Power of Music

Music occupies very important place in the Indian culture and tradition. It is not only an instrument of entertainment, but is said to have the power to heal an individual physically emotionally and spiritually. In today’s highly competitive and stressful environment and busy lifestyle, music can be used an instrument to relax and relieve the mind of stressful situation. Music is pervading all over the nature. It is present in the whispering sound of gentle breeze, it is present in chirping of little birds, it is present in the rising waves of seas, it is present in the falling waters of fountains. One has to be silent and experience the music which is embedded in nature all over. Music has no boundaries. It transcends all barriers like language, religion, caste,creed, gender,age and status. There is no science other than music to mould, strengthen and infuse harmony to the character of the entire mankind. One has to hear good music to elevate the soul. Because Music is Divine! Because Music is Power, packed in sound waves. Music has the power to heal patients suffering from cancer. Devotional music has the power to elevate soul and bring it closer to supreme lord.

Music is an extremely versatile medium of communication. It is capable of exploring all the features that are used in verbal communication. Moreover, it does so in an explicit and structured way, which makes it an interesting and useful window into human communication, in general. Good music touches our emotions. It touches the very core of our soul.. It may not be possible to explain or describe this in human language. It can only be felt. It is one of those mystic experiences, which baffle analytical explanation.

Bidai

My dear Shilpa,

Finally, your wedding has come to an end. Now, you are on honeymoon trip. I wish you a very happy journey.

Your wedding has been a grand success. All our guests who came from outstation were extremely satisfied with the arrangements made. The food, the decoration, the lighting, were of top quality. I have not yet seen the video film which is still under processing but I have seen CD of still photography which is excellent. By the time you come back, DVD of video shoot will be ready for you.

You have gone but your memory will always remain with me. I can still recollect your childhood frame by frame. As a father, Bidai has been the most painful experience for me. I felt as if my life is being snatched away from my body. Even before your marriage, whenever I thought of your Bidai, tears swelled in my eyes. You were crying during Bidai, your sister, your mom were crying when they embraced you but I somehow managed to hold back my tears although the pain of seperation was unbearable.

You have got soulmate who is not only handsome in looks but very good at heart.
May God bless you both for a very happy married life.

I cannot share my feelings in person with you so I am writing this open letter. I hope, you will read it when you go back to UK.

Motivation

We use only 10% of our potential while 90% of our potential is dormant in sub conscious state of mind. This is because we are not motivated enough to use all of our potential. The next logical question that comes to our mind is what is motivation. Motivation is the driving force that encourages action. To motivate means to encourage and inspire. Motivation is powerful. It can persuade, convince and encourage you to act. The word motivation consists of two parts Motiv(e) a (c)tion which means motive for action. Motivation comes from a desire to succeed. Without success there is little pride in life, no enjoyment or excitement at work and at home. The greatest enemy of motivation is complacency. Complacency leads to lack of effort, and when people are complacent, they don’t utilize their potential to full with the result they don’t succeed. Motivation can be classified into two types external and internal.

External motivation comes from outside. Examples of external motivations are money, societal approval, fame or fear of getting fired at work. The disadvantage of external motivation is that it is temporary meaning the motivation is there as long as the factor that causes motivation is there. If the factor is fear, you work as long as you are watched or supervised. If it is money, you work as long as you get incentive which is strong enough to motivate you. Just think of a donkey with a carrot dangling in front and pulling a cart behind. Incentive motivation will work if the donkey is hungry enough, the carrot is sweet enough and the load is light enough. From time to time, you have to let the donkey take a bite of the carrot otherwise it is going to get discouraged. After the donkey takes a bite, its stomach is full and you need to wait for the donkey to get hungry again before it will pull cart. The same attitude can be seen in business environment also. The moment sales people meet their targets, they stop working. This is because their motivation is limited to meeting the sales target

Internal Motivation comes from within such as sense of achievement, responsibility and belief. It is feeling of accomplishment rather than just achieving a goal. The two most important internal motivators are recognition and responsibility. Recognition means being appreciated, being treated with respect and dignity and feeling a sense of belonging. Responsibility gives a person a feeling of belonging and ownership. Recognition is external because it originates from outside but it’s manifestations are internal. Responsibility is internal because it originates from within.

Internal motivation is ever lasting because it is self driven as opposed to external motivation which is temporary, short lived. It has been seen that those who have clear cut defined goals are self motivated because the goals give them sense of direction and the right kind of motivation to act. I have already written in my earlier blog as to how to define SMART goals.

Productivity of the company is directly related to the motivation level of human Resource. The higher the motivation level, the more the productivity. That is the reason, most of organizations give top priority to human Resource development program. Some organizations make the mistake of upgrading the technology, systems and processes without giving any importance to motivating human resource with the result, they fail to implement the new systems due to employees resistance to change.

Mama Test

The seven deadly sins according to Mahatma Gandhi are:

1>Wealth without work
2>Pleasure without Conscience
3>Knowledge without Character
4>Commerce without Morality
5>Science without Humanity
6>Religion without Sacrifice
7>Politics without Principle

Each of these perversions reflects a lack of values.

How do you put your value system to the test. I believe there are two tests which are effective. Of these, the ultimate test is the "Mama Test".

Whatever you do at home or at work, alone or with someone- if values are in question-Ask yourself, "If my Mama were to see me doing this, would she be proud of me or would she hang her head in shame. Another test which is similar to this is called "Baba Test". In this test ask yourself "If my children were to see me doing what I am doing, would I want them to see it or would I be embarrassed.

I wonder how long these tests will continue to be effective

Cricket Ka Bukhar

Three reasons why I celebrate the defeat of Indian Cricket Team in big matches.Firstly, after the defeat, the coverage of Cricket news in electronic and print media is reduced considerably thereby giving space for other news to appear. Secondly, the popularity of highly overrated cricket players is waned. Thirdly, the craze of cricket in India gets diminished with each defeat. The so called Cricket ka Bukhar has reached a dangerous level. Only successive defeats can diminish the craze from the minds of Indian public. Other sports in India are suffering on account of this madness. Even Gold medalists of the like of Abhinav Bindra are not facilitated as much as our so called cricket Gods and demi Gods. Perhaps there is no other country in the world which is as much Cricket crazy as India is. Even in the popularity chart, the most popular sport in the world is football and not cricket. India’s own hockey which was ruling the world in the past several years, and which is considered it’s national sport has been relegated to the background thanks to Cricket. Hockey is slowing dying here and so are other sports. Sports ministry is doing nothing to promote other sports including gymnastics. India’s dismal record in Olympics is the proof of sheer madness towards one single sport. Forget other sports. Even in Cricket, Indian team’s record is not good considering number of wins and losses against each country. You can check back the statistics. Players like Tendulkar and Gavaskar have scored maximum number of centuries in ODI and Test Cricket. Yet, when it comes to winning the match, their records are not very impressive. What ultimately counts is whether the team wins or loses the match not how many centuries X,Y or Z in the team has scored. Another point to be noted is whenever there is a defeat, it is always the bowlers who are the prime targets. It looks like as if cricket is all about batting only. All our cricket icons are batsmen. Pakistan wins the match on the strength of bowling. New Zealand wins the match on the strength of fielding. Fielding and Bowling are the other departments which also contribute a lot in winning a match. Cricket matches are not won by analyzing treadbare in which position Gautam Gambhir or Sahwag should come to bat but by rigorous match practice and hard work by the players on the ground backed by sound strategy. Our batsmen are more interested in learning Bollywood dances, participating in reality shows rather than sweating on the field.

Space exploration

India’s Chandrayan-1 has achieved a major milestone in space science, discovery of water on the moon. There are no lakes or oceans on the moon. Only water molecules are found in moon's soil.It is a matter of great pride for all Indians. Presence of water on a celestial body other than earth is a clear indication that life in some form may exist in other planets in the universe. Water can remain in liquid form between 1 degree and 100 degree farenheight. If the planet is too hot, water will be vapourised, if it is too cold, water will be frozen into ice. U.S has launched a satellite in space to explore the planets in universe which supports life. There are billions of stars in our galaxy. Like our milky way, there are billions of galaxies in the universe. Even if it is proven that life supporting planets exist in universe, the distance between our earth and these planets would be so great that it will be humanly impossible to get in touch with civilisations living in such planets. Science has made tremendous progress in the last 50 years. Today, we have built very powerful telescopes which can detect even small planets circling a distant star. Yet, we are still far behind when it comes to inter planetary space travel. Inter planetary space travel is possible only if we have techinque through which we can travel at the speed of light. There is no physical object which can travel at the speed of light. Vastness of space can be gauged from the fact that some of the stars are thousands of light years away from earth which means even radio signals will take thousands of years to reach a distant star. Nearest star is one light year away from earth.Hypothetically, if human being could transform himself into energy and then travel space in energy form at the speed of light, it is possible to reach a life supporting planet circling the nearest star in one year. Will it be possible in future, it is difficult to say.

Wake up

We, Indians are basically self centered. We are most concerned with our own well being. Family comes next in our priority list. The concept of family means wife and children only. Parents do not come in family. Country comes at the end. Our love towards the country can be seen only on the cricket field . You can see Tricolor waved by Indian spectators all over the stadium whenever Sachin scores a boundary or a six. We are more concerned with how many runs Sachin Tendular has scored rather than how many Jawans have lost their lives fighting terrorists. What do our brave soldiers get in exchange of supreme sacrifice they make for the country. Their families are made to suffer for the rest of their lives. There is no monetary compensation at all from the government. Coming to civic sense, we have developed extreme apathy towards the filth and dirt littered all over. There is no sense of hygiene anywhere. People can be seen squatting, urinating by the roadside. We have irresponsible government installed at the state and central level who is only interested in collecting taxes from honest taxpayers. The hard earned money of tax payers are being used in maintaining lavish lifestyles of corrupt beaurocrats and politicians. Crores of rupees are spent in their airtravel overseas every year. They are used to travel in business class, stay in 5 star hotels, use the most expensive cars for their personal use,live in palatial Bunglows. They are provided with Z class security by the ministry which again is at the expense of taxpayers money. There is no accountability whatsoever. Indian roads are dirty, full of potholes, probably the worst in the whole world. There is no footpaths for pedestrians. Whereever there are, they are occupied by roadside vendors. They are allowed to use footpaths because they pay Haftas to traffic police. Padestrians have no option but to walk on the main road risking their lives. Half of the traffic signals are not working. The number of deaths in road accidents in India are among the highest in the world. But who cares. Our civic administration is doing nothing. The corrupt officers of Bombay Municipal Corporation are only interested in filling their own pockets. Why can’t we display our patriotism in eradicating injustice, corruption rather than displaying it on cricket field. Have we become so insensitive as not to think beyond our own personal gains and pleasures. Bollywood is another nuisance which is ruining our culture and tradition. Bollywood actors have become the icons of young school children thanks to electronic and print media who have made them larger than life. Our taste has downgraded to such an extent that we are not in a position to differentiate between a good film and a bad film. So called reality shows on T.V. are exploiting young minds to increase their TRP. News channels are reduced to spreading rumours and propaganda. The contents of news channels are third grade. News such as lessons from Priyanka Chopra on “How to patao a ladki” with live demonstration is not only silly, stupid but also cheap,vulgar and demeaning. We are reconciled to shabby treatments meted out to us in hospitals, Banks, Airlines, Railways, Hotels etc. We are used to racial discrimination not only overseas but even in our own country. There is no protest whatsoever. I tell you public protest works. Look at what happened post 26/11.Common people went to the streets and protested for lack of security with the result two high profile incompetent ministers of Maharashtra were forced to give resignation. Our tolerance level is quite high which needs to be lowered for our own good. If we tolerate exploitation, injustice meted out to us, we are as much guilty as the perpetrators of crime. If a girl is raped in public, and if we stand and watch helplessly, we are as much guilty as the rapist. Our mindset has to change. We will have to come out of our comfort zone and fight for justice. British rulers did not give us freedom on a platter. We had to struggle and fight for it. Young boys and girls are looking up for role models. Unfortunately, there is no role model today whom they can emulate. People have forgotten Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters who were great leaders in their times. Teachers and Parents need to inculcate right values in young minds, else when they grow up, they will develop the same mindset as what I have written in the beginning of this post.