I am off Facebook ! : Blog # 211

I am off facebook !

A while back, one of my friends put up a post on Facebook saying he is leaving fb. Another friend of mine commented on that post saying “A huge loss for facebook!” In my mind, that comment was the best reply that post could have got. Many a time, we tend to misread our own importance in the scheme of existence of the whole Universe.

Before you jump at me saying it is a personal choice, I agree with you on this aspect. It is indeed personal discretion. But the only person who has anything to lose is him/her. Whenever a new technology sweeps mankind, there is a group which step aside from that wave. They attach an almost evil dimension to it. Would you believe me if I said there were people who said they were against computers? It worked for them for a small time. In today’s world, if one doesn’t know to operate a computer, it is as good as saying that person has stopped living or is frozen in time. Add to that, life could become immensely easy for them if they had kept an open mind.

Social media exists to connect people and to share information. Of course, it has its frivolous sides where we use it to boost our self esteem albeit momentarily and to sustain relationships even if it’s through exchange of fake pleasantries. But many a time, we do that even in a social gathering too. Does that mean we stop meeting people or that is all we do in a social gathering? At times, to get along in a society, one has to hold back a few words and utter a few generous words even if one doesn’t subscribe to a fellow being’s school of thought completely.

Now there is this angle of addiction to this debate. Whatever we start doing in Life, it goes through phases. Initially, there is a lot of enthusiasm about it. Then comes a stage where the enthusiasm slows down gradually and then it plateaus. Social media is also no different. We learn to deal with these phases at various points in life. One should learn to rein in ones addictions and exercise control over ones urges. Stepping out completely from something for fear of addiction only hinders this learning. It is like saying “I am not taking an electricity connection for fear of getting a shock!”

There is a concept called ‘Network Externality’ in the study of business. An application of this concept is that a good or service gets used by almost everyone that it becomes extremely popular and furthers its own demand. So what happens is when you choose to not use that good or service, you kind of get left out. In our case, social media essentially facilitates communication. So it becomes difficult for people around you to know about you and stay in touch with you if you choose to not use this service. And if you really think those who care about you will make an effort to reach out to you inspite of your absence in one of the popular channels of communication of the day, it is like waiting for a telegram. And by the way, telegrams are dead J.

Keywords : facebook,socialmedia,deactivatefacebook,quit facebook,quit twitter,twitter,leave facebook, delete facebook,leave socialmedia

Happiness in Pixels : Blog # 210

Happiness in Pixels

A photograph is one of the most beautiful expressions of art. What makes it so likeable is that it is pleasant on the eyes or it ought to be when some of us click that is ;). I think what makes it so mystic is the frozen time about that frame. In spite of all the advancements mankind has made, time has always been elusive. It has always slipped away from our hands. A picture gives us the illusion of having conquered time although for a moment.

It is indeed true that a picture speaks a thousand words. Is that why many a time pictures tell the most beautiful stories? What I like about the story woven through a picture is that it is open to the interpretation of  audience unlike a story woven through words. A handful of words can tell only one story. A picture on the other hand, can tell a hundred stories depending on who sees it and how they see it.

The best thing about photography is that you can choose what you want to see and what you want to show. You might be looking at a pond with weeds spread all over. You spot a Kingfisher who has chosen to sit on a twig parched on a rock with water so clear around it that you can see the bottom of the pond. You can now click only that small periphery and make the whole pond look good. That is the magic of photography!

How can we not think of memories when it comes to photos. There are moments in life which one would want to revisit. I would say photographs are the best way to time travel. One look at an old picture is all it takes to bring the fond memories of the seemingly forgotten past to come rushing by. When you find time, sit down with your friends or family and go through old family albums. Believe me, it is like walking in to an old home where you spent your childhood in. If you are lucky enough, you will have someone to reminisce the story behind those photos with.

Photography used to be a selfless act until the selfie came along that is J. At every function, there used to be one family member or a friend who goes on clicking a moment of togetherness, happiness or celebration without them being a part of the frame. But on the brighter side, selfie has made photography more inclusive. The artist do not have to stand away from the art. He/she is also a part of the creation. It is like acknowledging the presence of the paintbrush on a beautiful canvas J.

Like any other art, photography too is an expression of the artist who clicks. I wonder how beauty is so obvious to them in the vastness of nature. I am amazed as to how they contain a story in an 8X10 frame. I wish if I will ever understand how they make a seemingly passing moment turn in to the memory of a life time!

Keywords: Photography,Camera,Pixels,DSLR camera,Photos,Photgraphs,Photographer, Shutterbug 

748 Million : Jal Shakti Abhiyan : Blog # 209

748 Million ~ Jal Shakti Abhiyan

The title of the blog is not the number of wells in the world. Neither is it the count of springs which emerge from the bosom of earth. Sadly, it is an indication of the lack of these fountain heads of Life. That is the magnitude of our water woes! It is the number of people around the world who do not have access to drinking water.

Whenever you get an opportunity, talk to a person who takes care of the administration of an organization which has more than a few 100 people. Concern about providing water will top his/her priority. This is true for an academic institution, a business organization and even for a health care centre. The mayor of a city and a head of state will be equally worried about our fast disappearing water bodies.

Imagine coming home from a long tiring day and not having a handful of water to bring your face back from the dead. On a hot summer afternoon, how will you feel when you open the tap and all you get is an erratic symphony of the left behind wind? Can you fathom how much of a frustration it will be when we will need to ration and account for the last drop of water we use on a daily basis? What should make all of us scared is that all these things can happen in more near a future than when we expect it to happen.

If you look at this issue from a broader perspective, it has the potential to disrupt whatever little peace is left in the world. I am sure all of us are at a loss of words when states fight among themselves for want of water – which side to take, who is right and more importantly, what the solution is. Now imagine these conflicts on a world scale. Nations being at war and unleashing destruction over each other, all for a mouthful of water for its people.

I have always wondered since when did we start being so insensitive towards our own kind. We come across a number like this, feel sad till the next ping on our phone and we move on. I think Darwin is partially to blame for this. His ‘Survival of the fittest’ is the best branding ‘Selfishness’ could have ever asked for. A person, exhausted and worn out sitting underneath a tap waiting for a drop of water should prick our conscience. A picture of a child sitting under blazing sun with not even a blade of grass in the vicinity for whom tears are the only drops of water available should grow a lump in our throat.

We shouldn’t stop at just that. Each time we let a tap run, a tank over flow, a bottle spill those pictures should come haunting back to our minds. We all should in our small ways try and fill up earth’s eyes. A rain water harvesting plan for each household can be a good beginning. Of the umpteen things being banned around us, a house construction plan without a water harvesting provision can be a welcome one.

Signs of severe water shortage is all around us. Many cities in India are realing under water scarcity. Globally, it is Capetown that went down first. In our own country, the  latest being Chennai. Next will be Bangalore and then the others. We must take the Jal Shakti Abhiyan seriously and give it all that we have got.

Keywords : 748 Million,water scarcity, water, water woes. water issues , charity water, Jal Shakti Abhiyan 

Arun Babu

The first drops from Heaven : Blog # 208

The first drops from Heaven

Years before, when life was much simpler, when my dreams were not bound by the fences of reality, when I was a child, I remember asking my Grandmother on a Sunday evening as to what that wonderful scent was. She told me it is the scent of the earth. It is the heavenly smell of the first rain. She told me that for one to experience the rain and its scent, one needs to be a bit far from the madness. Then, I thought she was referring to only the hustle and bustle of the city where I lived.

Once I was walking back home. It was summer at its peak and all of us had been hoping for the clouds to shed some kindness. Out of the blue, when we least expected it, started the first rain. Big drops of water emerged which momentarily disappeared in the dried up brown soil in spite of their pearl like heaviness. Many of us took shelter in the road side shops. There was a person waiting with us and he started walking out of the shop. He did not have an umbrella.  He just walked getting drenched in that rain. He looked back at all of us standing at the door step of the shop and smiled. There wasn't even one face in that little crowd which did not reciprocate the smile. At that moment, I realized my grandmother was referring to the madness within too.

I think there is more to this smell than just a pleasant assault on the nose. It is a culmination of various emotions. On the surface of it, it indicates the beginning of an end – of the tiring, sultry summer. It is the harbinger of more pleasant days in the offing. It indicates lesser lines of worry on our foreheads when we look at the sun. This scent is apparently called ‘Petrichor’.

If you think a bit deeper, we realize it is metaphorical to life in more ways than one. Look at the nature around you during the first rain. It is as if the lives around us wake up from a long exhausted slumber. The trees, the animals are all rejuvenated. The energy this rain brings along with it spreads almost like a majestic wave of river washing across a dried up forest. Don’t you think certain people or certain moments in our lives are also like this? People just walk in or moments of gravitas just manifest in our lives as a whiff of fresh air. It may be by design or by serendipity. But they are indeed among Life’s little surprises which we all wait for to come by.

At times in Life, we come across long spells of summer. They try to hallucinate us in to believing that our lives are destined to have only that single lone season - of a sultry summer. We try hard to find a respite.  It is then that we should think of the first rain. Drive down the life’s lane a bit farther and we will see the clouds of hope patiently waiting for us to pass by them to shed their kindness on to us... 

Keywords : Rain, First rain, petrichor, scent of earth, smell after first rain

Last day...or is it? : Blog # 207

 Last day...or is it?

And the farewell is over. I can’t believe school has come to an end. Twelve long years! This place is home to me now, if not more. The corridors are as familiar to me as the by lanes I have grown up in. Am I excited to go to college? Of course I am. But will it be as fond a memory as school days? Will I make as good friends? Will the teachers care as much?

Graduation day! Time does fly. It seems like yesterday when I came with dad to buy the application form. I will be eternally grateful to this place for giving me treasured friends and such dear professors. It was real fun. Don’t know if I will miss the canteen more or the courtyard. And how I will miss the hostel days! It will be hard to sleep without hearing all the howling and shouting.

And the day has finally come where I move from a state of zero accountability to complete accountability. What bothers me is that all of it is directed towards one person ;)  Being a bachelor was bliss. But yes, it is great to have someone to go home to. Bachelor party is such a paradox for the word, party! One doesn't know if one should be happy or sad!

And today, I lost my childhood. All my grandparents have embarked on the journey towards eternity. Is it a coincidence that my daughter decided to step in to our world the same day? Is my wife right when she says it is an indication of the fact that it is time I gift a memorable childhood to someone else? Is it that my Grandmother decided to leave a part of her spirit with me?

I had always longed for retirement. Never did I think the last day in office will be so moving. The fact that I will wake up to a stress less morning has a sense of lasting serenity about it. But having lived for so long chasing deadlines and pushing mails, will I be able to enjoy the serenity?

You just know when it is time to leave. Having sailed through many a last day in this lifetime, there is a reassurance of sorts that it is just a prelude to another beginning. But today has a sense of fatality to it or so they say. Should I believe them? If I do, won’t that  mean I haven’t learned anything at all from all the last days I have been through? 

Keywords : Life, Last day, Live, Enjoy Life,Last days of Life,Sunset years, Short story 

A memoir of memories : Blog # 206

A memoir of memories

What is your earliest memory of yourself? Most of us will take a while to recollect it. If I had asked, what is your earliest memory of your family or friends, you would have recollected it faster. But when it is regarding oneself, it takes us some time. Here begins the idiosyncrasies of our memory. My earliest memory is something about first day at school and me crying my lungs out tugging at my mother’s saree.

Another strange thing about memory is that we tend to forget memories of bad instances in life faster. May be that is the way of our mind’s coping with harsh realities. Try doing this. Think about a time in your life when you were really disturbed/hurt about something. Now when you look back, you will be able to remember the situation. But you will not be able to remember the intensity of that negative feeling and thank God for that!

Don’t you think it is important that we take an effort to create memories? For instance, with people close to us? Those memories will help us tide through the crests and troughs in relationships. Many a time, the reason why we are forgiven or we forgive others is because of the fond memories that we have of each other. I think the same applies to oneself. People with a bunch of happy memories will be better equipped to sail through a rough patch in life. May be that is why it is important that everyone deserves a happy childhood. Childhood is a happy excuse for all the quagmires that life throws at us later on, don’t you think?

There is yet another important twist to the conundrum that is memory. If you look at it, most of today’s conflicts in the world are based on an incident or some incidents that occurred in the past, which is a memory. This means that some of the people who are fighting today are doing so solely based on a handed down memory. So if you as a person strive to avoid conflict today, you are creating a pleasant tomorrow. To contribute to world peace, all you need to do is create some pleasant memories for the people around you.

If you are able to become a happy memory for at least a handful of people, you would have lived a life worthwhile.

Keywords: Memory,Happy memory,Life,Experience,Remember

When to Leave your job? : Blog # 205

 When to Leave your job?

        I wonder if appraisal meetings became a charade recently or if it has always been the case. Quite often, the outcome is pre-decided. It is just a matter of convincing the reportee that he/she should agree to a rating or salary lesser than what they deserve. Managers adopt different methods to achieve this. One common attempt is to show the employee’s performance in poor light. If you as a reportee are convinced that you have put in the best efforts, then the manager will not be successful in this attempt. Another approach is to undermine the importance of money. I, for one have never bought this argument. One tangible factor about work is the money you get and it should matter! But I do not blame the managers. It has more to do with the organization.

            How much should one get attached to the organization that you work for? Many a time, we get too close for comfort to the firm we work for. There are a group of people who are ruthlessly detached too. So which is the right way or is there a middle path to this too?

            Consider this situation. You give your best to your work, many a time at the cost of your personal life. You expect a reward in return. It can be a hike in salary, a promotion or both. During the discussion, you find out that due to various ‘economic & business’ considerations, the firm ( not your manager, but the firm) is not in a position to reward you. In such a situation, what do you do? I would say it is time you returned your ID card and start looking for a new one.

            We must understand that a firm is a heartless entity. The decisions made are only with the intent of furthering its growth which is measured in terms of monetary aspects. There might be exceptions, but far and few. This is the reason why you can have a good relationship with your manager but not with the firm that you work for.

            One should always bear in mind this aspect. A promotion or a salary hike for an employee doesn't have much impact on the organization. But it does have a serious impact on the individual’s career. One should be astute enough to realize the point in time when the relationship stops being symbiotic. Once you reach that point, go ahead and change your status from ‘single’ to ‘looking out’ on LinkedIn!

Keywords : Work, Performance appraisal, Funny, Work Life balance, Job, Career

Gatekeepers of heaven : Blog # 204

Gatekeepers of heaven

I woke up to the usual monologues by my mother “You keep on watching this TV. What do you get out of this?” My father silently listens. He says communication is key to a successful marriage or the absence of it and laughs J.

We sat for breakfast. It was a Sunday and mother had prepared ‘Nadur Mand’. Father had one mouthful and said “Uff, how this reminds me of my village!” Mother sighed and looked at him saying “Why don’t you let it go? How many years has it been! We don’t belong there”. Dad roared in his baritone “How dare they? Who told you that we don’t belong there? Who are they to decide?” If I die, I will die in my Kashmir. We are the gatekeepers of the Heaven on Earth!

“My dear, do you remember Kashmir at all?” He asked me. How will she? She was all of 3 when we were made to leave. It is for a reason that place is called a paradise. I am not talking only about its peripheral beauty. There was a serenity about that place. You could sense the calm in the wind. It was as if even the strongest of tempest wanted to become a zephyr when it entered the land of Kashmir. All that is lost now! You can’t walk a distance without seeing a gun. Do you know what that does to a child’s psyche? The last thing it does is to make them feel safe. That much I can tell you.

“Why do you want to go back daddy? Is there anyone there whom you know? All your friends and family are here!” I told him. Oh dear, you don’t understand the pain.  I couldn’t even say good bye to my friends. One fine day, we were asked to leave. Just like that! As if we never lived there... I feel uprooted. How do I tell you the kind of void I feel? My father and mother are buried in that soil. I need to go there, I need to talk to them. I want to tell them how wrong they were when they told I couldn’t make a living out of writing. I also want to tell them how right it was on their part to reprimand me when I talked to your mother in a raised voice for the first time. How I miss their shadow in my house!

How I miss the courtyard of my house! How beautiful our garden used to be in summer. And don’t get me started with the seasons of this city! How barren this part of our country looks in comparison to where we come from.

Quite often, we had these conversations at home. Whenever there was a social gathering, my father used to talk to my uncles and his friends about his longing. A while later, I went abroad for higher education. It was then that I realized what he felt in his heart. How different it felt to be away from home! How agonizing a longing it is to return to one’s home…

I returned to work in India. My father started becoming increasingly frail. Although, his eyes were sparkling as ever and did not lose their luster. But age had begun to take its toll on him. It was a cold winter morning. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened that day’s newspaper. “Welcome Home, the Gate keepers of Heaven; Welcome Home, Kashmiri Pandits!” Just then, my mother called up. When I told her about the news, she said “Oh dear, your father has already left for heaven!”

Arun Babu

Who are ‘They’? : Blog # 203

Who are ‘They’?

Quite often we here this phrase:“As they say..”. The implied meaning is that whatever you are saying after that is an accepted practice or well known way of life. For instance, “As they say, you can’t have the cake and eat it too”.

But I think these days, there are a couple of more dimensions to this usage. Thanks to the internet, information has become much more accessible. The flip side is that as much easy it is to access information, it has become equally or much more difficult to verify its authenticity. All you need to do is skim thorough some Face book posts attributed to great leaders like A.P.J Abdul Kalam and Ratan Tata. Some of them are so bad that the moment they see a poster with such worthless words attributed to them, they will want to give up their Life! So coming back to the point of discussion, we do not know the sources of many beautiful quotes that we have begun to use “As they say..” much more often. The other day, I heard someone saying “As they say, there is no advantage for one who won’t read over one who can read”. This is told by Mark Twain, the American author and humorist.

Another situation where we use this harmless term is when we want to pass the buck. We use it in situations where we want to shift the responsibility. For instance, how many times have you heard this? “I want to give you a better rating. But their policies won’t agree”. Here ‘they’ refer to leadership of an organization or the HR. The manager here is also part of the system is something that he/she conveniently forgets. This also happens when two teams are involved in a particular project. Being fully aware that there are constraints from both sides, one team will say “We are ok with all your suggestions, but ‘they’ might not be in agreement.

Many a time, we use this pronoun to represent ominous forces. You might have seen in films where a vicious multinational corporation or a group of evil minds will be referred to as ‘they’. It is like J K Rowling’s “He who must not be named”.  Haven’t you heard the protagonist saying “They are coming!” with a frozen face? And then there is this well known award speech " They said I won't make it! I dedicate this award to them!".  There is another situation in at least Indian societies.Whenever a family makes a choice or a decision, there is this omnipresent question of "What will they think?"! Again who in the world are you referring to???

These days, ‘they’ is used as a gender neutral reference too apparently. By nature, it is a gender neutral pronoun. You don’t get to know if someone says “They will be going for a movie tomorrow” if it is a group of ladies or gentlemen. Gender neutrality in this context refers to those people who do not want to be confined by the conventional addressing of Ms. Or Mr. But addressing a single person with ‘they’ sounds a bit odd. Don’t you think?

We also use the poor 'they' to refer to a set of people who do not conform to our way of thinking or being. Be it someone from a different religion, who speaks a different language or who is from a different country. Here, the sad truth is with this one pronoun, we are separating others from ourselves in a way where there isn't much love left.

Arun Babu

Keywords: Gender neutrality,Ominous forces,Pronoun,They,Pass the buck

About Dreams and Life : Blog # 202

About Dreams and Life

On New years’ evening, a few of us friends were out to watch PK. After the movie, I was wondering what people found so great about this movie. I liked the message it conveyed but that was it. The high point of that evening was when my dear friend Ashanka told us a story. It was a very simple story yet it hit me hard! The story goes like this.

There was a landlord and a farmer. One day they were out for a walk in the fields. The landlord owned vast tracts of land. He told the farmer “Listen, I am ready to give you as much land that you can cover on your feet by evening. The only condition is that you must return to me by sunset. Hearing this, the farmer got ecstatic. He started running. He did not stop for lunch. Neither did he stop to wish his friends and family whom he met on the way. There were times when he thought he would drop dead. He still kept on running. He thought of all the fortune that he and his family is going to enjoy. It started becoming dark. He reached a point where he couldn’t run anymore. He stopped and though of returning to the landlord. He turned back. When he was about to start walking back, he saw the sun was setting. It was dusk!

I was blown away by this story! Don’t you think there is a beautiful analogy here? The farmer is us, you and me. The landlord represents people whom we hold close to us. We all have dreams to chase, we all have aspirations to realize and we are in a mad rush to make all that come true. But eventually, we have to return to our family and friends. If we don’t return; like the farmer in the story, all the efforts that we put in become half baked. We will be left with a feeling of having worked hard yet lacking contentment.

Think about this. In all probability, this is our only Life on the face of earth. The time available with us is finite. Then why do we attribute more importance to the youth phase of it? Many of us tend to ignore the twilight period of our lives. How will it feel to spend the later years of our life with memories of only the efforts that we have put in to realize our dreams? Won’t we need memories of some moments which will make us feel warm from within? Only such memories will keep us spirited and make us feel alive in those times when our social circle becomes smaller than the years left to live.

As they say, it takes a long time to grow old friends. I think all of us should strive to find some people be it friends or family with whom we can spend a soulful time with, when our bucket list becomes all checked!

Happy Newyear! 

Zubeida, Peshawar, Dec16th : Blog # 201

Zubeida, Peshawar, Dec16th

Ammi came to my room and pulled away the bed sheet from me. I wanted to sleep for some more time. When Ammi came and whispered in my ear what was for breakfast, I jumped from bed. She kissed me and laughed seeing my enthusiasm. I brushed and went to Abbu. Irfan was sitting in Abbu’s lap. Seeing me, Abbu asked both of us to get ready for school.

At the breakfast table, Ammi and Abbu were talking about a marriage to go to in the evening. I told Abbu that I do not want to go. These marriages are so boring. Abbu said “I know Abbu’s Zubi will come”. That was Abbu’s trick to get me to do something which I did not want to.  When he said that, I also never protestedJ. That was our sacred agreement. As usual, Irfan left behind one last spoon of cereal. Ammi came and fed him that. He always does that!

We were getting late. Abbu started his motorbike. I sat behind and Irfan sat in the front. Ammi wiped my face with her duppatta and I screamed “Ammi, I am not a child anymore!”. She laughed and said “Sorry daadima”. We reached a signal. Abbu asked me “Zubi, what are you going to be when you grow up?”. “Abbu, I want to be a pilot and I will fly you around the world in my plane”. I could see in the mirror that Abbu was beaming with pride. He asked Irfan “ Beta, what do you want to become?”. He said “ Abbu, I will become an officer like you”. The signal turned green. I hugged Abbu even tighter. We reached school and we got down. Abbu, “where do you want me to take you when I become a pilot?” Abbu smiled and said “Take me to the doorstep of Jannat and drop me there my dear”. I did not like that answer at all!

After the assembly, we all went to our classrooms. The first hour got over. I saw that Ammi had kept Irfan’s lunchbox in my bag. I stepped out of the classroom and went to Irfan’s class. I gave the box and was walking down to my classroom. I saw some uncles running towards me. They were in the uniform. For a minute, I thought they were Abbu’s friends. Then, one of them ran towards me and held me by my hair. What mistake did I do? I screamed out my teacher’s name. The teacher came out and they shot at my teacher using guns. I tried crying but I couldn’t and my body started shivering. I said “Sorry uncle. I won’t do it again”. I did not know what I did to make him angry. Then before I could say anything, he took out his gun and shot me.

I hope they did not do anything to my friends. I pray to God that Irfan is safe. What will my Ammi do without me? I am the one who always go for shopping with her. Who will she go with now? Who will polish Abbu’s shoes? Who will Irfan play with? How will I take Abbu on a world tour? What will happen to my dreams?

Zubeida, Peshawar,Dec16th

Anyone who has ever been with a child at least for a day would know that all a child is capable of is to Love. Have you seen a child getting scared? Their eyes go wide and they look at someone who can protect them. If you have ever been in such a position, you would give your life to protect that child. Imagine what those children would have gone through in those class rooms. Can you fathom what bottomless trench of grief the parents will be going through? How will they ever overcome the guilt of not being able to protect their children?

There are moments in eternity where the entirety of humanity weeps for the loss of its own self.  16^th day of December in Peshawar, Pakistan was one such moment. We shouldn’t let it pass. Even if it suffocates ones heart and soul every time one thinks of it, one shouldn’t forget this blot on the consciousness of mankind.

Keywords: Peshawar,Pakistan,Terrorism,Children,Attack,Humanity,Tragedy,Traversity

Pushpak Viman chronicles : Blog # 200

Pushpak Viman Chronicles          

If you are a frequent flyer, there are certain things one cannot help but notice about the way people behave in an airport and on board a flight. The pattern is so obvious that one has to be blind to not make a note of it.

            Let us begin with the airports. The first rush is to screen the baggage. Once the baggage is screened, we move to the check in counters. Many a time, this turns out to be a long winding queue. Some of us who are not used to standing in a disciplined queue make the frustration obvious by making random remarks. Most questions are rhetoric. “Why aren’t all the counters open?”, “Are the staff on leave?”, “Do they know what customer service is!” and it goes on and on. The person standing at the front of queue is in an LOC kind of a spot. He/she needs to be really alert and go in to the next counter which becomes free. Delay it by a second and the people standing behind you will start producing random sounds and rhetoric like the ones we saw above.

At the counter, the overworked – exhausted ground staff gives you a forced smile and a welcome greeting. If one is carrying excess baggage, one should pay for it. Instead what do we do? Random rhetoric comes here again “This is not the first time I am flying!”. “I am never flying by your airline again!”. During boarding, the ground staff announce clearly that the rows at the back need to board first so that there is less congestion inside the aircraft. But who are they kidding? Everyone from rows 1 to 16 will be at the counter demanding to get in first, shouting and arguing with them.

            More interesting things happen inside the aircraft. This starts with NOT greeting the cabin crew at the door. Again the over worked – exhausted cabin crew greets each and every passenger at the door. Most of us don’t even have the courtesy to look at them. Now starts the efforts to place the cabin baggage. Ideally, one should quickly place it in the overhead cabin and take one’s seat. But no! We take our own sweet time, place the bag exactly above our head and then look around and stand in the way! After getting everyone seated just when the cabin crew get ready for safety briefing, we feel thirsty and if the water is not served in the next 10 seconds, starts the rhetoric again!

The safety briefing is the most futile exercise I have ever seen. Right at that moment, many of us get occupied like never before. Some of us will be reading the newspaper or a book, others will be busy with the cellphones and some will look anywhere else but towards the person doing the safety briefing. The underlying vibe here is that I am a frequent flyer and I need not listen to the briefing! Don’t even get me started with the food and beverage being served. Yes I agree that most of it is so synthetic that you don’t feel like even chewing them let alone enjoy the taste. But there is a menu card and these are the only options available. Why should one start enquiring about the spread as if it were a 5 star restaurant buffet? Then there are some people who would want to visit the wash room exactly during take off and landing. I do not know what adrenalin rush they get from doing this!

            The funniest part comes during the landing. The moment an aircraft lands, people get up as if they are poked from beneath the seats! They start opening the overhead cabin and pulling the bags with absolutely no concern if the baggage is hitting an elderly person nearby or a child. Everyone knows that the door will open only after a while and until and unless people in the front rows get out, people in the subsequent rows cannot move. But no, neither will they sit down nor will they stop taking out their bags. You might think they are trying to save time. But these people have to go and stand at the baggage belt till their bags arrive. However fast these people arrive there, it takes some time for the baggage to reach the belt from the aircraft. Not to mention, ignoring the cabin crew who thank us continues during exiting the aircraft also.

            We do all this and wonder why the foreigners look down on us at the airports!

Lessons from nature : Blog # 199

Lessons from nature

        The other day, I happened to watch Animal Planet. It brought back fond memories of watching it as a child. This channel says beautiful stories from the wild – some intriguing, some heart breaking and some which can serve as life lessons even. Half asleep, I was watching this episode of a peculiar kind of parrot called ‘Kakapo’ in the dense forests of Newzealand. The body type of this parrot is hefty. Its wings are not designed to fly. I was wondering, what a cruel joke of nature! A fat parrot which cannot fly! Then came the explanation. These parrots have ancestors dating back to ice age. Before ice age set in,these parrots could fly. During ice age, for survival, they evolved. The need to stay alive was more than the need to fly. So nature discounted the need for weightlessness and bartered it with a body with generous layers of fat so that it could survive the cold wave.

            There was another episode on wild buffaloes and zebras. Always, the wild buffaloes follow zebras to water bodies. The reason? It is their tactic for survival. Zebras apparently need more water than the wild bulls. Hence they approach water bodies more frequently and are better aware of the dangers lurking inside those vast water bodies. They are better equipped to be alert and thus avert danger. So if zebras go in to a water body, the bulls assume that it is safe to drink water there.

            More than Nature’s immense intelligence, what amazed me is another fact. How does this kind of intelligent street smartness emerge? In both the above cases, there should have been many generations of those species which went through many experiences and from these experiences, learning occurs. But how do these lessons get handed over to further generations? One might say it is taught down the generations and thus information is passed on. But same species are spread across continents and they all act in similar ways. It is not that the experiences that they go through are exactly similar. A more interesting explanation seems to be the line of thought which says that there should be some sort of collective memory for each species. All of the living beings go back to that collective memory and tap in to that to successfully find one’s way through the labyrinth of universe. This would mean that our future generations would function based on the experiences that we go through and the collective memory that we create for them. Doesn’t that put an enormous responsibility on us, the people of today? It will be based on the way we react to the life experiences today which will show light for the generations to come as to how they should live their lives. So we better be careful!

Why aren’t we happy? : Blog # 198

Why aren’t we happy?

        I have come to learn that many of our generation aren’t really happy. It is not that we don’t have enough reasons to be happy about. Most of our basic needs are already addressed, thanks to the hard work put in by our parents. Almost all of us have a house; many of us have a car or a two wheeler. Many of us have completed the education that we wanted and have landed a decently paying job. If one were to step back a generation and look at this situation of ours, there is absolutely nothing to be not happy about.

            It is not that we are unhappy. It is just that this current situation in life really doesn’t excite us to a level that we expect it to be. In Human resources, there is a theory called Herzberg’s two factor theory. In a nutshell, it says that absence of dissatisfaction doesn’t mean a person is satisfied. Same is the case with many of us. Absence of unhappiness doesn’t mean contentment.

            I recently read a book on Saudi Arabia. The kind of wealth that country has amassed in such a short time is unbelievable. An unexpected side effect of this enormous wealth is that the youth there aren’t quite happy. One of the reasons attributed is lack of a sense of purpose in their lives. Once the basic needs for a person is fulfilled, there is nothing much to strive for. Then, the things one has to work towards aren’t as tangible and direct as food, clothing and shelter. The reason why our previous generation found happiness much more easily may be due to this. They had to work towards building an infrastructure – getting a job, a house and a vehicle were all compulsions of their times. They worked towards achieving these and when they did so eventually, they found happiness in that. For many of us too, these needs do exist. But there is no sense of urgency attached to it. There is a certain degree of choice about it. Unless one is driven, one can afford to lead a life free of much pressure. But again, this leaves one with a sense of void. We start wondering what exactly our purpose in this world is.

Eventhough finding a sense of purpose is difficult; there are certain ways through which we can move towards that destination. One such is to have a job that makes us feel that we are doing something which will make the world remember us for posterity and thus the yearning to do something which requires a bit of creativity. That gives a sense of fulfilment. Pursuing an active hobby also gives one a feeling of doing something worthwhile. An easier option might be to engage oneself in something that is selfless. It can be contributing to a noble cause – in cash or in kind. This should satiate our appetite for contentment even if it is for a while.