Connecting with nature

Most of my water cooler conversations on Fridays center around weekend activities.
There are some who ask me,” why do u hike?” and my reply has always been, ”I want to connect with nature”. And invariably the reply has been “I hear you”, a polite nod and we are on our way. When I am among friends, I do tell them how I think this is a spiritual experience and how you learn little bit about yourself every time.

I hiked up Mt.Tamalpais with my friends and we had a minor incident on the way up to the summit, which prompted me to write this. It finally happened, I actually did connect with nature, not just what is around me but with what is in me.

It was a warm, sunny and dry day and we were just half a mile from the summit, when the trail turned rocky. I was leading the pack by a few meters and keeping good pace, with just reaching the peak in mind, when I sensed something move in front of me. Having lived in Arizona I recognized what it was it right away ! I looked ahead to stare right into a big rattle snake slithering across the rocky trail to find the nearest cool crevice it can curl up into. It was hardly six inches away from me and I was the one who felt rattled. At that instant, my instinct was to step back and observe the snake even though some experts would have advised me to not move. And it was at that instant I connected with nature, something human, something primal…FEAR. Fear had swept through me for that one instant when I had stepped back.

I turned back to warn my buddies and we continued on our way up to the summit. We did have another encounter with a smaller rattle snake on the way back down, but this time we were not caught unaware and were mindful of the sinuous reptile.

Why am I writing this now ? Well I just wanted to say, you are what u do, and I firmly believe this makes the difference between whether you exist on the third rock from the sun or actually live on this lovely planet we like to call Mother Earth.

At the risk of sounding philosophical and preachy I just want to say, go out there and do what you want, you will connect with nature, in or out.

Martyrs don’t die !

Brethren! Growing up in India, how many of us really nurtured dreams of joining the Defence forces? How many kids today put their hands up and want to be counted? The answer is … none. You don’t need me to remind you that the Union of India is hardly 60 years, yet after a hard to forget 100-year freedom struggle all is forgotten. We are too busy with our lives.

Why am I writing this? After all, I am one of those that had the unique opportunity of serving the country yet chose to turn my back on it. I am writing this because, today I read an article about a man who gave up his life for our country and earned India’s first Param Vir Chakra.

Param Vir Chakra! Ah, it takes me back in time, when I used to stay glued in front of the TV to watch the series that chronicled the brave deeds of extraordinary men who time and again saved our country. It also ingrained the indelible philosophy – No Guts No Glory! Yes, those were the days when we were fed patriotism for Sunday brunch. I was young and motivated. I listed myself in the NCC and grew up thinking I would be in the army.

Part of that turned out to be true … I grew up thinking! My focus started changing, I was waking up to reality, the society that is India. A society where fallen heroes are not respected, a society where heroes are hardly remembered, a society where the hero is, whos that again, that’s right King Khan ! That is who today’s hero in India is, not a leading man, not a movie start but a HERO! That is who todays heroes are. Gone are the days of Param Vir Chakra, TV is filled with glamour and oomph.

Hailing from TamilNadu I can assure you that only a handful of the state’s population will remember Maj. Saravanan. Who is that again, that’s right, the young lad who gave up his life (and saved many) in the Kargil War. Not a single year has passed when people stopped their lives for one minute and paid homage to the soul on the day he achieved martyrdom. And yet, I havent seen a single year pass by when people forgot to celebrate the anniversaries and birthdays of the Superstars of the state.

Such is the sorry state of the society. We worship the wrong people. How do we remember our heroes? Whats that again, that’s right, Martyrs day? When is that again, that’s right, Jan 30. How many of us observe the day…… none. Our war heroes died giving us the gift of freedom and dignity and we uabashedly forget them.

Martyrs don’t die, that’s why they are called ‘Amar’. In the society that is India, Martyrs don’t die …. We just bury them.

PS: Kids cant grow up feeling proud about their country if they don’t know what to be proud about. They have to be educated.

Quis custodies ipsos custodies?

Quis custodies ipsos custodies? …..or so goes the question.

I still remember my first days at Arizona State University vividly. The electrical engineering dept was teeming with bright young students from all over the world; well, that’s a lie… just Indian and Chinese students. Everyone was seated attentively in the class and taking notes of everything the professor uttered (he is revered to be one of the best in the field). At the end of the session he handed out the first assignment of the course and said something with a grin on his face. He said, American students work alone, Indians and Chinese students work together in groups to solve these assignments.

Being new to US and very naïve, I first thought he was complementing the Indian and Chinese students for their teamwork, but slowly as the “teamwork” unfolded, I realized what he meant. Many of the students were not even making an effort to solve the assignment. They were merely copying from their brighter and hardworking friends. The circle of trust had been clearly broken….because the man knew what was going on.

That set me thinking, what breeds dishonesty? Am I a dishonest person? What makes people thus? I really don’t like to blame other people for my mistakes, but I couldn’t help thinking as to how it was part of the system and how we are taught it is “OK” to do certain things simply because they are tolerated even though it is wrong. It is impregnated into us from when we are little kids.

This took me back a few years in time. I was in my 6^th grade and my school was participating in a literacy drive program, every student was asked to find one illiterate person from the street and make them literates! At the end of the term the students had to present their student in school. When the time came, all the students admitted to not having done the assignment, “No problem” said the school administration, just bring “someone”, maybe your housemaid, or your rickshaw puller or the roadside dhobi and ask them to pretend like they were illiterates a few weeks ago and highly enlightened beings now. In one master stroke, the school administration had the taught the students how to cheat and it was “OK” to do it.

I can quote several instances from my undergrad days where students got into trouble for something as simple as lack of attendance for a particular course which prevents them from appearing for the final exams and the college authorities simply told the students to “Deal” with the University and set it right before the finals. The students were taught how to cheat when they were young, and now how to bribe when they are older.

“It’s the system”, I cried. What is not being enforced is usually not being followed, and that is what makes certain things “OK” to do. So the question now is who guards the system? Parents? Schools? Colleges? Religious Institutions? Government? But wait a minute….didnt they tell me how to beat the system ? I was confused.

And so I raised the question……. Who guards the guardians ?

Cricket is not just another sport!

India is a true democracy - everyone voices their opinion. “Chapell should be fired”, “Dravid should be replaced”, “Sachin should retire”, “Shewag should be dropped” and the list goes on and on. Like I said, it’s a democracy and a big one at that and everybody has an opinion and so does yours truly. When a team loses, is a fan supposed to be disappointed or angry? Hmmm, that’s a no-brainer! That totally depends on how the team played. That said, how do the Indian fans feel – disappointed or angry? Neither – they feel cheated. Some people committed suicide after the recent loss in the World Cup. That begs the question WHY? Why are the Indian fans taking this personally? Why is this just not another sport? The answer is written all over the wall. This is not just another sport. In India cricket is not a sport it is a religion, we are fanatics and we worship our cricketers. It is a common sight to see people garland posters of stars and dance around it after a victory. Emotions run ‘high’ because people are drunk on cricket.

India as a nation maybe on the way to becoming an economic superpower but in the world of cricket India already is the US. For a nation that boasts of a 1 billion, in which other sport or game do we really fancy ourselves to win? Tennis? Soccer? Basketball? Let’s not even get started about track and field because that will just be a sad reminder of India’s repeated poor showing at the Olympics. And let’s not forget about how we lost the game of hockey to countries like Australia, England and Netherlands. It is evident that we have been quintessential underachievers in sports and games.

Ah! Right, did I forget Chess? Well, who really cares? The world already knows we are smart. We need to show them we are strong, aggressive and have a killer instinct. To win consistently, we should be able to draw blood ruthlessly and sometimes be the first to draw blood. History will tell us we are not aggressive and don’t really have a killer instinct in our genes. India has never made a conquest in the last known 5000 years. Hinduism, the religion practiced by the majority of the population is not aggressive like the other major religions of the world. It does not advocate spreading it and has evolved into a very tolerant religion to the point of being endangered now!

Therein lays our fundamental problem and the reasons for taking the loss personally. The nation has been nurtured to believe that we don’t have killer instinct, what with the policy of “no first strike” – Jeez. We as a people are reactive not proactive. But times have changed and we have a population wanting to stand up and be counted. And cricket is the only stage we fancy ourselves asserting our strength to the rest of the world. Reactive societies depend on heroics not efficiency. In the process we have come to view our cricket players as heroes. We bank on our heroes not the team. And when they don’t click we feel let down and cheated. In conclusion, given the changing times and the Indian psyche we are totally justified in our reaction – for us it is not just a sport it is our religion. For some people it is worth dying for.

PS: I do want to tell people who are asking for Sachin, Dravid and Sourav to retire to just Shut Up! They are champions of the sport and know what should be done. It is their decision and we should respect that.