Its been a long time since I've blabbered. Don't get me wrong, I do blabber off blog, I meant on anythingwise!
Okay, I don't know how to start this blog, there's a lot I want to say and I don't know if I can bring out all that or even some in a theme... I'll jump straight into it and see how it turns out raw. Lets just say that the theme is something that has made my short-temper.
Way back in 1996, I made a statement, as a biomedical engineer, to my moron-- and crook-- of a boss, something to the effect that "these days, some doctors just want to make money". Maybe, I didn't know he was a crook yet! He came back sharp and said "there's nothing wrong in doctors making money". To this day, I don't know what to make of it. In my statement "these days, some doctors just want to make money", my stress is basically on *just* and *doctors*. Just making money means ignoring patients which is the primary job. The best doctor who ignores patients is worse than the doctors who failed to make it through their exams. A lot of people, including doctors, seem to be illiterate of the fact that medicine was a noble profession, much like teaching. I told this to someone today and he said that all teachers take tuitions outside class and make money. Not that I don't know there are teachers that just make money. I even know of some who force their students to not only come to their classes outside, but also to bring many other students, failing which... they will fail. But this is where I have a problem. You pay hefty sums for your son's tuition and you brand all teachers as those who make money teaching outside of class! You want your son to compete, you tutor them outside, its not just the teacher with all the wrong. Worse yet, when I said "not everyone", he went on "some of those who don't take tuition are the leftovers". Hah! I know teachers that won't have it any other way. There are others who teach for the passion of teaching, regardless of whether there's money. I'd love to do that myself.
Another argument I hear for doctors after money is that engineers make money, so why shouldn't a doctor? I told this last person who threw that in my face: "Do you bow down in front of your engineer out of respect?" If you've been to some villages, there are people who treat some doctors like God. They can hardly pay for their medication, leave alone paying the doctor's charges. These are doctors who have made, and kept, the profession noble. OTOH, I heard of a doctor on one of my biomedical engineer's jobs that forced a sole child to somehow buy a water-bed for his hospitalized father because the patient had rashes on his back. The "doc" emotionally blackmailed the kid into believing that his father will be more comfortable in a water-bed. In a couple of days the young patient died... the doc knew this and thought he'd make money off it! Such docs, I'm told, are recovering their huge medical college fees. Well, how "noble".
There are two things I want to divert into here; one, nobility and another, money. Although these are professions which are noble by their very nature of work, I believe all professions can find nobility in their own ways. Any decent job done without taking money becomes noble. If an engineer who built your house or an architect who designed it didn't take any money, I'm sure you'd call it a noble act. Isn't that why money or alms given to a homeless are a noble action? But, contrast this with doctors or teachers. If they just do their regular job with regular money in a regular way, those still are noble things. In which case, I submit, that the noble doctors and teachers become more ignoble, when they start charging hefty sums for routine things and so on, than if engineers do the same.
Continuing on the money front, things done without charging money become noble by the very act. About this, I've seen lot of people having trouble. These are the people who are convinced that there is not more than a handful of people like that. Even among them, they believe are people who are stinking rich. One of them, I recall, is my jackass of a manager in my first software days. Enter Linux/ GNU. Any Microsoft hater knows Linux. And any Linux lover knows that its not about 'free' but about 'freedom'. However, I want to focus on free...free as in without charging money. My manager asked me why would anyone write an OS for free? And how would anyone trust them to support. Well, he failed the argument when I asked him if he got support from MS ever? I also asked him to have an opinion, not even an argument, only if he is paying for his Microsoft OS on his PC! He did shut up.
These category of people who make up a large portion of the world know the language of money and money alone. They wouldn't believe you if you said that anyone would give away all the wealth to charity. An example someone like Warren Buffet who made money all his life. Instead, they think that people who give their money away are those who don't have their own offspring! On a related note, these are just basic things in the world, far be it then for them to ever understand the concept of saMnyAsa. Well, so much for them who see a world of money, people who want to make money any which way in any profession, noble or not, no charity anywhere, and no one to trust since all are cheaters. Moreover, they have accepted it as today's world and even call it fair. Sorry, I don't agree.
PS: I too have seen cheaters every once in a while all my life and have been seeing a lot of them in the past few years on a regular basis. And then there are also a bunch of liars which I always voice against. But still, I would not have it any other way with my life. I'd still trust people to do the right thing till they cheat me. Even today, I paid the paint shop upfront because there was load shedding and he couldn't mix the paint till a couple of hours. I told him my brother would pick up the paint later. Most people won't do this and instead call me stupid. I like it this way. Life's simple.
Meet an ignorant, illiterate professor!
What would you call a person who makes statements such as "Hinduism is the only religion that has failed to negotiate and engage with reason and science"? He is a retard, if he seriously thinks so! Not only does the "professor" think that, he also thinks that it all happened due to varnashrama dharma! Read on for more nonsense. Then this ignorant chap goes on to say that dalits were the ones who were pioneers and inventors of technologies in many fields from agriculture to surgery! I'm sure this fella doesn't know what Veda, Vedanga, Ayurveda, etc is all about. There's more to say, but its just not worth it. Instead I wrote a comment on Times article webpage and pasted here:--------
I was shocked to see this ridiculous article in today's Times!
I'm yet to see a more ignorant and illiterate "professor"!! What earthy style did he dissect the Hindu social system in? The system he talks of has nothing to do with the Hindu religion. This fella should start reading books instead of writing. Dalits were not inventors of technologies used in agriculture, surgery or whatever. All were brahmins. Agriculture, as well as surgical medicine, is straight off the Vedas & Vedangas! How could a dalit who had no access to the Vedas, no learning whatsoever, be an inventor of its contents? Brahmins taught all of their knowledge free, unlike this professor who teaches and writes book to make money. Even today, the labourers work (as taught and trained) and the management earns the fruit. Don't forget though that without those owners, labourers don't have jobs and without labourers, owners don't have businesses; its a give-and-take win-win relation. And its completely fair.
Next, about inter-caste marriage, there are clear-cut rules as given by Manu, not that it is completely out of place. Moreover, the greats such as Socrates & Plato had come up with a caste system strikingly similar to the varnashrama dharma! They were true scholars & philosophers.
As for religious conversions, there is an ulterior motive encouraged by morons such as these. And this professor should give up his job, go back to school and start re-learning instead of suggesting "re-editing" whatever that means. Nobody has edited our spiritual books in the first place for them to be re-edited. At least then, he will be able to know the difference between religion and spirituality.
No one anywhere has said that its "impure to work with hands". Utter rubbish! Is this prof a retard?
PS: Prof, don't go to barbers for surgery of your ulcers and boils please! :)
I was shocked to see this ridiculous article in today's Times!
I'm yet to see a more ignorant and illiterate "professor"!! What earthy style did he dissect the Hindu social system in? The system he talks of has nothing to do with the Hindu religion. This fella should start reading books instead of writing. Dalits were not inventors of technologies used in agriculture, surgery or whatever. All were brahmins. Agriculture, as well as surgical medicine, is straight off the Vedas & Vedangas! How could a dalit who had no access to the Vedas, no learning whatsoever, be an inventor of its contents? Brahmins taught all of their knowledge free, unlike this professor who teaches and writes book to make money. Even today, the labourers work (as taught and trained) and the management earns the fruit. Don't forget though that without those owners, labourers don't have jobs and without labourers, owners don't have businesses; its a give-and-take win-win relation. And its completely fair.
Next, about inter-caste marriage, there are clear-cut rules as given by Manu, not that it is completely out of place. Moreover, the greats such as Socrates & Plato had come up with a caste system strikingly similar to the varnashrama dharma! They were true scholars & philosophers.
As for religious conversions, there is an ulterior motive encouraged by morons such as these. And this professor should give up his job, go back to school and start re-learning instead of suggesting "re-editing" whatever that means. Nobody has edited our spiritual books in the first place for them to be re-edited. At least then, he will be able to know the difference between religion and spirituality.
No one anywhere has said that its "impure to work with hands". Utter rubbish! Is this prof a retard?
PS: Prof, don't go to barbers for surgery of your ulcers and boils please! :)
The wake up call
Many Vedantic stories depict how a Guru saves the shishya from the ruins, from the clutches of the world. While a shishya thinks he is doing sAdhana, he forgets that he is doing nothing, but Guru gets it done. These are expressed in comparison of mArjAra nyAya and markaTa nyAya.
Simply put, it is said that while a monkey holds on hugging to its mother and is likely to lose its hold and fall, the cat holds her kitten by her teeth not letting it fall. Similarly, even if the shishya tries to hold on to his Guru, his ego lets him fall so easily that he is lost in the world. Its depths may suck him into a weather he cannot return from. However, meanwhile, Guru has a plan to hold on to the shishya, when the shishya lets go of his own egoistic grip. When this happens, Guru takes care of the rest.
Today, I glimpsed a little of the above. As is also visible from my blog entries, tweets and facebook stats, I've kept myself away from all that is shreyas and involving into laukika totally these days. But today brought a happy change. I woke up with thoughts of Guru and Hanumanta. Why this happened was to unfold later. I switched on my cell to receive wishes of Hanuman Jayanti. I looked up the calender and found Datta Jayanti instead! This also means my Guru Sridhara Jayanti! Unfortunately, I'd missed the brAhmi muhurata and woken up late. I postponed my rituals to the evening. The entire day I found some satsanga online in one way or the other. This, I believe, is an alarm going off, a wake up call to sAdhana. And I just hope it continues, be it in little steps, but without any break whatsoever...
om tat sat
Simply put, it is said that while a monkey holds on hugging to its mother and is likely to lose its hold and fall, the cat holds her kitten by her teeth not letting it fall. Similarly, even if the shishya tries to hold on to his Guru, his ego lets him fall so easily that he is lost in the world. Its depths may suck him into a weather he cannot return from. However, meanwhile, Guru has a plan to hold on to the shishya, when the shishya lets go of his own egoistic grip. When this happens, Guru takes care of the rest.
Today, I glimpsed a little of the above. As is also visible from my blog entries, tweets and facebook stats, I've kept myself away from all that is shreyas and involving into laukika totally these days. But today brought a happy change. I woke up with thoughts of Guru and Hanumanta. Why this happened was to unfold later. I switched on my cell to receive wishes of Hanuman Jayanti. I looked up the calender and found Datta Jayanti instead! This also means my Guru Sridhara Jayanti! Unfortunately, I'd missed the brAhmi muhurata and woken up late. I postponed my rituals to the evening. The entire day I found some satsanga online in one way or the other. This, I believe, is an alarm going off, a wake up call to sAdhana. And I just hope it continues, be it in little steps, but without any break whatsoever...
om tat sat
नमः शान्ताय दिव्याय सत्यधर्म स्वरूपिणे |
स्वानन्दामृत तृप्ताय श्रीधराय नमो नमः ||
Job, business, nothing, anything!
I used to write a lot on spirituality. Since I moved back to Mumbai, there isn't much of an ambience here for spiritual studies. Till I get an opportunity to get back to my solitude I think I'm happily wasting my time. Okay, I know this hasn't anything to do with the title per se, but I'll get to that in a moment, influenced by my old habits to blabber. :)
Well then, if I'm anyway about to waste time, why not dig into other worldly things such as money. To make money, you either need a job or a business. I'm not actively looking for the former, knowing fully well that I've been on a sabbatical a little too long to get back to the industry in a jiffy in this economy.
I do have some business ideas that I've been discussing with my friends, but I'm more likely to graduate into asilent lazy partner that wakes up for ideas and in dire straits but not during other times. So, I'd be one that doesn't really work hands-on! :P And I don't think there'd be many takers there.
So what else do I have left now? I've covered job, business, nothing... did I cover nothing? Yes, I started with that. So all that is left is 'anything' in the anythingwise spirit. That will come up in my next post. ;)
Well then, if I'm anyway about to waste time, why not dig into other worldly things such as money. To make money, you either need a job or a business. I'm not actively looking for the former, knowing fully well that I've been on a sabbatical a little too long to get back to the industry in a jiffy in this economy.
I do have some business ideas that I've been discussing with my friends, but I'm more likely to graduate into a
So what else do I have left now? I've covered job, business, nothing... did I cover nothing? Yes, I started with that. So all that is left is 'anything' in the anythingwise spirit. That will come up in my next post. ;)
Krishna calling
Every once in a while, I feel a strong bliss about things happening around me, all at once. I see a pattern, not something that I forcibly read, but something that is very difficult to miss. Something that keeps on happening till I read well into them. I think now is the moment that I read quite clearly.
I'll just mention things as they happened. Of course, atheists can ignore the same, they will see plain simple coincidences, at most! :)
i) On Monday, I left B.Gita 2.14 shloka as part of my comment on Sai's Facebook wall and used the same as my status msg.
ii) That night, I was searching a blog where a friend had left a comment with a Bhagavadgita quotation some years back and I'd told him that I'd get back to him on that. I couldn't remember when it was or which shloka was it! I did an overview and couldn't find it. The next day, I stepped through each of my 500+ blogs to check the comments. I got nothing, maybe it was on email and impossible to find.
iii) Tue evening, I read a newspaper article about a chap who gave up the worldly pursuit after an MS in quantum physics. His name Dasa told me that maybe they were talking of an Iskcon person. Later on, it turned out it was the Iskcon chief of Bangalore.'
iv) On Wed, I was searching for a chap on LinkedIn whom I'd met some 5-6 yrs back. The search landed me to another fella whose name was Dasa. This fella too turned out to be an Iskcon devotee.
v) Later that night, a friend mailed me about someone who was asking him why Krishna led a war if He is God. (I needn't mention the kind of people and the intention of people who ask this very Q everywhere :) ) We went on with some mail exchange on this.
vi) Today, I was chatting with a good satsanga brother of mine, Syam, who's in New Zealand now. We were discussing how he manages food and he said that there's a Hare Krishna restaurant near his place! I know for sure that thats an Iskcon run chain. Till now, I was only thinking 'what a coincidence', but when I talk to Syam, almost always I become blissful. :) All of the above came rushing into my memories as if flowing in my bloodstream and this blog happened!
I'm all flabbergasted. I told Raghava about my bliss as 'Krishna calling' to which he asked, "which Krishna"? I don't know what struck me, but I laughed out and wrote "Krishna, the Bhagavan of Bhagavan uvAca fame". :)
krishNArpaNamastu
I'll just mention things as they happened. Of course, atheists can ignore the same, they will see plain simple coincidences, at most! :)
i) On Monday, I left B.Gita 2.14 shloka as part of my comment on Sai's Facebook wall and used the same as my status msg.
ii) That night, I was searching a blog where a friend had left a comment with a Bhagavadgita quotation some years back and I'd told him that I'd get back to him on that. I couldn't remember when it was or which shloka was it! I did an overview and couldn't find it. The next day, I stepped through each of my 500+ blogs to check the comments. I got nothing, maybe it was on email and impossible to find.
iii) Tue evening, I read a newspaper article about a chap who gave up the worldly pursuit after an MS in quantum physics. His name Dasa told me that maybe they were talking of an Iskcon person. Later on, it turned out it was the Iskcon chief of Bangalore.'
iv) On Wed, I was searching for a chap on LinkedIn whom I'd met some 5-6 yrs back. The search landed me to another fella whose name was Dasa. This fella too turned out to be an Iskcon devotee.
v) Later that night, a friend mailed me about someone who was asking him why Krishna led a war if He is God. (I needn't mention the kind of people and the intention of people who ask this very Q everywhere :) ) We went on with some mail exchange on this.
vi) Today, I was chatting with a good satsanga brother of mine, Syam, who's in New Zealand now. We were discussing how he manages food and he said that there's a Hare Krishna restaurant near his place! I know for sure that thats an Iskcon run chain. Till now, I was only thinking 'what a coincidence', but when I talk to Syam, almost always I become blissful. :) All of the above came rushing into my memories as if flowing in my bloodstream and this blog happened!
I'm all flabbergasted. I told Raghava about my bliss as 'Krishna calling' to which he asked, "which Krishna"? I don't know what struck me, but I laughed out and wrote "Krishna, the Bhagavan of Bhagavan uvAca fame". :)
krishNArpaNamastu
BBC's 24 hours with Ubuntu! Really?
I wrote a comment on BBC's "technology" article and blogged it at Linuxwise:
BBC's 24 hours with Ubuntu! Really?
BBC's 24 hours with Ubuntu! Really?
The Snowball Effect
It took till this morning due to my sleepy head unable to finish the last 10-20 pages yesterday! I'm talking of The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life; wonderful written biography about a wonderful person that Buffett is. Warren begins his story with the proverbial "... behind every great fortune lies a crime" but goes on to add "Thats not true at Berkshire". As the book unfolds Warren's entire life, you find it more and more difficult to compare with other success stories, due to the high moral values that he held on to even in the worst of times. His trust in his friends and the other way round too has very less parallels too. Not only does The Snowball feel like a biography of Warren Buffett, but of a lot of his relatives and friends too, albeit shorter.
Alice Schroeder, though writing her first book, tends to describe emotional issues in such a depth so as to make sure that the reader cries!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, but a major detail of how Warren gave into publicly listing Berkshire is something I totally missed. It was really needed to get into that biography, being such a big moment, especially because Warren was totally against getting others putting a value tag to his co.
By the way, for those who do not know, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, listed as BRK on NYSE, is trading upwards of $100,000 and the 52 week high for it was $140,000. Even so, Buffett's view of life, in the end, is hardly a business, rather it's philanthropy.
Next: The Creation of Wealth (The Tatas from the 19th to 21st century)
Alice Schroeder, though writing her first book, tends to describe emotional issues in such a depth so as to make sure that the reader cries!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, but a major detail of how Warren gave into publicly listing Berkshire is something I totally missed. It was really needed to get into that biography, being such a big moment, especially because Warren was totally against getting others putting a value tag to his co.
By the way, for those who do not know, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, listed as BRK on NYSE, is trading upwards of $100,000 and the 52 week high for it was $140,000. Even so, Buffett's view of life, in the end, is hardly a business, rather it's philanthropy.
Next: The Creation of Wealth (The Tatas from the 19th to 21st century)
The Pixar Touch
I feel so happy after reading The Pixar Touch by David A. Price! I particularly like corporate biographies, being choosy as usual. With my biases toward Sony and Apple, my all-time favorites have been Made in Japan and Infinite Loop, among others such as Iacocca.
I didn't like Price's narration through and through, as I did with Malone's story of Apple. It certainly was good except for some parts in the middle though. It may also have been because I left the book midway, reading only a few pages spread across two months, only to continue two days back, actively yesterday, till I finished some time back. I'm not so much a fan of cartoon movies, being choosy there too. I like Bugsbunny, Chip & Dale, Tom & Jerry, while in print, I've been a fan of Calvin & Hobbes, Tintin, Asterix, or locally, any of R.K. Laxman's creations, but not much of Simpsons or Dilbert. I've taken a liking to Dilbert strips in Economic Times these days just for the theme, but I really loathe the sketches themselves! The characters have to be appealing to me, else I can't stand them and even if the storyline is good, I can't keep to it.
Coming back to Pixar, I haven't seen any of their movies yet (er, I've seen Wall-E), but intend to watch them over the coming days. Given my leanings, I'm more likely to find taste in Cars, The Incredibles or Toy Story than for The Bug's Life or say, Monster Inc. I'm more than impressed by commitments of the artistic teams led by Lassetter and Catmull that made Pixar what it is today, even having shed a tear or two during reading it. Although I had artistic leanings myself once, the only reason I went into The Pixar Touch is due to the Steve Jobs' effect. Never have I afforded myself a Mac, iPod or iPhone, but I remain a fan to this day.
Next book: The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life :)
I didn't like Price's narration through and through, as I did with Malone's story of Apple. It certainly was good except for some parts in the middle though. It may also have been because I left the book midway, reading only a few pages spread across two months, only to continue two days back, actively yesterday, till I finished some time back. I'm not so much a fan of cartoon movies, being choosy there too. I like Bugsbunny, Chip & Dale, Tom & Jerry, while in print, I've been a fan of Calvin & Hobbes, Tintin, Asterix, or locally, any of R.K. Laxman's creations, but not much of Simpsons or Dilbert. I've taken a liking to Dilbert strips in Economic Times these days just for the theme, but I really loathe the sketches themselves! The characters have to be appealing to me, else I can't stand them and even if the storyline is good, I can't keep to it.
Coming back to Pixar, I haven't seen any of their movies yet (er, I've seen Wall-E), but intend to watch them over the coming days. Given my leanings, I'm more likely to find taste in Cars, The Incredibles or Toy Story than for The Bug's Life or say, Monster Inc. I'm more than impressed by commitments of the artistic teams led by Lassetter and Catmull that made Pixar what it is today, even having shed a tear or two during reading it. Although I had artistic leanings myself once, the only reason I went into The Pixar Touch is due to the Steve Jobs' effect. Never have I afforded myself a Mac, iPod or iPhone, but I remain a fan to this day.
Next book: The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)