Rex Ideas For Action Conclive: A Galaxy Of Extraordinary Change Makers

Rex Ideas For Action Conclive: A Galaxy Of Extraordinary Change Makers

This blog cannot capture the extraordinary contributions being made by so-called ordinary people spread far, wide and deep in Indian society. They are the unsung heroes who are holding this nation together. It is their silent contribution that is providing harmony to a nation torn between various discordant forces. It was a privilege that I participated in the conclive and rubbed shoulders with what I call doyens of the `Contribution Industry`. That I got an opportunity to share space and stage with such purpose-driven people was reward itself. Though a huge personal moment, but in the overall contribution space of humanity, my receiving an award in recogntion of my work in the field of Reiki was the least important one in the conclive.

The mind and heart are still coming to terms with the extraordinary experience of having attended the Rex Ideas For Action Conclive, organsied in New Delhi from February 26-28, 2014 by iCONGO (International Confederation Of NGOs). Every moment spent at the conclive listening to extraordinary speeches is worth cherishing for a lifetime, though you know that what you witnessed was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the kind of humane work that is taking place all aorund the world.

The speeches were not extraordinary because they were great examples of public speaking. They were extraordinary because the people who delivered it were doing far more than what they were saying. Over fifiy speeches spanning varied age groups simply created an energy and aura which comes only from the strongest of intent to do good to people. The audience did not evaluate the speaker, they simply watched dumbstruck at the contents of their work.

Just sample this. A gentleman by the name Mr Ravi Kalra shared how one day he was moved by seeing a dog and a human eating from the same garbage and decided to do something about it. And something he does! He picks up abandoned people from the streets in Delhi and nurses them at his The Earth Saviours Foundation home. He lets them die in his arms and provides them with dignity in death.

There was another speaker Deepa Malik, who is an Arjuna awardee and a swimmer. But that is not the whole story. She is a swimmer, biker and athlete despite being a paraplegic. She is paralyzed from waist down. Listening to her speak at the conclive was awe inspiring.

Then there was also Amala Akkineni, a celebrity film actress, who carried herself as just another volunteer. Her passion – to give dignity to animal rights.

There was another another speaker Mr Sunil Jain, a successful chartered accountant tied to a wheel chair due to polio affliction early in life. He spoke about how we cannot rid of our problems, and therefore the best way was to embrace a problem and dedicate our life for a cause. Surely, we found people who had dedicated their lives to a problem: rural development, senior citizens' welfare, women empowerment, etc, etc, etc.

This blog cannot capture the extraordinary contributions being made by so-called ordinary people spread far, wide and deep in Indian society. They are the unsung heroes who are holding this nation together. It is their silent contribution that is providing harmony to a nation torn between various discordant forces. It was a privilege that I participated in the conclive and rubbed shoulders with what I call doyens of the `Contribution Industry`. That I got an opportunity to share space and stage with such purpose-driven people was reward itself. Though a huge personal moment, but in the overall contribution space of humanity, my receiving an award in recogntion of my work in the field of Reiki was the least important one in the conclive.

I returned from the conclive humbler, more committed and empowered to continue to do the good work. For sure, a lifetime won't be enough to accomplish the humungous change that our fellow humans and fellow creatures deserve.

Common Man Is Now A `Celebrity`

Common Man Is Now A `Celebrity`

The vociferous voices in the political landscape pitching for the common man's welfare has made him the country's most sought after `celebrity`. With the Lok Sabha elections just round the corner, he will once again have the opportunity to stamp his authority on the course political discourse should take. 

The events of the past few weeks have catapulted the common man to cult status. Thanks to Arvind Kejriwal and his band of highly purpose driven colleagues, it is no longer a disadvantage to be common, in fact, it is quite cool to be one.

Delhi, which has been the epicenter of various `revolutionary` activities in the past few years, has thrown up a political alternative constructed out of a vague sense of imagination which jostled for prominence amidst the intense cynicism that had gripped the nation in the past few years. The emerge of the Aam Aadmi Party is more than just a dream come true, it is the manifestation of a collective intention of the nation.

The real significance of the `re-emergence` of the common man phenomena is that this time it is for real. There is a real face which the aam aadmi can now look up to. This is a departure from the past so many decades when the common man had to be content with giving vent to his feelings through illusory mediums like cartoons and films.

In the good old days, the two great champions of the common man in the illusory space were RK Laxman and Amitabh Bachchan. For decades, every morning the common man got up to look up at You Said It in The Times Of India and laughed at his own plight, acquiring the strength to fight the day's battle that awaited him on the roads, in public transport and in the office. Laxman taught us to laugh at ourselves and at the system in which we thrived, and move on with panache and perseverance. In a way, it was a fatalistic acceptance of our condition, but it provided a unique corridor of escape from reality, and replaced the gloom that greeted us everyday with an ability to take satirical potshots at our own selves.

RK Laxman's representation of the common man was subtle – he was a mute witness to events and circumstances. While the caricature stood silent, Indian homes reverberated with laughter. But Amitabh Bachchan, through his fight-for-justice characters in the 70s' and 80s' gave voice to the frustrations of the common man. Bachchan can probably be termed as the `First Larger-Than-Life Celebrity Common Man` of India.

While Laxman provided relief through humour, Bachchan provided relief by delivering punchy dialogues and by taking on the system as an aam aadmi with no intentions of getting bullied by unjust people. Bachchan's extraordinary portrayal as an angry young man on reel of real life issues made him a darling of the masses. The issues on the ground however remained, as obviously both Laxman and Bachchan were merely executing their professional duties with a conviction that resonated deeply in the minds and hearts of the masses. Even as the years caught on, their iconic representation of the common man ensured they remained the prima donnas of their craft.

But the common man today seems to have come out of the closet of a cartoon strip and reel characters. First through Anna Hazare and now through Arvind Kejriwal, he is resonating with an attitude that suggests he is no longer content with `entertaining escapism`, but wants to tackle issues head on and take responsibility for his aspirations. The insecurity of being lost in the crowd is dissolved; instead, he seems quite elated with the vociferous celebration of the aam aadmi identity across the nation. He is elated that he has found his voice, which is of far greater relevance for him than getting noticed in the crowd. The common man today is fine with his or her being just another face in the crowd, as long as there are people who project themselves in the public space as a genuine representative of the hidden faces.

These are very interesting times for the common man. The promise of going strongly back to the basics with the help of `like-leaders` holds greater romance for him today than being a recognised individual who has to fend for himself all alone.

The vociferous voices in the political landscape pitching for the common man's welfare has made him the country's most sought after `celebrity`. With the Lok Sabha elections just round the corner, he will once again have the opportunity to stamp his authority on the course political discourse should take.

Sachin Tendulkar – A Blazing Start And A Carnival Finish

Sachin Tendulkar – A Blazing Start And A Carnival Finish

At the start of his career, the `man` in him conquered the `boy` who was bleeding from his nose, and almost two-and-a-half decades later, Sachin left the field with millions of fans bleeding in their hearts and holding on to their tears.

Few sportspersons, if any, in the world would have been handed a script that Sachin Tendulakr received. It all started twenty four years ago in Pakistan, where he suffered an almost career damaging blow on his nose as a tender sixteen-year-old. However, the `man` in him conquered the `boy` who was bleeding from his nose, and almost two-and-a-half decades later, Sachin left the field with millions of fans bleeding in their hearts and holding on to their tears.

Every brick of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 16, 2013, would have recorded for posterity the emotional words that Sachin uttered during his farewell speech. The speech too was delivered with the same passion, precision and spontaneity as the runs that flowed from his bat. Communication skills and Public Speaking trainers from around the world would have noted and stored the speech as part of their training architecture.

In my lifetime I have seen extraordinary cricketers from around the world come and go – Gavaskar, Richards, Imran, Botham, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee – to just name a few. But cannot remember any one of them being given such a sendoff by a nation. It was as if Sachin was to be the last of the legends to serenade the cricket field. It almost seemed like the country wanted to celebrate his achievements by creating a carnival atmosphere which would last in their memories for at least another twenty five years, whereby they can continue to retain the Sachin magic deep within them and cherish his `guiding` presence in their lives.

Of course, Sachin benefited from the media exposure which retiring legends before him did not have an advantage of. Yet, to see an entire country being consumed by as routine an event as sporting retirement was incredible to say the least. It is unfathomable that such a gala finish to a career can be achieved simply through human orchestrations. You can surely influence but a few hearts through marketing gimmicks, but such a spontaneous outpouring of emotions for a man whose role modeling abilities are incomparable can be manifested only through divine will. That Sachin is Destiny's Child was always known, and substantially proven in the last few weeks of his colossal career.

To top it all, the government, under fire on many issues, for a change got a Thumbs Up from the entire nation by its timing of the Bharat Ratna announcement. If at all there was any missing link in his career – the statistics are mind boggling: 200 tests, 450+ ODIs, 100 international hundreds, over 30,000 international runs – the Bharat Ratna fulfilled it. If at any moment in the last few weeks Sachin felt really sad at moving out of the game that he so dearly loves, the Bharat Ratna announcement would have put those feelings to rest, as nothing at all in our country gets bigger than this in terms of recognition.

The fact that Sachin redefined the benchmarks set for individual excellence in the game of cricket, and in the process created and sustained mass frenzy for such a long period of time -- even though there was a period when a fickle minded nation questioned his abilities post the 2007 World Cup disaster – is itself a wonder and testimony to the vast reservoir of Genius as well as Resilience that lies within him.

As this blog is intended as a celebration of his career, I have refrained from deriving the various lessons that Sachin's batsmanship and cricketing genius offer to far lesser mortals like us. I surely intend to share my perspectives from that angle another day. But suffice it to say that every bit of what Sachin achieved and the manner in which he achieved them has long standing lessons not just for our country but humanity.

It is said – and rightly so – that no individual is ever greater than the game. Sachin was the only one who came close to upsetting that theory. But thankfully – and I say thankfully because the Universal Principles of life cannot be tampered with or tweaked around – Sachin left the game, to my mind, as a Supreme Mortal, and not as God, by elevating the human cricketing excellence consciousness to a level none before him had ever done.

The game for a while will feel a deep void as another aspirant inherits the hallowed Number 4 position in test matches, but the game has a way of eeking out geniuses from the masses, and surely another Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar will present himself to the world. Hopefully, this time too, it will happen in India.

For the moment, for one more time, Thank You Sachin. We Will Miss Your Presence On The Cricket Field!

Gavaskar And Tendulkar

Gavaskar And Tendulkar

What Gavaskar left behind in terms of cricketing excellence, Sachin simply expanded and reinvented. While Gavaskar was a product of the pre-economic liberalisation era, Tendulkar arrived at the cusp of a new dawn in the socio-economic-political context of India.

As Sachin Tendulkar's epic career draws to a close, it is worthwhile reflecting on what the legacies of the sporting superstar before him Sunil Gavaskar and his mean to Indian cricket. An immediate point of course is that both for long carried the vast expectations of the nation – of course Sachin had to shoulder a MUCH LARGER share – and for a substantial part of their careers were seen as lone warhorses of their teams.

When Gavaskar retired, many asked, `who next?` A couple of years into his retirement, and a young Sachin Tendulkar, whom you could easily have mistaken as a spectator trespassing on to the cricket field if you were a cricket novice, strode on to the ground with appropriate cricket gear but at an `inappropriate` age to take on the might of bowlers like Waqar Younis and Imran Khan. Over close to a quarter century, Sachin fulfilled both promise and expectations, which is incredible to say the least.

What Gavaskar left behind in terms of cricketing excellence, Sachin simply expanded and reinvented. While Gavaskar was a product of the pre-economic liberalisation era, Tendulkar arrived at the cusp of a new dawn in the socio-economic-political context of India. While Gavaskar had already shown many cricketers the way forward in terms of leading a post-retirement life, Sachin simply grabbed at the opportunities a liberalised India threw at him through the sheer weight of his performances. If Gavaskar associated with brands, Tendulkar bacame a brand himself.

Gavaskar fundamentally brought pride to the Indian psyche, which Tendulkar elevated and internalised at a level which few could match. Gavaskar's legacy lay in the way he positioned India to the world not only through his cricketing exploits, but also by the way he projected his pride of being an Indian. Gavaskar carried the self belief torch as an ambassador of `self doubting` Indians by simply putting up the runs at a pace which was appropriate for the times and on his own terms. But just around the time he hung his boots to become the `Voice of India`, in which role too for over two decades now he has kept the Indian pride at a high, the country needed a role model who could represent the very new and virbrant India that was being shaped.

Sachin in a way simply snatched the baton from Gavaskar, as there was hardly any time to pass it on as such, and created a colossus which the world will forever cherish and also look back and wonder. If Gavaskar in a way pioneered the Indian craze for records by creating one milestone after the other – Sachin redefined `records` and continuously kept setting new benchmarks. He ultimately reached a peak of a hundred international 100s, which is astounding for the human mind to comprehend, even after it has been achieved.

In this respect too, Gavaskar showed the way, as he was the first ever to score 10,000 runs in test match cricket. While many great players later joined the 10,000 club, he set the world's second best cricketing benchmark after the Don's batting average. To term the achievements of these two gentlemen as simply `Excellent` would be a huge understatement, and a reflection of the limitations of a language to fully comprehend the saga of such accomplishments.

While Tendulkar cannot exactly be termed as a protege of Gavaskar, but he imbibed the technique and balance of the original Little Master. Tendulkar in a way answered the imaginations of cricket connoisseurs who fantasised about a player who could have the balance of Gavaskar, the audacity of Richards and the all round ability of a Sobers. Incredibly, as if to say, nature bestows you with what you ask for, all three legends of their craft, found expression in one man – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Though Sachin cannot be termed as an all rounder like Sobers, he carried all-round ability, and could turn the ball square apart from hitting perfectly good balls square.

The inter-connection between Gavaskar and Tendulkar also has infinite worth in terms of their comparison with Don Bradman. While in terms of batting exploits, both could never come even remotely close to the average the Don had at the end of his career, there were other benchmarks set by the Don to be breached. While Gavaskar was the first to go past the Don in terms of number of test centuries, Sachin became the all time highest test century maker, and incredibly even attained the magical figure of 50 centuries. The Don felt Sachin played like him, a tribute lesser mortals can only dream of getting.

In terms of poignant test match batting too, they both played their epic innings in a losing cause against arch rivals Pakistan. While Gavaskar played his last test match innings on a very difficult pitch against Pakistan at Bangalore, in which he scored 96, Tendulkar scored a memorable 100 in Chennai. While the Bangalore test handed Pakistan a historic series win in India, the Chennai loss created a pain which was as close to the one inflicted by Javed Miandad when he hit Chetan Sharma for a last ball six in the 1986 one day tournament final at Sharjah.

Both Gavaskar and Tendulkar in their careers were also part of World Cup winning teams. Interestingly, India won a World Cup title long, long after Gavaskar had retired. It took a Tendulkar to break the jinx after India won the 1983 World Cup. It is significant to note the change in context that while the 1983 team `shocked` the nation by winning the world cup, the 2011 team would have `shocked` if it had not won the title. So, while Gavaskar and his teammates in 1983 engineered the beginning of a cricketing revolution in the country, Sachin and his teammates elevated the craze and cash associated with cricket to dizzying levels.

As the Sun sets on Sachin's career, it can be said that he perhaps fulfilled the unfulfilled potential of Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, who, people of my generation will recollect, had started emerging as a powerful one day batsman too towards the end of his career. Tendulkar went on to become the world's best one day batsman, and probably simply built on an idea that Gavaskar had embraced towards the fag end of his career.

There is also a geographical synergy of course. Both lived and played in Mumbai and for Mumbai, and rose to become cricketing icons of the nation.

Who is going to take their legacies forward now? The script is still being written. So, we will wait and watch.

The Magic Of The `Normal`

The Magic Of The `Normal`

The purpose of life is also to wonder at the magic of living normally. Humans struggle to not struggle, but this behaviour is far removed from nature's effortless bestowing of abundance which suggests struggle is just a misunderstanding and not a real fate.

Life is vast and imperceivable. Therefore, reflecting on the various aspects and dynamics of life can be a full time activity. Yet, at the end of it all you may have just scratched the surface and discovered very little of the incomprehensible creativity it presents.

But a vast number of people go about life so normally, simply trying to stitch the daily pieces of their life together, wondering more at the struggles of their chores than wonder at the beauty and expansiveness of living. There are so many things in our life we take for granted, as if it was the limited human mind that actually constructed and planted the vast life architecture.

The Oceans, the Mountains, the Jungles, the Plants, and Nature as a whole have not been conceived by the human mind. They for aeons have been `mute but alert` witnesses to the vagaries as well as the creativity of creation. Human behaviour however, conditioned by both explicable as well as inexplicable forces, has been less fascinated by the magic of creation and more overwhelmed by the pressures of doing and surviving.

I for one however find it fascinating that in the human sphere where so much thought is put into living, a large part of what we `do` has also evolved naturally without human effort. Our physical growth, our rhythmic breathing which keeps us alive, our comprehension abilities and so much more happen without our conscious intervention. The very fact that we go through life `normally` without having to manufacture ourselves consciously every single day fascinates me no end.

The physical body, with which we spend the maximum time in our life, is a gargantuan divine idea, which is beyond human mental and emotional comprehension. Our life is inconceivable without relating our consciousness to the body, and yet we know very little of what goes inside every second. It appears as if God created a gross human body to challenge the human mind and spirit to transcend its malleability and connect to the subtle, invisible force which actually manifests the body as `energy-matter`, and realize that, not at the end, but at the beginning itself, it was always a matter of energy and energy alone.

It is so normal to be philosophical, but within the dimensions of philosophy lies this amazing architectural core of the life force which generates, sustains and expands the concept of life. It is so normal to eat everyday, and digest effortlessly everyday, but it is worth reflecting that we have no clue how the whole process of digestion happens without our conscious alignment of processes.

It is indeed `magical` that we think we do, when actually we hardly have any control over the force of our living, and even dying. Perhaps, within that `ego` lies a deep rooted belief that we are the creators and therefore, it is a natural way of expressing ourselves unconsciously regarding processes about which we lack conscious awareness.

It is a wonder too that I can express myself in this blog by framing words and sentence structures which are complex and perhaps even essential. After all, writing a blog is so normal, but it is not uncommon for me to feel fascinated by what I have written when I re-read some of my stuff later, wondering how the words could have flown out of my intellectual reservoirs in such pointed ways.

Life, death and whatever lies in between and after are truly normal, but what is not normal is our response to the abundance that life bestows on us every single minute of our lives. Life is truly magical. It carries in its bosom the possibility of impossibility, suspense of certainty and creativity of the yet unfinished creative agenda of God. It does not appear to me God is done and dusted with his creation program. He has just let loose his ideas on both the world as well as on human beings, who he has bestowed with the maximum comprehension ability and connectivity to his designs.

The purpose of life is also to wonder at the magic of living normally. Humans struggle to not struggle, but this behaviour is far removed from nature's effortless bestowing of abundance which suggests struggle is just a misunderstanding and not a real fate.

So, let us all revel in the world of wonderment even as we go through the process of life in a so called normal way. 

Confessions Of A Bathroom Singer

Confessions Of A Bathroom Singer

In a way, the bathroom symbolises celebration, a celebration of temporary liberation from the mundane yet intensely responsibility-driven world. My first reaction to marking this celebration is to break into one of my favourite Hindi film numbers, with the accompanying sound of the running water, the bucket and the mug which serve as a loyal orchestra band.

The bathroom in our lives provides just the right context as well as space for expression of liberation. The moment we stand face to face with our `stripped morality`, we experience a sense of deja vu to which only the objects surrounding us stand as mute witnesses. This has been going on ever since we started taking bath on our own behind shut doors. Paradoxically, the shut door opens up a peculiarly free personality which lets go off the moment the clothes are allowed to let go from the body.

Every person on the planet must be having his or her own way of celebrating a brief solo existence on a daily basis inside the bathroom. Away from the glaring and expectant eyes of people, one feels connected to oneself through every dynamic that constitutes a human being – physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. In the outer world – I mean in the one that dominates outside the bathroom -- so many things about us get covered under the man-made clothing of relationships and society's behavioural prescriptions. But the bathroom, while technically is just a knob away, presents an unique `so near yet so far` paradigm, for nobody would dare violate the norms prescribed for people who are not part of the bathroom drama.

In a way, the bathroom symbolises celebration, a celebration of temporary liberation from the mundane yet intensely responsibility-driven world. My first reaction to marking this celebration is to break into one of my favourite Hindi film numbers, with the accompanying sound of the running water, the bucket and the mug which serve as a loyal orchestra band. For years now, I have been a confirmed bathroom singer, never quite seriously considering extending my musical talents to the professional world of singing, perhaps because the liberating feeling that comes with straining your vocal chords in the company of an intangible orchestra band would get snatched away amidst the cacophony of human competition.

Over the years, my entry into the bathroom has held greater significance than just a personal cleansing activity. It has also served as an announcement to folks around my living area that I am very much present amidst my fellow mortals, besides of course providing them with unsolicited free entertainment (yes, some might interpret it as a highly avoidable intrusion into their domain of `chaotic peace`).

I have always treated the bathroom as a recording studio, and therefore sing with gusto, fervour and sometimes, melancholic melody, in the hope that some intense music lover or film producer will get captivated and elevate my sole standing (or should I say soul standing) from the bathroom to the larger stage where people can rejoice in the new found talent baked for years inside four resilient walls. The bathroom walls for so long have stood as appreciative listeners (after all, as they say, walls too have ears), never daring to give me feedback, perhaps because they too were celebrating the feeling of liberation that resonated from within my intensely rehearsed vocal chords. So, maybe it is divine will that is preventing me from coming within the zone of film producers, as then I would get exposed to the prying eyes and acidic hearts of so called competitors. Sure, as you can see, I have an exaggerated opinion of my singing talent and make no effort to hide the narcissistic admiration.

All in all, the bathroom for me offers the best solution to both pent-up expression as well as aggression, as all you need to do when you are down in life is to open the bathroom door, shut it behind you, and drown your worries in the most divine of creations – Mr Water.

To Sir With Love – A Tribute To Asghar Ali Engineer

To Sir With Love – A Tribute To Asghar Ali Engineer

His death is a great loss to various sections of society – academia, social reform and the budding bunch of intellectuals, who are trying to decipher the current state of the world and the direction it is headed in. In a world dominated by materialistic desires, where everything is a simplistic transactional process, Sir will be sorely missed for the vibrant thought leadership he provided to society.

Yesterday was a solemn day, as I felt the `missing presence` of Sir in his office. By Sir I mean the great scholar, intellectual and reformist Asghar Ali Engineer who passed away in May. I told his son Irfan that I could feel Sir was still around.

I first met Sir in 1993 during his lecture at Mumbai University. I approached him for a job as I had done my post graduation in Politics and he was running a social research organisation. I got the job as a research assistant and he thus became my first employer. I worked with him closely for a year and a half and then moved on to explore my life ahead as a journalist.

Twenty years later too I can feel the impact of his personality on my life, especially in the writing space. He authored an incredible 70 books in his lifetime and I was witness to his voracious reading and writing abilities. It was a proud moment for me when he at short notice agreed to launch my first book `The 20 20 20 20 Formula For Success` on June 19, 2011 at Mumbai University's Kalina campus.

Besides the gift of language and of the gab too, he carried an almost superhuman sense of courage and conviction. All his life he stood up fearlessly for what he believed in, travelled the world to get his message across and worked real hard. His autobiography `A Living Faith` is a must-read for those looking for establishing a firm purpose in life. The book brings alive the joy of purpose, sufferings, toil and concern for developing a just society like only a man obsessed with his mission can. Sir was a giant in his field and commanded the respect of people from all walks of life.

His contribution to my life I realise now is immense, as somewhere I was inspired by him to intellectualise, analyse and write. Though I hardly met him a few times since I moved out of his organisation in mid 1995, his influence stayed with me as I wandered through careers and companies in an attempt to discover my personal purpose.

It is rare indeed to be closely associated with people of Sir's stature. He transmitted inexhaustible energy and was truly an extraordinary human being. When he spoke, people listened. When he wrote, people `listened`, for his writings communicated with the reader, and when he read, he was a genuine student of knowledge and perspective.

His death is a great loss to various sections of society – academia, social reform and the budding bunch of intellectuals, who are trying to decipher the current state of the world and the direction it is headed in. In a world dominated by materialistic desires, where everything is a simplistic transactional process, Sir will be sorely missed for the vibrant thought leadership he provided to society.

There will hardly be anybody else like Sir. He died the way he lived – FIGHTING. Thank You Sir. This world will miss you, ALWAYS.