An awakening

This almost defunct blog finally gets to see some life, an awakening of sorts. May be it was the lack of any worthy experiences to share, that kept this blog in a dormant almost non existent state. Fortunately, life is again filling up with experiences worthy of sharing.

It has been over a month since I joined a residential yoga course, YIC at a yoga institute near Bangalore  - SVYASA -Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anushandhana Samsthaana.  The reasons for joining this course are varied. Primarily - I wanted to learn the yogasanas and wanted to be an early riser. I thought a one month rigorous regimen is probably the best solution as I had failed at all earlier attempts of rising early. However, after completing the course, I have mixed feelings which I hopefully can lucidly explain.

First the daily routine -

• 4.30 - 4.45 AM - Wake up
• 5.00 - 5.15 - Shloka recitation
• 5.15 - 6.00 - Pranayama.
• 6.00 - 7.00 - Yogasana practice
• 7 - 7.15 : Bhagavadgita shloka recitation
• 7.15 - 8 : Lecture
• 8 - 8.45: Breakfast
• 8.45- 9 : Patriotic songs ( all of us have to sing in a group )
• 9 - 9.30 : Karma Yoga ( House hold work )
• 9.30 - 10.30 : Break
• 10.30 - 11.30 - Lecture
• 11.30 - 1 PM - Yogasana practice
• 1 - 3 : Lunch and break
• 3 - 4 : Lecture
• 4 - 5 : Pranayama.
• 5 - 6: Break
• 6 - 6.30 : Bhajans
• 6.30 - 7.30 : Lecture
• 7.30 - 8.15: Dinner
• 8.15 - 9 : Happy assembly.

Yes, it was rigorous and demanding and never in my life had I been in such a routine for a duration of  month. I guess the sudden exposure to such a routine sent my body and mind off balance.During the first week, I fell sick and had to rely on antibiotics for revival. I couldn't get myself to eat the food which was quite bland and tasteless. My biggest complaint however was the cleanliness. There were flies in the dining hall in spite of an insect repellent. The dorm was very shabby and the bathrooms were totally unclean. After about 10 days, I almost decided to pack my bags and leave. However, a couple of friends persuaded me to stay back and I'm so glad I did.

The lectures on Swami Vivekananda by Prof NVC Swamy were undoubtedly the highlight of the course. Prof Swamy's oratory skills took us back through a journey so memorable that words fail to explain. It seemed as if Prof Swamy had actually spent time with Swami Vivekananda. I was completely lost in the lectures, rather stories. It was a great pleasure to hear about SV's life and message from the master storyteller.

Dr. Ranganji's lecture on Yoga and management was another highlight. He explained Organizational behavior concepts with such clarity and simplicity that I was dumbstruck. The blunders that I had committed during my job as a project manager just unfolded before my eyes. The greatest lesson I learned is that to be successful in any career there are only two qualities that one needs to have - Honesty and relationship management. It was thrilling to learn that the concepts of the Vedas, which are almost 10,000 years old have relevance even to this day, in almost every aspect of day to day life, in all walks of life.

Frankly, at the end of the course, one day I just sat down thinking how quickly the month had gone past. I didn't experience any noticeable change in any physiological or psychological aspects, but I definitely had utmost fun. Some of the memorable bhajans that we sang still ring in my ears. Never in my life will I get a chance to have such an experience, but I just hope that I get to cross paths with my fellow YICians all through my life.

The fundamentals of fundamentals

Cliche'd isn't it ? May be not. There are a few times in life , when some seemingly trivial incidents make you look things in new light. A casual dinner conversation with a friend turned into one of the most intellectually stimulating discussions I ever had. It all started with why I want to pursue business education and then drifted around environment consciousness, global warming awareness and at this juncture my friend said something that kind of shook me. It goes something like this.In a few years time, may be in the next 15-20 years, we will not have to worry about resource shortage. In essence, humans will have mastered the technology to 'manufacture' everything. These are the so called believers in nanotechnology. At the outset, this seems too far fetched. It's like the movie Matrix becoming a reality. How can EVERYTHING be manufactured. I mean we are talking about manufacturing the most fundamental living organisms - the cell or even at a more fundamental level - the DNA. How radical would that be ? Like Morpheus said in Matrix, 'Humans were no longer born, they were made". Not to go too far in time, but the realization that dawned upon me was how this concept of 'fundamental level thinking' is neglected in day to day life. It then did occur to me, how distantly far I was from the day to day fundamentals, operating at a 10,000 ft macro level.

As I started questioning a few basic assumptions, based upon which these macro things (for simplicity, let's call these macros) are looked at - the macros just fell apart. Something as simple as buying a company's stock (a macro behavior) based on the EPS (the fundamentals) just fell apart when I realized that the EPS was in fact not the most fundamental tenet of a company. it's just a logical entity derived from several underlying fundamental factors. Even mundane problems such as a headache - are looked at a very macro level. I don't get to the most fundamental part of why I got the headache in the first place. There's relief right at hand in the form of Tylenol and I take this short cut. I'm sure many of us do. I can think of many such examples.

I think we are, or for sure I am so sucked into the world of macros that I have lost the vision of fundamentals, or in some cases, forced to take my vision away from the fundamentals. It's so wrong.

As I think more about how to get to these fundamentals, one thing becomes very clear. It's very hard and time consuming to get to the fundamentals. At some point of time, I give up and take a short cut. It's high time I stopped taking such short cuts and focused more on the most fundamental aspects of life.