NOTEWORTHY

Six year old, Luis had gone to buy some buns from a shop when he noticed a poor child begging for something to eat. The shopkeeper rudely shoved him away. He was impacted by the realisation that money determined the survival of a human being. If not for the capacity of his parents, he could have been the poor kid.

Luis opted for the profession of medicine but his passion was in music. While studying and practicing medicine in England, he became involved in amateur orchestras. During a music festival in England, he found two orchestras that comprised of street children - One from Venezuela and other from South Africa.

Luis found the teenagers could match skills with the adult experts playing alongside them. One of the boys, Samson, told him that music had saved his life… had he not been given that violin, he would have instead had a gun or knife or an injection and he would have been dead. Luis decided this was a good way of saving lives.


Dr Luis & Chryselle Dias came back to Goa and started their initiative - Child’s Play (India) Foundation along the lines of the Venezuelan movement. The task was not easy… from getting instruments to motivating children to paying salaries for teachers to organising performances. Their choirs and orchestra are noteworthy not only for their music but also for giving purpose to so many children.

The greatest gift is to give dignity to the human personality, especially young children who live in the worst of circumstances. Luis and Chryselle have shown how the future of our world can be nurtured to scale the melody of life. Their motto says it so well: ‘because every child is noteworthy’. We have to match the proactive empathy of the Dias couple and commit to adding value to their noteworthy initiative.


Indeed every personality is noteworthy
Only if we can contribute with empathy!

Pravin da

Check out more about the noteworthy initiative at www.childsplayindia.org

Fearless

The brave heart and her friend gave a valiant fight...

But the brutes were prepared in the dark of the night...

As she slipped to unnatural death, a nation was awake...

Resolving to put to the beasts to the hangman’s snake!

The fearless was resurrected as did indignation...

The streets represented the anger of the nation!

Determination rent the air to protest the brutal kill...

Young and old faced water cannons, cold and chill!

The emotion of fearlessness was deep and true...

But time is a healer, as the pressure went askew!

Now years later, the emotion comes back to haunt

As a culprit leaps a loophole to his freedom jaunt!

The fearless resurrect again as does indignation...

The voices are raised as angry again is the nation!

Some voices are from my zone, then and now again

But things seem to change as nearer gets a cry of pain!

Again another innocent is crushed by brutalisation

But this time it is nearer home in a closer situation!

The fearless are changing masks... and changing how

Some have turned fearful and some turned mute now!

For the culprit was wearing a dignified drape

He was one of us... how could he ever rape?

That silly girl must have asked for it for sure

And now she plays prey to victimize the teacher!

Then the fearless had put together a valiant fight

Now so many are choosing the option of flight!

Some flee to obscurity in the indifference wavelength

As others mobilise mobs to show their violent strength!

Fearless are the ones, who are steady in every zone,

Who resist the wrong even in the confines of the home.

Fearless are the ones who do not play dead while alive

Fearless are the ones who do not play selectively naive!

Choose to be fearless in intent, action and spoken words

Choose to stand up above the indifferent or collusive herds

May the fearless resurrect again with fiery indignation...

To bring the brutes to heel... with greater determination!

- Pravin K. Sabnis
(written in context of the brutal sexual assault in Delhi, three years ago... and a recent one closer home where the brutalisation of a school girl is being met with indifference or threatening mobs)

River of Interest

People are of two types: river people and goal people – Earl Nightingale

Goal people are ones who pen down their desires as well as the deadlines for reaching them. They focus on attaining their various listed goals, one by one. By envisioning the roadmap of future targets, goal people give themselves a clear set of motives to work on.

In contrast, river people shun such a structured route to success. They wade in a rich ‘river of interest’... a path of passion. Even without a set of clear measurable goals, they strike success due to sheer passion about their pursuit. They are explorers on a journey to discover new learning and experiences.

For river people, joy comes from the journey, not from reaching the destination -- exactly the opposite of goal people. Both types can experience success in life in different ways. However, it is the ones who flow with the ‘river of interest’ who are likely to be happy with the journey even without touching expected success.

We extract the maximum ‘juice’, out of our potential, by being an explorer, learning new skills, connecting to fresh knowledge, innovation and technology. In fact the ‘river of interest’ offers unexpected treasures in its flow which reveal hidden dimensions of our personality. And these will bring true joy which is greater than success that comes from achieving fixed goals!

Set out to sail on the river of your interest

True success lies in the happiness crest!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Striving

If a person sets a goal, such as doing five things in a month, he enjoys the challenge and relishes the difficulties involved. On the other hand, if he were forced to do the tasks, he would respond differently. There would be complains arising out of a feeling of being treated unfairly.

It is pertinent to note that striving can become a source of enjoyment and accomplishment. The key factor is the knowledge that we have taken it on voluntarily. To enjoy life’s hardships, we must stop resisting them and seeing them as unfair. We must clinch the circumstances, and discover bliss in the striving.

It is not adequate to simply climb the hills - we must choose to love the hills. It is the passionate who climb better... not the strongest! When we love what we do, the striving is sheer fun. When we take on challenges with this attitude, whatever the situation may be, the difficulties no longer bother us.

It does not make the pain go away, and life does not become suddenly easy. However, by fostering that sense of challenge and adventure, we give up that limiting belief that life is supposed to be easy. Instead of yearning for something easier, we learn to enjoy the parts that are difficult and the striving is full of happiness!

hills seem easier if seen with a gaze loving

toughest tasks make for blissful striving!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Peace

Many artists participated in a contest to paint the best picture of peace. The jury identified two. One was of a calm lake... a perfect mirror for peaceful lush green mountains all around it with a blue sky and fluffy white clouds. All thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But the jury looked closely and found behind the waterfall a tiny shrub growing in a crack in the rock. A little bird had built her nest there and in the midst of the rush of water, it sat in perfect peace. The jury chose the second picture.

The wise adjudicators confirmed that peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart.

So often we pursue an illusory image of peace where nothing wrong happens. We must align with the true meaning of peace. It is about coping with the most negative situation and maintaining positivity. We must seize control of our own inner peace and nurture harmony in our immediate circle of influence.

Peace is not to be found without...
look within to find it without doubt!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Belong

Giulio Ricciarelli’s film ‘Im Labyrinth des Schweigens’ is set in the times of post-war Germany. An extermination camp commander, now teaching at a school, is identified by Simon - a survivor who has lost his twin-daughters to brutal, ghastly murders. A young, idealistic public prosecutor, Johann takes the case and realises that the acts of commission and omission have almost everyone involved.

Johann staggers into a labyrinth of lies and guilt. He questions Simon, ‘how could you stay back in this wretched land that butchered your family?’ Simon solemnly replies, ‘I met my wife in this land... we got married here... our twins were born here... once at the lake, a duck bit my daughter... where else can I belong?’

It was a heart rendering poser. Somebody who had gone through inconceivable pain, and irrevocable loss, was able to distinguish between the ache and the predicament. He ‘belonged’ despite all attempts to uproot him of his adopted land. He had overcome all attempts to take away his biggest belonging – his humanity.

It is pertinent to note that the brutalised man continued to belong to humanity while very few from the inhuman brutes – both, by choice and by force – were able to belong to the very values that defined them as civilised human beings. In times of severe strain on human values, we must answer, ‘do we still belong to humanity?’

It is said that our character is defined by our behaviour in the dark. It is so easy to let go off our humanness and become blood thirsty animals or passive onlookers. The challenge is to belong to our collective land. Our world has moved on dignity, justice and sensitivity to the values of humanism. Let them be never taken away!

do not succumb to brutality...
choose to belong to humanity!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Within

James Patrick Kinney allegory ‘The Cold Within’ unveils the mind-set of six persons trapped in a bitter cold… Each has a stick of wood as they surround a dying fire… But each holds it back so that the other does not gain… the stubborn stance is born of chauvinism against skin colour, religion, race, class or just plain selfishness. Eventually, all succumb to the cold which they refuse to fend lest the other benefits.

The verse confirms the lesson that ‘They didn't die from the cold without, they died from the cold within.’ We find fault with others to the extent of considering them as undeserving of any help. We are consumed by a distressing hatred that demolishes our sense of logic and values. For the hatred that kills without, first devours us from within.

And it is not just negative actions that lead to ruin… intentional indifference does wreck as well. It is important for us to realize that our prejudices not only harm others, they incinerate us as well. Hence it is for own sake that we need to unlearn prejudices that instigate us to being inhuman in our response to other human beings.

to truly conquer the cold without…
our ‘within’ needs tweak, no doubt!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Be Happy

Last Friday, Samraat Club Panaji organised Deep Sandhya - the family get-together to celebrate the coming of the festival of lights.  On the occasion, Meenacshi Martins was awarded the Rangbhoomi Sanmaan – an award to appreciate her significant contributions to the theatrical stage besides her impressive journey as an actor in films and television.

In the interaction that followed, Meenacshi was asked about the secret of her ageless looks. She calmly replied that she chose to ‘be happy’! She explained that it made sense to ignore negativity and malicious criticism. She would immerse herself in various activities from parenting to gardening to social service. Doing positive things would help keep happy.

Happiness is a choice. But it is not an easy choice. We have to go beyond negativity as well as inactivity. It is about picking up the little joys in little things. It is to escape the trap to wait for a greater expectation to be fulfilled. It is to overcome the fear of the future. It is to be content with what we receive.

Happiness can be ours in every moment, if we escape the vice of reacting instead of accepting. Expectations, comparisons, fears and worries lead us to react. But happiness can be a proactive choice that depends on me – the individual – instead of the stimulus or the situation. The famous song urged us so well, ‘Don’t worry... Be Happy!’

Escape the reactionary vice…
to be happy is the right choice!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Approval

Zen Master Kosen was exceptionally skilled in calligraphy. Once, he was asked to sketch onto paper words to guide carpenters to carve on to the wooden gate of the temple. However while he sketched he was conscious of a bold apprentice who stood next to him, disapproving of Kosen first effort and his next and his next…

Kosen kept writing many attempts but without the endorsement of his pupil. Then, when his student stepped outside for a few moments, Kosen saw his chance to escape his keen eye. He wrote hurriedly, with a mind free from distraction. The pupil returned to see his work and state, ‘A masterpiece!’

Until, Kosen was overwhelmed by the burden of measuring up to his pupil’s approval, he could not actualise his own capability. The anxiety weighed him down and distracted him from his own natural performance. The momentary exit of his student freed him of the pressure and he was able to complete the task to his own approval as well as that of his pupil!

So often, we succumb to the stress and strain of approval of others, not only when surrounded by them, but also in their absence. Worrying about what others will think, about what we have done, is the biggest distraction that offsets us off our path. To be better at doing anything, we need to liberate ourselves of the anxiety that comes out of worrying about appraisal and approval by others.

Don’t let the burden of approval trigger anxiety...

Let’s overcome heaviness that offsets our ability

- Pravin K. Sabnis

the other side

Two students got into a major argument... both convinced that ‘I am right’ and ‘the other is wrong’. Their teacher decided to teach them an enduring lesson. She brought them up to the front of the class and placed them on two sides of her desk. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. She asked them to state the colour of the object.

One said ‘White’ while the other said, ‘black’. Another argument started between the classmates about the colour of the object. The teacher asked them to trade places... their answers interchanged too! It was an object with two differently coloured sides!

Kurosawa’s great film – Rashoman – is the story that involves various characters providing alternative, self-serving and contradictory versions of the same incident. What we see depends on the position we are placed in... not just the geographical position but the ideological conditioned corner that we get pushed into. We must travel to the other side and explore the view from there too. We must know the other side!

Sticking to single positions is woe betide

Check out the view from the other side

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Another tongue

‘It was really funny’, the little boy was telling his grandfather about what happened at school… ‘The new student speaks English in a funny vernacular accent. He was mispronouncing all the words and we made fun of him. You should have seen his teary face!’ The grandfather calmly spoke out, ‘If he speaking with an accent, it means he knows another language other than English. You know only one. Surely he is better off than you.’ The lad understood his mistake and promised to apologise and learn his colleague’s language.’

This story was told by Sonia Shirsat at the Zone Conference of JCI – Zone XI. As a Youth Icon, the internationally renowned celebrity singer was speaking about moving ‘Beyond Borders’. In a riveting presentation using audio visuals, she described her own crossing of various borders: from mind to vision, from geographical ones to organisational ones, from belief to practices, from past glory to new challenges

This Monday Muse just focuses on the borders of the tongue that Sonia crossed so significantly. Her greatest claim to fame is her fluency over the Portugese Fado, a language she mastered long after her college days. Her ability to cross the borders of various genre of music has made her a globally sought performer who can, in the course of a single show, move across multiple languages and styles.

So often, so many of us mock people who are trying to converse to us in our language. We ignore that the other person is actually transcending the borders of tongue to communicate with us. Besides accent, we also ridicule dialects. We must move beyond the borders of a single language and travel the trip of multiple tongues. We may not master every language but we will advance as communicators every time we try.

While love should never dim for our mother tongue

Let’s move beyond borders to acquire another one!

whose Gift?

Pedro warned invitees to his wedding that he would not be accepting any gifts, even if they were handed to him at home. But, one friend came visiting with a huge gift. When Pedro refused to accept it, he handed it over to Pedro’s two-year old niece who was playing in the hall.

Thrilled to receive the gift, the little girl tore off the gift paper. When unpacked, she was disappointed to find a stainless steel container, of no use to her. So she pushed the gift to her uncle’s hands and moved away. Pedro was furious with his friend and as he held the gift, he noticed some inscription that stated the gift was from somebody else to Pedro’s friend on his marriage!

He had ‘passed on’ the gift to Pedro without realising that his name and that of the giver was inscribed along with the date, for posterity! Without delay, Pedro handed back the gift to his friend, pointing to the inscription and saying, ‘this gift is yours, not mine!’ The discomfited friend quietly took his gift back.

It happens many a time that we receive gifts of opportunities but they come packaged and we feel to notice that they are prospects in our name. We pass these gifts to others, without knowing that they are actually meant for us. We wait for opportunities, yet do not recognise them when standing right before us. It is not enough to receive opportunities; we must recognise them.

Make most of the gift that comes in your name,

Passing opportunity carelessly is surely a shame!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Why & Wherefore

Last week, a man was brutally butchered by a mob driven by a rumour that he was consuming beef, which is banned by the law in that state. Worse was to follow with the ‘why and wherefore’ of weird justification for the killing a human being, which is not acceptable to the law as well as rationality. It is akin to the wolf, in an Aesop’s fable, which runs into a lamb.

Wanting to find reason to turn the lamb into lunch, the wolf growls: ‘last year you insulted me’! The lamb replied, ‘I was just born a few months back.’ The wolf retorts, ‘You grazed in my pasture.’ The lamb said, ‘I don't eat grass yet.’ But the wolf persisted, ‘You drank from my pond.’ The lamb replied, ‘The only thing I drink is my mother’s milk.’  At that point the wolf ate the lamb saying, ‘Well! You certainly like to argue!’

The wolf finds many why and wherefores for his predetermined act of violence against the innocent lamb. The phrase ‘why and wherefore’ is as old as Shakespeare, who used it in the Comedy of Errors in 1590: ‘Was there ever any man thus beaten out of season, When in the why and the wherefore is neither rhyme nor reason?’

So often, some of us defend the indefensible.  We scout for justifications based on our prejudice born of divisions of religion, ethnic, regional, economic and every divide that sees one human being as lesser than oneself. Every time, we indulge in irrational choice for our ‘why and wherefore’ we are walking the talk of murderous hate mongers.

In the aftermath of the violent act, as time passes, we become complacent. And the vested interests, on all sides, start planting the seeds of hate again, under the garb of nationalism, religion, ethnic pride and the like. These messengers of hate talk about ‘teaching them a lesson’. But lessons are meant to be learnt by us by challenging the divisive ‘why and wherefore’

Why should a human being be killed out of season

When in the why and the wherefore is no reason?

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Bhagat Singh

The Jalianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919 deeply impacted Bhagat Singh’s mind and at the tender age of 13, he turned freedom fighter. He ran away from home to escape marriage, and enrolled with Naujawan Bharat Sabha. Along with Chandrashekar Azad, Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Bhagat's revolutionary activities became the stuff of folklore.

To counter the revolutionaries, the British enacted the draconian Defence of India Act. Bhagat and Batukeshwar Dutt threw non-lethal bombs and leaflets, in the assembly, stating that ‘it takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear’ and that ‘It is easy to kill individuals but you cannot kill the ideas’.

Bhagat was a voracious reader and a very expressive writer. He wrote for and edited Urdu and Punjabi newspapers. His philosophical and political thinking is found in the diary he wrote in prison. When accused of vanity of not seeking salvation in the face of death, he wrote ‘Why I am an atheist’.

Bhagat Singh remains an inspirational icon but more as an image of a young martyr. We can keep him alive by aligning to his thoughts (found in his writings) that reflect a vision and mission to create a fair, just and humane world. But, the biggest lesson from Bhagat is to pursue the call of our thoughts.

So often, we play blind, deaf and dumb to our own thoughts. We see wrongs happening, but choose to be indifferent. We want to do the needful, but we hold back. We must remember that Bhagat made a difference because he chose not to wait!  We must remember that he died at only 23 years of age.

Thoughts that hold us back should not matter…
We must walk Bhagat Singh talk NOW, not later!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Steadfast

When Pedro was asked to share the secret of his well maintained gardens, he put it simply, ‘I took great pains to add the right top soil, arrange the drainage and choose the sequence of the various flora. I just keep reminding myself of those initial efforts and choose to do everything to ensure that they are not frittered away.'

Well begun is half done, but can be easily undone if we give up on the requisite follow up. We give our best while creating something. We manage the difficult part but falter at the easy part. If we do not maintain the steadfastness, our best start can be undone.

So often, so many of us start initiatives in great earnest and then give up on maintaining the same drive in doing the less interesting but crucial follow up. Resolves and resolutions start with a flourish and end in a whimper. If we look back at our life, we discover the way great initiatives went to waste.

Constancy is the characteristic of achievers. They maintain a positive attitude and approach to the things they start. Steadfastness holds the key to greater successes. Doggedness is a value that ensures the optimising of the good start.

Beautiful gardens are born of continued mission
we must back initiative with steadfast actions!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

VISIONING

 ‘A worse thing than not having sight would be to not have vision’ - Helen Keller

Arnold Schwarzenegger won the title of Mr. Universe at the age of 20 and went on to win Mr Olympia contest seven times. But he didn't retain his title by only pumping iron. As part of his workout routine, he would frequently go into the corner of the gym and visualize himself winning the title again.

Visioning defines achievers in every discipline… be it sports or performing arts, entrepreneurship or social mission, individual leadership or team working!  It is the mind process in which images of the desired future (goals, objectives, outcomes) are imagined as intensely real and compelling to act as motivators for the present action.

When we empower visioning, the actual efforts are less exerting. And even, if the road is challenging, the belief will pull us through. Hence, visioning is not just about imagination but about investing belief in those thoughts. The belief has to be further backed by imagining the path (action steps) that will lead to the desirable vision.

Let’s invest time in visioning the aspiration...
actual efforts will need lesser perspiration!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Choice

Born in a poor family, Napoleon worked his way out with a burning desire to be successful. He was constantly searching for ways to improve himself. He involved in various ventures: managing a coalmine, practicing law and business journalism. His big break came at a meeting with ‘Steel King’, Andrew Carnegie.

Carnegie asked Napoleon if he could devote 20 years of his life to put together a formula for helping others to become successful. Carnegie would provide him with letters of reference to meet successful people like Woodrow Wilson, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Theodore Roosevelt and John D. Rockefeller.

In less than 60 seconds, Napoleon declared his choice to take up the challenge. Later he came to know that Carnegie had decided to give him only 60 seconds to make the choice. After 20 years of dedicated research, Napoleon Hill compiled the best seller, ‘Think and Grow Rich’ in 1937.

Imagine, history would have been different if Hill had procrastinated on making the choice. Effective people make up their mind fast and are slow at changing their mind once they make their decision. Others tend to be slow at making up their mind and quick to change after the decision is made.

In fact, most people do not make their own decisions, because their decisions are made for them or influenced by others. Decision making is not just about making the choice, but more importantly it is about making timely choices.

Surely, choice needs prompt timing...
to make worthwhile decision making!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

DEMANDING SILENCE

A year has passed since the murder of social reformer, Dr Dabholkar but his killers remain at large. In February, social activist, Pansare’s killing went unchallenged by the authorities. Yesterday, renowned Kannada writer and research scholar, Kalburgi was killed in cold blood. All of them were senior citizens who refused to play silent to the cacophony of anti-social actions.

Similar killings felled bloggers in Bangladesh, a Dalit boy in Ahmednagar (for having a mobile ringtone praising Dr B R Ambedkar) and human rights activist, Sabeen Mahmud in Pakistan... all were first threatened and then murdered for not acceding to the demand for silence. Sadly, apologists are justifying these cold blooded killings. They are demanding the silence of the rest.

Alice Walker said it so well that ‘No person is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow.’ The demand for silence is a rejection of the diversity of opinion. It is a regressive attitude of refusing the right to dissent and disagree. Diversity is the strength of any community and it will only flourish with sane debates.

In personal or public life, when we demand such silence, we align with the thoughts and actions of inhuman murderers. We may not agree with the other voice, we may even vehemently disagree... but there can be never any justification for demanding silence by threatening and then killing. While the authorities need to arrest the criminals, we need to arrest our thoughts that demand such silence!

Collectives are elevated by diverse expression
Demanding silence is an act of regression!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Tentative

Pedro invited three friends out for lunch to a popular restaurant. He asked each one, ‘what would you like to drink?’ The replies were tentative: ‘Anything will do’... ‘Whatever you order will be fine with me’... Pedro ordered karela (bitter gourd) juice for them and lime juice for himself!

So often, so many of us suffer the end result, at the dining table, of the choice of being tentative. Sometimes, we are just avoiding being branded as gluttons. However, most of the time, we are playing slaves to the habit of ‘being unsure’ or avoiding the decision of making a choice.

The word – tentative – is derived from the Latin tentātīvus. It refers to ‘testing’, ‘trying’ and describes uncertainty. Feeling hesitant or unsure about something is the opposite of being confident. Confident persons may take some time to decide... they may seek information on options before they choose, but they will not rush to choose being tentative.

Take the time... scan every alternative
Never rush the choice to be tentative!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Cosmic View

When she was in middle school, my daughter told me that they were learning a very complicated concept in Mathematics – factors! She just did not seem to comprehend the theory. I showed her a ten-minute film on my computer and she could easily understand the idea of base and exponents.

The film begins with the camera 1 meter (10⁰) above a man. The camera zooms out to a view ten meters (10¹) to a view of the man in a park. It further pans to a view of 100 meters (10²) to Chicago's lakefront. Further on we see on the way the views of Lake Michigan, our earth, our solar system, the Milky Way… the zoom continuing to a view of 10²⁴ - the size of the observable universe.

The camera then zooms back to the man's hand and moves on to zoom into views of negative powers of ten: 10⁻¹ (10 centimeters), and so forth. The zoom moves the range from the surface of the skin to the inside right up to the proton in a carbon atom at 10⁻¹⁶ meter.

The 1977 short film ‘Powers of Ten’ depicts the relative scale of things in the Universe using factors of ten. The film, made by Ray and Charles Eames, is an adaptation of the 1957 book Cosmic View by Kees Boeke. The film thus travels two extreme extents of our universe. However, the lessons from the film go beyond the attempt to understand the universe

The cosmic view guides us on the journey between the larger-picture and the smaller-picture. We need to see ourselves and our situation from a perspective that moves from a wide-angle outlook to a deeper insight. It is only such perspectives that will help us comprehend the larger vision and the minute intricacies of the situation that surrounds us.

Larger and smaller picture holds details new
we must zoom and pan to the cosmic view!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Puzzle

This is incident took place over 22 years ago. When I reached the home of my friend Nishta Desai, the maid informed that she had gone out. I sat in the verandah reading the newspapers lying there. When they came back, Nishta went into the living room and promptly rushed out, ‘How did you solve it?’ Seeing my quizzical expression, she pointed out to a jigsaw puzzle.

The jigsaw puzzle was one of pieces of different sizes which had to be joined to form a rectangle that could fit in the box that contained the puzzle. Nishta could not put it together and she thought that I was able to solve the puzzle. Realising that I had not even seen the puzzle, she called out to the maid to enquire whether somebody else had come visiting while she was away.

When the maid replied in the negative, a puzzled Nishta asked, ‘Then who did this?’ and pointed to the box in her hand. The maid was immediately apologetic, ‘Didi, the pieces were lying around. I just put them in the box while cleaning up the room.’ She had cracked the puzzle without even knowing it!

The lesson is simple. Puzzles are often solved without trying to solve them. Most of the complications are just blocks in our own minds. We must avoid getting too competitive such that we focus on every challenge as a race to be won. Stress-free approaches can liberate us.

Too often we look at life’s puzzles and are overwhelmed by their imagined magnitude. To be better at solving life’s puzzles, we must take on challenges as normal interventions and not be overawed by them.

The pieces of the puzzle will fall in place…
if we see every challenge not as a race!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

CAPABILITY

Yiannis was born in a poor family in Greece. At the age of 14, he broke the national record for the 50 meter freestyle swim. He did not have a coach but he beat swimmers that had coaches and trained for many days. He listed the reason: ‘I believed that anything was possible, or at least because I didn't put together everyone else's 'facts' and believe that winning was impossible.’

 At 18 years, Yiannis arrived in USA and worked part time as a dishwasher. In university, he struggled as he was unfamiliar with English. He wrote, ‘I'd never been so frustrated, but as they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I studied with the book, a notebook, and a Greek/English dictionary’. Yiannis persevered to graduate in psychology.

But he then his passion for music took over. While he had his ups and downs, worked with different bands, he had a desire to create his own music. But it was a music that was unlike others. He faced many challenges but was able to move ahead due to his steadfast determination. We know him now as the amazing pianist, composer and music producer, Yanni!

Yanni puts it all on the line: ‘We are all capable if we have faith and passion.’ He showed how a person born in challenging circumstances can overcome obstacles by empowering his faith and passion. So often, so many of us await the acquisition of capability. We find our capability when we passionately belief in making possible all dreams.

Never let other peoples’ facts to overwhelm you
Capability forms when passion meets belief true!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

UNDER THE RAIN TREE!

(based on my childhood ordeal of being caught in a rain-storm under a rain tree… to divert the fear, I imagined the tree speaking to me and this is what it seemed to say )

Hey little one, trembling in the rain…

Rest the doubts… that rise in your brain.
Why does this rainstorm, overwhelm you?
This earth is yours… and this sky is too!

Look at me - the rain tree… that shelters you now

And the route of my roots, how they plough

They go deep down, so that my trunk may rise

But what matters more… is my canopy size!

So often we find trees… that grow very tall

But they have no shade, for the seeker’s call…

Now you are sheltered… under me - the rain tree

Can the truth of interdependence set you free?

Learn from the little birds… that rest and nest here

They too are drenched… but no longer by fear!

When they are born… they too shiver in the rain

But grow up to know… that it will happen again

It isn’t about the rain, fright storms within

Fear grows larger… if belief is lean
You got to believe… this fact to be true
That this earth is yours… and this sky is too!

Don't be submerged… in the intensity of the rain…
Don't fret and tire out, under an illusory pain
The skies will clear, seven colours will gather...
Diverging from the spectrum… but staying together

Together we can create: the rainbow way...
From Mother Nature, don’t ever stray away...

The cloud burst, the thunder… the scary storm

Are worse in the mind… when there they form.

Hey little one, dance in the rain…

Overcome fears that storm your brain.
The eco-logical truth includes me and you
This earth is ours… and this sky is too!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Learn Forgetting

Two monks, in a Zen parable, were walking in deep silence. They came across a spring on the way. A young lady was standing at the edge, seemingly worried about spoiling her clothes while crossing the stream. One of the monks lifted her in his arms and carried her over the stream.

His mate was shocked with his colleague’s act. But, he remained silent until the night halt, when he burst out, ‘As monks, we have sworn not to touch women... yet you carried her?’ The first monk replied calmly, ‘I left that girl on the other side of the stream. It is you who still carries her in your mind!’

So often, we hold on to views that are irrelevant in the larger scope of the situation. So often, we carry emotions turning them into a burden. So often, we chain ourselves to past experiences and fail allow them to hold us in a vice that chokes progressive thinking and clouds our perspective.

The phrase - ‘forget learning… learn forgetting’ – is very meaningful. We need to let go the unnecessary if we want to move on in life. For every harvested crop of experience, we need to sift the grain of understanding from the chaff of misinterpretation. We must learn to let go of the needless.

Forget learning… Learn forgetting
ignoring the needless is truly liberating!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Astray

My mentor, Frederick Tucker’s favourite anecdote was of a traveller who had wandered off his route. He had no clue as to where he had reached and how to get back to his original road. After going around in circles, he looked around to ask for help.

Upon sighting an old man, he confided, ‘I have gone astray. Please help me find my way.’ The old man queried, ‘do you know where you have come from?’ On receiving a reply in the affirmative, the elderly person prodded on, ‘Do you know where you want to go?’ The traveller nodded again.

The wise man calmly uttered a great truth, ‘if you know where you have come from and where you want to go, then you are not astray. You just need the connection to your way!’

Whenever astray, we can reconnect to our destination by recognizing the co-relation of the present location and possibilities of a newer and different approach rather than just trying to get back to the old path. It is pertinent to note that being astray is an opportunity for discovering new paradigms.

Never mind the turns in the maze... you will never be astray

If you know where you come from and where leads your way!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Unpacked Gift

There was an exceptionally talented jazz pianist who played in a bar. People came out just to hear him play. But one night, a client told him to sing a song. The man said, ‘I don't sing.’ But the customer was persistent.

So he sang the song, ‘Sweet Lorraine’. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the very first time. The talented pianist discovered a new talent of singing. Nat King Cole went onto to become an iconic singer!

Nat King Cole had talent that he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a gifted piano player in a local bar, but because he discovered another gift of singing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in America.

We have skills and abilities. We may find our ‘talent’ to be a gift, but there may be other gifts that lie unpacked. With exposure and then persistence, most skills can be enhanced. A lot of possibilities go unnoticed as the owner continues to sit on them! We have to get off the comfort seat and discover new unpacked gifts that need to be opened.

Get off the comfort seat...
Open the unpacked gift!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

Futile Pursuit

An old joke tells about a farmer’s dog that used to wait for vehicles to come around. As soon as one appeared he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it. One day a neighbour asked the farmer ‘Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?’ The farmer replied, ‘That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one.’

The dogs are plain playful or taking on an imagined foe. But, we must ponder whether we are in futile pursuit of meaningless goals. We need to ask ourselves whether we will find the goal to be worth the pursuit if we were to attain it.

Daniel Gilbert and Loewenstein found through multiple experiments that humans can never be as happy as we think we will be with an outcome. The research goes into depth about human decision-making and the affects of our decisions.  What Gilbert has found is that we overestimate the intensity and the duration of our emotional reactions – our “affect” – to future events.

For instance, we might believe that a new car will make life perfect. But, surely, it will not be as exciting as we anticipated; nor will it excite us for as long as predicted. Aldous Huxley said it well: ‘Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.’

So often, we set out in futile pursuit...
when at hand lies the happiness fruit!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India.

True Sharing

During childhood, my brother and I would accompany our father on visits to homes during Zatras, Feasts or other special occasions. No sooner the plate, of sweets and spicy eats, was placed before us; our father would urge us to eat. We would feel self-conscious as he loudly kept saying, ‘go ahead, have it!’

After one such embarrassing evening, I asked him why he insisted that we polish off the plate instead of well mannered pecks at the offerings. He confided that being miserly in eating would send wrong signals to the hosts. He shared an invaluable insight: sharing is not just about gifting what we have... sharing is also about receiving with love!

Over the years, I see great happiness in the uninhibited receiving of somebody else’s gifts. For instance, when we visit an old age home or an orphanage rather than only sing our songs, we listen to their tunes, as well. Instead of only giving them our delicacies, we share the meal with them. Instead of giving, we choose to receive from them.

So often, so many of us share our riches with others. But love is about allowing others to share their treasures with us. While giving is good, it is greater to receive with dignity. When sharing is one sided, it is benevolence. But when sharing is a mutually two-way traffic, then it is beyond generosity and can be termed as pure love!

Gifting what we have is benevolent giving
Acceptance of other’s gifts is true sharing!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Goa, India