The issue of conditioning of mind has been occupying my thoughts for some years now. Conditioning of mind is like programing of mind. The mind is trained to think within the boundaries created. The mind is also trained to think on certain lines and not deviate from it. Its like someone has programed the mind and decided 'what' and 'how' to think for us. This is referred to as conditioning of mind. I first came across this topic during a discussion in a JV workshop in Mussoorie in 2004. Since then I've been thinking on this issue. I also read a book named 'Freedom from the known' by Jedu Krishnamurthy, where he talks at length about de-conditioning of mind.
I wonder how deep this conditioning goes and when did it start. Did it start when I went to school first? The earliest conditioning I can think of is to regard first rank or good marks as something great. Or did the conditioning start when I started seeing television. The conditioning of regarding certain set of clothes as cool and others as not so cool seemed to have taken place through television for me. Or did the conditioning started even earlier?
I've been observing kids very carefully on this issue. In my family I have 3 nieces and 2 nephews. The eldest of them now being 10 years and the youngest 11 months old. I haven't seen the youngest one much, but I have seen the other kids in the grow very closely. And often I have observed rather innocent but serious conditioning taking place on part of the parents. One very common thing I have seen in my family is the way we talk. We all talk in a fairly normal way (the accent, the voice, the pitch) when talking among ourselves. But when we need to speak with any of the kids, our style of talking completely changes. To sound polite to them everything changes about the way we speak (the pitch, the accent, the choice of words). As a result we may sound quite polite to the kids, but we sure do not sound normal to them. And I believe they are smart enough to notice this change (however small they maybe). I now think of the damage this does to them. We are showing a part of hypocrisies in us, where we behave differently with different people.
I can think of another incident which clearly showed me how a child gets conditioned. In December I was visiting my cousins in Mumbai. One of my nephew belongs there and he is about 3 years old now. I was talking about the above example with my brother and it made him think. During this trip we visited a family friend in Nerul. The sweet aunty gave Rehaan (my nephew) a piece of paper and pen to play with. Rehaan used that to draw some figure which was some figure in line with evolution of snakes. My bhabhi would very politely ask what he has drawn, and "snakes" came the answer. To this my bhabhi replied "ooooh snake! oh im scared Rehaaan" (notice the extra a in rehaan). And with this she would also enact out the emotion of fear on her face. Rehaan would then runaway into a different room and come back again within a minute. He would come back with another similar figure and my bhabhi would ask the same question. He gave the same answer again, "snakes" and that followed exactly the same response from my Bhabhi. This happened 4 times in 5 minutes. The 5th time Rehaan came with his drawing, he related the words "snakes" with "fear" and the expression my Bhabhi would make. I'm assuming here that at that time he got conditioned. He got conditioned into thinking that snakes are something to be feared of. And as he will grow his 'natural' reaction on seeing snakes would be that of fear.
I can relate this example to my life. I can see how my 'natural' reactions were not natural enough but conditioned. I'm not saying the parents did this with some bad purpose in mind. This act has been done with pure innocence on their part I'm sure.
I was reading a blog recently where this girl talks about how every child hates karela. How the 'natural' reaction of every child on seeing a karela would be 'chee, chee', while this girl loved karelas as a kid. I think a similar thing happens with karela too. When a child tastes karela (or anything which is sour), the mother (or any adult) makes this hate expression on the face. And I think this act done number of times makes it 'natural' for a kid to dislike sour things. And similarly to like sweet things. I cannot imagine that our tongue is designed to me less favorable for karela and more favorable for an ice-cream. I think the issue of tasty food is more of conditioning of mind and less of the structure of our tongue.
As we grow older, this conditioning becomes stronger and wider. This conditioning then plays a major part in our decisions in every aspect of life, shopping, hobbies, choosing a partner, choosing a job etc.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
A-Z of places I've visited
A for Amarkantak- Amarkantak is where from river Narmada originates. The river originates from a spring over which people have built the narmada temple. Narmada is the only major Indian river flowing westward to join the arabian sea. All other rivers meet the bay of bengal. Amarkantak is suppose to be the highest point in the vindhyachal range. A place called Som dhara near it is like the end of the world. It is at the edge of the mountain. On looking down all you see is clouds, no ground. It is a breath taking sight. The nearest station is Pendra Road, which is well connected by trains from Delhi or Raipur. For those who love the jungles of central India, Amarkantak is a must.
B for Badrinath- It is the temple of Lord Vishnu located in the north of Garhwal region in Uttaranchal. It is just 40km from the Indo-Tibet border. Badrinath was established by Shankaracharya. This is quite an interesting fact because Shankaracharya hailed from southern state of Kerela. It is said his journey (from Kerela to Uttaranchal and back to Kerela) took some 7 years. There is an early morning 5am aarti which takes place at Badrinath. There is a hot water spring and also the river Alaknanda flows besides the temple. People take bath usually by mixing the water from the river and the spring (otherwise you may end up burning yourself or freezing). 5km from Badrinath is a small village called Mana, which is the last Indian village in that area. The road on Indian side ends at Mana. The people of Mana are a mix of Indian and Tibetan blood. There is also Valley of flowers close to Badrinath. The nearest town to all three of them is Joshimath which is inhabited all round the year. Badrinath, Mana and Valley of flowers are opened only for a few summer months. One has to book cabs from Delhi or Rishikesh to reach Badrinath. The journey can easily be two days long one way if weather permits. The road from Rishikesh to Badrinath is about 300km moving all along the river Ganga. On way one passes through many prayags. A prayag is a place where two rivers meet. It is a sight in itself to see two rivers meet from mountain top. The route is marred my deep river gorges and also many waterfalls, some even falling on the road. People take bath and wash their vehicles under such waterfalls.
C for Chail- Chail is located in the state of Himachal pradesh. It is a few hours journey from Chandigarh on one side and Simla on other side. The road from Chail to Simla maintains a constant altitude till Kufri. Most mountain roads are zig-zag and go up and down. This road is only zig-zag and does not change its altitude at all. Chail also has the worlds highest cricket field. Right on the top of the mountain, they have a plain oval shaped field with an old score board. The field looks something like the cricket field in Lagaan (the dust is replaced by lush green grass here). This field is the home of hundreds of monkeys, so never even think about showing an iota of attitude to them. They'll chase you all the way down to Chandigarh (speaking from personal experience). Simla is 4 hours drive from Chail via Kufri. Kufri is known for its snowfall. On way back to Chandigarh, a little off the road (about 15km) is a small town named Kasauli. Kasauli has an airforce base and is also inhabited by mostly retired army generals. One doesn't find too many hotels there (it seems they don't want to encourage tourists). The nearest city to all of them is Chandigarh.
D for Dalhousie- It lies in the dhauladhar ranges in the state of himachal pradesh. One could get there via Pathankot or through Kangra. In Dalhousie town, if you are looking for good aloo paranthas then sharma’s dhaba is the place on Gandhi chowk. It’s a shabby looking dhaba (that’s how dhabas are suppose to look), but the aloo paranthas are comaparable to the best I’ve eaten. Near Dalhousie is the famous Khajjiar lake which is referred as miniSwitzerland
E for (nothing i can think of.....)
F for Fatehpur Sikri- This was the capital of emperor Akbar. It is about 35km from Agra. Fatehpur Sikri boasts of Buland Darwaza, the tallest gate in the world. It sure is huge. There is nothing more to the town. Closest city is Agra where Tajmahal and Agra fort are worth seeing. Agra is 200km from Delhi and well connected by buses and trains.
G for Gurgaon- That was the only place I could think with G. Gurgaon is a suburb of Delhi on the Delhi-Jaipur NH-8. Old Gurgaon is a usual Indian town, but the DLF area looks more of some western nation. It is flanked by tall,swanky corporate buildings, shopping malls and very expensive residence complexes. The most interesting thing I find about DLF area is the names they have chosen for roads and complexes. Each and every name it seems have been borrowed from the west. There are NO hindi names there. I wondered was it a deliberate policy on their end to choose such names or was it just a beautifully western coincidence. I believe it reflects the follow the west blindly kind of thinking in them, but I there is no way I can prove that. Gurgaon in anycase is used as the perfect face of growing India.
H for Hoshangabad- It is a small town in Madhyapradesh located on the banks of Narmada. I visited this place when in class VIII in a gurukul there. It is well connected to Bhopal.
I for (cant think of something....)
J for Jammu- This is the summer capital of J&K. I've never been to any place where there is so much of military. At first look it seems there is a war going on. 2hrs drive from Jammu is the temple of Mata Vaishno Devi. This temple is very popular among north Indians. Jammu is well connected by rail and road from Delhi.
K for Kanyakkumari- Kanyakkumari is the southern most point of the India mainland. This is where the Arabian sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal meet (though to naked eye it looks a simple sea). It is also the place from where Swami Vivekananda grew as a person. They have an Ashram of him there. Just off the mainland into the sea is the rock where Vivekananda used to meditate. There is also a beautiful statue of Guruvayur standing in the sea. Interestingly Kanyakkumari is in the state of Tamilnadu (for some reason I always thought it to be in Kerela).
L for (cant think of any....)
M for Mcleodganj- This is the seat of the govt in exile of Tibet. Home of the Dalai Lama. One would find a large number of Tibetans there, and many in monastic robes. Mcleodganj is about 15km above the town of Dharamshala. If you choose to walk from Dharamshala to Mcleodganj through the short cut, there comes a point from where one can see the cricket stadium in Dharamshala. It's like a bird eye's view of a stadium. Dharamshala is very close to Kangra which is famous for it's apple farms. The mountain range in this part of Himalayas is called Dhauladhar range. In Mcleodganj the majority of foreign tourists are from Israel. I don't know the reason for that, but they say Mcleodganj and Kullu are like second home to Israelis. Besides hotels, one room apartments are also available for those who plan to stay for months. A lot of Tibetan and Israeli food is also available along with the usual north indian food of course. Dharamshala is well connected by buses from Chandigarh and Delhi.
N for Nainital- This famous hill station lies in the Kumaon region of Uttaranchal. It is named after the Naini lake, which now is absolutely polluted, thanks to the tourism industry. There are other lakes around Nainital, but all are polluted now. There is Ranikhet some 35km from Nainital which is lot less crowded and clean. I personally prefer Ranikhet a better place to visit than Nainital for the simple reason that there are very few tourists there. Nainital is well connected by bus from Delhi, while the nearest station is located at Kathgodam.
O for (cant think of any....)
P for Pushkarji- Pushkar is 12km from the city of Ajmer. While Pushkar is known for the only temple of Brahma in the world, Ajmer is known for the dargaah of Khwaja Moinuddin chishti, a sufi saint. It is said that more Hindus visit the dargaah than Muslims. Pushkar is located on the bank of a lake. Ajmer too has a number of lakes. Ajmer is well connected by train and bus from Jaipur and Delhi.
Q for (cant think of any....)
R for Rohtang Pass- Rohtang pass is beyond the town of Manali. I went there in the month of May and it still snowed there. Beyond Rohtang lies the lahaul and spiti valley which connect Laddakh to Himachal. There are only two roads connecting to Laddakh. Besides the Srinagar-Leh NH-1A, this is the only road. The river Beas flows through Manali. Manali is well connected to Delhi and Chandigarh through road. It takes at least two days to reach Manali by Road.
S for Shimla- This is the capital of Himachalpradesh and the former summer capital of the Raj. It is the biggest city I've seen in the mountains. It occupies almost half the mountain. The Mall road in Shimla is where all the activity is in the night. New year's time is when it is most crowded. It is said that it always snows on the new year's eve, but this time it didn't snow and it made news. Shimla is well connected by road from Chandigarh and Delhi.
T for Thiruanandapuram- It is also known as Trivandrum for short. It is the capital of Kerela. The airport is located next to the sea, so the sight of runway is quite good. There are very few red lights in the city and not much traffic. The only place where one could find traffic snarls is near the secretariat. The narial paani is the most common drink you could get. In restaurants you get warm boiled water. I found it difficult to find open cold drinking water. And one should definetly try eating barrotas there.
U for (cant think of any....)
V for Valley of Flowers- This is the best place I have visited in my life. It is breathtakingly beautiful and one major reason for that is not may people visit the valley. The only way to get to the valley is to trek 18km from Govindghat (nearest road point) of to sit on a poney. Beyond the gate of the valley, the ponies are not allowed. You pass through the gate, climb the mountain and you the a 10km long valley. It is just amazing. All you see is a bed of flowers. All kinds of flowers, all possible colors. There are some flowers which blossom only once in one year. So if you see them on a day, you will not see them for the entire year. Also the valley changes its colors. Today it might have purple flowers, and tomorrow there will be magenta flowers. My writing skills are not good enough to describe the valley. All I can say is it's a must visit for those who love to trekk and those who love mountains. It is one of the very few places left in the mountains which is untouched by the tourists. Beyond the valley lies Badrinath on one side, while on the other side is Hemkunth Sahib. This is the highest gurudwara in the world. It is located at the banks of a lake. Nearest town is Joshimath, which is more than a day's drive from Rishikesh and Delhi.
W,X,Y for (cant think of any....)
B for Badrinath- It is the temple of Lord Vishnu located in the north of Garhwal region in Uttaranchal. It is just 40km from the Indo-Tibet border. Badrinath was established by Shankaracharya. This is quite an interesting fact because Shankaracharya hailed from southern state of Kerela. It is said his journey (from Kerela to Uttaranchal and back to Kerela) took some 7 years. There is an early morning 5am aarti which takes place at Badrinath. There is a hot water spring and also the river Alaknanda flows besides the temple. People take bath usually by mixing the water from the river and the spring (otherwise you may end up burning yourself or freezing). 5km from Badrinath is a small village called Mana, which is the last Indian village in that area. The road on Indian side ends at Mana. The people of Mana are a mix of Indian and Tibetan blood. There is also Valley of flowers close to Badrinath. The nearest town to all three of them is Joshimath which is inhabited all round the year. Badrinath, Mana and Valley of flowers are opened only for a few summer months. One has to book cabs from Delhi or Rishikesh to reach Badrinath. The journey can easily be two days long one way if weather permits. The road from Rishikesh to Badrinath is about 300km moving all along the river Ganga. On way one passes through many prayags. A prayag is a place where two rivers meet. It is a sight in itself to see two rivers meet from mountain top. The route is marred my deep river gorges and also many waterfalls, some even falling on the road. People take bath and wash their vehicles under such waterfalls.
C for Chail- Chail is located in the state of Himachal pradesh. It is a few hours journey from Chandigarh on one side and Simla on other side. The road from Chail to Simla maintains a constant altitude till Kufri. Most mountain roads are zig-zag and go up and down. This road is only zig-zag and does not change its altitude at all. Chail also has the worlds highest cricket field. Right on the top of the mountain, they have a plain oval shaped field with an old score board. The field looks something like the cricket field in Lagaan (the dust is replaced by lush green grass here). This field is the home of hundreds of monkeys, so never even think about showing an iota of attitude to them. They'll chase you all the way down to Chandigarh (speaking from personal experience). Simla is 4 hours drive from Chail via Kufri. Kufri is known for its snowfall. On way back to Chandigarh, a little off the road (about 15km) is a small town named Kasauli. Kasauli has an airforce base and is also inhabited by mostly retired army generals. One doesn't find too many hotels there (it seems they don't want to encourage tourists). The nearest city to all of them is Chandigarh.
D for Dalhousie- It lies in the dhauladhar ranges in the state of himachal pradesh. One could get there via Pathankot or through Kangra. In Dalhousie town, if you are looking for good aloo paranthas then sharma’s dhaba is the place on Gandhi chowk. It’s a shabby looking dhaba (that’s how dhabas are suppose to look), but the aloo paranthas are comaparable to the best I’ve eaten. Near Dalhousie is the famous Khajjiar lake which is referred as mini
E for (nothing i can think of.....)
F for Fatehpur Sikri- This was the capital of emperor Akbar. It is about 35km from Agra. Fatehpur Sikri boasts of Buland Darwaza, the tallest gate in the world. It sure is huge. There is nothing more to the town. Closest city is Agra where Tajmahal and Agra fort are worth seeing. Agra is 200km from Delhi and well connected by buses and trains.
G for Gurgaon- That was the only place I could think with G. Gurgaon is a suburb of Delhi on the Delhi-Jaipur NH-8. Old Gurgaon is a usual Indian town, but the DLF area looks more of some western nation. It is flanked by tall,swanky corporate buildings, shopping malls and very expensive residence complexes. The most interesting thing I find about DLF area is the names they have chosen for roads and complexes. Each and every name it seems have been borrowed from the west. There are NO hindi names there. I wondered was it a deliberate policy on their end to choose such names or was it just a beautifully western coincidence. I believe it reflects the follow the west blindly kind of thinking in them, but I there is no way I can prove that. Gurgaon in anycase is used as the perfect face of growing India.
H for Hoshangabad- It is a small town in Madhyapradesh located on the banks of Narmada. I visited this place when in class VIII in a gurukul there. It is well connected to Bhopal.
I for (cant think of something....)
J for Jammu- This is the summer capital of J&K. I've never been to any place where there is so much of military. At first look it seems there is a war going on. 2hrs drive from Jammu is the temple of Mata Vaishno Devi. This temple is very popular among north Indians. Jammu is well connected by rail and road from Delhi.
K for Kanyakkumari- Kanyakkumari is the southern most point of the India mainland. This is where the Arabian sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal meet (though to naked eye it looks a simple sea). It is also the place from where Swami Vivekananda grew as a person. They have an Ashram of him there. Just off the mainland into the sea is the rock where Vivekananda used to meditate. There is also a beautiful statue of Guruvayur standing in the sea. Interestingly Kanyakkumari is in the state of Tamilnadu (for some reason I always thought it to be in Kerela).
L for (cant think of any....)
M for Mcleodganj- This is the seat of the govt in exile of Tibet. Home of the Dalai Lama. One would find a large number of Tibetans there, and many in monastic robes. Mcleodganj is about 15km above the town of Dharamshala. If you choose to walk from Dharamshala to Mcleodganj through the short cut, there comes a point from where one can see the cricket stadium in Dharamshala. It's like a bird eye's view of a stadium. Dharamshala is very close to Kangra which is famous for it's apple farms. The mountain range in this part of Himalayas is called Dhauladhar range. In Mcleodganj the majority of foreign tourists are from Israel. I don't know the reason for that, but they say Mcleodganj and Kullu are like second home to Israelis. Besides hotels, one room apartments are also available for those who plan to stay for months. A lot of Tibetan and Israeli food is also available along with the usual north indian food of course. Dharamshala is well connected by buses from Chandigarh and Delhi.
N for Nainital- This famous hill station lies in the Kumaon region of Uttaranchal. It is named after the Naini lake, which now is absolutely polluted, thanks to the tourism industry. There are other lakes around Nainital, but all are polluted now. There is Ranikhet some 35km from Nainital which is lot less crowded and clean. I personally prefer Ranikhet a better place to visit than Nainital for the simple reason that there are very few tourists there. Nainital is well connected by bus from Delhi, while the nearest station is located at Kathgodam.
O for (cant think of any....)
P for Pushkarji- Pushkar is 12km from the city of Ajmer. While Pushkar is known for the only temple of Brahma in the world, Ajmer is known for the dargaah of Khwaja Moinuddin chishti, a sufi saint. It is said that more Hindus visit the dargaah than Muslims. Pushkar is located on the bank of a lake. Ajmer too has a number of lakes. Ajmer is well connected by train and bus from Jaipur and Delhi.
Q for (cant think of any....)
R for Rohtang Pass- Rohtang pass is beyond the town of Manali. I went there in the month of May and it still snowed there. Beyond Rohtang lies the lahaul and spiti valley which connect Laddakh to Himachal. There are only two roads connecting to Laddakh. Besides the Srinagar-Leh NH-1A, this is the only road. The river Beas flows through Manali. Manali is well connected to Delhi and Chandigarh through road. It takes at least two days to reach Manali by Road.
S for Shimla- This is the capital of Himachalpradesh and the former summer capital of the Raj. It is the biggest city I've seen in the mountains. It occupies almost half the mountain. The Mall road in Shimla is where all the activity is in the night. New year's time is when it is most crowded. It is said that it always snows on the new year's eve, but this time it didn't snow and it made news. Shimla is well connected by road from Chandigarh and Delhi.
T for Thiruanandapuram- It is also known as Trivandrum for short. It is the capital of Kerela. The airport is located next to the sea, so the sight of runway is quite good. There are very few red lights in the city and not much traffic. The only place where one could find traffic snarls is near the secretariat. The narial paani is the most common drink you could get. In restaurants you get warm boiled water. I found it difficult to find open cold drinking water. And one should definetly try eating barrotas there.
U for (cant think of any....)
V for Valley of Flowers- This is the best place I have visited in my life. It is breathtakingly beautiful and one major reason for that is not may people visit the valley. The only way to get to the valley is to trek 18km from Govindghat (nearest road point) of to sit on a poney. Beyond the gate of the valley, the ponies are not allowed. You pass through the gate, climb the mountain and you the a 10km long valley. It is just amazing. All you see is a bed of flowers. All kinds of flowers, all possible colors. There are some flowers which blossom only once in one year. So if you see them on a day, you will not see them for the entire year. Also the valley changes its colors. Today it might have purple flowers, and tomorrow there will be magenta flowers. My writing skills are not good enough to describe the valley. All I can say is it's a must visit for those who love to trekk and those who love mountains. It is one of the very few places left in the mountains which is untouched by the tourists. Beyond the valley lies Badrinath on one side, while on the other side is Hemkunth Sahib. This is the highest gurudwara in the world. It is located at the banks of a lake. Nearest town is Joshimath, which is more than a day's drive from Rishikesh and Delhi.
W,X,Y for (cant think of any....)
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Taare Zameen Par-II....The truth about truth
I was in SIDH last year for few months. SIDH is a non profit organization based in Mussoorie in the state of Uttaranchal. It has some 17 schools in villages nearby. I was in one of them, teaching all that I know to little but smart kids there. The time I spent there was perhaps the turning point in my life. It forced me to re-look at my country in a way I was not used to. It forced me to know about Bharat and not India.
While taking a class with fifth grade kids, I asked them once. "Do you people lie"? I got no answers. I then said, "I do lie sometimes. I'm sure even you must be doing it sometimes". They now started raising hands, indicating yes they do it sometimes. All of them raised their hands. All did lie at some point or the other. I then asked, "why do you lie"? The answers they were giving sounded familiar. They lie because they don't want to get a beating from their father or their teacher. They lie, because they don't want any kind of punishment in school. Then a little boy said " we also lie to impress others, our teacher, our friends". That was a really honest answer. I was not asking all this to see if they lie or not. I was asking this to them, to help me look inside myself. All those answers seemed so familiar. All those reasons were mine too. Just that as I grew older, my lies would be more to impress people than actually out of fear of some kind of punishment.
I then asked them, "do you also speak the truth?" They laughed to this question. What a silly question, "yes we do speak the truth", everyone said. Then I asked them "why do u speak the truth?". This question was also addressed to me. We were all thinking. Why do we speak the truth? I had not definite answers. Probably because it's the easiest thing to do, I thought. Just then a little girl stood up to answer the question. "We speak the truth because otherwise no one will believe us."
This statement left me thinking long after the class. We want others to believe us, to trust us.And for them to do that, we need to speak the truth. The same is the other way round. We want to trust people. And so we feel good when they speak the truth. Why does it feel bad when the other person lies?? I guess because the trust is broken. That is what probably hurts. And one lie, causes doubts on all the truths that have also been spoken.
A friend recently lied to me. It was a totally insignificant lie, non-consequential. But that lie shook me, broke my trust. I was forced to doubt every word she had uttered before. I wanted to stop, but could not help think all the statements she made to me. And the thought of them being a lie was disturbing. Maybe I've done the same with other people too. Maybe I've broken their trust too. Maybe just like me, even they asked "why me?"
When I decided to go to SIDH, Pawan ji had told me to come with an attitude of a student. To have an attitude that I may learn something there, from the local people. That class that day proved a turning point in my life. I realized I was not there to do some kind of social service. I was not there to help those kids. I was there to learn. To learn what I did not find in my text books for over 20 years. To know what Bharat is. I had a fairly good knowledge of India, but not Bharat.
While taking a class with fifth grade kids, I asked them once. "Do you people lie"? I got no answers. I then said, "I do lie sometimes. I'm sure even you must be doing it sometimes". They now started raising hands, indicating yes they do it sometimes. All of them raised their hands. All did lie at some point or the other. I then asked, "why do you lie"? The answers they were giving sounded familiar. They lie because they don't want to get a beating from their father or their teacher. They lie, because they don't want any kind of punishment in school. Then a little boy said " we also lie to impress others, our teacher, our friends". That was a really honest answer. I was not asking all this to see if they lie or not. I was asking this to them, to help me look inside myself. All those answers seemed so familiar. All those reasons were mine too. Just that as I grew older, my lies would be more to impress people than actually out of fear of some kind of punishment.
I then asked them, "do you also speak the truth?" They laughed to this question. What a silly question, "yes we do speak the truth", everyone said. Then I asked them "why do u speak the truth?". This question was also addressed to me. We were all thinking. Why do we speak the truth? I had not definite answers. Probably because it's the easiest thing to do, I thought. Just then a little girl stood up to answer the question. "We speak the truth because otherwise no one will believe us."
This statement left me thinking long after the class. We want others to believe us, to trust us.And for them to do that, we need to speak the truth. The same is the other way round. We want to trust people. And so we feel good when they speak the truth. Why does it feel bad when the other person lies?? I guess because the trust is broken. That is what probably hurts. And one lie, causes doubts on all the truths that have also been spoken.
A friend recently lied to me. It was a totally insignificant lie, non-consequential. But that lie shook me, broke my trust. I was forced to doubt every word she had uttered before. I wanted to stop, but could not help think all the statements she made to me. And the thought of them being a lie was disturbing. Maybe I've done the same with other people too. Maybe I've broken their trust too. Maybe just like me, even they asked "why me?"
When I decided to go to SIDH, Pawan ji had told me to come with an attitude of a student. To have an attitude that I may learn something there, from the local people. That class that day proved a turning point in my life. I realized I was not there to do some kind of social service. I was not there to help those kids. I was there to learn. To learn what I did not find in my text books for over 20 years. To know what Bharat is. I had a fairly good knowledge of India, but not Bharat.
Friday, February 1, 2008
March on global warming
I met Shashank a few days ago. He was planning to organize a rally to highlight the issue of global warming. In the conversation we had I wanted to know how serious he is and how he plans to take the rally. He asked me to join him for the march.
Yesterday some 200 students (mostly from IIIT) gathered in front of the cyber pearl building in the hi-tech city area. We had hired the city transport bus to take the students from the campus to rendevouz. Almost all the IIIT students were dressed in blue jeans and white t-shirts. I think this was some kind of planning from their side. I'm not sure why this combination of dress. We were also given half a page, describing small steps we can take in our lives which would help reduce global warming.
Most of the talks I have heard on this issue and even here, the solutions suggested seem to be insufficient. I feel even if all the solutions suggested here were implemented, at best the global warming will be postponed. If global warming was to happen today, it would be postponed to say 10 years from now. I think the core issue was missing. And I believe the core problem is consumerism. I feel unless the problem of endless consumerism is tackled, environmental breakdown is inevitable.
I'll try to explain with an example. One of the solution suggested is to have better technology cars, which emit less fumes in the air. But at the same time the target of the industry remains to increase the car sale. The ideal situation for industry would be if everyman on the earth owns a car. Now even if with new technology, the fuel emission is reduced by 15%, the car sales goes up 10 times. In total, more fumes are emitted now.
Our march began in front of a corporate building which was made entirely of glass. And that was not the only building. Almost all the corporate offices in hitech city (in fact even in other cities of the country) are made mainly of glass. Now India is a hot country where sun shines really bright. A glass building would allow immense amount of sun rays to enter the building. And to cool this heat so much of more air conditioning is required. I wonder if anyone gave a thought on this aspect of those glamorous buildings.
While marching and shouting slogans, I saw a roadside advertisement banner. It read (something something....Mini city, Mega comforts). The ad was for some upcoming township in Hyderabad. If someone is trying to fit in mega comforts into a mini city, I believe global warming is round the corner. I asked Harjinder ji if the issue of global warming can be tackled without talking about consumerism. His response was that each one is standing at a different point, and each one has to raise his voice from that point. He thought, in todays time we have to talk about multiple issues together rather can putting our energy on one issue. We both felt it was important to have some kind of follow up activity in IIIT, otherwise the whole issue would be diffused. I asked Shashank if they planned anything like that. He said they have planned to show the video recordings of the march in felicity (the upcoming college festival). They are also trying to organize some talks on the issue.
The heartening fact was to see Shashank and his friends organize the event. They managed everything well and in the end seemed pretty satisfied with the effort. When we reached back at the campus after the march, Shashank's friend gave him what they call bumps (number of guys lift one person and kick his ass, till it goes red or better sense prevails). Such a celebration is a sign of a successful event and the happiness in those people.
I really hope some kind of follow up activity is organized in the college. It's very easy for the young students here to undermine the seriousness of such activities. The follow up can help them continue to be sensitive about such issues.
By the way, just for record, some of the war cries and banners were
Jhonny Jhonny yes papa, global warming no papa
vote for, green planet
be different, go green
fly less
use public transport
........and some on the lighter side were
angrezo, bharat chhodo
inquilaab zindabaad
For me the success of rally would be if Shashank and his team of organizers can make their living more green. Anyone else would be a bonus.
Yesterday some 200 students (mostly from IIIT) gathered in front of the cyber pearl building in the hi-tech city area. We had hired the city transport bus to take the students from the campus to rendevouz. Almost all the IIIT students were dressed in blue jeans and white t-shirts. I think this was some kind of planning from their side. I'm not sure why this combination of dress. We were also given half a page, describing small steps we can take in our lives which would help reduce global warming.
Most of the talks I have heard on this issue and even here, the solutions suggested seem to be insufficient. I feel even if all the solutions suggested here were implemented, at best the global warming will be postponed. If global warming was to happen today, it would be postponed to say 10 years from now. I think the core issue was missing. And I believe the core problem is consumerism. I feel unless the problem of endless consumerism is tackled, environmental breakdown is inevitable.
I'll try to explain with an example. One of the solution suggested is to have better technology cars, which emit less fumes in the air. But at the same time the target of the industry remains to increase the car sale. The ideal situation for industry would be if everyman on the earth owns a car. Now even if with new technology, the fuel emission is reduced by 15%, the car sales goes up 10 times. In total, more fumes are emitted now.
Our march began in front of a corporate building which was made entirely of glass. And that was not the only building. Almost all the corporate offices in hitech city (in fact even in other cities of the country) are made mainly of glass. Now India is a hot country where sun shines really bright. A glass building would allow immense amount of sun rays to enter the building. And to cool this heat so much of more air conditioning is required. I wonder if anyone gave a thought on this aspect of those glamorous buildings.
While marching and shouting slogans, I saw a roadside advertisement banner. It read (something something....Mini city, Mega comforts). The ad was for some upcoming township in Hyderabad. If someone is trying to fit in mega comforts into a mini city, I believe global warming is round the corner. I asked Harjinder ji if the issue of global warming can be tackled without talking about consumerism. His response was that each one is standing at a different point, and each one has to raise his voice from that point. He thought, in todays time we have to talk about multiple issues together rather can putting our energy on one issue. We both felt it was important to have some kind of follow up activity in IIIT, otherwise the whole issue would be diffused. I asked Shashank if they planned anything like that. He said they have planned to show the video recordings of the march in felicity (the upcoming college festival). They are also trying to organize some talks on the issue.
The heartening fact was to see Shashank and his friends organize the event. They managed everything well and in the end seemed pretty satisfied with the effort. When we reached back at the campus after the march, Shashank's friend gave him what they call bumps (number of guys lift one person and kick his ass, till it goes red or better sense prevails). Such a celebration is a sign of a successful event and the happiness in those people.
I really hope some kind of follow up activity is organized in the college. It's very easy for the young students here to undermine the seriousness of such activities. The follow up can help them continue to be sensitive about such issues.
By the way, just for record, some of the war cries and banners were
Jhonny Jhonny yes papa, global warming no papa
vote for, green planet
be different, go green
fly less
use public transport
........and some on the lighter side were
angrezo, bharat chhodo
inquilaab zindabaad
For me the success of rally would be if Shashank and his team of organizers can make their living more green. Anyone else would be a bonus.
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