Deepak Rana

Currency Exchange – Everything You Need To Know About Money

In the previous post Everything You Need to Know about Money, we learnt about the origin of money. Now once the money has been invented and is being used as a medium of buying products and services there’s another concept that arises – Currency Exchange. In this post also, I will try to explain the concept through a simple narrative.

Let us assume there are two tribes – A and B. In tribe A, all the people were initially vegetarian. They were expert in growing crops, vegetables and fruits. But over the period of time their eating habits changed and some of them started to eat meat as well. But they were not skilled enough to cook it well, and they were not good hunters either. Tribe B on the other hand, rarely grew vegetables. They were largely dependent on the meat for their food. Tribe B people were skilled in hunting the animals and also cooking the meat. Both the tribes have their own currencies – Aollar and Bollar respectively. If you had Aollars in tribe A, then you could buy various things and also get services from the tribe people. And the same was for Bollars in tribe B.

Seeing the growing food requirements in both the tribes, the respective heads decided to conduct a meeting. In this meeting it was decided that Tribe B will provide well cooked meat to Tribe A every day. And in return, Tribe A people will cook vegetables and give them to Tribe B. Initially they agreed upon five pots of vegetables to five pots of meat. The life became convenient for both sides. Tribe A people slowly started focusing only on farming and stopped hunting the animals. And the Tribe B people did the opposite. That way both sides developed more expertise, and did more production.

One day the head of Tribe B called that of Tribe A urgently. He told him that since the animals were getting scarce, they would not be able to provide five pots of meat every day. He mentioned that hunting and preparing meat required more effort and therefore it was not justified to exchange the same amount of meat with vegetables. Tribe A head didn’t have any choice. His tribe needed meat. So he made a deal. He said that they would give ten pots of vegetables in exchange of five pots of meat. The agreement was made. And the life continued.

Tribe B people had to do a lot more effort than Tribe A people as hunting was really difficult. Tribe A people decided not to work very hard as they were sure that they would grow enough vegetables with little effort. Tribe B kept working hard and discovered more and more ways of hunting and cooking meat. They also started growing vegetables as they were still not satisfied with the exchange. Due to their persistence in work they had developed a number of things. Tribe A didn’t care much about its growth.

In the mean time an important financial deal was made between the two tribes. Earlier if a tribe A person came to Tribe B he could not buy anything from here as he didn’t have Bollars, and similarly tribe B people couldn’t buy anything in tribe A as they didn’t have Aollars. The deal suggested that both tribes’ people could buy things from each other’s markets. But they had to exchange the Aollars with Bollars or vice versa, at the border itself. Once they had exchanged their currency they could buy things with the local currency.

Once again initially the exchange rate was set 1:1 which meant that one Aollar could be exchanged with one Bollar. But later it was found out that tribe A people visited tribe B more often and therefore bought more things than the tribe B people bought in tribe A. This was due to the fact that tribe B had made more progress and had more things to offer than tribe A.

But there was a catch in the process that soon caused a big problem to tribe B. Earlier one pot of meat could be exchanged with two pots of vegetables. But with the use of currency, tribe A people could buy meat at same cost as that of the vegetables. This was due to the fact that each pot of vegetable would cost 100 Aollars in tribe A, and each pot of meat was priced at 100 Bollars in tribe B. But since 1 Aollar = 1 Bollar, tribe A people were actually exchanging one pot of vegetable with one pot of meat. The intellectuals in tribe B recognized this problem and called a meeting. In this meeting it was decided that the exchanges would be according to the real value of currency. And therefore 1 Bollar was converted to 2 Aollars. Clearly the strong economy of tribe B was because of their hard work and ability to provide more exports.

Thus began the era of currency exchange.

Your Idea Is Not That Stupid

“Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you.”

~ Steve Jobs

The above quote speaks the reality of this world. We are often dazzled by the analysis that other people do about us and based on their poor judgments we perceive ourselves as rather moronic creatures. What we think as right or wrong, good or bad, genius or stupid is only because of the things that are taught to us and are the results of the thoughts of people like you and I, most of them who lived before our times. There is a good chance that you’d be having plenty of ideas in your minds. And there is also a good chance that you will not bring out that idea in front of the world because of some unknown fears. Fear of being judged, fear of being called as stupid, and fear of failure – these are the roadblocks in your journey. Do not ever let them come in your way.

If you observe the world around, you will find very few people who are the creators. These are the people who are creating new things, developing creative ideas and discovering hidden affairs. The second segment consists of the people who analyze and further improve the work of the creators. Most of us come under this category. In fact the job market that exists today as a result of industrial revolution, is working for the same. Now here’s the warning – people belonging to the second category will always try to find faults with the work of the creators and bring them down. This is the biggest challenge for you if you belong to the first category. To overcome this, you will have to have faith in yourself. Remember – those who have achieved great things were ordinary people with extraordinary determination who sailed their way through the storm of the worldly people. And they overcame it, successfully.

There are a number of examples of the successful people who were told multiple times that they were stupid, that their dreams were non-sense, that they were too ordinary to achieve anything big. But they didn’t give up. They kept faith in themselves and kept working. And one day they made their dream true. Einstein for example, was considered as a slow and mentally handicapped child. Years later he changed the face of modern physics. Edison was once told by his teachers that he was too stupid to learn anything. And he gave us the light bulb so that we could learn something. Stephen King threw his first book’s manuscript in the trash after getting 30 rejections from the publishers. His wife later encouraged him to try again and rest is just history. The iconic novel Carrie was thus created.

We have so many examples where people failed and tried again and then succeeded. They were told by everyone around them that they were not good enough but they proved with their actions that they were not just good but exceptional. In case you have an idea, work on it. Keeping it to yourself and taking it to your grave won’t make any difference to this world. However, if you work on it and turn your dream in to reality, the world will definitely remember you. Don’t wait, start now. The journey of a thousand miles begins with first step only.

In An Unreal Realm #2

Note: If you have not read the first part of this story, please click the link below:

Click here for first part

Part 2:

She was wrapped in a fluffy piece of cloth. The unusual white dress glittered mystically, but even more peculiar was the glow of her skin. The vibrations of enchantment were spurting out of her uncovered body parts, above those perfectly filled breasts and below those appealing thighs. In between the white cloth was secretly hiding what every man desires to see.

Simplicity defines the highest measures of beauty. And this was simplicity in its most authentic form, and hence the beauty. The sorcery of her sheer beauty was so powerful that I had completely forgotten the gloomy realm around me – the realm that appeared unreal. I could constantly sense the intonation of the insects that resonate such sounds at night. But they were not there; in my remembrance no one was there. It was me and it was her. And I was still crying, I noticed.

She kept contemplating at my face for a while. I was glaring at her and crying at the same time. She moved closer. My feeble mind was expecting her to wipe my tears with her trembling hands. But she did not. Instead she kept standing there, in a perplexed state of mind, just like me. Her brown eyes were signifying intimate thoughts, at least I conjectured that.

Our eyes met. Our hearts spoke to each other in a language which neither of us knew. It was the language of love. And this was the third lesson that I learnt – When love doesn’t find any language to express itself, it creates its own. And there’s nothing and no one more powerful than love.

She held my hand and took me towards a road, which was non-existent until now, or perhaps I hadn’t noticed.

How Your Behavior Changes

Ever wondered why you behave in a certain way when you are alone, when you are with your friends and family, and when you meet strangers. Under different circumstances your actions and reactions change according to the surroundings. For example, when you are working at your office or any other formal environment you don’t behave like a free bird like you do at home. Believe it or not, the presence of the picture below makes you conscious and alters the way you are reading this article. Why is it so? Why can’t we behave in a similar fashion no matter whom we are interacting with? Are we pretending to be someone else in front of others? Is there a fear of judgment? These questions need to be answered.

The first point of consideration is that our outlook is not only determined by who we are but also who all are around us. A number of people assume that they are wearing a mask especially in the formal settings or conversing with the old people. If there’s anger or frustrations inside we tend to hide them and keep them to ourselves. However, if we are alone or with our loved ones then we tend to express those emotions without any hesitation. There’s a reason for this difference. Our unconscious and subconscious mind understands that those you don’t know us, won’t be able to understand us because of the lack of facts and information. On the other hand those who have been with us, they know the reason behind everything we are doing or saying. Psychologists suggest that the emotions like love, friendship, trust develop due to these differences only. We develop a sense of mutual trust whom we share our feelings with, on the regular basis.

It is also important to mention that we alter our behavior mostly with the people we like. If we do not like anyone at all, we prefer to ignore them. Mirroring is a concept which explains our gestures and body language while interacting with a person. We tend to replicate the gestures of that person so that we can understand them better. For example if the person is telling a funny story, we listen with a smile on our face and we become serious when the environment is solemn. This all happens so fast and so naturally that we fail to realize this process. Mirroring happens only if we are taking interest in that conversation, otherwise not.

Some people propose that changing our behavior according to the people affects our performance. They say that it leads to lack of concentration and therefore we are less productive as a result of this. This is partially true. The effect on the performance is due to the fact that once we start paying attention to how others perceive us, it can cause unintended consequences in our work. However it doesn’t interfere with our performance if we do not allow ourselves to. The conscious mind can help you in such situation, thereby not allowing you to get distracted.

There’s another aspect to it that we ignore. The realization that our work is being watched by so many other people also improves our performance more often than we expect. The expectations set by others are also an important driving factor for most of the people. However that should not be confused with micro management of the work of an employee by his or her boss. Every person needs his or her space to perform but at the same time they need other people to recognize their work. But appreciation and recognition is necessary. And it has been proven time and again that the illusion of progress and recognition can boost the performance.

The bottom-line is that we need other people around us so that we can learn and experience different things and the changes in our behavior not only help us in growing but they are also essential for every social being. So next time you don’t have to worry about being yourself factor while interacting with others, instead you should get in to their shoes to understand them better.

And I Almost Got Married…

She is sitting across the table and I am still trying to figure out how she would look like if she gets pregnant. In that case the baby inside the womb would appear more prominent than her. You could call her skinny but I assume some fat is also required for your survival. And I also assume that being flat-chested doesn’t come under skinny. To be honest good breasts won’t only please my kid but… Leave. Why I am talking about all this is because I have got a situation here. We two are not alone but accompanied by not so preferred company of our parents. Yes, her parents have come to see me and decide whether or not I am a good fit for her.

Yes, you heard it right. If they like me, I am probably going to get married.

Let me give you some background so that you can understand my situation better. I have recently completed my MBA. Which college? That is not important here. It’s a good college and they also show its ads on TV with some foreign students whom I have never seen in the campus. Our alumni network is very strong. The alumni meets are conducted twice a week as most of them are not working and have enough time to spare each other. I only went there once and I realized it was nothing but an opportunity to hit on the girls whom you could never talk during the college. And since there was enough competition there, I didn’t like the idea. The girls/boys ratio has increased dramatically as we have reached the marriageable age. But I miss my college when nobody thought about all this. Once again I am telling you the name is not important, it’s a good college.

Right from the day when I got my degree, my parents have tried to convince me to get married. As if seeing me as bridegroom was the only dream that they had. I have been a good guy right from the beginning. I said yes every time they asked for something. So, when it came to marriage, they assumed it would be a yes if they would ask me. And they didn’t. Only last week I came to know about the research and analysis that they were doing on matrimonial sites. Teaching them how to use internet wasn’t the greatest of the ideas and I do regret it. But that taught me few things as well. For example I never knew that there are a few matrimonial sites which not only help you choose a partner from the same caste and religion but also according to your dieting, sleeping, eating and so many other habits. I hope someday they will add sex positions too. Good luck next generation.

Renu is the discovery of the huge online work of my parents. They have chosen her after seeing the profile picture only. Rest of the things they justified with some nonsense arguments which I didn’t bother to listen. She looked like a nice girl though. Girls who don’t talk to boys, keep to themselves most of the times, enjoy reading and like Shahrukh Khan, not for his acting but dimples. Frankly speaking, such girls kill me. And if you ask me whether I would like to spend life with such a girl, I would not just say No but also punch your face.

Her bald father started the conversation. I have always heard that bald fathers have hot daughters but as always I must be dealing with the exceptions.

“So… both kids are slim. They would make a nice couple.” Her father quipped. He was trying to be funny. We all had to laugh as if it was the best joke we have ever heard. I looked at my chest though and realized I am also a chestless skinny moron.

“Tell me Nikhil, how was your MBA experience?” her mother asked. She sounded like an interviewer.

I was about to answer and then my mother started – “Oh he has always been brilliant in studies. When he said he would do MBA, we were not surprised for the ambitiousness he has.” I couldn’t believe her ability to tell lies. I only did an MBA because my mom and dad forced me to. They said and I quote them – You can never get a girl without good education for a weird looking guy you are.

“Even Renu has been a bright student. She always stood first in the class. Not literally, I mean she topped the class. She didn’t stand there.” Her father wasn’t going to stop it seemed. “And when she got selected for engineering college, we felt proud. Why didn’t you do engineering Nikhil beta?”

Beta? You are not my father. – I thought.

“I had interest in commerce, so I didn’t write the engineering entrance exams…” Of course I did write and got failed.

“By the way Renu is a mechanical engineer.” He added.

I had a long look at her and said, “Of course he is. I mean she is.” And of course no one got my point. I can be a real bastard, I am telling you.

“Renu thinks she doesn’t want an MBA. She earns good salary. By the way if you don’t mind how much do you earn beta?” This time it was her mother.

And my father jumped in to the conversation. “Nikhil earns well. His package is ten lakhs.” He said.

I was flabbergasted. Ten lakhs? What a great father, father of me and father of telling lies. I got his point when I realized that he had included my office laptop, cafeteria food, my cost at office parties, photo copy and fax facility, free phone calls and so many other things that even HR person never told me. But the good thing was that Renu’s parents looked happy. Or perhaps that was a bad thing.

I looked at Renu for a while, though the rational people would call that staring. She seemed to be very excited about the idea of this marriage. She was twenty three, four years younger than me and I could see that in her behavior. She was sitting beside my mother and was holding her hand, which I thought was queer. She was wearing salwar kameez and was trying to play with dupatta to appear cute. That killed me. But I am quite sure it would have appealed to my mother.

“If you two want to ask each other anything, you can. Else we would assume that it’s a yes from your side.” Her father said.

“What?” I looked at everyone’s face. They were not surprised at all. It was just me. And I knew one thing that I had to do something to get out of this, else I would get screwed.

And I did something that still makes me feel proud.

If it was a comedy movie or a cartoon I would have disappeared, if it was a TV show I would have cooked up a story to piss them off, if it was my friend Jeetu in my place he would have clearly said that he didn’t like that girl. But guess what, it was me. And I could never do any of that. One thing that I don’t have the guts and second I am stupid. But stupid people can run. And so did I.

A Lost Family

Their lips enveloped each other and the tongues cavorted, while trying to savor their lust which was urging for more.

Their hands clasped, their feet worked against the friction caused by the sweats of their bodies and they pushed each other hard.

The clothes were a part of history now and the naked bodies were doing what they were supposed to do. The window was partially open and the passage of air coming through it, was offering them another reason to shiver. And the trembling bodies lusted even more.

I was witnessing all that from the corner of that window. I smirked. The reason was my mysterious thoughts which were dancing inside my mind.

They were a married couple for twelve long years but the love making hadn’t lost its charm. The bed was shaking vigorously, making scratchy sounds while stroking against the floor. Even more prominent sound in the room was of their groans and the occasional shouts and screams.

“Come on… push me… screw me harder…” she was pleading with joy and pain. He was responding by shaking his head and forcing himself onto her, deeper and fiercer.

“You have learnt new moves during my business trip.” He said while he was panting.

“Shut up.”

“Oh yeah… I just…”

And he continued till the time his ageing organs allowed.

The struggle ended with the obvious and their bodies remained stuck to each other. They would have had more of it, or the gentle love making or a romantic talk. But they didn’t.

A scream from the other room terrified them. They knew it straight away that it was that of their daughter – Nicky. Both of them rushed out of the bedroom in their half naked bodies. As they entered Nicky’s room and turned on the lights, it shook them to death.

There was no Nicky in the room. But there were bloodstained clothes of her on the bed that she was wearing the last evening. I loved that taste when I chopped her skin and sucked the red fluid that was underneath. But they had no clue what was going on. That terrifying look on their face was bringing content in my heart.

“No…” they shouted as they realized the possibility of the cruelest event that could happen.

The wife without any delay started crying. The husband who was still keeping his hopes alive, rushed towards the telephone.

“Damn it…” he said in a frustrated voice and banged the telephone on the floor. Of course I had managed to cut the line. There was no other way they could connect to the outside world. And then there was a car, whose tyres were punctured. No need to tell who did that. So when he realized that there was no way he could get out of his house, he did nothing but yelled in frustration. But a bigger trouble was waiting for him when he got out of the car and came back to his wife.

And she was dead.

Her head was crushed to the pieces and was no longer identifiable. But it was her, he knew that. Of course no need to tell, who did that. It had happened only five minutes back, but if the room was not soundproof, he could have tried to save her. He wouldn’t have succeeded though.

He was devastated, and rightly so, he had lost his family, in no time. I could see him kneeling down, crying, and yet not being able to express his emotions. I moved towards him, slowly and carefully, from behind. He was unaware about what was going to happen to him next. I had a long iron rod in my hands. As I took stance to hit the back of his head, he turned. And he got couple of seconds to see who I was, and therefore instead of the back of his head, the face had to bear the torment. And the result was same.

After that I jumped off the window. I had done what I intended to.

Only the next morning when the servant came to the house, the news spread. Those who saw the dead bodies could not believe their eyes. The investigation began too. But never ever they could find any evidence or even a slight clue about it. Perhaps I was a smart killer.

It happened fifteen years back but the memories are still fresh to me. It was the first time my brutal behavior slain a life, but not the last. And every time someone asks me – Nicky don’t you miss your family? I smirk.

An Unending Love Story

The rain has come again. This time the drops are tumultuous, unlike the first time I saw you; they followed a melodious song back then. Drenched in the raindrops, struggling to hold your umbrella upright, you were tittering and trying to make your way forward. I gaped at you for a while and the first feeling that I had after seeing you was that of joy. That first sight of you lasted only for few minutes but even after eight long years, I remember each second of it. How you turned, how you lifted your left foot and then right, how you partially tried to cover yourself and partially allowed to get drenched as if the rain drops were tickling your body. That was not even the beginning and I knew something beautiful was going to happen in my life.

And it happened. You happened to me, or as you said – we happened.

You might be wondering why I am writing this letter; it’s not Sunday, or your birthday or any other special occasion. But I guess today I feel like writing to you. And that doesn’t need occasion. Even though I enjoy having conversations with you but writing a letter is altogether different, for one thing I know that you really love my letters.

Falling in love with you didn’t require any effort. It was natural, as natural as my heart beats. Loving you is not a task, it is a comfort which keeps me in my dream world. Not loving you could have been a task – difficult for others, impossible for me. In these eight years, I have fallen in love with you, each day more than the previous one. And I will continue to do that, doesn’t matter the world calls me stupid or crazy. Who cares? We never did.

If I tell someone that it took us three days to fall in love, no one is going to believe. So, I don’t. Three days – to fall in love, three days to figure out what we were missing in our lives, three days to decide the remaining part of our lives. I still don’t understand why I fell in love with you and I am sure, neither do you. You were not the first girl in my life, there were more than a dozen before you. And equally true is the opposite. I was not the first one in your life either. But something set us apart. Perhaps we were destined to fall in love. There were no reasons, we didn’t need any. There were no promises but only faith – the faith that our love shall always remain. We knew it then, and we still know that.

Then came the best two months of my life.

When we moved in together, in a new city where no one knew us, we couldn’t believe we had decided to live together in a matter of few days. That was the kind of faith that we had in us. It happened so quickly that we couldn’t even tell anyone about it. Or we were too busy in our own life, a perfect life. We laughed, we cried and we held it each other as much as we could. We made love every night and after that we talked for hours, till we fell asleep in each other’s arms. On the fourteenth day you told me that you were afraid to lose me and I promised to live with you forever. You smiled, with a couple of tears in your eyes. And so did I. Because I never missed You jump, I jump rule. Neither did you.

Then one day you left, and never came back. You were right when you had said – Only death can keep us apart, nothing else and no one else.

I had died too, from inside. But I had to live, because we had promised each other that we would make our dream come true – Our dream of a school where we would provide the best education to kids. There is no other purpose in my life. Every morning when I wake up and do my prayers I tell myself that I am going to make you proud. You are always there in my prayers. In a world where I have no desire to live and I count each moment so that I can meet you any sooner, you give me strength. Sometimes when I feel weak, I take out your picture and kiss it, and think about those two months. They were enough to give a true meaning to my life.

You taught me how to love and just because you are not here, it cannot be the reason that I stop loving you. That doesn’t mean I do not miss your presence. I certainly do and therefore I wish to see you soon. Whenever you feel that our dream has been achieved, please call me there.

PS: I miss you badly and I am sorry for breaking our No cry alone rule, again.

Words of Wisdom – Quran

Quran – is a source of great wisdom and the knowledge that it offers is immense. Although our inability to read Arabic text prevents us to understand it in the best way possible, yet we can try to learn a number of things even from the translated versions. Reading Quran requires great deal of effort and patience, and most times an expert on Islam who can interpret the text for you. I would suggest you to read it once in your life, no matter what your religion is.

I am mentioning my favorite verses from Quran. I always enjoy reading them.

Allah in the name of The Most Affectionate, the Merciful.
And your God is one God, there is no God but He most Gracious and Merciful.
How you will disbelieve in Allah, whereas, you were dead, He gave you life, then will cause you to die then again will give you life, then towards Him you will return.
Surely, those who believe, and the Jews and the Christians and the Sabians, whoever have faith with true hearts in Allah and in the Last-day and do good deeds, their reward is with their Lord, and there shall he no fear for them nor any grief.
They ask you what they should spend. Say: whatever wealth you spend in good, then that is for parents and near relatives and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer. And whatsoever good you do, no doubt: Allah knows it.
There is no compulsion in religion; no doubt the virtuous path has become clearly distinct from the erring; then whoso does not accept devil and believes in Allah, he grasped a very firm knot which is never to open and Allah Hears and Knows.
Only they are believers whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, and when His Signs are recited to them, their faith get increased and upon their Lord, they put their trust.
Fight those who believe not in Allah, and in the Last Day, and accept not as unlawful what Allah and His messenger made unlawful, and follow not the true faith that is to say those who were Coven the Book until they pay the required tax with their own hands being brought low.
Those who love the worldly life more than the life of Hereafter arid bar from the path of Allah and desire crookedness therein, they are in far off error.
If you will do good you will do for yourself and if you will do bad, it will be for you. Then when the promise of the second time came that the enemies might deface your faces, and enter into the Mosque as they had entered it first time and may destroy utterly whatsoever may fall under their power.
Blessed is He Who, if He please, will do better for you than that, Gardens beneath which flow streams and He make palaces for you.
‘O you peaceful soul.’ Return to your Lord well pleased with Him, and He well pleased with you. So, enter you among My chosen bondmen. And come to My Garden.

The Essence of Indian Marriages

Marriages are considered to be one of the core traditions of Indian culture. Every time there’s a discussion on marriage, many people use traditions and culture as an argument to support the traditional mode of marriages, or even the arrange marriages. In this article, I will explain how the traditional marriages today are not that traditional and how modernization is the right way to connect to our roots. The term modernization has been used so that we can understand and interpret our traditional texts and practice them in the modern world. It is always a good idea to comprehend the culture well, rather than accepting it with closed eyes, just for the sake of it.

First of all we need to understand our origins, so that we can derive conclusions about our traditions. Here, the reference to the Vedic texts is imperative. The reason for that is only through Vedas we can connect to our roots and it’s the Vedas that define the pillar of Hinduism. According to Vedas, marriage is one of the Ashrams in human life, referred as Grihastha Ashram. There are four Ashrams in totality – Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanprastha, Sanyas Ashram, each lasting for the span of twenty one years. At the end of the Brahmacharya Ashram, a man is expected to get married. If he doesn’t want that, he may skip this Ashram and directly get in to the Vanprastha Ashram. However his relatives and parents have every right to convince him for the marriage. So far we are as per the guidelines of Vedas.

Now let’s get in to the falsified notions that people have about our traditions when it comes to marriage.

The first argument that people use is that – arrange marriages are the traditional way of choosing your life partner and therefore the right one. Love marriages on the other hand are considered wrong and a harmful effect on our society from the western culture. Those who use this argument do not understand the concept of Vedic marriage. There are six kinds of marriages that have been mentioned in Rig-Veda. One of those six forms is Brahma Vivah. Brahma Vivah – is a marriage blessed by God, in which a young man and woman fall in love with each other and decide to get married. According to Rig Veda, parents should encourage such a marriage. This is essentially a form of love marriage and therefore a part of tradition, and not a western effect.

Another myth is about the ceremonies that are to be conducted during the marriages. As per Vedas, all the mantras have to be chanted by the bride and groom, and the family members. There is no mention of exchanging gifts during the marriage. However what we see in today’s marriages – a Pundit ji chanting all the mantras. There is hardly anything that bride and groom do in their marriage ceremonies, except listening to those chants. This is due to the fact that Brahmin community started involving themselves in various ceremonies and marriage was one of them. They introduced many variations in it and ultimately it became all about inviting Brahmins (Pundit ji) to all the ceremonies and offering presents to them.

One serious issue that comes again and again is that of inter-caste marriages. And people oppose them again by using culture as an argument. The critical thing that we need to learn is that the castes never existed in the Vedic age. Caste system is again a divide created by some people of the following generations for their own benefits. And if we talk about Varnas which are altogether different from castes, the Vedas are not very strict whether one should marry a girl from same Varna or not. Instead more focus has been given on the education and intelligence of two people who are willing to get married. Also, the Varnas are not determined by the birth but by individual’s Karma. Therefore, Varnas are more like your profession than your caste.

Marriage remains an institution even today as it was in the Vedic era. The idea of marriage in our culture is a beautiful one but unfortunately, we hardly follow that idea. We are more concerned about the rituals that have later been added to the marriages. If we follow Vedic understanding, marriage is one of the sixteen Samskaras that one needs to do in their lives in order to move towards intelligent manifestation. The idea will be far more graceful if we practice it in its original form.

A Suicide Note

Dear world,

I hope this letter finds you well. I will be gone and will no longer be a part of you. Nevertheless you have to move on. You never stop, for anyone, and you shouldn’t. For all that I know, you don’t care about anyone. The problem is – I did. Probably that is the reason I am sitting here on my wooden chair, waiting to face the ugly truth of my life – the end of it. Don’t worry, it’s not something that was imposed on me, but I chose it.

My wall-clock is showing 10:10 on its lustrous silver face. I was once told that this was the time when the world stopped. Of course they lied. But I always assumed it to be true. And tonight it finally appears to have come true. At this moment I hereby declare the death sentence to myself – to be strangled with that rope, tonight.

There will be headlines in tomorrow’s newspapers – She gave up… Death favored the weak… and so on. That’s their work. But the sad thing is to judge someone else’s life or in my case – death, from outside without having any knowledge about what I have been through.

I never dreamt of dying, I only thought about living and living indefinitely. When I was small, a naive kid, unaware of the rules of the society, I imagined myself achieving the greatest things of this world. I imagined one day I would stand at the top of this world and smile. Ignorance made me believe in myself and I kept dreaming, but the road ahead wasn’t that easy.

The world challenged me at every step. The first time when I shared my dreams with anyone, they laughed at me and told me that I was a moron. I was bullied by most of them. Power is an obsession and it spreads its wings in front of weak. I had learnt this lesson by the time I completed school.

The society has its own rules. People would scare you no matter what you do. If you pursue your belief, they will try everything to stop you and if you don’t, they won’t even care for you. I chose the former and was hurt more than I had anticipated. The superior gender concept was an illusion, they didn’t even care for me as a human being.

But the most frustrating part of my life was – judgments. So easily and comfortably, they judged me, to make me feel uncomfortable. Every person evaluated me on the basis of the few conversations that I had with them. And they gave their verdict on every action or inaction that I did. They had killed my hopes, my heart and my soul. I was dead by now, the only reason that I lived until now was to show them that they were wrong.

Tonight I have nothing left to prove. I have achieved everything that I desired. There’s nothing else and no one else that I love, that I desire to have. Nothing. I believe that’s enough of a reason to not live anymore. In a world where I die every day, every moment, feel bad for my own existence, it’s not fair to fake my identity and survive in the illusion of living. At this point I have only one favor to ask you for. I am optimistic that you would listen to me this time.

When I am gone, do not judge me and discuss me or any other person. Live your own lives and let others live too. I hope you won’t let me down this time.

Good Bye.

Understanding – Ship of Theseus

Ship of Theseus is an interesting paradox that has captivated the greatest of the philosophers over the centuries. The paradox was first described by Plutarch in the first century in his work – Life of Theseus. Here is how he describes the ship and hence the idea:

The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place, in so much that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.

The question arises – if each part of the ship was replaced, then would it be the same ship or a different one?

Furthermore, if we assume that as we keep on removing the timber or the small parts of the ship, recollect them and build a new ship with those parts, would the new ship be the same as the one from which it has been made?

These questions require deep thought and the philosophers have done a remarkable work on them. Let us assume that the original ship belonged to Theseus and as the ship began its voyage in the vast ocean, Theseus decided to take out each part of it one by one and kept replacing them with that of another metal, so that in the end there was no part of the original ship left in it. Instead, as he removed each part, a new ship was being built by other sailors using those parts. Therefore we have three ships now –

The original ship of Theseus – We will call that Ship of Theseus

The ship which was made by replacing the parts of original ship – Let’s call that Ship of Deepak

And the ship made with the parts of original ship – That would be Ship of Rana

Here begins the paradox:

Assuming that the ship is defined with the constituent parts that it is made of, in that case Ship of Theseus is the same as Ship of Rana. But consider this – During the sail, Theseus never got out of his ship, then how can it be possible that his ship appeared somewhere else when he was with his ship all along. And assuming that the ship was about the material that was being used in it, then one could build a number of ships with that material. But they all cannot be Ship of Theseus, when there was only one.
Let’s assume that the Ship of Deepak is Ship of Theseus in actuality. Which means that material part is irrelevant and it’s only the structure and the history of the ship that defines it. But again, there’s a problem with that explanation. First – every part of the ship has been removed and replaced, so there’s no way it can be same. Second – we can keep replacing the parts and create new ships again and again. In that case which would be the real Ship of Theseus.
The problem further complicates when we do not replace all the parts but only some. In that case it would be impossible to define the real Ship of Theseus.

Where is the Ship of Theseus?

We are the Ship of Theseus. Yes, you heard it right. The above paradox is not for a ship but to define an individual human being. Therefore the question is not about identifying the Ship of Theseus but it’s about identifying yourself. Who you are, what defines you and if any what could be the odds of replacing you by something else. The Ship of Theseus helps you to find the answers of these questions, or at least eliminate some of the illusions that we have about our identity. The same questions are also valid in this case as well:

If you are defined by the constituent matter, then they change all the time. Scientifically speaking, the matter keeps changing and therefore your composition is not same at two different points of time. Also, what if your kidney or any other organ needs to be replaced and once it has been replaced, wouldn’t you be the same person?
If you are not defined by your body or structure, then do your perceptions about yourself or other people’s perceptions define you? Well, perceptions and feelings change all the time. What you felt yesterday about yourself, you won’t be feeling tomorrow. If you are not consistent with your feelings about yourself, who else would be?
The only possibility in that case could be that your soul is the real you. But with that assumption, it also needs to be assumed that souls change bodies and once your soul is in a different body, it is not you.

So, who are you?

Probably an ever changing creature, or an unidentifiable entity or just an illusion… Who will answer that if you can’t? Perhaps no one. The Ship of Theseus therefore has been and will be a paradox.

How Fair Is Our Reservation System?

Reservation – a term that has haunted almost every student of this country for so many years. Those who belong to the general category see it as a curse while the others relish it as a boon. But there is another side to this story. The reservation system also gives an excuse to the general category students who fail to make in to an educational institution or a government job, and also a reason to those who belonged to the scheduled caste and tribe people to relax and leave their ambitiousness behind. This post is not about abusing the reservation system that everyone does all the time, but providing a better idea of this system and looking for a solution while addressing the main cause of this issue.

In India, the reservation system existed even before the independence. In 1882, under the British rule of India, Hunter commission was appointed with the purpose of providing free and compulsory education to everyone and the proportionate government jobs. The idea was to give all the communities equal opportunity and to promote equality. In 1932, the then Prime Minister of Britain, started the tradition of Communal Award that required separate representation of various religions Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans, and Dalits. Few special constituencies were assigned where only the depressed caste people could vote. Mahatma Gandhi who did not like this idea, fasted in order to protest against it. However, people from minority communities were always in the favor of it. In 1935, Indian National Congress passed Poona Pact which was the result of the agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R.Ambedkar and it allowed the reservation for the depressed classes to be enforced for the electorates. Therefore the reservation system was born in the political context.

When India got independence and our constitution was being prepared, this issue came again. According to the Constitution of India, Article 15(4) says:

All citizens shall have equal opportunities of receiving education. Nothing herein contained shall preclude the State from providing special facilities for educationally backward sections (not “communities”) of the population.

It also states that – The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of society (in particular, of the scheduled castes and aboriginal tribes), and shall protect them from social ”injustice” and all forms of exploitation.

The interpretation of the above text would lead us to believe that the rights of the people belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes have to be protected by the government and suitable measures need to be taken for that. But – Was reservation the right way to go about it? That’s the most important question here.

Before coming to that, I would like to present an argument that most people fail to understand. That is – the caste discrimination does exist in our country. No matter how much we talk about equal opportunities, eradication of quota system, it’s still there. And people from the lower castes suffer very much from this discrimination. If you go to the rural areas, you will find how awful it can be for the people belonging to the lower castes. The situation was far worse at the time of independence. Most of the poor and uneducated people were from the lower castes. They needed certain favors from the government for their empowerment and equal status in the society. Therefore the idea that government thought of was to give them more opportunities so that they become socially acceptable and economically well-to-do. Therefore if we think about it – the reservation system seemed like the need of the hour at that point of time.

Then what happened?

The reservation system was enforced, supposedly for the next few years, in the various government jobs as well as the educational institutions. However, the politicians started to make the unfair use of this system. And then the Supreme Court of India had to interfere. In its famous verdict of State of Madras Vs Champakam Dorairajan, the Supreme Court of India announced that the caste based reservation was unconstitutional which further led to the amendments in our constitution – which is what usually happens after a landmark verdict by Supreme Court.

And the rest is just the history.

Year after year, the reservations continued in all the state institutions. The quota system that started as a need of the hour became political fashion. And even after more than 60 years of its enforcement, we still see caste based discrimination. Has it failed? Yes. But has it made anything better for minorities? Certainly yes. How these two can coexist? We will have a look at that.

When the reservation system was introduced the idea was – if we can improve the economic status of the lower castes, the caste based discrimination will slowly fade away. And that hasn’t happened so far. Because there is a flaw in this assumption. A flaw that Indian politicians and policy makers could have understood from the formation of India and Pakistan and their leadership. Muhammad Ali Jinnah – could have become the first prime minister of India but the Hindus did not accept a Muslim leader. Similarly Nehru could have been the prime minister of India (including today’s Pakistan) but the Muslims could not accept that either. And I think that gives a wonderful clue to this issue. The clue is – if there is hatred towards a caste or community, no matter how wealthy or powerful the people from that community become, they would not be loved. The hatred has to be eradicated, and that can never be done only by uplifting the economic status of any community.

Yes, people from lower castes were poor. They needed assistance from the government. But poverty doesn’t choose houses on the basis of castes. It is prevalent among other castes as well. Why didn’t they introduce the quota on the basis of economic status? Because we wanted to first extirpate the caste discrimination and that was fair too. The issue that we could have and we should have addressed was to figure out the way to make everyone love and respect other people in spite of their caste or religion. Of course, there could be no better solution than education. Strict law enforcement could have been another solution. Zero tolerance was required in the cases where a lower caste person was harassed by those belonging to the upper castes. But it simply didn’t happen…

We must understand that the reservation system and caste based politics is as much society’s problem as it is that of the government. We have to accept the ugly truth that we still discriminate people based on their castes, religions etc. Look at the matrimonial sites – the first requirement is usually the caste. When we are not willing to marry our sons and daughters to those who come from other castes, how can we expect our government to not do anything about this problem. And that gives an opportunity to our politicians to keep playing the game of caste system. That is also an opportunity for people of certain castes who do not belong to scheduled castes, to ask for reservation system and that has actually worked for them. The OBC quota is an example of that. But that is not a good news for people of the reserved category. Their talent has hindered by the hopes of utilizing the reservations. Of course it is a bad news for the people of upper castes who have been denied the opportunities in the name of reservation. In a world where the opportunities are available to everyone and competition can come from any part of the world, this mindset is not going to take them anywhere. Thus, in a hope of better India, let’s leave the caste barriers behind and love and respect each other no matter what our surname is.

The Power Of A Story

Imagine all human beings swept off the face of the earth, excepting one man. Imagine this man in some vast city, New York or London. Imagine him on the third or fourth day of his solitude sitting in a house and hearing a ring at the door-bell.

The above text by Thomas Bailey Aldrich tells how quickly we can connect to a story and the effect that it creates in our minds, once we feel connected. And the most interesting thing is that the stories have a far longer and deeper impact on us than anything told to us directly. The inherent message being conveyed in any story, interpreted by the readers or the audience, gives a strong reason to believe or disbelieve anything.

Stories change our ideologies, our opinions and our perspective towards everything. When we hear a story, we understand a situation from an outside perspective as well as from the point of view of the narrator and the characters. The details provided in the story not only entertain us but also help us to become a part of it. No matter what medium we are using to narrate a story – whether it’s through a book, a movie or a mother telling a bedtime story to her baby – the stories always influence, though the effect can vary from person to person. Some enjoy reading the stories while others feel entertained by hearing them or watching them on screen. And these stories are not always from the outside world but also about us – unfolding our own identity. Biologically we are a part our family right from the birth, but we feel more emotionally connected to our family members when they tell us the story of our family. What our ancestors did, how our parents lived their lives, what we did when we were small – all these stories help us to connect to the family in a much better way.

Abraham Lincoln once quoted – “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”

Stories help us to understand people. Once we hear their stories, we start liking them. People often wonder how they forget the lessons of their teachers and other facts when they can remember everything about their favorite stories. Well, that is the power of a story. A well narrated story takes you to a different world and makes you experience a new life, something that you can only feel in your dreams. And the learning that occurs through a story is the most wonderful form of education. It gives you knowledge, satisfaction and happiness – all at the same time.

The stories therefore remain a powerful source of bringing the change. What we think is reflected in our actions and our actions eventually determine everything. Stories directly influence our thoughts and are responsible for our actions and therefore fate. Being a story teller I feel proud and equally obliged to bring that change. You will not remain here forever, but your stories will. Make sure your story is worth telling, even when you are gone.

She Is Waiting For You – Death

We are wise enough to know that death is inevitable, yet act preposterously throughout our lives. We do make future plans all the time even when we are aware about the uncertainties that it has. There are so many things that are beyond our control in deciding the future. Then why don’t we care to live in present and make it more beautiful.

I would like to quote here one of my favorite lines from a movie. This one is from Shawshank Redemption. It says – Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. Hope may not die, and should not die, but we will. Any day could be your last day. Are you doing what you always wanted to do or simply postponing it by another ten, fifteen or twenty years.

So, what do we need?

Fear of death. That’s right.

But wait… Fear of death is not a bad thing. It is one of those driving factors which push you to go beyond your limits and do the extraordinary things which you would keep procrastinating otherwise. It also makes things simple and clear to you – what matters in life and what doesn’t, what is right and what is wrong, what to do and what not to. It justifies every action that you take, considering that you won’t be around forever. It takes you away from the game of excuses to the realm of realism, where you live your life. That’s it. Nothing else but living your life, and living it to the fullest. No additional pressure of relationships, society and your own expectations. The sheer truth that the end is inevitable and you have no control over it, helps you to do things for the real happiness.

Every morning when you wake up, remind yourself this simple truth and you will be far ahead in life, than you were ever before. It’s the time to get out of your cocoon and take a flight across the world, before it gets vanished.

Who Is Keeping The Money?

I remember once my school teacher told me that if I wanted to earn money, I would have to study well. And I don’t need to tell you how unreasonable that assumption was, that the money is directly linked with education. So what exactly makes some people earn more money than the others. I kept pondering over this question for many years, and in the mean time I collected few clues that could help me to understand about money making. In this post, I will try to debunk the false notions that most people have about money.

First myth is – If you study well, you will get in to a reasonable position and make money. Well that is true, but only the first part and that too, to some extent. Once you finish your education, you easily get the job and earn money. But that doesn’t mean if you want to earn more money you will have to study more. In fact when you see most of the scholars around you, they are never among the richest of the people. On the other hand, the people who didn’t take up quality education and didn’t go on to join the job market have also made huge sums of money in certain cases. I believe we all know a number of entrepreneurs both in India as well as outside, who went on to earn massive amounts of money even without a college or university degree.

Secondly people say – you really have to be smart in order to make money. Well, Terence Tao is the person with the highest IQ in today’s world (IQ 230). He is currently working as a mathematician in Australia. His father told the press that at the age of two, during a family gathering, Tao attempted to teach a 5-year-old child Arithmetic and English. Today he is contributing extraordinarily in the field of mathematics and has won a huge number of honors for his work. But is he that rich? Certainly not.

There is a big pool of people which follows simple rule – Money comes with hard work. Those people need to look at the world around them. From the roadside workers, to the cleaners, dish washers, peons and many more. No matter what amount of hard work people put in these professions, they are not going to be rich. The money is associated with only certain professions, we will discuss that little later.

When people are out of reasons and explanations they say – money is a matter of luck. It goes in the hands of a fortunate person. And I have two major problems with this explanation. First, if the destiny needs to decide our fate, then why to put an effort to make money. Let us just buy lottery tickets. Which doesn’t make any sense, at least to me. Secondly, if it was about luck, then money should have been evenly distributed among different professions, different sections of the society. But again, fortune doesn’t favor the truth here.

Therefore all these explanations are nothing but mere an excuse to justify their inability to make money even when they desperately want to.

Then who makes money?

For that we need to look at money not only as cash or the valuable assets but a form of favor that you earn when you do something. For example if I earn Rs 500 after writing an article, I have earned favors. With that amount I can get a number of favors which can be – getting head massage, laundry service, or even buying certain things like fruits, vegetables, coffee etc. The logic is simple – when we do someone a favor, we earn the favors in return. And this is important for everyone to survive and enjoy the luxuries that they wish to have.

The interesting thing here is that one cannot justify the amount of effort being put by an individual and the favor that person is getting. In the above example I did a favor by writing an article. While the person who cleans my dishes, did a favor me. But he had to work ten times as much as I worked to earn the same amount of money. Probably this is one flaw in the capitalistic model. Now this is where the important question arises. Why do different people make different amounts of money even when they work for same number of hours?

The answer lies in the basic theory of economics – supply and demand rule. When there is a shortage in the supply and the demand is higher, the prices will go up. And vice versa. When a servant is doing the chores, and if he asks for an increment, there will be number of other servants available who would work for the person. But when it comes to writing an article, probably there are not as many people available. Not to forget that the quality of the work is extremely important. When I am hiring someone as a peon in my office I won’t get bothered if he is not skilled enough. But let’s say I am selecting an actor for my movie, in that case the skill requirement has to be checked. This is only because of the fact that people are more concerned about the quality of the movies that they are going to watch than the cleanliness of their houses. If people were more conscious about cleanliness than they are about the movies they watch, sweepers would make more than the actors because people would be willing to pay them. But the truth is opposite. Therefore, money making in any profession is only because of the demand of that work and the supply being provided.

Let’s get out of the job market and talk about business world, because the money is more pervasive among business people than the others. There are few businesses that continue to make a lot of money while others fade away or do not make that much profit. Why? Again the demand and supply rule applies. A business which caters the needs of the people is more likely to grow and earn profits. But doesn’t every business do that? Not really. If you look at certain businesses, they are more closely associated with the needs of the world than the others. Not to forget that not only the demand but also supply part is important. And also the market they are serving. Microsoft enjoys no competition when it comes to operating system market worldwide and therefore huge profits. Your local shopkeeper has huge competition and serves small market, therefore makes small profits.

There is one more thing that I would like to mention in the end. That is to choose the unethical path to make money. I am not encouraging these methods but since these are already prevalent, therefore they do need to be analyzed. This include a number of ways. For example – extortion, corruption, illegal activities like prostitution or drugs distribution. In such cases, the supply is often less and demand is very much there. Also, since there is a high amount of risk is involved, the prices often go very high and thus people do make a lot of money. But the problems associated with it are too many and therefore people never get the real happiness in these professions, which teaches us a wonderful lesson about money.

Money is like an end result of a certain task. There are certain ways in which you can make more money but of course we need to set our priorities right. Most times we assume that we want money, but we actually don’t. If we really wanted, we would choose those money-making paths. What we want is the real happiness which is only associated with the work and the relationships that we share. Still, if you are looking to make money, do consider these points.

When I Waited…

My heartbeats had gone faster. I tried to hide my emotions behind the luster of my eyes and stash them in the safest place – heart. It has been my best friend ever since I realized that I needed someone to converse with me every day and obliterate those conversations, those secrets, slowly within itself. And the heart fitted, perfectly.

The place appeared quieter than before, or perhaps my senses had gone numb. It was the first time for me. Had seen it for my friends, cheered them and misled them to do countless amateurish things that I could never do in my case. Quite awkwardly, I was feeling the nervousness traversing the whole body and not only the mind. Perhaps I was afraid of the unknown. If someone is falling off the roof, and during those bloodcurdling moments, what that person feels, I found myself in a similar position.

I had my first cup of coffee, then second and then the third one. I had to stop at the count of three as soon as I realized that I was getting tranced with the excess of caffeine. What can I do – I wondered. Then a thought occurred to me – let’s just face it. What will happen later, who knows. Why to think about the conclusion. Because most of the times, over-thinking spoils those precious moments that deserve to be cherished. So I decided to wait, and wait calmly this time. And I did.

Whatever happened next changed everything in my life and I have something to tell you from my experience – Meeting your prospective wife for the first time is one of the toughest things in this world.

The Idea Of Happiness

So many times, people get obsessed with the thoughts of end results and they tend to disregard the real path to success and happiness. A friend of mine keeps telling me that if my novel clicks, I would become a star. I secretly laugh at his thoughts. Well, the world doesn’t work that way.

What most people postulate is – since they are doing hard work, therefore with a reasonable amount of luck, they should get the reward. And game over. I wonder why they don’t buy lottery tickets – Lottery won and life over. Or may be they do, but that is not important. The point is – such results can never give you long term happiness, a short one may be. A study conducted on the lottery winners in 1978 by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that the overall happiness of the winners spiked when they won but returned to the pre-winning levels only in a matter of few months. The study tells how materialistic awards are irrelevant in pursuit of happiness.

Success is often mistaken as a form of achievement. You achieve it and then you relax. But that’s not true. Success is as much intrinsic as it is extrinsic in nature, perhaps even more. It is the intrinsic feeling that you cherish every day. Therefore, if you are not enjoying what you are doing, there is no way you are going to be happy, no matter how big the reward is. In fact in that case your life would be just like a lottery winner but with a lot more effort and wastage of time. That can never make you feel proud of yourself.

The real success therefore is in sync with happiness. You enjoy every moment of what you do. That doesn’t mean you don’t face difficulties but you face them boldly. You achieve perfection and not rewards. Rewards will follow themselves, you do not have to worry about that. Once you start chasing them, you lose the state of perfection. But if you do not lose the state of perfection you experience the highest levels of satisfaction. And remember at the end of your life, that satisfaction will be your biggest reward.

Knowledge Or illusion?

In case you have watched the movie Slumdog Millionaire, perhaps you remember the scene where the inspector mocks Jamal for not knowing – what is written underneath the national emblem of India? The inspector says even his five years old daughter could answer that question, but not Jamal. Jamal responds by asking a simple question to the inspector – How much is pani puri at Chowpatty? The inspector could not answer the question correctly.

The scene though belongs to a work of fiction, still holds some serious implication in our lives. It implies – knowledge is never absolute. It has different connotations for different people. Therefore the important question that requires closer examination – how important it is to have knowledge?

First thing we need to understand is the fact that there is a clear distinction between knowledge and information. Most of the times people get perplexed over the two terms and they start considering the two as the same thing. Let’s talk about information first. Information is about facts and data that you have about anything. Information has always been a great source of theoretical knowledge (will describe that in a moment), but the relevance of keeping the information inside our heads has fallen considerably. This is due to two reasons – a) There is infinite information available and we cannot memorize all of that. b) The information can be stored, replaced and transferred through various resources. Google has been a great source of information over the years. If you can find it on Google within few seconds, why to memorize it in your head.

Knowledge on the other hand is a combination of information and skills acquired through education, learning and work. Practical knowledge is all about understanding of skills and functionality of various processes and works. Theoretical knowledge which is mostly derived from information is still different from it. Knowledge is what we do with that information. In a world where we all have the privilege to share all the information, it is what we do with that information, defines our knowledge. In the pre-internet era where the information was only available to few, they had the obvious advantage, and therefore were treated as knowledgeable. And also the ambiguity mounted.

Unfortunately we live in world where information is overrated. It is true that having information is an asset in itself and therefore can be treated as power in the information age where we live today. But it is also true that it is just another form of power and there is no need to exaggerate. Especially when it comes to – what we call as general knowledge. The daily dose of news, happenings around the world, and the current affairs is often termed as general knowledge and is considered as the signature of a wise person. Now that is a mistake. There is a reasonable difference in having wisdom and information. Wisdom which may be a distant cousin of knowledge, has nothing to do with information and therefore the definition of wise is ironically wrong due to our own ignorance.

There is a reason why most people tend to overestimate the value of information. It gives them satisfaction. One of the prime contributors to our satisfaction is the sense competitive advantage that we have over others. In twentieth century where money and material were considered as most valuable things, gave satisfaction to the people. But this is twenty first century. Knowledge is valued more than anything else, which of course is not a bad thing at all. Having the facts and information right, therefore is the new form of satisfaction.

I remember one scenario where a friend of mine was ridiculing another friend because of her ignorance about the various ministers in the government of India. I had to intervene and ask my friend what Jamal had asked the inspector. What else do you know apart from those ministers – I asked. And it silenced him. I knew one thing – people are limited by the walls of knowledge that they have created around themselves. They rarely think beyond that. They keep walking inside those walls and create the illusion of assuming themselves better than the others. This is how most of us think, and act.

The answer is – how does it matter. If you are happy with what you know, what else matters. I am not trying to encourage ignorance here, but think about this. If you are a talented painter, with supreme imagination and creative skills, do you really need to know about who won the most medals in last Olympics. If you are a programmer, how does it matter you remember our third president or not. Your contribution will be much better if you could work on your programming. One might argue that first of all we are citizens of our country. But then we are humans too. Why don’t we study anthropology first? The fact is – we create the illusion of information and we tend to justify it based on what we know or what we desire to know. The knowledge and information have no limits. The more we grasp, the more we desire. It’s all right to know only few things. Do not choke yourself for not knowing those things which you do not intend to learn.

So next time, if someone bullies you for not knowing a piece of information, stand up to your full height and tell them – It’s just a google search away. But at the same time make sure that you learn that you feel is important to you, what you think is valuable, not for others but for yourself. Knowledge is definitely a form of power in this world, but choice is yours – whether you want this power or you are happy without it. Any choice that you make, is the right choice.

Good Things Happen In Kashmir

It was a tough morning for someone like me who had never been a morning person. I could be one, had mornings started at 11. But it was 6 am. And instead of lying unconscious on my comfortable bed, where I belonged, I was somewhere else. I was sitting on a worn leather seat, right next to the front door of the bus. My eyes were partially closed, refusing to see the sunrise, I had hardly seen any in the last few years. I was wondering if it would be another long journey where I would be conversing with myself all the way. Thinking has always been my favorite exercise and I do it more often than anything else. I was doing it then too, before she interrupted me.

“Srinagar?” She asked.

I gaped at her. Her green eyes, her red cheeks, her fair skin, her untied hair waving behind that blue scarf – were enough to make any man blind. Ah! It appeared like a dream to me, a beautiful dream in fact.

She looked at me hopelessly before she asked the same question to the woman sitting behind me and she got in to the bus as soon as she heard yes from that woman. Well, the girl had to sit on the same seat where I was sitting as there wasn’t any other sear available in whole bus. That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t have sat if there was any, but just telling the facts right.

“Hello.” I said with a smile, a fake one if you really want to know. I was hoping that she wouldn’t be mad at me. Luckily, she wasn’t.

“Hello.” She said with a smile too, a genuine one. I can figure out the difference between real and artificial smiles. I had learnt it long back.

“You must be a Kashmiri.” I asked, though it sounded more of a statement.

“Yes, but how do you know? Fair skin? Well, that would be racist, I suppose.” She said.

“No. Not that. It’s your pointed nose.” I quipped and she laughed immediately. It’s amusing to make a pretty girl laugh. And it’s often a hard job to do, but the reward is satisfactory.

There was some silence after that. A long one, before the bus driver turned on the music player. He played old hindi songs. I still remember the first song that he played – Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein…

I started singing along. She joined me too. I have to admit that I liked her from the beginning, what a carefree girl she was.

“Hey, so what do you do?” I asked as soon as the song stopped. We were still in the singing mood though.

“Err… I am not sure how many guys would ask what do you do before asking other person’s name.” She said sarcastically.

“Oh! I am really sorry. I forgot.” I said, I didn’t mean it though, the sorry part. I never mean it. I am not sure that makes me mean or not.

“It’s all right. I will tell you.” She giggled. “Parleen… Parleen Kaur.”

“Are you Punjabi?” I asked.

“Does that make any difference to you?”

“No. I mean I didn’t know Punjabis also stay in Kashmir. Nice to know that.” I said.

“For one reason, they are human, and Kashmir is not for one religion either. I am sure you mean to say Sikh when you say Punjabi, because the two things are different. I am a Sikh, and a Kashmiri. A part time Delhite may be, but not Punjabi.”

“Yes, I got your point.” I was convinced that she was a smart girl. Agreeing to a girl wasn’t a usual activity for me.

“What is your name?” She asked me.

“Shobhit. My name is Shobhit Verma.”

“And what do you do Shubhit?” I wish she could pronounce it correctly. And she was asking me the same question where I had started and she took the control.

“I study engineering. Third year student.” I replied.

“Really? So do I. I am in second year.”

“Wow, what a coincident.” I said.

“No it is not. Statistically speaking, there are more chances of meeting an engineer than meeting a beggar in this bus.” She was trying to be funny and she succeeded brilliantly.

“That sounds like an insult to me, but I would still appreciate the humor in it.” I said, because I had to say something. I didn’t want to appear dumb in front of a girl who had the rare combination of beauty and smartness.

“I am so glad to meet you my engineer friend.” She said and shook hand with me. It felt good as I touched her hand. You don’t get many opportunities like that. Or may be you do, it’s just me who doesn’t get.

There was silence again.

“Can I ask you something?” I tried to reinitiate the conversation.

“If I say no, would you still ask me that?” She was smiling again. I had already fallen in love with her smile. When beautiful girls smile, half of the damage is already done. By damage I mean – love or crush or something like that. I could never differentiate.

“How come your eyes are green?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking that question.

“Don’t start that. You don’t look like a flirt. So, behave yourself.” She said gently.

“Oh really. Then what do I look like?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Decent and normal guy?” She said suspiciously.

“And you assume that a decent and normal guy cannot and should not flirt?”

“I guess. I mean they shouldn’t.”

“All right. Then I won’t tell you how beautiful your eyes are.” I said and turned my head away.

She turned her head too. I smiled and she smiled too. Or perhaps she didn’t smile. But there was something in the air that kept telling me that she smiled. I have always been an optimist.

“Hey, so where do you study?” She asked this time.

“Don’t change the topic.” I said. And till this date I regret I hadn’t said that.

“I am sorry. What was the topic?” she asked curiously.

“The topic was – your eyes.” I grinned.

“You are mad.” I was expecting that reply from her.

“Ok. If you say so.” I said.

She looked at me with wide open eyes. I looked in to her eyes too. And we kept looking at each other, without even blinking. Those few moments were breathtaking for me. And for her too. I was sure this time. I was sure that she was for me, and I was for her too. I was sure that she knew it too.

She blushed. And we turned our heads again.

“So where do you study?” I asked this time. My head was straight, not looking towards her.

“Don’t change the topic.” Ah, I loved that reply. But I wish she had answered correctly.

“I am sorry. What was the topic?” I asked. I looked at her now.

“The topic was…” She paused, as if she had forgotten it too. “Yeah, the topic was – your madness.”

“All right. What about it?” I said.

“I don’t know. It’s about you. You should know it better.” She said in her soft voice.

“Can I tell you something?” I asked again, but I was going to tell it anyway.

“About what?”

“About my madness.”

She blushed again.

“Yeah. Tell me.” She said.

“It’s about you.”

She observed my face. As if she was trying to figure out the truth in my face. As if she was hoping that I wasn’t joking. As if she had started to like me, just like I had.

There was not much of conversation after that, but we enjoyed the silence too. She had fallen asleep. On my shoulders. Undoubtedly, it was the most comfortable load my shoulders had ever carried. The journey continued. But it had only started for us. And we reached the destination – Srinagar, too early than I had expected. She was about to get down before the main city area.

“Can I have your number?”

“Of course.” She said and gave me her number.

And then we bade good bye, which was not easy.

A month had passed and for some reasons I had not called her yet, not even once. When I called after one month, it was switched off. I didn’t mind that. But then the next day when I called again, it was still switched off. And the following day too. I was worried. I wondered what had happened to her. Or she didn’t give the right number. God, I should have called before – I thought.

Then one day, a friend told me about the Jammu & Kashmir’s prepaid phone policy. She told me that those numbers only worked in the state and not outside. That means – After Parleen came back to Delhi, she couldn’t use her J&K number. And that was not a good news.

I wish I could do something but I couldn’t. Had it been a romantic novel or a movie, I would have gone back to Srinagar and found her on a street. Perhaps near Dal lake. But it doesn’t happen in real world. I went there twice, in a hope of finding her. It didn’t happen. It was not possible to search her in Delhi. There were more engineering students than beggars, she was right. You might be wondering why didn’t I search her on facebook or internet. Well, I did that too. There were quite a few girls with that name – Parleen Kaur, no one with their own picture, so I had to dig in to the profiles. But turned out she wasn’t on facebook either. She remained a total mystery to me, or like a dream that occurred and vanished too quickly.

I did the only thing that I could do. I waited. I waited because I had to wait. Wait till the time when she goes to Kashmir and hope that she would still use the same number. Because she would be waiting for me too – I thought. I called her once, every day. Or sometimes more than once. And I would get the same reply – The phone is switched off. I had almost given up until one day, after seven months and eighteen days, I finally heard the ringtone. Someone picked it up.

“Hello.”

I could recognize that voice. It was her.

In An Unreal Realm

The coins dropped off the table. I closely observed the supremacy of the gravity, before the coins surrendered themselves to it and the tantalizing sound slowly faded. I pestered my lethargic body to tilt, in order to pick those coins. I wasn’t parsimonious, but then I wasn’t affluent either. Also, I didn’t want any unprecedented attention from the people around me, who were quietly relishing their lunch in these flamboyant settings. It took me around two-three seconds before I perched back on my seat. What happened next, changed my life if not ended it.

The next moment I found myself squatted on the ground. I was horrified. The unbecoming realm frightened me to death. The earthy landscape with a deafening silence was hovering around me, trying to shout at me without causing any resonance.

“It has to be a dream. It cannot be real. It will cease before this astonishment slays me.” I thought to myself.

I was wrong.

I smacked my chest in exasperation, but if was of no help.

“Damn, Damn, Damn…” – I repeated multiple times as I kicked the stones lying on the ground. It hurt me, on my foot. That at least assured me that I was alive, and it was not a dream. My foot was bruised, I could see the blood flowing out, but I preferred to remain silent.

That was when I learnt the first lesson of solitude – Our reactions are bridled by the people around us.

I cried.

I cried for the first time in my life. I cried because I wanted to. Somewhere inside, I was secretly pleading for the end of this predicament. I was pleading to God, the same God whose existence was always a matter of question for me. But now, something in this woeful planet told me – God exists.

It was my second lesson – When there’s nothing, there’s no one, there exists the creator, the destroyer, who cannot be seen or felt yet… could be found in our minds.

I looked around in despair. I was surrounded by lush green hills and I found myself immersed in that green static world.

“Am I dead?” the dubious thought traversed through my mind.

I ambled forward, trying to create a new path on the uniform land. It was devastating to me to sense the deafening silence that was perturbing me, without missing a single moment.

I had taken only few strides when this unexpected thing occurred to me. At that time I had no allusion that it would teach me the third and the most important lesson. I stopped and contemplated closely, what was right in front of my eyes. That was when I first saw her…

To be continued…

Continue Reading Part 2

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