Random Musings

A dark scary night Not a soul in sight I am lost in dusty bye-lanes Fear grips my heart Suddenly I see ahead A busy highway with gleaming lamps Hope emerges from my heart again Merciless sun is beating upon the land Dry arid land looks thirsty and bland Trees slowly wither Life hides wherever it can The wind suddenly turns into a gale Thunder and lightning herald the coming of rain Hope leaps up from my heart again Disrespect, negativity, ego Make me go insane Mistrust, misunderstandings, insecurities Fill my heart with pain An evolved life emerges Embraces me without the desire of any gain Hope dances forth from my heart again Life is such a struggle Some days it feels like a dark night On other days like a parched land Some days the heart cries unable to tolerate pain Leaving my self behind I retreat into another world I fight, I shout And berate my life for making me so frail Once the tempest is over I sit calmly and I seek To hear what life...

"Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees Time can break your heart, have you begging please, begging please" ....so sang Eric Clapton in his touching song, "Tears in Heaven", written after the tragic passing away of his child.  Time.  A simple word we use so often in life. Everyday utterances: "where is the time", "what is the time?", "how much time will you take?".  Time becomes a banal entity in the daily grind of life, hardly ever getting the attention it deserves.  And yet sometimes, events happen that knock us out of our senses. And make us feel as if time has come to a stand still.  Its almost like we humans lead a life built on expectations. Tomorrow will come, I will have food to eat. A job to go to where I will be loved and appreciated. Family and loved ones to be with.  A continuum of expectations that assumes life will stretch from today to tomorrow into infinity, the way we "expect" it to be!...

Back to blogging after a long time! Past one year has been one of immense vicissitudes for me personally. Working in the Private Banking industry whose fortunes are so closely linked to the performance of the stock-markets is never easy. Especially during times when the markets are going nowhere. From being the toast of every foreign investor, India has suddenly become a pariah. It all started last year with the Radia tapes. And soon "2G" became an indelible component of every informed Indian's psyche. A bevy of scams tumbled out and the equity markets got spooked. The Arab Spring followed, a terrible tsunami hit Japan and the Euro area collapsed. And if all this was not enough for a year, Indian middle class angst found a new messiah: Anna Hazare.  In my 35 years of existence as an Indian, the Indian middle class (IMC) has seldom done anything worthy of respect. At most times, the IMC is content trying hard to make more and more money whether by hook or by crook (not ...

One day while strolling on a beach I came across life Merry and carefree Full of joy and glee Life surprised me With its lightness and enchanting beauty Hey life! I said In my years of existence I have experienced you differently Sometimes you felt tough Sad and unworthy Full of misery Rough, heavy and hardly painfree And here as I speak Millions are in pain Suffering and tormented Diseased and abused Humiliated and killed In spirit and in reality What right Do you have then To be like this? Do you have no sympathy Or are you just Out of touch with reality? Life turned around Looked me in the eye And sighed loudly Son! I am what you make out of me When you met me You were happy and free Seeing you like this I also rejoiced But then you suddenly Awoke from your reverie And became unusually angry Am I to blame For this sudden change? Yes I am aware Of the pains and tribulations Humans go ...

Renowned Buddhist philosopher, author, educationist and my mentor in life, Daisaku Ikeda recently quoted Elizabeth Cady Staton, a pioneer of women's rights in US: "The happiest people I have known have been those who gave themselves no concern about their own souls, but did their uttermost to mitigate the miseries of others" . Ikeda who is fondly called sensei (or teacher by his followers) shared this with people from George Mason University who had come to Japan to confer on him an honorary doctorate, as an expression of his commitment to sharing with the rising generations the ideals of freedom and equality that George Mason propounded. This lead me to think, why are so many people coming and conferring such awards on sensei (he has more than 250 such doctorates conferred on him including one by Delhi Univ, which was conferred on him in a ceremony where Anil Wilson; who was the Principal of St. Stephen"s Delhi when I was studying there, was presiding)? ...

A weary mind a tired soul Some moments of rest Get up on your feet Start running unleashed A mechanized world a dehumanized me The rules are straight People manning them All curled up - like a dog's tail Diving into work is not the trouble Dealing with unclear minds Is difficult - unfathomable Lies, fibs : is integrity a mere word? Over powered by fear men behaving like savage beasts But fight one must For this evil needs to be tamed The clear stream of reason Must be purified and kept untouched The more I dither The muddier it gets Take the bull by the horn Disagree boldly though not disrespect This social web Has become an untamed monster Combat it we must Life has compassion But only the tough survive In its roughness In fact the answers lie Dealing with an adamant child Is tough indeed But in its loving smile Reality exists As we evolve Patient we must be Practicing tolerance Become accepting of our defeats Through tireless striving Is perfection attained By developing restrain...

Today morning I got the news that one of my father's closest associates, his Personal Assistant, someone who worked with him for nealry 19 years was no more. For me, it was a huge personal loss as I knew him since I was 14 years old and he saw me go through tremendous vicissitudes in life. Just 2 months ago, I met him in Mumbai - he had been diagnosed with Blood Cancer. I spent nearly 3 hours with him trying to convince him that when it comes to battling an illness, the fundamental attitude of the patient determines everything. And I was extremely happy to see as I was leaving that he was determined to fight and win over his Cancer. True to his determination, he showed tremendous grit and determination and won over his Cancer. The Doctors were astonished at his recovery. He was even contemplating joining work back with my father. But then just 10 days back, he contracted pneumonia. In Blood Cancer, one's immunity becomes very low and pneumonia proved lethal and he passed away t...