Ramblings

Italy ; Follows it neighbour

2010-06-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

What a match: Slovakia V/s Italy. Former FIFA champions hardly looked like champions. It was amazing to see a team which has seen the peaks of glory just 4 years ago, playing like a league team.

Similar to the France match, there was no strength in the Italy attack. Slovakia played as if it had nothing to lose and it was able to score 3 goals. Italy got its act together in the dying minutes of the game and play some fantastic football to score 2 goals, but it was too late. The damage was already done and they ended up at the bottom of the pool (can you believe that, bottom of the pool).

Looks like this world cup is for the underdogs, USA, Slovakia, Paragua, Mexico teams are making it to next round and key football playing countries are heading out of the door in the first round. I am sure there will be similar upsets in the coming rounds too as sudden death kicks in from the next rounds. It is really going to be interesting to watch.

All in all, let us hope to see some good football play instead of the very placid games that have been played so far. Football should triumph as much as the country playing it.

France ' O' France : Qu'est-ce que c'est?

2010-06-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

C'est ne pas Bien.

Is this the same French team that we grew up watching, watching the curly kick from Michele Platini. It is a shame to see the team in such tatters loosing all their matches. Todays lose to South Africa must be the Pits.

The words of the ESPN commentrator is clearly etched in my mind. ' This is a team of great players, they play very well in the leagues, but they have never played together and never played as a team'.

The team never looked like it had any game plan. The attack lacked the co-ordination and the Sting.

In contrast the Mexico team seems pretty organized and ability go deep.

The European teams seems to be loosing their sheen is it.

Well let us see how the next round progresses and what more surprises are in store

Sachin's 200

2010-02-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

It was really a surprise to read about Sachin's double ton in the morning. I also was fortunate to get a link to watch the highlights of the India innings. What an innings, with Shewag going early, it was really delightful to watch this innings. No room for error, precision. His 46th century in ODI and first guy in history of ODI's to hit a 200. Amazing level to which he can take his game.

It is a reminder to all of us, that even when people have given up on you, one can rise like a phoenix. Like all good things in like, the above statement comes with a caveat.

You have to be a true professional ( playing for the game)
Believe in yourself
and dedicate yourself to the cause.

Easy to say hard to practice. It just so happened that the other day, a colleage of mine was mentioning that he shared a room with Sachin Tendulkar, during his early Ranji days and that even in his spare time, he would spend time thinking about the game next day, strategizing the shots to play or reminiscing the day gone by. While the rest of them would go out and enjoy themselves. That really takes dedication early on in one's career which pays out in the longer run.

Name Changes and its impact

2009-06-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

Its the time again, when we are changing, from a Satyam to a Mahindra Satyam. Believe me the feeling is not a sense of " We are Changing" it is more of my identity will no longer exists.

Having spent 12 + years in the organization, which started of as Satyam Enterprise Solutions, We were quite proud of who were and what we did and how we were different from our parent organisation ( Satyam Computer Services). The first pain was when we had to forgo our entity of SESL and be called SCSL, I still remember the fights i had with my room mate on being classified along with Satyam Computer Services, who at that point only did Y2K work. We were know differently and had hope to create that.

Anyway, work took priority and was busy doing what I was best and hence did not realise when i became a Satyamite. The next 7 years are busy, until the storm of December 2008 and January 2009 hit us hard really hard. All sorts of names were being hit at us. Scam Tainted, Scammed, Fraud hit, with Tabloid of India ( TOI) and Entertainment Times ( ET) doing most of the damage, with what they called reporting. The name still meant something to the 50000+ Satyamites and to the customers who knew us like that, we were a creed. It was like a gotra for most of us, as you can understand, there were folks who had spent close to 8+ years in the organization. So it hurt when folks did not realize to separate the perpetuator from the organization.

It was a toughest 4 months, then Tech Mahindra came over and took us under their wings. Looks like an angel coming to help. and now we are called Mahindra Satyam. There is a sign of "We are changing" hanging on our door. and i am wondering again, what is our identity, what will we known as.

Only time will tell, if we continue to be Mahindra Satyam or change into something else. Will be succeed with this new name ? Will this name come to us as smoothly as Satyam came over? Will our customers know us with the same confidence based on the new name?

Wishing the best for the organisation, for i strongly believe that the organisation is above the individuals who run it or work in it. Wishing Luck

Wish us luck

The importance of WORDS

2009-01-21T22:15:00.000-08:00

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Obama retakes oath of office
WASHINGTON: Barack Obama was sworn into office for a second time on Wednesday, amid legal concerns raised after he and US Chief Justice John Roberts erred on one word during Tuesday's inaugural ceremony. Some constitutional scholars raised questions about whether Obama was technically the president after Roberts, attempting to recite the oath of office by memory, misplaced the word "faithfully" while administering the oath to Obama. "We believe that the oath was administered effectively and that the president was sworn in appropriately [on Tuesday]," White House chief counsel Greg Craig said in a statement. "But the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of an abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice Roberts administered the oath a second time." The presidential oath set out in the US constitution states a new president must say, "I will faithfully execute the office of the president of the United States." Roberts put the word "faithfully" at the end of the sentence. Obama paused, allowing Roberts to correct himself, but then repeated the sentence as Roberts originally said the words. Most constitutional scholars said the slip-up didn't matter, because the 20th amendment to the constitution states that an incoming president takes office automatically at noon on January 20. But one expert, Boston University scholar Jack Beermann, told San Francisco Chronicle it remained an "open question" whether Obama was actually president if the oath was administered improperly. So, at 7:35pm on Wednesday evening, Justice Roberts administered the oath again — this time correctly. The scene was the White House Map Room in front of a small group of reporters, not the Capitol platform.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting continuation to the media related articles i have been writing. The emphasis of using the right word at the right place in the sentence and the importance of it when dealing with the most important man on earth. If we look back on our day to day conversations or the books we read, we do not place as much emphasis on the words that are coming out of our mouth. Infact we rarely pause to think on the words and their meanings. Esp when you are coming from India, where there are multitude of languages, we speak multiple languages, but unfortunately have little hold on a single language. To understand the nuances of the language, the pitfalls and the good and similarly use it to convey what we think.

At this stage I would like to bring to notice what Shri KM Munshi had called the Vedas in his book Krishnaavatar ( an eloquent book written on Shri Krishna), he had called the translation as the WORD. and nothing else, is it surprising that the Vedas, should be called WORD and the way the Vedas are structured in Sanskriti, each word has a meaning and each sentence is structured in a uniqued way.

So let us be more aware of what we say and what we read and how we structure our "WORDS" and most important of all, stand by the "WORDS" we are saying.

StoryLine

2009-01-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

Today, my wife was talking about a historic story writer, not validating facts when writing the story. The story was basically talking about flora and fauna in a point of time in history, when that flora and fauna did not exist.

In today's world of the internet, it is so easy for any reader to validate these facts. And hence it becomes even more difficult for writers to write historical stories. I grew up reading stories written by Frederick Forsyth / Robin Cook / Michael Crichton. The amount of details on history they would write used to be amazing, it really was the amount of research that would have gone into making this story real. Why aren't stories written well I used to think.

Well the same applies to our newspapers, the Fourth Estate in India is nascent and I guess everybody wants to make their mark, the movie Phir Bhi Dil hai Hindustani, really captures the essense of this. Is this the reason that stories are being published instead of news reports. Will out Fourth Estate mature is the question that needs to be asked.

I just hope for you and me and our future generation, they come through

oH !! Why did you cut the tree

2009-01-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

An intersting story of current times

There was once an enterprising man, who bought a vast land. On this vast land, he planted a tiny sapling. He saw the sapling settling in taking strong roots and firm ground. To ensure the growth of this sapling, the man got the services of a gardener. The gardener watered the sapling, provided fertilizers and set up a fence around the sapling to prevent animals from eating it. As the sapling began to grow, there were other wonderful things thats started happening. The roots went deeper and deeper in search of water and minerals for the sapling to grow to a tree. The tiny creatures in the soil allowed the roots to grow along by ensuring that weeds or other harmful creatures were destroyed to enable the roots to grow stronger.

Similarly, the sapling was growing big above the ground too, the branches started hosting a lot of birds, critters and insects within it, they ensured that the branches and trees grew too and ensured all the harmful creatures were kept away. The sapling had grown to significant large tree in a short while. The tree no longer needed the fence, but the gardner was still entrusted with the care taking of the tree. The owner of the land was very happy with the tree, the tree was full of fruits and creatures and the whole environment around the tree was a wonderful ecosystem in itself. He opened the tree for others to come and enjoy. People from far and beyond came to see this wonder, bask in its shade and smell the wonderful fragrance and take rest under it. Kids played on and around the tree. Lovers met and carved their names to ensure their love was for time immemorial. The tree in itself was happy that it was able to touch so many lives and was happy.

Suddenly out of no where, the owner of the land decided to chop the tree and bring it down. He did not once think or talk to the gardner, the lovers, the critters, the birds, the insects , the kids or the people who made this tree a wonder. An all of the sudden the tree was nothing but a block of wooden blocks on the ground. To be sold in the marketplace for a few coins of gold

Oh !! mighty land owner, why o why did you cut the very tree you had planted, why did you not think of the fate of all the folks who had depended on this very tree. Who gave you the right to cut the tree, true you had planted it, true it was on your land, but it was the energy and effort of all the folks through the years of growth of the tree that had cherised the tree to grow to its stature of grandure and fame.

So Let this be a lesson to all the owners, If you so want to get a few coins of gold, please plant a tree that does not touch so many lives and still gets you the coins of gold you so desire.

Satyam & Media

2009-01-16T10:36:00.001-08:00

It has a been a eventful 2 weeks at Satyam ( I am a proud Satyamite). What has happened is evident to everybody. But what pisses me off, is the way the media has been showcaing the news. I want to question whether what Economic Times or Mr Udayan Mukherjee of CNBC were doing was news in the first place. Let me go point by point

Economic Times and TOI: Somebody mentioned me that TOI should change their name from Times of India to Tabloid of India. And Economic Times is supposed to be a paper that does analysis on business. But both these news papers have been spewing lies after lies after lies. No Analysis, no verfications and no understanding of what the impact of the news will do to the general public.

Mr Udayan Mukherjee: I am singling out only one person from this channel because, he was not non-partisan in his statements and news coverage. Overall CNBC india has provided a very balanced approach to the whole scenario. but this one guy was going on and on and on, as if he had lost a lot of money on this stock, he did not care about the employees working at this organization. He should remember that organizations are made because of people working there. His news show runs because of people who do the analysis and write it up for him and not because of his cute little face in the camera, i am sure, nobody is going to listen to just crap coming from him because of his cute face. There are people who make an organization successful. I hope Udayan understands that.

News and Analysis : The another this press has done is done reporting ( a.k.a post man giri). I expect the journalists in the business domain to let me and the overall public to let me know very objectively what will the impact of this be to the overall economy and to the business community in general. What options does Satyam as an organization have to survive and what are the impact because of this to the IT industry in general and what customers and new comers to this industry need to worry about.

Hvae they atleast done all the reporting in good faith and objectivity: Unfortunately NO. There were reports that
a) Satyam employee's will not be paid salaries ( a rumour). Have they now reported that salaries have been paid, when this task is accomplished
b) Customer Fleeing Satyam: has any of this been verified
c)Satyam senior officials have fled the country. Did they a retract the stateme when they came to realize it was a fault.
d) Satyam officials have sold their shares in big numbers. This statement has been retracted, but have they apologized for the pain caused. No

Last but not the least, the one person, who should have not have made the statements that were made and who has lost support and respect from every satyamite is Mr Narayanamurthy. I cannot imagine a person of his stature behaving so in the media.

UNITED WE STAND

Mumbai - Candlelight vigil

2008-12-06T17:51:00.000-08:00

I truly miss not being in Mumbai, esp on the evening of the candlenight vigil that was carried out on the 30th November evening. So many people coming together as one. You too can watch these

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoTSaPpFCNk&feature=related

For the first time asking what the politicians are doing, what they themselves have been doing.

Things won;t change overnight, it is not like this will not be forgotten over time. But this time unlike before, people are angry and its power and pressure are being felt across the country.

Changes are being requested on two fronts.

Good Governance and Control

Security for Indians

I will talk about these more in the days to come.

Mumbai Again : November 26th

2008-12-04T21:37:00.001-08:00

It just pains when it happened, watching all those gory scenes on CNN, especially when I was on vacation. The feeling of helplessness, sitting in a far off country away from dear and near ones watching your beloved city being rampaged. The anger swells up, it reminds me of another day March of 1993, when i was on the streets of Bombay when the bomb blasts were happening.

One thing I was confident was that the city will bounce back. The amount of resilience that the citizens of the city have is tremendous and like the last time round, we proved ourselves again, but getting back on our feet and getting back to life with the same fervour.

The thing that shocked me was the media, both in the US and back in India. The US media was as usual narrow in focussed, talking as if this event only affected their world and US citizens as if this attack was planned at them. Forgetting to mention that there are 8 other sites attacked and the extent of locals killed, for them Taj and Oberoi were the only two places of interest. And once the "Media Event" ended, there is a silence, I am still to come to terms with the working of the new gen of Fourth Estate, which is very modular in nature. Plug into the event and plug out as if it did not occur. Analysis is all over the place, there is no depth no thinking only connecting the dots on the surface to come with quick answers.

As far as Indian Media, it is copying the west very fast. the detailed reporting of every event. The need to talk to people the need to create the frenzy was there. This reminded of the Babri Masjid demolition and the further riots in Mumbai. I am very sure, lots of life could have been saved, if the media were a little more responsible. I am sure i will be condemned for the above line, saying i am against Freedom of Speech. But this I would like to say, as one of our professors used to say "" Freedom comes with Responsibility, Freedom does not have any meaning without the responsibility for the our own actions.""

The irony of being the most intelligent being on the planet

2008-04-27T16:45:00.001-07:00

I am writing this from San Jose Public Library and as usual i am overawed by the amount of knowledge that human being has amassed. And watching all this reading some covers, I begin to feel so insignificant. It is an irony that even being the most intelligent race/ species on the planet does not allow us to know everything there is to know. There is just enough time on hand within a life time that a normal person will know one or at the max two subject matter in details. There is no way he will be able to know more than this.

Especially so in today's world where we spend around 20 years of our life ( around 1/4th assuming an average life of 80 years) trying to learn what one subject area. the next 20 years goes in converting the theoritical knowledge to practice and validating the same, learning that at times what we learnt might not be the same in partical life and try to earn a living, get caught in the mundane activities in life.

For some smart individuals, in next 20 years he/she will be able to crystallize the learnings from Theory and Practice to come up with new directions or new insights in that subject area( mind you are restricted to one area alone).

Will I ever get a chance to know more about the knowledge amassed within a lifetime. Are we running behind thoughtless acts through our life without thinking of adding back to this vast knowledge. Will my thoughts be footprints in sand or etched in rock or can be eternal like some of our works.... thinking thru.......

Need to Slow down

2008-01-24T16:31:00.000-08:00

Life comes at you fast, and in todays world everybody is going fast and faster.

how do we slow down, a very difficult change.

I want to open the forum and invite comments on how to slow down and enjoy the small small things in life from nature, our life, our surrounding, our joys and our sorrows

Article By Sarma Uncle - Worship of Departed

2007-09-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

This article is authored by KBN Sarma uncle

Worship of the departed
1. Ancestor worship - an enjoined duty:
Every human being is born with three types of debts to be repaid, namely, the debt to God (that can be repaid by worshipping gods), the debt to sages and saints (that can be repaid by reverence and service to saints, sages and gurus) and the debt to one’s ancestors. The scripture, ‘Yajuraaranyaka’, elaborates on this aspect, giving a list of five forms of worship (yajnaas), called maha yajnaas, to be performed to get relieved of the debts he has to repay, as
“Panchavaa ethe maha yajnaahsatati sataayante…. Santishthante” (2-2-14)
There is a sloka too, which summarizes all the five mahaayajnaas.
“Adhyaapanam Brahma yajnah,
Pitru yajnasya tarpanam,
Homo Devah,
Balirbhoutah,
Nruyajnah atithi pujanam.”
According to these dicta, the duties of the householder (grihasta) include the performance of five ‘mahaa yajnaas’ as follows.
a. Adhyaapanam Brahma yajnah:-
Brahma yajna is the seer worship. Each day the householder expresses his debt to the ancient sages by studying, repeating and meditating upon at least some portions of the Vedic scriptures and by transmission of the scriptural teaching and cultural heritage
Learning in brahma-charya aasrama and teaching in grihastha aasrama, to maintain the guru-sishya parampara, are a ritual, known as Brahmayajna.
b. Pitru yajnasya tarpanam: -
The second yajna is the ancestor worship (Pitru Yajna). Offering libations of water (by a ‘tarpanam’) or setting aside of rice balls (pindas) constitute a remembrance of ancestors, during annual shraadhaas to worship the ancestors.
This is to repay the debt to ancestors who have provided us with the materialistic body to carry out the activities of the life, without which no action (karma) could be performed.
Also, parents, who give birth, take care, give education, provide amenities, help in settling and do many more things, deserve reimbursement by way of gratitude. In Hindu scriptures, it is clearly mentioned that this gratitude is expressed in the form of shraadha Karma and similar rituals.
c. Homo Devah: - (Deva Yajnah)
The third yajna is by offering oblations to devatas like Indra, Agni, varuna etc in homa, to express our gratitude to the natural forces and seek their blessings.
It is called Deva yajna (Deity worship). It is the worship of deities, who have provided air, water, food, shelter, clothing etc required for a living in this world.
d. Balirbhoutah: - Bhutayajna (or Vaisvadeva).
The fourth yajna is the worship of living beings by scattering grains, offering foods at the threshold for animals, birds, insects etc.
e. Nruyajnah atithi pujanam: - Respect for other humans in society.
The fifth yajna is nruyajna also called Manushya yajna (Guest worship), by which hospitality to guests, friends or even strangers and beggars is shown.
If these sacrifices, enjoined by the scripture, are duly performed, the purification of mind is effected and this helps to get true knowledge and attain self-realization.
Performing one’s prescribed duties is primary and basic in attaining the state of right knowledge. Adi Sankara emphasizes this aspect in his ‘Prasnothara ratna maalika’ in his famous statement
“Samyak Jnaanam ---, Kriyaa Sidham--”, meaning
“True knowledge is attained by performing karma alone. So, do properly Karma prescribed therein (rituals, at least the nitya karmas); by the performance of those karmas, worship the Lord, i.e. or practice “Karma Yoga”.
Thus, performing the ritual of shraadha by a householder (grihastha) becomes a part of Pitru-Yajna, the worship of the ancestral deities, to get relieved of the debt to his ancestors.
Shraadha is performed to worship three generations of Pitrus, namely the father, the grandfather and the great grandfather (or the mother, the grandmother and the great grand mother). No oblations are offered to other antecedent ancestors, because those souls would have lost touch with the current lineage. (Pitru devataas are supposed to have a different time scale. An eternal soul’s one day is equivalent to our one-year time.) That is why an anniversary (in our terms) is taken as one day for pithru karmas i.e. shraadhaas enabling the soul to have food once a day in its time scale.
The three generations who have departed are believed to be communicated through the Vasu, Rudra and Aditya devataas respectively. So, a departed father (or mother) is worshipped in Vasu rupa (form), departed grand father (or grand mother) in Rudra rupa and departed great grand father (or great grandmother) in Aditya rupa
Shraadha must be performed with faith, devotion and reverence. According to Hindu scriptures, a son who does not perform shraadha for his ancestors is an ungrateful son. The scriptures condemn such a person to a life of misery and poverty. So when a Hindu departs from this world, his descendents make ritualistic offerings as prescribed in the sacred texts so that the departed one makes further spiritual progress in other worlds also. Only after the shraadha is performed here, does the departed soul attain a position among the Pitrus or Divine Fathers in their blissful abode called Pitru-loka and join pitru ganas. Generally, it is considered the most desirable and efficacious when the shraadha is performed by a son. Ritual of shraadha should be performed, of the departed father (on the paternal side) and of the departed mother (on the maternal side). The obligation towards the departed souls is, thus, a part of one’s ordained duties, (or obligatory karma), the performance of which brings happiness not only to the departed soul, but also to him who performs it.
The final day of Pitru Paksha (the second half of the month ‘Bhaadrapada’) is the new moon day called ‘Mahaalaya Amaavaasya’. It is the day when oblations are offered to many ancestors. According to scriptures, there is a conjunction of the sun and the moon on this day and the sun enters the zodiac sign Virgo (Kanya). If the rite of shraadha is performed on one of the days in the fortnight of pitru paksha, then the subtle bodies of ancestors are considered to remain gratified for years.
At the time of death, even though the soul is separated from the body in this materialistic world, the soul is never dying. The soul experiences the results of the actions it performed along with its materialistic body. It is believed that the performance of shraadha will give a boost to the souls in the eternal world.
2. The creation of ‘Pitrus’:
The process of creation is briefly narrated in Narayanopanishad of Atharva Veda,
“Atha purushohavyi naaraayanookaamayata prajaassrujeyethi…..Naaraayane praleeyante”
The Lord Supreme manifests in the form of Hiranyagarbha and later as the Chaturmukha Brahma, the god of creation. In the process of creation, many who are vital to sustain the universe and the life in it, are born to Lord Brahma. Then, Rudra, Indra, nine Prajaapatis, twelve Adityaas, eleven Rudraas, eight Vasus, eight Dikpaalakaas, all Vedas, Ganas (Such as Amurtha, Aprakasa, Jyothishmanta etc.) fourteen Manus and others are created, who are known to form a group called Deva Ganas. Also, ten Visvee devaas are created. Sapta rishis (seven great sages) are created, to whom are born seven Pitru ganas. Pitru ganaas and Visvee devaas together are known to form a group called ‘Loka Pitrus’. They possess the power of going everywhere in Vaayu rupa (a form like air) and capable of knowing the past, present and future as well. Further, those who are born and dead and then enter Svarga (the heaven), are known to form a group called ‘Loukika Pitrus’.
The offerings made to them in their previous births would provide them strength to ascend to higher spiritual planes, ultimately to attain Brahma Loka. This is made functional through Vasu, Rudra and Aditya devataas who are Loka pitrus. Vasu, Rudra and Aditya devataas represent the Loukika pitrus during shraadha karma by entering the person in whom the Loukia pitrus are invoked. Thus, offerings given during ritual reach the invoked souls even if the pitru has taken his next birth as a human being or an animal etc., elsewhere.
Also, ten Visvee devaas, such as Pururava, Ardra, Soma, Pitrupeeta and others, born to Dharma Prajaapati (one of the nine Prajaapatis), are invoked during a shraadha karma. Visvee devaas, who have close contacts with Pitru ganaas, act as protectors of the ceremony (shraadha samrakshakas).
Thus, a group of Deva ganaas including Lord Brahma and all other gods, and another group of Visveedevaas are worshipped during the shraadha Kriya and those worshipped are believed to bestow peace, progress, prosperity and progeny to the doer of shraadha.
Thus ‘shraadha karma’ is primarily a worship of many gods, quite auspicious, not only to the person performing it, but also to the world at large.

3. The Departure of the Soul:
The path of the person after death is described in the ‘Maha Narayanopanishad”, (80, the last Anuvaka)
“Tasyaivam vidusho yajnasyaatma…. ityupanishad”,
According to it, a person who has lived a life of perfection and who dies in Uttaraayana attains over lordship of gods like Indra and then reaches identity or companionship with the sun. On the other hand he who dies during Dakshinaayana gets only greatness of the manes and then attains the identity or companionship with the moon. But he who has become a knower of Self wins further and attains the greatness of Brahman, the Supreme.
Similar statements are found in the Bhagavad-Gita,
“Yatra kaale tvanaa vrithim... Anyayaa vartate punah”. (8-23, 24, 25, 26)
“O Arjuna, now I shall describe the different paths departing by which, during death, the yogis do or do not come back. (8.23) Fire, light, daytime, the bright lunar fortnight, and the six months of the northern solstice of the sun --- departing by the path of these celestial controllers (Devas), yogis who know the Eternal Being (Brahma) attain Brahman (8.24). Smoke, night, the dark lunar fortnight, and the six months of southern solstice of the sun --- departing by these paths, the righteous person attains heaven and comes back to earth (8.25). The path of light (of spiritual practice and Self-knowledge) and the path of darkness (of materialism and ignorance) are thought to be the world’s two eternal paths. The former leads to salvation (Mukti) and the latter leads to rebirth.” (8.26)
It is believed that, at the time of death, the Jiva leaves the body. When the Jiva leaves the body, the following also leave:-a) The five senses of knowledge; (Jnaana Indriyas)b) The five senses of action; (Karma Indriyas)c) mind;d) Praana or principal vital air;e) Five gross elements(ether, air, fire, water and earth):-
It is common that the speech rests in mind. The mind thinks first and then the person speaks. So, at the time of death, it is the reverse. The power of speech stops first. He is able to think, but not able to speak. This is the first stage in the process of death. Similarly, the five senses of knowledge and the five senses of action rest in the mind. This means that his thinking function also stops. Then, he is said to become unconscious. He does not know what is happening around. But, life is still there. So, we say that the mind rests in the vital air praana. Next, the praana reaches the soul or Jiva. After this, the soul joins the five gross elements (panchabhutas), namely, ether, air, fire, water and earth, in a subtle form. Then, they all depart from the body.
We know that there are innumerable ‘naadis’ (nervous systems) in the body. Out of these, there is one special ‘naadi’, called ‘Sushumna naadi’.1) The Jiva, who is to attain moksha, passes through this special ‘naadi’.2) The Jiva, who passes through the other naadis going upwards, reaches svarga; and enjoys pleasures, in the company of ‘devas’.
When a person dies, the soul leaves the body; and depending upon the fruits of karma, the soul goes to svarga or takes on some other body or goes to ‘Paramapada’, the Ultimate Abode. When the soul goes to svarga or to some other body, all the ten senses also follow the soul. But when the soul goes to ‘Paramapada’, the senses are left behind. Suppose the individual soul or Jiva performs good and meritorious acts in this world. For the good and pious acts done in this world, and to enjoy their fruits in the other world, the Jiva, accompanied by senses and elements, as mentioned above, reaches the Heaven or Svarga. There, he (Jiva) gets a suitable body to enjoy the fruits of his good acts in the company of ‘devas’. When the fruits of his/her good acts (or the good Karma) get exhausted partly, he/she is born again in this world, along with the balance of karma in the form of ‘Vaasanaas’. The Jiva enters the clouds. Then, he/she again enters this world and falls on the earth along with the rain. There, he/she gets united with the paddy, grain etc, which is grown on the earth. The grain is eaten in the form of food by a male and then enters the womb of a female when a male and a female unite. Thus ‘Jiva’ is subsequently born in this world.
Those, who have done only bad things; and those who have not done any good things in their life, are repeatedly re-born in this world, as trees, animals, birds, and so on.

In Katha Upanishad, the conversation between Lord Yama and Nachiketa is highly enlightening to the seekers of ‘Knowledge’ (Jnaana). The answer, with analogies, given by Yama to the questions posed by Nachiketa about the life after death and existence of Atman is unique in its simplicity and depth.
Lord Yama answers,
“All Jeevas originate from the Supreme Reality, like sparks from a fire. They are pure to start with. The Jiva changes due to environment and circumstances, just like pure rain-water is contaminated coming down due to gravity. The Atman, though a passive passenger, gets involved, but still in its essence is pure. It is the contaminants which are carried by it, much as desires and actions contaminate the intellect and ego-enity.”

“Atman exists in us as the passenger. Our ego is the charioteer. The rein is the mental process and horses are our senses as well as motor organs. It is the ego which drives us either in right or wrong direction. The directions are ‘Sreya’ (good) and ‘Preya’ (pleasing). Most drive to the latter. Some, who direct the ego to the former, are fit candidates to know the Atman. Atman exists in the body and even without it. Usually people with an active conscience appreciate Atman and lead righteous life and opposite is true about people without conscience.”

“Garuda Puraana”, one of the ‘Eighteen Puranaas’ of Sage Veda Vyaasa, deals at a great length (in the second half), with the life after death.

Usually, the above (two) scriptures are recited during a period of ten days following the day of death of a person.
4. The cycle of births and deaths:
Hinduism believes in rebirth after death.
Lord Krishna, in the Bhagavad-Gita, reveals,
“Mrityuh sarva haraschaaham udbhavascha bhavishyataam”. (10-34)
“I am the all-devouring death and also the origin of future beings”
Creation and destruction are the two sides of the same reality. Creation begins with destruction and in creation there is already a seed of the destruction to come. The same is true in case of destruction. If the birth of an individual is creation, his death is destruction. It is through this repeated process of creation and destruction that the individual being evolves gradually in series and stages. According to Hinduism a soul reincarnates again and again on earth till it becomes perfect and reunites with its Source. During this process the soul enters many bodies, assumes many forms and passes through many births and deaths. This concept is summarily described in the following popular verses of the Bhagavad-Gita,
“Jaatasya hi dhruvo mrityuh, dhruvam janma mritasyacha.” (2-27)
meaning,
‘Death is certain for the born, and rebirth is inevitable for the dead’. Every mortal is bound to be reborn;
“Vaasaamsi jeernani…..navaani dehi” (2-22)
meaning,
"Just as a man discards worn out clothes and puts on new clothes, the soul casts off worn out bodies and enters new ones."
In Charpata Panjarikaa Stotram, (Bhaja Govindam), Adi Sankara cautions that suffering is a part of this endless cycle of births and deaths.
“Punarapi jananam….paahi murare”
Meaning of the sloka
“Birth unceasing, death unceasing! Ever to pass through a mother's womb, Hard to cross is the world's wide ocean Lord! Redeem me through thy mercy.”
The Jiva undergoes the cycle of innumerable births and deaths. It becomes bound to the mortal life and the laws of nature under the cover of Maaya (illusion). Death provides temporary relief, but exposes the individual Jiva to the risk of falling into greater depths of suffering.
Every individual soul possesses three bodies, namely, the gross, the subtle and causal (sthula. sukshma and kaarana sareeraas). When the soul leaves one body and enters another, all these three bodies undergo changes.
The actions of a man are responsible for the modification of the above three bodies and consequently, his nature.
At the end of each life, the physical body and the gross mind return to the elements of the earth. But the Jiva survives death. Depending upon the nature of the past deeds, and the number of subtle bodies it has developed, the Jiva either ascends to the heaven or descends to the hell. The Jiva stays in these worlds till it exhausts (many a time, partly), the fruits of its good or bad actions. Having learnt some new lessons, it then returns to the earth again to take another birth (by virtue of the balance of karma).
“Hinduism speaks of the existence of heavens above and hells below. The former are sun filled (Surya lokas), inhabited by gods and innumerable divine souls. The latter are dark worlds (Asurya lokas) and populated by all the dark and demonic forces. The individual souls go to these worlds according to their deeds. But they do not stay there permanently till the end of destruction. They go there, basically as a consequence of their actions, either to enjoy or to suffer. In either case, they learn the lesson and come back to earth to start a new earthly life all over again.”
“The Hindu concept of reincarnation is based upon the logical notion that life on earth did not emerge suddenly, but evolved gradually, involving great epochs of time and a vast multitude of beings. During this process the static consciousness of matter yielded place to the dynamic movement of life and consciousness. ‘Karma’ is the sculptor through out this grand drama. It is the correction mechanism, to carve out a deity out of an inert stone. The Jiva thus drifts, sailing in the boat of his own karma, in a sea of worldly illusion (samsaara saagarah), towards the shores of liberation, through trial and error, self effort, with the soul remaining as its silent, witnessing companion.”

Test

2007-08-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

Future of Work

2007-08-17T23:24:00.000-07:00

An interesting article in last weeks business week, "Future of work", will try to cover this during the coming week.

The first of the series is a question that is being asked " which way to the future", though the questions being asked are with perspective to the US economy, but i believe that they could be similar question that we could be asking in India soon.

The twin effects of globalization and technology have created an unseeming impact on Global and local economies and impacting the way we look at work and jobs. Offshoring as a concept has been possible because work could be broken down into smaller tasks ( disintegration and re-integration) so that it can be carried out by teams across the globe to accomplish the dual task of doing it within low cost or with the best available resource. Also the virtual, global work place is transforming the concept of the office desk, work hours and work/home balance.

To quote from the article
" Despite the technological and organizational progress, its not clear whether we should look ahead to the future of work with enthusiasm or fear. Are American's jobs going to become more interesting or complex as rote tasks are moved offshore or eliminated by technology ? Or will managers and workers be ground down by competitive pressures that leave little time or room for creativity or innovation?
Truth is, the trends prevailaing in today's work place provide ammunition for optimists and pessimists alike"

There are multiple interesting insights from this piece

a) You can replace the work American with Indians' as we might be facing the same issues in some time, with the known issue of the quality of resources ( only 25 % of Indian engineers are employable as quoted by Narayanan Murthy and Karnik). The world is growing flat and we are seeing the cost advantages tinier and tinier.
b) Is India getting only rote task which will be not be carried out in the other regions of the world
c) And if managers and workers are ground down by competitive pressures what will happen to creativity and innovations, also the key questions is Indian IT SI's are already under so much pressure for performance that innovation and creativity is already in the waste basket, so I wonder where it will be when the pressures increase ( I am not worried about growth and increase in revenues, as they are not related to creativity in the organization).

More to come in the coming days...........

India: Is it losing its supremacy in Cricket, Lessons learned

2007-03-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

I am sure you will be reading this above headlines in all newspapers and magazines. But what does this decline in the Indian Cricket have to teach in the IT Industry. Let us look at the Indian Cricket team with the eyes of Business Management.

I merely thought that last saturday's loss of India to Bangladesh was a flash in the pan, but today;s loss to Sri Lanka, merely demonstrated the sheer bankruptcy of talent in the Indian Cricket. India has world class players, "STARS" in its "team". But could any of its star have the power today or could they shine as a team, unfortunately No.

We are getting beaten consistently by minnows of cricket today. The Giants in the Sub-Continent, India and Pakistan have had losses in the world cup, which it could never have imagined. The last time such an event occurred where both the teams would not be participating in the next round was in 1979 world cup. Has the subcontinent cricket come a full circle. will the subcontinent be dominated by the Sri Lanka and Bangaldesh cricket to come.

What lessons does this cricket team's loss hold for us in other streams of life. Let me draw some parallels with the IT industry today.

* The current cricket team is fed on a lot of sponsorship money and is not dependent on a reward for performance. The same seems to be happening in the IT Industry in India too. People are demanding salaries which are no commensurate for either the knowledge or the capability to work. Unfortunately companies are willing to pay salaries too for such work delivered, because they want to leverage India.
* The current team is so busy representing the country in the World Arena, that it is not playing in the Ranji matches, thereby younger talents are not getting an oppurtunity to work together and learn from the experience garnered by the Seniors. Same case in the IT industry. Senior leaders are too busy fighting day to day fires or are on onsite oppurtunities that the new comers don;t know how to work in a competitive global environment and learn from the mistakes of their seniors. Organizations are growing so fast that it is becoming more and more difficult to put mechanisms of learning in place to leverage the knowledge gained over the past 10 years
* Unknown cricket playing nations have nothing to lose and are putting up a brave fight. Similarly, there are nations like Vietnam, Mexico and other nations that do have a potential to give us a fight in this journey
* The cricketers are forgetting that they are representating a nation " Khoon se Khelenge Holi Gar Watan Mushkil mein hain, Sarfaroshi ki tammana ab hamare dil mein hain". this is the passion with which each Indian across the globe supports the Indian team. But is the team having the same passion. In the IT industry, the " Customer is the King", being in a service sector, this is one thing we have to remember, but unfortunately is being forgotten, providing value to the Customer is being forgotten. As Mr. Narayan Murthy had said a year ago in one of the interviews, Customer focus is the key at all levels within a service organization, the day this focus is lost the organization is in trouble.

Well we can see the Donut or the hole in the Donut. Let's be Wise and see the Donut.....................

Fair Process: How Critical is it in Management

2007-03-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

A very interesting case study that i read in my course, relating to Fair Process, about how it" justice delivered being fair does not matter, what also matters is the process of delivery of justice should be fair too".

We run into this in every day life in India,

traffic fines being paid
confidence in the police systems
selection process of the indian cricket team (even though team is good we still doubt the selection process because of the quota system)
and many others

This is very much applications in the realms of Managing Companies esp in the Knowledge Economy. In the earlier manufacturing industry era, work could be "extracted" by various means. But in today's world, work can no longer be "extracted", you have to create an environment and motivate people to give in their best. There are way too many opportunities fo an individual if he/she does not perform. Also in today's global world, the impact of having a demoralized workforce has a very significant impact on the organization as a whole

Eemploying knowledge resource and keeping them motivated is getting tougher and tougher. In an Era where in the knowledge economy, organizations are finding it difficult to retain resources. It becomes imperative

that we keep the communication channels open
make them partners in decision making, even though the decision might not be in favour of the decision makers
make them feel a part of a larger community and emphasise the need for consequences of their action

We have to realize that each individual is a brand ambassador of the company, and each individual will give more than 100% if he believes that the process supporting him is fair.

Marketing Myself : Is it really needed

2007-02-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

Coming out of college, fresh and new ideas in mind. Working Hard was all that I thought was needed to grow in an organization. I used to think that guys who blow their own trumpets are guys who are not confident about themselves or are shameless.

It was my first Manager ( whom i respect and learnt a lot from ), who taught us the importance to respecting our own work.

He used to say " Doing a good job is just one aspect of the work. Publishing it so that your manager and others can learn about is a must too". No need to boast or blow your trumpet. But you need to market and defend your work

It is a must in today's world to talk about your work and let others know your capabilities. One of the critical reasons is only people who are close to you will know about the details of how you work and what you are capable of .

Another common perception, when giving interviews is that my resume will do the talking. Well unless you are writing the resume as a person who is seeing 1000's of resume you will not elicit any response. Also when you are face to face with the interviewee, talking or defending your resume is a key, because you have an hour to tell all about yourself and selection. (I will talk about interviewing and interview techniques on another day).

So base line is

a) Market yourself and your work
b) Know the difference between Marketing your work and Blowing your trumpet too loud
c ) Respect the judgement of the person whom you are talking to

Passion - the key ingredient

2007-02-09T08:21:00.000-08:00

Passion

This is one key ingredient which differentiates a Happiness and Success from all others. Passion drives an individual to work and achieve great heights. Be it sports, be it business, be it teaching or be it being a student. Every single task done with passion delivers a better end product and a great inner satisfaction.

As humans we waste a lot of negative energy either cribbing about how " Life Sucks" or " what a lousy situation we are in", and unfortunately we spend a lot of our time wallowing in such thoughts. Ever thought of the best things that we got and the frame of mind we were in when we achieved that. Ever thought what was it that caused us to work well or do good. From small things as proposing to your girlfriends on " valentine's day" to getting the best grades.

Passion to plays a role in the direction you give to your life, which path you want to journey thru.

As a Leader and a Manager in today's business world, this is one element that will clearly differentiate you from the other managers. Passion to work with your team and make them grow will give you a team that wants to work effectively with you.

As a Parent, it will give you a family that cherishes to be with you through your lifetime.

For the feeling of inner happiness, please check yourself regularly are you passionate about anything in life and are you doing those activities...

Global Village - Are we ready

2007-02-04T21:58:00.000-08:00

It is said that we are living in a global village, any act of ours has a global impact. In one way or the other we seem to get impacted or have an impact on lot more people than we expect.

But are we ready to join this global village,

Do we have the means to survive in this new world
Are we rooted deeply to our past so that we do not get pushed out into a unknown future
Do we have the means of communication to understand and appreciate the things around us

Mankind has been evolving from ages, ancient texts from across the various civilizations ( Greek, Romans, Egyptian and our Indian ) tell us that mankind was very progressive. But we living in today's world think that we are at a higher state of evolution than them.

Our ability to live with nature is a subject for another rambling.

Look at the world around us, there is so much in intermingling of races and cultures. Let us take India for example, the inflow of people moving across the states. It certainly has increased in the past few years, more and more cities are becoming cosmopolitan. There is access to the whole world from even the smallest of villages. More and more Indians are travelling abroad and settling down. Similarly we see a lot more people from across the world settle in India. But have be grown intellectually to assimilate the new surroundings. Have we grown to appreciate the small nicecites in each of these communities and enrich ourselves.

That is the thought to think.

As Woodrow Wilson said

"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with a greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world and you impoverish yourself if you forger that errand"

Ganapathi

2006-10-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Ganapathi : The remover of Obstacles, the guardian of the mooladhara chakra. Ganapathi is the diety who is worshipped first prior to commencement of any task or activity. He is worshipped to ensure that there are minimal obstacles towards completion of the tasks at hand.

There have been many times in my life, where i have gone thru the most difficult of tasks worshipping him. The image set on the left is what is on my laptop desktop background.

The beeja mantra of Ganapathi for those who are interested is " Om Gam Ganapathi yena mahah Ekadantayavidmaheh, Vakratundayademahe,
Tannodanti prachodayatu"