At the other side

Human makes mistake. I am human, therefore! This week, after watching the movie "Uma", work of an award winning Director, I made the mistake of telling a group of three persons that everything is excellent about the movie except that without Mahishaurmardini (Mahalaya) pieces in the background / foreground one would always fall short of recreating Durga Puja; Anjan Dutta in his character role could have been less loud and there were too-muchness in the use of the dialogue. "I want to make a master-piece." Last week after watching Boom-Boom "Satyameba Jayate", I didn't say anything to anybody, even to myself. Earlier, after watching "Dhadak", while leaving the hall, I just murmured if that was the only way to end the movie which invoked an angry retort from a fellow spectator, "Why not if that is what our society is."

The Karma caught up with me soon. I was asked to shoot a 3 minute long promotional video for an upcoming 3 month long program. For this, I had to fit myself into many different roles, that of script-writer, background designer, dress designer, make up man, director and also, actor. And there was only 24 hours of time for all these with no relief from usual office and household work.

I started with a visit to the studio. The camera crew showed how it would be done and examples of few such promotional videos which were shot before. Most importantly, they provided lots of encouragement and told me that I need not be nervous. A slot of 2-3 PM was given next day i.e. today.

I started writing a 3-minute script and came up with a one pager. People who I sought feedback from uttered the minimum but a look of disagreement said what they wanted to say, that I could have done much better. After one iteration it appeared to me as okayish. It was late evening, too late to get a feedback on that. Then, started working on the background design which was completed late night.

The director in me told that there must be lots of energy, enthusiasm, cheerfulness in the delivery with a matching get up. The actor in me, facing the camera first time for such a promotional shoot, had everything in contrast in him. The shirt has to be single coloured, preferably dark. The trouser could be anything as the shot would be above the waist.

Found that the dark, single coloured shirts in the stock need to be ironed. The earliest I could get it done from outside was this evening. Who does not know that self-help is the best help? There was a visit to barber's shop. He was surprised as it was ahead of the schedule. Little touch up after which he reminded that I need to pay another visit before Durga Puja.

It was 1:15 PM to return home after conducting midterm project viva. There were 30 minutes for a rehearsal. Got a quiet room and started reading the script loud. My own voice appeared strange to me. Got accustomed to after reading it few times. Daughter got drawn from next room with a camera in hand and there were funny takes.

Reached the studio at 2 PM sharp. The camera crew told that reading out from script was not allowed. This was known to the director in me but the actor in me was praying for the opposite. "Can there be a prompter, a screen in front wherefrom I can read it out?" The crew looked at me meaningfully. They understood that they had a difficult job ahead of them. And the answer to the question was negative.

Some effort with the chroma software and background fixing, combing of hair for which mobile phone camera in selfie mode came handy, and we were good to go at 2:30 PM. The studio was to be released for other work at 3:00 PM. Take 1 survived 30 seconds. Take 2 about a minute. Fumbling after going good for 2 minutes in Take 3. For Take 4, camera crew asked not to start all over again but from where I stopped in Take 3. They concluded by that time that I was not in a position to finish a 3 minute's script at one go.

It was 2:55 PM. The persons who would take over the studio at 3 PM was at the door. One crew asked me to go for another full take as they wanted to make some change in proportion of my image and that of the background. I began all over again and behold, the whole 3 minutes' shot was okay at one go in this Take 5. The crew were very happy for their accomplishment. I was in a state of disbelief, "Did I do it?" The next slot persons watched this take in the monitor. They entered when I was packing up and congratulated.

Endnote: It was a lesson learnt. Never ever critcize a script-writer, director, actor, etc. Who knows whether the persons from that make-believe world can make that famous "Om Shanti Om" dialogue (Kehte hain ki, ... agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho to puri kayanat usey tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai) work in the reverse direction, too? 
 :-)

Not in Syllabus

PART I

I was sitting at the back among freshly inducted students in the 'unreserved' seats of Netaji Auditorium. Tried but could not ignore when a hand waved at me from the first row. Got introduced to Samarth and Ashay with once held NSS (National Service Scheme) identity of mine. Samarth asked if I could recognize him. He was from Mechanical Engg. dept., graduated in 2014 and was an NSS volunteer. Ashay was shyer of the two. We two managed a gentle nod. The stage was up for the screening of 'UNRESERVED', an award winning documentary, directed by Samarth and produced by Ashay.

The occasion was freshers' induction program. On 23rd July, the UG 1st year joined the institute and a week long induction program was arranged for them to get acclimatised to the environment; before the rigour of the academic work starts. Samarth and Ashay got introduced to the audience. Both spoke briefly in the beginning and the interactive session was reserved after the screening of the film.

The one hour documentary has eleven segments interwoven in such a manner that one would remain riveted to it. The segments were picked up from their 17 day long train journey in unreserved compartments throughout India. The Rs. 1 Lakh budget asked for a minimalist approach -  only a DSLR camera and a microphone to shoot. No retake, no rehearsal - documentary it is, yet it has the ingredients of many full length feature films - the ones that make you smile, that make you cry, that make you think. The film shows things as they are and never sounds preachy. At the same time, the characters in the unreserved compartments appear more qualified than many a experts who occupy prime time television space to speak on important issues faced by the country. One would vouch that the  greatest of the actors cannot match their expressions whatever be the number of takes because it was effortless real. Needless to say, the audience was deeply moved by the movie and a standing ovation was more than due at the end of the screening (Link).

I shall refrain from sharing the actual content of the movie rather, would urge everybody to spare one hour to watch the movie, available for free in youtube (Link). Assured that it would be a revelation of a different kind and our love for the country and its people would make a quantum leap after seeing the movie. It is not sympathy but empathy which will overpower us, we shall cry when they cry and we shall laugh when they laugh. We shall feel a kind of oneness and an urge to be by their side and gently ask, "How do you feel now?" Of all the questions that were asked at the end by the freshers, there was one which could be there with many of us. While Samarth worked in an MNC for six months after graduation from Mechanical Engg. Dept. before making the plunge, Ashay moved into film-making immediately after graduation from Industrial & Systems Engineering. The question asked was why they did the Engg. if they were to go into film-making. And, Samarth answered smilingly, "Engineering is the new plus two (i.e. Higher Secondary) of current times." Both of them went through a discovery phase during their engineering days here. Both were into short-film making which was a part of their extra-curricular activities and were competing for Hall Championship (they were from different Halls) which helped them identify what they were up to.

They told that film making has three different elements in it - script, camera, editing. One may not be good in all and thus, needs to team up. They are ready to help current students in any of their projects. They particularly mentioned of the opportunities lying ahead for NSS volunteers among them who would be working among underprivileged in adjoining villages and slums. Presented below are two videos from NSS Camp 2016 (students speaking) and 2017 (faculty members speaking).

PART II

There was an interactive session arranged in the Dept. for UG freshers and their guardians on 23rd July evening. With 100+ students joining, there was not a big enough room in the Dept. to address all of them together and we had two separate sessions - one with the students and one with the guardians. The students were in a very happy mood to join a premier dept. of a premier institute. While few, only a few, seemed little nervous, the rest appeared very confident while introducing themselves. Next, we interacted with the guardians who understandably, was anxious to get separated from their wards. We assured them and also made them aware of issues in general faced by the students and how the guardians can keep a tab if there is any slippage and also, how we all can work together - that stepping into an IIT for them is an important step but it is only a step (a 2012 Freshers' Intro. Link). Some of the guardians said if we shared the same with the students in the earlier session. Did we? :-)

The last two Sunday study circles had members uttering the words "Not in Syllabus" in the context of what we need to be taught in our formative years. We leave certain important learning outcomes to learning by default and wonder if we fall short when those outcomes matter. Yes, those are "Not in Syllabus."

Few days back, I was listening to an interactive session of Swami Sarvapriyananda of Ramakrishna order with young students of Shilpamandir, Belur, a Polytechnic college. It was partly in English and partly in Bengali. The discussion was on the topic, "Personal habits for higher work efficiency." Presented below a summary of this discourse in which he is asking all students to understand the significance of five key points to make the best of their student days. Incidentally, Swami Sarvapriyananda got his Business Management degree from XIMB (Bhubaneswar) and delivered series of lecture before IIT Kanpur students and many places abroad. His TEDx talk can be found here (Link).

Point 1: Have self-confidence.
And he quotes Vivekananda. “He is an atheist who does not believe in himself. The old religions said that he was an atheist who did not believe in God. The new religion says that he is an atheist who does not believe in himself.” No matter how talented one is, lack of confidence in oneself would put one's foot in the brake pedal and would not let one accelerate or move forward. The one having self-confidence does not feel shy of trying and thus, has higher probability to succeed. We need to remember, if another person could do, with effort I can do the same and can even surpass.

Point 2: Have a high goal in life.
It helps in channelising one's energy in a particular direction which helps in achieving excellence. There is no place for mediocrity if one wishes to reach the pinnacle of success. In any journey we undertake, when we board a vehicle, we do tell the driver where we want to go. Where would we like to go in our life's journey? Not having a purpose - random frittering would lead to a void and frustration would engulf us in time to come.

Point 3: Learn concentration.
Swami Vivekananda said that the difference between an ordinary person and an extraordinary person lies in the degree of concentration. Practise of concentration goes through three phases - focusing on something, cutting out rest of the world, holding that focus. He gives an example from the life of his brother disciple Swami Ramananda (IIT JEE All India Rank 2, CGPA near 10 when graduated, now a faculty member of Ramakrishna Vivekananda University, Link) where after study hours, drum playing started but Swami was so engrossed in study that he did not recognize it. Somebody tried to converse, gently pulled his feet but he had no sense of it. Only when someone pulled the book, he got startled and started making a meaning of the surroundings. Yes, the concentration can be so deep!

Point 4: Learn time-management.
Greatest resource of life is time and each is bestowed with same amount of this important resource, while other resources may differ. How we utilize 24 hours of a day in life makes the difference. One can divide what we take up in four categories: (i)Urgent and important, (ii)Urgent but not important, (iii)Not urgent but important, (iv)not urgent and not important. Many things that are important for our life do not get the priority (urgency) it deserves (Category (iii)) and we keep it postponing. We find ourselves looping between (ii) and (iv) only to find it is too late 10-20 years down the life. Swami visited two institutes with almost similar infrastructure. One of them was rated much higher. In it, students were using the lab., library etc. while they were empty in the other institute.

Point 5: Be unselfish.
This is the secret of success which often illudes us. Selfishness comes from poverty mentality. Unselfishness comes from prosperity mentality. We human or so rich - we have time, energy, knowledge, intellect, money - if we give, what we get back in return is many times more. It may take time to understand this - the earlier one understands this, the luckier is the person. Swamy gives an example from a US university. A Psychology Professor one day didn't take the class and spent his earning to take the students to a popular movie. The students were very happy. Week later, he again called off the class but this time took the students to a slum where they gave various toys, gifts to underprivileged children. The students enjoyed that visit and was happy, too. Both occasions, students gave a rating of 3 to 5 in a scale of 1 to 5 on how happy / satisfied they were. Six months down the line, when these students were asked to recollect these two visits and how happy they felt now, in the former the rating came down to 1-2 while the later maintained the same 3-5 level. To be effective, one needs to work with others and cannot afford to be self-centred. Unselfish people are more effective, successful and happier.

The video of Swami Sarvapriyananda talking to students follows. The sticker in this Part II showing the difference between successful and unsuccessful people was sent yesterday by a friend who graduated from here with us. After completing B.Tech. in Computer Science & Engg., he did his Masters in a reputed US University, provided consultancy to many Fortune 500 companies etc.. But, wait! There comes something which was not in syllabus!! His current interests lie in bringing out the original spirit of ancient Sanskrit wisdom to modern times.

Over a cup of coffee

[Adapted from this FB post. Prelude of it can be found here / here / here. ]

The speaker of this TED talk [Youtube Link] (nearly 0.5M views in 3.5 months since publication), Scott Galloway is a 'Clinical' Professor of Marketing at the New York University Stern School of Business [Linkedin profile]. Yesterday afternoon, had an opportunity of a 90 minute adda at Tikka over a cup of coffee with one of our alumnus who did his MBA in the same business school. Currently, he is working on investment in start-ups and helping M & A with big corporations.

Such interaction is very educative for us who work with students and their aspirations. It was learnt that 10 percent of the start-ups are definitely promising. Many start-ups do oversell, are risk-averse while there are those who are quite confident. And, larger fraction of these start-ups are in Artificial Intelligence (AI) targeting the Digital Marketing space.

This made me reflect upon the recent controversy about Cambridge Analytica's misuse of social media platform in grand scale [The Guardian follow up]. Could it be that tighter rules and regulations are in the offing on data ownership, protection? While it is being believed that the 'data is new oil' of the economy, there is increasing awareness and concern on misuse of data and its unintended exploitation.

Going forward, sharing of data across platforms may not be found as easy. Informed consent may mean much more than clicking "I Agree" button where the person concerned as per his background will actually be able to make out what he gives consent to and what are it's consequences. He can pick and choose and not forced to agree en-block, without the sword of denial of service (the basic service which is essential today and is to be considered undeniable) hanging on his neck. It should be explicit if the person himself (his digital self) is going to end up being a saleable product, if so, how he exercises his right to know who holds his digital persona at a given time and for what purpose (since he is more than a poultry animal, nurtured with what it thinks as free stuffs, to get eventually sold).

The hard hitting TED talk of Prof. Galloway follows a Q & A session where he says, "They (Corporations) are not concerned about conditions of our souls. They are not going to take care of me when I get older. We have set up a society that value shareholder's value over everything and they are doing what they are supposed to be doing."

Zeynep Tufekci's TED talk [Youtube Link] was published just one month before Galloway's, on 11-11-2017. Zeynep, associated with University of North Carolina and Harvard, does research on social implications of emerging technologies in the context of politics and corporate responsibility. Her talk is very incisive on how things work out in digital space and what is its implication for which she gives specific examples.

One of her finding shows that in this AI driven world, a bipolar, manic person may be found the most gullible by the algorithm to buy a ticket to Las Vegas since such people overspend, and then he is pushed such content that makes him go for the purchase. Her own study of a particular rally showed youtube's AI algorithm pushing more of white surpremacist's video in increasing order of extremism through suggestions. She also talked about an experiment where 67 M people were shown two different content through pop-up, the second one was more persuasive than the first to perform a task; and much larger share of the people of the second group did really fell for the task.

She finds that whatever be the intention of the seemingly good people writing these AI algorithms, the persuasive architecture of the algorithm eventually finds out that if it shows something enticing, hardcore, something that can affect emotion and behaviour, then people will give more attention and they can be persuaded to do what the algorithm aims at. Therefore, the associated liability cannot be just transferred to the algorithm, however deep and opaque it might be, where people behind it claim innocence.

The last TED talk of this post [Youtube Link], dated July, 2017, is that of Tristan Harris [Website]. He is said to be the “closest thing Silicon Valley has to a conscience.” He suggests that we must embrace following three as solution and at the earliest. (i)We need to acknowledge that we can be persuaded (our ego may find it difficult to acknowledge), (ii) We need new model and accountability system (transparency in the flow) and (iii) We need a design renaissance that would aim at (a)protecting us and (b)empowering us.

In our yesterday afternoon's Tikka adda, our human intelligence (whatever is left) told that besides artificial intelligence, issues related to genetic engineering need our immediate attention!!

Note: The above is as understood by me in a finite time and, misunderstandings, if any, cannot be attributed to other persons appearing in this post.

Way back

This day, ten years back, came up with the first post of this blog. Our alumnus, Vinayak who founded http://parivaar.org/ was visiting IIT Kharagpur campus on September 05, 2007. Chiranjeev Maharaj was accompanying him. And we had an interesting session with the visiting team. I don't remember today what exactly was the trigger to start the blog and write a short post on that visit.  There was a follow up visit on March 08, 2008 for which there was an elaborate post.

1, 26, 51, 56, 27, 22, 28, 20, 4, 3 are the number of blog posts from 2007 to 2016 in consecutive years. This year, it is 4 so far. If twenties are considered baseline, there were heightened activities in 2009 and 2010 and, major fall since 2015. In 2011, started NSS blog and there were 21 posts. Together, it comes near to 50 mark of earlier 2 years. Started NSO H&F blog in 2013 which had 53 posts that year. There were other purpose driven blogs started after that but with less number of postings. Of course, one opens up differently in different spaces as per what defines that space. All those blogs except few, have been handed over to successors.

The all time maximum page view crown goes to 2013 Teacher's Day post of this blog. It gave a glimpse of the day in words and pictures. The emphasis was on 'Shraddhaban labhate Jnanam'  - one who respects, learns. A learner finds something to learn from everybody, even non-living things like sky, wind, mountain, ocean ...

I was enrolled into facebook in 2008. However, there was not much activity there. Avoided accepting friend request from people not directly known and also from students. For students, the thought had been, till I was in a position to give grade to a student, it is to be postponed. Then something serious happened and it appeared that there needed a better, direct channel of communication - the designated portfolios failing. Facebook became the preferred mode.

May be some anniversary post in facebook will figure out someday that there is a big fall in facebook posts, too in recent times. By default, the reason may be ascribed to poor SNR (signal to noise ratio) or too-much-ness there which in some sense may be correct!!

This special day had its share of emails, phone calls, SMS, visit to office by students, small function at lab. etc. The TIFAC interns working on 'Legal and Ethical Issues related to Artificial Intelligence' came with a small flower-stand and flowers made by them . They themselves placed it in front of the Vivekananda portrait (drawn by an ex-student) that they noticed in earlier visit to my office. Bow to all teachers and teacher of teachers!
 

Inner cry

Statutory warning :-)  It is a rather long post with lots of quotations; may not be fit for reading at one go!!

PART I

Was in a dilemma for sometime. Didn't take much time to shrug it off. The decision was to attend the workshop on 'After Partition' at the Humanities and Social Science Dept. Seminar Room. It was pre-lunch session of 18th August. Took a short time out though to listen to the Chief Guest of the parallel, IIT Kharagpur 'Foundation Day' program at Netaji Auditorium. On entering the workshop venue, there was the question, gently asked, so much so that one could not miss the empathy-filled undertone - if my family was affected by partition in anyway. That touches a tender nerve somewhere, prompts a time travel through the silhouette of flash backs (partly here).

Prof. Amritjit Singh of Ohio University in his keynote speech told how difficult it is to look back at partition dispassionately, specially for the people to the west and east of India. The decision to divide the nation remains the most painful part of our history. The acceptance of hastily drawn boundaries by Radcliffe took the tragedy, the death, destruction, displacement, to its worst possible level. Radcliffe was kind of parachuted in the partition scene, was supplied with incomplete information and he hardly had any knowledge of ground reality.

If the partition (and the massacre that followed) happened due to religious differences of two communities, religion becomes the easy-pick villain. It is like Sherlock Holmes saying, "Elementary, my dear Watson." One expert in the workshop made a hint to that by quoting often-used Marx remark, "Religion is the opium of the people." The story-telling session of young students however, had an interesting take. In this session, students who interned in the summer, shared their experiences of interviewing people. These people were from both western and eastern part of the country, who were directly affected by partition. It was a mixed bag of experience for them. While all faced difficult times post migration, the common man in general tried their best to protect their neighbours of other community with their small might.

It may make sense to introduce a simple question here. Who is more religious? A common man who feels the pain of his neighbour facing mayhem or the one powerful enough to cause mayhem? In an 1894 letter (Link), Vivekananda explains his brother disciple, "In every country the evils exist not with, but against, religion. Religion therefore is not to blame, but men." Is that so? Let's move to the next segment.

PART II

There is a special characteristic in man which is not there in other animals. That is, man can change his characteristic! The man can become a brute. He can become a saint, too. Life, as defined by Vivekananda, is the unfoldment and development of a being under circumstances tending to press it down. In the lecture, "The Necessity of Religion", Vivekananda says, "Man is man so long as he is struggling to rise above nature, and this nature is both internal and external. ... It is grand and good to know the laws that govern the stars and planets; it is infinitely grander and better to know the laws that govern the passions, the feelings, the will, of mankind. (Link)"

This struggle, this striving, come from one's right of attaining a superior self and that is the fun of being human. Else, how are we different from animal? Bhartrihari put it this way in Nitishataka. येषां न विद्या न तपो न दानं ज्ञानं न शीलं न गुणो न धर्मः। /ते मर्त्यलोके भुवि भारभूता मनुष्यरूपेण मृगाश्चरन्ति॥ For lack of striving to reach one's superior self (through education, penance, charity, knowledge, good conduct, noble qualities, dharma) there is मनुष्यरूपेण मृगाश्चरन्ति - animals move around in human form. (Link)

With any special power, comes a great responsibility to use that power properly. That is why we used to hear elderly people blessing us till sometime back, "Be a man." The human form is not enough. A cat or dog need not be told - Be a cat or dog. Browning writes, "Progress, man's distinctive mark alone. / Not God's, and not the beasts: God is, they are; / Man partly is, and wholly hopes to be."(Link) There are challenges on the way. That is why in Swadeshmantra, taken from the article, 'Modern India' (Link), we find Vivekananda praying, "O Thou Mother of Strength, take away my weakness, take away my unmanliness, and make me a Man!"

PART III

What is the role of religion here? It is there in the direction an individual takes. Again referring to Vivekananda, "Religion is the manifestation of divinity already in man. It is the idea which is raising the brute unto man, and man unto God. (Link)" In a letter to Dr. Nanjunda Rao, Vivekananda writes, "Throughout the history of the world you find great men make great sacrifices and the mass of mankind enjoy the benefit. If you want to give up everything for your own salvation, it is nothing. Do you want to forgo even your own salvation for the good of the world? (Then) You are God, think of that. ... Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success and, above all, love."(Link)

Heard one Ramakrishna order monk coming up with the following classification that defines three different manifestations of man.
Beast: Thinks of his own good only, even at the cost of others.
Man: Thinks of his own good as well as good of others (doesn't want own good at the cost of others).
God: Thinks of good of others only and doesn't bother about his own good.

Every religion has three distinct parts: Philosophy, Mythology and Ritual. Philosophy is the essence. Mythology is appreciation of the philosophy through exalted characters that man can connect to. Rituals are to link our everyday life with the highest philosophy, a routine that does not let us forget our goal, attaining of our superior self. Mythology and rituals are to differ across the religions and within a religion due to difference in the evolutionary process undergone by a community in a specific time and space. Their objectives are to take us closer to the philosophy, the essence - the manifestation of divinity remaining the end goal. If there is no manifestation of divinity, there is no religion. "Religion is being and becoming," simply put by Vivekananda.

PART IV

Coming back to the issue of 'After Partition' devastation and if religion or lack of it is the cause, let us hear what Vivekananda said exactly fifty years before this partition (1897) in a lecture delivered at Triplicane Society, Madras which was titled, 'The Work before Us'. "You must open your heart. Religion is not going to church, or putting marks on the forehead, or dressing in a peculiar fashion; you may paint yourselves in all the colours of the rainbow, but if the heart has not been opened, if you have not realised God, it is all vain." (Link)

In a letter written in 1895, Vivekananda says, "My master (Shri Ramakrishna) used to say that these names, as Hindu, Christian, etc., stand as great bars to all brotherly feelings between man and man. We must try to break them down first. They have lost all their good powers and now only stand as baneful influences under whose black magic even the best of us behave like demons. ... Those that want to help mankind must take their own pleasure and pain, name and fame, and all sorts of interests, and make a bundle of them and throw them into the sea, and then come to the Lord. This is what all the Masters said and did. (Link)"

In the lecture, 'The Methods and Purpose of Religion', Vivekananda says, "The persons appeal to our emotions; and the principles, to something higher, to our calm judgement. Principles must conquer in the long run, for that is the manhood of man. Emotions many times drag us down to the level of animals. Emotions have more connection with the senses than with the faculty of reason; and, therefore, when principles are entirely lost sight of and emotions prevail, religions degenerate into fanaticism and sectarianism." (Link)

PART V

On 11th September, 1893 at the World Parliament of Religions, Chicago, Vivekananda uttered (Link),

I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: 

रुचीनां वैचित्र्यादृजुकुटिलनानापथजुषाम। नृणामेको गम्यस्त्वमसि पयसामर्णव इव।।

As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: “Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me.” Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilisation and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.

ENDNOTE

The far too many references of a 'Patriot-Prophet' in this post is because of the immense clarity ushered in by his speeches and writings,  because his 39 years of life (1863 - 1902) stood for what he said, "My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life."(Link) Or, it could be something more subtle, the sub-conscious playing out from my soccer-playing days, "Be strong, my young friends; that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita. These are bold words; but I have to say them, for I love you. I know where the shoe pinches. I have gained a little experience. You will understand the Gita better with your biceps, your muscles, a little stronger. You will understand the mighty genius and the mighty strength of Krishna better with a little of strong blood in you. You will understand the Upanishads better and the glory of the Atman when your body stands firm upon your feet, and you feel yourselves as men."(Link)

I read little outside Vivekananda literature. But, I read the following. While equating religion with opium, Marx uttered in the same breath, "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." (Link)

It is our inner cry. We better listen to it and give it the right direction.

Leadership

From December-end# ABVYM Annual Camp (playlist, hosted at Vidyamandir, Belur Math), procured few copies of the booklet titled, "Leadership: Its Concepts and Qualities" from the camp book stall. This booklet was part of our recommended reading in our younger days of KVYM. Sri Nabaniharan Mukhopadhyaya writes there,

We find and have to admit that there are some differences in creation, in society, in human beings in respect of understanding, qualities, capabilities etc. We can always make use of such special capacity in some for the benefit of those who are on a little lower level, to bring them up, to push them up, to elevate them to help them to make for progress. That is the fundamental idea of leadership.

Sundar Pichai came to IIT Kharagpur campus in January beginning. There was a long interactive session (full video) at packed Tagore Open Air Theater. On being asked about his secret of leadership, Sundar told the following,

It’s learning to let go and really empowering people at all levels of the organisation, and trusting them to do the right thing. As a leader, a lot of your job is to make those people successful. It’s less about trying to be successful (yourself), and more about making sure you have good people and your work is to remove that barrier, remove roadblocks for them so that they can be successful in what they do. So that’s how I’ve always thought about it. I also value teamwork quite a bit and I think it’s really important to build organisations where people really want to work together. Everything comes out of that. So, setting up collaborative cultures is another big thing I’ve been trying to focus on.

Most of the reporting on this section of his speech though missed the pre-requisite part 'making sure you have good people.' There was an apparently innocuous question to follow but answer to that also showed where not to make an error in judgement, keeping the personal an professional space separate. A young student asked if as the CEO of Google, can he change the Google doodle to the IITKGP building for a day. Sundar replies this way.

I am going to send a message to the team. (takes his phone out of the pocket and pretends to text a message, applause from audience) Before you get too excited, I mean, the good news is Google is set up in a way so that even if I send that email, they would not do it. Here's the reason why: we have built an organization with strong ideals and values on when we show doodles, for what occasions. And it's less about what I want to happen.

It is not easy to bring this sense of trusteeship. One monk of Ramakrishna order was telling that one needs to acquire the spirit of Sanyasins to deliver one's best in this Samsara.

#The draft of this post was prepared in January beginning. Today evening, four senior students came to discuss their social work related initiative. While referring to some earlier posts of this blog during the conversation, realized that the draft needs to be pushed to publication stage!!

2017 begins

2017 begins! It had to. Because 2016 left. And, we need a time axis to build our towers! The first working day of 2017 was yesterday, a Monday, the 2nd of January. Job card was there at hand. The car needed a wash before daughter gets dropped at school. No excuse is allowed in the beginning of the year. In that case, the wise says that the whole year will ask for excuses.


Next comes the much celebrated morning walk. Tried chasing a loud speaker sound for sometime to identify the source. It is that season of the year when Usha-Kirtans render the air. Found that it was actually an echo and the source lies very far. Got back to the usual track. On the way found that 'Senior Class Gift 2015' is inscribed in newly constructed roadside benches.

Reached the favourite part of the track. This under-repaired part requires little balancing act to walk on. The challenge can be avoided by taking the good road next to it. But that little stretch gives useful feedback. The lack of balance, if any, is indicator of something!


Little bit of free hand exercise and Suryanamaskar. The sun is brighter now. Ready, steady and on my mark for next task in the morning. Visit to market to refill the vegetable basket and checking out the fish market. A quick chat with a colleague. Topic: External discipline promotes internal discipline. Wondered if there can be a group exercise in a big playground together.


Bath is followed by breakfast. Time to rush to office. A fun get-together was there to welcome the new year. Exchange of greetings and calorie gain. Now, ready for serious intellectual exercise. Discussion with two senior most research students. For the first, review report for a IEEE Trans. paper has come. Revision needs to be completed within six weeks. Later, a telecon on getting fund available for two project students for some more time. Also, exchange of messages with another funding agency as coordinator of some activities.

In the lunch break, visited a colleague's quarter. The family asked for suggestion on two different lines of treatment. Back to office and start of editing work of a manuscript to be sent to a journal. A short visit to office tea shop. A discussion on admin. matter. And, editing work continues. Wanted to finish it before going home. The clock strikes 9 PM. It was becoming riskier to take things that much granted. Twenty percent of editing work was left for next day. I was correct. Needed sometime to give to daughter on her study. It was 11 PM. My current bedtime favourite is:

Endnote: Exchange of New Year greetings in different forum continued throughout the day. There are students (recent pass out) with such samskars even now to write 'Charan Sparsh' (Touching your feet) in their new year message. Among others there was one who works in IT sector, few years junior to me. He published his first literary work recently which is liked by many. After 'Pranam' part, he wanted to know if I would be free on 7th Jan. Saturday, the day Kharagpur Book Fair starts. He and other authors would be coming down to Kharagpur for a seminar / panel discussion. I said, 'Yes' thinking that I would be listening to experts among whom there would be one who I know for long!!!

Classroom teaching begins on 05-01-2017.