Smile Charitable Trust Blog

  • International Day of Yoga!

    Jun 21, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    Before going to bed; little Rishi gets a leg massage from me. And he desires to listen to a story while his legs are getting pampered. That’s quite a preparation to organize stories every now and then. I am running out of stories from magic story-bag. While Rishi seizes his experience; I picture myself back to my childhood, sleeping with my grand-parents, while listening to their stories, with heart-warming affection in the air. I always felt like I had to take care of Rishi with exactly same way as I experienced affection from my grand-parents; besides he is my complete world. Totally TOTAL.

    Here is the short story I narrated to him recently.

    Once upon a time there was a little boy who only ate sweets and candy. He loved them too much and he was quite greedy too. One day, in an antique shop he found an old magnifying glass. He liked it very much, and his parents bought it for him. He was so happy with his magnifying glass! As soon as he could, he used it to look at a little ant. It was great! The ant looked so big. But then a strange thing happened. When he took the magnifying glass away, the ant stayed the same size it had appeared through the glass. Very surprised, the boy kept experimenting, and he found that anything he looked at through the magnifying glass would get bigger, and stay that way.

    Suddenly, he realised how he could best use this special ability, and he ran home. At home he took all the candies and sweets, and he made them gigantic with his magnifying glass. Then he completely stuffed himself with them, until he could eat nothing more. However, the next morning he woke up totally swollen, a bit purple, and with a huge bellyache. When the doctor came to see him, he said it was the worst case of upset tummy he had ever seen. Night and day, the little greedy boy suffered so much that for a long time he didn't want to hear mention of large amounts of food. His parents were happy about this. Thanks to their son's latest greediness their pantry was full of the food he could not eat. What's more, he gave up being a gourmand who only ever ate sweets and candy. He wanted nothing to do with them.

    And so it was that the little greedy-fella learned that even with the best things in life, if you have too many of them, you will end up feeling ill. He decided to keep the magnifying glass in a box until he found something that would really be worth making bigger.

    How about you? What would you use the magnifying glass for? What a stupid question!  Everyone will use it differently, no? We all are different. Every child is different, hence every adult is different, every man, every woman. That is correct. I do agree. But do we have to use magnifying glass differently? Beer? Diamond? House? Cars? Chocolate Cake? Or something else?

    We human beings are made up of three components: body, mind and soul. Matching to these, are therefore three needs which must be satisfied for a contented life. The physical need is health ; the psychological need is knowledge ; and the spiritual need is inner peace . When all three are present there is perfect harmony within us.

    Today’s lifestyle with its technological advancement is a mixed-blessing. Convenience and speed are obtained at some cost to physical health. Labour saving devices reduce physical application, resulting in stiffness and muscular weakness. An inactive life causes backache, neck problems, and heaviness in the limbs, difficulty in vision and difficulty in walking. The extensive use of visual media leads to headache and eye strain. It is never ending...

    Right kind of knowledge is going to guide us in the path of inner serenity. Core principles of Yoga teach us to practice balanced approach and moderation in all our actions, which is what the story above also convinced little Rishi. The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian era, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and śramaṇa movements.

    Believing is Achieving! – Kung-Fu-Panda said; not me. And Believing fineness is achieving fineness. With that thought; wishing you all a very goodnight. And remember; Yoga is not stretching. Yoga is not exercise. Yoga is not alternative to the Gym. Yoga is not RamDev Baba (although his contributions are immense to popularize it). Yoga is a science dealing with the search for the soul. The word “Yoga” signifies both the way to discovery of the soul and union with it.   My best wishes to everyone on International Day of Yoga , today. May we all understand and appreciate the need of Yoga in our daily life. Chalo; Goodnight and Subhratri.... Woh Jab Yaad Aye….Bahut Yaad Aye

  • Achhe Din Anne Wale Hein...Good Days Ahead :)

    Jun 11, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    We have all, in some way or other, witnessed the fact that “What we receive is based on by what have given” . It might take some time for this to become obvious but our efforts to give will ALWAYS result in some level of reciprocation. Biggest examples of this fact is: Positive and Negative thoughts which we are transmitting every second of our life. Our life is transformed based on the nature of our thoughts. Thoughts are positive when they contain thoughts of what we want or love. And thoughts are negative when they contain thoughts of what we do not want or we do not love. If we continue to think about what we want; we shall certainly get what we want. If we think about what is difficult for us to get, it will remain difficult for us to attain.

    We constantly plan, bicker; complain about what we oppose/resist. Well; they are negative thoughts. We might think we are protecting ourselves by analysing and planning against what is not good for us; but in reality we are only fuelling what is not good for us and making it more powerful. There is only one way we can make it weak and make us powerful; is by living happily, by stop planning, by stop analysing and only thinking about the good things we want to happen to our lives. Simple. Nothing more, nothing less. If the good things will happen or not; nobody know; why care now – let’s wait and see.  At least the feeling is good inside when we indulge in good thoughts and feeling is painful when we indulge in bad thoughts. A good feeling inside is what we all wish, irrespective of our religious, demographic or cultural differences.

    Actions, as we know, can speak louder than words. It has always and it will always. Words, as we know, can be misconstrued easily; intentionally and unintentionally sometimes. I have noticed exchanges through emails and text messages carry such wrong tone of the message than actually they are. It happens most of the times. So, it will be helpful to have an even balance of both (Communication virtually and personally) if we truly want to know thoughts or sentiments of people we deal with, we interact with.

    Very often we come across people in our circle; where their actions say one thing, their words another. Where there is inconsistency or obvious for us to judge someone; we apply our clever insight. And where inconsistency is consistent in spite of all our try; we don’t try to make sense or waste our cleaver insight. :)

    They say the longest journey starts with a single step, even if, it’s just as simple as clicking the mouse of our computer system! Interest I believe is the biggest discovery of the century. Thanks to the internet, we rarely travel into a complete unknown territory. There are so many review/opinions/how-to on the internet that we have a sense of what we'll encounter before even we try. Is it a good thing or bad? How did people manage before internet, not so long ago (15 years ago may be) ? Were they more adventurous or are we now? Were they more risk-taking or are we now? But yes, we are saving bit of time, we are saving bit of our brain’s effort to find a solution, we are living a luxurious life. The role of all modern gizmos is to apparently make our life more luxurious, by not letting us to think, by not letting us to try, by not letting us to take risk. Because everything can be found easily on interest and it is on our finger tips.

    But few things just can't be experienced in advance through the luxury of modern gizmos; such as the smell of the fresh flowers; the experience of love; the impact of positive emotions; the power of friendship or hopes of the hopefuls! Let’s not allow perceptions to disturb us from adventuring and discovering continuously.

    Longest journey starts with a single step SE yaad aya; my bedroom door has a sticker now since last night, which says “IPAD and IPHONE are not allowed inside...beyond this point”. I have a nice table lamp on my bed side and few of those choiced books, which I wanted to read for sometime, have now moved from the bookshelf in the lounge, on to the bedside table in my bed-room.  The son is not going to be happy about it initially but he has always and will also adapt to this. Kids watch their parents carefully and if they see their parents enjoy doing things, they also follow them naturally. Rishi prefers vegetarian food now like me, can you believe it? – imagine a time two years ago when you ask him what is his favourite food; “Sausages” is what he’d say effortlessly. Now he appreciates Okra (Bhindi), Aubergine (Baingan); Paneer (Cottage cheese); & Parwal. It’s all good. Achhe dins ahead. What is your single step for the longest journey, on this weekend?

    Take good care of yourself and keep singing "Khaeee hey..." to think everything positive, to win everything positive and to aim everything positive. Have a great weekend.

  • Leaders are about Influence, Nothing more, and Nothing less!

    May 30, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    What is the definition of a true leader? Was Mahatma Gandhi a good leader, who didn’t wear proper cloths, who didn’t travel in charter flights, who was not surrounded by army of security staffs or Politicians of current times are better leaders, who have every bit of all that at their disposal? Was Mother Teresa a good leader who did so much of charity work without speaking a word or those social leaders today, who publicise their work in the social media to beat the competition and remain successful? Are the leaders supposed to be visionary or they should be continuous learners? Are they supposed to be good communicator or they should be good listener? Are leaders generally courageous or they preferred to be secure and stable? If we go by some of current classifications of leadership qualities, we can easily deny Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa to appear in the leadership list. 

    Confusing hey? If we think about it, it’s very simple. Leadership is all about influence, nothing more, and nothing less. Mother Teresa had that, even if she did not speak much. Mahatma Gandhi had that, even though he did not wear suits and bow-tie. How many lives between them, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa had influenced together? Just imagine.

    Since childhood, we have been taught that leaders are born. Good joke. How else ? But it is true some people are born with some natural leadership qualities but it does not make rest of them disqualified from being leaders. Mahatma Gandhi was not a born leader! He was a happy family man living & practising law in South Africa. Situation forced him and he did take that difficult decision to be a leader, at the cost of his comfort and stability.

    There is a difference between a “Boss” and a “Leader” . The word “Boss” can be bit strong and negative and a leader? Boss to me, is about position, authority, demand and everything which is very forceful. Leader as I said is about influence, nothing more, and nothing less.  What need to be done must be done. Leaders focus on getting things done only. Position and Authority are more important to the boss to prove all the times to his/her subordinates. The Boss focuses on that therefore. My point is: A Boss may not be a good leader. Boss can just be a boss or both Boss and Leader together. Make sense?

    Husband-Wife relationship has become a wonderful context for Hollywood movies, Bollywood movies, jokes-substance which gets circulated in social media platforms on a daily basis. Husbands keep circulating jokes about their wives within their comradeship and vice-versa. Here are some global opinions on marriages. I am not sure if these people truely said what written below but these are being circulated in the social media platforms.

    • After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can't face each other, but still they stay together. - Al Gore
    • By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. - Socrates
    • Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them. - Mike Tyson
    • I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me. - Bill Clinton
    • Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays. - George W. Bush
    • A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong. - Barack Obama

    What are they trying to say, if we pay attention? They are possibly implying that they are great leaders, and they have no intension to be boss at home. Make sense? What need to be done must be done. Leaders focus on getting things done only and they do not waste any time bossing around.

    That’s all for today. I want to keep going but remembered that it is an important day tomorrow, birthday of a friend, younger brother and probably one of the most comfortable friendships I have made in my life. Comfortable? Why it is? It is because we naturally enjoy friendship, which reminds us, how good we are and there is no one better than us. Friendship for a purpose fade away naturally in couple of months, years but if a friendship lasted for decades together, with same consistency and the friend continues to make us feel special – then it is something else. I am what I am, because of the faith of friend like this on me. Love you.

    Comfort se yaad aya – we don’t feel comfortable doing everything with every friend. I tend to have a long conversation with some of my friends, go to a movie with some others, go on feasting with some, go to a holiday with some and prefer to work/brainstorm with some. They all are friends and I love them all with equal intensity, but we match each other’s frequency differently with different subjects.  That’s perfectly fine and natural. If thie above friend was in the town and tomorrow is his birthday, I shall drag him to a musical like this below. Because this is one of the subjects, where our frequencies would match on a birthday.  I heard this song for the first time, when another good friend mine tried his voice with it once and since then I am huge fan of this song. Apparently it took 16 years for the original creator  “Leonard Cohen“  to create this song/lyrics/music. Many have tried to sing this since then and here are some of my favourites. Hope you like it.

    It is going to be short but a rocking week. Chalo; Goodnight…Sleep Tight. Because tomorrow the first thing we have to answer ourselves as soon as we wake up is: how are we all going to influence? Just one person, everyday for a good reason – Shall we ? Most importantly - lets make it clear - whether we want to be a leader or a boss ? Subhratri…Sabah Khair.

    Well, I heard there was a secret chord

    That David played and it pleased the Lord

    But you don't really care for music, do you?

    Well it goes like this:

    The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift

    The baffled king composing Hallelujah

    Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah..

     

  • Honesty does not require luck to survive!

    May 17, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    Lack of uprightness is spreading like an epidemic now, in all directions, covering the entirety.  Unethical behaviour by companies, such as releasing pollutants into the air, is affecting cities, towns, waterways and masses of people. Release of harmful toxins into the environment due to lax safety standards, improper maintenance of equipment or other preventable reasons is unethical. If a business willingly continues production of a product knowing inherent environmental risks exist, it can certainly be categorized as unethical behaviour.

    When countries do not agree, they bomb one another, accusing the less powerful country to maintain terrorism. When political leaders fear of loosing election battle, they accuse their opposition for supporting terrorism. The word terrorism appears to have been created for this purpose only, so that the powerful and fearful can persecute the less powerful easily just by suspecting or tactically.

    Someone explained that when he was doing well at work, his rivalry group ganged up and left an anonymous paper at his boss’s desk accusing him to be involved in corruption. Boss should have thought why there was anonymous paper at all, not proper evidence which led to some matured discussion? And does that anonymous paper allow him to take any action against the accused?

    Some Sales professionals don’t need to know the subject matter to perform their job. All they need is a fully loaded credit card to take their customers to the best restaurants or expensive pubs in the town. And for large organizations; deals are dealt in the golf courses. A very famous sales person mentioned, he even signed some deals in the spa retreats. Venues are carefully chosen where only few words can be exchanged, gone are those days of long presentation, day long negotiation and further clarifications.

    Some recruitment agencies can’t stand each other. They can go to any extent to sabotage each other’s chances of success. They can bad mouth, they can spread rumours, they can falsify the certificate/references – making sure only the dirtiest is the winner.

    We are living in a world, full of information. It is at least doing well to some of us. We are able to know our rights & responsibilities at the same time. Less privileged people, poor people in the rural area & girls in the developing countries suffered severely until now; without knowledge of their rights and responsibilities. With it available now, they appear perfectly capable to challenge the part of the society, which forced them to stay where they were, for so long. But they should challenge, only where there is a need, not just to come to limelight artificially.  

    In developing nations, nothing can move without us participating in corruption. Corruption has spread to the root level in some of those countries, for example to book a train ticket, admission to schools/colleges/universities and also to find employment. Money speaks above all and corruption creates huge amount of black money for wrong people, with wrong intensions.

    Bending the rules in a business situation or personal situation is often the result of a psychological stimulus. If an employee is asked to perform an unethical task by a supervisor or manager, he may do it because his allegiance to authority is greater than his need to abide by the rules. Withholding information that can change an outcome also falls under the umbrella of unethical behaviour.

    Right; what is the cause? I MBALANCE, IT IS. Large Population, growing population creates demand and interrupts the balance of Demand & Supply.

    And what is the solution? Can this ever be corrected, when population growth can not be reversed? Well; Sir Isaac Newton was a very wise man. He said “For  every action , there is an equal and opposite reaction ”. Imagine how many are feeling the pain from corruption, trait, and dishonesty on a daily basis. They all are sending out the clear signals with the need for a world full of honesty, commitment and decency. When we are unethical, we have competitions to compete with. And when we are ethical, we are competition-free and full of success. Which one is more alluring?

    Paap se dharti phati, adharm se aasmaan, atyachaar se kaanpi insaaniyat, raj kar rahe haivaan ... jinki hogi taqat apoorv, jinka hoga nishana abhed, joh karenge inka sarvanaash ... woh kehlayenge Baazigaar? Nah… Shehenshah? Nah… Karamveer? Chalo – that is just YOUR NAME (Fill it and say it loudly). Are you the one ? J Socho/think if everyone pronounced their name loudly as the keeper of the honesty and uprightness!!! Just imagine J

    With that thought; I wish you all goodnight, SubhRatri and Sabah-Khair!!! 

  • Logic within illogical!

    May 8, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    A study says that there are over 5 million web pages related to astrology. It is estimated that about 38 million people spend approximately $44 billion annually on services related to astrology and future prediction. In Eastern world, approximate every household follows astrology. Brilliant!!! If we add together the industry pertaining to Godmen and Godwomen, it certainly would make it quite a sizable industry sector for benchmarking purposes. Some trillion dollar industry all together!!!

    Certainly there is demand, hence is the supply. Demand was generated in the past and is being generated today, whether or not there is a genuine need. There are tools, mechanism, and campaigns available today to generate demand, whether it is for astrology industry or retail industry or financial/insurance industry. It is generated because there is willingness for both sides of the ecosystem to participate and transact.  

    I wonder if astrologers can predict expectancy of their own life. Some will argue “Yes, they can” or “They had in the past” etc. Do I have a declaration to make? No. I don’t. Just curious. I confronted myself, how all these trusted supporters of astrology will make decision otherwise, in the absence of it, on a daily basis? What is right, what is wrong? How will they know?

    Some of us think too much and rest? Rest of us take it easy and say “I don’t know”, “How’d I know”, “May be”, “It depends”. Which one is ideal? To think too much or not think at all. Society does put an emphasis on how we think & behave. I noticed my little boy is too sophisticated to avoid making a decision. He used to say “I don’t know”, “May be”, etc etc. I am getting him to practice to take a decision at the end of count up to 3. He challenges, “How’d I know that the decision he take at the end of count up to 3 is correct”. I assured him, “whichever choice comes into his mind naturally, without bias, without exercising what-if analysis is the choice need to be made at the end of count up to 3”. He asked me, “How sure am I about this judgement?” I replied he’d not loose much if he tried this for few months, say six months? I see he is practising it diligently. I like it. We shall see and hear about his observation.

    When we think too much about something, we sometimes try to find logic within what is illogical. By allowing logic to be removed from a thought process and trusting what we feel is 'the right thing to do'; will alter our attitude towards life. Logics can be as good as personal opinion only. Everything must be tried, tested, experienced and ultimately altered further continuously. Change is the means of access to evolution process, which can not be blocked. If change must be allowed, how can there be a static “Logic” or “Theory” ever? What suits one, may not suit other and what suits one today, may not suit anyone few decades later.  We didn’t expect to experience, most of things we see around us today, we can not expect as well, what we are going to experience in couple of decades time from now.

    It is the hope (not hype), which gets us going. It is the progression, (not accretion) that we must pursue. Let’s live illogically and let's allow everyone to complete their share of experience in their own terms. With that beautiful thought; I want to wish all of us a wonderful week ahead, God bless & Goodnight.

  • Humility is our friend :)!

    Apr 29, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    Spring! Spring means to surge ahead. That’s what they do…the trees, plants, vegetation in entirety…after winter and before summer. My favourite season, it is. Trees try to make a statement in the spring. It feels they are trying to tell me something, as I pass them by on my running track. What? I know what they are trying to tell. They always say this…it’s just that I never listen properly; most of us give it a miss. But they do have a very valid point. Try to listen, all I can say. Before that, look at them, look at their happiness, bring them close to your eyes and be part of their festivity and delight.

    Spring always comes back after winter. We can sort of expect it still. How about when do don’t have winter at all? Will we still expect spring? I doubt it – it’s a complementing cycle, within them all seasons make together. There is no winter in my home town anymore. I feel sad. Those were the streets I rode motor bikes with my heavy winter jackets while still living in Bhubaneswar, studying my engineering degree. I can’t say my concerns are justified. Who knows, if there used to be winter in middle-eastern region as well, a century or two ago, which is now a distant reality. Something is changing…its big. I can sense it, may be we’ll not see it, in our life time, but it is definitely coming…next generation will observe it for sure.

    Velocity of changes is reciprocal to its demographic attribute. Younger people are more agile. They adapt to transformation quickly. That’s how it is, nothing wrong – pure biology in play. How much of change is sustainable and how much of it is pure excess? Any thoughts?

    Daily local newspaper read; Toxic air kills 1000 Londers in 4 months!!! What’s that number of people died in bombing in Syria recently? There is no terrorism in play here; but the numbers are aligned pretty comparable. Apparently toxic air causes mostly by diesel vehicles, is particularly dangerous as it can get deep into lungs ands seep into bloodstream – causing heart and lung diseases, cancer and aggravating asthma. No wonder the number of people suffering from heart attack and cancer has raised so suddenly in the big cities. Friday it is today. Many of us with stand pretty tonight in all those selfies, with varieties of toxic substances and dispatch social media for a nap… as if toxic air was not enough.

    Future is always begging for attention. Those insurance companies, banks and investment bankers are constantly encouraging us to think about future. That’s their job and they make their living by making us concerned and paying to protect ourselves for something that won’t happen perhaps.

    Everyone is doing their duty, earning their bread, whether or not it is of any benefit to others. There are many ways to find happiness. There is not a single-cut solution.  Some find it by consuming toxic substance; some find it by creating toxic air and some find it by creating fear for the future. Excessive future-focus is the single most toxic generating inventiveness, we have at the moment. Everything else is by-products, whether it is toxic air or toxic substance.

    Humility is our friend BEING mindful will create the humility and mindfulness will require inward journey…With that thought lets breath some non-toxic freshness. Have a soulful listening and a restful hibernation tonight. Love you all. It is always pleasure connecting with you all. Have a great weekend.

     

    Tubhyam Namami... Narayanaya…

    Tubhyam Namami...Jagadishwaraya…

    Hey LaxmiKantam...Tubhyam Namami…

    Hey Shantakaram...Tubhyam Namami…

    Narayanay… Tubhyam Namami…

  • A bit of Political Holi?

    Mar 23, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    London Mayor Election is looming closer. It’s a bitter battle. I find it really unsettling. Responsible politicians should only speak about what they plan to do for the people who are voting for them, if elected. That’s all. They should not talk about what others are not planning to do. When they focus more on what others are not planning, then I lose my interest somehow, I feel as if there is something wrong. It’s exactly the situation, back in India as well. They indulge in too much of personal attack. Few days ago, they were discussing about each other’s personal appearance in the British parliament, suggesting other-party leaders to wear proper suits, discussing about their mother and late mother!!! That’s not what you were voted to discuss in the parliament. There in India, they are too busy discussing what government did not do or qualification of ruling party education minister or age/marital status of the opposition party leader. How about you do something different – try some new now. Bring some innovative ideas for the ruling government to consider, which they cannot ignore. That will be something incredible.

    China’s growth has been slowing down recently. Matter of concern it is. It might disrupt steady recovery, which USA and UK has observed in last few years. In addition there are quite a few notable currencies in the devaluation path. Its calls for action/industrialization and that leads to increased carbon footprint, hence global warming.  Generous trading, comfortable living may now be at an end. Who knows?! Shall we talk about these topics, instead of appearance, personal attack etc.?

    Scorching heat covered the Earth last year like never before, making 2015 by far the hottest year in modern times and raising new concerns about the accelerating pace of climate change. Not only was 2015 the warmest worldwide since 1880, it shattered the previous record held in 2014 by the widest margin ever observed, said the report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62 Fahrenheit (0.90 Celsius) above the 20th century average," said the NOAA report. "This was the highest among all years in the 1880-2015 record." Compared to 2014, last year was 0.29 Fahrenheit (0.13 Celsius) warmer, the "largest margin by which the annual global temperature record has been broken." There was hardly any winter felt in the UK this year and in India, in the city that I grew up, winter has evaporated long back. I remember wearing heavy jackets while studying my engineering in India during winter evenings and these days, I don’t even consider carrying winter clothing, while travelling to India during winter. While some say it is happening, it is real and we need to clean up our act; others say no need to act, it’s fine because our earth goes through this hot-cold cycle in every could of centuries. So what do we really do? Action or no-action? Studies suggest that London has been estimated to have highest level of harmful air pollutants if any capital in the EU. It is terrifying that 330,000 London children go to school in areas with illegal pollution levels and nearly 10,000 deaths in a year at least can be attributed to London‘s air pollution. These death numbers are similar to the number of deaths cause in middle-east due to terrorism and bombing. Nitrogen dioxide and particulate pollution – largely created by diesel cars, lorries and buses – affects lung health and growth.  So where is the biggest threat? Within or elsewhere?

    BREXIT could cost the UK £100 billion and led to 950,000 job losses as the new paper sources claim. Each household could be up to £3,700 poorer each year or more, GDP would be at least 3% lower by 2020 and unemployment could be rise by three percent. FEAR FEAR FEAR! Who is spreading these fears? Are these really validated claims and even though they are valid, how are they compared with the return benefits? What is the actual purpose of European Union? How was it formed, when was it formed and where is it heading? Any idea? Google can help perhaps. As-if we didn’t have enough conflict already!

    More than 30 people are dead and more than 200 wounded after explosions struck Brussels during the Tuesday morning rush hour. Condolences to all of the family and loved ones of the victims. May the perpetrators be swiftly brought to justice? But why Brussels? What is the connection? There are multiple stories flying around. Google is always up-to-date and so are our own debate-networks. Killing people cannot be a solution to problem. It is definitely not, no matter what the connection is and what the story is. Killing is such an epidemic, that it spreads like an infectious disease in a community. These need to be converted to kindness sooner; otherwise it will affect everyone, every country. No one is safe really. One can’t simply kill some, assuming they will not be affected one day. No; we are observed over the years that people are being killed from every country, every religion and they are not specifically dark or white in colour. So who is targeting who here? How do we get to bottom of it? Grandmother narrated a story to me, when I was little. It goes like this…The King of a Kingdom once ordered all his citizens to bring and pour a jug of milk in an empty pond before sun rises next day morning, so that the king can observe a unique pond, which is full of milk, rather than usual water. Every citizen tried to cheat, they though it is dark anyways and no one could catch them if they poured a jug of water into the pond instead of milk. Next day morning after the sunrise, the king arrived to observe the milky pond and he was surprised to notice a normal pond full of water. Apparently every citizen thought, no one could catch them and they dropped a jug of water instead of milk. That is the present-day position of our society today. We are all trying to cheat, break the law, kill others, disturb others…assuming in return we will achieve success and our life will be wonderful. No? It’s only a dream, anyways.

    In the welcoming sort of dissimilar news; Russia has now ordered to withdraw its army from Syria. Well-done, Bravo. We like that.  I just feel for the people of Syria. Imagine what all they have gone through, so much so that there don’t feel home in their own home, own country. The powerful rich nations are also slowing-down now, in their humanitarian efforts. Syria stands there open, broken and exposes as like a no-man’s land . It’s a good thing, Russia has ordered to pull its army from Syria but why did Russia went there at the first place, for the very first time for a seemingly noble cause?

    And Pakistan cricket team has arrived in India to play World Twenty20 cricket tournament. This will be the first time, two teams have played cricket in India, after 8 long years. Two teams are bonding as if lost brothers reunited after a break. Good to see the attitude and aptitude.  There are still people from both sides trying to disturb the integrity by passing unnecessary comments, which has no value, aimed at only personal advantage. What do we do with these comments? Simple – to be ignored. By spreading hatred, some earn their bread for sure. Cricket is like a religion in the Indian subcontinent. Those who are involved in the murky mind-game, fear the sustainability of their bread/income, if there is no competitiveness left (rage instead) between India and Pakistan and two cricket teams. That’s why they can’t tolerate two team bonding well and saying good things about each other.

    What am I trying to say? I am saying; THERE IS ALWAYS TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY. There has been, there is and there will be obstacles always on the way to normality. Never has it been a cake walk.  Fair enough, how do we cross the huddle then? Simply by being honest in our own little world, in our own space, aiming to build an ecosystem of our own, which has honest us, honest friends, honest neighbours, honest colleagues, honest employer, honest politician, and honest life/business partners…everything we select will be nothing but honest. Honesty is not an option but a virtuous asset. If everyone moves a step towards this every day, we make collective and substantial progress. Dishonesty should not be tolerated at any cost, in personal life, at work-space, in society or in the political space. People decide, politicians follow people verdict. They don’t make their own decisions. We have come far-off from the time when we were ruled by kings and emperors. We are more advanced, more educated, more connected, more intelligent, more equipped now; for us to be ruled and imprisoned by politicians and their personal agendas.   Our mother nature cannot satisfy our greed or self-indulgence but she certainly has the capability to feed us every day for free, without the help of the pretending Corporatism who claim to be feeding the world population.

    There is distinctive difference between debate and argument. Argument is seen as some sort of power these days. We love to argue and win. Winning is important to us.  If we don’t argue, we have to remain quiet and by remaining quite we appear clueless. Why should we be clueless – that’s our point. We think antonym of argument is silence but it is not. While being silent, we also listen and listening is far more splendid than argument. Whereas; debate does not involve only talking, it also involves listening, considering other’s viewpoints. When we work hard to appear infallible, others will work hard equally to find our faults. By admitting our faults, others will work to help us be infallible. Silly hey? but true. That’s how it works. J You know what I mean?

    Do you know what; he is back, he is back bigger, better, everything as last time PLUS pure awesomeness this time. I am talking of someone who taught us “Believe… good things will happen”. Both I and my son adore him, he is our hero. He is playing in a theatre near to you as well. Make some time for him. His name: Kung Fu Panda. He is 3+ this time.

    Remember In 2010, how the UN released a report revealing that a vegan diet is the best way to prevent global emissions from worsening climate change? And now, a study from Oxford University relays that by eating less meat and more fruit and vegetables, the world could prevent several million deaths per year by 2050, cut planet-warming emissions substantially, and save billions of dollars annually in healthcare costs and climate damage.

    Chalo, with all that thought, let’s call it a day but jate jate/chale chale – let’s have a chuski (refreshing sip)…here it goes…and listen I don’t want to disturb you again after the chuski…you all have a very goodnight, Sabah-Khair and Subh Ratri. And wishing you all a very colourful and eventful HOLI today. Holi is an important festival to Hindus. The festival has many purposes; most prominently, it celebrates the beginning of spring. It is also celebration of love and forgiveness. Rightly so the song goes… Holi ke din dil khil jaate hain rangon mein rang mil jaate hain Gile shiqave bhool ke doston dushman bhi gale mil jaate hain…

  • Satyam Shivam Sundaram!

    Mar 6, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    One day, Lord Brahma & Lord Vishnu were quarrelling. Lord Brahma claimed, “I created the world. I must be God”. Lord Vishnu retorted, “That you seek validation means you cannot be God.”.   “Then who is God?” Lord Brahma demanded to know. In response, a pillar of fire appeared between them. It stretched up beyond the dome of the sky and down the foundations of the earth. And the fire seemed to be burning without any fuel. Both Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu decided to look for the ends of this pillar of fire.

    Lord Brahma took the form of a swan and flew up to find its top. Lord Vishnu took the form of a boar and dug his way down, determined to find its base. Lord Brahma flew for months and years but there was no sign of the tip of the fiery pillar. Finally exhausted, the two returned to share their findings. “This pillar of fire has no base.” admitted Lord Vishnu. “It is endless and infinite.” Lord Brahma, however, lied  “I found the tip. I even found Ketaki flowers on it. I have done what you could not do. I am greater than you”. I must therefore be God.’

    As soon as Lord Brahma said this, the pillar of fire burst open and out came another God, who looked like a mendicant, smeared with ash and wrapped in animal skins. “Liar”, he shouted pointing to Brahma.’ You lie so that you can delude the world with your lies so as to dominate everyone around you and feel powerful. You are not God then. He then turned to Lord Vishnu and smiled, ”You admit the truth. You are humble enough to accept limitations. You are curious to know what lies beyond the horizon. You are not intimated by uncertainty or afraid of ignorance. You are in the process of becoming God.” Lord Brahma trembled and bowed to this self-assured being. Lord Vishnu watched him in awe. The mendicant identified him, “If the formless can be given a form then I am he. I am God, I am Shiva.’  Since then the stone pillar or linga is worshipped by all, a reminder of the pillar of flames that appeared between Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu.

    • Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
    • Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
    • Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
    • Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritat

    Which means in English:

    • We meditate on the Three-eyed reality
    • Which permeates and nourishes all like a fragrance.
    • May we be liberated from death for the sake of immortality
    • Even as the cucumber is severed from bondage to the creeper.

    • AUM/OM: Absolute reality. That which encompasses the three states of waking, dreaming, deep sleep, represented by AUM, the three levels of gross, subtle, causal, the three levels of conscious, unconscious, subconscious, and the three universal processes of coming, being, and going. Absolute silence beyond the three levels is the silence after AUM.
    • Tryambakam: Trya means three. Ambakam means eyes. It means the three eyes of the Absolute, which are the processes of creation, existence, and dissolution, as well as the other triads, which are part of AUM. The three "eyes" means experiencing these three stages and triads at one time, from the higher, all pervasive vantage point of the Absolute.
    • Yajamahe: We rejoice in meditation on all of this.
    • Sugandhim: Means fragrance. Like a spreading fragrance, all of this permeates the whole of existence, while at the same time being that existence
    • Pushtivardhanam: Means that which sustains and nourishes all. Thus, the fragrance that permeates all is the sustainer of all beings, while also the essence of all beings.
    • Urvarukamiva: Urva means big and powerful. Arukam means disease, like the spiritual diseases of ignorance and untruth, which are like the death of Wisdom or Truth.
    • Bandhanan: Means bound down, as in bound down to the ignorance and untruth.
    • Mrityor: Means ignorance and untruth.
    • Mukshiya: Means liberation from the cycles of physical, mental, and spiritual death.
    • Maamritat: Means please give me rejuvenating nectar, so as to have this liberation, like the process of severing the cucumber from the creeping vine.

    Maha Shivaratri  is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in reverence of the God Shiva. It is the day Shiva was married to the Goddess Parvati. The Maha Shivaratri festival, also popularly known as 'Shivaratri' (spelt as SivaratriShivaratriSivarathri, and Shivarathri) or 'Great Night of Shiva', marks the convergence of Shiva and Shakti.

    On this very auspicious occasion; I wish all of us a very blissful and peaceful Maha Shivratri. I shall be fasting all day tomorrow, without water, without food, for all of us and our planet, our safety and our life. Om Namoh Sivaya…Satyam...Shivam…Sundaram, Sristhi, Sampoorn, Shada-Shiv, Mere Pabhu, Mera Marg Darshak, Mere Bholenath…Jo hein saab se Sundar…Saab se Dayalu…Saab se Gyani, Muniyo mein Muni, Dhyan-raat,   Bhakt Batchal…Nirbhik…Nirakaar…Neelkanth…Devon ke Dev…Mahadev…Hum saab ka bhala karein…udhar karein…marg darshan karein.Goodnight. 

  • What Do I Wake Up for in the Morning?

    Feb 14, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    My Dad worked was an accountant, my grandfather was an accountant too in a government department, and my uncles are bank managers. I was born with this heirloom. The sound of typewriters/calculators, the sights of big-thick ledger books/cash-memos knotted with red cotton material, lying all around our home, is something I grew up with. Most of the rich and famous from the province were regulars at our home or let’s say at the home office of my Dad. Difference was these rich and famous who looked confident and satisfied socially elsewhere; but looked helpless and anxious at our home. They were trying to find answers to something perhaps! Answer to “WHY?!”

    Things have changed for good in last two decades. Accountants do not use labour-intensive type-writers or calculators. Thick and heavy ledger books are distant reality now. They are replaced with sophisticated desktop computers and accounting software. Holding on to the historical data does not occupy the precious home or office space anymore. We have landed in an age now, where all these are fitted well within the single terminology “data”, which is held with tiniest space possible, either within our premises or up somewhere, which we then label as “Cloud data”. 

    Speaking of data, we live literally in a data-rich world. Data is raw, unprocessed, untransformed, unorganized and available everywhere. When the same data is processed, organized, structured or presented in a given context so as to make it useful and meaningful, it is called information. Adequacy and Relevancy must be considered; otherwise we are overloaded with information.

    I grew up in a small town of India in late eighties early nineties. Traditionally; those days in India, parents choose what their children must study. My parents had decided Science and Engineering for me. They invested money, provided me every support for me to graduate as an Electronics and Telecomm Engineer. I did, but I was not happy because I was not sure if I liked that subject or wanted to continue. I was too young to contemplate. I started applying to universities in the United States and United Kingdom to pursue MBA. I wonder why? Why did I choose to apply for MBA? My parents did not persuade me! Why I wanted to study MBA? Did not know the exact answer at this stage… the expedition continued therefore.

    Immediately after passing out my engineering, I was lucky to be inducted into a job where I was trained to work with enterprise application software, which is famously known as SAP… Systems Applications Products in Data Processing. That’s it. That is what SAP stands for. SAP processes data, generated data. Cool! What do we do with this data? Do we just archive it in every few years, store elsewhere and anticipate that we may refer to them in future? That was in the past but now we do lot of interesting and intelligent analysis with historical data. We try to find patterns, derive formulas to sustain those patterns, develop algorithms to emulate success year after year. Then we benchmark the result set, with our market averages and competitors in the market from same or different industry. Jolly exciting stuff. These take most part of my dreams in the night. Shhhhhsssss. This is the world…I call the world of WHYs. A layer, where my interest lies, my intelligence fits and my passion clicks. Remember I told you how my expedition continued after completing my engineering studies…it ended here…with the completion of my chartered accounting studies and being successfully inducted into the world of WHYs.

    Data provides answers to three important foundations of any business. WHAT…HOW…WHY. These three notions are so huge that it is often difficult to deal with them together. How do I explain WHAT…HOW…WHY? “WHAT” is all about our products and services. “HOW” takes care of processes, control and resources. And “WHY” answers result, future and the effectiveness. Measurements of effectiveness are derived from our corporate objective, mission, passion & values. We often debate what should be sequence of business process flow between “What”…”How” and “Why” ? It’s like debating on whether the Chicken came first or the Egg? It is not always straight forward. Sometimes the answer comes with much experience, endurance & trial. But it does get to us finally, if we try and are keen. It could be very much possible at the end, for us to realize that both chicken and egg arrived at the same time with a bang. The WHY parts of the business equation delivers us those ultimate answers.

    We humans are similar and divergent at the same time. We draw ourselves to people, subject, technology, attitude, meaning, value and need; very differently based on our belief, knowledge and environment. Some people are just happy harbouring around WHAT (Product, Services, Design, and Innovation) . That’s what they like and find satisfaction from. Some are brilliant and natural with HOW ( Processes, Control, Resources management and Delivery ). And others like me, inspired with WHY (Reason, What-if, Why should we, What we should not etc.) . My Dad asks me often “What do you think of yourself?!” Sisters think I am painfully inquisitive. Reason for their assertion is: I ask way too many questions. I always try getting to the bottom of any matter. I can’t simply leave it while it is still being interesting to me to dwell on. I shall continue to ask questions as long as my intensions are honest and it delivers the ultimate answer. I am the WHY-GUY.

    That is the reason I wake up in the morning. I wake up effortlessly because my passion does not let me sleep. My passion breathes with WHY. And the world of WHY is exciting enough where; one day I feel like Sherlock Holmes of Data Exploration; other days as James Bond of Data Analysis; and today as Albert Einstein of Performance Intelligence, especially for  Valentine’s Day. Every day I play a different character, a different role, where I investigate corporate data, try to make out from what the data show us. No doubt astrology says; the natives of Libra on account of their ultimate attributes are bestowed with many career options including finance, designing, art, critics, composers, writers, management, entertainment, education, counsellor, mediators, judge, architect, psychologist, public service, astrologer, anchor, lawyer and minister.

    It’s not easy. We need tool for every investigation and there are plenty of software tools available in the market which helps with data exploration, data navigation, and data transformation, data analysis and data visualization. They all vary with regards to their effectiveness in assisting with the investigation. My pick on this is SAP Analytics.  It has been 19 glorious years that I have been associated with SAP and perhaps I shall continue to strengthen this association for reminder of my life in some form or the other. I have no doubt SAP will continue to surprise me, impress me with introduction of their new-dimensional, next generation software products, regularly as they have been.

    They say necessity (WHY) is the mother of invention. Today, the WHY factor is less than 30% of information workers use enterprise BI solutions; this number is often even as low as 10%. And 54% of companies foresee a need for a high-performance analytics strategy to be implemented throughout their organizations. SAP’s next generation analytics platforms provide answers to many of today’s complex business challenges and have been providing reliable business benefits for past four decades.

    Business Benefits

    • Make better informed business decisions
    • Improve business planning
    • Monitor process performance
    • Ensure compliance and reduce risk
    • Improve customer satisfaction

    Finance:

    • Visibility into key financial metrics
    • Optimized Working Capital
    • Clear understanding of Costs
    • Rapid Financial Close
    • Smooth Planning/Budgeting / Forecasting with ability to do “what-if” analyses
    • Profitability by all dimensions (Product, Customer, Region etc)
    • Efficiency of Finance Organization

    Sales

    • Visibility into Revenues/Margins by all dimensions (customer/product/region)
    • Customer churn rates
    • Up-sell/Cross-sell opportunities
    • Performance by sales rep
    • Visibility into inventory levels
    • Improved understanding of ideal product mix
    • Ability to analyse and optimize pricing

    Marketing

    • Measured effectiveness of latest campaigns 
    • Improve customer satisfaction & engagement
    • Return on Marketing investments
    • Ability to improve merchandising decisions
    • Develop effective/dynamic pricing strategies with insight into discounting and promotions
    • Ability to create tailored campaigns for different customer groups

    Supply Chain:

    • Visibility into all supply chain KPI’s
    • Optimize inventory (Minimize volume of inventory whilst maximizing order fulfilment rate)
    • Lead Times (minimize)
    • Supply Chain efficiency
    • Maximize order fulfilment rate
    • Minimize transportation costs
    • Ensure that customers are served from the most optimal factories in terms of location, cost and capabilities

    We shall connect very soon. Until later…

    Faithfully Yours;

    Bikash WHY Mohanty

    Let’s remember: As is our belief, so is our behaviour and so is our outcome.

  • Nothing is too Big or too Small!

    Jan 23, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. I didn’t say that. Elbert Einstein did.  Einstein was amazing. I have not read another scientist with his level of wisdom, philosophy, and yet so convincing. Einstein was slow in learning how to speak. His parents even consulted a doctor. He also had a cheeky rebelliousness toward authority, which led one headmaster to expel him and another to amuse history by saying that he would never amount to much. But these traits helped make him a genius. His cocky dislike for authorities led him to question conventional wisdom. His slow verbal development made him curious about ordinary things — such as space and time — that most adults take for granted. They say; “Nothing is too big or too small, if we have right attitude and passion for the Subject”. Even Einstein went to say that “Follow your curiosity, there lies your success” J  

    Nothing is too big or too small se yaad aya…NO-NO-NO, not that song of Shakira, but a beautiful story…

    Two men went fishing. One man was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn't. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back. The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing this man waste good fish. "Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?" he asked. The inexperienced fisherman replied, "I only have a small frying pan."

    Sometimes, like that fisherman, we throw back the big plans, the big dreams, the big jobs and the big opportunities that universe brings onto us. Our faith is too small. We laugh at that fisherman who didn't figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan? Whether it's a problem or a possibility, the universe can be or will never give us anything bigger than we can handle.

    So; the bottom line is our “FAITH” or our “BELIEVE”! That what needs to change or to be altered for the bigger fish to be cooked…I mean for us to achieve what truly makes us contented.

    The son and me were little anxious all day; how to design and decorate a castle. We had faith though, that by end of today, it has to be done and look at the output!!! Incredible, so is the little boy….Thukda…Jigar ka Tukda..Is what I call him J  His guitar teacher saw us practicing Yoga at home today and insisted that I teach him and Rishi yoga for 15-20 mins every Sunday? Nervous but I like that opportunity…opportunity to pass on…

     

    Friends; its that time again…thank you once again for your time, patience. All the best wishes for next week. Can you believe first month of 2016 will end next week? So quick…so soon J  Take good care of yourself. Subh Ratri, Sabha Khair and Goodnight.

  • Bajirao Mastani

    Jan 3, 2016 by Bikash Mohanty

    It’s difficult to uplift a periodic film, for it to be smoothly adopted by the audience of current genre. That is simple because we are living on the edge of technological and scientific advancements to the highest degree possible, where we find it difficult to understand and believe in such asserts of periodic nature. When a periodic film is adopted beautifully and appreciated endlessly by the intended audience; it has to be a masterpiece. Bajirao Mastani was indeed a magnum opus.

    There is hardly any film I have watched in the recent past, where I have come out of the theatre without wishing a bit of improvement in some areas or the other. But with Bajirao Mastani, I left the theatre wishing…there are more movies made like this and these type of movies should break all box office records.

    If we keep away usual influences; I am pretty confident for Ranveer Singh to win all major cine awards for this year, including the national award. His confidence and aura was enormous in this movie. There is only one other action, I think could have done similar justice to the role of BajiRao and that is Hrithik Roshan. NO BODY ELSE.

    If we analyse the performance of two female actors in the movie, it will be a tough completion. In my generation, I have not noticed a better female actor than Priyanka Chopra. She is the best we have at the moment. I always thought Deepika is beautiful only but I have to eat my own words, witnessing her performance in BajiRao Mastani. This is Deepika’s best performance till date and she acted impeccably.  

    I was discussing the movie with my sister and she asked me, how I liked the performance of BajiRao’s mother in the movie. I said she was scary, I didn’t like her at all, and her ego was the cause of her son’s death. My sister said “EXACTLY”. Not meaning that she agrees to my analysis but she meant, that BajiRao’s mother was the villain in this movie and if I hates her in the movie, then she has acted well. Exactly. It was such a bona fide performance from Tanvi Ajmi as BajIrao’s mother in the movie!!! Remember the role played by Supriya Pathak in last movie of Sanjay Leela Bansali “Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela”? Supriya Pathak plays comparable villainous role in that movie as Deepika’s mother. Both Tanvi Ajmi and Supriya Pathak are such soft-spoken well-mannered individuals in real-life. For them being able to pull such powerful roles, make their acting skills praiseworthy.

    What can I say about Sanjay Leela Bansali!!! He himself is an institution within himself. I used to only refer Michael Jackson as an intelligent entertainer and here onwards I must assert such status to Sanjay Leela Bansali. In my rating, he is the best we have in the nation-wide-movie-industry, not just Bollywood alone. Whether it was casting or script or his direction or cinematography or music or dream-like-sets or dialogues or editing; the director handled his performers with such sensitivity and intelligence that all three actors and all other supporting department spark collectively and lavishly.

    I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. I can watch it two more times without any effort. My rating therefore 4.5 / 5. It’s a must watch.