A Simple Work Ethic

This was an incident told to me by one of my colleague. She happens to be a developer and had narrated an incident which made me take note of one of the aspect of work ethics that we should all ideally follow.

There was some mail chains and discussions going on for the implementation of a goal in the coming release cycle in her project. It so happened that the developer and two of the Production Users happened to be in the same lift while all were going to have lunch.

One of the production user, upon seeing the developer in the lift, started the discussion about the project. The other user, promptly holded  his friends hand and said "Bro, this is not the ideal time to discuss about of our projects. This is the break time. We should ideally talk about these during the working hours." And his friend had no other option than to abide.

This incident looks small and non-significant but what has happened here was a simple work ethics was demonstrated. Sometimes in our IT Industry, being a Quality Analyst or Business Analyst or a Developer, we take tasks as personal even during the non-working hours, which is indeed wrong.

Let us keep aside any differences with our colleagues and be a normal human being outside our workplace. It helps maintain the peace and serenity around and helps looking at things afresh.

My First Experience of Something Unexplainable

Some examples in life does leave an indelible mark etched in our minds that it becomes difficult to make distinction between the real and the imaginary. Some things are never explained or can be explained with minimal evidence in place.

I was in Class X and we had planned a trip to Sabarimala, the abode of Lord Ayyappa. I had heard a lot about the temple since it happens to be one of the most visited pilgrimage center in Kerala. And many of our relatives would go every now and then.

Actually, in order to go to Sabarimala, everyone has to take a vratam of 41 days of piousness and sanctity in out body and mind. We have to take bath twice a day and ensure that we have everything taken afresh. There is a custom of putting a Mala, which when put, we are ought to be called "Swami", which means that we are equal to Lord Ayyappa.

Swamis are supposed to wear black dress and while venturing into Sabarimala, have to keep Erumudeketta (a mixture of coconuts - filled with Ghee and rice) on their heads. Logistics would bring us to the foot of Pamba river, where the devotees have to take bath and then start the 5 km journey uphill to Sabarimala.

The serenity and the naturedness around makes you come out of the hues and cries of the commercial plastic world. We had the glimpse of Lord Ayyappa after a long hiatus of 4 hours in queue.  After resting a while, we were coming down slowly. But just at that time I felt that I am about to miss something.

My mind and my heart was experiencing something that I am coming out of something very divine and complete. I said to myself that if at all I will get a chance in my life, I would definitely come back and visit the place.

Years passed and it was almost 6 years after this silent promise which I made to myself, which was forgotten in the times memory. Once when we were visiting Kerela, my parents went to an astrologer to enquire about their children's future.

After coming home, my mom asked me something which brought goose pimples on me. I was shaken from top to bottom. She asked, "Did you ever promise to yourself that you would go to Sabarimala any time in your life".

I was taken aback. The promise which I had taken to myself was known to the outside world. It seems the astrologer had told that I had done a promise that I would come back to Sabarimala. The promise which I had done came back to me along with the serenity and the feelings which I had longed to be cherished, came back to me.

I humbly said "Yes, you are right Ma" to my mom. That was my first instance of experiencing something which was to be called, a divine explanation of the Supreme. I am not sure whether people would believe me or not. But this was something which I experienced and did not had any logical reason to suffice that there is no God.

Since then, I had visited Sabarimala 3 times and believe in God being omnipresent, the nearest being We, within Us.

Elegance and Pride In The Middle Of The Road

Ever since I had set my foot into my new bike, I am now more aware of the traffic signals and is more responsive towards the light turning green, yellow and red. Not to mention the mamu's who are always there to make note that everyone is following their rules and sometimes their rules.

Anyways, in all this traffic snarls, I also became conscious of another usual or rather unusual appearance of a gigantic figure : Buffaloes and Goats. Many a times, herd of buffaloes are enough to make our already jammed roads get more entangled. Forget the horns - these super cool herd would be so non-distracted by anything that come-what-may, they move at their own speed and ease.

Sometimes, it would be a feisty sight to look one or two of this gigantic self's sitting in the middle of the roads as if they are diverting the vehicles on board. Of course, they are dangerous for the people who ply on the roads but these guys dont budge a bit, be it a 2 wheeler or 4 wheeler or for that sake any wheelers.

Today morning, I found a goat sitting on the seat of Honda Activa parked beside my vehicle. For a moment I felt as if some one was actually about to drive the vehicle. The slowness and the grace with which she moved down the Activa made me smile and she walked past me as if nothing happened and everything was normal.

An Instant Righteous

When it comes to doing the right thing at the right time for the right purpose to the right extent with the right people, most of us do flounder on expected occasions.

While commuting from my home to my office in the 147 bus, a bike driver fell down on applying sudden brakes for not being able to adjust himself on sudden change in traffic colour lights to Red. He was struggling to get up. Just then an auto driver beside to him got down down from his vehicle, helped the bike rider get up, asked whether he is fine and then came back to his driver seat.

Exactly at that moment, as though God was operating the traffic signals, it turned green. Everyone left the scene and very few would have seen the instant act of nobleness.

Such acts of helping and caring for an unknown person is what makes me think that brotherhood is still there around us which helps us feel good about ourselves being a part of this beautiful world - sometimes it is evident and sometimes it is not.

An Episode To Remember

When was the last time you had experienced a feeling of content and bliss within yourself. When was the last time you smiled by seeing something so wondrous that you felt, Wow this is something which is a perfect moment to live and see on.

I was going to my office by catching the usual 10H bus. I got the seat after a steady rigmarole of seat-occupying situations. I was gaping through the usual actions / events happening in the main road as the bus drove to my destination.

There was this Madhapur junction before a bus stop. Red traffic lights made all the conveyances stood still. Usually its quite difficult to cross the roads during the peak time i.e. 9 to 11 AM

A father and son (perhaps 5 year old) duo rushed between the rock solid cars/buses and reached the divider. Both ran together hand-in-hand and on reaching the divider, the son was so excited as if he had achieved a great milestone in his life.

The boy looked at his father with a content smile and the father acknowledged him too. Both waited to cross the other side of the road as my bus started off. And the contentment on the faces of the duo brought a ready smile on my face, for no reasons as such but it felt good and perfect to have witnessed the whole episode.

Rather I was feeling bliss and content on my own. Perhaps I have the habit of looking at the simplicity of the events, but it did showed an array of traits like faith, learning and sense of achievement among the real life actors and the audience, one of them being Me

Perception can soar the spirits

One day a father and his rich family took his young son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night in the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

Very good, Dad!"

"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Yeah!"

"And what did you learn?"

The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden, they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, they have a whole horizon."

When the little boy was finishing, his father was speechless.

His son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are!"

Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things? If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude toward life, you've got everything!

You can't buy any of these things. You can have all the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the future, etc., but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing!

Sitting by the side of the mind !!!

One day Buddha was passing by a forest on a hot summer day and he felt very thirsty. He said to Ananda, his chief disciple, “Ananda, you go back. Just four miles back we passed a small stream of water. You bring a little water — take my begging bowl. I am feeling very thirsty and tired.”

Ananda goes back, but by the time he reaches the stream, a few bullock carts have just passed through the stream and they have made the whole stream muddy. Dead leaves which had settled into the bed have risen up; it was no longer possible to drink the water — it was too dirty. He came back empty-handed, and he said, “You will have to wait a little. I will go ahead. I have heard that just two, three miles ahead there is a big river. I will bring water from there.” But Buddha insists. He said, “You go back and bring water from the same stream.”

Ananda could not understand the insistence, but if the master says so, the disciple has to follow. Seeing the absurdity of it — that again he will have to walk three, four miles, and he knows that water is not worth drinking — he goes.

When he was going, Buddha said, “And don’t come back if the water is still dirty. If it is dirty, you simply sit on the bank silently. Don’t do anything, don’t get into the stream. Sit on the bank silently and watch. Sooner or later the water will be clear again, and then you fill the bowl and come back.”

Ananda goes there. Buddha is right: the water is almost clear, the leaves have moved, the dust had settled. But it was not absolutely clear yet, so he sat on the bank just watching the river flow by. Slowly slowly, it became crystal-clear. Then he understood why Buddha was so insistent. He gave the water to Buddha and touched his feet.

Buddha said, “What are you doing? I should thank you that you have brought water for me.”

Ananda said, “At first I was angry, because it was absurd to go back. But now I understand the message. Sitting on the bank of that small stream, I became aware that the same is the case with my mind. If I jump into the stream I will make it dirty again. If I jump into the mind more noise is created, more problems would start unravelling"

“Now I will be sitting by the side of my mind too, watching it with all its dirtiness and problems and old leaves and hurts and wounds, memories, desires. Unconcerned I will sit on the bank and wait for the moment when everything is clear.”

As they say, if we can control our mind we can control everything inside-out not only concerning us but the whole universe. The objective should be crystal clear, that's the ask

Driver And The Priest

We all know what is to be inside an autorickshaw especially when the driver happens to be or thinks himself to be a serious contender of Bernie Ecclestone's wealth churner, the Formula 1. Read on :

Once a priest took an auto to reach his abode. Unfortunately during the traverse, they met with an accident. Both went up but the surprising part was this :

Priest was given second chance to enter heaven and the autodriver was given the first chance. Of course our priest asked to double check the anomaly in arrangement of the who-goes-first. But the result, as documented by the angels with firmness, was the same.

And the reason was quite simple :
Auto driver had made people remember God more intensely than the Priest !!!

What Can 1 Do

Taken from an anonymous poem in Tim Berner's Lee popular paradigm...Have a look at it and think about it !!!

One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.
One step must start each journey.
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what's true,

One life can make a difference,
You see, it's up to you!

Well and the Donkey

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for ...hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

If at all, we can sustain and shove off things just like the four-legged, things would be brighter most of the time, if not everytime