Tradition?

In 2003, Maharashtra Times (MT) was trailing behind the successful Marathi daily Loksatta. The new editor, Bharatkumar Raut made major changes to boost readership. To woo women readers, he introduced a marketing gimmick: Women were asked to wear dresses of nine different colours on the nine days of Navratri.

To make it look religious, each colour was linked to a Goddess. A picture of a celebrity was put up prominently on the front page with a bold headline – TODAY’S COLOUR. The women readers were encouraged to click and send pictures wearing that colour. MT devoted pages to accommodate the pictures received.

The strategy had such an amazing impact that other papers and even temples began to follow the colour code. Men joined women in wearing the announced colour, even if it was white. The trend became a part of HR activities of several corporates. A new tradition was born which many believe to be an ancient one!

Surely, there is nothing wrong in following a harmless fad. But it is a concern, when followers of the colour code start swearing by associated untruths. Most adherents actually believe it to be part of ancient religious tradition. Though details of the recent marketing gimmick are in public domain, yet most believe it without questioning.

Buddha said, ‘Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it; Do not believe in traditions, because they been handed down for many generations; Do not believe in anything, because it is spoken and rumoured by many; Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books; But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.’

It is okay to enjoy but don’t give up thinking…

In name of tradition, don’t sacrifice reasoning!

~ Pravin K. Sabnis

Emergency

It is an Emergency! Cast the snare
sky high and wide, raise the scare
Don’t go by their humane look
Bring the bloody rebel to book!

So what if some are old and feeble
If unfettered, they will have us tumble!
They ask to restrain and not transgress
these are obstacles to our progress!

It is an Emergency! Gather excuses lame
it’s time again for our devious, deadly game
Look them move to disrupt our peace
act quick now, do not suffer the siege!

They have lost all sense of shame
look them give our nation a bad name
Disseminating confirmation of our disgrace
Let’s eliminate them without leaving a trace!

It is an Emergency! Notice the stink
from the ones who tell others to think
They who reason are most dangerous
notice their queries are the most furious!

But questions are not the only artillery
evidence of our deeds is also weaponry
They write and paint, sing and dance
All indicators of freedom fighter stance!

It is an Emergency… time to act with speed
their growing solidarity is precarious indeed
Round up rebels and charge them treason
those against us are enemies of the nation!

Throw behind bars and black them out
eventually erase every rebellious shout
The gullible will swallow our nationalist con
with urgency crush challengers to move on!
in emergency crush challengers to move on!!

~ Pravin K. Sabnis

Note: In India, for 21-months from 1975 to 1977, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency across the country because of the prevailing "internal disturbance". The order bestowed upon the Prime Minister the authority to rule by decree, suspend elections and curb civil liberties. Political opponents were imprisoned, press was censored and several other human rights violations were unleashed on the citizens. Many later Governments at various levels, have used an undeclared emergency by resorting to draconian laws (many from British times) to suppress democratic struggles

Onus on us!

They fell her down

Crack her crown

Crush her neck

Break her back…

 

Invade her flesh

Treat her like trash

Flaunting bigoted pride

… with us on their side!

 

Yes! The onus is on us!

Who treat it just as fuss   

They do the dark deed

But on our logic they feed!

 

We insist she is safe in the cage

Where too lurks the rapist rage

We ask her to restrain and hide

And we stand on the silent side!

 

Yes! The onus is on us!

Who don’t want to discuss

If things are getting worse

It is due to the way we nurse!

 

We don’t identify the real source

No attempts to change the course

We all need to unlearn and reform

For the situation to truly transform!

 

Yes! The onus is on us!

To stop being superfluous

By accepting our culpability

We will get closer to sanity!

 

Why should the victim feel the shame?

While the assaulters escape the blame?

When we ask the right questions in time

Answers will reveal our collective crime!

 

Yes! The onus is truly on us!

Get off the whataboutery bus

Humanity has to have a single side

Where justice and dignity can reside

 

Do not defend the indefensible

Be responsive and responsible

Stand with victim not with brutes

Or admit onus of being in cahoots!

Or admit onus of being in cahoots!

~ Pravin K. Sabnis

Alive

Bhagat Singh who was born on this day in 1907 was hanged on 23 March 1930 by the British Government. Just before the hanging, his last moments were reported by his close associate Manmathnath Gupta, who wrote:

When called to come along, Bhagat Singh was reading a book on Lenin. He kept reading, ‘Wait a while. A revolutionary is talking to another revolutionary’. After he finished, he flung the book towards the ceiling and said, ‘Let’s go’.

Imagine the fearless personality. But it is pertinent to note that the fearlessness was not out of recklessness. There was a deep understanding born out of a thinking mind. He had an appetite for reading and writing. Remember also that Bhagat Singh’s life was curtailed before reaching 24 years of age.

 His life has been an inspiration for many, more so for those who read his writings. He wrote for and edited Urdu and Punjabi newspapers. He wrote pamphlets, essays and in jail, he wrote a dairy. His thoughts reveal his clarity towards taking responsibility for changing the negative situation.

 We must learn from Bhagat Singh’s resolve to finish an unfinished task - the reading of the book - before happily marching to the gallows. Even when jailed and certain to be executed, he read as much as he could. He left behind a corpus of written legacy as his choice of reading material was diverse.

 Bhagat Singh showed the way to stay alive, even when facing death. When walking to their death, Bhagat, Rajguru and Sukhdev went singing and smiling. They embodied Bhagat Singh’s quote, ‘They may kill me, but they cannot kill my ideas!’ And they remain alive in their ideas as written by Bhagat Singh!

Beyond raising empty slogans by dull rote

Be alive to ideas that Bhagat Singh wrote!

 ~ Pravin K. Sabnis

Likes

LIKES

While visiting social media platforms, so often, so many of us tend to first check the ‘score’ in the ‘notification’ tab. ‘Has anyone liked something of mine’? ‘Has anyone tagged me’? ‘Has someone commented?’ We get obsessed with ‘Likes’.

We crave for approval. We request others to endorse our posts. We go around clicking on ‘Like’ for posts of others in the hope of a quid pro quo. We vent our anger and unhappiness at being ignored. We raise the issue of ‘dirty politics’ and ‘group-ism’. We withdraw into a shell and some of us give up.

The rush you feel when your post gets more ‘Likes’ than normal, has a reason: Dopamine. For every thumbs up or heart, we get a little psychological high through a shot of dopamine. The more ‘Likes’ the more shots. The more shots we have, the more shots we want. It’s a habit we quickly get pulled into. It’s addictive.

Now we find ourselves in a loop. It was believed that dopamine was responsible for pleasure in the brain, but we now know that rather than create pleasure it makes us seek it. While it is natural to seek recognition, approval and endorsements; over obsession for desirable response can lead to distress.

We must learn for performers from various fields. While they crave for the applause and the approval of their audience, their primary focus is on the joy that comes from giving the best efforts. There are cooks, farmers, artists, writers, workers who choose to find happiness beyond the ‘Likes’ by their own estimation of success.

So while we seek ‘Likes’ we must first focus on ‘liking’ what we do and doing it well. Since we understand that ‘Likes’ give the recipient a ‘high’ of happiness, we must express appreciation where it is due… not just in the virtual world but also in the real world. There are so many around, giving their best efforts. They deserve our ‘Likes’!

It is okay to seeks ‘Likes’ without over obsession

It is good to give others… the same satisfaction!

~ Pravin K. Sabnis

Not Clay

In the 1930s, parents of an eight-year-old girl received a note from school, ‘We think she has a learning disorder. She can't concentrate, she is always fidgeting.’ So they took her to a specialist. After listening to the mother, he asked her to step out so that he could speak privately with the restless girl.

 He turned on the radio and stepped out too. The girl was on her feet, moving to the music. The doctor told her mother, ‘she isn't sick, she's a dancer. Take her to a dance school.’ The girl walked into a dance class and found it full of people like her. People who couldn't sit still. People who had to move to think.

 She auditioned for the Royal Ballet School and had a wonderful career there. She eventually founded her own ‘the Gillian Lynne Dance Company’. She has been responsible for some of the most successful musical theatre productions.

 Gillian’s story was shared by Ken Robinson at the 2006 Ted conference. Speaking on the topic ‘do schools kill creativity’, Robinson pondered of how somebody else might have put her on medication and told her to calm down. He insisted that we should see our children for the hope that they are.

 The potential of the child is stifled by educational systems that see limited avenues. There is undue pressure to conform to set paths. They are asked to calm down and stay still. Elders may play the role of a potter who moulds the clay to his desired shape and form. But the child is not clay. It must be allowed and encouraged to find its way and discover the inherent creative capacities.

 Heed… the child is not clay

Help it find its distinct way!

 ~ Pravin K. Sabnis

 MONDAY MUSE is now into the 17^th year (since the first Monday of 2004) written by Goa based Experiential Life Coach, Pravin K. Sabnis. Send your feedback to 91-8698672080 or unlearning.unlimited@gmail.com

Rise

 

rise

if we do not

trapped will be thought

battle lost before it is fought

 

rise

if we do not

time is a diminishing dot

ones who don’t move will rot

 

rise

if we do not

worse will be wrought

wounds festering under the clot

 

rise

if we do not

one by one will be caught

to be tried for an imagined blot

 

rise

if we do not

humanity will go to nought

as humans burn in the hate-pot

 

so rise

do what we did not

break the chains & step out

opening up every closed spout

 

so rise

do what we did not

pursue the positive thought

together to sing, dance and shout

 

so rise

do what we did not

stand up, march or squat

synergise the simmering lot

 

so rise

do what we did not

seek what we always sought

peace that only justice brings about

 

-  Pravin Sabnis