Anbe Sivam ( Love is God)

Many people have asked why do we have so many Gods in Hinduism?

It is said that there are about 33 Crore Gods or 330 Million. Yes 33 Crore.

Is it practically possible to worship so many Gods?

While I think of an answer for the above question – someone else asked is there God at all?

Now, it is tough to convince either way.

Let me say how I feel about it.

I watched a Tamil movie many years ago. The hero in the movie was a so called atheist. However he tries to convey that there is God in everything and anything.

That is exactly mentioned in our scriptures too. The fore fathers or founders have given meaning and dimension to every aspect of life.

Every living being has Godliness in itself. And there has been some form of God attached to it. For example – there are Gods incharge of every feeling, every emotion. From love to tears. There are Gods representing all senses, all the elements available in the nature. Gods representing every living thing and non living thing. There are Gods for the good, for the bad, for creation, for destruction, for maintenance. For intelligence, for valour, for prosperity, skills.. You name it – you will find a God. Almost all animals in the animal kingdom are either Gods or vehicles/partners of Gods ( Viz Elephant to a mouse, to a serpant) . You will find Gods in all forms and sexes.

For time being, keeping aside the concept of a supreme one.

So, what is the inherent message?

There is God and Godliness in anything and everything. From material to feelings, one may choose whichever form one likes to connect mentally and spriritually at any point in time!

Whether or not so many Gods being there is the question. It is more like - an importance and respect given to every little creation – tangible & intangible. 

Anbe Sivam! ( Love is God).. !

Pursuit of Excellence

I was always taught since my childhood that one should aim to be “perfect” in everything one does… From one’s behaviour as a human being (or even as a kid) to academics to sports or whatever. Does that make one a Superman? The thought definitely appears so!

There are many people who strive for perfectionism. Yes, to be “perfect” in everything! That’s not to sound bombastic. But many people do follow this path.

Does this approach make one person the perfect human being?

Well, is there anything called a perfect human being? Is it possible? What do people who strive for being perfect do?

While it may sound that being perfect is the best thing that can happen – let us revisit it once again – Is it really the best thing?

Let me summarise my views on this.

To me the thought of being perfect is in itself a daunting one. And being “Perfect” in whose eyes? One’s self or others’?

Whichever the case may be, I would say perfectionists are generally harsh on themselves. They do not like anything even slightly below their so called benchmarks and get shattered even with smaller failures (if it is short of perfection as per their definitions). They generally get obsessed with the outcomes, and not on the processes or the journey. They feel good when others recognise them as perfectionists and perhaps that motivates them to go on that path of “perfection” further, which perhaps helps in boosting their ego.

There is also a paradox that if one goes towards the path of perfection they may end up “excelling” in an activity even if they have fallen short of the perfection. Sadly it does not work like that. The person who is a perfectionist, even if he has excelled in something, will fail to recognise that activity of excellence if it is below the perfect mark. There are no room for mistakes to be corrected. It has to be perfect. Period.

So what is better? Not sure if it is a better thing to do - but certainly seems to be a wiser thing to approach the path of Excellence…

People who are in pursuit of excellence are self motivated, enjoy their journey of achieving and excelling! If there are failures midway, they do not get demotivated. Probably they are disappointed for a short time, but recover fast, learn from the mistakes and move on with their journey of excellence and keep raising their bar all the time.  

Excellence seekers are generally more collaborative in their approach with other people, in their pursuit unlike their perfect counterparts who tend to become judgemental and may have a condescending attitude towards people who are not “perfect” in their eyes.

Quick course corrections, adaptability and flexibility in different situations, patience etc help in making the person seeking excellence more emotionally stronger and confident as one goes through journey unlike the perfectionists who dwell on creating perfect conditioning, environment and perfect outcomes.

Enjoy the journey towards success and not be bogged down by the fear of failures. The approach with confidence will be more powerful than the one with doubt.

Aim for bettering your best and do your best! 

Do we know our own potentials?

Yesterday I received a whatsapp forward message, it was a story about two boys how they were playing on thin ice. While one boy fell through the ice into the lake underneath, the other boy rescues the victim by breaking a huge branch of a tree. When people asked how the boy rescued the victim, a wise old man commented that the boy could achieve this because there was no one around to tell the boy that this was impossible! And so he did it.

Point to ponder!

I would like to look at the positive converse of the above statement. It reminds me of our old mythological character in Ramayana. Jambavan! Our mythological stories had so many Characters, Gods, Themes etc and they talk about various aspects of life with whom/which one can relate to at any point in time.

Coming back to Jambavan, he was the old bear considered to be the wisest in the group that was around in the jungle to help Lord Rama bring back his wife Sita. When it was found that Sita was abducted by Ravana and taken across the ocean, they needed somebody to go across. It was Jambavan who proposed the name of Hanuman. Not only that, it was Jambavan who actually motivated Hanuman that only he could do this feat of flying across the ocean. Mythology says that Hanuman does not remember his own potentials, and that it needed a Jambavan to remind Hanuman of his immense potentials, and once done, Hanuman implemented with a certain ease.

In contrast to the story of the boys in the first para – don’t we all need a Jambavan to identify and tell us about our own potentials to achieve great things on our own, which we are capable of?  We need a Jambavan to motivate us to think beyond the boundaries, shake us out of our comfort zone and to make us achieve things that we thought was impossible or we never thought of!

Wake up the Jambavan hiding inside you…

You can do it Bro!

Let there be a Positivity Bias!

One of the things that had been bothering me for quite a while – why is there so much negativity in everything that we see around us?

I was wondering – Is there anything wrong with me? Am I picking up only negative things? While I was trying to move out of this thought, albeit the difficulty – it led me to introspect and also look at things around me a little more objectively.

If you look at the general News channels or News papers – you’d find most of the news items or topics are by default negative. Why?

A research paper of the early 2000 suggested that 53.4% of the news on television alone depicts violence, conflict and suffering. It was suggested that worse the report, the more likely it is to be the lead story, as humans are generally naturally attracted to bad news.

The news reporters are trained and told to cover negative reports more effectively as that would definitely bring in more viewership to the channel. Yes, that’s the world that we live in.

The percentage could be much higher now.

Humans apparently pay more attention and give more weight to negative rather than positive experiences, and this phenomenon is more commonly known as the “negativity bias”. This negative bias is inherently present in all human beings.

The same philosophy holds true for what goes on in your mind.

Every human being is a bundle of energy. Check if your energy level is positive side or on the negative. Of course you can feel it. Positive energy field feels like joy, peace, love, light feeling, nil resistance etc. Negative energy field feels like depression, anger, powerlessness and despondency. Negative energies always stem from fear.

It is said that negative energies attract a negative reality. For example, if you are depressed, you end up attracting more reasons and situations to feel depressed about. This seems highly unfair to the “Me” that life should be so screwed up as to give more depression to a person who is already depressed. Why only me syndrome? God is not kind?  I am sure many of us have gone through these thoughts at some point in time. As per scientists & philosophers - The law of attraction is the operating principle of creation in this universe. Mind creates reality by “attracting” it.

Can’t positive images, news, reports, experiences be long lasting and more powerful? Yes it could be. 

But the fact is that the brain reacts to negative stimuli with a greater surge in electrical activity. Due to this lightening surge, our perceptions, reactions and behaviours are more strongly influenced by negative stuff than the positive ones.

Empirical data and research says that it takes at least five positive experiences to counter one negative one. Perhaps this is the reason for more pessimism, anxiety, discouragement and depression in many parts of the world.

Positive or negative vibes have their own ripple effects. If I tell someone who is greeting me, how sad I am  generally, he picks up the negative vibes and I wont be surprised if we both finally end up wallowing in grief! Not worth in the long run.

Some people have the habit of underplaying their happiness with a worry that if the other person knows how happy you are, then a factor jealousy might creep in. However that’s not the case. Knowingly or unknowingly, by feeding attention to these negative sentiments, sadly you make them stronger.

Moreover, the universal force does not just respond to your “Words” it responds to the “Energy” behind the words.

We should consciously learn to spread the energy of happiness. Yes it has its ripple effect.  And the happiness thus spread will come back to oneself manifold.

Try to create positive behavioural patterns and thinking. Your mind gets conditioned to the positivity. Remember the 5:1 philosophy! For a marriage to be stable, create five positive experiences to counter one negative influence or conflict.

You now know the secret :)

Stay positive. Stay Cheerful!

Rights And Duties

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥

Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana – You have the right to perform your actions,but you are not entitled to the fruits of the actions.

Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani – Do not let the fruit be the purpose of your actions, and therefore you won’t be attached to not doing your duty.

-          The Bhagavad Gita.

I suddenly got reminded of an incident in an earlier organisation that I worked for. I was working on a very big project all by myself. It was a huge deal and I had gone through lots of ups and downs during the process of negotiations and a host of other meetings with that customer. The deal was very important for me for my career(as I had thought then) – not just because I had never struck a deal of that size and that too at that very young age, but also was very important for the organisation too for the visibility and the recognition the deal could bring. The top management were also considerate enough in giving me a helping hand to make it a success considering my passion and fervour for the project.

Yet there was a huge pressure on myself. While going through all the stress during this process – I went to my then boss’s cabin and told him just this – I hope we get this order soon!

My boss gave a classic reaction to this. He instantly told me “I am not a believer of God. I am an atheist. But I believe in the Bhagavad Gita. You have done your job extremely well. Do not worry about the outcome. Keep giving your best”. These words motivated me hard and I put in my good efforts still further. It became incidental that I got the deal. But those words are still etched in my memory.

I was in a Zen mood yesterday. I happened to listen to some nice songs. One song struck a fine chord in me, which was a Bhajan in Tamil that gave beautiful summary of the Bhagavad Gita. It immediately struck me that my mom used to sing that song as a lullaby everynight when I was a kid. It brought a nice smile on my face.  And to listen to that song now was not just nostalgic, but it also came laced with a subtle message of what I should do in a particular situation. Perhaps my mom had brought me up instilling this message in me.

So, why was I confused in taking a decision? There was a tricky situation in the office yesterday and I was expected to take a decision. There were two aspects to the decision. On one hand there was an emotional backlog that prevented me to go forward. On the other hand the situation demanded a harder stand. A sudden confusion!

But then, as they say, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. Perhaps, there was a reason behind the confusion. There was a reason behind my feeling Zen. A reason behind the particular song. And a reason behind my remembering my conversation with my ex-boss.

Interesting! It became clearer to me as to how to proceed further. I think I have my Credo in place now. 

By the way, are you confused too?

Some people do the best work when led. Not everyone is born to lead. The best leader, however, is one who 'leads like the baby'. The baby, though apparently depending on everyone, is the king of the household. At least, to my thinking, that is the secret ... -Swami Vivekananda, CW, 8:428

Stay Focus Stay Hungry!

I have been thinking about an issue that had been bothering me for a while. How to stay focussed on the task at hand and how to increase the productivity.

Simple question? Or is it a deep subject? Depends on how you look at it. Yeah – every manager has this issue which he faces if not on a daily basis, but very often.

While I was thinking of many options as to how I can apply different strategies on myself to improve on my productivity and focus, leave alone the team.

That’s when I came across two extraordinary gentlemen who have suddenly been a great source of inspiration.

I recently decided to take up renovation of my apartment. In doing so I had to deal with different sets of people. Those include Masons – some are extremely skilled at arranging tiles etc, plumber, electrician, sheet metal worker, carpenter, curtain maker, painter etc etc.

Each of the above departments have many people working. In a small apartment that I live in it is interesting to note how the above set of different skilled and unskilled workers manage their time and resources so effectively to meet the needs.

In these I come across 2 outstanding personnel. They are 2 young lads who have come into Bombay from a remote village in Rajasthan for specialising in their chosen field – Carpentry.

I have been watching their work for over a month now. They come in sharp at 9.00 Am in the morning. And work till 9 PM. Yes, it is a 12 hour shift that they manage. I am told this way they get paid for One and half day’s salary and they make best use of their time productively. After all what will they do after they go home early at 6 pm?(this was what I was told).

In the 12 hours that they are in the premises – as I mentioned above there are a bunch of other departments working simultaneously. With very little place to move around, noise and commotions. But our 2 lads find their place in their corner not perturbed by any of the distractions they remain focused at their work. Yeah they need to provide high precision work and they are focused at that. Keep slogging at it minute by minute.

No tea breaks, no cigarette/beedi breaks. They prepare their food in the morning before they reach the site and they have that food for lunch. No other break. Yes – I have seen one guy getting up to drink water once in a while. Is this humanly possible?

In this era of people getting hooked onto smart phones for no rhyme or reason.  It is a welcome change to see guys really focused only on work with no distraction. Yes the only “distraction” if I may call is late in the evening, when other department workers leave by 6pm, our heroes decide to play some rustic songs on their mobile phone(which is their back ground music) and continue with their work.

Well, I tell myself – perhaps these guys are not exposed to the new age stuff. Ah! But then the guy politely told me – Sir, if you want to see the design, I shall whatsapp you, so that you can approve!

Interesting!

Do I need a better case study for focus and productivity?

MID LIFE MIRACLE

In my opinion, this is an interesting topic. Popularly known as the mid life crises. I wonder why this is called as Crises?

I was trying to analyse in my own mind about a cross section of people whom I think have gone/going through this bizarre concept. However at the end of it most of the people emerge triumphant.

This is not an attempt as to why a person goes through weird feelings during his midlife when he seeks course correction. This is just a casual way side commentary about a few instances.

So, what happens during this process? When a person approaches his/her mid 30s or early 40s – by the time the person would have reasonably settled well with his life. A comfortable job, a good bank balance. Kids and their routines. In the early 30s most people follow a mechanical routine way of life.

And slowly at some point in time the person starts to think. While the person may be well in his comfort zone not wanting to move out of the zone, when this bug bites the person, he actually starts to question his existence, his activities etc. Generally the perception is that, this phase is considered a phase of depression or a stressful period for the person. But I think otherwise.

After an initial bout of solitude and at times eccentric behaviours, people do find something more interesting for themselves.

Some people decide to change jobs. Some go for a sabbatical and would like to explore their interests. Some decide to quit their cushy corporate job for starting their own enterprise. Some prefer a total change of job responsibility or role.

Some start to pursue their other passions. Like say Organic farming. Some get into music in a big way. People get back to their old hobbies which they might have missed in their childhood, like say playing an instrument.

Some go for marathons( which seems to be the latest fad!).. Now many people have completed full marathons in their 40s.

I know of a lady who became a state Tennis champion in her mid 40s!

Some Travel the world and write their travelogues! Some become fitness freaks!

If you go through some articles on mid life crisis the most prominent thing that they mention is that people go and buy an expensive car or a bike! Yeah – they get more adventurous in their spending.

Some become custodians of artefacts.

Some take up volunteering for social causes.

I can list so many different attributes.

It is interesting to see that while this concept is actually called Mid life crises, I feel it is more a rebirth of sorts for the person. A transformation beyond the boundaries which takes the person to different heights and the person finds a new found happiness within himself. Connects with himself a bit more, apart from his other social compulsions.

Yes, connect with oneself is very important, which we generally take it for granted. And only when this strikes unknowingly the person takes it more seriously and subsequently followed by fabulous results.

My personal take is that while this process would have started on a bizarre note with the person not
knowing what is happening to himself/herself, coupled with some cranky behaviours. General tendency is to get worked up and go the depression way. While I won’t rule out stress attributing to this, but as they say it all happens for the good. This phenomenon makes the person goes through some rough patches and yet prepares himself to handle them well too, as predominantly the person gets to understand himself and his innate needs better. The earlier the person comes to terms with himself, the sooner will he be able to handle himself better. I am not saying the person should isolate himself from others. Just that one needs to understand oneself better.

To my fellow friends who may think they are going through some kind of restlessness in their lives - Just tell yourself – “listen to your heart”.

You will find a miracle!

GUERRILLA LEADERSHIP

Corporate Leaderships! One of my favourite subjects…

I was recently talking to a friend of mine and picked up a point for discussion. Usually we talk on diverse topics of mutual interests. This time it was on Leadership styles.

I became even more excited at this topic as we touched upon the various aspects of Leaderships in different contexts that one encounters on a daily basis.

You find a leader everywhere.. Be it in Offices, Politics, Sports, or even at home(managing your domestic help do need a skill).

You find all types of people. Some are best known as leaders and some as followers…. And the role reverses in different situations… How people adapt themselves to be Leaders or Followers is in itself a skill!

In this post, I would like to briefly touch upon some of the Leadership styles that we encounter. I am not going to list down and elaborate on the different styles. Instead, I thought of just summarising through the already available plethora of knowledgebase.

  

I guess all these different concepts and leadership styles and the roles the leaders play are self explanatory from the exhibits above.

Some are authoritarian, some are democratic, some are participative, some follow Laissez faire etc. And some leaders are King Makers!

But to my surprise we have been encountering a new set of leaders who are different from whatever is listed above.

Before I come to that, let me also list out some more different styles that we tend to emulate or study.

Leadership lessons from the animal kingdom!

That is a vast subject in itself. Just a few examples from the Animal Kingdom.

When we talk of Leadership in that category - the most popular name that comes to anyone’s mind is the lion, the king of the jungle. The lion rules by dominating those around him. Nobody dares to mess with a lion. Male lions are also great delegators; they eat, they sleep and they mate.  The lioness takes care of everything else.

However, when you ask around, very few female managers choose the lion as the animal that best reflects their leadership style. May be they are self-conscious to admit. On reflection, many of those who choose a lion change their minds. As, a lion tends to represent an autocratic management style, leading through fear rather than cooperation. A lady leader in the corporate world may not want to project such an image perhaps.

Let’s look at an Elephant! The matured and elderly female is the head of the Elephant herd. The headship is rarely challenged. The herd look up to their leader for the constant guidance and inspiration. When the matriarchal head gives up in life due to old age, the next senior most is unanimously selected as the team head. The survival of the entire herd depends on the experienced guidance of the aged female. The aged female elephant never acts like a boss but always will have solutions to the problems of the herd. If you look at an Elephant, it looks mighty and powerful, yet you can see a beautiful demeanour and calmness around it, unless it goes cranky ;).

I can list traits of many from that world which have established leadership qualities viz., Horses, Dolphins, Queen Bee or even a Golden Retriever.. Lots to learn!

However, I take this opportunity to also point out a new set of leadership style that is very different from any of the styles mentioned above.

These leaders have traits similar to King Makers. King makers drive the whole show through their remote control style of management and have all the members working as per directions while they don’t have the accountability directly. And all the members know who their leader is and report obediently. Our new friends are a slightly different lot. They have full control like the King Makers. The difference being, they control the members individually and the members do not talk about their leader amongst themselves. The control is very individualistic, yet as a whole!

I would like to call them Guerrilla Leaders! 

New Year Resolutions

Let me start with a disclaimer: I am no fan of New Year Resolutions!

Having said that, I have been watching a socially active friend of mine who would religiously put up a concept of a single word focus for the year at the beginning of the year.

Yes – a single word. It is not a resolution. Just a single word to define the focus for the year.

I had debated with him – how can it be just a single word? Can it be a combination of two or three words to describe? My wise friend wasn’t impressed – he said it doesn’t work that way. It has to be a single word!

Hmm, an interesting concept. That led me to think. You need to think of a single word that is going to determine the direction of the whole year. Wow!

Yes, it is a brilliant idea. To arrive at that single word – one goes through lots of emotions and thought processes. It is like writing the Vision/Mission statement for your Company.

Ultimately when you narrow down to the single word focus for the year, you would have gone through quite a bit of feelings, logical reasoning, analysis, intuition, ambition, wish etc.. Yet a single word. Thank you my friend!

Yes, I have thought of mine. Would you like to give it a try?

Happy New Year all!