Welcoming 2k12

Welcoming 2k12……..

‘You have been created one of a kind - there has never been one like you and there never will be again’ As I was reading this sentence, my world halted around me….. is it true? Is my life so significant? Or is it some figment of imagination, I pondered.
We move around in the world as one among 7 billion mortals with an embedded thought that no one is indispensible. You are nothing great. Irrespective of your participation, the world moves on or the show must go on – is what we have grown up with. That the world is far from perfect and your existence is just another miniscule insignificant event in the evolution of the universe. It really does not matter. And now here is a line that shatters all these and boldly reiterates that my life is as significant as any other on the planet.
‘Everything matters’ the book continues to state. I decide to take it on face value and dabble in it. Feels nice, I think to myself. Feels important.  Suddenly the dwarf in me with all its doubts, fears and disappointments in life is smashed to smithereens. As I reason I realize that nature with all its glory has weaved a design and every pattern that it weaves is made of millions of us. Just think about it .It has been empirically proven that each human being has a distinct thumb impression that is unique and the buck does not stop here. Each person has hair that is unique and no other person can have a similar strand of hair. The same is true with the DNA – the genetic code. Nature’s creativity is fathomless – imagine having 7 billion and more (if we include those who have been dead and gone) distinct thumb impressions and hair fabric.So much diversity driven to perfection that each human palm is unique.

And so if each one of us is unique it automatically follows that any efforts to standardize or classify into commonalities is just meaningless. The talk of the ‘common man’ is a facade. Every quality in a human being is unique and perhaps symbolically expressed as 33 crores Gods and demigods in the Sanatan Dharma – more popularly known as the Hinduism. As I write , I realize that as on 1st January 2012, at this moment the universe is not  complete without me.  Nature found it necessary to create each one of us as a divine design with a clear vision and focus. Although we may not know the divine intent and our role in it, we do know that each one of us is endowed and entitled to use the unique qualities within us to make life a meaningful journey. Just like the fingerprints, the spirit within, the thoughts, the feelings, the ability to reason and take action is inimitable. When they say ‘realize yourself’, all one needs is to understand one’s potential based on the unique qualities that one is born with and have the conviction to create. We need to kindle the spirit and keep it glowing despite the situation for it is these vibrations that would ultimately help you to change and create your own world.
After all ‘the butterfly effect’ manifests itself in the form of a tsunami. The vibrations from a butterfly flapping its wings at one end of the globe can result, through the permutations of the nature’s forces around, into a multiplier effect that can cause a tsunami at the other end of the globe. When we understand this, then every moment becomes a progressive step in life’s voyage.
As we welcome 2K12, let us all step in with this conviction, as the world is full of possibilities and options. All we need to do is to bring ourselves to realize the immense potential within and match it with the opportunities outside to create our own world.

Anagha Hunnurkar
1st January 2012

Arts or Science, Commerce first!

Arts or Science? Commerce first!

As man tried to unfold the secrets of nature, eternal laws like the law of gravity or laws of motion were established. The world continued to evolve and every theory was put to test.  As ideas keep boiling, new thoughts are churned;. e.g critics like Socrates had pointed out that the study of physics was purely speculative, and lacking in self-criticism. He was particularly concerned that some of the early physicists treated nature as if it could be assumed that it had no intelligent order, explaining things merely in terms of motion and matter.

Modern thinking in fact accepts the intelligent order in everything around us. The mango seed has in it the wisdom or knowledge of sprouting into a mango tree and bearing mangoes, which just can’t be replicated by any other seed, mutant or otherwise.

Coming back to the  laws of gravitation, they  were further explored and  Einstein’s   theory of relativity , e = mc²  , that underscored that the speed of light as the fastest, became the basis of physics only after being tested repeatedly over and over again. The speed of light — 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second) — has long been considered a cosmic speed limit. And while the world moved on, there is now a breakaway discovery that could wipe out the earlier thinking. There is an astonishing uncovering by one of the leading laboratories of the world , CERN, based at Geneva,  that there have been particles named neurotics,  existing for billions of years that actually moved faster than light which in a way questions the Einstein equation. While further research would corroborate the findings, one thing remains certain  - ‘change’ is the only constant.

Here is a suggestion for a similar ‘change’ in the modern day textbooks. When we start studying a new subject  - be it physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, economics, accountancy, management science, political science, liberal arts, life science etc., before delving on the definitions and other minutiae, there is invariably a chapter on discussing whether the subject is an art or a science?

Let us take the example of a surgeon. No doubt that he has qualified himself through a structured study in theory and practice. Yet there is an art of handling the scalpel that ultimately, distinguishes the skill of the surgeon. Thus every chapter delves whether the subject is an art or science and concludes that almost every subject is an art as well as a science. And yet no book ever deals with the fact whether the subject is ‘commerce’?

The material world that we live in, recognition mostly comes in the guise of wealth and unless the art or the science has the ability of being exploited commercially, its opulence is not valued .Take the example of the author JK Rowling, who was a pauper before Harry Potter was a runaway hit. Was she not talented before Harry Potter? Yes she was, albeit, the world took note of her only when success made her the pillion rider.

In the world of Indian music , Shankar Mahadevan could establish himself , through ‘Breathless’ a genre that was different from the contemporary. Recently Dhanush came out with the Tamlish song – Kolaveri di, a runaway hit, again for being different. In fact going further, the entire exercise of ‘branding’ is in fact being distinct and yet the irony is no actor or artist wants to be ‘branded’

So the order of the day is ‘paradigm shift’ in doing things that has the potential to generate commercial success. Hence the effort   should be to create awareness of ‘commerce’ and while a subject is being evaluated on the yardstick of science or art, it should also delve on the locus whether it is ‘Commerce’. Would surely make life easy…what say?

Anagha Hunnurkar

25^th December 2011

Radhekrishna

Krishna : Arjun &  Radhekrishna

Shaila had just returned from a trip to North India. “I tell you, when we visited Kurukshetra , there was just no sign of battle field at all’ ‘Half of Mathura is full of  mosques’ she was narrating, and pondering - ‘I wonder  whether Mahabharat is real or fictional.’

One would realize that it is rather easy to document history than ‘visualize’ and create content  with such intricate details of each and every character, complicated story line and the interplay of dynasties to create Mahabharat – a grand epic by the great sage Maharshi Ved Vyas. At the same time when history is narrated, it is based on the writer’s perception of events, because obviously, he is not a witness to every scene. Based on the documents, facts and narratives of those who witnessed, a homogenous story is weaved and there is some level of ‘poetical freedom’ that adds an aura to the epic.

There is always some mysticism as old civilizations replace new and traces of the yore are enveloped by time. Both Ramayan and Mahabharat are epics that have been read and re-read for generations and the magic of Ram & Krishna fills every heart of the faithful.

Yet for a second, let us imagine that Krishna and the whole of Mahabharat and Bhagwat Purana was a work of fiction. Two relationships that have been eternalized are that of Krishna  and Arjun &  Krishna and Radha:

Krishna and Arjun: they are cousins by birth, close friends, symbols of man & God and the zenith of their relationship is  the narration of  the Bhagvad Geeta on the battle field by Yogeshwar Krishna to his disciple the brave Arjun with an assurance that a total surrender is liberation. The Krishna Arjun dialogue symbolizes the Guru shishya parampara of asking questions, quenching doubts and attaining clear vision.

Now let us see the relationship of Krishna & Radha – it can be crystallized in just two words: Eternal Love. Radha’s love towards Krishna in the terrestrial meaning is not just the relation between a man and woman. The feeling of this love is divine and phenomenal which gives this love a pious form. It extinguishes the distance of the support and supportive to materialize as Radhekrishna. Whether it is Krishna’s murli, Radha’s peacocks, the peacock feather sported by Krishna and their past times, it all emerges that Radha is the soul of Krishna - further immortalized by Jaidev’e Geet Govind.

 Both Radha & Arjuna are at once on an equal plane with Krishna and at the same time have surrendered fully to Krishna, the supreme being. Krishna is friend (equal) and Guru (higher) to Arjuna. Krishna is Radha’s soul mate (equal) and Lord (higher) Is it not amazing that you find them on two planes at the same time and still fully appreciate the submerging of the two planes.

The Krishna Arjuna pair symbolizes the path of knowledge /action (Dnyan and karma Yog ) and the Radha Krishna pair symbolizes the path of devotion  (bhakti yog ) – all leading to one goal – liberation.

Anagha Hunnurkar

11^th December 2011