A Bird in Hand!

Life's amazing journey has many different things on offer for a person. But one of the most precious things that it gives us all, is experience, the lessons that life teaches us through the highs and lows it makes us undergo. As the month of November comes to an end, I could not but agree more with the idiom "A Bird In Hand Is Better Than Two In The Bush". 

I recollect hearing a story about a person who had a hen which laid golden eggs. This oft heard childhood story, a part of Aesop's Fables, goes that the man gradually became rich selling the golden eggs that the hen laid. Then he became ambitious or in other words plain greedy. He was not happy with what he was having. He started expecting more from life than it was giving him at that point of time. Maybe he wanted newer experiences, maybe he wanted to emulate his richer peers, ignoring the others from whom he was in fact much better off, maybe there was family pressure or maybe he thought of enjoying life in the faster lane. Whatever might be the reason, suddenly the thought of two birds in the bush started to look more lucrative for him.

This illusion made his present miserable because he constantly thought of things that he perceived would accrue to him in the future. He got into a tangle, a tangle in which he looked forward towards the bright perceived future and looked down upon his 'miserable' present. With such cobwebs of the mind, the day was not far when he took a decision, a decision which to him seemed a perfectly logical decision. He decided to kill the golden egg laying hen in the hope that he would get all the eggs that the hen had to offer at one go. He swiftly and without remorse killed the hen.. only to find that in the hope of getting rich quickly in the near future, he had completely destroyed his beautiful present.

Even from first hand experiences that we all encounter in our day to day life, all of us (members of Blue Caramel not excluded) don't seem to follow the idiom of "A bird in hand is better that two in the bush" and try running after things which we don't have. This is not to say that being fully contented with life is the way out, this in fact leads to our degeneration. What I am trying to emphasize is that in the hope of a better future we should not ruin our present by our actions, just like what the man in the Golden Hen case did....

  

Where there is a will there is a way!

There was an interesting article in the local language paper this morning and it was about Jorma Ollila, the former Chairman and CEO of Nokia Corporation, the Finnish Multinational mobile telephone and telecommunication behemoth. In it, Ollila quotes an incident from the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics which involved his fellow Finn, the athlete Lasse Viren.

Lasse Artturi Viren was a long distance runner in the mold of the "Flying Finns" of the early 20th century like Kolehmainen and Nurmi. After disastrous performances in the events leading up to the Munich Olympics, Viren was not expected to make any mark in his pet 10,000 metres race. But Viren had other ideas. Just prior to the Olympics, he embarked on a brutal regimen of physical endurance and "willed" to bring in laurels for himself and his country.

The race began and as luck would have it, Viren took a nasty fall in the 12th lap and lost out on 20 to 30 metres from the leaders of the race. But he did not loose hope and with supreme effort was able to bridge this gap in less than 150 metres. The rest as they say is history. Not only Lasse Viren won the gold medal, he also created a new world record, which still stands.

Similarly, Jorma Ollila with his dedication, focus and will power was able to channelize the varied interests of Nokia, from spheres as diversified as logging, paper, electricity and rubber products to mobile phones and telecommunications, in his single minded pursuit to make Nokia Corporation, the best in whatever it does. He consolidated the operations of Nokia in 1992 when it was decided that Nokia would only concentrate on Telecommunications and mobile telephones and the rest again is history.

As the penultimate month of the year 2012 draws to an end, all members of Blue Caramel in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Mumbai should grasp the fact that "Where there is a will, there is a way". The way would automatically unfold when one has the will to succeed. As, the quote goes "Nothing is lost till hope is lost and everything is lost when hope is lost", so hoping for a terrific closing from all the locations in a month that has been very kind to us. God Speed!!   

Oysters, Pearls and Life's Lesson@Lake Chilika

Having just returned from a most memorable journey to the East Indian state of Odisha, I could not help but  post today's post on a very remarkable experience in the backwaters of Lake Chilika, (misspelt as lake Chilka by most).

The largest lagoon in the Indian subcontinent and the second largest in the world, Chilika sustains more than 130 villages with a population in excess of 1.5 lacs villagers along its shores. The fast disappearing dolphins are a highlight of the boat ride on Lake Chilika, but for me the live demonstration of the extraction of pearls and moonstones from mollusks, shells, mussels and oysters on the Red Crab island was the icing on the cake. In the following snaps the entire process of the extraction is illustrated.

Shells

Mussel

Hammer it open

Out comes the gem

Handful of gems

The genesis of a pearl is very unique. Unlike others, pearl is an organic matter derived from living beings- Mollusks and oysters. Sand and other impurities nestle within the body of the mollusks and oysters and over a period of time get converted into Pearls, which the world considers priceless.

For all the members of Blue Caramel Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Mumbai, there is a great lesson to be learnt, which is even if we have impurities in ourselves in the form of doubts, negativeness, jealousy or the like, if we are focused enough and have the desire to excel, then the time will not be far when these impurities will become subordinate to our work ethic and we will become priceless like pearls, pearls of the professional sphere.  

Sufi, Obama,Puri and Diwali

The first week of the penultimate month of the year has been dominated by four things in the Blue Caramel universe as well outside it. Discussions have made headway for Blue Caramel to partner International Sufi Festival India for the next festival, Barack Hussein Obama got re-elected as the American president, I would be leaving for my tryst with Lord Jagannath in Puri and Diwali, the festival of lights would be celebrated in a week's time.

After the success of the International Sufi Festival India, Ajmer in its first two editions, in which Blue Caramel and mydestination.com were associates, talks are on to take this relationship to a new level. Sufism has always been associated with mysticism and has been popular all over the world, the ISFI festival envisages to propagate this very essence along with the teachings of the great Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.
In today's world, when materialism is at its most ugly, Sufism preaches that you can draw closer to God through personal deeds that are selfless. It propagates the theory of Unity in Diversity and universal brotherhood.

"Four more years", became the most retweeted tweet in twitter's history. This tweet by the incumbent US president Barack Hussein Obama capped the amazing race for American presidency. The "Dead heat" as was prophesied by many, turned out to be dead meat for his Republican rival Mitt Romney and Obama after his Change of 2008 has ushered in "Forward" of 2012. The rise of Obama, the first non-white president in the history of the United States and his re-election re-emphasizes the fact that there is no substitute for dedication and hard work and also one needs to be always connected to the grass roots to be able to have a formidable base.

The holy city of Puri in Odisha (formerly Orissa) is the abode of Lord Jagannath. It is here that the famous "Rath Yatra" or the Chariot festival takes place every year. After prolonged procrastination, finally this year it seems that my tryst with the almighty will finally take place.

In my absence, the festival of lights-Diwali would be celebrated. I am taking this opportunity to wish everyone within the Blue Caramel family and also everyone else a very Happy Diwali and a very prosperous year ahead!!!!!   
   

October in photos- Birth, Religion and Evolution!

As the month of October draws to an end, I thought of putting in the highlights of the month through some photographs that I had taken during the month that had a distinct religious flavor this year.

Banga Samaj Puja-Udaipur

The family puja at Bindu Bhawan-Udaipur

Bengali Laxmi Puja at Bindu Bhawan-Udaipur

Pigeon Eggs

Baby Pigeons

The month culminated in an event that we all at Blue Caramel can  learn a  lot from. It so happened that a pigeon laid two eggs in a flower pot that unfortunately had some saplings of green chilly. My initial urge was to put the eggs onto some other place but I refrained from doing that as I saw the pigeon couple putting in all their efforts to safe keep the eggs. Braving the chilly winds at night and also the blazing sun during the day, the mother pigeon kept on with the work of keeping the eggs warm with dedication. And lo voila, over a period of time, the eggs hatched into 2 baby pigeons, who are now a joy to watch. The moral of the incident is if you are loyal to your goal and work with dedication towards it, then no power on earth can stop you from succeeding in getting your desired result.

Lord Ram, Ravana and Dusshera!

Yesterday, Dusshera was celebrated with all its gaiety and religious fervor all over India. The great Indian epic Ramayana and mythology states that it was the day on which Lord Rama, the prince of Ayodhya vanquished his mighty adversary King Ravana of Lanka who had kidnapped his wife Sita in a bid to marry her. The Ramayana and the festival of Dusshera has a number of things to learn from, for all of us. The top 5 in my opinion are:

1) A Commitment is a commitment- In Ramayana, Lord Rama, without bating an eyelid agrees to go on banishment for 14 years as his father King Dasharatha had promised his wife Queen Kaikayi to fulfill any demands she made as a boon. Lord Rama knowing the importance of commitments and their fulfillment saved his father from disgrace by gladly owning up the seemingly difficult demand that Kaikayi made. A commitment is a commitment and commitments are NOT to be Broken.

2) One for all and all for one- In a team or a family, the famous lines of Alexandre Dumas in his classic "The Three Musketeers" have utmost importance. One for all and all for one, re-emphasizes the fact that when the going gets tough, the members who are together so that everyone strives to achieve more also share each others burden and the worst of situations become that much bearable. So, during Lord Rama's banishment not only his wife Sita went along with him, even his brother Laxman also came along. Bharat, the son of Kaikayi, who forced Rama for the banishment too renounced his throne and acted as a guardian of the throne in absence of his brother, Rama.

3) Do good to others and build good relationships coz networking helps- When Sita was kidnapped by Ravana and taken to far off Lanka, Rama and Laxman instead of becoming helpless and clueless started  their pursuit to bring back Sita with full earnest. In their quest, they were helped by an assorted force of monkeys, bears and even birds. These creatures helped Rama as he had helped them in various forms previously like in the case when he helped the monkey king Sugreev to regain back his kingdom from his evil brother Bali. In today's world, the importance of networking is paramount. Ekla Cholo Re is good but you need to have the backing of others to succeed.

4) Withstand pressure and you would be a sure winner- Ravana used various pressure tactics on Sita so as to force her to marry him but she withstood all the pressures. When the monkey god Hanuman went to Lanka as an emissary of Lord Rama, he was captured by Ravana and was put under immense duress. His tail was even set on fire. Inspite of such pressures, Hanuman did not loose heart and infact turned the tables on Ravana and burnt down his golden city with the same blazing tail that Ravana had set on fire.

5) You are doomed when your ego gets the better of you- Everyone of us has an ego and everyone of us likes the ego to be massaged. But the problem is when the ego gets the better of us and we become oblivious to the obvious. Ravana was actually a very learned man and in fact was from the elitest of the Brahamanas. He was a multi faceted personality very good in arts, literature, administration and warfare. He could have been a very good human being but ended up being a monster as his ego became his master and he took everything and everyone else as granted. Hence, it is fact that doom starts when your ego gets the better of you.

For all us at Blue Caramel trying to follow these qualities to the proverbial "T" would go a long way in becoming a better professional and more importantly a better human being.  

Durga Puja-The Worship of the Mother Goddess

The time of the year has again come when all of India fervently worships the Mother Goddess, Ma Durga.  Also known as the "Nav Ratris" or nine nights, this time besides the religious angle is also a time of merriment, a time to rejoice and have a good time.

Mythology states that in the olden days, the Puja was held during the months of March-April but the Puja during the months of September-October was started by Lord Rama of Ayodhya during his fight with the demon king of Lanka, Ravana. An interesting trivia about this Puja was that is is believed that the Puja was performed for Lord Ram by none other than Ravana himself, who was a Brahmin of the highest order as there was no other able Brahmin priest available who could perform the Puja with all its rituals. The fact that Ravana readily performed the Puja for Ram, even after knowing that it was being performed for Ram's victory over him, brings forward a virtue, the virtue of giving priority to duty over everything else, in this case even one's own life.

The format of the idol which is usually worshiped during the Durga Puja is known as the "Mahishasura Mardini Roop", the manifestation of Shakti or Power which the Mother Goddess took to vanquish the demon king Mahishasura. Along with the main idol of Goddess Durga mounted on a lion killing Mahishasur, are the idols of Goddess Laxmi, Goddess Saraswati, Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya. Each of these deities are a manifestation of some virtue for example Goddess Laxmi signifies wealth, Goddess Saraswati signifies learning, Lord Ganesha signifies wisdom and Lord Kartikeya signifies organisational capabilities.

So, if someone looks at the summation of the "Mahishasura Mardini Roop" and its significance then the point would become very obvious that if one wants to overcome difficulties in life then one would need to have concentrated physical as well as mental powers (Ma Durga), wisdom (Lord Ganesha), financial resources (Ma Laxmi), unquenchable thirst for knowledge (Ma Saraswati) and organisational capabilities (Lord Kartikeya).

All Blue Caramelers need to strive towards gradually imbibing the virtues as signified by the Durga Puja to be somebody in life. Even the virtue as displayed by Ravana of giving priority to duty over everything else, if properly inculcated by all in Blue Caramel, will surely lead to more professional glory....