AnIdealCalledIndia

Hanuman Brave Hanuman Strong

2012-01-06T11:26:00.001-08:00

Hanuman Brave, Hanuman Strong,
Hanuman unstopable one,
With every breath and every step,
Hanuman I become,

Hanuman brave, hanuman strong,
Hanuman pious one,
With every step and every breath,
Hanuman I become,

(Work in progress)

In shadows of warriors

2011-11-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

In shadows of warriors,
and times gone by,
We find our answers,
and reasons why

Hanuman and I are one - 3

2011-08-22T00:46:00.000-07:00

The third version:

My purpose I have found,
Hanuman my lord,
Power is around,
hanuman my lord,

Things that are profound,
Hanuman my lord,
Are coming around, hanuman my lord,

yet there is a piece,
missing from my lot,
clear away this mystery,
Hanuman my lord.

Hanuman I become - 2

2011-07-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

This is the second version of my poem. I feel like the evolution of this poem reflects my own evolution and relationship with Hanuman and all that he represents:

To you O lofty Hanuman,
I give my prayerful call
to your incredible power,
I pray with soul and all.

You gazed upon Sri Lanka,
oh Pavan filled with doubt,
You lept for trust and righteousness,
You went with no way out.

On that sea shore you showed us,
a truth that is profound,
When purpose is remembered,
Power too is found.

A note by Rabindranath Tagore

2009-04-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

Living one's own life in truth is living the life of all the world, then the unquiet atmosphere of the outward struggle clears up and the power of spontaneous creation finds its way through the centre of all things
--- Rabindranath Tagore

Basera-e-Tabessum

2008-12-17T18:09:00.001-08:00

A beautiful project and a beautiful video :)

What indeed should a free man do?

2007-10-01T23:31:00.000-07:00

This poem is my followup on my 2 earlier articles: Mr India's Dilemma and Gulal in which I explored a volunteers thoughts about their participation in Asha. This poem describes the volunteer's conclusion. It is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's quote: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world"

It does not start with conquering the world,
It does not start with working for one's country,
It does not start with volunteering for one's community,
It does not start with working for one's family.

These pieces fall into place automatically,
They will bask in the glory of the most important task,
They will stand like bricks, one upon the other,
First the family, then the community, then the country, then the world.

The real work starts with me,
It starts with self purification,
It starts with adding strength to my character,
It starts with self development

When one's will is strong and vision clear,
Everything else will fall into place,
Like planets bask in the sun's glory,
And nations bask in the glory of good men (and women)

My deeds will touch my kin and friends,
My actions will guide their actions,
All talk of intent is useless,
All intentions of upliftment are vain

The only downtrodden one lifts is oneself,
The downtrodden of the world rise in one's wake,
The only man I pity is me,
When I am strong, my people will strenghten.

The greatest service a man can do
Is to cease to cause worry to others,
When one is secure in the eyes of the world,
Then alone can one inspire

With purity of purpose,
And selfless motives,
With the conquest of weakness,
Must this journey begin ...

~Saurabh
(A budding poet I should say ;)

Gulal

2007-06-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

Gulal is a dry color used in Holi – the Indian festival of color. It is usually Red, Yellow, Purple, Green, Orange and of many other colors. The story goes like this … Mika was a passionate friend of India and discovered Asha while seeking volunteer opportunities. Soon after the new volunteer orientation, she found herself lending a hand to the perpetually swamped chapter coordinators, project stewards and other teams. She attended workshops, sold Chai (tea) and as the story continues … found her feet.
One day she pondered, “So we call ourselves ‘Asha for Education’ … but don’t we do much more than education? We supported the Bhopal gas victim’s campaign, organized talks to educate ourselves and to raise public awareness. We supported the ‘Right to Information’ and discussed the ‘Right to Education’ bill. We also support fellowships, learning networks and god knows what else. “
All good work … but where is the common ground? Can so many small initiatives really get us somewhere big? Wouldn’t we have greater impact if listed out our three most important priorities and focused our collective efforts on them? Why are we here? Why are we doing what we are doing? What is the direction of our endeavors?
The next day was Holi, the Indian festival of color. Mika was out in an open field and had filled her fists with Gulal. On an impulse, she looked towards the clear blue sky, and hurled the Gulal towards it. The grains of color took the shape of a red apparition or a cloud … and in it she saw - Asha’s structure. This was not a pyramidal structure like that of a conventional organization.
Mika realized that the paradigms that apply to conventional organizations - such as central themes, core competencies and strategy did not necessarily apply to this … ‘what-do-you-call-this-type-of-organization’. In this cloud of red dust, each grain was its own master and took its own decisions. It defined its own path and responded independently to the forces that acted upon it.
“If I push my hands into the air“, she thought “to which grain will I give direction?” Which grain can prepare the strategy? Why will the others follow? How much time would it take to build consensus? We took 6 months to take a stand on ‘Right to Education’ bill. How long would 66 chapters take to take the stand? What about change and flexibility? What if we developed a strategy – in x months … and then realized that we got it wrong? Would we do then? What about exceptions? What if our core strategy did not include a fight against indentured prostitution – but we go the opportunities to do so? Would we turn them down?
Mika was thoughtful– on one hand she saw the value of a direction and on the other she saw what she had to compromise to pursue it. “There has to be a middle path between the two” she thought. She then read Asha’s mission “To catalyze socio-economic change in India through education of underprivileged children.” But realized that the freedom to interpret the statement is hers alone; that the path to the pursuit of this mission is hers to choose;
Mika has not figured it all out. She realizes that the commitment to a direction is important but, she wants to focus on crafting her own mission and direction, for Asha’s direction is no more than the direction of its volunteers taken together.

Mr. India's Dilemma

2007-04-02T23:18:00.001-07:00

The head hunters at NASA Seattle were looking for candidates to head their quality assurance department when they came across Mr. India. His experience with Mogambo's missiles blew them away and they made him an offer he could not resist. So with Sridevi and the kids in tow, Mr. India moved to Seattle. He started shopping at Indian stores, reading mails on Indian lists and thinking about what he could do for India.
Though he was no stranger to India's problems: religious strife, female feticide, bureaucracy, et al; its contrast with his new frame of reference, hit him with unparalleled force. So one day, as he stood in his balcony, watching the sun set and the moon rise, he tore open his shirt(superman style), and declared, that he, Mr India, with his dads formulas, and superhero powers would bring about India's redemption.
But what should he do? AIDS is endemic, farmers are dying, 50 million kids are out of school, militant movements are thriving, criminals are ruling the country. Kicking Mogambo's 'but' - is not enough!. His head reeling and heart thumping he ran inside the house and asked Sridevi "What must a superhero do?". Sridevi, looked up from the DVD screen, and said "Instead ask yourself … what must a free man do?"
What indeed must a free man do ... ?
His quest for answers, took him to a talk organized by Asha Seattle. It was called 'Right to Information(RTI) - a Talk by Arvind Kajriwal - Magsaysay award winner for emergent leadership in 2006'. His eyes opened a little. For the first time, he understood the fundamental relationship between the flow of information and a just and equitable society. Encouraged, he attended an IAS officer's talk, and learned that all politicians are not evil. Many roads turn out badly simply because we don’t have the expertise to build them right. At Ms. Jayashree Janardhan's workshop, he learned that a tribal child does not learn from a book that depicts an average home with a TV and a Fridge, because the book does not relate to its culture.
In activist Suma Josson's film he saw an objective analysis of the Green revolution (I am still not convinced it is 100% true) that mainstream media just does not undertake. He saw that multinationals used local deities as brand ambassadors for their products. He saw that as mono-cropping destroys India's genetic diversity, some people are quietly filing patents to claim ownership of well adapted local varieties. He saw how one-season seeds destroy traditional models of sustainability which prescribe the reuse of seeds season after season. He saw that expensive fertilizers reduced soil-productivity in the long run and that a gene resistant to American Bollworm does not fight desi Kidas (other local worms).
Talk after talk, discussion after discussion, over and over again, he forced himself to confront that bitter truth: 'We the people' don’t understand our own problems…
But Mr. India realized that he could not apply America's solutions as is to India's problems. When his friend, the CEO of a company decided to spend Lakhs of rupees on doing up the walls of a poor school, he told the friend that nutritious food is more important than pretty walls. When another friend decided to construct new schools, he told the friend that a worthier challenge was to improve the quality of the existing 900,000 schools. And though Mr. India has not arrived, he has avoided doing more harm than good, which, unfortunately, is exactly what zealous superheroes end up doing - despite good intentions.
But that’s Mr. India. Let’s talk about me. I am no Mr. India ... I have work! Kids! Boss! Spouse! traffic ! ... you name it, I’ve got it. I don’t have the time to attend talks ... and anyway, I pay them Asha folks some cash every year, to remind myself that I remember.
True, but far away from Seattle, between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, is a potpourri of races, languages, religions and customs. A place where paradoxes of poverty, riches, renunciation, ambition, hope, dreams and despondency exist together. Some call this mass of land a country. I call it an Ideal … an ideal called India.
This great ideal does not need your charity. Hell No!! There are more billionaires in Mumbai than there are in New York. What it needs is your awakening. It needs you to recognize that freedoms are expensive that privileges are loan. It needs you to wake up ... and do something!
Note: I a male protagonist for convenience only.