Inventing & Abolishing Gods!

“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him!”

- Voltaire, 18th century French Enlightenment writer, historian, playwright and philosopher.

"If God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him!"
- Mikhail Bakunin, 19th century Russian revolutionary and Father of Collectivist Anarchism

I was quite amused when I came across these two diametrically opposite views of Voltaire and Bakunin about God. But I was not surprised at all because both of them have stated the truth: Gods have been "invented" and "abolished" over the course of about four-and-half millenniums (3000 BC to 1500 AD).

Consider these historical facts:

The residents of ancient Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) "invented" and worshipped Abzu, Adad, Amurru, Anu, Ashur, Enki, Ishtar, Kingu, Kishar and many other deities. People living in the land of Canaan (present-day Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Syria) "invented" and worshipped deities such as Adonis, Asherah, Ashima, Ba'al, Chemosh, Derceto, Eshmun, Hadad, Melgart, Moloch, Shalim, Yahweh, Yam and many more. Egyptians "invented" and worshipped deities such as Amun, Ra, Apis, Bakha, Isis, Horus, Osiris and Ptah. But all these and many other gods were "abolished" systematically and replaced by the one and only Allah "invented" by Prophet Mohammed. The Jews retained the Canaanite god Yahweh and abolished the rest!

The Europeans too had their own share of gods and goddesses! The ancient Greeks "invented" and worshipped deities such as Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Dionysus, Hades, Hera, Hermes, Poseidon, Zeus and many others. The ancient Romans "invented" and worshipped many deities, including Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Apollo, Vulcan, Minerva, Juno, Janus, Diana, Vesta, Hercules and many more. But then came Jesus Christ and his followers who "abolished" all these pagan gods to make way for Jehovah, the 'Supreme Lord'. Later, Christians started considering Jesus as their God, thereby replacing Jehovah for all practical purposes.

I wonder what happened to these thousands of gods "abolished" after the advent of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in Middle-East and Europe. Where did they go? Are they still there ('there' means where? In the heavens? I don't know!) or have they taken refuge somewhere else in the cosmos? Are these ancient gods hoping that some holy man (or woman) will rediscover them and bring them back into business? (Yes, business! Isn't spiritualism a large-scale and highly lucrative business? Look at the ultra-luxurious ashrams, private jets, fleet of super-luxury cars and other kind of 'maya' accumulated by modern godmen and godwomen, and you'll agree).

And what happened to the faith of the people who believed in these deities and worshipped them with all their hearts? These people must have offered their prayers, sung hymns and paeans to seek the blessings of these deities, sacrificed animals and birds (and probably human beings too) to appease them, asked all kinds of favours (mannatein aur duayein) from them, celebrated festivals in their honour, performed all kinds of rituals to please them and undertaken fasts to seek health, wealth and happiness for themselves and their families. All of this vanished into thin air along with the deities. An entire social ecosystem of customs, traditions, beliefs and practices died when the deities were "abolished".

Indians too have "invented" and "abolished" gods but, unlike Middle-East and Europe, we "invented" large number of gods and goddesses, but did not indulge in large-scale "abolishing" of gods. That's probably the reason why we have incredibly large number of living ( jagrut?!! ) gods and goddesses!! Apart from the "invention" of grand deities such as Ram, Krishna, Shiva, Ganesh, Hanuman, Durga, Mahalakshmi, Balaji, Murugan, Ayappa and few others, there are thousands of local deities "invented" and worshipped by Indians in villages across the length and breadth of the country. In fact, the number of village deities might run into a few lakhs, considering that there are over 640,000 villages in India and almost every other village in India has its own presiding deity (gram devata). The deities named above are the most favourite among the masses, but other deities such as Indra, Brahma and Vishnu, who were highly revered and worshipped in ancient times, find themselves almost banished and ignored (if not 'abolished'). Of course, Vishnu has been cleverly retrieved in the form of his ten 'avatars', but that's a small consolation!

Not many Indians know that India's first two organised religions, Jainism and Buddhism, never propagated belief in any supernatural god. Probably, that was the reason why these religions failed to take roots in the psyche of the Indian masses who were bred on the belief in god for thousands of years. Also, since both these religions preached non-violence, the followers of these two religions never resorted to violence to spread their faiths and impose their world-view on others. 

Mercifully, human beings have stopped "inventing" gods in modern times. Is it because gods are not born in Kaliyug? Or is it because people living in Kaliyug refuse to buy the story if someone claims to be 'god'? Also, people have stopped "abolishing" other people's gods with the fanatical zeal of the ancient hordes because we have become more secular, tolerant and accommodating in our religious beliefs and outlook.

Humans beings have "invented" and "abolished" thousands of gods till date across all cultures all over the world. That's why I say: God by now must be really weary and wary(!) of being "invented" by the believers and "abolished" by the non-believers!!!

[I have presented above some of the bare historical facts and treated the subject in a sarcastic, light-hearted and casual manner, with few serious comments thrown in between. Also, I have deliberately used the words "invented" and "abolished" repeatedly in relation to gods to keep the focus on the views of Voltaire and Bakunin. For an exhaustive and critical exposition of the phenomenology of God and religion, read my forthcoming book.]

Bhagwan Ko Sanmati?

"Ishwar, Allah tero naam, sabko sanmati de Bhagwan..." so goes the popular bhajan. Read some of the scriptures below and decide whether you really want to have the kind of 'sanmati' some of the gods are peddling!

OLD TESTAMENT:

Here’s what the Old Testament, the fountainhead of Judaism and Christianity, tells Jews and Christians to do if someone tells them to worship other gods or convert to other faith:

 “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife of your bosom, tries to secretly entice you, saying: ‘Let us go and serve other gods’, you must kill him, your hand must strike the first blow in putting him to death and the hands of the rest of the people following. You must stone him to death, since he has tried to divert you from your God…”

[Deuteronomy, Ch. 13, v. 6-10]

QUR’AN:

If a person does not believe in Allah’s revelations in the Qur’an, here’s what Allah will do to them:

“Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they taste the torment.”

(Surah IV, verse 56).

So Allah will roast us in fire because we do not believe in his revelations in the Qur’an. When our skins get fully burnt in fire, he’ll replace them with fresh skins so that we taste the torment once again!

If anyone dares to fight against Muslims, here’s the ‘reward’ from Allah:

“The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter, theirs will be an awful doom.”

(Surah V, verse 33).

What kind of punishment ('reward') is that: "killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off"?  

Allah prescribes revenge against non-Muslims, thus:

“And We prescribed for them therein: The life for the life, and the eye for the eye, and the nose for the nose, and the ear for the ear, and the tooth for the tooth, and for the wounds retaliation. But whoso forgoeth it (in the way of charity), it shall be expiation for him. Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers.” (Surah V, verse 45)

Did Mahatma Gandhi say, “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind”? Here Allah commands the Muslims to take not just an eye for an eye, but also life for life, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth and retaliation for wounds!

Want to know my views on these and other 'religious' verses (as well as views of scientists, sociologists, psychologists and Nobel Prize winners on gods, religions, religious scriptures)? Read them in my forthcoming book! J

But can't resist making couple of comments, though. If this is Ishwar's, Allah's and God's 'sanmati', then we need to change the bhajan to "Ishwar, Allah tero naam, sabko sanmati de Insaan"!! Also, since these scriptures reveal these gods as unforgiving, the English saying "To err is human, to forgive divine" should be changed to: "To punish is divine, to forgive human"!

Creativity Lost!

The other day I watched with amusement the ICICI Prudential ad on TV where a school girl asks her father if he could buy her a laptop and her father replies ‘yes’ explaining to his reticent wife that their daughter would have higher education and invent something like Facebook or YouTube when she grows up. Here brand ambassador Big B interjects the father and explains that higher education costs money and therefore it is important to take the Children’s Education Policy.

It's like any other persuasive ad you get to see on TV every day and I do not wish to go into the merits or demerits of having or not having a policy for children's education. What really got me thinking is the father’s fond hope that his daughter would invent something like Facebook or YouTube after completing her studies. How many Indian software guys have invented something like Google, Facebook, YouTube or Twitter till date? Isn’t it surprising that after being a software superpower for about two decades, Indians have not been able to come up with anything like Google, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, Twitter and the like? (Probably the only exception being Sabeer Bhatia’s ‘Hotmail’, which was a joint effort between Sabeer and his American colleague Jack Smith).

So, why are our software guys doing the routine things they have been doing all these years instead of doing something creative? Has the routine work sapped their creativity or have they become complacent, wallowing in their ‘success’ (measured in fat bank balances, swanky cars and plush houses in upmarket localities) and remaining content with writing codes day in and day out for their companies? If so, I think India’s success as a software powerhouse is just a mirage which will disappear when the labour cost advantage vanishes as more and more cheaper destinations become available to American companies and the dollar deluge becomes a trickle.

Internet is an immensely powerful and versatile medium and I guess there are many more innovations waiting to be discovered. We need some great innovations to fall back on when our cost advantage disappears. If our Indian software guys just start thinking out-of-the-box, they might as well hit upon quite a few really great ideas. That would be the day when a parent, like the dad in the ad, would find buying a laptop for a school-going son or daughter worthwhile.

The Power Of Ahimsa!

Once again, the power of Ahimsa was witnessed when Anna Hazare’s fast-unto-death forced the UPA government to accept the demand for Lok Pal bill. What could not be achieved in more than four decades was achieved in 96 hours. It was a glimpse of our own Independence struggle when a dhoti-clad bald and lanky old man walking with just a lathi in his hands brought the mighty British empire to its knees. The anti-corruption crusade is our second freedom struggle and it took an Anna Hazare to kick-start it.

It's heartening to see the success of a non-violent struggle. But many people do not believe in non-violence and feel that only an armed struggle can bring about a radical change. Can corruption be eradicated by violent means? Can an army of rebels armed with AK-47s, hand grenades and Molotov cocktails put an end to corruption by unleashing violence against corrupt politicians and babus? The answer is: NO. The government (with its power-drunk and corrupt politicians and bureaucrats) has the military, paramilitary and police forces at its disposal and can easily crush any violent uprising. An armed army of rebels is simply no match against the might of the government’s forces. Also, the violence of the rebels provides the government with the justification to unleash its own violence.

Therefore, the only way to challenge the brutal might of the government is through non-violent struggle (Ahimsa) and Mahatma Gandhi realized the importance of people’s power and the power of Ahimsa during the Independence struggle. When thousands (or sometimes even lakhs) of people come out on streets to demonstrate peacefully, the government is at a loss to figure out how to respond. On the one hand, it cannot order the police or the armed forces to open fire on the unarmed masses (rare exceptions being the Jallianwala Bagh and Tiananmen Square massacres), but on the other hand, it also knows fully well that if a people’s agitation keeps simmering for long it is likely to snowball into a revolutionary movement. So the only option for the government is to negotiate with the leaders of the agitation and arrive at a mutually acceptable settlement. The British did that with the Mahatma; our deshi firangees have done just that with Anna. That’s the power of Ahimsa!

But the fight against corruption does not end with the passage of the Lok Pal bill in the parliament - the fight will actually begin after its passage. The Lok Pals/Lok Ayuktas have to be persons of unimpeachable integrity who will do their duty without fear or favour and make eradication of corruption from public life their life's mission. The fight will be truly successful when all corrupt politicians and babus are put behind bars and all their ill-gotten wealth confiscated by the courts. So let's not celebrate now, but keep our celebrations for the day when we win our second Independence from these deshi white-collar bandits.

Prophetic Words

“Power will go into the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come when even air and water would be taxed in India."

The above quote is attributed to the British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. The source of this quote is not known, but Churchill is supposed to have made the remark “on the eve of Indian Independence” or in the House of Commons. If Churchill had indeed made such derogatory and demeaning remark about Indians, the then nationalist leaders such as Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad, and many others would have definitely condemned it and rightly so. After all, the nationalist leaders who fought and won our freedom were selfless men and women of character and integrity who sacrificed everything for the country and were always committed to the welfare of the people at large. So, all Indians would have condemned Churchill’s remark as highly objectionable and yet another instance of British arrogance, colonial mentality and insensitivity.

Now, cut to today’s India. Look at our current breed of politicians and the words of Churchill do not seem objectionable at all. In fact, his words seem so prophetic because whatever Churchill had said is the reality today. Power has indeed gone into the hands of “rascals, rogues, freebooters” (and, if I may add, murderers, rapists, dacoits, mafias, scamsters, etc.) who have plundered India in the last 45 years (assuming that during the first 20 years after Independence, we had men and women of integrity at the helm) more than the British did in their 200-year rule. The series of scams being unearthed every other day shows how India is being plundered, looted and pillaged by our very own desi bandits going by the names of the Raja, Karunanidhi (and his clan), Kalmadi, Koda, Pawar, Gandhi (not the Mahatma), Chavan, Deshmukh, Mayawati, Laloo, Yeddyurappa, Jayalalitha, Sukharam...the list is endless. These dacoits (in the garb of our leaders) have plundered billions and trillions and stashed the ill-gotten moolah in foreign banks.

In the early 1990s, the scams used to be of the order of a few hundred crores or few thousand crore rupees, but today the scams are in tens of thousand crores and even couple of lakh crore rupees. But we Indians have become so morose and moribund that even these mindboggling amounts do not shock us anymore and it’s business as usual for us as we continue with our daily routines. So the white-kurta-and-dhoti clad or the safari suit-wearing dacoits are gleefully continuing with their looting spree.

Almost all Indian leaders we have today (barring some honourable exceptions) are “of low calibre and men of straw” who have “sweet tongues and silly hearts”. What a realistic and perfect description of our political nincompoops! Is it not true that these leaders “fight amongst themselves for power” and, as a result, India has got “lost in political squabbles”. As for taxes, the good news is that they have already taxed water long time back, while the tax on air is perhaps just a matter of time! 

I think Churchill deserves to be conferred with a “Bharat Ratna’ posthumously for providing us 65 years ago such an accurate and realistic description of our future leaders! 

Our present day leaders make me feel the British rule was probably much better (despite some 'aberrations'). Can’t we throw these leaders into the Indian Ocean (with 500-kg stones tied around their neck!) and bring back the British once again?

New Book - A Course Correction

It's been three months and a week since I began writing a book full-time, but after three months of exhaustive readings, contemplation and introspection, I began to feel that probably I have bitten more than I can chew. The subjects on which the book was supposed to be written are so vast that I realised it was virtually impossible to complete the book in 2-3 years' time (as I had initially thought I would). Now I feel that such a voluminous book would take at least 8-10 years to complete, and if I try to complete it in 2-3 years, I would not be able to do justice to the topics because I would have to rush it to meet the deadline. Also, I cannot think of writing full-time for 8-10 years without a job because I do not have the bank balance which could last that long. And taking up a job once again is definitely NOT an option because my experience shows that trying to write such a book while doing a job simply doesn't work.
So, what do I do now? I was in a fix and needed to find a way out of this tight spot. And I found a way in a casual remark I had made in the presence of some of my office colleagues. I had casually hinted to them about the possibility of splitting the book into six different books. Which means that instead of covering six different topics with the same theme in a single book, there could be six different books on six different topics with the same theme! A sort of 'series' of books with a single theme! That was it. I decided I'll write these six books instead of writing a single voluminous book. This makes my life easy and the target very much manageable and achievable within the time-frame where my savings can sustain me. I expect that the publication of first book will bring me the money I need to keep me going for the next book, and so will the subsequent books. Most importantly, assuming that it would take me 18-24 months to complete one book, the six books will keep me occupied for the next 10-12 years (health permitting, hopefully)!!
Now, the next question was: what would be the topic of the first book in the series? I had no hesitation in deciding on this: it would be on spirituality, no doubt. God and religion are the most sensitive subjects arousing intense passions, emotions and reactions among followers, so I decided to deal with the topic first. After that, the next book would be on yet another hot topic: politics. Thereafter, it will be economy, society & culture, human understanding (philosophy) and science & technology, in that order.
The first book on spirituality should be out by the third or fourth quarter of 2012.

If Wishes Were Horses...!!

It's been exactly two months since I left my job and took a sabbatical to write the book (whose title I am yet to finalize). I can see for myself the remarkable progress made on the book in terms of quantitative as well as qualitative output. Not only is the output more prolific, but it is also more focussed and well-organised and, more importantly, it is much better in quality. The statistics will tell the whole story: 7,000-plus words in 2 months since I quit my job, as against 9,000-odd words in 5 years or so (from 2005 when the idea was born to Nov. 2010 when I quit).
The reason is simple: I have all the time in the world to read whole lot of books, articles and other reference material (collected over a period of over 30 years) or browse the web and access the entire universe of knowledge made available by Google; then duly understand, assimilate and introspect over whatever I have read; and, then, finally pen down all that gets distilled and keeps popping up in my mind all the time. This goes on without any distractions, worries or tensions {Correction: Exceptions being four distractions in a day (from my better-half, of course!) for morning breakfast & coffee, lunch, evening coffee and dinner....I cannot thank her enough for these distractions - although mundane and routine her work is supposed to be - but the truth is: her distractions keep me going!}
How I wish I had begun working full time on the book when the idea was born in 2005...! (in which case the book would have been out by 2008).
Ah...well, as they say, if only wishes were horses......!!!

The Ocean Of Knowledge

The ocean of knowledge is so deep that the deeper one goes, the deeper it keeps going. It is a bottomless wonder and one can only watch in amazement at the wonders that keep unfolding on the way. As Sir Isaac Newton, the English physicist who propounded the law of gravitation, puts it humbly: "I was like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." Mankind will have to keep diving into the depths of the great ocean to unravel the secrets of nature. Intellectual giants from Plato to Locke, Copernicus to Galileo, Newton to Darwin, Einstein to Hawking, Marx to Freud, and many others, have already unravelled some of the greatest mysteries of nature or interpreted the human mind and existence. Yet the riddle about how the first pulse of life got ticking on earth still remains to be solved, the mystery about whether life exists on other planets somewhere in the universe still eludes us. These are just two of the most formidable mysteries before mankind today, and the need is to channelize all our energy and resources towards solving them. We shall definitely be able to meet these and many more challenges, provided we don't use our huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons against each other and, in the process, annihilate the entire human race and all forms of life on earth. That would be the most colossal tragedy ever.
(A short extract from the concluding chapter of my forthcoming book)

A Miserable Moral Failure

Rudali's haunting song "Dil hoom hoom kare..." also revived some very sad memories of a tragedy that happened about 15 years ago. Especially the words in the 'antara' of the song "Teri oonchi ataari, maine pankh liye katwaaye..." opened up memories of deep regret in my heart. Why? Read this true story and you'll know.

A 25-year-old Hindu girl (can't disclose the girl's or her parent's identity for obvious reasons) had fallen in love with a Christian boy and both of them wanted to tie the knot and live together for the rest of their lives. The parents of the girl were horrified at the prospect of their elder daughter marrying outside not just their so-called 'high' caste, but also outside Hindu religion. The boy's parents had no objection, but the girl's parents were dead against the marriage, which created daily strife and tension between the girl and her parents. Days passed and things had probably gotten worse for the girl. One day she called me up and told me she wanted to meet me along with the boy. When I met her and the boy at a hotel in Matunga, I could see that both of them were very much in love. The girl requested me to speak to her parents and try to convince them to give their consent to the marriage. The boy told me that he had even offered to covert to Hinduism to make her parents agree to the marriage, but apparently the parents were adamant and would have none of it. After hearing them, I trotted out the usual smug advice about remaining firm in their resolve and told the girl to elope with the boy (if necessary) and get married in a court of law. I thought I had done whatever was necessary on my part and left them to fend for themselves.

I do not know what transpired between the girl and her parents after the meeting, but a few weeks later on a Diwali day the next thing I heard was the shocking news that the girl was dead. Her parents trotted out some goddam lies as explanation for her death (to save their face, obviously), but I knew very well that the girl had committed suicide. I could not stop my tears on hearing of her death and cursed myself no end for being so indifferent and insensitive to the plight of the girl. The girl had looked up to me, confided in me, desperately hoping that I would help her out in her hour of crisis, but I failed to understand the gravity of her situation. The tragedy was waiting to happen and probably she was looking up to me as her last hope, but I had failed her miserably. And with no hope left, she had ended her life. I cannot stop mourning the premature end of a beautiful young girl.

I do not know whether I would have been able to avert the tragedy and save the girl, but my lifelong regret is that I did not even try. It was a Himalayan blunder I am regretting and would continue to carry the burden of my regret for the rest of my life. It was a miserable moral failure on my part and I shall never pardon myself for this failure.

The young girl had not just 'pankh liye katwaaye' (cut her wings), she had cut short her precious life for the sake of love, while I stood on the sidelines watching the tragedy like a dumb and numb bystander.

As for the girl's parents, I pity them for sacrificing their own flesh and blood at the altar of some imaginary 'family honour' and 'sanctity' of their religion. The parents are as much to be blamed for snuffing out the life of their young daughter as our society is to be blamed for erecting the imaginary 'oonchi ataaris' and 'deewareins' of castes, creeds, classes, colours, races and what not. It's such a horrible shame that even in this 21st century we are ready to sacrifice our near and dear ones to defend and protect these imaginary barriers that clog our minds.

Of Legends And Faded Talents

Few days back I was fully immersed listening to the haunting melody of Rudali's "Dil hoom hoom kare, ghabaraaye..." (one of my all-time favourites) rendered by the legendary Lata Mangeshkar. I marvelled at the heavenly voice of the melody queen and wondered how she could achieve the height of perfection in her vocation. Was it the 'God's gift', was it her 'naseeb' or was it her hard work?

What is it that separates the legends from the others? What creates living legends like Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Bhimsen Joshi, Amitabh Bachchan, M S Subbulakshmi and the chosen few who attain perfection and scale the dizzying heights of glory?

I think the answer to this question partly lies in the reply given by Vinod Kambli explaining the difference between him and Sachin Tendulkar many years ago, when he said  "I took the stairs, while Sachin went up by the escalator!" But this does not explain why, despite starting together, Sachin could take the escalator and reach the top of the 100-storey tower (so to say) where no one else has reached till date, while Vinod panted after barely climbing two floors!

One reason, of course, is the talent. A person must have it in good measure to begin with. Both Sachin and Vinod obviously had loads of cricketing talent. In fact, Vinod was said to be more talented than Sachin. If this was true, why did he fade out so early in his cricketing career, while Sachin left behind trail-blazing records which may probably never be surpassed by any batsman in future? Surely both had to struggle initially for a place in the national team, but once in, Sachin converted the opportunity into gold, while Vinod squandered it recklessly. The same goes for Lata Mangeshkar, Bhimsen Joshi and other legends who had to wage their own battles to make it big in life.

The secret behind the extraordinary achievements of these legends lies in their dedication and commitment to their art and craft and their willingness to put in years of hard work to attain perfection. It's their years of 'sadhana' which separates these legends from ordinary talent. People hail their achievements and admire their success, but behind the success of every legend lies years of 'sadhana' which people are unable to see and appreciate.

What Keeps Us Going?

The other day I was wandering aimlessly on a crowded road. Hundreds of faces passed by, and since I knew none of them, these faces were nameless too for me. After watching the crowd for some time I started wondering what kept those people in the crowd (including myself)  and millions others like them going. Is it the work at the office or the factory? Or the chores at home? Is it the money in the bank accounts? Is it the property and other belongings? Or is it the near and dear ones?

After some introspection, I realised that work at the home, office or factory, bank balance, property, etc. are just the means to realize one's dreams. So, it's the dreams that keep us going. We keep doing things that we do every day, day after day, with the fond hope that we will realize our dreams some day.

So, a clerk in the office or a foreman on the shop floor dreams of becoming a manager, a young manager nurtures the ambition of becoming the CEO of the company, a political greenhorn aspires to be a corporator, an MLA wants to be the chief minister, an MP dreams of becoming a Prime Minister, a rap dancer wants to be next Prabhudeva, a painter dreams of becoming the next MF Husain or Anjolie Ila Menon, a 'gully' cricketer sees himself as the next Sachin Tendulkar, a budding singer wants to be tomorrow's Lata Mangeshkar or Mohammed Rafi, a junior artiste in the film industry dreams of making it big like Amitabh or Rajnikanth.

A slum-dweller may aspire to move into a flat, while a flat owner may want to buy that dream weekend home. A young girl may want to marry the boy of her dreams, or a newly-wed couple may dream of becoming proud parents of a cute little angel couple of years later. Young boys and girls may dream of making it into the IIMs, Harvard or Cambridge and a fresh MBA grad may expect to land a dream job. Millions of people, millions of dreams - because there is no limit to goals and no limit to dreaming. Some realize their dreams, some don't. Those whose dreams are fulfilled relish their success in life. But those who do not realize their dreams draw solace from the fact that they did give it a try, and their efforts and their struggle kept them going and made the journey worthwhile.

Preaching Is Better Than Practising!

How easy it is to preach than to practise! I always preached to the young guys and gals to follow their passion in life, to do their own thing, no matter what. But when it was my own turn to follow my passion of writing, it was 10-days of excruciating dilemma. I had this book in mind which I was struggling to write since 2005 but was unable to make much of a headway bogged down as I was with office and personal work. I was barely able to put together 9,000-odd words in five years, whereas the book was going to be something like 100,000 words. I thought, at the rate I was going,  it would take me more than 50 years to write the book! My 50-plus age did not offer me the luxury of spending 50 years on a single book. So I was really desperate and frustrated with the pathetic pace (but I took care not to show up my desperation and frustration in the office or at home).

Now, I had two options: give up my job and start working on the book full time or drop the idea of writing the book for good. It was a tough call because the decision had to be taken at a juncture when neither my age nor time was on my side - I was 54 and time was running out with each passing day. It was 'now or never' and the stakes were too high: giving up a decent paying job and not taking up another one for at least two years. Which meant I would not be earning even a dime and in fact I would be living off my savings for these two years. It meant risking my career and my savings to follow my passion. It was one hell of a decision to take, and many an agonising moments and prevaricating days later, I finally took the decision. I had already quit my job to take up a new job (more challenging and more rewarding one); instead I decided to work on the book full time!! It was the most difficult and momentous decision of my life and although it came quite late in life, I am glad I did take it. As they say, better late than never!

A few weeks after putting in my papers when I announced my decision to my office colleagues, close friends and relatives, their reactions were mixed. While some of them lauded my "bold and courageous" decision (some even expressing their desire to do the same but not being able to muster the courage to do it), others' reaction were "how could you do this at this age?", "have you given it a proper thought?" or "have you calculated the opportunity cost of not earning for two years?". Needless to say, I had considered all this and more, and that's why it took me 10 days to finally come to a decision to write the book.

Well, I guess it's only my passion and my belief in myself that gives me the courage and the conviction to do my own thing. It was the same passion which gave me the courage to give up my secure and easy-going job at BSES Ltd (now Reliance Energy Ltd) after 13 long years and enter the rough and tumble world of journalism. I relish the freedom to live my life on my own terms. Not for me the humdrum routine life - it's the thrill of living off the edge, a life on a roller-coaster ride that I enjoy the most! After all, I have only one life to live and it's my life and I wouldn't want to live it any other way.

Now that I have walked the talk, I think I can go back to preaching even more!!!

The Joy of Freedom!

It feels so nice to be on my own. I feel like a liberated soul and am enjoying my freedom to the hilt. No more scurrying to catch the 9.07 Bhayander (reverse) train in the morning or making a dash to catch the 7.39 p.m. Bhayander train at Dadar. No fretting and fuming over late trains, no more the dread of getting ‘crushed’ in the morning and evening rush hours, no more deadlines to meet…no nothing!

I can now work any time, chat any time, watch TV any time, surf any time, take a walk (actually, and not in the pejorative sense!) any time, sleep any time or just leisurely sip away few pegs sometimes. Now, any day is work day and any day Sunday. And even after a hard day’s work, there’s no fatigue, no tension whatsoever. Only an immense sense of fulfilment, pride and satisfaction of living my passion and being involved in my own creation. It's cool, man! Wouldn’t have it any other way. Hope to spend the rest of my life this way!