Living in the Serengeti

I picked up a book called “Serengeti – Natural Order on the African Plain” by Mitsuaki Iwago from my office library without even knowing what “Serengeti” meant.

Serengeti means an “endless plain” in the language of the Masai people a semi-nomadic tribe that live in these plains which are situated in the Tanzania-Kenya border.

The book is a collection of 300 photographs taken by Mitsuaki Iwago during his 18 months stay in the plains with his wife and 4 year old daughter. The author starts with an intro. Living in the plains is very tough. During the summers, there is hardly any water to drink and they had to go 55 miles to get water. The temperatures are very harsh. Rains come in torrents. Yet, at the end of their 18 month stay Iwago’s wife exclaims “I could stay here by myself“

The photographs capture the raw essence of Serengeti wild life. They will transport you to the plains amidst all the danger and beauty of the habitat.

The author starts the journey from the beginning of rains in the plains when the wildbeests migrate from the Serengeti National Park in the north to the Serengeti Plains in the south. Serengeti houses thousands of animals including lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyraxes, birds etc.

The rains transform the entire plain into an environment brimming with life. Animals give birth to their young, colourful insects are everywhere, every animal has plentiful to eat.

The book ends with the migration of wild beests back to the Serengeti National Park with the onset of summer in the plains which makes the plains a deserted and rough place to live.

The book is really amazing. Photos can really tell you so much about a vast ecosystem.

There are some funny pictures too like the lion eating the grass, hyraxes which are the size of a rabbit but are the closest living relatives to the elephants, a bird sitting on a wildbeest and picking out insects from its body, imphalas running in zigzag to confuse their predators and so on.

Iwago does a brilliant job. It has piqued my interest in the Serengeti ecosystem.

Waiting to explore more books on the wildlife.

Bharathiar in Pondicherry

Pondicherry is a city of rich history. Bharathiar is one of them who makes it all the more interesting.

He moved to Pondicherry in the  year 1908 to escape his arrest. He took a house in Pondicherry which has been turned into The Bharathiar Museum now. I visited this museum last Sunday.

What an experience it has been!! Feels like I have been transported to a new land with new thoughts.

The house address is: No. 20, Easwaran Koil Street, Puducherry – 3

I could not believe that this museum is like a 15 minute walk from my house. I imagined Bharathiar walking on the same streets as I was. I wish I could know his thoughts when he was walking in the city.

The museum has a collection of his letters, family photographs and lot of books. I felt the museum could have been much better. Perhaps a guide who could explain things to us.

The sad part is the museum does not sell any items like his books or memoirs. I was really disappointed with that. They do have a great library which is open on Sundays from 10:00am to 5:00pm. The museum is closed on Mondays. The timings for the other days are 10:00am to 1:00pm and 2:00pm to 5:00pm.

I read some of his letters and observed two things:

1. He starts off a letter with the words “Om Shakthi“

2. He usually signed off the letter saying “May you gain immortality“

There was a postage stamp released on Barathiar which is framed in the museum.

There are around 20 photographs collected of his family, friends and relatives. Some names that I can recollect are his wife Chellama, two daughters (one is Thangamma, I can’t recollect the name of the other), V.V.S Iyer, Sri Aurobindo and many others.

While in Pondicherry he was involved with the following journals/magazines: India, Vijaya, Chakravarthini etc.

I especiall liked the front cover of the magazine Chakravarthini (the 1906 edition was displayed) which reads “A Tamil Monthly Devoted mainly to the Elevation of India Ladies” — I felt wow!!

The topics for that edition were interesting as well:

1. Women in Buddhism

2. Figures regarding female education in the Madras Presidency

3. Tulsi Rai

4. Infant marriage and female education

I think we indeed have come a long way since 1906.

When I stood inside the house and looked up to the sky, a tear dropped down my cheeks for no reason. A house where Bharathiar had spent his time. The front hall with an open roof. Wonder how many thoughts he must have had sitting there? It felt very nice. It was mentioned that he composed the poem “Crows and Birds are our clan” in this house.

Bharathiar was an expert in many languages: Tamil, Sanskrit, English, Telugu and French. They had mentioned that he wrote very beautifully in English.

I also found the Tamil version of the phrase “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” – “Swathanthiram, Sammathuvam, Sahotharathuvam“

I was reading a book there where it mentioned when Bharathiar, V.V.S Iyer and Sri Aurobindo used to talk and discuss it was a conversation filled with great patriotism, energy and out of the world. It is unfortunate that nobody could record these conversations.

I would like to end my visit with a paragraph from the book written by Dr. S. Ramakrishnan on Bharathiar which I truly agree and felt after the visit to his home:

Many of Bharathi’s lyrics are chicks of fire. They burn up the whole jungle of our vices – our apathy, our fear, our pettiness, our casteism, our religious sectarianism, our greed and all that.

Thus, purged of our ills, we become pure-hearted and fearless and consequently strong, nay, invincible

Sunday Musings about love…

I sit in my 3rd floor apartment alone in the hall. The room is humid. The only solace is the fresh breeze from the balcony.

My thoughts wander. I want to write about Romance.

A person who is struck by this bolt once in their life will tell tales of how romance can change your life. You become a different human being.

You travel to places. You meet different people. You have a myriad of experiences. Yet, at the end of the day there is no answer to the questions of Romance. Why it happens and why it affects and changes you so much? Why do we feel attracted and attached to exactly that one person? I personally feel, that’s because the person complements you in various aspects.

Virginia Satir puts it beautifully: “We meet on the basis of our similarities and grow on the basis of our differences“. Yes, love helps you to grow.

It helps you ask questions. It makes you object to the orthodoxy of the present situations. It can bind communities, castes, religions and nationalities. It makes us want to let go off our vices and grow and improve as an individual.

I have always wondered “Why is love so powerful?” It is powerful because it is our implicit aspiration to find a meaning to life. It instills in us a feeling to not just grow and learn for ourselves but share the learning and the journey of life with a person who complements us. It gives us a glimpse of eternity and timelessness.

The romance portrayed in Shrek is one of the romances I truly appreciate and enjoy. It is a pure love which is not based on the beauty or status of the person. It comes with an appreciation and respect for the personality/nature of the person you love.

Yet, romance is such a misunderstood feeling. It is tabooed in the Indian society where independence to choose a partner is opposed in favour of a family decision. Ofcourse things are changing now for the better I believe.

~ There is another side of the coin. We see this happening all around us. Wrong and impulsive decisions to commit suicide or run away from homes, immature decision-making driven by lust rather than making an informed decision about the choice of a partner and many other incidents happen. Is it love to be blamed? I don’t think so. It is the poor judgment or decisions taken by the persons involved.

~ There is an argument I have heard quite often: “Arranged marriage vs Love Marriage success“. Well, what has successful marriage got to do with whether it was arranged or love? Successful marriage depends on the individual persons involved in the marriage and their willingness to grow and share a harmonious life.

~ I remember reading a short story by Guy Maupassant called the “Chair Mender” where he raises the question does love happen just once in our lives or can it happen over and over again. This is a very interesting debate. Even I don’t have answers to it. But I have a quote to share from the story: “Once a drunkard always a drunkard, once a lover always a lover“

Romance is a wide and elusive topic. Sometimes I feel it is so vast and complicated it does not have direct answers. It needs a platform. A platform where people can share their tales of romance. A platform where we find answers to our elusive questions. A kind of space where we can put in our thoughts or ideas regarding romance.

I always thought such a platform would be difficult to build. I joined my new company and was excited to find that our dedicated team involved in research in Social Sciences actually has such a platform already in place which offers space to share your stories/ideas/tales of romance, discusses about romance in literature and movies, has a forum where we can post questions and get answers and an online expert system IRES which can give you recommendations/suggestions based on universal principles of harmony and romance.

If you are interested in this topic of Romance as much as me, here is the site: www.romanceeternal.org Its really a great effort to bring out different aspects of romance without making it a dating or match-making site. Do check it out!!

Thoughts

There are two thoughts I want to put in my blog today.

~ We read a lot of books, listen to a lot of people, visit places, have various experiences. How far do we actually “implement” the good things we learn in the process? Like suppose I read the Tirukkural or even a book on conserving water. Do I actually extract what is useful for me and implement them? I don’t completely. Probably 10%? What about you all? Do you implement or think over the lessons you learn through the journey of life? Probably I do them unconsciously.

~ We have heard many people say “We have learnt the best from failures“. Then what about the learning we get from “success”.  I have personally learnt a lot from what I term my personal “successes”. Be it the gold medal I received during engineering or my 4.0 GPA in M.S. “Successes” also have lessons to teach us. The “flow” & “passion” you put in when you create a beautiful product (it can be a drawing, a blog post or anything else) which succeeeds (in your own terms) is a lesson in perseverance,  patience,  humility and a positive attitude. (Success and failures are relative terms and there is a lot we can talk about it. )

Wanderers and Seekers

Last week I had visited the Nirmala Birla Art Gallery which is next to the Birla Science Museum and Planetariam in Hyderabad.

The Art Gallery was small but very beautiful. Some paintings captured me so much, I spent a lot of time admiring them.

The best part of the Gallery was the Terracota mural on the wall of a chapter of Bhagavad Gita, where Lord Krishna “takes” his Vishwaroopa. The mural is beautiful because it is a metaphor for life. It starts with Brahma (the Creator) and ends with the “five elements” of Earth, Water, Wind, Sky and Air

The curator of the gallery came to me and explained the whole mural and the concept behind it, the number of artists who worked on it, time taken and all that. Then he posed a question to me.

Curator: In this chapter, it is Arjuna who sees the Vishwaroopa of Krishna. Why do you think Arjuna is missed out in this mural? How can there be no spectator?

Me: Thinking and confused. I do not know why Arjuna should have been left out.

Curator: Here Arjuna is a metaphor for a “Seeker“. Since we are all “seekers” in some form or the other, the person who “watches the scene” is actually Arjuna.

The curator smiled at me and said: “Now you are the Arjuna“.

It was a different experience to hear these words. Leave aside the religion or spiritual aspect to the whole thing, but we all are indeed seekers in various forms.

Some seek knowledge, others money, others love.

The seeking is unquenchable. We want to explore. We want to wander. We want to understand.We want to be free.

Let this life be a beautiful journey of “seeking” and “discovering“.

Go ahead, let away your fears and seek your own answers

Vehicularly challenged and now Miss India :)

People who know me also know that I am vehicularly challenged. That is, I cannot drive any vehicle. Yes, not even a cycle.

In my childhood, I have seen my brother ride his cycle. Somehow, nobody ever taught me how to cycle and I being the silent and non-adventurous one, never asked for it.

Time flew by. Whenever people would ask me the question, “I am sure you know how to drive the car” and I would sheepishly say, I don’t even know how to ride the cycle.

For all my travels within a city, I have either walked or used the public transport system.

Almost a month back, there is something which told me, I should not be like this. I should learn how to ride a cycle atleast. Definitely it is not rocket science.

My dad bought me a brand new Hero- Miss India cycle which looks very similar to the image below which I took from the Hero cycles site: http://www.herocycles.com/missindia1.htm

I got the 24” cycle because that was the size that fit my height and came with the “balance wheels”. (The next height was 26” which does not come with a balance wheel)

I struggled a lot for the first week (the balance wheel was of no help because it had actually got twisted thanks to my first fall). I fell so many times. I hurt my hands, legs and even my stomach. I almost felt I would never be able to ride a cycle. I used to put the right leg and push the pedal and by the time I lift my left leg to push the left pedal, the cycle would go in random directions and I would fall. It was actually funny sometimes

I dint give up. I was determined. The second week saw some improvement. I could atleast pedal and ride for short distances before I fell off.

The “third” week was miraculous. No balance wheels. And I was able to ride like a bird. Seriously, it felt like magic. Haha…Ofcourse, not magic, it was pure hard effort. I was even able to ride the cycle up a slope.

Yes, I am no more challenged. I am in love with my cycle.

P.S: I was actually motivated by the post written by Anna Paradox where she had written about her “learning of the cycle” which began with the title:

Those Who Do, Can

And ya, riding a cycle is a wonderful exercise. I sweat out nearly 40 mins to an hour everyday on my cycle and I can already see the difference

Five People You Meet In Heaven

I read this book day before. It was good. Though I do not believe in “after-life” and “heaven”, the book was interesting for bringing out the connectedness between human beings.

We all have this feeling of a “separate” entity. This feeling is not wrong. It’s natural. However, connecting to others and realizing that others lives are interconnected with ours, helps in empathizing with others.

The story starts with the death of the main character and continues with “five people” he meets in heaven and how they “influenced” his life.

I was thinking of the same. Assuming that there is a so-called heaven and after-life, I would be curious to know who those “five” people would be in my life.

For this quarter century of my life, I would love “Bruno” to be one of the people I meet in heaven. I mean one of the dogs I meet in heaven. I would give anything to touch him again, to pull his ears, to sleep next to him and to tease him.

Who would you like to meet in heaven?

My wishlist for 2050..thanks to Dr. Yunus

I picked up this book “Creating a World Without Poverty” by Dr. Mohammah Yunus from the CSIM library.

Dr. Yunus is the founder of the “Grameen Bank” in Bangladesh. He has been an inspiration to me right from the time I heard about him.

This book is totally brilliant. Go pick a copy. I guarantee you will not regret.

This is not a “review” of the book. Instead it is a task Dr. Yunus asks each one of us to do.

He says: “Take a paper and make a wishlist of the world you wish to live in 2050 and stick that paper to the wall in your room“. I did just that. And then I thought why not share my wishlist on my blog. That way the “message” will reach many more people.

So here’s my wishlist. Be as “imaginative” and “fanciful” as possible. I have borrowed some of my points from Dr. Yunus’ wishlist.

1. A world where there is no poverty. No beggars on the roads, no street children, no poor people anywhere in the whole world.

2. A world with no terrorism,no  nuclear weapons,no wars,no  conflicts,no misunderstandings, no violence. All countries and everyone co-exists in peace and friendship. Every person is caring, enriching themselves and others.

3. No boundaries among countries or continents. We all are “one” Earth. We live in diversity appreciating each others cultures, languages, food habits etc.

4. No traffic jams on the roads, pollution free environment, use of renewable sources of energy like Sun, Wind. Every person is “socially responsible” not to waste resources, no cutting of trees, a clean, rich, full of life and luscious Earth with the effects of global warming reduced. No more extinction of species due to the irresponsible behaviour of human beings.

5. No more incurable diseases like AIDS etc. High quality health care that is affordable and accessible to every person on the Earth. No more external diseases. Cure for all diseases

6. Global Education System where “education” is a fun and enriching experience to every child. Every child is educated and given scope to grow to their fullest potential.

7. Shelter for everyone. No person should go without a roof.

8. Pure drinking water accessible to everyone. Every person knows about water harvesting techniques and uses water efficiently.

9. Good sanitation facilities for everyone. Hygienic conditions to prevail everywhere

10. Global economy ensures the equal distribution of wealth. No gaps between the rich and the poor.

11. No discrimination based on caste, religion, color, nation, language, gender etc. Every person lives a “dignified” life.

12. Every country should have an efficient “disaster recovery management” system in place to deal with natural disasters like earth quakes, floods, tsunami etc. All countries should co-operate with each other to recover as fast as possible with least pain and suffering for the victims and their families

13. No more corruption among people in the government or anywhere else. Transparency in transactions, governments, people etc.

What is your wishlist? I would love to read each of your wishlist for 2050. Probably this will be a “common thread” that will bind all our futures on this Earth?

Trying to create my destiny…

The last 4 months have been a “great learning” phase in my life.

I think this is the first time I was facing “failures and obstacles” both in the personal and professional front [I mean at the same time].

Today I smile, not because the road ahead is easy but how much I have matured thanks to these experiences.

I came back to India on January 2nd, 2009 overly confident and ambitious. Our house was in a great mess. Due to mom’s sickness and hospitalization, the house had not been cleaned since ages. It was terrible. The cleaning of the house itself took me about 2-3 weeks. At the same time, there was my brother’s marriage preparations happening. I did not concentrate during this time on jobs.

I did get an interview call from Yahoo. I attended the interview at Yahoo B’lore on 19th Jan but did not get through the interview. This was the “first disappointment”. However, since I had prepared a lot for the interview, I was happy that I had given my best during that period of time and this preparation will actually help me in further interviews.

Meanwhile, there was this passion or thought in me to do something in the social sector. Now, I had no clue what I could do for social development. I actually thought social sector is all about “charity“.

I was searching on the internet for “platforms” which would introduce me to the social sector and answer my questions: “What a Software Engineer can do in the social sector?” “How can technology especially computer technology help in social development?“

I came across this institute called “Center for Social Initiative and Management” in Hyderabad which was offering a 4 month course in “Social Entrepreneurship and NGO Management”. It seemed like the “perfect” platform to get my questions answered.

We meet every Saturdays from 2:00pm to 6:00pm as part of the course. The course introduced me to lot of ideas about the social sector. Though I cannot say it has answered all my above questions, it has helped me broaden my vision regarding social initiatives.

At the same time, I also joined an NGO named “Freedom Foundation” which works in the field of HIV as a volunteer because I did want to get some first-hand experience working in an NGO

In the meantime, I was applying for jobs. I did attend a couple of interviews in Hyderabad. The “salaries” offered by them were so less, their attitude was not to my liking and so on.

I also had this thought in the meanwhile “What if I work full time in NGOs?” Why take up a “Software job” at all?

I spoke and visited a lot of NGOs. Most of my time went in calling people, roaming around, visiting people. But “nothing” materialized out of all this.

Then I realized, there is something wrong in my approach. I am not clear what  I want to do and why I want to do it.

So I wrote down “What am I passionate about?” “What do I want to do in life?” “What kind of job do I want?”

Let us deal with these questions.

What am I passionate about?

~ Technology especially related to Computers. I love solving problems. I love writing code. I especially love “web development”.  I used to always be excited about programming assignments I got during my M.S.

~ Sharing and learning. Like for eg: I love what they call “social media” blogging, twitter, orkut etc. I have made so many virtual & real friends from whom I have learnt immensely.

~ Social development – Let me borrow a term from Dr. Mohammad Yunus, “Creating a World Without Poverty”. [I don't know anything about this field, I am just an amateur but this is something that excites me]

~ Teaching - I do not like this term “teaching”. I would rather use “Interacting”. I was a teaching assistant during one semester for undergraduate Computer Science students teaching them “How to build a mini e-commerce website?” and I tell you, I was totally energetic and used to look forward to each session of how to make the classes “meaningful” to the students

I have many other interests like drawing, human relationships, history, people etc.

What do I want to do in life?

~ Not sure [Haha..this is the answer that's on top of my head]

~ This is a big question. I will come back to it later. It needs more introspection and clarity.

What kind of job do I want?

~ A job which could include my passion of technology+sharing+learning+teaching. You must be wondering why I did not add “Social development” in the previous equation. For technology to be meaningful, we need a deep understanding of the needs of the people to whom we are catering. And I as yet have no clue, what “real social development” means or how I can contribute.

Err…Wait you said you wanted to work in an NGO full time?

Yes, I am open to it. However, the past 4 months I have realized, simply thinking to work in an NGO is not enough. People will “take you for a ride” [I am not complaining or blaming anyone]. I was close to being hired by a couple of NGOs but realized it was not the place for me.

First you need a “vision“. Then you need to choose an NGO that aligns with your “vision“

I do not yet have a “vision“. I believe the vision will come over time. Till then, I am not working in an NGO just for the sake of it.

Ok, now that you have read the post [and hopefully did not get bored], let me know of any job opportunities that would involve my mentioned interests

P.S This is just a “portion” of my thoughts. It is tough to encompass a lot of “experiences” in a blog post.

Venn diagrams+Fun

I have been so inspired by this blog: http://thisisindexed.com/

Most times, you can present insightful thoughts or learnings through a diagram rather than a big blog post.

I have attempted to put my own set of thoughts over the past week into diagrams. Hope you enjoy these and get inspired to do your own Venn diagrams to get a bigger picture.

As the tea brews in the kitchen, here are my two cents: