Out Of The Box Thinking ?

Long Long ago ,Two teams one comprising of "devas"(good) and other of "asuras"(bad) were made. They were posed with the problem that both the teams will be provided with sufficient food, but they could eat it only if they could eat without folding their elbow joint and they were not provided with any other means. Now they all had a problem!! how could one eat without folding elbow joint ? Isn't it all but natural to eat like that ?? But then when faced with the hunger problem both the teams put their thinking hats on!.

After a week when they were both to be evaluated , god( judge ) enters both the room, he is surprised to see completely contrasting results in the rooms. When the devas were happy and contended , there was blood bath with broken hands/legs also with some dead bodies among asura's . So wanting to know the secret, god asked both the teams what they did.

Asura's told that they could not find any idea but to try to cut of others hands/ hegs and try to use it without folding one's elbow joint when some were partially successful the trend picked up which later resulted into a sport/survival activity to maim others to save self, although some were unhappy.The end result being several injured with the living always in constant fear.

God nodded as he understood and turned to devas to see how they overcame the problem , devas told that when they could not eat with their own hands without folding the elbow joint , they saw a mother feeding her son and then an idea struck and they decided to feed each other without bending the elbow joint and still contended and satisfying each other's needs living in harmony.

This seemingly simple story carries a lot of significance.. When the basic message like team work , symbiosis are evident , what we need to notice here is "Thinking out of box" ,When we are faced with the problem we are so carried away by the norm and are streamlined in thoughts that we forget the problem but start caring about position and personal stake.

so i suppose it makes a lot of sense to deviate from the obvious as there is benefit for the self hidden in collective benefit , Thus it need not always be a cut throat competition.

As i say this, i remember the mythical pencil story in spacecraft of soviet nation which turned out had repurcussions so , when all the "Thinking out of box" may not be a happy ending it is still worth the try.I cant find better words than the following PS I Love You quote to capture it

"All I know is, if you don't figure out this something, you'll just stay ordinary, and it doesn't matter if its a work of art or a taco, or a pair of socks! Just create something... new, and there it is, and its you, out in the world, out side of you and you can look at it, or hear it, or read it, or feel it...and you know a little more about... you. A little bit more than anyone else does... Does that make any sense at all?"

Why this post ? Just wanted to thank the every "first" person who could think out of the box to Invent wheel , Think of concept "0" , Think of making chapati's / bread from wheat!!(strange we dont keep list of such important people!!) , Think of delegating brain job to flip flops! to have made my / countless lives better ( ofcourse easy too :D )!!.

In this context i remember a famous snippet from mankutimmana kagga by DVG :

ಅಕ್ಕಿಯೊಳಗನ್ನವನು ಮೊದಲಾರು ಕಂಡವನು

ಅಕ್ಕರದ ಬರಹಕ್ಕೆ ಮೊದಲಿಗನಾರು

ಲೆಕ್ಕವಿರಿಸಿಲ್ಲ ಜಗ ತನ್ನಾರು ಬಂಧುಗಳ

ದಕ್ಕುವುದೆ ದೆಸೆ ನಿನಗೆ ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ ||

I Don't Know

When a question is asked no matter whether the addressee knows the answer or not , there is always "Err I think" "It might be..." "Hmmm lets think...." , sometimes even worse "I definitely know it to be ...." (and say all crap without even addressing the question but by making sure it is packaged such that the one who has asked to question is totally off the track and believes the question is answered) . More often than not, one faces such situation. There are no exceptions , Even the most learned one's have been a prey to this Error.

This made me think about it, Is it so difficult to say I don't know ?? Wouldn't it be better instead to at least say that "I am not aware of it at this point in time " but definitely take an action to either figure it out or ask someone else you think might know? But no! In most of the cases it doesn't happen. Very few people i have come across have the courage to tell "I don't know" . Ofcourse every new situation would demand a learning curve and you start from zero , So what is wrong in admitting ? Is EGO such a big a factor ? If so what is the use of it , if it is coming in the path of one's own growth ?

As i was thinking about this topic , a bollywood song "Tujhe yaad na meri aayi" from kuch kuch hota hai was playing ... It reminded me of a story, It goes as follows.. There were two birds sitting on the same tree , they were inseparable yet different . One bird always was busy eating fruits in the tree , and was busy either enjoying the fruit or lamenting about its bitterness , but the other bird was always looking at this one with full of compassion and love as if to ask why was it always so engrossed in fruits when there were better things to do , but first one chose to either ignore or give a gibberish response and continued its course... This went on for years but one fine day when the same question was asked ,Instead of its regular response it said "I don't know , Can you please tell me what should i do ? " That response changed its future , It never had to go through the same troubles ever again.. It learnt how to live.

Many a times all it takes is to say "I don't Know" to find answers or to lead a better life, than putting up false pretenses and fooling oneself and others.. But is it easy ? I need to check with that bird.

Real Beauty

There have been millions before me and after who would try to define real beauty , but can words capture emotions ? How can one express what is to be felt , but is there any other alternative ? Yes there are several of explanation as well , as many minds so many thoughts and so many attempts.Well let me try to jot down my perception.

As i think what is beauty to me , my thoughts are wandering to moments when i would have exclaimed What a beauty!, yes colored sky by the rising sun , lush green mountains , deep blue sea ... but would i say that if i had to stare at the sun longer ? what if i was lost in those mountains or deep sea would i still like it ? I then realize it is just my eyes which tricked/made me like it.

Similarly some great music would get similar exclamation from me , but what if he/she is very unpleasing to look at and I am made to listen to song in front of her/him with my eyes open ? would i appreciate the music as much as i did without my sense of vision? Not sure time only would tell which of my sense would triumph.

What is worth of a destructive beauty ? Blistering volcano , Tsunami are extraordinary beauty in their own sort but so is the havoc they cause.

With these thoughts i see that even my own perception is dependent on innumerable variables such as state of mind , time, predominant sense ,past experiences to name a few and what would be beauty to me today may not be one tomorrow and definition of beauty like universe is a mystery to be accepted and enjoyed rather than solved.

But following is the description of beauty , not sure if i read this description in some fairy tale or was it a thought in some portion of my brain.. It appealed to me nevertheless as one of the definitions that attempts to capture beauty beyond senses.

"She was sitting looking at the sky on the shores of ocean by the forest , she was ornamented with pearls of wisdom , wearing dress made of flowers called kindness , A single diamond pendant marking the strength of her character stood out , as people exclaimed that she was the epitome of beauty! they failed to notice a single tear of pity dropping from her crystal eyes as it reflected the misery surrounding her".

"People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine
when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty
is revealed only if there is a light within."
~Elisabeth kubler Ross

Btw this is posted for Indiblogger "Real Beauty" contest. Incase you like it vote for it , In case your viewpoints differ please feel free to drop a comment.
http://www.indiblogger.in/indipost.php?post=60636

Nandini

She was sitting in her room looking at the ceiling , it was night already but she didnt feel like turning on the lights , it didnt make a difference anyways . As long as her mind was clouded, external lights would not do the trick. she had failed all her attempts to fill her mind with awe.

She had always adored her name "Nandini" which means full of joy . She had lived that life as child , Then there was not a thing that did not catch her admiration , Smell of earth when it rained, myriad colors reflected by the soap bubbles . She had leapt with bees and butterflies hopping from flower to flower , drenched in rain quacking along with those frogs . She had made every desperate effort to recreate those days again , In an attempt to fill her mind with awe again, Even travelled far and wide to see if that would help , but in vain.

This was more than what she could take, she just turned and started crying her hearts out , with tiny drops of tears moving down her cheeks , It was those tiny beads reflecting the light of moon that caught her attention , they were beautiful just like pearls arranging itself to make a string. Washing away those tears she decided to take a walk. Lost in her thoughts she tripped , she tried to balance herself but landed on her knees and had failed to notice a street dog beside her, it was enraged at this uncalled for intrusion and started grinding its teeth making a growling sound. she was always scared of dogs , she leapt in a split second , running like a maniac down the road until she reached the end , she stopped and looked back , the dog didn't seemed to have moved from its place , but what caught her eyes was the road. It looked awsome with gulmohar on either side that was already flowering, moon shining bright in the sky , just then cool breeze swept her untied hair carrying the sweet smell of parijata and few petals of Gulmohar.This was a wonderful feeling she had not felt in years, In the very road where she passed everyday.

When she reached back her friend was anxiously waiting for her asking what was wrong, she smiled , her eyes twinkled amidst the smudged kajal . she said , I agree with bernard shaw “We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing" , I today realized that although it is said that with age we need a lot more to fill the heart and experience awe , it is not true. All it takes is to have a mind ready to plunge into new realm , free of prejudice and expectation , You just need to look within and grinned winking at the fly that had just entered the room . Although her friend was already asleep it didn't matter, today she had realized the way to realize her name.

Unexplored land called MIND

I normally don't watch disturbing movies or read such books, because for me it is not watching/reading them but living them, either as a character or as an observer, being a part of the authors world.

With an impression that black swan movie is based on the book, which is about the unexpected , unpredicted event that has always had magnanimous impact in history , I decided to watch black swan movie, which turned out to be totally different from the book and got thinking about mind. The story is summarized in Thomas's words as follows..

"Thomas Leroy: We all know the story. Virginal girl, pure and sweet, trapped in the body of a swan. She desires freedom but only true love can break the spell. Her wish is nearly granted in the form of a prince, but before he can declare his love her lustful twin, the black swan, tricks and seduces him. Devastated the white swan leaps of a cliff killing herself and, in death, finds freedom".

Last fifteen minutes of the movie where the character Nina transitions from white swan to black swan is just perfect. when the story was very disturbing on one hand as to , how could the prince be her true love if he so weak to get tricked and seduced ? Why the hell did white swan lose her life for that ? on the other hand tricks that Nina's mind was playing , which destroys her .It was cruel enough to chill your spine.

That got me thinking about mind . It was only while watching "wild" in NGC, a comment "In nature winner takes it all , If you have the right set of weapons , size does not matter" in the context of a rodent killing a snake , Reminded me of what my yoga teacher was telling , "ma" kara in AUM and also in praNaya"ma" plays a very important role , it signifies mind , That which needs to be controlled and channelized , else it is going to control you. Just like how a huge elephant can be controlled by a small stick ("Ankusha") , mind can be controlled by "will" and discipline.

The same mind which helps to imagine, acts as a source of enthusiasm , driving us from one pursuit to the other , motivates to achieve , Also has the destructive power to fill lethargy and lead to destruction . Bingo! "The way up ,is the way down" by TS Eliot which is resonance of "Dharmakshetre Kurukshetre samavetaa yuyutsavah" makes perfect sense here.

It shows how important it is to understand it and channelize it for good, but do we do enough to realize? This reminds me of a quote from Einstein.

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

But one thing we have to realize is , it is not easy to control mind/emotions, No matter what one's resolution is , it is very easy to fall prey for that instantaneous impulse. The very same prolem is highlighted by Arjuna but what is important to note here is krishna's reply..

Arjuna says :

Chanchalam hi manah krishna pramaathi balavad dridham |

Tasyaaham nigraham manye vaayoriva sudushkaram ||

Krishna replies:

Asamshayam mahaabaaho mano durnigraham chalam |

Abhyaasena tu kaunteya vairaagyena cha grihyate ||

There is this quote from Sri Aurobindo which aptly captures the essence of the above conversation and provides an achievable practice.

"There is nothing mind can do that cannot be better done in the mind's immobility and thought-free stillness. When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence".

When the territory of mind is vast and its power immense the above thoughts rather made me confident happy and positive that situation is not that bad after all , A solution known is half the problem conquered.

Sapno se bhare naina...

Dedicating today to dreams..
The very first song that i heard today was chanda re from sapnay...One of my all time favorites.
so in the dreamy mood of having played that song in a loop for over 20 times as i was trying to arrange my book shelf , stumbled at this book called "ಕನ್ನಡ ಮನಸು " (kannada manasu).
This is the book from my engineering days , when kannada was made a mandatory subject in 1st semester, so as i scanned through the book i found chit , I was curious , It was an essay(in kannada of course) written by me and corrected by my teacher.Although it was written 7 years earlier and i think i could have improved the language , I was happy to see that i still had the essence then and wanted to share it on my blog.
I apologize to non-kannada readers as i dont intend to translate the essay as i dont think i can do justice to it in english.

I would like to add this dialogue between Rapunzel and Eugene in Tangled movie about dreams.Truly inspiring.
Rapunzel: I've been looking out of a window for eighteen years, dreaming about what I might feel like when those lights rise in the sky. What if it's not everything I dreamed it would be?
Flynn Rider: It will be.
Rapunzel: And what if it is? What do I do then?
Flynn Rider: Well,that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream.