The Economy and Me..

Our Reserve Bank Governor is a well known academic , accomplished, competent and committed person.  So I am sure when he tweaks the interest rates now and then, it is after a great deal of thought and analysis and for the benefit of the common man.

...Like me and many of you readers.Only, the non pension drawing retired commoner sect that I belong to , prays fervently for the benefit to trickle down faster! Last evening , my laundry shop upped the rates by another 25% . Over the past year the  charge for a pair of trousers has gone up from Rs 25 to Rs 50. Walking past the grocer, I watched with a sinking heart at the figures displayed on little cardboard squares stuck amongst vegetables. How could anyone afford those prices I wonder?

But they do...in this part of the Hyderabad , home to the yuppy sect, shopkeepers are busy, restaurants active and Movie complexes thriving. It is the same in our elder daughters' city in  Gurgaon or the younger ones' at Bangalore. Perhaps in many more cities. If I recollect teachings from  my Economics class ( taught to me by another  venerable academic also once a Governor of the RBI), there really is far too much money chasing sellers in urban India. Its value , therefore, decreases- which is alright if you earn enough . How about the elder folks who do not earn , or the unorganized labour fighting for a days work to earn Rs 300?

Remember we are in the midst of a recession- which is an economics buzz word to mean that business is generally dull and production of goods like cars and washing machines and services like hospitality and tourism are not growing. People like you and me are buying less and spending less on travel and eating out.If that is the case , why are prices so high? In most of  the developed world , US ,Europe and Japan prices have remained flat for years now, and growth almost absent. In our country,we have a intriguing situation of a recession coupled by inflation. The economists have conceived a word for it -stagflation , a stagnating economy coupled with inflation. Wish they had conceived a solution instead!

Seriously ....are the ridiculous prices of vegetables and fruits justified? What has caused these sudden surge of prices? Has production fallen so steeply? Are the onion and tomato farmers going around in Mercedes  Benzs' now that they have made a killing with their produce? We know the answer.

Just as we have answers to control the prices of fuel that hits the common man hard as his travel costs adds on to his food bill. It needs a compassionate, committed bureaucracy to understand the pain of the common man, not one that is protected from the inflation with the perquisites of a government job. We are witnessing the gradual widening of the gap between the poor, constrained by the limited earnings and the rich that is wallowing in the money being sucked into their wallets.Government have been printing ever larger amounts of money ( the economists call it quantitative easing) , and almost all of it is going into the vaults of a few rich traders, industrialists, corrupt officials and politicians with their hanger ons. Is it rocket science to trace the hidden money. Hardly ..              

Till that search and compassion is in place, what we need to do is to use our scarce savings judiciously. A mix of investments in Government Bonds, an odd Mutual Fund and yes a portion in gold. The temptation to invest in land and buildings ( beyond the one that you certainly need to live in) is best avoided.     

So Whats a Good Life ?

I sat back after reading the fascinating obit of Jacques Verges ( in the Economist)  and thought.. What a fascinating Life ..!

Fascinating ..? the inner voice  quickly responded . What is fascinating about a life spent in defending criminals of the worst sort, almost killed by State Police , disappearing from the world scene for 8 long years? 

But then what is fascinating of a life spent in relative mediocrity, safe schooling safe education , steady job , doing everything proper and recognized in society. Living through each day as it comes , planning , failing, planning again and failing again and so on..

    

Or what is fascinating of the life of the sage of Arunachala ( from where I am writing this blog), who at the age of 16 experienced a vision and thereafter dropped all regular living to take the life of a mendicant for over 50 years in one place on the foothills of  the Arunachala Hills? 

I think I need to change  the question. Why should life be fascinating?  Fascinating in whose perspective ? Can there be a universally accepted view of fascination? Ramana Maharishi dropped all physical activity , denied all family, lived off begging in his earlier years till fame found his frail almost naked body living day to day mostly in silence and spread his message. 

What am I searching spending time in Ashrams like these? Was I destined for this ? Or could I have had a different life?

Reflect on the Sages words:

"The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their prarabdhakarma*. Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent."  

* destiny to be worked out in current life.

So am I not responsible for my actions? Yes... the age old question once more. Is this the "fatalistic" version  of Hinduism commented upon by philosophers right ?  Was I destined to visit the Ashram in this my 65th year? 

I understand Maharishis words differently. This statement is no denial of "living" life on earth. This no endorsement for an aimless purposeless living, but an exhortation to stop getting tensed on the results or outcome of actions. Silence would in fact bring out more creative energies which can only affect the actions positively. 

And so, rather than wandering all over trying to find answers to a fascinating purposeful life , I shall follow the Sages words and "silently" observe the world always reflecting on his one point message -"Who am I"? That quest within would prevent me wasting time and feelings on assessments and views on others' lives, and help in the process to find the peace within , which I am seeking .

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130907     

Letter to my Father on his 100th Birthday..

I would not have known Appa, if Mohan had not sent me the email on your 100^th birthday today. I see you briefly every day when I place a flower on your photograph before prayers. Most often the action is mechanical, a routine, and an act in the ritual. Even the annual ceremony is more about timing and costs than a day of remembrance.

I have very few memories of you. Bits and pieces of the Bombay stay; a few when you moved in to Chennai, the last day of the year when you were watching the TV and suddenly at 1 AM went into a coma, never to revive.

I have memories of brave Amma and Indu living alone in the initial years. I was too caught up in the corporate world. The Corporate world made possible because of your word to Mr Kulkarni in IIMA , when I was in the second list. The Corporate world made possible when in the Mumbai Airport ( very very strangely I had come to see you off) , you bumped into Dr Bharat Ram and introduced me to him. The IIMA placement interviews were going on then. I am sure the chance meeting helped.

You were concerned Appa for all of us, and have helped each of us. We have gone our different ways soon after your departure, raising our own Families , as Amma in her quest for renunciation , let loose the knots that could have bound us. Hers was a brave move and only yesterday Indu recounted a brave act of hers to walk upto Indus guide and demand to know what happened to her thesis.

More than ever today we all need your blessings and Ammas too. Both of you must continue to bless us all – Mohan and Paddu as they reach a crossroad in their living , Kamala and Sampath as she bravely fights cancer, lonely Vimala and her ever supportive Varadarajan, Raja and Chitra as Raja faces a very similar situation as you faced when you suddenly retired, dear Indu the first to lose a partner and her loving daughter as they face the world all alone with help from unexpected quarters  

As I reflect on the past since 1979, life has been too smooth for me. I did encounter an incident a few years ago. It was your blessings ( and Ammas) , that ensured that justice prevailed. The man who  wanted to use me and few others as pawns in his nefarious games, is behind bars for over a year now. His Father died in a horrible air crash in the Hills of  Lord Nrsimhas abode in Ahobilam as if the Lord himself was behind this act. Such is the power of the Forces that protect us because of our ancestors. I firmly believe that.   

    

Many a time in this 65^th year , I have wished that I too meet you now. This is  the age when you passed away. If I am right Tatha too left at a similar age.If I need to continue in this world I seek your blessings to find peace and happiness amongst all of us, who are beholden to Amma and you for bringing us in an upright manner.

When I shared the news of your birthday with Vidya , your granddaughter replied that “...I am sure he is looking down on us , pleased as punch..”

Are you Appa  ..?

11May 2013         

Commentaries on Living

As only Osho can put it !

If you are lucky to get silent co passengers, travel in a second AC compartment across India can be fun. If it is a Rajdhani or a Duranto (to think that it was actually meant to mean Turanth –immediate, but the fickle impetuous Mamata would not have it) then even the hawkers are absent.

Today I am partly lucky. The two co passengers are in their thirties, decent in their concern and hence with the decibel levels under control. J is wrapped up  on a Wilbur Smith, and I got to read Osho for the zillionth time.

“Krishna” was written when Rajneesh was very much a Hindu. With evolution and insight he gradually threw aside all religions in later years.  “Krishna” is in the form of a dialogue, answers to questions posed by his devotees. In the first question he highlights the relevance of Krishna to modern times.

   

Oshospeak

It is really arduous to understand Krishna.

·         It is easy to understand that a man should run away from the world if he wants to find peace, but it is really difficult to accept that one can find peace in the thick of the marketplace.

·         It is understandable that a man can attain to purity of mind if breaks away from attachments, but it is really difficult to realize that one can remain unattached and innocent in the very midst of relationships, that one can remain calm and still alive in the midst of a cyclone

·         There is difficulty in accepting that the flame of a candle can remain steady and still in a place well secluded from winds and storms, but how can you believe that a candle can keep burning  steadily even in the midst of raging storms and hurricanes?

 The trick says Osho is to accept the inevitability of opposites, and the truth of oneness. Krishna , says Osho can only be understood “...if we clearly understand the concept of adwait, that only one is-one without the other. You can call him God or Brahman or what you like.   

Why is this relevant? What is the relevance?

The What

What is relevant is the fact that opposites exist – Joy goes with sorrow, birth goes with death, success goes with failure, ups goes with downs, heights goes with the lows. There is no Everest, if there is no valley 28000 feet below. There is no i- Pad, if there is no sacking of Steve Jobs a few years ago. There is no happiness if it is not compared with an earlier period of sorrow. Krishna  symbolises acceptance of the opposites altogether. And he alone can be whole who accepts the contradictions together. One who chooses would be incomplete, because the part he chooses would continue to delude him , and the part he denies would continue to pursue and haunt him He can never be rid of what he rejects and suppresses.

The WHY

Two years ago I got my dream job offer, and I rejected it. That is history. As long as I continue to reject the fact that it is gone and let it haunt me, I can never live in the present. Likewise as long as I let a failure haunt me rather than accept the inevitability of its opposite sometime in the future, I will never be mentally fully present to face the current challenges.

26APR13- On board the AP Express to Delhi   

What is Happiness..?

The question is as old as the Hills is'nt it ? Countless are the books , talks , dialogues and discussions that I have been privy to, on this topic. Yet, when you popped the question out of the blue, my response was vague  and, plainly unsatisfactory.

So throwing aside the "gyan" accumulated over the years, avoiding the tendency to "Google" for the answer, here is another attempt to respond  from the heart.

Happiness by its very existence as a word , indicates the existence of another  state -of "Other than happiness" . It is only because there is a state where one "feels"  unhappy, that there is this urge to seek a different state- a "happy" state. Since the dialogue and quest for happiness continues to this day , one can surmise  (at least till today) that a  solution to stay forever happy has not been found. Mankind moves in and out of the two states- some longer in one state and some longer in the other.

Another given- the quest and the nature of happiness varies with age. The happiness of a gurgling one year old playing with her mother, of a 17 year old looking into his beloveds eyes, of a 27 year old celebrating her promotion, of a 37 year old watching his daughter perform on the School stage, of a 47 year old watching the wedding of her daughter, of a 57 year old playing with his granddaughter , of a 67 year old listening to a discourse from the Guru of the year , of a 77 year old gazing at a sunset hunched on a chair , walking stick in hand -all vary in context and  extent.

And ... (you retort) in duration...! And you have also forgotten the moments of unhappiness, the moments of pain and suffering....

And so I conclude happiness is temporal and the answer to the question lies in an overarching definition , covering all the above situations PLUS a way to increase its duration.  Can I find an all encompassing definition and also ways and means of increasing the frequency of these moments of happiness, thereby minimizing the duration of unhappiness?

A question arises in my mind right now.Can every waking  moment of a person , be classified as being either (1) happy or (2) unhappy? Or are there three states  (1) happy , (2) unhappy and (3) living. The difference between the third state and the other two is that when one is in the "living" state, there is no realization in that person as to whether he is happy or unhappy. Over the past 30 minutes as I was writing this piece, though it dealt with the topic of happiness , I did not experience any (1) happiness or (2) unhappiness. Truly.  

(28MAR13 continued after a break of a month!) 

Eckhart Tolle ( my age!) a German born Canadian resident wrote a highly readable book called the "Power of Now" . It made quite a buzz when it is was first published and I too was taken up by the simplicity of his thesis and the sincerity of approach. Eckhart talks of only one significant moment in a persons life-the present. The past cannot be revisited , the future is not in our hands. What we do now , this instant, is what counts. The present could very well be wasted musing on the past moments , or even conjecturing about the uncertainties of the future. Both the states will result in feelings of happiness or unhappiness. But ignoring the fear of the future or the regrets of the past , if one were to "act" in the present , then there are no "feelings" , there is only the phenomenon of "living". 

A few minutes prior to my accessing this blog, I was wandering round the house aimlessly "feeling" bored and "out of sorts". I recollected this partial blog. I got myself to open in , pulled myself out from the study , into the veranda amongst the greenery, and within minutes the mood has changed- for the better.Right now I am grappling with the text -neither happy nor unhappy , but focused.

Yes -Focused that's the word. That has the answer to the question. Happiness is a state of mind - like unhappiness- that one encounters when one is not focused. As I watched my Mothers inert body, dead to all of us, the emotion that swept through my body was the regret of the past , the sudden recognition of the sins I had committed in not looking after her and meeting her simple wants. The emotions that you feel when you see your daughter up on stage, listening to the applause of the audience as she receives her prize , is happiness based on your expectations from the past, for had she always topped, your emotions would be different.

SO now that we know that these "feelings" are created, there is every possibility of destroying them as well. Instead of feelings based on the past or the future, can one live in the present with equanimity , with poise and a belief  in the self. That belief is that I an solely responsible for these feelings and I can determine its impact on me. I can let it overwhelm me or I can control its negativism at will.             

      

     

Nirbhaya and beyond...

The tragedy of Nirbhaya , as with all other tragedies is gradually receding from the public conscience.  TV channels have cooled down , the papers have shifted the reporting  to its inner pages, the father lives with the loss and is seen alongside politicians requesting us to stop referring to his daughter as a "gang rape" victim. The Court promises a speedy trial.

The conversations in kitty parties and corporate dos have long found other crises to mull upon.

But on the streets of India has there been any impact of  the Nirbhaya tragedy? Urban and rural  India are two ends of a spectrum in  cultural and social norms and beliefs. Being a city slicker all my life I cannot comment on the impact in rural India. The wide reporting in all forms of media in urban India has made brave Nirbhaya a household name. I sense a subtle yet effective change in the girls moving around my IT centric neigbourhood. Far from being scared they now seem more determined than ever to face up to the terror of a diseased mind. There is also an increased awareness to taking suitable precautions and adopting to stratagems in tune with the circumstances. This is certainly a good positive change.

In the wake of the Nirbhaya tragedy , the urban media has become more vocal in reporting rape cases. As my friend Malladi Sastry reports in his recent blog the papers continue to carry news of such instances as if a new obnoxious facet of something unique to the country has just been unearthed. It certainly is not in the nature of a "catharsis"- a move to acknowledge and in the process minimize  such crimes through a public dialogue. 

Are these horrendous sexual abuses something unique to our Country, present because of the loosening of moral values and a change from  the strict social and cultural norms that existed earlier? Is it time to go inwards , to revive the spirituality that has been lost in the past decades?   Is it feasible in our multi-religious, multi-lingual environment to arrive at a consensus of what constitutes a spiritual remedy to what are heinous depraved acts of a few wayward people, emboldened by a lax legal system? 

To me the solution lies in creating a legal environment that delivers justice speedily , effectively and publicly. Did it require a Verma Committee to suggest legal remedies all in a four week time span, when the problem lies elsewhere? The legal statutes as they exist now could have prevented this sorry state of affairs , if it was seen to  deliver. I tread on dangerous ground here , for whilst it is all right to comment at length on the two other pillars of  the democracy, the third is taboo to any criticism or one has to face the prospect of charges of contempt and attended risks. If the legal process is delayed by the strategies of shrewd lawyers with tacit or otherwise support of a faulty police investigation mechanism , we have the right setting for a delayed justice,which as everyone acknowledges is justice denied. If it is possible for a complex  financial fraud by a Nick Leeson (that resulted in the collapse of the Barings Bank) to be examined and sentenced within a few months, why should it take years for a criminal sexual act to be brought to book?   

How about a daily monitoring at the Supreme Court level of the settlement of the thousands of cases relating to sexual assault across the Courts at all Levels in the length and breadth of our country? Or perhaps a monitoring at the High Court of each State. Also letting the statistics be displayed on the  Net would ensure that there is pressure on all the stakeholders in the legal process to clean up the rot and set up new standards  of legal settlement. This may perhaps be the most effective deterrent.