L I F E

That's what we all are living . I got this definition early today , on a bright sunny morning , clear blue skies and rain drenched mountains with green covers .

L: Looking 

I : Inwards 

F: For 

E : Ever

So many definitions exist. Many perspectives of how we must live life ,and what we can do for others ,Professional and personal experiences stated by the so called successful people ,and then we have the Mentors, guides and last of all the places of worship to seek the truth . All these and more lead to debates and biases, leading to the disruption of the other wise peaceful life one is to lead on this place called Earth .We end up making this 4 letter word so complex that one wonders , is this what we are born to live? 

Every one has a right to live, and my take on this is, LOOK WITHIN ,and one will really find the beauty and simplicity in life. Why do we need to live for others, when we can live for ourselves making that inside so beautiful, that it rubs of on every thing in this world and automatically leads to making that part also beautiful. Imagine, every individual looks within, makes his own mind and the garden of his soul clean and beautiful, such that ,all his actions, deeds and thoughts would be equally beautiful, pristine, tranquil, leading to these emotions, spreading across every one he or she comes in touch with.

This applies to nature, animals and every being on the universe. We tend to compete, try and outdo the others , have these envious and jealous thoughts about the success or happiness of others , which tends to disturb your mind peace and leads to actions that are harmful to others ,as well as you .

God sent us on to this planet , head down ,so that we apply it, and then steady on our feet, and stay firm ,becoming down to earth .But, we do all the somersaults in life and see this life as complex and wound up, as we do all kinds of  acrobatics , trying to work a way out of this differential perceptions.He wants us in my opinion ,to create our stories for his book on life, and make every word, phrase, sentence and page a memorable one ,so that, our chapter , in his encyclopedia, becomes an ideal subject for him to feel proud about his creation. He  is trying to send each one to this universe to make it a better place than what he created and then see the experiences we add to his creation . What have we done to it today? What are we creating for the next generations? It was indeed heaven, called EARTH, living on which today ,we are dreaming of reaching another  heaven when we die. Irony isn't it?.Making a mess of the heaven we were suppose to enjoy in and dreaming of a place which may not exist.

I even think that based on our previous KARMA, we have been sent here with a certain life span to try and make good for the deeds in the past life and have a ZERO ledger balance in this life so that we need not go through these travails again. Imagine, the rate at which the world is deteriorating and should you take a rebirth to go through all this and more in the future, would you like to do so? Some lives are born and perish instantly at birth and is sad for us , but a blessing for the soul, who may just have had that moment to clean up his ledgers of the past life and not go through the travails again. Others ,who we consider as blessed for living past 80 and 90 years, are  praying to god to take them back and fighting each day to live LIFE. So the faster we learn to look inside and make us a better individual each moment , would indeed make this place called EARTH back into the place called HEAVEN that almighty had designed for us.

This came to my mind early hours of today and felt like penning it down. May make sense to some .However as far as I am concerned , I will make every attempt to introspect at all times , finding the real me and trying to be better each moment of the balance part of my ledger in life .May be it will be worth reading that chapter of my life with almighty some day without any remorse. 

#me2

Another dimension of #me2 comes to my mind which is prevalent across the globe and with every living being. It , infact seems to be the sole purpose of existence. Go across continents, age groups, sex and age and one finds that all we do here is try and prove our existence , our EGO that prevails and wants to state that I am  always right , in whatever I  do or say.

You want to be first and if you don't come then you justify the same and prove to the world how you were deprived of it.You want to be the domain expert in your field and apply the so called knowledge that you have attained in every walk of life. Over and above , if you are of the nature that you are the one and only know all GUY , with closed learning windows, then you start a battle of wits that leads no where. How to outwit the other, how to prevail over every word, statement and expression in every debate, so as to make it an argument. Keep giving lectures, unwarranted advices, instead of suggestions ,stating it in memoirs and books and terming that as intelligentsia,

We tend to trigger mental, physical and virtual battles that create hopeless situations and we move on. How many others have to bear the brunt of the aftermath. So many innocent beings get trapped in this vicious circle and loose the directions and basic purpose of life. This leads to violent acts at times and destroys peace and the fabric of this Society. What is already  heaven , you turn it into hell.

We want to prove that we are the best and dominate in our spheres. Others who have a cattle mentality tend to follow blindly as mute spectators, some hopelessly try to debate ending up sore .Most of them, take another path and try their luck at that, wanting to top the table. It is ultimately #Me2 of the first kind that is the root cause of all this unpleasantness.No one wants to lose and yet all of us lose mental peace and happiness and contribute to the destruction of this paradise called EARTH and the ONE opportunity called LIFE.

Space-X,(Y,Z)

In your professional career span of almost 4 decades , one sees so many pilots in each industry , who are doing or not doing enough to launch their careers , into space , to reach new heights, dreams, and fulfil ambitions . 

They are ready to put those efforts and work long hours for themselves and someone else , in anticipation of rewards at the end of the journey .They play a role in aligning the rocket and position it in line with the launch pad provided by the company.He or she works ,and then set the parameters ,so that they align to the goals, be it Moon or Mars .Drawing a parallel to the KRA's and targets one has set for themselves  through out their life . Without an aim in life , it would be futile to live anyway , isn't it? .Let's call it  your Mission SPACE-X.

Now, the countdown begins, and the Commander and the Launch Module is set for the historic launch , when you start seeing the true colours. Not every one around you is in a rocket or space craft as one would term it . Some are considering themselves as the launch pad and are deep rooted in the organisation for many years. They are the KNOW ALL'S and nobody can teach them !! Every element of the launch pad is supposed to be spot on and one MUST not find any flaws in that or..... "GO launch your rocket from some place else" is the LOOK that one gets. You bank on the software's and back up team, and one glitch holds back or defers the plan , causing big pain and immense frustration to all the plans made by you .The rocket boosters  attached which will be instrumental in putting your plans into orbit, cannot be suspect otherwise the mission fails.

Then if all goes well and you get launched , with or without payload ( The tag along), you start the journey trying to escape out of the earths orbit and experience the feeling of having achieved the first stage of your KRA. However , as you get closer to the Moon's gravitational pull , which ultimately is to take you to your goal, irrespective of a soft or hard landing , the push pulls come into play. Is earth calling you or playing with you at that stage , or the moon in sight but no pull or push available at that stage of the mission?

If after all this you manage to reach the lunar surface , your life is maybe 14 earth days or if you are still orbiting around  the moon at 100Kms radius then maybe a year. There after what  , Since you have reached only the moon's orbit and not the surface , you are most likely to be forgotten , irrespective of all the efforts to reach so close but remaining in orbit and you may burn out earlier than  a year and no one cares . The person who lands on the surface is applauded and in the limelight as long as it on the visible side of the moon .But if you prefer to remain on the dark side of the moon , trying to be different your energy source will never reach your solar panels and you may left out in the cold !! That makes you think and say , hey after so many years , and efforts I reached here , just to bask in the glory for a few days ,in order to be forgotten as preparations for the next mission say, space -Y is all set and people at the Head Quarters have forgotten you .

This is the story of corporate life for which you spend 4 decades , be it at one place , or multiple test sites, trying to find the best place to launch or ignite your space rocket. Since every body is launching his own rocket , what probability do you have to make the mission successful? Technical snags, political snags, and many more issues are prevalent across . 

One wonders , should we keep trying to be that rocket , self propelled or hired, or remain someone who applied passion , sincerity, dedication with no expectations and remained happy for life on this earth with NO STRINGS ATTACHED.

PAPA-RAZZI

The 4th estate or paparazzi as they are lovingly known are a different breed altogether. Across the globe and in any field be it politics, to Hollywood, to fashion, et -al.

On one hand they have to go through an ordeal trying to catch up with what's happening around in  their designated  part of the  world . Should they dig up a scoop , its breaking news and the rush to upload this at all cost starts the conflict of privacy and rights , quotes and misquotes , leading to ban and gagging of media.

Whose right and who is not is a million dollar question !!

Every individual on this planet wants recognition and if he or she gets that paid or unpaid , who would not like it. In the quest for getting famous, one treads the fine line of ethics, morality , honesty etc . those values, that  we as humans cherish .The rich and famous want controversy , they use formal and informal channels to ensure the message is let loose. hey capitalize on it and if they find it stirring up a storm, quickly resort to " I was misquoted tactics" and keep themselves in the headlines. The amount of space they wish to occupy in print or hog the prime time news channel TRP's are sometimes atrocious. It reminds me of rumination where the same s**t is thrown at the gullible public like us over and over again , leading to flash wars and so called media gagging .

The media too in a bid to outwit the competition channel on electronic media is rushing to break news and incentivises the journos covering them handsomely. In some cases the " The inside sources " as they normally term them , especially in Government , politics and defence are suspect. The leaks , the unconfirmed reports , the sensational scoop goes so deep at times that you almost sleep with the person involved and happen to know all moles and birth marks on his or her body. An individual needs privacy , however public his or her image maybe. End of the day , it's the responsible journalism that gets respect.If you start revealing inside information which is also classified to some extent , especially in the area of defence etc. , is that necessary ? The enemy country can track such information and use it for it sown benefit. The kargil or balakot incident as BREAKING NEWS!!! .Do reveal , but don't start romping around in a birthday suit!!!.

The mediums are also fast and social media takes seconds to create storms and controversies which could even destroy basic social fabric, enhance animosity and start wars-verbal or physical.

So request the media to search for the truth but not at ANY COST !!!!

Value-able

We talk about values through our life. We add value and try to be meaningful to anything you do in life .If one doesn't add value , the meaning of living life would be null and void. In the corporate world, we use these jargons so often.

When I look back at the 35 years I spent in the professional space , working with various companies, cultures, regions etc. ,one thing that emerged was ,that your space that you occupy to play that ROLE , is valued as long as you are seen to be of value there. The moment you  leave that space , people in general, have a short term memory or at least temporary(selective in some cases) amnesia , where ,what you added as value would suddenly be of no consequence to them , now that you are not there .

Spiritually speaking one should say , drop the baggage and move on.You are to do a role which you played, and played well at that .What happens later is not for you to be a part of. So, move on.If  , however when you are still at that place after having added huge value to the organisation and then deciding to step away from it voluntarily , one finds a drastic change in the circumstances around you . One wonders, that the values you were taught while being brought up, the values that you nourished and cultivated through the professional journey being upright, fair and positive, should that deserve the treatment one gets .

At the fag end of ones career, one decides to hang his boots and that he decides to inform his organisation which he has served for many years about the same. This is so that, they get enough and more time to restructure the organisation and do not face inconvenience. It is a heads up and every support the organisation may require is extended . Yet , maybe a kind of insecurity or just plain adhoc measures seem to be taken in such a way that the same employee who served in your best interest is made to look like a non entity . Giving a cold shoulder or taking adhoc , knee jerk steps bypassing the norms or creating an atmosphere which appears to be heading in a foggy direction. Why?

Did the person do anything wrong in sticking to the principles and values? Did he do wrong by adding value for all these years and being acknowledged every year practically as a good VALUE-ABLE  performer( Asset)? Are you suddenly now not VALUE-ABLE anymore ? What has changed? Can we term the people encouraging such an environment as plain OPPORTUNIST? Plenty of them around as we see in day to day life.

Shall we there fore train our youngsters to be aware of such situations and not feel let down or feel devalued, stressed or demoralised , just because somebody"  depreciates " while  judging you . You have earned your levels, reached your goals ,and played your role . Then why let such situations intimidate you? I guess, take control of your mind at all times and not let mind control you is imperative .This is the key to success and a happy life , personally and professionally. I consider this journey to a bullet train which makes stops at specific stations in our life, where people board or get off at their destinations and you continue your next leg of  your life journey with or without them . The speed, Destination and stops are programmed ,and you are just the passenger trying to make that experience an enriching one , which you can recall and cherish ALL YOUR LIFE .