SHUBHAM BASU

I saw my brother off at the railway station. He chose the ‘Garib Rath’ to Mumbai; his first visit. Incidentally he is working on the Maharana Pratap statue in the sea proposed to be built higher than Liberty, as his thesis project…and his phone certainly is more important than the statue that is yet to be built.

We enter the outlet again (with my girlfriend, she is more assertive than I am), looking for the Executive who swore on his promises five days back. The first person I saw was the steward who dropped coffee on my trousers on my last visit (is the universe conspiring against me in the guise of IDEA?). I was glad that he didn’t recognize me. I took my seat only after I made sure that he wasn’t holding any tray full of the miniature paper coffee cups.

‘Where is Mr. Rohit?’ (The names have been changed in this transcript so it doesn’t attack any individual).

‘He is about to reach here.’ A lady who might have been on this job for a few months answered… ladies with similar bearing are to be found at most of the car dealerships as well.

Five minutes later I ask again, ‘How long will Mr. Rohit take to get here?’

‘He is here, almost…’ She faked a smile.

I waited for a few minutes again. ‘Can you call him and tell him that a customer is waiting here?’

‘Let me check.’ She rose from her desk and disappeared behind a wooden door where two or three people were already huddling like moles. ‘Rohit Sir, somebody is here to see you.’

‘I thought he never arrived.’ I whispered into my girlfriend’s ears.

We waited again.

‘It’s been twenty minutes already, can you please ask him to get here?’

‘Hey kya kar rahe ho?’ This time she calls him sweetly on phone. ‘Are aao to sahi.’  (English translation: What are you doing…come down for a moment). ‘He is busy he can’t come down.’ She declares.

‘Ask him to come down or we are going up.’

‘Rohit Sir please come down.’

Finally Rohit Sir comes down. I was pleased to see a defensive Rohit who had not delivered on his promise and neither did he seem to have any intentions to. I recalled the video on listening from Steven Covey where the Boss runs into utter chaos of unmanageable deadlines just because he was too busy with himself.

‘Sir, do you intend to get this done?’ My girlfriend asks.

‘Madam we have been all up on this case and things are getting delayed because of twenty six.’

‘What twenty six?’

‘Twenty Sixth Jan. Republic day.’

‘What has that got to do with this? We requested on the 18^th. You should wait for the 26^th to present this excuse.’

‘Madam it shall be done today.’

‘We have been hearing this since the last four days.’

‘Madam give me an hour, It will be done.’

‘We will wait right here until it’s done.’

We sat there for another two hours waiting for it to be done. Luckily I didn’t have anything else at hand and I remember that the phone was more important for Dhruv then than the statue.

We saw numerous vein bulging scenes, angry customers. One case was pitiable. The poor guy came in with a bill in his hands.

‘Madam this bill.’ Go to the third table. Almost everybody who came in was being turned to the third table. The poor guy went there.

‘Madam this bill.’

‘Rs. XYZ cash or check?’

‘Madam, my number hasn’t been activated yet and how could I receive this bill?’

‘Oh! Not activated yet.’ She looks at him (sound of eyes popping out).

We couldn’t help smiling. I guess when a man is dying of thirst in a desert; all he can do is smile. And the lady smiled back as well. We guessed it wasn’t the first time that had happened.

‘Do you watch Office Office on TV?’ My girl friend asks her.

‘I have never watched it.’ She took a lot of interest on TV being mentioned and looked up to answer.

Then a big irate man walked in waving a bill. He started shouting at the first desk and continued till the third desk like a huge Truck screeching to rest. I recorded a video snippet (below) that can be played. His case: He had gotten a huge internet bill with his Idea internet modem. He was sure that he had hardly used it for some hours. He was short of swearing, but I could see him invoking dead kin of the executives in his eyes. He was some CEO and he threatened to sue IDEA and recalling all connections within the company. His jugular indeed bulged as he raised his finger and punched in air, his hair rising and falling with the force in his movements. Irate customer with an IDEA?

‘If I have to cancel my connection how long will it take and what’s the procedure.’ After my brother’s connection was activated I politely asked Rohit.

‘You just need to submit an application. It will be done in a day.’ Early morning stress, he already looked too tired at 11:30. Something is wrong in this office.

Vodafone execs are coming to my place later in the day. I shall switch in the next few days. Congratulate me next week, perhaps I will have my Blackberry internet then. Send me an email instead, I shall respond through my Blackberry.

The video now: Notice the small guy at the end of the video in a blue cardigan (looks like a peddler). He is the guy who got a bill while the activation is yet to happen.

 

My phone was dead on a lucky day, had to buy a new phone. I picked up a Blackberry and thought of getting the blackberry internet activated.

 

Now the story starts at an IDEA outlet (I carry their service).I enter a space that has a lot of commotion; did I expect it to be otherwise? I saw people with their veins on their forehead and necks jutting out. They were struggling to keep their calm. I had a similar experience in the telephone, electricity and post offices where you pay bills, but this is worse. I never like visiting the Idea outlets, that’s where the telephone and post offices score higher. Atleast in the latter cases you emerge with the job done. A few months back I had a problem in my voice mail (they took four months after I stopped pursuing, guess they must have invited somebody from Mars to handle an alien technology). Next I wanted my address changed, I submitted the papers then somehow they lost it. I stopped pursuing that as well. Officially I still live in DDA flats Delhi, three years after moving to Gurgaon, according the Idea records. I keep an old notebook ready with the address, everytime customer service asks for verification. Robots talking to robots, I simply comply. Inspite of making the human choice of turning into a robot, the fancy of getting blackberry internet was high on agenda, so I closed one eye at all the misgivings. I dared to step in. My brother (a student) too expressed his desire to switch from prepaid to postpaid service. Four days later he is still fighting with them tooth and nail after being promised an activation withing 48 hours upon all payments and signing up. I am watching him desperately trying to call them up. He is leaving town on a trip tomorrow morning. Atleast ten people in IDEA know about his trip now. Meanwhile I have given up hope on Blackberry internet. I am waiting to switch to Vodafone now (it’s a nine month old desire now, the only thing that has been stopping me is my attachment with my current number). I will start browsing for the plans now.

 

Here are rough demographics on Service providers around Delhi.

Corporate and High End Urban Clients:  Airtel and Vodafone

Students: Airtel and IDEA and others

Rural Clients: BSNL, MTNL, Airtel and IDEA

Endnote: Idea works pretty well in the hills and so does BSNL.  

 

Last time however I experienced poor IDEA signals in the hills.

RURAL winner: BSNL

URBAN winner: Vodafone and Airtel

 

It’s easy to subscribe to IDEA. Good for prepaid. However if you live in a metro and are looking at a service for long term, go for Vodafone or Airtel.

 

Airtel has questionable customer service as well, but by my experience is far better with them than IDEA. So far I have liked the Vodafone Customer service the best. IDEA might have great ideas at the leadership level, but the kind of degenerate people executing them at the ground level are better handled by the rural lot or if you remember that young man who had hot blood running in his veins. 

 

‘After all who wants to buy a car that runs great the first day but when you breakdown on the highway, you eventually decide that you should have put in a little more effort to buy the other car. Don’t get stuck at an IDEA.‘

On the positive note, I have got yet another CASE for my workshops on customer service. 

Please look forward to  Poor Customer Service-II tomorrow as a live recording on  how to handle indifference.  

COW PROTECTION 

DISCLAIMER: The following article is entirely an opinion from Mr. B.V. Rao. Please contact the author for any clarifications. I (Shubham Basu) find his point of view on Human Dharma interesting especially against the ubiquity of violence. Personally I feel non-violence would be the epitome of civilization when participants abdicate violence of there own volition. Until then… 

 

Author: B V RAO

Age 62 years

# 66, Netaji Layout

Attiguppe, Vijayanagar

Bangalore – 560 040

EM:  bvrao46@gmail.com

 

 

In 1947 the population of the country (India) was about 30 crores. Today it is about 100 crores. Thus there is a three fold increase in the population. During the same period, the number of pilgrims going to various holy places has gone up many more times. For eg on January 1, 1999 a total of 80,000 devotees visited Tirupati. The Lord of Tirupati SriVenkateswara does not give darshan between one o’clock mid night and three A.M.

 

Leaving out these hours, balance of time is about 79,200 seconds in a day. Thus people took darshan at the rate of more than one person per second. Take the case of LordAyyappa of Kerala. Hardly 10,000 visited him in 1947. But in year 2000 AD, nearly five crore people have seen him.

 

New centres like Puttaparti of Sri Sai Baba, Amrutpuri of Sri Mata Amrutanandamayi, branches of Ramakrishna Mission, Chinmaya Mission, ISKON centres have come up, each withlakhs of followers.

 

Thus the number of temple going bhaktas has increased eight times or more when the population has increased three times. But the country is becoming poorer year by year in moral values. Is this not a subject to be brooded over by every body? During my travel in bus, train etc I discussed this aspect with various citizens. Some explained away saying that the bhaktas were basically sinners and would commit sins again after going back from pigrimage. It is partly true.

 

Many Ayyappa bhaktas will not drink beer, do smoking etc during the 40 day vrata. But they restart the same afterwards. In fact there are many who commit these and manyother sins and still go on the pilgrimage. Even criminals go to Tirupati and offer hundi money. Corrupt staff have pictures of various Gods in their offices and cabins.

 

But look at the psychology of most devotees. They, in their hearts, want to become better citizens. But circumstances force them to the bad old days. Why our Lord is not answering their wishes? The Lord is a perfect judge. There must be a fundamental mistake. My conclusion is that these millions of devotees forgot about one fundamental dharma.

 

It is the duty of cow protection. The sin of cow killing has brought this country to this pathetic situation. The subject of cow protection can be divided into following parts-

a)      Hindu beliefs

b)     Human Dharma

c)      Economics

d)     Medical

e)      Actions by non Hindus

f)       Women and go mata

g)      Foreign countries.

h)     Silence against sin

i)        Solutions

j)        Cautions

 

Hindus respect the cow as Go mata (mother cow). They believe that in Go mata reside all Gods of the pantheon. In Lalitha Sahsranama there is a stanza “gomata guhajanmabhuh”. As per it gomata is another name of Sri Devi. Sri Mata Amrutanandamayi, the living saint of our times has stated that Lalitha Sahsranama should be read by all family persons every day.

 

Lord Venkateswara’s idol was found when somebody observed gomata was milking on the anthill covering the idol. Thus the Lord of Seven Hills also indicated that the cow is a holy animal. Ghee of cow is to taken in the ‘irumudi’ to Lord Ayyappa.

 

In sankrit there is an universal prayer `GO BRAHMANEBHYAH SHUBHAMASTU NITYAM, LOKA SMASTHA SUKHINO BHAVANTHU’. The prayer means that let cows and brahmins live peacefully, Let all the living beings of the world live happily. The first prayer in the shloka is for Go mata. Then Brahmins, meaning good persons engaged in god thoughts, good thoughts and praying every day for the society. If the loka (world) is to have peace, first the cow should be protected.

 

Deepavali is a popular festival of lights. During Deepavali days one day is dedicated to Go-puja. The day is called Go vatsa dwadashi. It is the 12^th day of Deepavali.

 

Every Hindu house warming ceremony is initiated with the entry of cow in house.

 

There are thousands of Krishna mandirs all over India that is Bharath. One of the popular names of Krishna is Gopal. It means lover and protector of cows. Of what use is of the Krishna puja if cow killing goes on in his land? In Udupi, Mathura and several other temple towns the people have elected persons whose party will not do cow protection.

 

The story of Ramayana starts from the story of protection Nandini cow by Raja Dilip. By protecting the Nandini against the attack of a ferocious lion, Dilip gets the blessings to have a son. The name of his son is Raghu. Raghu dynasty starts thus. Lord Sri Rama was born in this dynasty and is called Raghava. The cow is in the picture of Guru Dattatreya.

 

When a person is ill, he goes to the doctor and follows the advice of the doctor in diet. Like wise on spiritual matters, we should follow the words of our rishis and saints. Our rishishad attained vast knowledge of God and the cosmic world. They described God Anantha (endless) and Koti Surya Sama Prabha (with light equal to crore suns). Today our Hubble telescope in the high sky has found lakhs of galaxies and some suns several thousand times bigger than our sun. Our sun is a pixel size in front of another sun named Antares. They find new galaxies in their search, confirming that God is endless.

 

Forget the ancient rishis. All living saints of today such as Mata Amrutanandamayi, Sri Sai Baba, Swami Nityanand, Yogi Juggi Vasudev etc all prescribe non-eating of beef. We follow the  orders of an ordinary doctor or a boss but not the sayings of the saints who are higher beings. The good words of the saints of every religion are for entire man kind. (If somebody says ‘Kill the followers of other religions’, obviously he is not a true saint !)

 

The religious beliefs born in India are Jaina, Bouddha, Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta. They have five common beliefs- Guru, Rebirth, Bharath Mata, Go mata and Omkar prayer. All these believers respect Go mata. But the belief is not translated into action. There is no tally between the belief and action.

 

The dumb headed Hindu has not done any whole hearted  action to protect the cows. Several years ago when Al Aksa  mosque in far away Israel had some damage, the muslims  in Mumbai burnt down twenty Hindu houses. When Saddam was hanged in far away Iraq, again muslims in India caused public troubles. Can Hindu not do something for cow protection without doing such mad actions?

 

Now let us think in terms of Human Dharma.

 

Many people think that cow protection is a Hindu agenda.  It is actually a human agenda. All over the world many people are now realizing the need to conserve and protect the animal world.  Among all these animals, cow is the most useful for human living.  It provides milk which is most nourishing.  Every child of the world grows for about six months with mother’s milk.  There after every child grows with the milk of the cow.  Till death the humans consume milk and various milk products such as curd (yogurt), butter, butter milk, ghee, cheese, ice cream, biscuits etc., The cow dung is used as antiseptic in many households. Now- a-days it is also useful for generation of domestic cooking gas.

 

When a person renders help to us in any minor form, we say “Thank you” to him. If he gives one ordinary pen, we say thanks. If he gives one chocolate, we say thanks. On a similar logic we have to say thousand thanks to the cow.  The best way of translating the thanks to action is to protect the cow, stop its killing and stop eating beef. It is an expression of thanks to the entire animal world represented by the cow.

 

Some persons argue why not allow old cows to be killed.  It is akin to killing ones own parents.  We do not eat the meat of the dead humans as a respect to the departed.  The same human feeling is to be expressed to one animal of the animal world. There is no other animal fit for such respect than the cow.

 

Some others argue why only cow? Why not stop killing sheep, goat etc. Well, Vegetarianism or total ahimsa of Buddha and Mahavir are good. Everybody should be encouraged towards the ideal. Many may not know the fact that the Sisters of the original Mount Carmel were vegetarians and took egg only once a week. It indicates that total stoppage of meat eating is a step towards sainthood and God realization.

 

By allowing cow killing, one becomes thankless. The sun sustains the world every day without sick leave, casual leave and priviledge leave. But the thankless humans of the world do not say even one minute thanks to the sun.

 

Going by the law of action and reaction, the cow killing and the thanklessness is also leading to more and more violence in the world especially towards women who philosophically represent the cow. It is thus clear that the Hindu seers, who enjoined the followers several thousands of years ago to protect the cow, were visionaries of human love towards animal world.

 

Even the founder of the great secular Congress party, Mahatma Gandhi also wanted Go raksha. At his insistence, it was included as one of the duties of the government in our constitution. But to the misfortune of India, Pandit Jawaharlal became the first prime minister of India. He was a blunder master. Even today we are suffering the results of his mistakes, about which I have  written a separate article on his mistakes. He had his school education in London. He had no deep faith in Indian culture and was more influenced by western and Marx philosophies.

 

His negligence of the cow protection in 1947 has become now a  major issue now. This Gandhi topiwalla did many things against the beliefs of Gandhi. Cow protection is one of them. Still many called him great Gandhi follower.

 

Many good persons avoid vanity bags and fur coats made from animal skins.   In a similar way it is necessary to abstain from beef eating.

 

In Mahabharat story, Yudhistira is known as Dharmaraya. He was embodiment of dharma in all actions. His only mistake was betting on his wife Draupadi.

 

Once Pandavas were caught by a Yaksha. The Yaksha asked Dhrmaraya “ I will free you and another of your brothers. Whom will you choose?” Dharmaraya said “ Please releaseNakula. The Yaksha was surprised. “Why are you asking Nakula instead of Arjuna or Bhima, the warriors?” Dharmaraya said “ Me, Bhima and Arjuna are born of Kunti. Nakula andSahadeva are born of Maadri, my father’s second wife. So I want one son of Maadri to live”

 

Such a logical Dharmaraya was asked another question by Yaksha. The dialogue is as under:

Y: Which is the source of all food?

D: The cow.

Y: How?

D: The cow yields milk from which ghee is prepared. The ghee is offered to all devas in yajnas. Accordingly the devas cause timely rains and food chains

 

Thus according to Dharmaraya, Gomata is the source of food. Should we not stop beef eating?

 

The economics of the cow protection is well proven by many goshalas being run all over India. Cow dung is the major element in chemical free natural farming. Chemical sprayed food is slowly affecting human genes leading newer and powerful diseases. Maximum use of bovine dungs and urines is the answer to this problem.

 

Our kind hearted secularists are worried that if cow killing is stopped, many muslims will become unemployed. This is not a correct logic. Firstly killing of goat, sheep, pigs can go on as earlier even though it is not good ahimsa principle. Secondly, the loss of jobs is a continuous process. When computers became popular, many typists lost the jobs. No secularist cried for them. The society takes care of itself in changing times. Government should only help the orderly change.

 

Now let us study medical cases.

 

In India there are two recently recorded cases of humans cured by the treatment of cow urine therapy.  In one case one girl child of about 10 years was suffering from failure of both kidneys.  Her father was a very poor man.  He could not dream to afford the huge cost of allopathic treatment. He went to a temple priest requesting help.  The priest prescribed the cow urine therapy.   Surprising every body including the doctors, the child recovered fully within six months.  There after the child took the cow too many houses announcing that the cow was the protector of her life.

 

In another case the parents had a child of ten months, who was omitting all the foods given to him.  The doctors diagnosed the problem as infection of stomach.  They opined that an operation was necessary but the chance of success was only 50%.  The shocked parents went to a holy woman. She applied the cow’s ghee to the navel of the child and the cow urine to the body of the child.  She prescribed the continuation of the treatment to the parents.  The child fully recovered in matter of three months as well as picked up normal weight.

 

These examples support the common Hindu belief on the efficacy of cow urine for various illnesses. Care should be taken regarding the cow from which urine is collected.  The cow should have been fed only natural products and not cattle feed with synthetics or blood meal.

 

Swami Ramdev’s medicines containing cow urine is helping lakhs of patients suffering from the blood pressure and heart problem.

 

In Chennai a person fills his sceptic tank with cow droppings and visitors are amazed that no bad smell is emanating from it. He uses the sceptic tank products as manure for his garden. Our water boards of cities spend crores of rupees in human waste treatment. What a waste of money !

 

But the tragedy is that the number of cows which was 100 crores in 1947, has dwindled to less than 30 crores now, reverse of the population growth. Thus there is real shortage of native cows for preparation of medicines.

 

How the non-Hindus react to the issue?

 

Many secularists say that the muslim has to eat beef as part of his religion. This is pure false argument for vote bank politics. The country where Islam was born, only camels lived.The founder did not prescribe cow killing. It was started only to humiliate Hindus.

 

During the rule of Akbar, cow killing was banned. During the rein of Bijapur Sultan of Karnataka, one muslim was pulling a hapless cow to the killing center. This infuriated boyShivaji who hit the person with a sword and released the cow. For this action, Shivaji was hauled up before the Sultan. Sultan decreed that Shivaji was right and he banned the cow killing thereafter.

 

The second President of Egypt Mr Anwar Sadat banned cow slaughter because he found that children were facing shortage of milk due to the reducing population of the cows. But the fundamentalist muslims killed him within three months of the order.

 

Women and the Go mata. Women represent the Go mata in the human race. The killing of the cows affects them most. The ever increasing violence against women is the pointer to this. Earlier only gents were serial killers. Now women are also becoming killers. Violence in families are increasing. Father, son, son-in-law are killing each other. When a tragedy happens in family, the first affected is the woman as a mother or wife or daughter. The results are there to see. Rapes, bride burning, wife beating etc. These are occuring in many sections of society which were normally peaceful earlier. Remember tandoor Sharma?

 

Unfortunately, among us there are several secular and English educated persons who put forward silly arguments against go-raksha. One is that go-hatya is going on in severalforeign countries. What about them?  The statement of our rishis are not for Hindus alone. It is meant for entire humanism just as gospel of Buddha, Mahavir, Christ etc. The world is suffering violence on ever increasing scale because of the go-hatya. America is the great beef eating country. But see the tragedies there. The family life diminishing. The population of USA is one third of India’s. Still there are already one lakh persons suffering from Alzeimir’s disease. It has no known medicine. Many famous persons are suffering from it. Ex-President Reagon, some actors have/had it. The number of AD sufferers is increasing dramatically in the western countries.

 

Violence has become so much ingrained in American life that recently even school children are killing their colleagues and teachers. Take the case of muslim countries. Iran-Iraq war claimed eight lakh lives during 1980-1988. Iraq Kuwait war of 1990 claimed six lakh lives. Bosnia and Slovakia had bitter fight. Black muslims of Africa are dying in millions.  

 

The silence against cow killing is also a sin. But what is this sin of being quiet? Let me illustrate with a puranic story. The story of Daksha yaga is known to most Hindus. But they don’t know the moral of the story. Therein lies the tragedy. During the Daksha yaga, Daksha insulted lord Shiva. Dakshayani, the daughter of Daksha and wife of Lord Shiva burnt herself. She was re-born as Parvati, daughter of Parvat Raja and married again Lord Shiva , her beloved. After the Daksha yaga, Devas were driven out of swarga by Vritrasura. Thedevas suffered one thousand years under the asura rule. Ultimately they went to lord Brahma and asked Him the  reason for their suffering. Then Brahmaji reminded them that thousand years ago during Dakhsa yaga, they were present in the sabha when Lord Mahadeva was insulted and they did nothing to protest. Not only that, they also took the offerings of Dakhsya. Thus they were a party to the sin.

 

In Mahabharatah Bhishma was lying on bed of arrows. One person asked him: `Sir, you are a brahmachari and learned one. How come your days are ending like this?’

 

Bhishma answered: `Son, you have asked a right question. I am eating fruit of my bad karma.’ `Sir, what was that the bad karma?’

`Son, when Draupadi was being disrobed, I kept quiet, being obliged to Kaurava. The sin is now visiting upon me.’

 

The above two stories tell a moral lesson that do not keep quiet when sin is being committed in front of your eyes or within your knowledge.

 

There simple solutions to the problem are:

a)      An easy way of cow protection is for many places of worship to adopt barren cows or the abandoned cows or the cows up for sale to the butchers and keep it in their custody. Calf and milk giving cows are not normally sold to butchers. Feeding of a cow is more fruitful than hundred temple worships. There are more than three croremutts and temples in the country. Large number of them  can afford to keep barren cows. Others can be helped in the cause of cow protection. Unfortunately many mutts are only interested in pada puja. They spend little time in solving the social problems like dowry, go hatya etc. I have not read any mutt head saying “do not take dowry”

b)     Where poor farmer can not maintain the cows, local panchayat should take the responsibility. Necessary budgets are to be provided.

c)      There are many large housing colonies in cities. If each housing colony adopts a cow and bull it is a great help. It will also develop love of animals among the children.

d)     Print this article and give free to poor people for awareness.

 

A word of caution is required. The fertile brains of some, particularly English educated intellectuals argue that even during the time of Veda there were beefeaters. This is false propaganda. One of the names of Gomata is Aghanya, which means one who should not be hurt. How then ancients could have eaten beef? I have seen an ancient picture of Jesus carrying a lamb. If a person eats an animal he cares, probably he would not be saint. Arguments apart, nothing prevents humankind to improve upon whatever was done in the past.

 

Another caution required is in the way of feeding the cows. Let us not provide cattle feeds many of which are mixed with blood meal in the USA. The scientists in their attempt to increase the yield of cows have stepped in to violate the God’s principle that the cow is a vegetarian animal. Probably this violation has also caused mad cow disease and the dreaded AD (Alzheimer’s disease) in USA.

 

The cows are killed in most brutal ways. Air is pumped into the body of the cows to make their skins soft. The animal rights groups fight for the cause human killer animals, but not the cause of cows which sustain human race.

 

It is a sad development that many ahimsa followers such as Jains, Buddhists support parties which will not implement cow protection. As a matter of fact a Jain Congress mayor of Mysore gave permission for another abattoir. If the gentle Buddha’s Bihar is today the most violent state, it is probably due to the sin of cow killing in his land.

 

 Let us all vote for cow protection, the fundamental human dharma after which every good things will follow. We can boldly tell our co-religionists to follow this human dharma. This objective should be realized both politically and socially.

 

All are now worried about 2012 and after. One can say that unless cows are not protected, the world will head towards self destruction.

 

 

(BV RAO)

Woman: Girls now seem to be maturing really early. They seem to be getting their first periods in class five and six.

Man: How does that happen?

Woman: I don’t really know. Usually it happens around class seven and eight. Even some of my friends had it in class six. I was so scared when it happened first. But I don’t really know what has changed.

The man contemplates…

HERE IS WHAT MIGHT HAVE CHANGED:

1.       Large -> Small families. Earlier we had the concept of larger families. Children almost always had other children to play with. Houses had pets, families had cattle. Children could go around embracing the young goat or stroking the calf. They found the concept of a ‘child’, ‘young one’, ‘infancy’ meaningful when it was reinforced in the environment.

A few definitions that have changed to deprive the a child from his MEANING-

                Joint Family -> Nuclear Family

                Pets/Cattle -> Inanimate Toys

Our legendary Krishna is a parable of healthy childhood and if you can recall his infant picture with calves.

2.       Expectations from parents to grow up ASAP. Parents now want their children to be responsible early in life. The West and East are close at heels. I remember my father bragging time and again about a double promotion he got as a kid, in his school. Why did he at all celebrate his double promotions? Who set the expectations?

The trend in India might have started around early fifties (or even earlier), with the first generation of kids growing up after independence. With a massive catching-up to be done to be at par with the industrialized nations, the vision of education fit in. Nehru set up the CSIRs, IITs and laid a system of education of future that could only become better. However, the need for education also ate into model childhood. The process had already started a few centuries back. Paris in 18^th century already seemed to have established itself as noble gentry and hence the race for early adulthood (‘Old Goirot’, Honore de Balzac) and so had Petersburg and London etc. Three centuries later it’s a common thread across all cities over the globe. What remains are patches of suburbs and countryside and still in their backyard they talk about opportunities over a cup of kahwa. The thread has gotten sticky. A little social awareness and a young man from the villages catapults his way into the city life.

A child is taught to pick his heroes and role models by the profession he might want to choose in his life. That’s an early conditioning towards ‘START GROWING UP’ set of instructions. Parents even seem to correct the child if his role model doesn’t find parental approval.

A few years back I played ‘Mama’ (maternal uncle) to a new born in a custom where the infant feeds on rice for the first time and he is off suckling (called ‘Mukhebhaat’ in Bengali). I held the infant. A plate was brought carrying money, a bright yellow and red color pen, a toy, grains and other knick knacks (the child is picking up his future). The pen however was kept most accessibly and the infant did pick the pen up. No wonder the infant picked it up and the parents rejoiced at the prospects of child picking education over other things in life. That’s expectation being set right from day 1.

 

Conclusion: Children are only complying by maturing early. Puberty shall herald as the first time phenomenon shifting earlier and earlier until the hormones brought on are unmanageable for our children. He/She will act bitter and confused, not yet ready to handle it. As we witness the window of euphoric childhood reduced to the size and worth of a five rupee coin and children trading existence with their parents early in their lives, I think the dial needs to be turned a little backwards.

·                     More schools are needed for education for parents and children together (since we no longer have it at home)

·                     Plenty of pets are required around children

·                     Grandparents instead of a crèche*

·                     A reassurance – ‘Sweet heart, take as much time as you want.’

 

(*refer Desmond Morris, ‘The Human Animal’)

 

(Gurgaon is claimed to be the millennium city in India. In ten years time it shall turn into a city of mighty skyscrapers, in twenty years there shall be films being shot around every corner)

Gurgaon goes online, or atleast partially…Signing up for service tax is now easy, just fill up the online form ST-1 at www.aces.gov.in, take the print to the excise office (see map, red dot) with the supporting documents mentioned and submit it to the officers. You should find a gentleman, Suderlal, who seems to be one of the bosses around and very well mannered. The primary gentleman responsible for requests in the realm of professional training and coaching is Mr. Sandeep, extremely meek. I felt really surprised to find him there. Like any usual Government office, this one is stacked with files and thick iron sheet almirahs (Godrej kinds). A couple of tables are equipped with desktops with ‘lcd’. There is a specific gentleman who is always busy entering data into the computer from the forms submitted. It’s only been around ten days that the system is live and I have been amongst the first ones to avail the facility. Amongst the good crowd you always however find a few who stand out, both ways, and so did we. One gentleman, Mr. Chauhan, spat fire, might have been angry for some reason, he didn’t like me standing behind him talking to another gentleman. Later we came to know that is a Superintendant. Surprised!!!

The Government has definitely empowered the citizen to a certain extent, making the process easier. Now you don’t need to pay your CA the extra bucks for Service Tax registration, and more important that the money is the fact that you can do it yourself, atleast it cuts things down to your personal choice. In the end I am very impressed with the progress. There Mr. Manmohan Singh is sitting next to Obama at G8 and here Gurgaon is busy empowering her citizen.

There is another change, instead of humans, now computers generate Service Tax codes. The new codes have <PAN>SD<terminal digits> instead of ‘ST’, so don’t be surprised when you get the documents in your hand. And incase you have opted for email delivery, they will be right on your desktop within a week. If they don’t, the provisional code issued is your new Service Tax number. This is such a positive force.

 I agree that there is a lot to be done when it comes to roads, but look at the way infrastructure is growing in town. It might be angering factions and the lobby that talks about poor drainage and parking, but then again, what’s the best we can do? Our strengths are cell phones and internet, lets make the best of it. Good job Govt. of India/Haryana, I hope we can pay all our Govt. dues online pretty soon. And please work a little more on all fronts…and if you need help, the citizens are around. Why don’t you ask for our help, we will help make Gurgaon better. For all the Government officials who haven’t heard of the richest village in the world, ‘Huaxi’, a village in China. We can also create an example if we can involve all our citizens. If you need ideas, we are here. If you need execution, we are here.

 

 

Author:               Gunwant R Agarwal (B.E, Electronics, MBA)                    

 Contact Details:  B-405/406, Hira Dham, Sundervan Complex, Link Road,  Andheri West, Mumbai 400058, India

 Mail:                    gunwant.agarwal@hewitt.com ; gunwantagarwal@yahoo.com

 First published with print media: April 2008 

Introduction: 

Hinduism is one of the major religions of the world. It has a plethora of streams suiting an individual’s liking to follow the stream of his choice. A Hindu can choose to have his God as formless or with form. There are 33 crores Gods and Goddesses in Hindu religion. Many Hindu religious texts such as Vedas, Bhagwad Gita, Puranas, and Upanishads prescribe numerous ways of self realization. There are many interesting mythological stories in such books which have Hindu Gods and Goddesses playing the protagonists.

One of the most popular concepts is the one of “Trideva” or the Holy Trinity comprising of three Gods namely Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

 Brahma is assigned the portfolio of creating the universe. Vishnu is the one who sustains the Universe and Shiva does the termination of the same.

 There has been many an attempt to scientifically explore Hindu mythological concepts.

 One such concept that has been analyzed is the “Dashavtaar” or “The 10 avatars (incarnations) of Vishnu”.

 This concept can be used as a tool to understand the growth and maturity level of an organization. Using this tool, an organization can easily where it stands at present and what are the achievable milestones waiting on their way ahead.

An organization cannot transform itself suddenly. The metamorphosis happens in a phased manner. The tool will help the organization in transforming itself step by step logically so that the change is gradual and acceptable by the stakeholders in the organization.

 What is the Dashavtaar?

 Time after time, the world saw many threats of destruction. For removal of the major ones, divine intervention was sought. Vishnu, the preserver he is, came to the rescue of the world. For this, he came in different forms to save the world. Each form of his descent to the world was his incarnation or avatar.

Let us take a look at each of these avatars:

1. Matsya: Fish.
2. Kurma: Turtle
3. Varaha: Boar
4. Narasimha: the Man-Lion (Nara = man, simha = lion).
5. Vamana: Dwarf Brahmin (priest).
6. Parashurama:  Axe-wielding Brahmin(priest)
7. Rama: Prince and later king of Ayodhya kingdom.
8. Krishna:  A cowherd turned king of Dwarka kingdom
9. Buddha : Prince Siddhartha who later became “ the enlightened one’
10. Kalki: A warrior king yet to incarnate to  destroy all evil in the world

  

Dashavtaar applied to the context of maturity level of an organization: 

The avatars took place in a chronological way and can be easily perceived as evolutionary development.

 

Sr.No.	Avatar	Key points about the Avatar	Organizational characteristics as per it maturity
1	Matsya (Fish):	·      The fish can stay only in water and therefore has restricted movement due to this limitation.	·      Single skilled  ·      The organization has just started and begun with very basic offering of services or goods. ·      It has few offerings and therefore restricted to a few markets.
2	Kurma (Turtle):	·      The turtle is amphibious and can live on land as well as water.	·      Multi skilled ·      The organization has diversified its service portfolio and has a variety of offerings. ·      This has created a bigger market for the organization and it therefore gets more business.
3	Varaha (Boar):	·       The Boar is a terrestrial animal. ·       It was so strong that it rescued earth from downfall	·      Power to sustain ·      The organization is now strong and able to sustain itself. ·      It is now firmly established.
4	Narasimha	·       Here Vishnu appeared as half man-half lion. Until now, the avatars were in animal forms ·       Now a part of human element has also appeared.	·      Innovation ability. ·      The humanoid feature of the avatar symbolizes the ability to think. ·      This depicts the organization’s development as its ability to innovate. ·      Organization has started thinking in the direction of new strategies and is looking beyond routine business activities
5	Vamana	·       Vishnu incarnated as dwarf and achieved an unparalled victory through a new approach.	·      Achievement of innovation. ·      Organization has complete ability to implement innovation although of small magnitude.
6	Parshuram	·       Parshuram cleansed or purged the system off the world from evil elements in a massive killing spree	·      Institutionalization of innovation ·      The organization decides to do away with excess fat and re-strategize itself to align itself with its mission.
7	Ram	·       Peace and harmony prevailed in the kingdom of Ram.	·      Now the organization is not only stable, secured and growing organization but it is also employee friendly. ·      All employees are happy and attrition rate is zero. ·      Organization is one of the best employers in the industry.
8	Krishna	·       Krishna came with a big mission for the country and was a diversified personality. ·       His region of action was vast and various transformational events manifested across the subcontinent.	·      Country centric ·      Until now, the organization has worked only for itself. ·      Now it has a nationalistic outlook. ·      It takes initiatives to set up branches in smaller cities and towns to generate employment and work towards nation’s prosperity.
9	Buddha	·       Buddha was a picture of nobility, kindness and sympathy. ·       Buddha continuously and selfless worked for the upliftment of downtrodden souls.	·      Humanity Centric ·      It takes up social causes and works for them selflessly.
10	Kalki	·       Vishnu is yet to incarnate as Kalki. ·        In this incarnation, he aims to destroy evil through the power of sword.	·      World centric ·      Organization has become very powerful and can influence powerful people. ·      It should use this power for noble causes and contributes towards issues in the world’s interest. ·      One such example is supporting Tibet’s cause against Chinese aggression. The organization is powerful enough to exercise political control in the world and by boycotting trade with China; it can change the political situation.

 

Conclusion:

Companies like Infosys, Tata Group are in “Buddha” Stage. They have evolved over the years and are silently working towards the welfare of mankind selflessly by supporting many charitable causes, building hospitals etc. If a small company is generously donating to social causes, it is not enough for it qualify to be a “Buddha”. It has to pass through all the above stages to reach the stage of “Buddha”.

There are lots of “Buddha’ companies which have the potential to reach “Kalki” level.  Oil companies play an important role in world politics. All major oil companies are Fortune 500 companies and can influence the world politics for taking control of oil reserves in the Middle East.

If a mid-sized enterprise is firmly established, it is now in the “Varaha” stage. It must now think innovatively and come out open up new ways of doing business and work the smarter way.

Using this model, a company can analyze its current growth stage and plan accordingly. This tool is simple and easy to use and understand the organization’s maturity level.

I was on phone and walking in the neighborhood around nine in the night. I heard a voice behind me, hailing. I turned around to find a guy (about 23) who I had seen earlier on a motorcycle (a few minutes back) asking me the directions to Tower 6A. Either his parents hadn’t taught him hindi as a kid, or it’d been a short while for him in India. He had that accent. (I know tons of ABCDs in Gurgaon)

‘That tower, 6A is towards the right.’ I pointed out.

‘With that shopping mart?’ He asked back.

‘Next to it.’

‘Adjacent or opposite?’

‘Right next to it.’

I noticed aggression in his body language (I wasn’t aware that I was picking it up).

‘Next means adjacent not opposite. Can you be any more rude while asking?’

‘I apologize …’ He retorted with the same aggression.

‘Go find your way.’ I was equally aggressive.

‘Alright.’ Came a more aggressive repertoire.

For a moment I thought he intended to run over his motorcycle over me.

Why did that happen?

Why did I lose my temper?

Why did I turn aggressive?

Why did I echo in his aggression?

Let me relate what happened earlier. A few minutes before the incidence I saw that guy riding down the residential street, smoking, his long curly hair leaving a wake with the wind, brandishing his will to revolt at any point. The first images that crossed my mind are the people who bring on extensive tattoos on their bodies, coloring their skins, piercing, all as some gesture. Somehow I always feel that these kids have been deprived of a good upbringing. For some reason they have chosen to establish that they are not confirming with the society. That could have been left unsaid, but their aggression for some reason at some event, or a series of events, has found a vent. With this thought I judged that guy, the slightest of aggression could have been his natural tone, but I took it as an offence and then kept thinking about it.

That there was aggression in him is true, but that I needed to resonate with aggression, is untrue. How many times do I do that? I teach during my workshops how strong body language can be while deciding on the course of any communication (Albert Mehrabian). Words can have hundreds of connotations, just with a varying tone and expressions, ranging all over aggression to being amiable. What I did here was ‘fall short of the objective’, his inquiry and was lead astray by his gestures, body language and tone (BEGUILED). Was that of any help in the situation? We face such occasions throughout the day where our response depends on the following:

1.       Prejudice

2.       Distractions

Very often a task gets diluted in our emotional communication. The latter can be a strong tool, but when not harnessed well, it can create distractions for the best of minds. I am not the best of minds, but am trying to improve upon my focus. TASK vs. DISTRACTIONS.

Forgiving myself and resolving again to improve another thought has been crossing my mind for a while now. Specific ways you dress and keep yourself, including hair on skin, body art sends off a clean message to the onlooker. Could we reduce some uninvited violence erupting out of unintended aggression? A man appears as he is inside his mind. A chronic mind at unrest chooses to appear aggressive (though this might be a temporary period in ones life), but can that cognizance be of any help? With that thought, here are two images:

1. A shot of Tim Roth from the movie ‘Lie to Me.’ - Intended Agression

2. A rider on Harley* - Unintended Agression 

and the question- Does each of the above situations affect our communication?

 

*Picture picked up from the blog: http://steviethek.wordpress.com/

Monologue of the newly wed on a crowded Gurgaon street, overwhelmed by his ornate spouse and ornate car and the cruise. He chooses to think about his spouse first, but is interrupted when she distracts him by asking ‘why is it a custom to decorate the car?’ He thinks and engages in a monologue resolved not to let the opportunity slip by…

1.      We are two chubby beings inside this ornate car set to explore the best side on earth representing colors and perfumes (touching the senses in our minds), please be happy for us. We are as florid as the car is and we want to express ourselves. We are partaking in that sacred act that keeps life alive.

2.       Earlier we had carriages in stead of the car. In remote tribes we still have decorations, but have no cars and horses to pace along. Some tribes decorate the cattle as well that goes for dowry. A big reason to promote decorations in open society is to establish that the act is accepted by the society against adultery that is associated with dark prohibitions. Another way to look at it is ‘you don’t get any flowers and perfume from society for any adultery’, we don’t allow it here. This also says that if you are an accomplice in adultery (in marriage or other prohibited acts, viz murder), then stay low, you need not feel very flowery about it. Nothing that is not promoted in this society is flowery. Hide away your guns.

3.       Promoting flowers for a specific purpose also means insinuating other practices that the society patronizes. A flowery carriage for our Gods and Goddesses is a happy gathering. Both Hindus and Muslims in India use flowers, rich perfume (‘itr’) and glaze during religious processions reinforcing what universally accepted analogy is.

4.       When we enter a compound that has all flowers and colorful plants around we enter with our mood set just right, the right kind of distraction for the fleeting moment and we are all ready for the next act. The connotation again that we are prosperous and if you associate with us you are party to being prosperous as well. No wonder why we want to own the big houses that the kinds of Amitabh Bachchans own (with big lawns), in contrast with the dilapidating Mughal buildings in Delhi that the urchins use for their play ground and gather the slick bricks for use as stove in their slum shack. These Mughal buildings had the flowers once, strews across their faces, now they are just there, serving some needy purpose but hardly proclaimed by the larger society. Consider the face of Taj Mahal without all the gardens, or the Mughal Garden without a garden. Recall Akbar smelling a rose or Nehru with a rose in his lapel…that’s the image they wanted.

5.       And most important, look at it from the skies. A satellite image shows blue, green, brown and white. Blue for water, green for vegetation, brown for mountains and white for clouds and suspended particles. Let’s take green and blue out of it and that’s how Mars looks. A newly wed car is the symbol of green and blue, it has takes millions of years to have the couple sit in the car and pack it with life. We couldn’t have made a better choice.

6.       Inside this car is the microcosm of life, we represent fertility and are celebrating the hard work our forefathers have put in for survival, and we are inaugurating with flowers around us. We want to reinforce that our union is for life, for celebrating life.

The young scientist thinks which option fits in the best for an answer. He pictures the image of earth and looks for expressions of approval. He then stares at her rosy lips and gestures, nervous with thoughts. ‘Is anything wrong?’ the lady asked with the promptness she had learnt from the BPO. ‘No, your lips are blue and green with life.’ He replied, still stammering. 

Could my judgment about my parents be right?

To begin with, I used the wrong word ‘judgment.’ I don’t really think this word applies to this relationship or else I am living a utopian life, which is as highly improbable as the thought that in this one specific cubic inch here is no bacteria. I have been proven wrong more than many times. I won’t relate the instances but would definitely dig into the reasons why?

I have a picture of my mother, since I was a kid. Young, energetic and receptive to all my thoughts and moves; I inherently feel she is still the same, inspite of her age. Many a times she will walk with me just to appease me (during my accident recovery period) and I can never comprehend how badly her knees hurt. I try judging her and say ‘Ma you should walk more often. The more you walk, the better it is.’ I said as I do everytime. Two questions for myself:

1.       Why do I think what works for me, works for her?

2.       Why is her image stuck in my mind?

And so goes with my dad. Why can’t I accept that he is getting old and needs more understanding? Why do I still exchange fire with him like I did until I first left home when I was 18?

I think I have sobered down a little, but somehow my mind is still stuck when my parents where young. Though I ask my mom to take it easy and my dad to be softer on himself, but I feel there is more to it. Perhaps, there is a momentum towards not aging. Even when slight physical ailments are creeping in these don’t find themselves in expressions (unless we have examples of extreme unconcern by people around forcing the old to be hags about their ailments) and the regular expressions mislead children like me who are still living in their teens (I am 31 now) to misread intents.  I for one principally live by ‘Go out and play’, but it doesn’t work when it comes to parents. Even when it comes to children, why are parents so afraid to let them fall? That’s discouragement to the extent of inscribing the moral ‘Be afraid of falling because when you fall you hurt yourself’ translated into ‘Be afraid of hurting yourself.’ Parents build that shell around children, and children in turn live lives in fear. I fortunately was never stopped from falling or hurting myself. And I reciprocate with the same zeal towards my parents. But now I feel that I can’t really reciprocate. I don’t what it means to be 53 and 63 years old. I will dismally fail at my attempts to make judgments because I shall never see those aging expressions on their faces. They still are my young parents and I am their infant, clobbering at things while I thump at my next step. ‘Walk with me mother, I don’t understand what a paining knee means.’ 

This script talks about negotiation and body language in business deals during the 19^th century. The conversation has been picked up from ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, perhaps the best and timeless insight into people, personality and societal ordination. Mr. Karamazov (widower and about 48) counted among the well to do and adept at his business is trying to convince his second son, Ivan, to travel to a town to do the initial talking for selling of a patch of lumber. Ivan is hesitating, first because of his disinterest, and second because he is being asked to go out of his way to pull it off. Have fun reading it and please keep it in mind that the text was penned before 1880, only a few years after Nietzsche’s Zarathurstra.

“Wait, listen to me: you’ll manage, because I’ll explain all his [the prospective client] tricks to you beforehand. I’ve been dealing with Gortskin for a long time, you know. You have to keep watching his beard. It’s a miserable, thin, reddish beard. Now if that beard quivers as he talks and he himself gets angry- then he’s telling the truth and he’s really serious about the deal. But if he strokes his beard with his left hand and grins as he does it, then he’s just trying to take you in. Never look into his eyes, you won’t learn anything from them- it’s like looking into a murky pond. He’s too crooked to let you see anything in his eyes. No, just look at his beard. I’ll give you a note for him that you’ll show him. His name is Gortskin, but that’s not what they call him; he’s known as ‘the Hound’ in the district. But you mustn’t call him that; he may resent it. If you have a talk with him and see that all’s well, write me at once, something like: ‘He’s not lying this time.’ And wait, if you must, you may reduce the price from eleven thousand to ten, but no lower than that. Just bear in mind the difference between eight and eleven thousand is three thousand. It would be just like finding three thousand. And how soon could I get another buyer, for I need the money badly, right away! As soon as I get word from you, I’ll somehow snatch a moment and dash over there to close the deal. But as it is, why should I go rushing off when the whole thing may be just in the fellow’s imagination? So will you do it for me or not?”

How carefully does this businessman note people around him and mentions it so casually as if it’s his second nature. Dostoevsky has created a character that sits high on being a non-conformist but knows apples from oranges. This character knows what’s behind your eyes, even before you say it. Though through the book you will notice that he knows well what’s coming next and yet, deliberately ridicules the priest in public; and all around him, almost as if he bears the motif of a despot. However, as much as the fact that all personalities come with a downside, his strengths are what can be put on the slide amidst the materialistic Karamazov passion that shines like a trench-coat.  Perhaps contemporary Sales Managers will like to know what makes Mr. Karamazov.