I ask myself the meaning of humility.
It is a virtue extolled by all spiritual leaders and religions. As school children we learn this at a very early age in our religion or moral science class. However as we grow, the relentless rat race to get ahead teaches us the practicality of self-promotion. Truth assumes varies hues.We see white lies as a new addition to our dictionary.
Life teaches us at a early age that truth can only get you to some place, while the same truth embellished can take you much further in the material world. The “power of spin” is equated with leadership. Out goes ethical behavior or morality, they being impractical in the world today.
The result is erosion or unlearning of all teaching drilled into us as children.
A humble person is equated with a wimp, or worse a fool.
When I first read Dostoevsky as a 18 year old, I was profoundly influenced by Prince Myshkin “The idiot”. His morality shone through like a shining star in this dark and murky world. Admittedly a creation of the author’s imagination, this character taught me the meaning of humility. It accomplished what the combined efforts of all other forms of learning could not.
It humbled me and made me aware of how pride and ego corrupts the soul.I have since revisited the book and I gain a lot of moral energy from the same.I wish he had attainable qualities. But then it is looking for an ideal which lives in a different world. However even a bit of his quality will help.
Dostoevsky has other great literature too, which have been significant for me. Brothers Karamzov, Crime and Punishment and several short stories vie with each other for mention.
The Prince is however royalty. May he live forever in the thoughts of human beings and touch their lives the way he touched mine.
When the dotcom bubble burst it had several unfortunate consequences for people who had invested their careers in the newage companies. I started working in brick and mortar IT companies as a sales person from 1992. Marketing executive, Marketing Manager,Area Sales Manager,Sales Manager of reseller companies, Value added resellers,System Integrators finally to the distributor companies, I had seen it all over a period of 8 years. Then I took a chance and accepted a position in Cyberitmall.com as Business Development Manager in 2000. Cyberitmall was a division of Orient Information Technologies Ltd.which was established on the back of its outsourcing business. It had offices across the globe with clientele from the middle east,US and the far east.It was listed on BSE and had influential board members like Ketan Parekh. The MD and main investor is Ketan Sheth.
Cyberitmall was formed with the objective of creating an alternative ecommerce channel for IT requirements catering to B2B and B2C markets. Its business was to create a valuation and become an attractive takeover/acquisition target thus benefiting all the stakeholders. The project as it was known by Orient was headed by Trupti Sheth the general manager.
After the dotcom bubble burst in India with UTI and Ketan Parekh coming under a cloud the whole reason for its existence was challenged. Orient had no interest in a brick and mortar like operation and this had an impact on its employees.However the young and energetic team rallied around Trupti and was keen on making afight of it.
However the operation was leaking expenses, and Ketan Sheth had to take hard decisions. One day he called us and pulled the plug as humanely as possible. He offered a generous settlement, or an opportunity to get inducted in the parent company.I was disillusioned and decided to call it a day. Before taking this decision, I felt the need to communicate to Trupti informally,as I enjoyed a close working relationship with her.These words were penned before dawn, and they drained me and strengthened my resolve at the same time. I am not in regular contact with Trupti, but her 1 year association is very precious. I reproduce my email below.
Hi Trupti,
I know that these may be difficult times for you. I’ve always admired the way you have put 200% for anything you took up. There are a few professionals I know who measure upto your standards, as far as commitment goes. This even your detractors will have to concede. So if this decision has to happen after your tremendous efforts then it is definitely not because for want of trying on your part.
I’ve always taken a lot of pride in handling challenges, taking on tasks which people doubt the success. I see myself as problem solver & have respect for my abilities & I will give it my best try. I also know that I need not worry on who gets credit as long as there is success. I also know that failure will not bother me, because I will not fail on my part. As long as I know it, it matters little what others know or believe. And please believe me I dont think that you or I have failed.
I know that the business we did from Jan onwards at an avg of 50 L approx. per month, with the resources available is definitely a success story, take any comparison. (Paradyne started 2 yrs back, it did 6 Cr first yr of operations & 30 Cr. the 2nd yr, it has charted 100 crs this year).It started as a cut price company, now they have become a 10-15% GM co ,because they have moved up the value chain i.e. Sun, Cisco, multi-location presence, ASPstatus etc. I have full faith that with Orient coming out of hardware business, there is another Paradyne in the making possible with the base/debris/roadkill of the CIM project. I had prepared myself for the worst scenario, hence I was not affected/ traumatized by Ketan’s announcement. I only thought to myself that this means that whatever I thought of/believed in, now it is time to implement.
There comes a time in life when you risk it all & people say you have lost your marbles. I contacted a few friends for advice & none of them say that there is any risk/foolishness to do it. So I’m at a stage where I either do what I outlined above. Or I look for a position for myself, which I started doing on 16th June (completion of 1 yr in CIM).I definitely do not look at any position in Orient, not because I will not fit in. I say this because I see bad Karma in Orient. I will work with a company which believes in itself, which can boast of some quality. Even if it has to be a company of 1 person. I know these are harsh words.Truth is seldom sweet. Do not worry on my account, I will survive this.
So it brings me to the end-game. It is time to say good-bye. It is time to dwell over the past without bitterness & hurt. It is time to remember the positives.(I’m crying as I write this. I am surprised that I have this emotion in me.)
All the best in life & we will be in touch.
Regards
Vazir
I completed my Bachelor of Engineering degree in electronics from Poona University in 1991. After spending a few months at my family business, I realized that I was just a glorified slave. My father and his two younger brothers-my uncles ran the family business under the titular leadership of my retired grandfather. My father had just failed in his independent venture and hence had lost all leadership claims. The youngest brother- my uncle had usurped control.
This uncle had failed in his ambition to become a doctor and he attributed this to the lack of financial support from my grandfather and father. He cited others who had bribed their way through medical colleges, and wondered why he was bereft of such benefits!! Naturally,I became a special target as I completed my engineering inspite of difficulties engineered by him.
So when I started out to hunt for a job, I had an objective of establishing myself independent of my family business.
One of the first places I visited was Liberty Automation Systems in Wadala. Rajiv Sethi who had started this company after a career in IDM conducted my interview. Rajiv in the course of his interview informed me that I was better suited for sales than support for which I had applied. He offered me a job on the spot and I accepted without much consideration. I was signed on for a royal salary of Rs.1200 + commissions per month.
My father was disappointed as this royal sum was much beneath the lacs we could have made in business, however my mother supported my decision. My younger uncle could not hide his satisfaction with the turn of events with his sarcastic remarks much to the chagrin of my parents. However the commissions were healthy and I was soon making more money than the employees at Godrej.
My interview was remarkable because I was impressed with Rajiv’s interviewing techniques. He conducted it as follows:
a) A multiple choice written exam within a fixed time frame.
b)Candidates who passed with 70% and above were interviewed next. This personal interview consisted of a mock sale with Rajiv offering his watch to be sold back to him. He enacted the role of a tough customer.
c)Background information was collected during the personal interview.Language proficiency and conversational skills would also be judged at this stage. By this stage the result would be clear to both parties
Though this may not be a applicable for experienced candidates, it was perfect for recruiting new comers. I used the same techniques for future occasions while employing sales persons for my team. It is unbelievable that quite a few people excel in misrepresenting or over-projecting their abilities. However these multiple steps guaranteed that the best candidates were chosen.
There are 3 powers affecting life:
Power to create:
power to sustain/nurture:
power to destroy :
They are present in each life form in the form of their physical organs. Personality or characteristic is determined by the balance between them at a given point. This extends to all matter as well.
If creation is a pure positive white and destruction a pure negative black, then sustenance involves grey area where a mix of both is required.
For sustenance/nurture – i.e. lifecycle, the amount of darkness or whiteness used determines the color of the soul. Purer souls are whiter as they use more of the whiter powers i.e. creativity, while darker souls are darker as they have used more of their destructive powers.
Capitalism if based on creativity can generate wealth which is white.
Capitalism if based on destructive powers can generate wealth which is tainted.
Frequently it is observed that creativity is altruistic, as its intent is to give and benefit others.
However destructive power is generally for self-propagation and interest.
All saints/good men do not hanker for wealth or fame. It is simply a byproduct of their actions.
Karma- Action- We feel we understand it. However action is itself not adequate without understanding the motive.
A surgery of a limb is good motive based action. However amputating a body in war/terror is a evil motive based action. Both actions are the same, the motive is different.
Frequently actions are classified as good or bad. However Motive is at a higher plane than action itself.
What is higher than motive?
It is DESIRE.
Life/being is a captive of desire.
Desire gives birth to motive. Motive gives birth to action.
So a being is controlled by its desires, or the being controls his desires. It is the nature of the desires which sets the circle in motion.
So all saints/good men advocate control of desires.
This may be anti-capitalism, egalitarian, bourgeoisie etc. Slots are just classification. But man is multi-dimensional. So no one label suffices.
Karma= Action
Yogi= practitioner of the yoga.
Karma Yogi = Practitioner of the yoga of action.
All actions are governed by motives, which in turn are governed by desires (aasa).
A true Karma Yogi is the one who attains controls of his/her desires and hence controls his actions. So his actions would not be driven from the objective of personal gain or desire, but more driven by the sense of duty (dharma).
Duty= Dharama- Each person has multiple duties. e.g. as a son, as a father, as a citizen, as a human being, as a spirit/soul etc. The actions which are governed by performing various duties are the actions of a karma yogi.
So a Karma yogi does not require to retire, pray, prostate to achieve his goals. He is truly governed by his sense of duty.
Where does the sense of duty come from. Some of it is part of the soul itself. Rest is the result natural influences like society and upbringing.
If people do not recognize duties, or exclude them from their lives then they are not Karma yogis.
A colleague started a discussion. He expounded his views on how mankind is transcending past milestones, and a vision of the future.
He penned that Faith is dependent on divinity. And cited Joan D’Arc and Jesus on how they failed when their faith could not be met by their divinity.
He also put down his views on Immortality, a subject of his current study. It is seen as goal by him.I do not reproduce his views as they are his IPR.
My response is enclosed.
Whatever we will do in the future will follow the immutable laws of nature (Kudrat). Your awareness of how things work (& technology) makes it possible to do whatever has not been done in the past. No real reason to gloat, as this was true for our fathers and grandfathers too. They did what their previous generations could not.
Charles Darwin proved it that each generation passes on its characteristics in genes. However these genes change over time due to influence of nature.
Even disease changes people. Every adversity changes people. It develops a resistance to all threats by evolving the human being. Similarly it phases out features which are no longer necessary due to disuse. Species which evolve faster than the changes in nature survive, otherwise the biggest of them (Dinosaurs) go extinct.
Who/what controls these changes? I have faith in an entity beyond our ability to comprehend, which is responsible for ensuring this. You may worship him as God, or curse when things are not in your favour. However Fate/Destiny/Providence is what is inevitable. We control only our behavior (if we are saints, or evolved enough to understand). Since existence is all about balance, be sure that our actions will create reactions. You may call it the law of Karma, or any other name. Moral of the story is that we will never get whatever is not due to us. On the flip, no one can snatch whatever is yours.
Souls have no limitations. It is the bodies which decay. Surely it is more interesting to devote time to nurture the soul which is not extinguishable, rather than plan and hanker for the comforts of the body. If immortality means delaying the inevitable then it is not immortality.
What does the soul need? No food, no water, no riches, no family, no friends.
I suppose it needs salvation.
How does one (or the soul) attain Salvation?
This is actually what kept Siddhartha awake in the night, and turned a prince into a mendicant called Buddha. Moksha for him was denial of sensory pleasures and emotions.
Long LIVE (opposite of DIE) the immortals. Why is this slogan necessary? Immortals cannot die by definition. They live in a country called UTOPIA. It is rumored to have been in existence since time immemorial. Its citizenship however requires one to deviate from the mundane life, and go on a path which you seem to be more qualified than I am to comment.
I draw inspiration from my heroes. Be it Achilles, Jesus, Alexander, they left this world at a relatively young age. However the irony is that they are actually the immortals by living through the eyes of the generations to follow.
Remember the phrase “ The meek shall inherit the earth”. Strength is in character, which the meek can posses in ample. Other strengths, bodily or mentally can cause people to develop pride. And Pride comes before a fall.
Sorry to use clichés. This is to delink the idea of faith and strength. Strength is not ability to walk in fire or save the Christ from the cross. It is the ability to bear them and be martyred. Why do you think Joan D’Arc and Christ are remembered today? Surely not because of their weakness (opposite of strength).It is because of their faith.
As children we hear about how friends stick together. We learn that squealing on mates is a huge flaw in character. Frequently what we learn as children is what forms the basis of our behavior for life.
I can share two instances which brings the topic in play.I am sure everyone would have made decisions of these types in their lives.The first incident is penned in this page below.
As a child, I had to experience change frequently. My family was struggling to keep its head over water. As a result of a few bad business bets,my father had to go through selling our house to relocate to smaller place. From a spacious and fashionable address in Worli,Mumbai we travelled up the corridor to Andheri west in 1979. I was 12 years of age and had just made it to the 8th standard.
My brother and I were duly put in the Holy Family High School in Chakala. It was a good school and I have fond memories of a few things during my 2 year tenure there. One of the memories is related to the topic of discussion.
I was a back bencher due to my prodigious height. Being a new comer in the 8th standard, my abilities were not well established in the class. So I was frequently labeled a rogue in the time honored tradition of back benchers. This had several unpleasant consequences for me.
One day the school had a book fair, which gave us the opportunity to lay our hands on the treasures of Enid Blyton,Tin Tin,Hardy boys and other unachievable gems. Unfortunately a few of the classmates were unable to resist temptation. One of them was the class monitor who had a clean reputation.As a result their school bags acquired a bulkier dimension varying with the degree of their greed. Most of this stuff was right in row 1. The rogues from the back benches being naturally impervious to the charms of literature.
The principal of the school had a well deserved reputation of being a forceful inquisitor. The rumor of his visit to the class room was enough to send the books scurrying from the first row to the back row traveling from hand to hand. These books then literally flew out of the window and into the compound a few feet away from their original location in the hall. They were however outside the hall, but plainly visible.
As it turned out the inspection squad could only recover one book from the bags. The class monitor obviously had a better estimate of his reputation than the school authorities. Around the same time the books were discovered lying in the compound. The complicity of the back benches was established beyond doubt. The rows in front were naturally populated with angels until proved otherwise.
The 4 or 5 boys from the back bench were summoned by a teacher, Girls being exempt from sinful conduct. In the true fashion of the catholic church, we were asked to confess our crimes, or name the offendors.
There came the question of the code of honor for me.
I was not a party to robbery. But my fate was playing a game and I had to prove my character.
As the only person to not confess the guilt or name the offenders, I was disciplined after class. Additionally I figured in the list of an offendor who confessed . He cited me as an accomplice.
This resulted in my name being announced next day in the assembly, in the context of a red card or yellow card (I forget) for dishonorable behaviour.
I still think back and ask myself. Would I do different? The code of honor bars my way. I asked my conscience keeper, my mother. I asked her what I should do? Her words are immortal and still guide me.
” Ask yourself .”
Cryptically she conveyed that the conscience of a person is his own. He has to decide what is right and wrong.He has to take responsibility for his actions. And he has to take consequences for his actions.
I grew up, but this is a teaching I wish I can convey to my children as well.At a young age they need to take responsibility for their actions.
I believe what I did what was right. I also believe that consequences are not the decision making criteria. It is your fate which may reward you with a red card or a certificate of merit.
Second story to follow soon…
I remember a time when I started my career in 1992. Internet was not all pervasive, cell phones were not there.In fact a facsimile machine was a luxury.
In 15 years technology has evolved and is all pervasive. It has frighteningly acquired dimensions that have created huge dependencies.
What happens if the plug is pulled on it due to force-majuere. Well, the impact is crippling.
On the flip side, the communication revolution provides us with an opportunity to use knowledge and innovate like never before. You enjoy,relax, and learn at the same go.
The generation of youth exposed to these technologies are scoring higher in IQ as per a recent study reported in the BBC world service. Apparently the computer games do impart these additional IQ scoring abilities by challenging and multiple dimensional problem solving aspects of the games. With the advent of role play, they frequently substitute real life. And technology in way starts nearing the definition of a deity for some. It is all powerful,all knowing and all pervasive.Omni everything.
Is it also causing the erosion of norms of behaviour? I mean abusing a keyboard is simpler/easier than calling a person a name to his face.Especially when the consequences are negligible. So has civilization and freedom of speech come at the cost of honor? Or erosion of the soul.
Imagine someone of the calibre of Amitabh Bachchan using the blog to now defend himself from such abuse. Right back at you he says to the media which is used to abusing their power. Naming and shaming people has been his strategy. I personally feel it will cause the individuals shamed a bit of a shock.Some may actually benefit.People love celebrities especially when they are being lynched. It somehow comforts them to know that they are better off than that so and so XYZ, who though famous, is actually a worthy person.
The good news is that now several versions of the truth can be available, so there is no dearth of data on any subject. Wikipedia is the source I frequently refer to whenever I need the shortcut to knowledge. So exposure to multiple thoughts and views on a subject also widens our horizons. It also renders us more amenable to the idea of a disparate world with a myriad existence.
Bye with these thoughts
