To understand Indian culture, look at RK Laxman cartoon

To understand the Bharatiya mindset, look at RK Laxman's "Common Man".

He is typically a Witness. That's how Bhartiya spirituality, to be specific Advaita, defines the true self. As the unchangeable witness. It asserts this life at Earth is just a passing dream. Things will happen as per the role of Karma. So the Bhartiya just watches mostly, and moves on. If needed, he'll stick around to clean up the remains. But raising his voice for course correction is not his typical inclination.

The other aspect is his Simplicity. How he makes silly mistakes or looks in wonder and disbelief at happenings around him. He doesn't question or scratch his head to solve. He just observes, accepts it like that and moves on..

The third aspect is his lack of Resources. He's dressed in simple dhoti shirt, an old umbrella-cum-walking stick. Clothes rugged and the general feel of an average lower middle class aging man.

Humorous but much different - thankfully in some aspects - from the Bhartiya of 2018. Not to be taken for a ride, middle class on average, and most importantly, young, with an average age of around 30!

But definitely the mindset of the "Common Man" is our true legacy, something that we should look back upon, cherish, and retain in parts.

The artist within

For love of the art form
And the artist within

He who explores within
And lives in his own world

The one who feels at peace
When left to his own means

That artist who lives
In closest connect to God

That artist as this poet
Is this my very soul

The shinier the hospital the lesser the ethics

Dear middle class friends,

In your subconscious want to "belong", let not yourself get fooled.
To be able to grasp for your family what your parents couldn't afford, let the well saved money not get drained.

It was a surprise to see Columbia Asia in Sarjapur so relatively empty yesterday. And all their TVs were running promotional videos. But as a downward spiral unravels, it wasn't hard to see why: When we went to ER, were given a shoddy guesswork diagnostic exercise, with a blatant explanation that they don't have all specialists since it was evening (6pm by the way)!!

I learnt from my ayurvedic doctor today that these corporate hospital managements set surgery targets to the doctor staff, leaving the staff under pressure, violating their oaths and acting unethically and unprofessionally.

But then think about it logically: How would these hospitals that keep up the glossy look and costly machines maintain these. They have made these investments keeping an "estimate" of returns. So they obviously have to create and stick to a "plan" to pay up their bills and debts.

Let's not be foolish as consumers when making our choice of doctors by falling into these honeyed traps. The best doctors I've seen in Bengaluru were practicing still in plain bland offices, not within spanky corporate houses. Which shows that this is the results even the best would be able to earn if they practice ethically.

It is also our responsibility to ensure our ₹ are getting invested, and casting our support behind quality, not a plastic mask!

Make yourselves at home

I often awe my children young
Blessed as you'll are from heaven

Have come to earth to live in here
In this my little humble home

I hope I have made you'll feel welcome
Special and as your own

It's so nice to see you comfortable
To hear you calling this as home

Though I know your truth my little lords
Having graced me the chance to clean your feet

And why this very home is yours
I'm only the servant who kept it clean

Public transport Singapore / Mumbai model the solution for Bharat's traffic woes

I've often mentioned the solution of Bharat's traffic woes lies in public transport.

There's wise reasoning in Singapore taxing cars exorbitantly. The country is so small that it doesn't have the space for more clutter. And actually we've failed to learn experience from the wise: the reason Singapore doesn't want many cars is per capita population and quality of life both.

Bharat, especially Mumbai's efforts are in the correct direction:
- Local trains connecting South Mumbai with North
- Metro trains beginning to connect East Mumbai with West
- Bus transport that has always supported across all directions connecting via main roads
- Autorickshaws and Cabs that help connecting the last mile

With all this, you wouldn't consider taking your car out!

What Bengaluru and other cities need today is to emulate this model just when you see population growth trend crossing a specified threshold.

Since not everything can be affordable to government, especially in the country with poor tax compliance as Bharat, you have to open up infrastructure and transport to private partnership and even majority ownership.

Cars and private vehicles then need to slowly be made pricier with taxes, to give residents the nudge to start adopting public transport. This will in turn increase revenue and make further investments into upkeep and upgrade of transport worthwhile.

In India, with its population, any public transport initiative will surely give profitable returns.
Private vehicles is a model for countries with less per capita population where it won't make economical sense to have (say) a bus run through a route with just 3-4 passengers in it!

I belong not here

Discarded and disrupted, I belong where I am not
Trying and fearing, I fit not where I am
Disillusioned and wavering, the mind longs for calm
Waiting in impatience, the Atman wants to break free

Who swings from luminosity to insanity

The creative genius always hurting
The one who has sipped the nectar of bliss
When in process of his last creation

He is thirsty again and nothing will quench
As once more that touch of genius

He is restless for inspiration once more
And he feels peace only at the work sublime

Give me the taste of bliss so i do not seek anything less

Dear lord I cherish, that bliss of devotion
Half opened eyes, in early crimson dawn
Heart filled with love, a joy erupting out

The burning scent of firewood, the chanting of the mantras
The fragrance of ghee, and the calm presence of mind
My lord make me like that, give me back my way

Mother who puts me to sleep

Dear mother who rocks me to sleep
How can I ever repay you
Sacrificing rest you console
My tears in middle of dark night

You feed and forgive and sing for me
While all you need is good sleep
O mother dear mother how can I
Ever repay you

When growing up I forget this
But see this same repeating
When my child's mother wakes up
To cajole to console my child's cry
O mother dear mother how can I
Forget that all you did for me

This world of irony

The sweet ordinary better than bitter greatness
The healthy human is one filled with frailties
This world of irony where the pauper's blessed
Is worth escaping for its sink-sand nature

Give and expect to get nothing
If you ironically want to be happiest
Stay away from money and things it buys
If you ironically want to be richest

The ordinary needs to balance the divine

There are three categories of people as regards music:
1) Ones who practice and perform it for a living
2) Ones who listen to it and may practice or even may perform it, but mainly for enjoyment
3) Ones who do not like music

The majority of the world falls into the second category. And I think it's better that way.

We see the ones performing music are in deep joy when performing. Of course they might be trying their best to get into the mood of the song so that it comes out well.
And yes they must also be feeling that joy when practicing it, but to get to that stage must be requiring a lot of rigour also.
Still, I feel somehow it causes a side effect. For if you see their lives, of those who live by music alone (or any art form for that matter), their lives end up being quite complex.

The reason in my view is that they get addicted to the high. They expect the same enjoyment in every other aspect of life. Which is not really meant to be so!
And not knowing this, they take steps which are rash, immoral, unhealthy, and eventually at times takes a toll on their practice itself. It sometimes shows in the performance and they fall in self esteem.

The ordinary always has to be balance the divine. Else by the very nature of life is that it tries to balance it with the worst, and the net effect is worse.

Cost cutting culture is contrary to innovation

We see all companies claiming or patting themselves to be innovators. And yet, you see them pruning budgets at all places which motivate employees: be it salary, benefits, facilities or perks.
The cost cutting measures in Indian companies have reached a limit where toilet paper I hear is sometimes in shortfall. I'm sure they ensure this is not so in the restrooms used during client visits!
Then there is the question of bandwidth: innovation as a goal as trickled down. But not the time to innovate! This leads to unplanned, half-hearted measures just to fill up appraisal forms. You can bet that the ones who come up with significant monetization worth innovation ideas are definitely spending 80% of their bandwidth on it.
If companies want to ingrain innovation, the the way to operate it is to have a focused team. Let me put it more clearly, a "swat" team of developers, architects and leads, under an " innovation" unit. This team then has to pick up one production/implementation project at a time (priority to multi year production support), and walk through their use case with the production team, and maybe even collate some potential ideas from them, but that's it. The existing team has the task to support/implement, and can't be doing justice to both the delivery at hand and the out of box innovation aspired. This should be the task of the innovation team.
There will be projects where the cost to innovate will be higher than the benefits. The innovation team can consider if the cost can be recovered in case the innovation idea can be replicated across other other projects. If not, just drop it and move on to the next project.
If any company is serious about moving beyond bits and pieces innovation, this is the model. Will be an investment or at best a break even for some time. Until reusable code base is created, and thereafter it'll be about picking and plugging the right one. The idea is to have Central control on innovation.

The joy of fatherhood

They will search for your loving eyes
They are your children after all

They just need your reassuring smile
They want your hug, your sweetest kiss

They will look at your eyes, for the twinkle in it
As to how special, carrying them is

They will wait to walk with you
They laugh most playing with you

There be no joy, a bliss as father
Dear lord I waited, two lifetimes for this

For the restless mind no peace

Since ages and for all around
Has this running race been life

The means to security and daily wage
Has become the very purpose

Why this life, and life after life
Is noy thought even through lifetimes

Just this chase of rush and pleasure
Desires and expectations feeding each other

When will feverish mind calm down
Why not it take a step higher

Why does it fail to see within
And manifest the ocean of bliss

Simplicity forgotten

There was once, a beauty called Simplicity
Decked in Austerity, its radiance aglow

Then came the charming, prince called Pleasure
Who gave dreams of Desire, erstwhile unknown

He took her to places, where Greed adorned
Even Simplicity changed, her name to Selfishness

The curse of implementation : Fast Tag is anything but fast!

Today was coming through "Fast Tag" toll lanes on Hyderabad to Bengaluru Highway, and was finding the fast tag lane slower than the cash lanes.
This shows why ideas in Bharat are received with cynicism.
The reason here was four-fold:
1) Non-fast tag vehicles were being allowed in the Fast Tag lanes: what's the point of promoting Fast Tag (which carries a device cost btw) when you are not going to give them an incentive.
2) A person has to show his bar code gun to the car Fast tag sticker: Why not have seamless detection. If the technology adopted is weak, know that the idea will be used as an example of weak, patchy implementation.
3) The fast tag lanes are at the extreme corners: This means they are also occupied by big trucks.
4) No feedback mechanism: The government does not keep a ready feedback mechanism even for those who adopt Fast tag. In this case, if they simply would keep a toll free number or email id inviting feedback, citizens like me and others inconvenienced would have a direct means to provide suggestions

I'm not bringing out the issues I faced ordering the fast tag itself. Citizens understand and are willing to tolerate one time or initial glitches.

God inside All

This is a very beautiful world my lord
Your creation very detailed by cause

The emotions given of love and care
Being the very basis it lives

You have shown all has high and lows
And lives and feeds by their nature

And then you alone have come inside
And watch how far they can go

Separation from child

May parents not be separated from child
For the pain in the hearts of both sting

May life not throw situations
That you have to abandon newborn
Or you have to go far for work

For that very life lost meaning
When it broke the fabric of bonding