Navratri........My Search for Meaning

Dasara or Dushera is a major Indian festival and is the culmination of and follows a period of nine days preceding it. This day is also known as Vijayadashmi, the tenth day - a day of victory. It is celebrated in most parts of India.

In a large country as ours and with diverse cultures co-existing, it is but natural that there will be varying interpretations. This is often seen in different themes that seem prominent in each region.

To me, a product of post independence India, and, moulded in the liberal school of thought, this was a dilemma of sorts. What is this festival? What is its significance?  

I found that most of us had no clue about the deeper meaning. It was identified as an event that happened in hoary times...destruction of the demon Mahisasura by Goddess Kali or the defeat of Ravana at the hands of Lord Rama. At some places it was identified as worshipping the feminine aspect of the divine and thus Goddess Durga was worshipped for the first three days, Goddess Laxmi for the next three and Goddess Saraswati for the last three days. The "Devi Kavach" honours the nine forms of the Goddess.

Come west to the state of Gujarat, and Garba takes centre stage. I do not refer to the modern day dancing to film and pop music. Traditionally, Garba form of dance was a worship of the Devi-Shakti, and the earthern pot with with a "diya" lit inside represented the womb and fertlity.

I felt these linkages seem symbolic and a message is being conveyed or these indicate that it is time to introspect, review and change.

In my next post, I hope to share with you all how I understood the significance of Navratri and what it really meant.

An Attempt at Self Destruction

Much has been said about what has been done or what has not been done for Commonwealth Games - 2010. This has been dissected in great detail and the potrayals have been overly negative.

Our "free" and often "irresponsible" media went berserk and every invective in the dictionary was hurled at the organisers and the Games. Some even went to the extent of criticising the decision to accept these Games in the first place. There were veiled suggestions that we bribed many nations to get the Games awarded to India.

The hype was so great that the foreign press just had to add their bit and the impressions were of a disaster waiting to happen. Many athletes probably dropped out reading this stuff.

One minister Mr. Mani Shankar Iyer went to the extent of calling this a colonial relic and a waste of money. Every attempt made was to scuttle the whole event from taking place. An open and blatant attempt at self-destruction. 

I am sure the then NDA government never imagined that we would live to see a day like this, when they went all out to get the Games to India. 

It was an effort to project to the world about a young and modern India, a resurgent and confident India, an emerging heavy weight in the world hierarchy. It was also an exercise that would have inspired us Indians to excel in our pursuits and break those limiting shackles that time and our weak minds have imposed on ourselves. An opportunity to mobilise all Indians to come together and create something outstanding.

We were ready to 

junk our image to mud. 

believe that all these efforts are way beyond us. 

believe that we did not deserve the glory that is rightly ours.

Self-destruct.

It would have been tragic if all these had come true. What surprises me is inspite of our manifold strengths, we repeatedly fall into that same trap and believe that we are so fallible. 

The inaugural extravaganza was stunning and I was definitely very impressed with the effort. Coming on the back of very low expectations, the impact may have been higher. This, however, does not dilute any credit  that the programme deserves. I am sure the rest of the Games would stick to high standards.

I remember Swami Vivekananda's words and wonder what the result would have been had we remembered his words:

"Man has infinite power within himself, and he can realise it. Arise, awake,sleep no more;within each of you there is the power............"

"March on! Anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject as poison"

Let these words inspire us to our best and not our media and TV channels who happen to believe only in our worst.

A Dream Journey

A journey to Mt Kailash and Lake Mansarovar can be called a "Dream Journey". There is an element of fear, the unknown thrill and a little bit of mystique

As I mentioned in my previous post, I always wanted to go to Kailash-Mansarovar but never came to firming my mind on this till last year. I finally decided that I must complete this journey in 2009. It was as if the "elements" were waiting for this to happen. Everything fell in place in the most inexplicable manner. This was the most surprising aspect of the preparations.

First it is important to understand some basics.


This "yatra" begins from and ends at Kathmandu. The entire tour is arranged from Nepal along with the Tibet Tourist Authority. All Indian agencies irrespective of their claims must have a back-end tie up with Nepalese agencies.

Secondly, visa to enter China is issued as a group visit visa on a separate sheet. Your passport is not stamped for entry or exit at the China border. Mercifully, this group visa for Indian passport holders is issued at Delhi and the local agent is helpful to that extent.

All arrangements of travel, guide and stay in Tibet are handled by the TTA. One has to compulsorily travel in jeeps provided by the TTA and each group compulsorily has a Tibetan guide.

There are many links in this chain and it is possible that one gets to hear some horror stories. I am not sure if things get as bad as is made out to be but it is possible that occasionally there could be a slip-up. Things can get a little messy if some member of your group were to fall sick.

Tibet is remote and even today most part of Western Tibet does not have metalled roads. Everything (believe me - this incl. gas cylinders) has to be carried from Nepal. This is not the normal vacation with a lot of flexibility and comfort that we are used to and expect. It is sparsely populated and we halt at very small one-street towns. One has to be prepared to use toilets which in normal circumstances we would have given a clear miss. At some stops the wild outdoors seems a better alternative.

Last but not the least, we have to very careful of adjusting to the high altitude. The average level is 15,000 ft above sea level and our bodies take time to adjust. The first few days are a test of our faith. Thankfully, if the do's and don'ts are followed carefully, our bodies adjust quickly. It is important not to be disheartened by the obvious dis-comfort of the first few days. It is normal as is our adjustment.

The entire yatra from - back to Kathmandu lasts sixteen days.

Let me publish this post and begin with details of our journey immediately in the next post without any delay.

The Concept of Nationhood

India has been, is presently and will continue to be at crossroads…so said somebody. Well, we have to constantly make choices for our collective journey through time. As we stand today, pausing and wondering on which path to take, I would like to discuss in this post the concept of nationhood that confronted us and our struggle to grapple with this new idea. Read on…..

An ancient civilization donned robes of a new-born nation at the stroke of midnight of 14-15^th August 1947 hoping to wake up from its long slumber and make its “Tryst with Destiny”.

An ancient race that was spread over a vast multitude of kingdoms and jagirs woke up a new reality of a vast nation – India or Bharat desh or Hindustan to many more. This, probably, was an abstract and a scary concept as against the cocoon like security of one’s small kingdom.

A population that owed allegiance to a central figure – the King and his family suddenly came alive to the vague concept of State and distant rulers.

People used to a certain form of governance for ages had to suddenly learn an alien concept of “Democracy” and come to terms with the niceties of debate and consensus building.

A rigid and feudal structure and a society divided along caste lines were confronted with the frightening possibility of having to live the rest of their lives practicing “Justice - Liberty – Equality and Fraternity”. This value was sought to be transplanted by those who had access to modern education and had a dream of how this young nation should shape up in the decades to come by.

Till we attained our Independence, the sole focus of our people was to attain Independence from the British. Naively, people believed that all our ills were just due to colonial rule and once independent, they would just vanish into thin air as wisps of smoke, if you will. No thinker, probably, recognized the many inherent contradictions existing and simmering just below the surface.

A pan-Indian identity was as alien as sharing the same bench in a school with an “untouchable”. We grew up and limited our identity to our jagir - Kingdom or Province.

These and many contradictions came to the surface and in fact still keep doing so at repeatedly at regular intervals severely testing our faith and patience. Many wring their hands in despair and are convinced about the futility of our experiment with newer ideas and in some extreme elements the idea of nationhood.

Are we close to writing the final verdict? Where and how do we go? Is the political process over-shadowing everything else? Is there hope at all for us? These and similar questions arise in our minds and torture us as we stand almost decade in this new millennium.

I am more sanguine.

What we see today and what depresses and disturbs us should be seen in the light of what I have discussed above. The last sixty two years have been a process of overcoming these inherent contradictions, assimilating newer concepts, learning a new way of life.

We began as a group of nations and commenced the journey to meld together as a cohesive whole. Our society is grappling with many known and unknown currents and evolve it will. This belief is not based on foolish hope but on a study of human behaviour. Given the diverse background, a sense of identity and reconciliation will emerge in due course and all divisive and disruptive elements would quieten down and merge into the mainstream.

After all sixty years is just a small patch across a canvas stretching over tens of millennia or more.

Give India time…..we will sort ourselves out.

Edited to add:

Priyank made a very pertinent observation. We began an experiment six decades back that EU has just started a decade back and the complexity, religious and social diversity is much more that what EU can imagine. Let me add here - all this has been done without two world wars and tens of millions of human casualties. This is amazing and very creditable and we should be proud of ourselves.

Welcome 2009………What a way to start

“Greed, for lack of a better word, is Good” said Gordon Gekko in a 1987 film “Wall Street”. B Ramalinga Raju took it to heart and acted on it.

The Satyam drama has hit us square in the face and it has been a KO punch to the employees, clients, non-promoter shareholders, regulators, State and Central Government, the IT industry and many other stakeholders.

Much has been said and written on this and in the coming days tomes shall be generated. Officers shall investigate through mountains of information and give their verdict. Raju and his band of “corporate pindaris” may yet be found guilty and may be spending the rest of their lives in the slammer.

This is corporate-politician nexus, crony capitalism, manipulation, deceit, treachery all rolled into one and at its worst.

Is that it? – Just a Corporate fraud………or something more

What is more serious and unpardonable, Satyam has inflicted a grievous wound to

- Our faith in ourselves,

- Our belief and capability to build world class businesses

- Our capacity to rise above the murkiness and create something in an atmosphere of transparency and fairness,

- Our capability to rise without a powerful surname, and

- Our trust.

Our faith and trust has been trampled upon with impunity whilst presenting a straight face to the world. This is a letdown of Himalayan proportions. We now have to be apologetic for this skeleton in our cupboard.

We shall view every entrepreneur and his success story with a jaundiced eye half expecting a cooked up story. We shall view every big company with suspicion. There will always be a thought lurking whether we are being taken for a ride.

Who or what can we trust hereafter?

Does this whole episode have a good part to it?

I think the financial markets will be ruthless and any Company / Entrpreneur who cannot stand to exacting standards and high levels of scrutiny will be dumped to the trash bin and sumptuously reward the honest.

Am I being utopian? Is this too much to ask? ……..in a system that has institutionalized corruption and entrenched interests first enrich their small closed clubs to the complete exclusion of everybody else.

Hope Springs Eternal……..

The sun has finally set on what has been a wild roller coaster year leaving us dazed and breathless at the same time. Unimaginable events have taken place and the pace of events has been unprecedented.

In fact, 2008 can be called the Black Swan year. “Black Swan” is a concept coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan – The Impact of the Highly Improbable.

A Black Swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics – its unpredictability, its massive impact and, after it has happened, our desire to make it appear less random and more predictable than it actually was.

This year has seen a series of continuous Black Swan events both in India and globally with some serious impact.

Let me try and recount some from an Indian perspective….

1. The stock market crashes in January and October has been a severe and traumatic experience. Millions of investors suffered large losses.

2. The commodity meltdown was unexpected, sharp, sudden and deep. This has hurt investors, companies and thousands of businesses. Large losses have meant businesses have become ultra cautious.

3. Hyper - Inflation in oil prices and its equally sudden and inexplicable fall has left deep scars on the Indian fiscal scenario. Food inflation has led to a piquant situation.

4. Series of terror acts climaxing with the Mumbai attacks have had such a deep impact on our collective psyche, that even a month later we are not too enthused on celebrating the onset of the New Year. The mood is somber and most have preferred to stay at home.

Well we also have had our share of successful black swans. These have been in the pipeline for some time and we should be seeing the fruits soon –

1. Launch of the Nano – showcased the capability of the Indian brand of frugal engineering and world class quality.

2. The Chandrayaan launch has been a harbinger of sorts. I believe that this small step will eventually lead to great leaps for India in the coming three – four decades.
3. The IPL T20 cricket tournament has the potential of redefining cricket as a game and spectator participation
   

It is normal to magnify the bad memories and make light of the good. The mind has a tendency to blindly accept the negative and doubt the positive.

At this critical juncture and as we march on to a new page on the calendar, our confidence is dented, we are angry at our political class and frustrated at our inability to be assertive and take decisive action against Pakistan. We are also staring, perhaps for the first time, at job insecurity, pay cuts and a possible economic slowdown.

In the midst of all this gloom - Hope Springs Eternal in the Human Breast

And

We shall bounce back!!!

I feel that we have so much going for us and there is so much work yet to be done, then why are we so despondent? We just refuse to recognize our strengths and find strange comfort wallowing in despair. The so-called economic woes are temporary and there is no need for IRRATIONAL PESSIMISM.

I would like everyone to believe that the best years lie ahead of us. The onus is on us to make this possible. Please share your thoughts and optimism and those believing otherwise do come here – we may have a cure for you.

Let me end this post wishing my blogger fraternity a GREAT YEAR AHEAD.

The Positive Spiral – Benefits of Collective Celebration of Festivals

This is the third part of my triology on celebration of festivals in India.

We have a long history of collective celebration of various festivals. This formed the basis of social bonding and a way of expressing gratefulness to the elements. Every element of Nature was taken as a manifestation of the Divine.

Over the years one witnessed many changes. People’s perception changed, their preferences changed, they now had a different approach to religion and spirituality. A significant change in the last century has been the development of large urban agglomerations. Urbanisation, brought in its wake a different set of all-round changes.

Here, we will look at the positive spin-offs of collective celebrations of festivals. I had listed three, viz., Janmashtami, Ganpati and Navaratri celebrations which witness large and spontaneous celebrations.

I would begin by looking at some tangible benefits that have accrued to society

Keeping traditional arts alive due to patronage of these festive groups. Artisans from far and wide make their annual pilgrimage to these places and get value for their skills. Traditional arts are kept alive and more importantly these artisans absorb the latest and assimilate them in their working.

Judicious use of surplus financial resources to run many services as

- Education - Schools, Vocational training institutes,
- Health – Clinics, Ambulance services,
- Social – Aligning with civic authorities and NGOs for work on various issues like river cleaning in Pune, use of eco-friendly material, socially responsible celebrations, post-visarjan cleaning activities.
- Cultural activities covering art, music and sports
- Religious activities like bhajan groups, religion awareness classes.
- Charitable activities – assistance to school going children, shelters for the homeless,

I now turn my attention to some of the intangible benefits. These are important because many do not appreciate these at the first instance but play a very crucial role in our society.

• In today’s stressful times, involvement in organizing and managing is a great cathartic experience. Youthful energies are channeled into something constructive for almost two – three weeks before the actual festival and during the festival itself.

• Experts who have tracked this social phenomenon confirm an appreciable fall in levels of violence and stress. Mental problems also show significant regression.

• Religion is still a powerful motivating factor. Sending social messages intertwined with religion are an excellent way of attempting social change. Firstly, it spreads awareness and if there is a follow-up under a respectable banner, this can be used as a potent instrument of social reformation. One such group had successfully run a “Vyasana Mukti Abhiyan” (Programme to reduce / eliminate addictions) focusing on tobacco, pan masala and alcohol addictions.

• Involvement of local groups – A group festivity celebration puts the onus of good planning and execution on the organizers. This involves large groups of people in what is essentially voluntary work. This is a sort of forced team work and with a dash of devotion thrown in does a lot to promote social harmony. I have seen this especially, during Ganpati celebrations. Over the years, volunteers develop a sense of strong loyalty to group activity, and this becomes an annual pilgrimage of sorts.

• Participation by people in these festivals is an occasion for social interaction and bonding. It is also used by groups which move from one location to another for the “darshan”. In fact, there is a custom that one should see “Eleven Ganpatis”. This is a joyous group activity and increases the “feel good” factor in us.

• Beneficial vibes from participation in “Aarti” (ritual in which light either from lamps or camphor is offered to the deity) and “Bhajan” (collectively singing praises of God) sessions. It is widely accepted that collective prayer and singing has profound healing effects on the whole group.


I have listed some of the main positive spin-offs from our tradition of collective celebration of festivals. I am sure, if one were to study this subject in detail, it could form the basis of a doctoral thesis. I wonder if any one in India has chosen to study this.

It would be very illuminating to share experiences and view points from others – not only from India but across the whole wide world.

This Festival Season – The Obvious is what we see.

The Indian Calendar has two broad streams – Shalivahan Shaka and the Vikram Samvat. Both these calendars have the same months in the same order.

If you observe carefully, you have a long festival season that begins around mid-July and extends right up to Diwali around October – November.

This is followed by a break of a couple of months till around mid-February. The next two months mid-April, that is the period between Mahashivratri thru to the harvest festival season covering Holi in between is the busy season again. This is followed by a lull from mid-April through to mid-July.

The most intense festive period according to me and the focus of this post is the period between mid-July through mid-November. The festive atmosphere is amazing with very high energy levels prevailing all around.


During this period we have at least three festivals which witness spontaneous and large participation from the masses. We have the Janmashtami (or Gokul Ashtami) celebrations, Ganapati celebrations and lastly Navaratri festivities.

It is my attempt to see these festivities from a different perspective. The first would be to see and appreciate what is visible and, therefore, obvious. Going further, it would be very interesting to examine what is beyond the obvious. To be fair, it is imperative to look at the seemingly dark side and what I consider the brightest aspect of these festivities.


The obvious that one sees, as part of these celebrations, is

a. Plenty of glitter and elaborate arrangements
b. High levels of devotion
c. Strong interest from the people to participate in such festivities as evidenced by large crowds and long serpentine queues,
d. Participation of many people in the organizing efforts,
e. Popularity of thematic presentations like Environment, Pollution Control, Peaceful co-existence, anti-terrorism themes…..
f. Competitive spirit amongst various groups,
g. Cultural programmes, various competitions and sports events for the residents of that area.

There is no limit to what else can be added as part of these festivities. All creative juices are in full flow.

In the next post, I will examine What is beyond the obvious?

Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations – It’s meaning to me

Today is the fourth day (Chaturthi) of the first half (Shukla paksh) of Bhadrapad month as per the Hindu calendar. This is day of Ganesha or Ganapati and celebrated with great devotion in Maharashtra and rest of the country.

Literally, every household is a picture of devotion, excitement, energy and supreme happiness. I have friends who tell me that they feel so energetic and fresh in spite of being on their feet the day long and sleeping so little. They also feel the vacuum and loss of energy when the Lord departs at the end of ten days of festivity.

I have always marveled at this total change in the atmosphere for ten days. Maybe, I should also add the twenty days preceding this day too.

Every year, we go to the GSB – Wadala Math for our poojas and this year is no different. I pondered on what Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations meant to me. This led me to a fascinating journey inwards, almost like meditation and I felt blessed at the end of it. Let me share the quintessence of what I understood.


Life is a gift from the divine and we have come here to achieve something in our lives. It is up to us to find our true calling and it is our duty to make a difference where it is required.

That - this divine force is always by our side and we are blessed and taken care of. In fact, I am told that all our needs have been taken care of, some even before we have realized them as our need.

That – we are solely responsible and have that infinite power to write our own destiny.

That – festivals are an occasion to express our undying gratitude for all blessings in our life and also an occasion to celebrate life itself.

At the end of this, I was in total awe, experienced complete devotion and absolute surrender and bliss.

We bow down at the divine feet of Lord Ganesha and seek His Grace in all aspects of our life.

May each one of you have a great festival ahead. Let us all thank Lord Ganesha for all the blessings he has bestowed on us and our family members.

That Unseen Power

Every year, 13th May is a special day for all Art of Living devotees. This day happens to be the birthday of Sri Sri Ravishankar, known and accepted as "Guruji" by millions of his followers. On this day devotees hold special sudarshan kriya sessions and satsangs and yesterday was no different. This day 13th May 2008 turned out to be very special for me. Kriya at the crack of dawn was mind blowing, but more importantly this day demonstrated forcefully the undisputed presence and power of divine grace.

We, Indians, generally believe in divine grace or will of god or a supreme unseen force that guides our destinies. This faith is so complete and unconditional that it baffles many a foreigner and it also invites ridicule from many of our so-called "educated" and "modern" Indians. This behaviour is also very unique to us - beyond a point we surrender to this divine force and leave it at that.

Let me share what happened to me yesterday. I boarded the local train at Churchgate to go home. As is the normal practice, I kept my bag on the luggage rack and settled down to the forty-five minute journey to Andheri. As things would have it, a momentary lapse of attention and I got off at Andheri forgetting my bag on the luggage rack. I realised as I was walking on the platform, and, rushed back to the compartment to retrieve my bag. To my horror the bag was missing. Some eagle eyed light-footed blighter made of with my bag.

I was devastated. The bag contained our passports and we were scheduled to fly to London in four days time. It took me a while to come to terms with what had happened. My wife joined me at the railway station. Subsequent procedures of filing police complaints and getting their FIR took the next one-hour.

On the drive back home, I realised that I was not cursing my carelessness but was quite cool and very much in the present moment. My only prayer was that I should be getting back my passports and just left the whole thing to that "unseen power".

On reaching home, I spoke to the travel agent, the passport agent, some acquaintance in the police, a few close friends......and to my surprise every one advised me to pray, saying, "Only God can save you". It struck me that prayer and surrender is so natural to us that in times of crisis this acts as a major stress buster and helps you to focus on other things.

To cut things short, the eagle eyed fleet footed blighter could find only a cell phone of interest and he dumped the bag on the Vile Parle station where it lay unattended for about two hours before the police constable on duty took it in custody. Before midnight we got the bag and passports back.

I just want to highlight our belief in prayers and when things are beyond our control a sense of surrender. I also experienced first hand the presence of such a power. I believe that it was also divine grace that saw me through this short drama without any damage. Contemplating on the events that unfolded, it became very apparent that this was no ordinary co-incidence. It was that supreme unseen power at work.

I am blessed for I believe, I know and I have experienced. It does not matter if others would choose to call it mere co-incidence.