Factory of The Mind

We debate and argue. We do it a lot because we skip a few stages of research, discussion and understanding. Let us try to not to do it here. Let’s assume that we are yet to take a position on the subject. Demonetisation should not require much technical understanding of economics or monetary economics, I think. Let’s begin with something everyone agrees with. There’s a price everyone is paying for demonetisation. The farmers, the businessmen, the bureaucrats, the Reserve Bank of India, the banks, employees of banks, employees of cash management agencies, foreign tourists in the country, those who’ve hoarded cash by evading taxes and those who’re dealing in cash for illegal businesses. When one thinks of it, cash binds us more than cricket and religion. We’re paying a price in anticipation of a few benefits. Three benefits to be precise: One, an attack on makers of counterfeit currency, two, an attack on the corrupt and three a movement towards a cas...

I read a few blog posts about how our march to modernity is ruining life, depleting values and causing massive exploitation. People like me, who've 'stepped out' of the mainstream regularly express themselves on such issues. Based on such articles and on my experience during the last few years, I've realised that we’ve come to belong to a category of idiots – absolute idiots. We are able to see and very clearly articulate the follies of the system – the education system, the economic system, the governance system, the social system. We are able to see clearly and articulate the exploitation of the human resources, the natural resources, animals and birds. We are also able to articulate solutions, at least a direction in which the exploitation can be avoided, the follies can be overcome. But we are naive enough to believe that others cannot see them. We offer talks and discourses thinking that we’re the prophets. People listen to our rambling and agree whole...

"If you stop earning - absolutely, how many years can you carry on with whatever you own?” , I asked a few people. The neighbouring small farmer said three months. The bigger farmer said five years. My ex-subordinate, who earns about a million and half p.a. also said five years. My ex-colleague earning about ₹ 5 million said 20 years. The manual labourer who works in our farm said I won’t be able to repay what I borrowed to live during the last 3 months. To earn for livelihood is a compulsion for few, not so for few others. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to know how much is enough to suffice till old age, say 90? If I knew that, and let’s say a buffer for another 10 years, I can live like a child – provided for – not a worry about finances – at least one aspect of life completely sorted out! Then, there is no point in earning more. I can work for other reasons. The concept of JIT became quite famous in the context of production management a fe...

Is all the intellectualism around governance methods, economic models, morality, social justice and education worth any effort?  Can't we notice that constitutions, laws and codes have never managed to reign the corruption within ? We may want to believe that gift culture or bitcoin will avert collapse of the economy, that permaculture will reverse the destruction of agriculture, that alternate education will change human behaviour. But inside of the inside, we know the none of this will happen. We know that it is fear, which is making us believe ! Dear Intellectual, Intellect is a tool of the divine, not a servant of your ego. Be mindful of the urge to misuse it. Writing codes of civilisation is futile. When people have been cleansed from within, it will get reflected in their behaviour and intent. Stop wiping the mirror; the spot is on the face! Let's get that straight. Can your intellect be useful in cleansing the inner selves? Cleanliness is , indeed , Godliness ! ...

How does the lone boy playing on the abandoned railway tracks save himself? Those other boys, playing on the used tracks aren't right. But in case of an emergency, the train driver is likely to run down the lone boy in order to save the other boys. It seems right to sacrifice one to save many. It is fatal to stick to righteousness if everyone else is on the other track. Is there a way to stick on without compromising on safety? It's a dilemma. The one unable to overlook righteousness can't have fun on the wrong track. But whatever he does or says, no one among the others comes to play with him. Everyone is scared of the the train running over or missing out on fun. So, what does the lone boy do? Have fun till he's run over rather than be scared till being run over!

I was introduced to the regulations in the initial years - very subtly. It details whom to love, whom more, whom less, how to express, etc. It spoke of different kinds of love - brotherly, husbandly, fatherly, for motherland, for money, etc. When I complied and felt honest, when I didn't, guilty. It took me years to know of civilisation. These are attempts to rein in nature, to bring in an order. But how is love in natural form? It is within me - powerful, but not forceful. I just need to be conscious of it. It isn't for one and not for the other. It just is. Simple, unrelated to reciprocation, bonding, expectations and measurements. Anything otherwise would have another name. But love is misused in its place. I must experience it deeply enough. Not do anything, just experience its existence. Let the regulations not distract me. Let my expectations, my need to possess, my tendency to measure not adulterate it.

For years, I lived within. Some walls were there when I came, like religion, income group, nationality, etc. Others, I built. Personality, likes, competencies, ambitions, morality, etc. Walls gave me an identity. I kept building. "Who are you?", someone asked. I pointed to the walls. For years I did that. "Don't you exist on the other side also?", someone asked. "I can't view", I replied. I wondered, though. The walls were tall. I tried harder to look. Can I exist outside my identity also? And guess what! I did. At first it was amusing. But slowly the truth sunk in. If I existed within as well as outside, is the identity an illusion? It was terrifying; it still is. Then I remind myself...

In a R Tagore story, a married young woman finds herself getting attracted towards her husband's brother, who's teaching her music. Betrayal is the subject. But betrayal appears in the dictionary of the civilised not the naturalists or the artistic type. "प्यार किया नही जाता, हो जाता है।" They say. Even the civilised would say the same, if the lady was not married. The norms of civilisation don't warrant a frown if she's equally attracted or spends more time with another lady or an older person or a child or a pet or in the garden. Children enter the world ignorant of these norms, but the natural instincts are preloaded. We educate them by introducing धर्म - अधर्म, a very tailored version of respect, patriotism and  a whole world of the constitutional framework of a civilised so...

For years, I've guarded that space...MY SPACE...lest people don't get to know, don't intrude. Then one day, I asked, "What am I guarding? Why?". I stopped being the guard. But it was tough to go inside, even for me. The place had become so used to being guarded. Years later, I've only managed to get a hazy view of what lies inside... And guess what! The inside is the same...whether you enter from my door or yours!

I spent a day with a childhood friend and his family. We discussed how life has been over the recent years He mentioned that after hitting 40 or around then, life has been steady and calm. Cruising along, no stress. Vipassana helped a lot, his wife added. I enquired further how Vipassana affects diet, habits, etc. Very interestingly, I understood that it prescribes nothing other than practicing the meditation regularly. The meditation makes one more sensitive and consequently alterations to diet and mental frame get affected. Further interestingly, they explained how they were mentally calm and stress-free. They don't think much about past or future. Think what to cook when in kitchen, not before. Official work is left behind in office. Thinking too much is the cause of much stress, they explained. Don't think about what is wrong with the world and its ways. Staying calm is the key. This is what they concluded. I was stumped. The system sucks life out of people in many ways...

Exposure - it is a critical means of learning. Experience - it is perhaps the most effective learning methodology. Experimenting - it is how one can gain experience. You're fortunate if you're in a position to decide on a particular experiment in order to gain experience, to expose yourself to circumstances, which offer learning. Saarathi finds its meaning in facilitating an experiment, helping you get an exposure, being a part of your learning. Experimenting may not always be romantic or pleasurable. In fact challenging and adventurous experiments are fun and full of learning. Of course, you should be able to assess the risks and take on only those which seem sensible. So, what experiments we're talking about? Let's say, living a different lifestyle, in a new setting. For example an urban elite living on a farm without a maid, cook and on a negligible budget. Or a farmer's son traveling in Mumbai local trains. Or a Keralite, who has haver seen temperature...

Three years of homeschooling has answered most of the articulated concerns. In fact, as parents, we're happier than our happiest imagination. But I just got to know that my mom secretly tries to encourage kids to join a school. Why? She's not even conversant with the subject of education. She would have been fine if we were to send them to a Vipassana school or an Art of Living School. But no school is a crazy idea. Clearly, she's unable to bear the nonconformity. Why is it so important to Conform? Instead of taking a rhetorical view of the question, let us enquire. Conformity has many compelling benefits. 1. It gives me a sense of security and an identity within a social hierarchy. 2. It allows me to move ‘ahead’ instead of bothering about how everyday life has to be lived. Sending children to school, producing a certificate to prove professional ability, paying taxes so that the government fulfils its role, attending parties to fulfil social obligations and personal...

Fifty years is approximately an effective lifetime, leave out childhood and the deathbed years. One generation. It's a lot of time to fulfill the purpose of life, one might say. Indeed it is a lot of time. Now, take a broader view. In evolutionary terms, time is measured in million years. One generation is negligible time. Homo-sapiens have existed for about 200000 years. That means we are past 4,000 generations. We, meaning 7 billion of us. If one day out of my 18250 days (50 years) gets wasted, I get mad. Crazy, isn't it? I completely agree. But the one day is a critical component in the journey of evolution, however miniscule. Evolution happens, rather the impact of evolution can be seen only after few thousand years. So, as individuals, we have no choice but to accept the direction of evolution as given. That is perhaps what is destiny. It will require millions of people in each of the next scores of generations to cause any directional change. So, if we are headed towa...

Did we take on this road less travelled because we were dismayed and wanted to escape the beaten path or were we enchanted by a new way of life? Partly both. What proportions? I don’t remember; also, it is irrelevant now.  Nonetheless, there was a willingness to explore and do it earnestly.  We did not begin by being members of an alternate lifestyle group/community. We were not opponents of the existing system of education, farming, construction, economy, governance, etc. We have no ideology or a spiritual guru. As we moved along, we got acquainted to many people, who had also chosen to tread off the beaten path, but most of them had affiliations to certain ideologies or beliefs. The common thread that bound most of them is their disapproval of status quo.  Rekha never really felt at home with most of these ideologies and beliefs. But I did share their thinking and hoped that an alternate is workable. But now, I don’t have much of that hope left. The wife is ...

Groups are fun, energising. A group is often more than the sum of all. But there's more than that to  truth. Affluence has gone up. Characteristic of friends and relatives change with raised affluence. The bubbles around them enlarge. Smiles become wider and laughter quiter. Head gets precedence over heart. A group seeks conformity. I felt unwelcome in groups where I didn't conform. One-on-one, everyone in the group likes me, but when together, I had to resemble them.  In a group, fear multiplies and risks assume larger proportions. When they evaluate my off-beat decisions, they expect me to prove robustness in scenarios, which aren't even probable. When I can't defend, they feel vindicated.  A group abhors one-to-one dialogue. It is treated as contempt of group etiquette. So, it is imperative while discussing in a group, proceed at the pace of the slowest and do not raise the content beyond what the dumbest and the least interested can comprehend or sh...

Numerous communities have been created for those who intend to live in harmony with nature , without exploitation, with love and affection for all, with a sense of oneness and empathy. The saintly souls attempt to live a life that manifests their ideals and ideologies. In other words, or from another perspective, what they're attempting is to create a gate to keep all those out who don't have the same intent. The love, affection and empathy is for those inside. The oneness excludes those on the other side of the gate. They come together. Their world becomes a smaller place. Soon they notice that all in this world aren't really alike. They create another community within the community. It's not just them. We all do this. It's natural. It's the nature of the mind. But this nature of the mind isn't aligned to the phenomenon of oneness , we know is true. So, if I must experience oneness , I must keep away from creating a community. If I must love I must...

I was once a tree – a large banyan tree. I lived a hundred years. During all those years, I witnessed, but never participated, never judged, never thought, never felt – neither happiness nor sorrow. I was to be a tree – I was being one. Once, another time, I was a dog. I searched food, I sought affection, I defended my territory, I scared strangers. I felt loved at times, at times I raged with anger. I wasn’t like a tree; because I wasn’t a tree. I was a dog and I was being one. And now I am a human. I want, I like, I try, I think, I feel, I cry, I celebrate, I compare, I analyse, I plan, I do, I strive, I struggle. They say, “Why do you become? Just be.” I say, “That’s what. I’m just being – being human. Wanting to become is a part of my being. It’s a part of my being today. Tomorrow it may not be. Do you want me to become – become a tree or a dog?” How can I become? Isn’t it an illusion if I think I can? I can just be . There is no other way.

I seek people; I seek people I’d like to talk with, relate to, share with; I seek people on Facebook, at work place, in social gatherings, in trekking expeditions, in movies, in history books. I’m often disappointed with people. They are what I’d like them to be; but they’re also what I’d like them not to be. Hope does get shattered; sometimes it takes minutes, sometimes years. Then I seek solitude. And guess what! I get disappointed with myself! I’m the kind too I’d like not to be. But the kind I’d like to be and I am, gives me hope. What other choice do I have? Then, again I seek people and then...again I seek solitude. This, I guess, will go on; till I lose all the hope. And that is when...it’ll be FUN! This hope – to find the right people or even to find the right person or to become the right person – must give way. It keeps me from realising, from accepting the truth. The truth that both – the one I adore and the one I despise – are within the truth...