get things clean.

Hmmmmm……. Clean. He said to himself. Clean is good. Let me know more about this, he thought. Various optimistic possibilities flashed across his mind instantaneously. He started reading it page by page and before he looked around, it was already morning and his shift was about to start. He was fascinated by what he had read, but work was very much important to fetch him that day’s food. So he let the book in his small cloth bag that he had and got back to work.

The thought kept ringing in his head again and again.

That night after work he jotted down the things that were said to be required and asked those around, of things he did not understand what they meant. He tried to get as many of those as possible with him and replaced few others with what the people around had told.

He followed what was mentioned in the book and instead of using machines he manually grounded and got a thick paste with him in just few hours. It had no proper smell as he recalls, “I must have missed out on the fragrance part to be added as I did not have anything for that aspect back then.” But whatever he had got, he tried to put them in a box and tried them on the dishes and Woolah! They were clean in a jiff and looked a lot shinier.

He loved the concept and he began his dream and created Chitra Soap works and in the next three decades went global. His products were well known for their quality and cost and as years rolled by, he put scores of people on the job and built his dream neat and clean.But more so, with his intense sense of humor and immense technical knowledge and his pure business instinct, he touched a million lives on the way to the pedestal.

I don’t know why, but I remembered him very much today as I thought about something with respect to accepting my fear about something rather than hide and make it grow. At the end of it when the approach clicked to my advantage and I felt so proud that I had taken a brilliant decision at the end of the day, it just hit me hard as a bar of soap, and I came to my senses touching the fragrance of the whole story.

I was able to recollect something that had happened so long back and I started jotting down all that I recollected him telling me about life, faith, hard work and money.

So that may be, just maybe, someday, I grow up to be at least a third as brilliant, innovative and knowledgeable like him, just May be…. Someday……. As he told me always………. Never give up on your dream, whatever it might be……. Just never give up.

He is someone I always remember in my prayers and someone whom I hope is safe and happy up there in the company of the powerful almighty. 

Be well

—-

Ananthanarayanan V

There was a total blackout. I could hear blaring sounds in my head. Voices, objects and people in scores, thumping and banging around with drums of steel making clanking noises so loud that it seemed my eardrums were to come apart.

Soon enough there was absolute silence as I dwelled into the beautiful home of ‘nidra’ meaning sleep, without a reason and without my own realization of it.

It was only after about another 10 minutes or so, that I regained consciousness. My severe attack of migraine had just passed me with a small objectionable visit that was impactful, but was thankfully not prolonged.

I left my workplace and was heading towards home as one of my workplace employee got me a rickshaw to get back home safely.

The drive was going to be lengthy so I rested in the luxurious and cramped vehicle.

Luxurious because anything and anyplace that let me just slide in now felt so comfortable and cramped as the ‘jhankar beats’ in the rick was in full swing all of a sudden that was clobbering my head.

I asked him to ‘Just shut it’, as he looked back with a not so contented face, he sure did.  I was in no mood to explain why to him but damn, I just should have.

As the alacrity of that awesome machine and the not so positive feelings of the driver got together, the vehicle kept swirling across many bewildering lanes and pathways, I felt as if I was being taken for a ‘ride’ and I double checked to look at the roads.

He was heading in the right direction. I guess it was just my head that was still raging with the earlier impact then.

Soon enough the resentment and frustration of not allowing him to play the wild and horrible songs in his vehicle caught up with him and he was showing no signs of slowing down.

Bang….. Bam….. thrash!!!

Our awesome flying saucer was hit by a ‘lorry’ and the little vehicle rolled sideways.

Strangely and by god’s grace nothing happened to me as I came out of the vehicle with not even a scratch, except for my head that was now screaming with the rising agony called migraine.

The rickshaw-valla was hit roughly and I with few others took him out of the vehicle.

He was still able to stand as he looked at himself and then at me as if I was some alien.

I took him to the nearby traffic policeman who escorted him to the doctor as I left for the close to railway station.

I was in Sion station soon enough.

Now the effect of the collision and my now very active and boisterous headache was taking its toll on me. I was getting extremely exhausted and could not even descend the steps to reach to the platform. But it was me, so I eventually did.

I got in the first class compartment and just lied down inside. It was noon and it was quite empty.

I was woken up in a not so subtle fashion by someone who by looking at my face which was too weary by now probably thought I was drunk. It was the TC.

He asked me for my pass and as I reached my hand towards my pocket, I realized I had unknowingly donated my wallet apparently in the road accident. I explained to the TC but in vain as he asked me to get down and go to the place where the ticketless travelling classes of people are given due and generous attention by more than one TC.

All my explanation was futile but I told him of what had happened from the start of the day, he then looked a little bit more convinced. I was not in a position to talk as I sat down on the seat and it was just then that one of the sessions from my management class just hit me hard.

Brand sells.

I searched for my bag and showed him my student id that I had with me of one of the most elite institutions in India and the name just hit him hard. I guess, it is true, Brand does sell.

He mellowed down and asked me where I work and got few other details. He also asked me if I had any money to buy a ticket. I told him, my wallet was gone and had none.

He asked me to get down with him in the next station and believe it or not, he bought me a ticket for second class for my way back home and got me in the train compartment safe and sound.

That was a very positive experience I had that day.

Sure I have heard of gruesome stories about them, but that day, needless to say, I was impressed to see humanity still to be so much in existence. They too have too many cases of not so genuine reasons many a times I guess. Anyway, I was also glad that I was awake when the lecture was taught in the class saying, Brand sells!

As I continued my routine journey in the train from the next day, I met with the same TC by the end of that week again. It was the same TC in the compartment of the first class and I reminded him of the incident.

I gave him my fine that was due from the other day, took the receipt and for a change happily got out off the train.

It was never about the money I guess. It annoys people normally because of the way they treat you many a times.

But I guess, You give something good and you get something good in return.

I don’t know whether every person could deal things this way always like that TC did, the world would be so much a better place then and if they don’t, as the old saying goes….. Even this shall PASS! No pun intended.

Let me know your views and comments on the same as you always do:

Be well

Ananthanarayanan V

Visit Editred.com

http://www.editred.com/techdivine

Ups and Downs! « THE ROAD TO ETERNAL BLISS!

A ‘desire’ to quote it, just right!

Last week’s questions and discussions on the current spiritual scenario: On youth, desire and spirituality:

“Desire is the root of all evil. Ancient wisdom says, stay away from desire”

Now this line caught my notice which said, Desire is the root of all evil.

Desire is never evil. What you desire and the approach in which you desire might lead you to evil. The issue was uncomplicated and yet had lot of depth in it as the master’s quote read: “I may always desire more than I accomplish – Michelangelo”

So, now the person, who had laid this query to us, perceptibly did it with an intention to set off something in me. Probably a nerve which was tickling my funny bone or may be a nerve that held my tolerance level high.

In any way, I thought of jotting this down by asking the same question to few others in the last 24 hours in the Q n A session on – current spiritual scenario: On youth, desire and spirituality.

An overall gist of people’s response was like this:
• Desire, if you do not, there is no need to live.
• If you desire more than you can, you will always be unhappy.
• If I do not desire, then nothing in life I deserve.
• Divine and spirituality is for old and retired people.

Ok. So there was a slight repairing or oiling required may be.

This is for all our youth out there today, saying ‘another day, another dime earned.’

First of all, desiring something is the whole basis and idea for survival.

Reason, the person who asked me the question had no job putting this personal question before me. But he desired to do more than his job profile demanded. So he asked.

I desired more, to know what people had to say, even though I am going to jot down at the end and express my views on the same, because I desired the need to bond and get in touch with all of them and get into their minds. And at the end still hold the power to speak and express….. hey, it is my blog!

On a more serious note, I did it to know and feel their pulse on the same.

So when we take a look at a term like desire, we see that desire is nothing but convincing. Convincing others or yourself. But this time, convincing that, there could be more to life. Convincing that this is how it has to be or not to be.
Desire is why a society stays alive. Desire is why we have grown beyond a religious or spiritual round table conference and are able to do this online today. Because someone desired to do more than there was.

Now coming back to the divine part, Desire is never bad.

The holy books have always shown us the technique to get what we yearn for. Being spiritual does not mean giving up on worldly pleasures. It means understanding what the earliest knowledge has left for us to learn and be paramount in whatever we ‘desire’.

I have been born into a very religious family. But luckily I never followed or obeyed the customs nor was I asked to. I chose to follow them by choice. I am not religious, but definitely spiritual. It helps me concentrate better than I can, which is fantastic.
Believe it or not, religious customs and traditions are what gives us more discipline and focus in life. People tend to take it in the wrong way.

A person who reads and is able to understand the books of such immense knowledge, can accomplish whatever he or she wants out of life.

You want to be rich, you want to be a superhero, you want to have a castle, you want to get a Ph.d.?

It’s all in there.

But, you take it and drink it as a whole. Do not try to take the gist of it. You cannot just smell your food and say whether it is perfect. You have to taste it and eat it properly to know.

I feel hilarious when people say, spirituality means giving away worldly desires or when I hear that these things are for those who are old. I feel sorry for both of them. Not because they do not believe in it.

Each of us has a choice to lead a life that we want to live, as we ‘desire’ (no pun intended).

I know that those people are already brilliant and talented enough to such an extent, that these disciplines if they acquire, each of them could have what they desire or seek out of life faster than they would.

And like one of my management lessons quoted: ‘A dime earned today, is more than a dime earned tomorrow’. So let us build our passion with the words of the wise and use it in our foray.

And mind me; it is also not something that is gained over just five to10 years. It’s an on-going process. It’s like having an MBA and applying that to work for 10 years to become the CEO instead of just doing it with a bachelor’s for over 20 years and ending up being a manager at 60.

At the end of it all, it’s each one’s choice and each one’s way of life. But it is always good to know, that there is something out there for us that can help us reach our goal faster than we desire.

So desire with spiritual knowledge or self-realization is great. Is victory. Is success. So let us desire and stay alive, kicking and winning. There are no regrets when you desire and dream.

So let us Desire, Dream and De-stress!

Happy reading.
———-
Ananthanarayanan V

techdivine@gmail.com

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