Some years ago a friend of mine returned from an offical trip to US. He wanted to settle accounts of the trip with the company. The lady handling bills made him an offer. "Submit false inflated bills, and we'll split the extra amount". She made this offer to every employee and most of them probably accepted it, some with hesitation and some with glee. A person like me would politely declined it. But Amit Patil doesn't belong to any of these categories. He reported the matter to the company. Not that the company wasn't aware of what was going on. But everyone turned a blind eye to it. She was an influencial person and had good relationship with the CEO of the company. Nobody wanted to offend her. There was lot of pressure on Amit to back off. But he didn't. He pursued the matter and kept escalated the matter up to highest authorities in the company. It bore fruit. Because of his persistence, the company had to take action against the corrupt lady.
Later Amit explained to me, "I had to do it. I believed it was wrong. If I had not pursued the matter I would have fallen in my own eyes. I had to do it for my own sake if not for the company (or society or country)". How to say No, when you don't want to say Yes professes the same philosophy. Every time you don't stand up to what you believe in, you lower your self-esteem. I did exactly that today. I had to do something that was not pleasant, but I believed it was the right thing to do. And I failed to do it.
These days I frequently get BEST's a/c bus between Kanjur Marg and SEEPZ. Except at peak hours the bus is almost empty. At 3 p.m. today there were few people in the bus. There were two teenagers, taking cover on the last seat of the bus and kissing. This was the second time I had spotted them. I wanted to walk up to them and tell them politely, in a soft tone, that what they were doing wasn't good for them. I kept debating in my mind whether or not I should do that. My consciense told me that I should offer this elder brotherly advice, irrespective of how they react. But like the rest of crowd, I just ignored them and got down when the bus reached my stop. It was laziness or lack of courage or lack of sincerity. Or may be a combination of the three and something more. I don't know exactly why I didn't do it.
I felt bad. I know they will never cross my path again, because I am going to Bangalore tonight and won't be coming back soon. My good words may have made some better change in the lives to two young individuals. But I didn't have the courage to stand up to my beliefs. I ignored the dictates of my conscience. I was weak. My temerity has harmed me as much as my society. I want to become stronger than this.
Today is National Youth Day
12th January happens to be Swami Vivekanand jayanti, and is celebrated in our country as National Youth Day. You can't open a newspaper on 14th Feb and not know that it's Valentine's Day. However you won't find a sentence in today's paper that says it's a National Youth Day, because it's Vivekanand jayanti. Such is the media. So be it! We know better than having expectations from the media. Enough of complaining. Instead, here's a good quote from the Swami Vivekanand:
"The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves! Our first duty is not to hate ourselves, because to advance we must have faith in ourselves first and then in God. He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God."
"The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves! Our first duty is not to hate ourselves, because to advance we must have faith in ourselves first and then in God. He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God."
Where is the News?
A lot is said about the prolifiration of news channels in our country in the last decade. However I know very few tv channels that broadcast news. Most of the so-called "news channels" broadcast propoganda. Propoganda with an shockingly unabashed political bias. Free media in our country means freedom to the media to spread misinformation and lies.
What is true about tv channels is also true about the print medium. The media seem to have sold themselves to a particular political ideology, party or family. The worst thing about it is the absolute lack of introspection, and the hypocracy about the nobility of the profession. Rarely does one read an article questioning the media's role in the current state of affairs of the country.
What is true about tv channels is also true about the print medium. The media seem to have sold themselves to a particular political ideology, party or family. The worst thing about it is the absolute lack of introspection, and the hypocracy about the nobility of the profession. Rarely does one read an article questioning the media's role in the current state of affairs of the country.
Need IGNOU contact info
I have been trying to connect with IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) representatives in Mumbai for the last few days with futility. If you know have any contact information please let me know asap. Of coruse, I have browsed IGNOU web site.
Time for new year resolutions
It's the time of the year when you make new year resolutions. I don't make resolutions every year. Many a year it's just, "I will strive to do my best with renewed enthusiam". But this year, I have three specific resolutions to make:
1. Wake up early every morning
This is one thing that I have found impossible to put in practise. In no other activity has my failure been so thorough. Yet I have keep trying. I can't give up. I think this time I will succeed. Because now things have changed. I am now not just responsible for myself. So I feel a greater sense of responsibility. I am hoping for the best.
2. Plan my days well and follow the plan earnestly
Twenty four hours is too less time for a day. There are just too many things to do and too little time. The biggest reason for not getting things done on time lack of planning. I need to plan things well and execute to plan. I have been trying to do this for past 2-3 weeks, with varying degree of success. I think I know enough now to make progress on this point.
3. Concentrate better, think clearly, understand myself better, have healthy self-dialogue and maintain equanimity every moment
That's a tall order. But no one said that life is easy. Good progress needs monumental efforts. I need to make these habits my character. These things should come naturally to me, without any need to make efforts. I hope I will spend a lot efforts to make progress here. But I am not expecting miracles.
[Speaking of miracles, miracles never occur by chance. They are created one day at a time for decades before their effect is visible.]
Let me see how much progress I make and whether I am successful in fulfilling these resolutions.
1. Wake up early every morning
This is one thing that I have found impossible to put in practise. In no other activity has my failure been so thorough. Yet I have keep trying. I can't give up. I think this time I will succeed. Because now things have changed. I am now not just responsible for myself. So I feel a greater sense of responsibility. I am hoping for the best.
2. Plan my days well and follow the plan earnestly
Twenty four hours is too less time for a day. There are just too many things to do and too little time. The biggest reason for not getting things done on time lack of planning. I need to plan things well and execute to plan. I have been trying to do this for past 2-3 weeks, with varying degree of success. I think I know enough now to make progress on this point.
3. Concentrate better, think clearly, understand myself better, have healthy self-dialogue and maintain equanimity every moment
That's a tall order. But no one said that life is easy. Good progress needs monumental efforts. I need to make these habits my character. These things should come naturally to me, without any need to make efforts. I hope I will spend a lot efforts to make progress here. But I am not expecting miracles.
[Speaking of miracles, miracles never occur by chance. They are created one day at a time for decades before their effect is visible.]
Let me see how much progress I make and whether I am successful in fulfilling these resolutions.
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