Onus

Pedro visited his daughter’s primary school for the quarterly interaction between parent and teacher. The teacher was pointing out that the child was speaking incorrect English. She diagnosed the problem occurrence due to speaking the local language at home. She recommended that the parents speak English at home in conversations with the child.

As they continued the interactions on other aspects of the child’s progress, the teacher noticed Pedro’s grammatical errors while speaking in English. When she sternly pointed out that Pedro’s English was ‘atrociously’ flawed, Pedro calmly asked the teacher, ‘so, do you still recommend that I speak in English at home?’

Obviously, the teacher was putting unnecessarily high expectations of performance from a young child. It is pertinent to note that she was also transferring the onus to the parent of her responsibility of teaching. These are harsh realities of the education system but apply to other disciplines as well.

So often, so many of us are like that teacher… making a wrong diagnosis and prescribing a seemingly logical but effectively silly solution. We set high expectations of performance and when not met we shift the onus of solution to someone else. We shift onus as we don’t want to be attributed as the primary contributor for failure.

We must choose to accept the onus of our responsibility and not shift from it. We must avoid the tendency to shift onus to others when things go wrong. The character of a person is displayed when he chooses to retain ownership of the onus that comes from a sense of responsibility.

The onus is only on me to do what is right…
Rather than shift to someone else in sight !

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Missed Sunset

We were returning from a training program held in an area with no connectivity for the mobile phone. My friend, who was driving the car, made a call to his sweetheart and started his love talk. Looking out of the window, I saw a spectacular sunset. I repeatedly urged my friend, ‘look here’ but in vain!

Eventually, he signed off the phone, stopped the car and asked me, ‘where?’ I calmly replied, ‘it’s gone… the sun has disappeared and the sky is no longer the same.’ He laughed and said, ‘so what? The moon will now create a new painting!’ I joined his mirth with my words, ‘no wonder you were caught up in conversation with the moon!’

Interestingly, my friend was named after the sun and his sweetheart was named after the moon. Last Friday, Ravi Shirsat passed away, way before his time and memories flooded my mind, enough to fill up many editions of Monday Muse. The most pertinent one was of the sunset he missed out on as he caught up with his sweetheart, Poonam!

It is true that the same sunset scene never repeats again. But there will be fresh occasions for enjoying a starlit sky or the luminance of the moon or yet another sunrise or sunset. One dark night, Ravi taught my daughter, Sonia to identify constellations in the sky. Ever since, she would tell me that she would see his face in the Orion whenever she would set sight on the night sky!

We must choose to enjoy the true joys of life from a wide variety of choice… the scene as the sun sets… the sight of emotions on the human face… the song of a bird… the expression in the voice of a dear one… the timely investment in our dreams… the time shared as an unconditional gift…

We are often caught up in the dilemma of missing out on one thing as we choose another. Life is about the choices we make. Every selection will mean that we will miss out on something. Eventually, what matters is that we have chosen one rather than none!

The missed sunset doesn’t merit rue…
If the alternative choice was truly true!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Blind Spot

Often, Pedro would be in furious quest to find his missing spectacles or keys or mobile phone. The hunt would stop when someone would point out that the very thing he was looking out for was actually in his possession. While others could easily see what he was unnecessarily searching… for Pedro it was a blind spot!

A similar journey involves for our search to discover our true self! Our true self is obvious to the ones who encounter us often. Others can see the obvious because they see it in our behavioural responses.

If we analyse the consistency or the lack of our behaviour in response to varied persons and situations, we will be able to understand the choices we make based on our wants and needs. However, our true self need not be a blind spot.

Others can help us realise what we really are, but it is only we who can choose what we want to be. Hence, rather than spend time, effort and energy on getting to know our true self, we must choose to be what we would like to be. It is important to focus on what we would like to be, instead of only determining what we are!

Lest your real self be hidden, like a blind spot
Choose to be what you want… right to the dot!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Healthy Humour

Dr. Patch Adams changed the despair of his patients with his cheerful clowning! Convinced of the powerful connection between environment and health, he employed innovative ways in using humour to bring hope and healing to his patients... by dressing up like a clown and decorating the patient’s bed with colourfull balloons. Along with friends, Patch founded a model ‘happy’ hospital – the Gesundheit Institute – where the pain of patients is treated with a patch of humour.

Humour helps because smiling and laughing triggers the secretions of morphine-like chemicals known as endorphins. Endorphins strengthen the immune system (responsible for fighting disease and enhancing recovery), reduce pain, and relax the body. Humour is an excellent aid for treatment of a defeated mind.

Humour works because it distracts people from their worries and pain and it restores perspective. It does not alter the situation, but it helps you to cope with the pain. It reduces fear and worries that seem larger than they actually may be. It makes us look at the brighter side to dark things by focussing on hope and positive thoughts.

We need to face every feeling of despair with a genuine display of care and humour. We should choose to spread cheer and hope by lifting the spirits of those who seem to have succumbed to the situation. And of course, we must start with our own selves by seeing the positives in every problem that seizes us!

Take every depressing ailment head-on…
choose to sing the healthy humour song!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Strokes

My favourite trainer, Fredrick Tucker would often narrate the story of an abandoned baby that was wasting away in a hospital… it was not responding to treatment and the doctors were forced to enter its condition as ‘hopeless’ on the examination charts. They had given up hope that the baby would survive.

As a last resort, a doctor who had uncommon success in dealing with sick children, for whom everything else had failed, was called in. He wrote on the child's chart – ‘put the baby’s cradle next to the hospital entrance. Put up a large sign requesting people to hold the baby and play with it for a few minutes before moving on.’

The instructions were immediately complied with. The method was ancient, but very effective. The magic formula took effect and the child began to prosper as visitors began to speak to and fondle the baby… the positive strokes healed the little baby that was suffering from a highly common human disease of indifference.


A stroke is a unit of recognition, when one person recognizes another person either verbally or non-verbally. Eric Berne introduced the idea of strokes into Transactional Analysis based upon the work of Rene Spitz, a researcher who observed that infants deprived of handling – in other words, not receiving any strokes – were more prone to emotional and physical difficulties.

Adults need physical contact just like infants, but have learned to substitute other types of recognition instead of physical stimulation. So while an infant needs cuddling, an adult craves a smile, a wink, a hand gesture, or other form of recognition. Berne defined the term ‘recognition-hunger’.

It is pertinent to note that ‘any stroke is better than no stroke at all.’ Hence we must choose to pass on strokes that encourage or reprimand… that motivate or instigate… that are positive or negative… but we must engage… we must keep in touch through strokes that ensure that terminal indifference does not set in.


Shun indifference, touch every bloke…
through a positive recognition stroke!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Worthiness

The demonetisation initiative of the Government created immediate difficulties for people who did not have usable currency or debit/credit cards. However excessive panic was triggered by propaganda that notes of the denomination of Rs. 500/- and Rs 1000/- were rendered worthless paper.

The reality was that the notes were not worthless… they had to be exchanged with new currency. Bankers worked for extra hours to facilitate this exchange but there was bound to be discomfort and distress for a few days. It was pertinent to note that no honest citizen was going to lose the value of his hard earned money.

Obviously crooks would cook up ingenious remedies to retain their unaccounted wealth. Many from this very tribe kept repeating the rumour that the notes in hand had no value. Some used it to support, some used it to oppose the move to demonetise. All that was needed was a simple exchange to retain the same value!


That which has intrinsic worth will not lose its value if appropriate steps are taken to align with newer dimensions of worthiness in changed circumstances. It is significant to note that the value of the currency will not reduce as long as we follow the legal procedure to retain the stated worth.

Similarly, as persons our personal worth is retained by ensuring that our values do not change with the situation. If our values our intact, then our character will be worthy. If our character is worthy, our worth will never be victim to the vagaries of time or situation as long as we make ethical changes. Personal worthiness is a value we can retain even when circumstances vacillate.

Change is a must when circumstances falter…
Retain worthiness by choosing to ethically alter!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Lethargy

A pet dog’s late night howling woke up his owner and his wife. When the dog’s laments continued, the wife asked her husband to go out and see the reason for the dog’s distress. The man pleaded helplessness, ‘I’m too tired to move’.

The howling continued and again the wife begged the husband to go and see what was troubling the dog. Again he gave the same answer, ‘I’m too tired to move’.

Eventually the wife went out into the night and the howling stopped. When the wife returned, the man asked, ‘What was wrong with that stupid dog?’ ‘He was lying on a thorn bush’ said the woman ‘He was just too tired to move’.

So often, so many of us are like the dog – people who would rather howl and complain rather than change their position? So often, so many of us are like the man – people who would rather suffer and wait for someone else to solve their problems instead of doing it themselves. The excuse masquerading as a reason is that we are too tired to move.

Lethargy is a matter of choice not a product of circumstance. Rather than be stuck in an apathetic attitude, we must choose to step out of inactiveness. We must claim ownership of every predicament that surrounds us and respond aptly and promptly.

Shun the lazy excuse of being too tired to move...
Let go of lethargy, choose the proactive groove!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Example

Father Crab and his child were taking a stroll on the sand. ‘Child,’ pointed out the father, ‘you are walking very ungracefully. You should adjust to walking straight forward without twisting from side to side.’

‘Sure father,’ said the young one, ‘but set the example yourself, and I will follow you.’


So often, so many of us expect others to do what we ourselves are unable to do. While it is good to encourage others to do things we have failed in, most of us are speaking from the high chair of being pompously judgemental. We urge others to be aligned to the path that we refuse to step on.

It is said so well that example is the best precept. We must involve and participate in the choices which we find worthy to be recommended for others. And we must walk the walk that we expect others to embark on. Like Gandhi said it so well we must be the change we want to see in the world.

The greater lesson is that we should not expect others to do what we have never tried to do. Too many armchair critics find fault so easily in the performances of others. We must, at all times, ask the important poser to our self, ‘Can I be a living example of what I recommend to others to be?’

Before asking others to do what you say
Be a living example by walking the way!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Blind Walk

On 15 October, NAB Goa (National Association for the Blind) had organised a walk on occasion of the International White Cane Day. In this cause of social outreach and to solidarity towards the blind, seven of us chose to walk wearing blindfolds. Indeed, it was an eye opening experience!

The blind walk was not strange to me, as I have done it many times before in training and theatre… but this time it was along a road with traffic passing by… under the watchful eye of guiding volunteers… with a white cane in hand and the senses of hearing and touch to show the way…

The most important thing we learnt was to trust the person giving directions. If it was someone who could not see, he/she would share their experience with the person behind. The ones who could see would be sharing details with a tone of caring in their voice. None would get irritated because they got hit by the white cane or repeated questions of ‘where have we reached?’

It was wonderful to hold on to the ability to trust based on belief in human goodness. It was great to be able to discover that handicaps are hurdles that can be overcome. It was empowering to move from the discomfort of feeling helpless to the committed resolve to march ahead, taking all help required from within and without. And of course, we embraced empathy for the ones who cannot see!

To walk the dark way, we must learn to trust. We must choose to overcome every hurdle. We must take all assistance required with grace and dignity. The visually challenged are doing it all the time… marching on to worthy visions. While we do our bit to assist them in every way we can, we must emulate their attitude of walking in the dark towards the enlightening vision of life!

the blind walk shows what it feels and reckons…
a worthy vision of resolve and empathy beckons!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Drop of Water

A Zen master instructed his disciple to bring him a pail of water to have his bath. After filling the bath bucket, the pupil threw, to the floor, the little water that remained. The master chided him, ‘Why didn’t you give the water to the plants? What right have you to waste even one drop of water?’ The young student attained Zen in that instant and changed his name to Tekisui, which means a drop of water.

While this story would be apt for “save-water” campaigns, it holds greater lessons for attitudes towards resource management. We all know that it is the little drop of water that creates the ocean. Yet we tend to be wasteful and indiscriminate in our use of resources. We must learn to focus on waste reduction and alternate use.

We must recognize the significance of what may seem insignificant. Every drop of water counts. We must introspect and evaluate our attitude which is reflected in the way we use every resource… be it materials, be it energy or be it human resource... We must be careful to not be careless with any ‘little drop of water’!

The challenge is to live life less wastefully. The accountability is on us to look at the larger ownership of our world. Our rights to our resources come intertwined with the onus of responsibility. Ignoring the larger liability would result in nurturing our own peril. Let’s learn to deal with every ‘drop of water’ in a responsible manner.

We must ensure that we do not carelessly waste
any ‘drop of water’ at the altar of needless haste!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Play well

The veteran may score a blank
The senior may walk the plank...
but the score book doesn’t mind
If the debutante turns into a find!

Best is yesterday, be better today
Great past goes easily astray...
The present play is what matters
Previous scores can turn tatters...

So don't put down another on age
Wise often is the younger sage...
For while experience has its worth
Youth can break free of the dearth...

The unburdened mind we oft find
Is sans shackles of the doubt grind..
It may be wayward or off the mark
It may be just a shot in the dark...

But score books don't really care
Whether a honed skill or just a dare...
Those who play well are a treasure
Performance is the only measure!

So ensure the focus and play well
Our true calibre only time will tell...
And when it does, don't turn smug
Around the turn, lies the failure plug!

We must play well all the time
Speaking with the humility chime
Especially when we grow real tall
And comes along a player small...

The veteran may score a blank
The senior may walk the plank...
But the score book will only tell
The tale of the one who played well!

~ Pravin K. Sabnis

Festival of Giving

Since 2009, the ‘Joy of Giving Week’ is celebrated across India for seven days starting 2 October – the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The initiative is also called ‘Daan Utsav’. The celebration, inherent in a festival happens here as many organisations involve, across the country, in contributing time, skills and resources.

Two years ago, fourteen trainers took part in two free full-day learning events in Goa. Many organisations, institutions and corporates funded the cost of the events. However, we found that most of the ones who attended were ones who could afford to pay for the learning. So, last year, we chose to directly approach the ones who needed the programs but would not afford them. Somu Rao and yours truly conducted training for four sets of such truly needy students.

This year, we widened the circle to reach out to slum children, rural schools and others who are have little opportunity. As of now, we are six trainers who have confirmed plans over all seven days for at least ten events supported by over nine organisations like the Trainers’ Association, Goa Science Forum, Harshada Art Gallery, Rotary, Giants Club, Samraat Club and others.


It is pertinent that Somu, Harshada, yours truly and many others are doing many acts of giving, right through the year. There are many who ‘give’ their time, skills and resources without any expectation. But, often it is an individual initiative. When we collaborate, it is a greater impact… and that is the purpose of the ‘festival of giving’.

We must widen the circle to include more persons. There are many who ‘want to give’ but do not know ‘how and where’. There are many who do not know that the greatest gift is the gift of time. When many get together to give, we create a new festival that all can celebrate, cutting across barriers. And our world needs to celebrate such festivals of giving that spread joy and dignity to all human beings.

Don’t restrict to yourself, widen the team
The ‘Festival of Giving’ is a worthy dream

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Stereotype

‘The single story creates stereotypes. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.’ - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

In the early 80’s, a single story was told about the Sikhs… that they were violent terrorists deserving to be mowed down. This single story sought to condemn an entire community that has many dimensions of humanism, humour, entrepreneurship and infectious enthusiasm. Today, though that vicious single story of the Sikhs is no longer a part of our consciousness… the actions and attitudes born of it left behind a bloody trail of brutality and killing.

Single stories give rise to stereotypes and prejudices that lead us to opinions ranging from contempt to hatred, from false pride to a negative sense of history, from insensitivity to irrationality. Stories cannot be just painted in black and white. They must reflect the entire assortment of facts, contradictions and possibilities. The hue has to reflect the human diversity in its multiple dimensions and its many stories.

Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, makes the pertinent point that the single, stereotyped story flattens the experience to a singular and dangerously-damaging dimension. She insists that multiple stories matter. And it is multiple stories that can save us from the danger of a single story!

Adichie says in her talk at Ted, ‘Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower, and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity.’ We must escape the vice of the stereotype by exploring multiple stories that widen our perspective.

Escape the single story hype
Break the damn stereotype!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Stars

The beauty of every star with its simmering light
Can be seen from afar as they gather in the night,
Each has its own spark, yet they glitter as one
Like the colours of the rainbow born of the sun.

Seven colours bind together for the rainbow to emerge…
Would a rainbow ever form, if they chose to diverge?
When people get together, a nation is raised
Differences bring despair and defeat staring in our face

Every drop makes the sea; otherwise what is a sea?
Every act is crucial that carries the value of empathy
Let go of egocentricity, don’t stay aloof and away...
Let’s join hands together to create a beautiful day!

The farmer ploughs the land to reap a golden grain
The cowherd is not rewarded with milk, without any pain
The blacksmith shapes the iron with tools that shine!
The potter shapes the clay with a picture in his mind

All these are faces of effort… a desire to have a say...
With enmity to none… and a dream to seize the day
Deep down we are alike, no one is a stranger,
That is the real truth, stars are meant to be together!

(poem penned in 2005 inspired by ‘Ye tara’ song from movie ‘Swades’)
- Pravin K. Sabnis

Fellowship

Last Thursday - the 98 birth anniversary of poet Vinda Karandikar - brought along a memory (told to me by my father) about the ‘Murgi Club’. Vasant Bapat, Mangesh Padgaonkar, Gangadhar Gadgil, Sadanand Rege, Shri Pu Bhagwat and Vinda met regularly for several years to eat together and spar with wordplay and literary jokes. The ‘Murgi club’ was loosely fashioned after the Algonquin Round Table.

For over ten years from 1919 to 1929, a group of New York City writers, critics, actors, and wits met every day over lunch at the Algonquin Hotel. They engaged in wisecracks, wordplay, and witticisms. Daily association with each other, both at the luncheons and outside of them, inspired members to collaborate creatively.


Many of us are part of such tables of fellowship, where we eat together, engage in wit and wisecracks. But it is pertinent to ponder whether these meetings lead to creative collaborations or empower individual expression triggered by the influence of the collective. Just delicious food and humour cannot be an enduring motivation.

While the principal purpose is to have a good time with persons who can take and give witticisms, the larger purpose that sustains such groups is the food for thought that gets shared at the fellowship table. Hence it is important for the group to have diversity of capacity and competence and everyone has to respect this diversity.

Fellowship should not be just about a group with a common aim or intent. It should not just be about friendships, relatedness or connection between colleagues in a group. It should move beyond fun to interesting collaborations or it should empower individual contributions triggered by the ideation at the fellowship table.

That fellowship table is the most sought,
Which serves diverse food for thought!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Signals

Imagine a truck traveling up the slopes. The driver notices a red light blinking on the dash board. He ignores the sign of the engine being overheated. Next, he hears some rattling sound. He plays deaf to the signals of alarm.

Still further, he notices in the rear-view mirror, smoke emerging. Yet again, he plays blind to what could be dangerous. There are no prizes for guessing what would be the fate of such a careless driver and his vehicle.


The above analogy connects to a metaphor that is dear… our Mother Earth. Over the years, we have received many signals that project a big disaster. Earthquakes, Tsunami, droughts, floods, landslides, global warming and many other alarms are being ignored by us.

We react in the aftermath but fail to do enough to show that we are really learning anything from successive environmental mishaps. We speak about the tragedy but fail in subsequent action that should ensure that we secure our future.

Environment Awareness should not be just about blank words. The ultimate solution to every environmental problem, from deforestation to pollution lies in each of us taking the responsibility for our own acts. Each time an individual stands up for the environment or acts to improve it, there is a tiny ripple of hope.

Making little lifestyle changes can have a big effect if everyone does it. Whether you take a shower instead of a bath, reduce your energy use or reduce your carbon footprint, the benefits are big. We must inculcate the 4Rs – Reduce, Reuse Recycle and Re-engineer solutions and choices in our actions to save our environment.

Heed signals of the impending devastation
Our environment needs committed action!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Rainbow

Seven colours bind together for the rainbow to emerge…
Would a rainbow ever form, if they chose to diverge?
- From the poem ‘Stars’ by yours truly

The rainbow is my favourite analogy to use during my unlearning workshops. A ray of sunlight passes through a raindrop and breaks into a spectrum of seven colours. It is pertinent to note that seven diverse colours remain united in the alignment arc. If they were to branch off into various directions, the rainbow would not take shape.

This analogy has a deeper dimension as we celebrate our country’s Independence Day. We are a nation of diversity of variety. Languages, customs, attire, beliefs, cuisine, looks… everything is as wide-ranging as it can be. The dissimilarities are obvious and oft result into differences.

Never mind the differences, we must choose to align ourselves to the real spectrum of the diversity of India. To paraphrase Voltaire, we may disagree but not become disagreeable. We may argue but we must not allow the argument to needlessly widen the rift.

So often, so many of us mistakenly insist on uniformity for alignment. But diversity is stifled by uniformity as the rainbow would lose its essence if the seven colours were to turn into a single hue. Acceptance and respect for the different dimensions of ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, physical abilities, ideas, beliefs and ideologies will empower the diversity of our country.

Rainbow is born of alignment not uniformity
We must learn to accept the varied diversity!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Self Control

A Zen story unfolds the exchange between three students who are insisting their master is better than others in terms of self-control. The first one declares, ‘my master can stay for days without eating.’ The second one proclaims, ‘my master is greater… he can stay for weeks without sleep.’ The third calmly stated, ‘my teacher is the best at self-control… he eats when he’s hungry and sleeps when he is tired.’

Like all Zen stories, it holds many lessons… however the most pertinent point is that self-control is not about forceful abstinence but it is about wilful moderation. It is about doing things when needed. It is about doing things at the right time. It is about doing things for the right reason. It is about doing it for the ones that matter.

Let us consider an analogy: three friends speaking about the space in their relationships. One brags, ‘I can stay for days without speaking with my kith and kin.’ The second boasts, ‘I can stay for weeks without meeting them.’ The third wisely states, ‘ I strive to speak to them when I remember them and make efforts to meet them when I miss them.’

So often, so many of us choose to forego our needs… not just the basic ones but the higher ones as well. We must choose to do a little of everything we need to. We must choose to reclaim relationships that have withered with time. We must choose to reconnect with our passion by doing the things that make us happy: hobbies, dreams, discoveries and something new!

Self-control is about doing all the things that matter. Self-control is about doing them regularly in small doses, not in occasional large doses. Self-control is about moderation and walking the middle path between the extremes of over-indulgence and obsessive abstinence.

Between indulgence and abstinence is a middle way
Self-control is doing a little of everything, every day!
- Pravin K. Sabnis

Quizzical

In a quiz, even the loser (who cannot answer a particular query) turns an eventual winner (the knowledge base is widened once the answers are disclosed)… it encourages the spirit of enquiry and discovery in the minds of the participants as well the audience… it helps nurture a questioning mind, a positive outlook and a wide-angle approach to developing new dimensions to our database of information.

Quiz Masters like Siddharth Basu and Derek O’ Brien are personalities who have been able to develop multiple facets in a multi-dimensional world… In fact, Quizzing in India has developed its own, unique flavour because it involves diverse genres of different geographical regions, cultural diversity, a colourful history and an emerging collective conscience…

Whenever, any parent asks me for recommendations to develop the personality of their child, I recommend the embark on a journey of discovery… activity that involves Mother Nature (from sports to trekking), the Library Habit and developing team spirit through participation in team activities… and of course, Quizzing…

Inculcate the attitude of proactive enquiry
Turn quizzical on the path of discovery…

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Virtual Friend

Today is the birthday of a Facebook friend that I never met in person. He lived in Bangalore and I was in Goa… and there is no further chance for us to meet as Mohan Pai passed away on 15 June in 2010. But he was not just a virtual friend; we were virtually as good friends as two persons could be. 

Mohan Pai was born in Goa, educated in Mumbai and worked in Advertising. He was a researcher, blogger, writer on environment and ecology, an avid photographer and involved in running an old age home at Bangalore. A self made man, he had a keen, analytical and sensitive mind. His published books include The Western Ghats, Mahadayi River Valley, the Flight of Gods, the Elderly among others

We never met, yet we could and would connect with each other. We spoke regularly to each other on phone and through email. Of course, the initiative to keep in touch was largely his. We talked about the environment, temple architecture, and about so many things. In fact, on his recommendation some of fiends would drop in to see me during their trips to Goa.

So often, we insist that friendship is strained by distance. While physical proximity helps nurture a relationship, it may also becoming overbearing by constricting the space in between. Relationships require only closeness of communication that comes from an interest to interact with each other... as seen in the case of Mohanbab who remains among my list of close friends, although our friendship spanned less than three years.

My friend from the virtual world created a real relationship
Mohanbab taught me the value of building a friendship
- Pravin K. Sabnis

Silence

Heed the silence, it is oft the loudest cry
Notice the quiet of the watchful sky…
There are many who hear but do not tell
But that's better than ones who cruelly fell!

Better than effusive excessive praise
that takes into a world of illusory daze...
Better is the silence of true empathy
Worse is appreciation born of duplicity…

The best words come from ones who use few
The silent applause is genuine and true...
Learn to hear those silent but loud cries
Of hurt underground and hopeful skies...

Silence can be a wonderful thing to turn
When we learn to listen and listen to learn!
Of course, silence can be indifference too
But it can also be a choice to hear you...

Don’t lament the lack of response you receive
loud declarations may flatter to deceive…
We must unravel the layers in the sky
Heed the silence, it is oft the loudest cry!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Discipline

A young boy was flying a kite. He asked his mother, ‘What makes a kite fly high?’ He expected his mother to appreciate him. However his mother replied, ‘The string!’ The boy was aghast, ‘the string is holding the kite down… it’s the wind that makes it fly high… and of course, the way I use the wind to make my kite fly higher…’

The mother calmly replied, ‘If you think the string is holding the kite down, then set the kite free… let it go higher… let it soar.’ All those who have flown kites will tell you that when the string is cut, the kite comes down… in a lifeless and listless manner. The young lad had learnt a valuable lesson. So, can we!
There are things that we believe are holding us down and preventing us from soaring higher in life. However, if we look closely, they may be the ones that can help us grow and glow in life… they may be like the string that makes the kite soar high…. This string is called discipline.

It is said so well, ‘If it is going to be… it’s up to me!’ We need to develop discipline if we wish to soar high, like a kite in the sky. Look around and we notice that achievers are successful due to high levels of discipline.

But, discipline is considered a dampener. It is found to be irritating and infuriating. Human beings, by instinct, abhor rules. We hate to mould our lives to somebody else’s set of rules. However, we can have our own set of rules… self-discipline.

To soar like a kite and take high flight
Ensure the discipline string is tight!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Justification

Pedro’s father was ailing and pining to meet him. But, Pedro, who was working in another city, was busy with his job assignments. Eventually, the old man was admitted to the hospital and the doctors said he would not last long. Pedro was told about it but he reached three days later… a day after his father had died!

When admonished, Pedro nonchalantly stated that bus travel made him nauseous and train tickets were only available for the day he came on. Obviously, when asked why he didn’t choose to travel by air, Pedro would use his fear of flying as an excuse. Air travel was traumatic for him and hence, it was a closed option.

Six months later, Pedro was deputed by his organisation to go to America for six month training. Pedro took the flight!


Pedro used his fear of flying as a justification for his lack of motivation in visiting his father. However, when lured by other motives, he did not find any mental blocks in sitting in an aircraft that would take a longer flight. His fear did not matter anymore.

Our justifications stand exposed when we choose to change our actions in different situations due to altered motives. So often, so many of us make excuses for tasks which we do not really want to undertake. And the mask slips when a fresh lure appeals to our sense of judgement.

We must examine every justification we make. We must check whether it is a valid reason or an excuse. We delude ourselves when we succumb to the declaration of dishonest excuses. It is pertinent to note that never mind his public pretence, Pedro cannot justify to himself, his inability to be with his father when it mattered most.

Reasons stand the test of altered motivation
If not, then they are convenient justification!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

So that it may rain...

This year the summer was hotter than before. A friend, who was visiting Goa for the first time, remarked, ‘why is it so hot?’ Isabel Vas who was present, responded, ‘so that it may rain!’
The statement was Zen like… born of a vision of a wider perspective. Most of us would have immediately reasoned that the heat was due to global warming, indiscriminate felling of trees, etc. But, in the hurry to correctly identify the negative, we often play blind to positive possibilities.

There is nothing wrong in recognising the negative. We can make corrections only by knowing and accepting the flaws. But if we miss out the affirmative implications, we lose sight of optimism and positive attitude.

Indeed, Ms Vas, who was my teacher in college, taught me a wonderful lesson that day. I learnt to look forward to the rain when in the midst of sweltering heat. Such progressive perspectives light up lamps of hope. It makes us understand and accept that the cycle of happenings is often for a reason.

The rising heat is a result of many a grave reason…
But note that it is also needed for the rainy season!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Pay the Price

As a child, he was denied a glass of water at a store, because of the colour of his skin. That really affected him as did another incident when his bicycle was stolen. The 12 year old told the police officer that he wanted to beat up the thief. The officer told him to learn how to fight before you start challenging people. Immediately he began to train under that officer and soon began his boxing career. After winning his first amateur bout in 1954, he went on to win at higher levels.

At the age of 18 he won the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Olympics. In 1964, he became the heavyweight champion of the world. In 1967, he started a different kind of fight with his outspoken views against the Vietnam War. He refused to serve in the army, arguing that his religious beliefs (he had converted to Islam in 1964) prevented him from killing innocents. He was convicted for committing a felony and stripped of his world title and boxing license.

The US Supreme Court eventually overturned the conviction in 1971, but he had lost nearly four prime years of his career. On his return, he reclaimed the heavyweight title two more times, in the 1970s, winning against Joe Frazier and George Foreman. Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1984, he devoted his time to philanthropy, earning the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. On June 3, 2016, Muhammad Ali died but continues to be an immortal inspiration across the world.


Not just Ali’s near-invincibility as a boxer, but it is his commitment to his values that has positively influenced our world. Al Sharpton said it well, ‘For someone who had achieved the highest level of athletic celebrity, to put all of that on the line – the money, the ability to get endorsements – to sacrifice all of that for a cause, gave a whole sense of legitimacy to the movement… He knew he was going to jail and did it anyway. That's another level of leadership and sacrifice.’

Leadership is eventually about backing your own values and vision, even at the cost of paying a heavy price. We have to learn that from Ali… He paid the price because he saw worth in staying steadfast with his principles. He was robbed of his prime years as well as the money and other benefits. But he stood his ground and spoke out, to become an icon for the global counterculture movement.

‘The Greatest’ showed that leaders truly rise
If they stand their ground and pay the price!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Direct Connect

The development of technology has made things easier yet we encounter difficulties. Transport systems are getting better and it is easier to travel and meet friends… yet we do not meet them as easily because we put off actually going to meet them. We feel that we can easily do it some other time and we put it off. Earlier, when travelling was difficult, we would put the extra effort in planning and putting the plan into action.

When telephones were a rare luxury, people would travel distances to connect with each other. And if they could not travel, they would communicate through letters by postal service. Now, since we have excellent communication facilities at our service, we know that it is easy to call anyone at any time… and hence we put off making that call or sending that email.

However, far worse is when we choose to stay away even when in close proximity.
In this era of the Internet, two colleagues sitting next to each other, choose to share jokes (and laughter) through e-mail, rather than turn their chairs to face each other and enjoy the joke. Technology is becoming the bane for personal connections.

A philosopher lamented, ‘Human relations have become a luxury’. We must use technology to improve communication, and not to create distance. Connecting directly strengthens bonding in relationships. We are humans, not machines. It is our instinct as well as our need to be touched by direct communication. Hence, we must step out of the technology trap and choose direct connections.

People love that human touch: a friendly pat on the back, a handwritten note, the gift of time! People will forget what you said... people will forget what you did... but people will never forget how you made them feel. When we can connect directly, why shouldn’t we? Of course, we can use technology to facilitate more direct connections…

Not a trap, technology should be a tool…
Surely direct connections are truly cool!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

STEADY SILENCE

Four Zen monks decided to observe a week of silence and meditation. However on the very first night, seeing the oil lamps grow dim, one of them blurted out, ‘the lamps require oil!’ Instantly his neighbour remarked, ‘We are not supposed to speak!’ The third friend was livid, ‘You idiots, why are you talking?’ The fourth person calmly commented, ‘I am the only one who has not spoken.’

Though the greatest ordeal for a person who can talk is to keep silent, silence in social interaction is not too difficult if we are disinterested in prolonging dialogue or if we are listening by choice. Also, we are easily forced into silence if we are in a situation of weakness due to our actions, circumstances or a submissive attitude. But the litmus test is if we fail to honour our own resolve to keep silent.

In the Zen fable, while one monk cannot resist reacting to the dying lamps, the others cannot resist commenting upon somebody else’s actions. The first could have silently lit the lamp. The rest fell prey to the temptation of being judgemental. Indeed, all four of them were too full of themselves and hence they broke their silence.

Nevertheless, selfish silence is not welcome. Silence should not result in turning a deaf ear or a blind eye or be an excuse for being indifferent or insensitive. Instead, we must use the power of silence to listen… to introspect… to process ideas… to clarify thoughts… to understand ourselves as well as others. Above all, we must guard our silence from the pitfalls of being judgementally reactive.

Our sensitivity should be wilfully proactive
May our silence be steady and not reactive!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Nature

A Zen story tells the tale of two monks washing their bowls in the river when they notice a scorpion drowning. One monk immediately scooped it up and set it upon the bank. In the process he was stung. He went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell in. The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung.

The other monk asked him, ‘Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know its nature is to sting?’ The monk replied, ‘because to save it is my nature.’

The monk did not prejudice the scorpion for its nature being hurtful to him. He was adhering to a higher principle of saving a life. And to remain consistent with his lofty nature, he was ready to endure the sting as the price for sticking to his nature.

Experience may show us what is good for us or what is bad. But it is up to us to stay consistent to our declared nature despite the burden of experience. We often must do things that we know may cause us harm, because to not do so, would eventually cause us the most harm. For the greatest lure is to feel true and pure!

Do as per your lofty nature…
Choose to feel true and pure!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Fake Research

Many streams of education use the empowering tool of research projects, based on internship during vacations. However, during the presentation, we find that some students have no real experience and they have relied on the internet to compile their projects. The modus operandi is identified through irrelevant and erroneous information. Obviously, they have lost out on real learning.

Such students focus on the end assignment rather than on the learning experience. They deny themselves the joy of true research where one embarks on a journey to explore and discover newer facts and realities. Research based on direct experience yields the fruit of fresh knowledge and competency. And fake research leads to a fake image which can be stripped bare anytime.

So often, so many of us make presentations on social media as if we are experts on the topic. We pretend to have involved in deep research, when we are just ‘copy-paste’ artists. We propound and assert our fake research, which is obviously not based on any real understanding. We take the first set of information as the truth and flaunt it as our knowledge based on considerable study.

Albert Einstein said, ‘Information is not knowledge’. We must learn to sift facts from non-facts in the information we receive. We must choose and develop the true spirit of inquiry and investigation. Most importantly, we must not be lured by the approval of our claims by those may blindly believe that we are sincere. Sooner or later, we will stand exposed. And we will have denied the joys of true research.

It is good to involve in research of things that interest us… health, history, cuisine, etc. The internet and books provide for referencing but not in a fleeting form. We have to read wide and deep to escape the falsehoods and discover the truth. And real experience must be the base of such research. Otherwise we will be silly pretenders posing as expert researchers!

If interested in learning, get off the comfort perch…
Explore the information and escape fake research!
- Pravin K. Sabnis

Rote Not!

Max Wertheimer would tell this story: A school inspector was impressed by the children that he had observed, but decided to ask one more question before departing, ‘How many hairs does a horse have?’ A student answered ‘3,571,962’. ‘How do you know that your answer is correct?’ asked the inspector. ‘You can count them yourself’, answered the boy.

The inspector broke into laughter and vowed to tell the story to his colleagues back in office. When the inspector returned the following year for his annual visit, the teacher asked him how his colleagues responded to the story. Mournfully he replied, ‘I wanted very much to tell the story but I couldn't. For the life of me, I couldn't remember how many hairs the boy had said the horse had.’

Wertheimer contrasts Rote memorization with problem solving based on Gestalt principles. In the former, the learner has learned facts without understanding them. Such learning is rigid and acting upon memorized facts without understanding them, makes us prone to silly mistakes.

Learning in accordance with the Gestalt principles, however, is based on understanding the underlying principles of the problem. This type of learning comes from within the individual and is not imposed on by someone else. It is easily generalizable and is remembered for a long time.

So often, so many of us are doing things by rote, without understanding the real situation. Human beings are turning mechanical apes that pause at the surface of observation and imitate without imbibing the truth. We should instead choose to delve deeper into the understanding of the situation before us. Then we shall be able to connect truly with the inspiration.

Deeper understanding is akin to the right foot…
Skip silly mistakes that thrive on the Rote route!
- Pravin K. Sabnis

Influence

Last week, environmentalists gathered to cheer their favourite muse – Rajendra Kerkar – as his first book in English was released. The book – Natural Heritage of Goa – is a compilation of select articles published in a daily newspaper. It is a useful guide to the remarkable biodiversity of Goa with insights into facts as well as legends.

There are many other sincere researchers who have involved in the research of the heritage of Goa, but Bhaee (as Kerkar is fondly addressed) did more. He did not restrict to academics but also involved in grass root assertion for the cause of Nature, whether it was fighting to save the Mhadei river or the indiscriminate and illegal mining or the denial by the government that Goa was the land of the tiger.

Bhaee’s work is not just about resistance but also about positive discourse. His real effectiveness has been in inspiring and influencing many youth to follow his path of learning about our natural heritage. And many of his learners have built sustainable ventures in green activities that are taking more people to their roots. The success of Bhai is in transferring his vision and mission to others

There are many persons with the right values, the right thoughts and the right practices. But when these values, thoughts and practices are shared positively to inspire others, then our world is empowered with newer recruits to power the positive cause. That is the real legacy of people like Bhaee… to widen the circle of influence.

May every dedicated person influence many more
every cause requires increasing numbers to score

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Rights & Reason

On this day in 1827, was born a great reformer who worked relentlessly to reclaim human dignity by empowering reason and asserting the rights of all human beings. While studying in the Scottish Mission's High School, Pune, he was influenced by Thomas Paine's pamphlet 'Rights of Man'. He developed an impeccable sense of social justice and grew passionately critical of the oppressive caste system.

Jyotiba Phule reignited the struggle for justice and equal rights for farmers and Dalits. Along with his wife Savitribai and others, he initiated positive transformations in the spheres of education, agriculture, caste system and social empowerment of women. Leading by example, he opened his own house and let all make use of the well water without any prejudice.

He founded the Satya Shodhak Samaj (Society of Truth Seekers) to prevent exploitation and abuse of the Bahujan Samaj by the upper castes. Phule felt reason alone would empower society to be better at reclaiming rights and responsibilities. His life remains inspirational in our situation where truth suffers treason in the maze of modern superstition and hatred mongering against humanity itself.

Phule’s legacy shows that the ability to reason leads to an attitude of responsibility towards human rights. However, so often, so many of us are unreasonable especially with regards to rights of others. We have to start with ourselves. Phule’s muse, Thomas Paine reasoned, ‘Whatever is my right as a man is also the right of another; and it becomes my duty to guarantee as well as to possess.’

Jyotiba inspires to involve in humane reason…
So that no one is denied rights in any season!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Alternative

While studying architecture, Lawrence went on a cycling expedition to Europe with friends. The experience deeply impacted him to resolve that earning money would never be his motto. He served patients in China during the World War II. On the way back to England from China, he came down to India.

In India, he met Mahatma Gandhi who asked him to stay back to take care of leprosy patients. He travelled all over India helping repair leprosy homes and build new ones. He was exposed to indigenous architecture and discovered simple materials that could put up buildings with refined aesthetics and lasting qualities.

In 1970, he finally moved to Kerala and became the fountainhead of alternative building technologies that would provide housing in a cost effective manner. Rejecting designs alien to the place he used local tiles and bricks in construction. A peaceful co-existence involving nature, man and home came across in his work.
‘Padmashri’ Laurie Baker passed away on 1 April 2007. Although he built no big monuments, he is regarded as a great architect because of his high values and simple style of alternative architecture. Baker looked beyond limited perspectives because he had travelled not as tourist but by involving in deep experiences. And he had the courage to commit to his chosen vision by involving in consistent mission.

So often, so many of us involve in experiences that expose us to alternative vision or trigger it in our mind. So often, so many of us do not make the commitment to the mission of realising that alternative. But if we do, like Laurie Baker, we shall lead fulfilling lives of aligning to the alternative.

Move beyond the appealing vision

Turn the alternative into a mission


- Pravin K. Sabnis

Beautiful!

My friend was detected for malaria. When I asked him the type of malaria, he enthusiastically replied, ‘beautiful’! It was the same answer when he was asked about the curry his wife had prepared or his son’s research or his nephew’s drawing or the fish he had purchased at the market. His favourite term ‘beautiful’ was one of the meanings of his name – Manohar.

Today, we really missed him… during the rituals of his final rites. He would have been appreciating the dhoti draped by his son… he would pointed out the magnificence of the wooden stretcher that carried his body… he would have appreciated the gathering of his family and friends as they watched him on the pyre… he would have declared the event to be well organised and beautiful!

Our friend, Manohar Pai was full of life and will continue to live in our hearts. There is so much to remember him for – impromptu lyrics, enacting of theatrical gaffes, mimicking of songs, spontaneous repartee that played on words. Yet, what stood out was his ability to see ‘beauty’ in things connected with his family and home... and to be excited and enthused with these things beautiful.

It wasn’t as if his life was picture perfect. It had its ups and downs, like anyone else. But what he felt about his family, and the little pleasures of his home, had the attitude of a child that is easily happy as it finds simple things to be beautiful. After all, it is said so well that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. A sure recipe for ‘winning over the mind’ which is the literal meaning of the one called Manohar!

Discover life to be beautiful… keep saying wow
Win over the mind through simple joys… now!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Poetry Aloud

The film ‘Dead Poet’s Society’ is a story of students who follow what their teacher did when he was a student – they revive a secret club that reads compositions of dead poets as well as their own. They sneak off their campus to a cave where they read poetry and this leads them to live their lives on their own terms. Of course, this results in conflicts and trials but it liberates them of the confines of restrictive beliefs.

Surely, poetry makes us connect easily with understanding of concepts of all complexities. From sonnets to haikus, from elegy to epic, from rhyme to free form… poetry has been luring us to multiple perspectives. And it is these varied visions that invoke insight, inspiration and even action. Revolutions as well as reformations have been triggered by the power of poetry.

Poetry has always been a great teacher. In the kindergarten, we learn easily as we learn with rhyme. In higher education, the relegation of poetry leads to difficulties in learning. However, some innovations have happened. The lyrics of ‘we didn’t start the fire’ helped us remember historical sequences. Since poetry involves the triggering of multiple senses, it is a fantastic memory tool, too!

Reading poetry loud is a great way to learn. And the better way is to read poetry in a group. As poetry is a vocal art, the reader brings his own understanding and presents it according to his sensibilities as well as those of the audience and the situation. Reading poetry aloud also underlines the ‘pause’ as an element of poetry. The articulation of sound generates further revelations of insight.

When we choose to indulge in poetry, it leads us to interesting perspectives. It transports us into a world of vison and sounds and possibilities. It takes us back to being child-like, open-minded and eager to embrace the new. Indeed, reading poetry aloud can wake us up to the true purpose, potential and path of our own life.

Read aloud poetry and listen well too…
Discover a world of perspectives new!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Outcome

At his Business School, Fred presented his project paper on overnight packages deliveries. The outcome was a C-minus! The professors remarked that nobody would want to send overnight packages as they already had the service of the US Mail. An undeterred Fred went on to invest all his money into his idea and start his venture. 

On the first day of operation, they sought to deliver 167 packages. However, they were able to deliver only seven. Five of these packages were to themselves and only two were to outsiders. But Fred Smith did not quit and his Federal Express went on to be a huge success.

The primary reason for this success was Fred’s attitude. He did not see anything as failure. When he took action on his decision, he only considered the results as outcome. On the first day of operation when Federal Express delivered only two packages to outsiders, he said that he succeeded in learning how to send two packages. Now he had to learn how to send more packages.

This is an empowering principle - if we want to succeed in a bigger way we have to look at the positive side of everything, and take major and consistent action. Too often, too many of us are over bothered about the results. Results are the outcome of many factors. But it is steady actions born of positive belief that will eventually ensure favourable outcomes.

Results are the outcome of the occasion
Keep up the belief in consistent action!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Salaam

Tiffany Wayne has described her as ‘one of the first-generation modern Indian feminists, and an important contributor to world feminism in general, as she was both addressing and challenging not simply the question of gender in isolation but also issues related to caste and casteist patriarchy.’

Savitribai Phule was modern India’s first woman teacher, a promoter of education, a champion of dignity for women and a progressive poet. There are many of us, who are oblivious about the inspirational life and struggle of Savitribai. But if we knew we would surely salute her work, saying ‘Salaam’ (salutations).

Interestingly, Savitribai’s death anniversary falls on 10 March which coincides with the birth anniversary of the popular Marathi poet-lyricist Mangesh Padgaokar who passed away on 30 December last year. He wrote a long poem ‘Salaam’ that mocks the attitude of saluting the powers-that-be or saluting mediocrity and conformity.

It is said so well that ‘if you do not stand up for something… you will fall for anything!’. The quote can be tweaked to say, ‘If you do not salute the worthy, you will be worshipping the unworthy.’ It is important to identify, understand and align with the right inspiration and emulate the right example. Otherwise we will be saluting the wrong ones and getting the wrong influence!

Say Salaam to the progressive…

Lest we salute the regressive!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Wake up

Different persons wake up differently.

Some wake up with a shock. They are shocked as they realise they have woken up late and they have to rush to catch up on commitments.

Some wake up with anger. They growl and roar against the one who may have directly or indirectly roused them out of their sleep.

Some wake up with an air of resignation. They do not like getting out of bed but they also feel helpless about it.

Some wake up lazy and sleepy. They drag themselves to daily chores like washing their face with eyes closed.

And there are others who choose a response that was suggested to me by my favourite muse, Fr Peter Gatti – an Italian priest who was my teacher for just one year at Don Bosco School. But he continued to be an inspirational influence for a few more significant years of my life, till death snatched him away.

Fr Gatti would repeatedly urge us, ‘when you wake up, you must be happy!’ …and each time, he would add, ‘ask why?’… and each time, we would comply, ‘Why?’ … and he would declare, ‘because, you are alive! ... because you did not die in your sleep!!’


The simply act of waking up can make or break our mood for the day. We must choose to take ownership of the gift of life and look forward to the journey across opportunities and challenges. It is said so well that well begun is half done. When we wake up with a cheer, we choose to celebrate life!



Each day is a gift, truly dear…

Wake up to it with a big cheer!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Momentum

‘Hesitation is bad, momentum is good’
- Mathew Childs, veteran rock climber
during his TED talk presentation on ‘9 life lessons from rock climbing’.

Mathew Childs was speaking in context of ‘friction climbing’ where the rock surface does not have any sort of hard positive edges. Hence in friction climbing, you are climbing on little dimples and nubbins in the rock. The most friction you have is when you first put your hand or your foot on the rock. And then from that point on, you're basically falling. So momentum is good. To stop, to hesitate is bad.
Try holding a small weight in your hand with your arm outstretched and parallel to the ground. With every passing moment, the object seems to get heavier and the elbow and shoulder joints begin to hurt increasingly to the point of becoming unbearable. However, if you were to keep moving the object between your two hands and keep moving continuously, the task remains easy.

Consider our own predicament. When we maintain momentum we move easy. But if we pause too long, we get weighed down. Hence, we need to keep moving. Not just during a task, but keep moving across tasks… doing different tasks! Too much of hesitation pulls you back but maintaining momentum will ensure that you never feel the heaviness that comes from hesitation.

Don’t you stay where you earlier stood…
Keeping up the momentum is truly good!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Cog

In my training workshops, I use the video ‘Cog’ to rationalize roles in teams. The ‘Cog’ is an advertisement made by Honda in 2003 to promote the Accord car. It opens with a transmission bearing rolling down a board triggering a domino chain of reactions between a gear wheel cog, camshaft and pulley wheel, automated water sensors, wiper blades and other parts of a disassembled Accord.

The interactions grow from simple collisions to ziplines made from cable, scales and see-saws constructed from carefully balanced parts. The sequence ends when the button of an electronic key fob is pressed, closing the hatchback of a fully assembled Honda Accord on a carefully balanced trailer. The car rolls off of the trailer, while the narrator asks ‘Isn't it nice when things just work?’

As the video concludes, I point three types of parts in a car: functional ones which make it move effectively; comfort ones which provide relief to the occupants and aesthetic parts which give the vehicle an attractive look. Similarly, teams have members who are the drivers of the team, the ones who provide for logistics as well as those who make the working environment a beautiful place to be in.

A cog is a tooth of a gear or cogwheel. It is also used to refer to the gear itself. A cog engages with another cog and motion in one results in motion of the other. Similarly, we see teams work like a cog if team members engage with each other and set in motion other members, by influence and inspiration.

Things work nicely if everyone plays their part in the cog! However it is important to recognise that though we may play greater or humbler roles, but it is collectively that we add value to our teamwork. After all, the value of the car is not dependent only on its functional forte or aesthetic looks or comfort quotient... it is together that all parts in the cog determine the worth of the vehicle.

Members determine the worth of a team
By playing their part in the cog scheme!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Can’t circumvent

Every visitor to Pedro’s college was treated to the spectacle of his special ability to jump over ten steps from the mid-landing of the staircase to the landing below. However, one visitor was not amused. He was an athlete and sought to prove that Pedro’s feat was ordinary.

Pedro pleaded with him not to try it out. It was not prudent for a winner athlete to consider an ordinary person’s feat as a challenge. But the athlete would have none of it. He went up to the mid landing and jumped off only to fall spread-eagled on to the last three steps.

Pedro helped him to his feet and told him an enduring lesson. Pedro had initially started jumping off the fourth step. After a few days he moved to the next step. One step at a time over four months, he was able to develop the skill of jumping from the tenth step. Pedro asked the athlete, ‘why did you go straight to the tenth step?’

Things are not always as easy as they seem. It is pertinent to note that we cannot circumvent the journey to acquire the abilities of those who make it seem easy. We can cover ground faster by putting in more effort and following a well planned process. But things will not happen immediately.

Even if we are better equipped, than the achiever, we cannot circumvent the distance by taking shortcuts. We get better only by aligning to a process that requires time, thought and most importantly confidence that is not clouded by conceit.

Slow and sure... one step at each instance…
we can’t circumvent the journey’s distance!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Imitation

An Aesop’s fable was set at a village fair. A mimic made people laugh by imitating the cries of various animals. He finished off by squeaking like a pig to a thunderous applause. But a man intervened to say: ‘That’s not a pig's squeak! Give me till tomorrow to show you a real one.’

Next day, he appeared on the stage, and putting his head down squealed until the spectators booed him and asked him to stop his lousy imitation. He held up a real little pig that had been making the squealing sound.

So often, so many of us applaud an imitation and ridicule the real thing. We are aloof from real experiences and we end up indulging in imitations. We push ourselves to the point of accepting the fake for the real and treat the real as fake.


We are born with an open mind. Our observations are keen and insightful. But as we grow up we tend to become restrictive in using our senses sufficiently. On the other hand we are fast to jump to conclusions and hence easily get swayed by the illusion of the senses.

So often, so many of us jump to conclusions and mistake imitation for reality. We must escape the illusion behind various imitations by using an open mind and alert senses. Otherwise we will be taken for a jolly ride whether in history or economics, personal or social life, real or virtual world.

We deceive our imagination
By seeing validity in imitation!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

LOVE... REALLY?

I had a friend who would always talk about his mother’s greatness. After the untimely death of his father, she had gone through severe hardships to ensure his education. He kept talking of his dream to give his mother a better home and a better life. His love for his mother was obvious every time he spoke of her!

Once I happened to speak with my friend’s mother, in his absence. I decided to make her feel good by telling about her son’s respect and love for her. While speaking I was stunned to see the disbelief on her face. When prodded, she confided that her son had lied to me. He actually despised her!

It was a strange state to be in, for I knew both had spoken the truth to me!!!

In my interactions, I follow this story with a poser, ‘if both are speaking the truth, whose certainty matters?’ Eventually, after exploring all possibilities the reality is unravelled: my friend was telling the truth about his love for his mother but as it was not reflected in his actions, she was unaware of it. In fact, his mother found hate and spite in his behaviour and hence she was right to say that her son did not love her.

Now replace mother with any other relationship or team or even motherland. Is our love just in genuine intention or reflected in committed and consistent action that confirms our emotion. So often, so many of us mean well... but without aligned actions, such emotion is meaningless. In fact, for some it is a disguise to avoid actual action by just talking without walking the talk.

Love is sterile as an internal emotion
Ensure that it results in visible action!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Ride more boats

‘Don Voddeani paim dovrunk zaina’

-       Konkani proverb (you cannot keep your feet in two canoes)

This proverb was referred to by the poet with the silver mane in 2001, at the International Goans Convention. Manoharrai Sardessai was always an inspirational muse to scores of the loyal fans of his poetry, prose and philosophy. On that day, he referred to the Konkani quote but unveiled a new paradigm… the ancient Goan tradition of combining two boats to create a larger platform called ‘sangodd’.

Today marks 10 years of celebrating his birthday in his absence. His take on things, both, Goan and global, continues to hold immortal inspiration. Manoharrai’s message of the harmonizing dimension of ‘sangodd’ has greater relevance in today’s times when every question arouses diametrically extreme viewpoints that spark off bitterness and hostility. His own life reflected the ‘sangodd’.

He wrote mature political ballads as well as delightful songs for children. Besides writing in Konkani, he also indulged in the mastery of Marathi, French, English and other languages. As a teacher he never gave up studying. He wrote about rationalism and socialism and simultaneously penned prayers to Shantadurga and Jesus. He published his books in multiple languages and scripts.

We can ride many canoes, if we build a larger platform across them to create a sangodd. In fact, when we ride single boats we confine ourselves to restrictive moats. But when we build the harmonising sangodd over diverse boats, we equip ourselves to ride greater seas and greater challenges... like the immortal inspiration of Manoharrai Sardessai!

Build the unifying sangodd, ride more boats

Diversity helps cross the confines of moats

- Pravin K. Sabnis

Yet another Stain!

YET ANOTHER STAIN

First claim victimhood
Then cry as if in pain
Speak of offended pride
Hide the past stain…

Hide the past stain
Threaten violence again
Unleash the hate venom
Drown voices sane…

Drown voices sane
Ride the pride train
Shout loud and louder
Flush peace down the drain…

Flush peace down the drain

Blow venom for the foe
Human venom is a blaze
flames will further grow…

The flames as they grow
they burn every side
In the heap of the dead
Buried will be puffy pride…

Buried will be puffy pride

Until resurrected again

And cacophony will repeat

As human plays insane…

Human will play insane

And cry as if in pain

Victimhood and venom

Will leave yet another stain!

Pravin Sabnis

poem written by Pravin on 5 January 2016 about those who cite victimhood as justification for their venomous violence against humanity

Auspicious

A son built a new house for his mother who had gone through immense struggle to nurture him, after the untimely death of her husband. Even though the new home was ready, he waited for an auspicious day to move in. Sadly, his mother passed away the previous day. His mother never stayed in the home built for her, due to his unnecessary wait for the auspicious day!

We wait for the New Year to put into action desirable resolves that we plan to implement… or we wait for some other auspicious day. And if we fail to do so on that chosen day, we reschedule our commitment to yet another propitious occasion.

Listing all such procrastination would clear the air about the real culprit of inaction. Looking for an auspicious occasion aggravates a perilous suspicion of confidence in self. It sows the seeds of doubt in our mind and transfers the probability of success to damaging superstition.

It is not the occasion that decides the action… it is the action that defines the occasion. If the action is good… so is the moment. Every moment can be the beginning of a new year in our lives only if we choose to initiate new actions…

Resolve to quit waiting for an occasion auspicious …
Success comes to the initiator, not the suspicious!

- Pravin K. Sabnis
Goa, India.